Developing Creative Social Media Content for “News Challenged” Organizations

By Doug Wright, Senior Account Director

Social media has come into its own as a widely accepted and sought-after PR tool. It’s hard to imagine that any business today that would go without LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook as a baseline for promoting themselves and their products and services.

Once you set up your social media platforms of choice, what are you going to say? This may seem particularly challenging for organizations that offer highly technical or niche products or services. So, what do you post when your company hasn’t generated much news recently? 

With a little creativity, you’ll find there are many opportunities to take the conversation in relevant directions that will connect with your audiences. Here are several opportunities to widen your perspective to new ideas that will keep your company’s or client’s social media content fresh and interesting.

1)  Promote or look back on event

     Is your company sponsoring or attending any upcoming events, such as training sessions, presentations, company off-sites or simply visiting customers? Social media provides a great way to drive traffic to these events. Posting about events after they happen, preferably with photos, also makes for engaging content.

    2) Share executive expertise

     Who at your company is an industry expert? Have they been recognized by a professional organization? Or have they written an article or report that would be of interest to the company’s followers? Even a simple shout-out to an employee who has accomplished something helps put a human face on your organization. 

3)    Leverage case histories

     Here’s the opportunity to share a third-party endorsement of your company’s products or services. Where has your product or service been used to solve a problem in the markets you serve? Posting the story of how your offerings improved performance, efficiency and productivity can forge a powerful sales message.

4)    Post industry-relevant media coverage

     Obviously, positive news stories about your organization and company should be a mainstay of your social media messaging. But as contributors and consumers of media, you should also post stories that are relevant to your industry and product areas. Be sure to vet these stories carefully as you do not want to introduce any unnecessary controversy or share news that promotes a competitor. Reporters also appreciate when you showcase their work and may tend to watch your feed for story ideas. 

5)  Celebrate special occasions

     Is there an upcoming national holiday or a certain awareness day, week or month that is relevant to your market? Holidays and national celebrations provide excellent opportunities to wish your followers well and show a little more personality, perhaps with a GIF or photo. 

     6)    Get a little silly

     While giving your company a means to wisecrack may not be the reason you set up your corporate social media platforms, everyone can appreciate a good joke or meme—particularly if it is good natured and positive. You’ll get extra points for keeping the gags relevant to your industry, products and services. Steer away from controversial subject matter, such as religion, politics, inappropriate language and themes. 

7)    Contribute to conversation

     All too often social media platform administrators are focused on posting their own content, but not reacting to their followers’ content. Social media is a conversation rather than a soap box for broadcasting your company’s messages. By liking, sharing or commenting on others’ posts, you are engaging with others. Also, by doing this you will undoubtedly find additional topics that are of interest to your audiences in real time.

As you hone your profiles and posts, a distinct voice will develop that your followers will be able to identify – smart, arrogant, funny, mean, happy or cynical. These tips will help you veer away from coming off as dull, repetitive and insular. Making your company’s platforms varied, interesting and attractive to your key audiences is well worth the effort and will help to keep your audiences engaged with your company brand for the long term.

A New Kind of City

As a native San Franciscan, I assumed my transition to New York would be relatively easy. I grew up going to the city often, well-acquainted with the multitude of people, high-rise buildings and active public transportation systems. City life has truly never been a stranger to me. However, for the last three years I have been living in Dallas and studying public relations and strategic communications at Southern Methodist University.

While Dallas is still very much a city, there are many notable differences when comparing it to metropolises such as New York and San Francisco. In Dallas, everything goes at a slower pace: business, nightlife, even speech patterns. The people also have a southern charm I have unknowingly adopted and have come to expect in most day-to-day interactions. In short, my first few days in New York have been shocking.

Although I've visited many times, the sheer scale of New York City never ceases to amaze me. The amount of people here makes it feel as if during the day everyone is stacked on top of each other in sky high buildings until breaks in business hours where people in suits flood the streets and filter into one of the seemingly millions of restaurants and bars. On top of all the working people, I've noticed that for each person rushing to get to work there is a touring family of five strolling down any given street taking in the scenery. This pedestrian traffic often doubles or triples my projected 10-minute walk to our Park Avenue office.

Since arriving in New York, I have enjoyed the walkability of this city. I find myself walking on average six miles a day without even realizing it. Typically, I Uber everywhere, so this is a huge change of pace for me. Walking so much has inspired me to start running again. Upon visiting Central Park, I find it interesting that a city this dense has preserved a huge piece of natural real estate amid shops, apartment buildings and commercial buildings that have taken over this city. I also appreciate how the park sits in the center of the city as opposed to other cosmopolitan areas, such as Dallas, where the only scenic, open areas are a 20-minute drive outside of the city. There is something to be said about a place where you can run through the hills and the trees and then across the street for a donut.

By the end of each day, I'm so tired. New York produces a new kind of exhaustion for me; it's not your end-of-the-day weariness, but head-to-toe fatigue from walking, running, working and socializing all over Manhattan in a single day. For “the city that never sleeps,” I don't know how anyone can stay up past 10 p.m.!

In just a few short weeks, I have started to adjust to this new way of life. In my first few days I thought New Yorkers were unusually abrasive, but after adjusting, I have come to realize that the lack of outward charm says more about New York's culture rather than its residents’ attitudes. I've come to accept that people here are just more in their own heads, trying to get from one place to another without slowing down or interrupting the thoughts and lives of the people around them. But while New Yorkers seem more closed-off and poker-faced than the cities I’m used to, I have learned that everyone here is just as friendly as other parts of the country, but they certainly do not go out of their way to show it. 

Even though I still have plenty of adjusting to do, I can already see this summer will be transformational for me. I will be learning so much and working hard while running around and exploring this great city. I can't think of anything I would rather be doing during my last summer before graduation next year!

Growing Older (and More Experienced) with America’s Favorite Trade Show

By Doug Wright

The Consumer Electronics Show (CES) celebrated its 50th anniversary last month. This gave me pause, as I figured I must have attended nearly half of these renowned events showcasing the latest in technology and gadgets. I can’t decide whether this makes me feel more “old” or “experienced,” but the fact that I too turn 50 this year…

My first CES experiences were in the early 90s, when the Consumer Electronics Association (now known as the Consumer Technology Association) hosted two shows per year, including a summer expo in Chicago in addition to the winter one we have today. During my career, I have been fortunate to represent many brands at these events, including Sharp, Sony, Maxell, Kenwood, Pioneer, Yamaha, Monster, Acclaim Entertainment and most recently HDMI Licensing Administrator and Healbe.

Over the years, preparation for this highly-anticipated show has certainly evolved. Here are a few pointers to help your company prepare for CES from a public relations standpoint:

Timing is everything when it comes to press releases/announcements.

Where it used to be generally preferred to announce new products at CES, the size of the show today has made it more difficult to break through the noise and clutter of it all. Consider these two alternatives to help your company stand out:

• Release your news in advance so you can invite media to your booth for more information, a live demo and/or an interview with a company spokesperson.
• Offer the news to the most important media outlets in advance (but under embargo until launch day) to give your company a better chance at being featured when you want the coverage. I’ve also noticed more recently that editors are writing stories in advance to keep up with the demand for coverage at the show. In these cases, you’re actually doing them a favor.

To press conference or not to press conference?
The vastness of the show and its media days means your company is competing with press conferences for companies of all kinds. In order to stand out among all this competition and noise, weigh your news objectively and decide if it is best suited for a standalone press conference or an editor preview event (such as ShowStoppers or CES Unveiled,) where hundreds of reporters go to learn about all the new products while enjoying a bite to eat with colleagues.

Social media is not optional – it is essential:
When I started out, there was no social media; however, today you must have a plan to engage. Here are some tips to staying social at CES.

• Post content before, during and after the show with information about your booth, announcements and new products.
• Share content live from the floor with lots of graphics to show off your displays and booth crowds.
• Spread information about your company and products using official event hashtags (e.g. #CES2017) and encourage booth visitors to do so as well.
• Post photos and shout outs tagging press and other booth visitors to increase engagement and attract new followers by soliciting replies and retweets.

For your next big trade show, whether it’s CES or otherwise, consider these tactics to help you secure quality media coverage and get the greatest value out of your time and allocated resources.

Healbe CEO Artem Shipitsin talking about the new GoBe 2 Smart Life Band
with Into Tomorrow Radio's Dave Graveline at Showstoppers.

Setting New Year’s PR Resolutions for your Business

Running a company is a non-stop adventure, both fun and frustrating at times. Business owners are constantly running around doing everything they can to better serve clients or customers.

As critical as it is for you to define and set your marketing and communications strategy for the year ahead, it’s easy to fall victim to your workload and “to do list” and keep shoveling in pursuit of sales and client needs while ignoring your own business development goals.

So here we are in 2017 and perhaps you still haven’t made time to focus on supporting your company’s communications strategy. Sell yourself on the value you bring to your clients by implementing these five things for a focused, prosperous year ahead:

1. Get on social media. If you aren’t already on social media, set up your accounts and start posting and engaging with your audiences. 
2. Create a content calendar and start posting. Draft blog posts, compose tweets, update your Facebook profile, connect on LinkedIn, post a photo from CES 2017 on Instagram. Let everyone know you’re still out there and what exciting stuff you’ve been doing.
3. Register for industry events. Every industry boasts a slew of industry associations and trade shows/marketing events geared towards specific groups of professionals. If you already belong to one or several such organizations, consider attending their next big event or conference to meet prospects, enhance your sales queue and then even set up some media interviews to burnish your company’s brand and awareness.
4. Draft your corporate communications plan. As the end of each year approaches, you start looking forward to budgeting, planning and goal-setting for company sales for the year ahead. It’s important to do the same for your marketing communications. Invest in your company’s communications strategy to stay ahead of your competition and make your voice heard.
5. Nominate yourself for industry awards. Research industry award programs that are relevant to your industry and apply. Even if you don’t win, you will have put together an impressive presentation on your greatest work to share with clients and prospects.

The new year is a time for introspection and self-improvement and your PR/communications plans and outreach should be high on your radar. Make time for it; it’ll pay dividends all year long.  And if you’re “buried” with deadlines and other work, reach out to your trusted PR and marketing advisors to help you get there.

Executive Series: Doug Wright

Doug Wright is our resident consumer electronics and music tech expert. He has an extensive background representing major brands, including Sharp, Maxwell, Sony, Kenwood, Yamaha and Pioneer. He’s also worked with clients in other industries, including video games, professional video, marketing premiums, health care, financial services and others.

What is the biggest change you’ve seen in PR? 


Media relations. One thing I remember distinctly about my first jobs was how easy it was to get reporters out of their offices. Trade magazine writers and even mainstream media made time to meet with clients over lunch, which helped to build relationships.Nowadays, no one has time. The economy and the way business is done has effectively changed the way relationships are built. Editorial teams are often short-handed, and any time out of the office is at a premium. In fact, it can be difficult to get an editor you do not have a relationship with on the phone.This has made it all the more important to tighten up the other aspects of media relations. Pitches, both written and verbal, must be very efficient and even more compelling to get the attention of writers and editors.

How do you generate news and build buzz for clients?

Finding and engaging key influencers. For instance, you may want to offer an exclusive story to a major media outlet that your client is most excited about. If an exclusive is not possible, seeding stories to top mainstream or trade media under embargo is a great tool as well. This way, you can prepare them with materials/interviews/etc. to publish their stories when the news hits, not days later. It also lets the writers know that your client believes this is big news and will help you cut through the clutter of all the other news they may cover on a given day.

Social media is also key. By helping a client to build strong social networks (Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin, Pinterest, Instagram, etc.), they can hint at upcoming news that would be of interest to their audiences. By engaging social media influencers in your client’s field (media, industry experts, enthusiasts, etc.), you can build a great deal of anticipation for a pending announcement and extend its reach.

What is the most challenging thing about PR?

Prospecting for new business. This is the life blood of any agency and it can be a challenge to find the time to find new clients. I have found that the proper mindset is to make sure new business prospecting is part of the normal work week, to be tackled alongside regular client work.

I try to make time to consider opportunities for business among colleagues, friends and new contacts. You never know, a well-timed phone call or email can be the first step to gaining a new client.

Is there anything happening in the industry that you find interesting?

Newsroom and editorial changes. With smaller editorial staff and advertising shifting to online media and other areas, print publications are getting thinner and even transitioning to online-only formats. The editorial landscape is changing rapidly and it is important to keep up to date with changes and new opportunities for more timely coverage.

An upside of a more online-centric media base is its tie to social media. Online stories can be more easily shared with clients’ audiences and other social media influencers to spread key news farther and faster.

What is one thing you wish you’d known when you started out?

Being creative in the job hunt and adapting the job to your preferences. The need for PR is everywhere—in corporations, financial institutions, art organizations, health care companies, non-profits and on and on—so there is a great degree of opportunity to find your passion within the field. As for adapting a current job, I now know you can use your strengths to bring a position even more in line with your interests—and maybe even create a new position. This, of course, needs to fall in line with your employer’s needs and goals.

The Tease

It seems like more and more companies want to keep us guessing - whether it’s Apple’s on-again/off-again product releases or GoDaddy’s sexual innuendo-filled ads that force us to the website to “see more” of Danica Patrick and Jillian Michaels (um…no thanks!).

Most recently, JC Penney has joined the party by running TV spots of shoppers screaming at sales they’ve missed and being bombarded by coupons and flyers (http://youtu.be/aj3PfcPuauM).  The commercial ends with the tagline, “Enough.Is.Enough.” and teases February 1, 2012 along with a link to JC Penney’s Facebook page.  So, can we assume the company is getting rid of all its couponing?  Is it just a ploy to get people to check out their Facebook page? 

After chatting with a colleague about the commercial (which admittedly is pretty funny), he told me about an article that said JC Penney is getting rid of all promotional sales in their stores. Overall, I think this campaign could be a win for the company – the tease is generating some buzz for both the campaign and the brand…all in anticipation of the “big announcement and full details!”

In the PR, marketing and media world, the “tease” can be both advantageous and disadvantageous to a company or news story.  Think of all the times a news anchor teases us to stay tuned after the commercial for the latest household cleaning product that can KILL US!  The anchor comes back and the news is so far out that we snicker to ourselves and become a little more jaded each time it happens.  As marketers and publicists put more “tease” into their copywriting and campaign elements, are we switching our audiences off by overusing this tactic?

With the Super Bowl (of advertising) less than a week away, let’s see how many brands turn to tease tactics.  I have a feeling that our information overloaded generation will be seeing a lot more of this across mediums (i.e. from TV to Twitter) as companies are doing everything they can to draw us in and keep us coming back.

There Is No "Steph" In Team

After Henry Feintuch and I worked together for the first time 12 years ago, I went on to have several other PR gigs. Most of my time was spent working from a home office for my financial services PR consultancy. I represented companies based all around the world but worked mostly on my own.

In the beginning, I felt like a crazy cat lady. I was convinced that clients would assume I was at yoga or having my nails done if I didn’t answer the phone and I would keep the occasional telemarketer on the line because I needed human (if merely telephonic) contact.

In a word, I had turned into a wacko.

Over time, I became more relaxed about my situation and after comparing notes with my buddies at traditional day jobs, I learned I often did more in a day than they did in a week - even with a noon yoga break – because I didn’t have the distractions or the chatty colleagues that come with a communal work environment.

When we started Feintuch Communications in January I had a "lone wolf "work style that needed to be modified if I was going to make an effective team member. Used to taking total responsibility for both my successes and my failures, it was a completely foreign concept to have people to bounce ideas off of or share my work.

In June, my industry’s largest trade show came around. I had two major clients with big announcements and way more work than one woman could handle. I was forced to delegate editor and analyst calls that my colleagues would have had to pry out of my cold dead hands in the past. And, I even relied on them for some sensitive strategy decisions.

As far as I was concerned, the end was upon us. I was positive we were going to be fired by everyone as soon as the show closed …

On the contrary - and typical of having dedicated and talented colleagues - everything went swimmingly. Clients were happy, editors and analysts didn’t hang up on the Steph Johnson imposters who called them and the world continued to spin on its axis.

Steph Johnson ... a team player?

Baby steps, my friends … but at least I’m making progress!

Innovating Our Way Out of Recession

The news media seems to be reporting many economic indices and anecdotal findings supporting the fact that the U.S. may already be out of its 2008-09 recession. The pace of job losses has stemmed; consumers are slowly beginning to spend (albeit with the help of taxpayer-funded clunker cash and other stimulus funds); the stock market has stopped its free-fall and has risen significantly since the beginning of the year; and even real estate housing starts are on the rebound. Consumer confidence is slowly on the rise.

The public relations and advertising industry also offer an interesting albeit unscientific indication of the direction in which the economy is headed. In the fourth quater of '08 and early into this year, many companies were restricting their budgets or cutting their "discretionary" marketing spend. New business opportunities were few and far between and those that surfaced were prepared to spend a fraction of typical marketing budgets.

But today in the third quarter, there is a renewed flurry of activity -- verified by reports from colleagues at small- to mid-sized firms throughout the country. Start-up enterprises hunting for marketing support are calling again and new business meetings are being planned. Most exciting are the various innovative companies and products that are coming forward. A few examples we've seen in the last few months:

Electric Bikes*- A company soon to market a new line of upscale electric bicycles for consumers hoping to park their cars and get some exercise (with power assist as needed).

DVD Vending Machines- A new brand of DVD and video game rental machines returning the excitement of discovery and impulse shopping as convenient and accessible as visiting your favorite local store.

Blood Pre-treatment to Spot Disease*- A company that has developed a pre-treatment for blood samples that can help close the undiagnosed "window period" for HIV and Hepatitis C.

Clean Coal (really)*- A process for liquifying and gassifying coal without the release of carbon dioxide or the need to capture and sequester it.

Making Static Media Interactive*- A company that has developed a closed circuit system for taking traditional media and making it fully interactive in order to better compete with the Internet.

Our young firm is managing a lead queue approaching three dozen organizations, many of which are innovative and offer disruptive solutions to the markets they are seeking to enter. Microsoft was born during a recession as were many other of today's successful companies. Which of the companies edging their way to market launch will be tomorrow's Google and potentially change our world, our environment and our lives?

We appear to be on the edge of an exciting turnaround as companies begin nudging each other aside as they innovate their way out of recession.

* Companies are currently fundraising; contact us if you have interest in learning more.

Happy Father's Trading Technology Day?

Every June financial services executives are faced with the same question: What do I love more, my father or trading technology?

Not exactly a Buddhist Koan, but still a serious quandary …

Oddly, the SIFMA Technology Management Show, one of the financial technology industry's largest trade conferences, always happens right around Father's Day. How am I supposed to enjoy grilling petite filets with my dad when the 12 editors and analysts I've strong-armed into meeting with my clients the next week could mutiny at any moment and boycott my appointments for a cuter, more persistent PR practitioner or an event with better food?

This year, we hosted a joint event for one of our clients, Marketcetera, and the New York Stock Exchange at the Peninsula Hotel. Surely an 85 Dollar Bento box with lobster, steak and mini chocolate pot de crème’s should be good for a journalist or four?

Another client, Tervela, dazzled show-goers with their newest product, showcased topless (i.e. under museum-quality plexi-glass) so curious prospects, writers and analysts could see the bits and bobs inside. A civilized tactic compared to the kind of toplessness that often goes along with trade shows in male-dominated industries.

Although the show was smaller than usual given the fact that Wall Street hasn’t emerged yet from its smoking crater, it was still an excellent time to connect with colleagues, hear about new technologies and meet with the editors and analysts - all of whom kept their appointments :)

And, this year, as he has done for the last fifteen, my dad forgave my pre-occupation during our Father’s Day BBQ and accepted my early departure to get back to the office and prepare.

Editor’s note to SIFMA: don’t ever try moving the show up a month and scheduling it around Mother’s Day. They will not go as quietly!

Black Ink is the New Black

My career path has spanned a wide range of journalism and communications endeavors -- on-air newscasting for several radio stations; the assignment desk at WCBS-TV in New York; several public relations firms; and even a stint as head of corporate communications for an international telecommunications manufacturer -- in total nearly 30 years.

I've been priviledged to launch and build several hundred companies, take many of them public and support several multi-national organizations. The body of work has spanned numerous industries from trucking to tech; for-profit and not-for-profit to highly unprofitable; and domestic and international.

Despite having worked for so many entrepreneurs and consulted for so many other organizations, nothing quite prepared me for the roller coaster of emotions and milestones related to the launch of my own business.

December 2008 was filled with lawyers, accountants and real estate agents (oh my!). Friends, colleagues, recruiters, clients and other insiders lined up with often conflicting advice.

On Jan. 2, 2009, our fearless team of four launched Feintuch Communications. Three days later, we incorporated. The first months were filled with serving our early clients -- 3rd Dimension, GAIN Capital, Marketcetera and Tervela -- while at the same time, moving, naming our entity, creating our corporate identity and brand, hiring staff, developing systems and creating a corporate culture. All this while trying to figure out the straightest line to black ink -- a formidable task in the heart of the greatest recession in decades.

My wife, Alice, a geriatric social worker and care manager for the Westchester County chapter of the Alzheimer's Association, went from second income status to primary breadwinner. We all tightened our belts to settle in for the long haul to give the new business as much runway as possible.

In April we launched our website and added new services. We disseminated our own launch press release and announcement cards went out. News articles began appearing. And slowly, things began to click. Referrals started coming our way from our ECP Global international network and our network of hundreds of friends and business colleagues from around the world. While we sadly observed many of our friends' firms contract and downsize, we slowly added accounts. Bluenog. Moire. AccelerOptics. The Linux Box. Hanger Network. RadMD.

Last Friday, half way through our sixth month, the lastest chapter started unfolding. Word from an advertising and marketing prospect that we were hired. More good news today from a life sciences company. And so now, as the clock strikes midnight on the east coast, and as I prepare to take my wife to dinner and Broadway to celebrate our 25th anniversary (June 17), the red ink dried up and turned black.

The adventure continues -- staff hiring, new business meetings, launching our new clients, hustling to satisfy our longer-term clients and preparing to speak at the PRSA International Conference in San Diego. To our clients, friends, supporters and families -- thank you. We hope to continue earning your trust... and black ink.

If My Mom Can Tweet, So Can You

When Twitter first came on the scene, I knew that I needed to learn how to tweet. It’s a new form of media and my work revolves around media, so it was a pretty obvious connection. I’ve been tweeting mostly to stay connected and send and receive news, not to talk about what I had for breakfast. Where I kept falling down in the social media/PR connection was explaining to clients why they should be tweeting. "Because everybody is doing it," was not the right answer. So last week I attended a "Twitter 101" workshop presented by Sandra Fathi, @sandrafathi for the Twitter-savvy.

What I took away from the workshop was invaluable and helped me view Twitter as a tool for the business world. What client wouldn’t want to have their company in a publication that reaches 20 million people globally? That’s one reason to tweet. Some other reasons we discussed during the workshop include: to generate awareness; to seek and create new media opportunities; to foster customer loyalty; to promote products and services; to network with customers; and to monitor trends and breaking news.

The problem is there are some turnoffs and misconceptions. I've heard everything from, “I’m so overwhelmed by email alone, I can’t do anything else” or “the churn rate is so high, it’s just a fad.” Those are completely reasonable worries, but there are solutions. If you can't find the time in your day, how are companies like Southwest, Dominoes, Zappos.com and more all jumping on the Twitter bandwagon? These companies have realized the impact of social media and are allocating either internal or external resources to manage the efforts. Their successes with social media are talked about constantly and have even attracted coverage in traditional media. For those that say, "it's just a fad, Twitter will be forgotten about in a few months," they probably haven't taken the time to try it yet.

I believe everyone is looking for something at all times and when John or Mary is online Googling “thingamajig” and Company X is twittering about their shiny new thingamajigs – a connection is made and everyone gets what they want. You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to figure it out but you do need the initiative to try it.

The bigger issue I noticed is that people are reluctant to change. In the business world, you have to embrace change or your company won’t grow. Technology is constantly evolving and the business world relies on new technology to survive. As a young PR pro, I know I’m light years away from the professionals that "back in the day" used to fax or snail mail press releases to journalists. And I give credit to those pros that today are trying their hand at Twitter or that have Facebook pages (even to their kids’ chagrin).

My mom is a partner at a family-owned real estate company in New Jersey, and despite the tumultuous market conditions, she is taking the initiative to try new online networking tools that most of the professionals in her industry aren’t. With the economy slowly making its way back into the black, it's people in the service industry, like my mom, that don’t sit and wait for business to pick up again, they get out and network either in-person or through social media outlets.

So for those that don’t know how to get started with social media or are too overwhelmed by the thought of it, I say, if my mom can tweet so can you! Take the first step and spread your social media wings. Once you get started, you can count on me to be a follower!

Know Your Mark

One of my friends, Kelly O'Brien, was named a "Top Tech Communicator" by PRSourceCode in 2007 for her acumen in pitching technical stories and exemplary work with journalists.

I was happy for her ...

While at the same time secretly worried that if accolades were given for excellent work there might also be a designation for the opposite and a horror show pitch written by a young Steph Johnson might be lurking in the public domain ready to catapult me into the limelight for “the worst pitch on the planet.”

Last week I had an exchange that made me think about this issue again. I used the phrase "editorial opportunity' in a pitch to editor Alan Z. who had just written a blog about why these two words are like nails on a chalkboard to journalists. I didn’t use the term six times like the schlameil he called out in his post, but it was still a transgression.

Every flack worth their salt knows you never start off a conversation by saying “I’m calling to follow up a press release,” and you better as heck know what the outlet covers before you try and pitch your client’s shiniest widget. Beyond that we now have an arsenal of fantastic tools to make sure we don’t try to sell ice to an Eskimo.

It is our responsibility to take advantage of this data…

Before engaging in a dialogue, PR professionals should follow blog posts, check out tweets, investigate Facebook pages and read multiple articles so we understand the pet topics, axes to grind and basic philosophies of our journalists and can develop some kind of rapport with them.

This is not to suggest that personal knowledge is a substitute for what is crucially important in today’s competitive media environment - a strong story based on solid fact with credible third party endorsements, talking end users and an angle that will compel the readership of a particular outlet. However - and as most club bouncers will tell you - building a relationship is important. It won’t necessarily get your ugly friend past the velvet rope, but it could at least help get her closer to the front door!

When It Rains, It Pours

Ninety-nine point nine percent of us at one point in our lives have felt pressure, whether at work or at home, to get something done on a deadline. What I’ve noticed in my professional career is that some people LOVE pressure – they feed off of it. There is nothing like a reporter calling at 4:45 pm on a Friday with a 5:00 pm deadline wanting a question answered or a fact checked. You have to drop EVERYTHING and make those 15 minutes count! That can be very exciting to some.

On the other hand, when a new business proposal is due and you are still sifting through the RFP the night before and you’re missing the gym class you really wanted to go to, the excitement turns into panic and ultimately stress. Some people work better when the pressure is on and can even turn panic into constructive behavior. For those that have a hard time managing stress, here’s a great article from last month’s Fitness Magazine that helped me - http://www.fitnessmagazine.com/health/body/healthy-toolkit/beat-stress-take-control/

Personally, I don’t like stress. I try to avoid feeling stressed out at all costs. I’ve seen how neurotic behavior leads to pre-panicking and that stresses me out even more! To manage this, I schedule tasks for each hour of my day leaving room for the mini-crises that might pop up. But with all of the pressure to fulfill media requests on deadline, finish press releases, research data, schedule interviews, write memos and think about my next blog post (and that’s just a typical Friday), I better practice what I preach!

P.S. – Sorry about not posting until now, I was trying to meet all of my deadlines!

Social 'Notworks'

First weekend back since my trip to Stuttgart, Germany and a meeting of our international PR partnership organization, ECP Global (www.ecpglobal.com). We met prospective partners from Sweden, The Netherlands and Spain. Interesting side trips to the Mercedes Benz Center of Excellence... medieval towns and gourmet meals.
While digging out from my workload, I was seeking inspiration for what to write about in PR Niblets. Make it serious and write about the challenges of growing our firm during a recession? Detail my foreign travels? Comment on alarming uptick in swine flu cases? How 'bout that Obama?
Inspiration arrived in an e-mail from my former colleague Christine Milligan Mulvehill, now living up in Beantown and working for Mullen PR. It appears that my upcoming birthday -- as revealed to 'insiders' by Plaxo Plus -- was the subject of a blog by Peppercom founder Steve Cody (http://www.repmanblog.com/repman/2009/04/useless.html#comment-captcha).

Steve writes about some of the useless information he is subjected to from Plaxo -- the poster child being my birthday announcement. He has a point. Social networking sites can be totally frivolous or an amazing networking, social or research tool. I'm amazed at how often some of my friends and colleagues "tweet" each day. There are days I have to scramble to find time to hit the bathroom... but there they are... several times an hour.. pointing out some interesting factoid about a disease... a celebrity ... or where they're going to lunch... what they ate... what was discussed... and how much they enjoyed lunch earlier.
Whether you LinkIn, Tweet, catch up with your peeps on MySpace or FaceBook or have Plaxo manage your address book, the 'social notworks' are all the rage. For me, I just want to find out Steve Cody's birthday so I can return the favor.

Practicing PR in Troubled Times … Using Communications to Stave Off the Death Spiral

As Henry mentioned in our first company blog post, we chose to launch our company smack dab in the middle of an economic tsunami. With several clients in the financial services sector, we are approaching communications (ours and theirs) with ample research and plenty of special consideration for the current climate.

The financial markets have never been more volatile. Banks, liquidity venues and broker dealers are all starting to look alike – and sell the same products and services. Mergers and bankruptcies happen every day and the Dow Jones Industrial Average hit its lowest point since 1996 last month.

From a media standpoint, the bar for news has become a pole vault. Each time the North American economy underperforms, it sends spasms through the international markets, making it difficult to get clients in the headlines – unless they are getting indicted!

I am presently working on a whitepaper that examines how financial services firms can effectively practice PR during troubled times. Abandoning your communications campaign is never a good idea – but it’s even more damaging during a bad market. Perception is reality and a company must do everything it can to stay in front of its constituents.

Be thoughtful and proactive in your efforts, make sure you have realistic goals and decide in advance how you are going to measure success. Plan for the long haul and decide how to approach your tactics differently than you would during a boom time. Attend trade shows – but host a hospitality suite with a partner instead of renting out a lavish hotel lobby. Put out press releases - but space them out appropriately and rely heavily on the relationships of your PR counsel for coverage. Conduct analyst tours - but be strategic about who gets an in-person meeting with an expensive flight attached and who gets a phoner.

And, most important of all - don’t expect to see results immediately. It takes a while to steer the Queen Mary with an oar!

The Best of Times...The Worst of Times

It’s April of 2009 and our new firm is just three months old. We launched in the midst of the economic tsunami that has taken hold of the U.S. and rapidly spread through world markets. Clever market timing for a new flavored professional services firm?

In fact, based on the reaction we’re receiving, our timing couldn’t be better.


We have entered an era of accelerated change – not just in our nation’s capital but throughout local and state governments, the financial sector, the automotive industry, the environmental and energy markets and more – indeed change is underway on a global basis and its impact on business is growing increasingly profound.


So, in forming a new breed of public relations firm, we didn’t want to simply recreate past business models. We decided to create a firm rooted in helping our clients grow their businesses, generate revenue and build their brands. To help accomplish that, we’ve surrounded ourselves with a network of partner firms and associates with whom we have been conducting business for decades. Top notch independent PR firms on every continent. Sharp copywriters and designers. Seasoned ad and marketing pros. Corporate finance executives. International trade law firms. Professionals focused on emerging companies and markets. The smartest minds in search engine marketing. And more.


We know we can’t do it all, but our extended network provides our clients with access to resources that can help them attain the velocity and support they need, through traditional marketing disciplines and beyond. For our new venture, and with a nod to Charles Dickens, “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.”