Products and Services

John Guilfoil has a knack for building teams and finding talent when and where it’s needed. Whether it’s a photographer on a Sunday morning; or a news quote for the 5 p.m. deadline; or a Javascript expert immediately, JGPR is all about diverse resources. Contact us anytime with questions, concerns, or requests.

JGPR is a full-service agency.

So what? What does that even mean?

It means you get people who know how to do exactly what you need. You get the experience of John Guilfoil and the entire team, representing decades of website development expertise, newspaper and television newsroom work, and public relations experience.

It means you can hire us to write you press releases, redesign your website, or both — or for any combination of:

Public Information Officer

“John Guilfoil grew up in a fire family giving him insight to how the fire service works. He not only covered fire stories accurately, but gave space to the hidden story, how someone could prevent such a tragedy happening to themselves. At the end of the day, that is the real story.” Massachusetts State Fire Marshal Stephen D. Coan.

JGPR offers discounted services for police and fire departments. As the son and brother of firefighters, John has always understood what it means to serve others. Since he wasn’t smart enough to follow in his family members’ footsteps, helping police and fire departments with their PIO needs is almost the next best thing.

In this day and age, departments have begun to understand the value of a civilian public information officer to handle press, social media, blogging, and the public, while sworn officers and chiefs handle the real tasks at hand. Of course, department budgets haven’t quite caught up to the times. You can’t afford a full-time PIO, and you don’t need to.

We can help your county or law enforcement council form a regional “Public Information Office,” where member departments pay a nominal monthly fee in order to share guaranteed monthly hours with a Public Information Officer from our team.

“We had the pleasure of working with JGPR over the last year. I worked mainly with John Guilfoil and Chelsea Curley who were readily available and always produced quality content for all of our press release and media relations. I highly recommend JGPR to help grow your companies visibility or to help navigate you through the media outlets.” — Shannon Gomez, Paraben Corporation

We also offer a variety of low-rate contract services including:

On-call/Emergency activation
Social media management
Press releases/Incident specific
One day per week/one day per month in-house
Media training
Funeral/Memorial Media Management
Department Crisis Management
Website design/maintenance

“I think John’s company provides an extremely valuable service to those agencies that want to be proactive in both getting out a positive message to the community that they serve as well as reporting on high profile incidents/events in an open and transparent manner while always maintaining the integrity of any ongoing investigations.” — Chief Brian Kyes, Chelsea Police Department

John is also available to give presentations on media relations basics to groups of chiefs and departments. Contact JGPR for more information or click here for more information on our services for police and fire departments.

Media Training

We can teach your executives, clients, leaders, and employees how to handle media inquiries, and prepare for interviews.

Spokesman

A dedicated public relations professional can:

Speak on behalf of your company to the press/hold press conferences
Provide the talking points to your executives when dealing with the media
Speak “on background” to reporters
Generate and provide quotes from company executives for the media

A spokesman faithfully represents the client. This is the same for political candidates, mayors, toy makers, chefs, and CEOs.

Press Secretary/Press Officer

Along the same lines as a spokesman, we can provide press secretary duties, advising our clients on how to deal with the news media and how to manage the minute-to-minute news cycle we experience in this day and age.

A press secretary is a trusted confidant and adviser. It is someone who can help maximize your publicity and positive press, of course, but it is also someone who can help you deal with negativity…

Crisis Management

Negativity comes in a variety of forms — negative reviews on Yelp, negative commercials and campaigning by your opponent, employee scandal, injury or illness, workplace harassment, and misinformed journalists.

Bad things happen. You need a doctor, a lawyer, an accountant, and a PR person.

Whether you’re a long-time client or a stranger on a referral who’s facing your first crisis, effective public relations helps you and your company manage the waves.

We aren’t spin doctors. And anyone who tells you that they can make a problem “go away” is either lying or a criminal.

Crisis management is exactly what it says. If you effectively handle crisis, your company will not only survive, but you’ll thrive. Even a rogue Tweet needs to be managed properly.

Of course, not everyone listens.

Emergencies

What time is it? Who cares. We’re around.

Throughout history, things have always had a way of happening after hours. Then we got into the 24-hour news cycle. Now we’re on the 24-second news cycle with Twitter, Reddit, and Facebook breaking most of the world’s news. You need to know you have someone there at 4 a.m. if need be.

Long-term Campaigns

You don’t have to bring in the publicist when all the work is done and you’re “ready to announce.” We get involved in products and events months beforehand to help consult with planning, locations, media planning, influencer outreach, and advance news stories.

Press Releases and Announcements

When you make a big hire, put out a new product, or announce your earnings, you need to get that word out. We do that. No sweat.

Web design

We work with a team of designers to quickly produce professional websites for our clients. We can make a blog for a police department or a massive e-commerce website if you want to take your Etsy products to a whole new level.

We take a project management approach to web design. You can’t just have a programmer or a graphics person. Neither of them will make you a complete website. You need someone who can manage moving parts and get the final design where you need it to be, and you don’t have time to micromanage. We do.

We also know the tech. We use WordPress for most of our websites, and we do the setup ourselves. With JGPR, you get the experience of a team that has managed dozens of their own WordPress, Tumblr, Joomla, Drupal, and other kinds of websites and blogs.

Logo, business card, flyer, stationary, and sign design

International Affairs program logo, Northeastern University (2006)

Or any other kind of design. We can create corporate design standards or just redesign that logo your nephew made in 1996 in Microsoft Word, using something called Wordart.

We have a lot of experience doing logo design, creating designs for big clients like Northeastern University and small-town insurance and accounting agencies.

We can also design police/fire department baseball cards, glossy two-pocket folders, stationary, business cards, signs, and promotional materials.

Press Conference Backdrops

We can design, order, and deliver a professional-quality backdrop for your organization within 10 business days. These backdrops are great for special events, press conferences, trade shows, and ceremonies. They add a professional, modern touch to any government agency or corporation looking to build their brand and public awareness.

Prices start at $1,200, and the entire unit folds into a medium-sized duffle bag for easy transport!

Social Media

Copywriting

Have pen, will invoice.

Consulting

Even the biggest PR firms in the world use consultants. We can come on board for a day or a year to handle a specific project.

We are based in Boston, and we are also especially useful for out-of-state clients who need to know the lay of the media landscape in New England. We know the reporters and the editors. We know the publications and the blogs. Don’t go into any situation blind.