Behind Schedule

Dear Doctor,

Our firm finished a great project six months ago, and I feel like we missed the boat in terms of getting PR. Although it’s a great project, we never told anyone about it. We didn’t send it out to a lot of publications, and we didn’t do a press release when it finished, even though the client was very happy with our work. One magazine wanted to do a feature story, but they never followed through. However, there is a great story that we could tell about sustainability, among other things. I am afraid that we are too late to fix this. At this point, is there anything we can do?

Sincerely,

Behind Schedule

Dear Behind Schedule,

A lot of people don’t like to go see the Doctor, but this Doctor never judges, she is just here to assess your symptoms, make a diagnosis, and then come up with a cure. And, never fear, this is a fairly common ailment with a pretty fast recovery. We can help!

You need to act quickly, but you can definitely get press for your project. Most print publications will still publish a project up to about one year after it’s completed – after that, you might have a tougher time, but you’re still in the game! Although it’s no longer hot-off-the-press “news,” consider sending the project to architecture publications and green/sustainability publications that might want to write about its unique design features. If you do a post-occupancy survey about the performance of your sustainable systems (hopefully, they meet your anticipated goals and projections), that is another great opportunity to reach out to the press or even invite a local editor or writer for a site visit. Look at editorial calendars that might be featuring green projects or specific project typologies (schools, hospitals, commercial buildings) that might be a good fit. Remember that there are a lot of online publications that are constantly looking for good content. Finally, don’t forget awards programs – there are a ton of them and, if you win, you can get a lot of exposure and bang for your buck. Good luck!