Archive for 'Industry'
What To Expect: Community Newspapers
Posted on 31. Mar, 2010 by Creatwood.
We’ve all seen them. Sometimes they’re laid out nicely in a doctors office, stuffed in the book bags of your child, sitting in racks at your local diner, or crumpled up on the driveway having sat there for weeks.
But no matter what you think about Community Newspapers, they are a useful way to get your message and story out to a hyper-local audience. Don’t scoff at me. I know some of you are. But believe me when I say there is a good audience reading these publications, and that’s apparent because there are so many of them around. People read these publications because it’s full of relatable content. They want to know what’s going on in their neighborhood and they want to see their peers, friends and neighbors in the pages.
I’ve actually seen clients put the kibosh on the mention of sending press releases to community papers, or local trade pubs. I can understand why they would say this, because they consider these pubs to be bathroom readers, or casualties of the driveway after no one picks it up for a week. But what they fail to realize is even though they might not read these pubs themselves, there are plenty of others that do.
Not everyone leaves them out to dry...
So instead of considering an advertisement in these pages, send them press releases and bylined articles. These are the places where you are more likely to get a story printed, and the people reading them are usually your neighbors in the area. It’s an easy way to drive more traffic to your business. And that’s the whole reason we do public relations. Start thinking about what community pubs you want to appear in, and talk to your PR consultant about it.
And if your PR consultant scoffs at it, you know they are the ones who leave those things sitting in the driveway for weeks.
Dave Strupp
Creatwood Communications
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From Journo to Flack: The Transition
Posted on 26. Mar, 2010 by Creatwood.
This is my personal account of going from journalism into public relations. These are my personal views and experiences, so don’t get too hung up on the cynicism. That’s just me…
It’s not uncommon to see a journalist make the switch to PR. The benefits are obvious: better money, better hours, better work environment and a different kind of stress. I won’t say less stress, but I can say the kind of stress one experiences in journalism can make you want to head butt a Mac truck at top speed. I know this, because I came from the newsroom.
Yes, several years ago I decided to take the plunge into PR, leaving behind the womb that was the newsroom. I grappled with the idea of making the switch for so long, but I can recall early on as a young reporter I made some kind of vow to never join the ranks of PR. I would not become a FLACK! (And yes, sorry to inform you other PR professionals, but that is how you are referred to be journalists. It’s not necessarily derogatory, unless you suck at your job. Then it’s probably more personal because that means you waste a journalists time, and that is something they value. But yes, Flacks we are, and Flacks we shall be).
I left the newsroom for what was technically a “marketing” job, but my colleagues disregarded my title and labeled me a Flack. No matter how hotly I protested that I was not one of “THEM,” I was still considered to be a soldier on the side of PR, which is true, in hindsight. In doing so, I’m sure I lost some sort of bet I placed on a hazy after hours gathering of the newsroom. Hopefully nobody surfaces with evidence that I said I’d shave my head or something extreme for doing so.
The transition was difficult. The first thing I missed was the bond of a newsroom. You’d be hard pressed to find a closer bunch of coworkers than in a good newsroom. You don’t have that in PR because it’s more of a selfish endeavor, which sounds negative, but it’s true. I also missed the loose conversation that happened in a newsroom. It wasn’t uncommon for each staff member to go several rounds, ripping into a local politician or person of interest, or to discuss our latest reader comments and potential lawsuits. There’s a bond there, and I miss it to this day.
But slowly, over the span of several months, I started to get behind the cause of my work, which was to promote my company and all of the good things we did for people. I started to see some of the perks, and I realized how nice it was to go home at night and not have that rock in your stomach caused by deadline anxiety or performance reviews. I was pretty happy in my new venture, and it seemed my work/life balance was on point.
I missed writing though, and I still do to this day. There’s not another experience out there equivalent to the rush you get from filing a really good story. Complements from readers are great, but complements from your peers are much more valuable. We don’t get to see that in PR.
So now here I sit, several years removed from journalism. I toe the line on the battlefield for the “other side.” But I’m OK with that. Actually, I’m glad I did it. The experience of being a reporter is something I will not only cherish, but will utilize in my daily work. I learned so many things about PR just from being on the other side and watching. I got to see what works, and there were plenty of times as a reporter when a Flack saved my ass on deadline or gave me an epic story. Of course, there are a lot of bad Flacks out there. In fact, here’s a brief list of things you should NEVER DO as a Flack:
- E-mail a reporter a press release then follow up with a phone call before they even receive the e-mail. I’ve seen Flacks get black-listed for doing this. It wastes time, both yours and the reporter, and you will get the label of being an obnoxious person. Stop this. Stop it now
- Insist a story belongs somewhere it has no business being. That will most certainly label you as an incompetent fool who doesn’t read the paper your pitching too, or who doesn’t understand how journalism works. A lot of interns make this mistake. Just because you have a press release with a dollar sign in it does not make it front-page material for a business journal.
- Take control of a reporter’s interview with your client. This is actually grounds for fisticuffs. OK, not really. But there are few acts more disrespectful to a reporter than to interrupt a reporter’s line of questions to ask your own, even if you think your question will make the story better. Put your ego aside for the moment. I promise you the reporter’s ego is bigger and it will be damaged if you do this. Write it down, and suggest the information once the reporter has finished.
I’ll leave the rest for future posts about this, and trust me when I say I have plenty of advice on what not to do.
I’m a Flack now, so I’ve started to embrace it. I want to be a good one, and I want to make others better, or at least more understanding of the role and plight of a journalist and how you can be more effective at handling certain situations with them. It’s a symbiotic relationship a lot of the time, so when you can, make it an easy experience for them.
OK, I’ve rambled enough for this Friday’s edition. But keep your eyes open for more on this series, From Journo to Flack….
From Journo to Flack
Dave Strupp
Creatwood Communications
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Keep your PR consultant close and informed
Posted on 22. Mar, 2010 by Creatwood.
I don’t like to generalize, but it seems when most people think of PR, their minds go immediately to press releases and newspaper clippings. Yes, that’s a big part of it, but PR does not solely equate to media relations. Long ago, somebody asked me, “What is PR, really?” I have to admit, my answer then didn’t roll off the tongue as well as I’d hoped, and in the end I didn’t capture the essence of what I was trying to say. But, he did. He said, “Let’s be honest — PR is basically networking.”
It makes sense. A PR consultant is someone who will be looking out for opportunities to spread your company’s information around to the right audiences. Sometimes those audiences are massive, and other times it could be a single person. As a PR consultant, it is always going to be my job to stay plugged in to what my client’s needs are, and by doing so I will be able to recognize good opportunities as they’re presented. Most of the time, these will be opportunities that affect my client’s bottom line. But there are other opportunities that might be more of a personal matter for my client — something a bit more extracurricular that they find interesting and would like to know more about.We’ve helped out clients connect with churches and other community organizations aligned with their interests, and we did that by getting to know them on a personal level. We’ve helped them with personal business matters by connecting them with the right resources. We do that by understanding who they are and what they need.
You should expect to have a strong relationship with your PR consultant, almost like you would with your lawyer or CPA. You should always keep your PR consultant in mind when making business decisions, and get a fresh perspective on how things might turn out for you. In turn, your PR consultant will know more about you and will be an agent for your interests with an ear to the street and an eye for detail.