Archive for 'Communications Tools'
From Journo to Flack: Shedding light on the Dark Side
Posted on 02. Apr, 2010 by Creatwood.
In the “battle” contrived in the minds of journalists, there is a good side and a bad side; a light side and a dark side. I’ll leave you to determine what side journalists will claim. This “battle” starts early in the mind of a journalist, usually beginning around the second year of J-school, as they start to obtain a mutant feeling of self-importance and the ego inflates with each byline. Also, at my school, the kids in the Flack track shared the building and classrooms with us. They were typically more attractive, bubblier and seemed to have an overall pleasant disposition, which didn’t bode well with most J-school kids because we were stressed out, cynical elitists — well, most of us were. I know this, because I was/am this. I can’t say I’m not still a journo at heart, but I accept my role as a Flack, and I’m OK with that. I have worked on my disposition as well (see photo below).
I'm trying hard to be more bubbly.
So, when I left the newsroom, I braced myself for the onslaught of jabs and jokes that were sure to come. I wrote the e-mail announcing my transition from journalism to marketing, I gritted my teeth as I hit the send button and closed my eyes and counted waiting for the rest of the newsroom to react. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, — “AH! Dave, you’re joining the DARK SIDE?!” That was the first thing I heard. From there the “joke” just lost humor, and became very real to me. I was in fact joining this dark side, which I wrestled with at first. Of course, there’s no reason to fight it, because then you’re just being a counterproductive, sour bastard. Suck it up, straighten up and do your job well.
I did that, and I soon started to realize the good things that could come from being a good Flack. Journalists do appreciate this, I promise. We might be the butt of their jokes, but at the end of the day, they will appreciate and recognize your hard work and good nature.
You want to know what they won’t appreciate? Here’s a list:
• Pitching a story to them after telling them their competition wouldn’t run it – This is just bad, and it should be obvious to most of you Flacks out there why this is bad. Journos tend to have a rival, or several in their line of work. The local business journal will always consider the daily paper’s business desk their main rivals. It’s not bitter, but it’s about outdoing one another and getting better stories before they do. So if you think you’re going to entice a journo to printing your story by saying your rivals had no interest in it, you need to seriously reconsider your approach. It’s sloppy seconds, and if you pitch it that way a respectable news source will likely not print it. You might get lucky if they’re desperate, but don’t count on it. Instead, don’t mention the fact you pitched it elsewhere. If they ask, say their competition was considering it, but couldn’t devote the time to it. It’s a white lie, but if you’re a person of strong moral character, something tells me you can digest that one.
• Sending an incoherent press release with a lead buried amongst nonsensical gibberish – Most journalists don’t expect you to write a press release the reads like the Wall Street Journal, but for crying out loud, make sense. If you’re pitching a story and you don’t put the best information up top, you’re messing up your chances of a journo taking the time to read it. In my mind, if you know you want to be in PR, you should go to J-school and learn everything about organized writing, news-gathering and relevant news. Think like a journalist. It might be slightly depressing and ultra-realistic to the point where society makes you paranoid, but it’s a great way to improve your press release success. Also, if you can’t bother to spell check your document, there is a room full of journalists either mocking you or cursing the education system that taught you.
I’ll save my other tips for next week, and the weeks to come. And I don’t mean to come down hard on Flacks. There really are good Flacks out there, and some that I’ve become rather close with and trusted as a journo. But there are a lot of mistakes to be made when dealing with media, so if you stick with me and listen up, you might just get a bit of advice that can help you improve your PR approach.
Dave Strupp
Creatwood Communications
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What To Expect: Bylined Articles
Posted on 17. Mar, 2010 by Creatwood.
Every Wednesday, I’d like to write about what clients can expect from different services a PR firm can offer. Hopefully, this insight will give you a better understanding of the different components of PR, and also to help you realize just how valuable some of them can really be for your company.
For the first installation of this running theme, I’d like to talk about what you can expect from a byline article. First, let me explain what a byline article is. Obviously, it’s an article with your byline on it that the PR firm has created on your behalf. These articles can be submitted to many different online and print publications, especially trade pubs and magazines.
It might seem like a dishonest thing to do, but that’s only if you do it dishonestly and don’t contribute much to the article and instead let the PR consultant do research and write an article on your behalf. That’s irresponsible of the client, and dangerous if the consultant isn’t familiar with the topic.
The whole point of the article is to get your name out there as an expert on a particular topic to a targeted audience. Obviously you’re going to be providing a vast majority of the information, but it’s likely that the PR consultant will be handling a great deal, if not all, of the writing. This process will take a good bit of brainstorming and collaboration, but the more preparation the client and consultant are able to do, the better the article.
Once the article is created and you have the good fortune of getting it published, there obviously needs to be a bit more promotion of the article. Of course you’ll reach that targeted readership of the publication the article appears in, but it wouldn’t hurt to promote the article as well. This is when you can toot your own horn and show people you are the expert they want to have speaking at their next engagement, or providing them consultation on their next business venture. It will also aid your reputation among media as a reliable source on a subject.
Byline articles really are one of the best ways to posture yourself as an expert. But, in saying that, it does help to be fairly knowledgeable on the subject. You’ll be hard pressed to find much good fortune coming from an article that you and a PR consultant have scrapped together and punted to an array of different publications. That is not the kind of byline article that does any one much good.
So, plan it out, collaborate with the PR consultant and be certain you know exactly who you’re hoping to reach. From their, your PR consultant will be able to create an article that will do you proud.
–DS
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Metrics to monitor in social media
Posted on 24. Feb, 2010 by Creatwood.
It’s always easier to explain the value in something when it’s quantifiable. Such is true for social media, especially when you are a PR firm building a social media policy for a client.
A recent story out of the online publication, Social Times, lists 10 different metrics a company should monitor when determining the ROI. The staggering statistic found in this article is that more than 80 percent of professionals don’t measure ROI for their company’s social media programs. This is something that must be done, especially when your clients come asking about all the cash they dropped on you to give them a good seat on the social media express.
The story initially lists the top three metrics found in a survey by Marketing Sherpa that companies typically use: 1) Visitors and sources of traffic; 2) Network size (followers, fans, members); and 3) Quantity of commentary about brand or product.
These metrics, while important, aren’t telling the whole story about a company’s social media impact. Check out the article in Social Times to learn up on how to track ROI for your client’s social media.
– DS –
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10 PR tools to be thankful for
Posted on 25. Nov, 2009 by Creatwood.
This holiday season, when someone turns to you and asks, “What are you thankful for?” Don’t forget to recognize all those tools, blogs and Web sites that make your life as a PR professional much easier. Here are 10 easy-to-use tools that will surely give you something to be thankful for at work.
1. E-mail marketing services. E-services such as iContact, Constant Contact, Boomerang and many others allow you to easily create and send out e-newsletters, e-mail cascades and other electronic promotional materials. You can also build a listserv of contacts for each type of communication you want to send out. Some of these services even allow you to track clicks and create analytics charts so you can see which communications have worked and which have not. Best of all, each allows you to sign up for a free trial to test them out.
iContact
Constant Contact
Boomerang
2. Basecamp. This organizational software helps businesses of all sizes to organize projects, delegate tasks and keep track of accomplishments. World-class companies like Adidas, Warner Brothers and Patagonia use this software to keep their companies on track. Basecamp allows you to create to-do lists, assign tasks to individual employees, track time, and chat about projects. Software like this helps companies avoid repeating tasks and overlapping past accomplishments.
3. Networked Blogs. If you are on Facebook – and as a PR professional, you should be – and you follow or write for blogs, you can create an automatic feed to your Facebook profile. With Networked Blogs, you can add a tab on your profile that allows your Facebook friends to see which blogs you follow and which ones you write. This app will also add recent posts right to your news feed, so your friends can see what you’ve written lately.
4. Hubspot. If you have control of or access to your company’s Web site, Hubspot Internet software will help you to edit your site’s pages, add images, enhance search engine optimization, and upload your blog posts to your social media accounts. It also allows you to monitor social media conversations pertaining to your industry so you can add to the discussions. Hubspot is extremely user friendly and will walk you through the best ways to optimize each of your Web pages.
5. Mashable. Mashable is your go-to guide for all that is social media. This site has the latest news and trends for the online PR professional. Posts address issues across all industries and point PR pros in the direction of what’s new and helpful in communications.
6. HARO. “Help A Reporter Out” is a free e-mail service delivered up to three times daily by Peter Shankman, an author, speaker and entrepreneur. The e-mails contain several dozen queries made by journalists nationwide looking for sources for stories. The e-mails are not only helpful for PR people looking for media outlets, but the body of each message is full of fun trends and business news.
7. Free Press Releases. This site is great for submitting press releases for mass distribution – and you can do it for free. Once you sign up, you can review press releases sent in by other companies and submit your own. Your news will now be available for pickup all across the Internet.
8. Google Alerts. If you have a small staff or just limited time and resources in your PR department, Google Alerts will help you take time away from searching for media hits. One of the most tedious things a PR professional has to do is search for published client news, so why not have someone else do it for you – and for free? By signing up for Google Alerts, you can enter specific search names into an ongoing database, and you will receive a quick e-mail each time your client appears in the media.
9. Alltop. Alltop allows you to see “all the top stories” that have been published on a certain topic. For example, if you have a client who is in healthcare, you can look up all recent stories written on almost any health topic imaginable. This site can help you see what’s being talked about so you can figure out fresh new angles to pitch to the media about your clients.
10. Ragan.com. For communication news, hot topics, trends and ideas, Ragan.com is a great site to see what other professionals in the communications industry are doing that is working and that isn’t working. For questions or ideas on almost every aspect of communications, you can visit Ragan for some insight.