Those following the blogosphere scuttlebutt this week over news embargos may be interested to know that slimy agent tactics are not unique to PR. In fact, the same mishegoss showed up this week in the stab-you-in-the-back-for-a-few-extra-dollars world of MLB. Not that any of it matters. Lousy PR people will continue to run amok. Insecure reporters will continue to have their feelings hurt. Oblivious vendors will continue shrugging their shoulders. Yawn. We’re all in business to sell, as Denis Pombriant once reminded me, so let’s not make a big deal of it.
Two items from the aforementioned discussion did catch my eye, however:
1.) There is far too little training for PR people. Young whippersnappers are immediately cast into the PR fire, with a ‘senior’ executive who’s been doing the job 10 minutes longer than them breathing down their neck, while they get flamed by angry reporters and drilled by clients. PR should be like professional sports: except in rare cases when a rookie is obviously special, he or she should sit on the bench for at least one season and very little should be expected of them for quite a while. During this time they can practice and learn their trade without risking reputations, including their own and that of their agency and clients. Sure it costs the agency a bit on the front end, but all parties make out better in the long run.
2.) If you’re an early stage software vendor paying $10K - $30K monthly for PR, please smack yourself in the head. In the spirit of the holiday, let’s all make a resolution that we will not overpay for PR services simply because we have the money to do so. The world is filled with bright, hard-working, experienced independent PR people who charge way less than $10K per month and deliver far more value—since, as we know, PR agencies usually appoint their junior staffers to do the most meaningful work on client business. Even better than saving big bucks, the benefit of working with a good PR contractor is the focus you will achieve in your PR program. The best contractors eliminate fluff and waste—think 20-page briefing books, useless conference calls and wordy activity reports—and focus on aligning your PR goals with achievable strategies that deliver maximum value for the least-possible cost. And how do I know this is possible? Because that’s how Tool Guy PR has been rolling and growing for nearly seven years!
Friday, December 19, 2008
Thursday, November 29, 2007
Customer References
Every PR person knows the importance of customer references to media relations. Clients get this, too. The challenge, of course, is convincing customers to participate.
Twice last week I was faced with this dilemma. In one instance, a customer backed out of a bylined article opportunity--after the article had been written and long after the editor had agreed to run the story. The second case involved a customer who was willing to participate in a press release, but only after it had been significantly watered-down.
Why the push-back? Customers typically lay blame on company protocols that preclude vendor endorsements, but that's a flawed argument. Business user voices always trump those in corporate communications, and are at least as strong as those in legal.
The key to overcoming this obstacle is to persaude your business user customer to challenge the vendor endorsement protocol: Does an article or press release acknowledging use of a product count as an endorsement?
Most companies are worried that a vendor endorsement will come back to bite them, but those cases are few and far between. In fact, customer references are a great way to demonstrate just how innovative or successful a company really is. And that has far more upside potential than a stodgy old company protocol.
Twice last week I was faced with this dilemma. In one instance, a customer backed out of a bylined article opportunity--after the article had been written and long after the editor had agreed to run the story. The second case involved a customer who was willing to participate in a press release, but only after it had been significantly watered-down.
Why the push-back? Customers typically lay blame on company protocols that preclude vendor endorsements, but that's a flawed argument. Business user voices always trump those in corporate communications, and are at least as strong as those in legal.
The key to overcoming this obstacle is to persaude your business user customer to challenge the vendor endorsement protocol: Does an article or press release acknowledging use of a product count as an endorsement?
Most companies are worried that a vendor endorsement will come back to bite them, but those cases are few and far between. In fact, customer references are a great way to demonstrate just how innovative or successful a company really is. And that has far more upside potential than a stodgy old company protocol.
Monday, November 19, 2007
Inaugural post
Welcome to the inaugural Tool Guy PR post, and what I expect will be the first of many entries related to the world of high-tech public relations.
As this week is short and time is limited, I'll keep today's post brief. I was thoroughly frustrated this morning in my attempt to contact anyone in the editorial department at Baseline magazine. Automation hell does not even begin to describe it.
But rather than point a finger at Baseline for having the world's worst phone system, I'll just make a plea to magazine web sites in general that more direct-dial reporter/editor contact information be published.
All PR professionals know journalists prefer not to receive phone calls, but on the other hand, reporters/editors don't answer the calls they get anyway, so what really is the difference?
At least if web sites offered direct-dial numbers, then PR persons with legitimate pitches could make their best effort. I have no doubt the pubs themselves could save big money by eliminating useless dial-by-name systems.
As this week is short and time is limited, I'll keep today's post brief. I was thoroughly frustrated this morning in my attempt to contact anyone in the editorial department at Baseline magazine. Automation hell does not even begin to describe it.
But rather than point a finger at Baseline for having the world's worst phone system, I'll just make a plea to magazine web sites in general that more direct-dial reporter/editor contact information be published.
All PR professionals know journalists prefer not to receive phone calls, but on the other hand, reporters/editors don't answer the calls they get anyway, so what really is the difference?
At least if web sites offered direct-dial numbers, then PR persons with legitimate pitches could make their best effort. I have no doubt the pubs themselves could save big money by eliminating useless dial-by-name systems.
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