Back Issues, organized by suitability for a reader's level of experience.

Measurement 101
Your introductory guide to PR measurement.

If you are fairly new to the world of PR measurement (and, for instance, don't quite understand the difference between clipping and measurement), here are a list of Measurement Standard back issue articles by the best and brightest in the field that will quickly introduce you to the important concepts. Remember that many of these require a subscription.

Reviews of books you'll be interested in:

• Welcome To The PR Department: Here's the perfect book for you.
  Public Relations, the Complete Guide, by Joe Marconi
• New To Measurement? Start With This Book
  A review of Lou Williams' Communications Research Measurement and Evaluation.
• PR Basics for Bosses
  VandeVrede's Press Releases are Not a PR Strategy

Articles:

You'll find motivation, inspiration and humor in Katie Paine's monthly column: "The Paine of Measurement." Follow the practical side of PR in our series on the ups and downs of the reputations of celebrities: "Can This Reputation Be Saved?" The following articles address techniques and questions of particular interest to those new to measurement or PR.

The Measurement Process:

• The Ten Vital Questions to Answer Before Beginning Any Measurement Program
  Don't know the answers? Go get them right now.
• The Seven Critical Steps at the Heart of Any Measurement Project
  Don't sweat the details until the big picture is in focus.

The Problem of Advertising Value Equivalencies (AVEs):

• The ‘Ad Value’ of PR Is No Value at All
  Jim Macnamara on the problems with AVEs.
• Another excellent discussion of the problems of AVEs can be found in this paper by Bruce Jefferies-Fox on the IPR Web site.

Survival Skills:

• So, They’ve Given You Six Months to Turn Things Around?
  Here Are the Six Most Important Things to Do.
• From Zero to Hero in Two Weeks:
  The 14-day research plan that can save your job
  —and maybe your company, too!
• The Top Ten Ways To Ensure That You'll Never Work In PR Again
• You’ve Got 24 Hours
  to Figure Out What to Say to the Press
  How to ace that interview.
• It’s About Influence
  Yes, evaluation proves you are doing your job,
  but the bigger goal is strategic influence.
• How to Get the Raise You Deserve

Budgets and Low Cost Measurement:

• Justify Your Budget Without Even Having One
  A dozen free ways to evaluate your nonprofit’s PR.
• Don’t Miss the Omnibus
  A beginner’s guide to the easy and inexpensive survey solution.
• Is Your Budget (or Boss) Too Tight for Measurement?
  Five arguments to fund accountability, and—in case they don’t work— five sources of no-cost measurement.

Tools and Techniques:

• Establishing Value: Don't Leave Home Without It
  Including six case study examples of setting measures of success.
• If I send out more press releases, how much more coverage will I get?
• Does PR Count if It’s Not Exactly What They Wanted?
• What’s the universal factor for average number of readers?
• "What's In It for Me?"
  Ten Guidelines for Developing Compelling Communications and Messages
• The Top Nine Reasons Why PR People Don't Measure Their Results
  We asked the experts.
• Should You Trust Your Agency with Measurement? “Your numbers are way up this month, trust us!”
  How to choose and work with a measurement-savvy agency.

© 2005 KDPaine & Partners LLC, all rights reserved. Read the Masthead. Meet our Advisory Board. Look here for reprint information.