Check Out My Guest Blog at “PR at Sunrise”
The economy understandably makes you interested in talking with any and all potential clients. Just watch out for ghosts.
“Ghosts ” go beyond kicking the tires, feeling you out on strategy and discussing fees. They’re the potential clients who could also be called “time vampires,” as they want to meet often and then have you draw up a full-blown proposal and/or contract. Then they disappear. You literally get no response.
Read the entire piece over at PR at Sunrise.
Kansas City Special Place for Singer Dan Coyle
Dan Coyle
KC A Pivotal Point in Musician’s Career…Performs Nov. 16 at RecordBar–Free CD with Every Ticket
Kansas City has been very good to Dan Coyle, and now the acclaimed singer songwriter Dan Coyle aims to give something back by launching his new CD at RecordBar Tuesday, Nov. 16 at 7 p.m.
Coyle has twice played the KCRiverFest Independence Day Festival in Kansas City as well as other local venues. He had such an enthusiastic welcome from Kansas City audiences that he chose to offer his new CD “You Linger Your Little Hour And Are Gone” free to every ticket holder at his RecordBar appearance Tuesday.
“In 2007, I got my first big break when I played at the Folklore Alliance Conference in Memphis. From there I started to make some fans, got some exposure on some NPR stations. Things went pretty well until early 2009, when my Dad died,” Coyle said.
“I lost some momentum. I wasn’t working until KCRiverFest 2009 got me back on the road.”
“I stayed in close contact with the people from Kansas City and it gave me this sense of hope that there was a need or a want or a market for my kind of music and I needed to get out and do things again. Kansas City gained this little place in my heart from what it did in breaking me loose from the stagnation. It wasn’t a big break in the traditional sense but it got me back where I needed to be. I’m thrilled to be back in KC.”
Tickets are $10 at the door or may be pre-ordered online. Every ticketholder gets a free copy of his new CD. RecordBar is located at 1020 Westport Road in Midtown Kansas City. Call 816-753-5207 for directions or more information. Singer Kevin Hiatt will open the performance.
Coyle recently completed a tour of the Seattle area and is preparing for a European Tour in February.
Coyle’s music has been described by Alexandra McKay of the Prince Street Press as “Bright musicality and sunny inflections almost hide the thoughtful and thought-provoking lyrics that are woven throughout this album. A lo-fi live recording that’s simple without being simplistic, and utterly charming.”
“It’s an acoustic mix of Paul Simon and Bob Dylan, with some soft and hard edges to it.” Coyle said.
Coyle has released five albums to date, including “Random Thoughts and Incomplete Sentences” and “Briar Street: The Acoustic Sessions.” His latest album is scheduled for wide release December 1. He has toured nationally, playing everything from small venues to concert halls to massive festivals.
For more information about Dan Coyle’s music, including his complete tour schedule, song samples, video, interviews, reviews and special offers, visit www.dancoyle.com. Follow him on Twitter @Dan_Coyle and on Facebook.
PR Tip #345
If a public relations firm promises to get you media coverage, they’re probably doing one of two things:
1. Lying (to you and/or themselves).
2. Actually selling you an ad.
Look for another firm that tells you the truth: they will put their skills, contacts and creativity to work to give you a great shot at publicity–but they cannot guarantee anything.
Don’t Be An American Idiot–Talk to the Press
When you’re on the ropes and something good finally breaks your way, you should tell the world about it–especially when the news media are practically begging you to do so.
Case in point, the producers of “the financially shaky musical American Idiot got a huge boost this week as Billie Joe Armstrong, the front man for Green Day who wrote the show’s songs and co-wrote its book, stepped into a key role onstage for eight performances.”
Great–just the shot in the arm they needed–and a real draw for new ticket sales, right? Well, no. Read on (source: Portfolio.com - emphasis mine):
“But one day after Armstrong made his Broadway debut to thunderous applause at the St. James Theater and raves online, something odd happened—neither the producers nor the publicist wanted to talk about the show, it’s finances, the impact Armstrong would have on the its long-term health, or Broadway’s appetite for rock and roll.
The lack of comment is not only puzzling, it’s stupid. It’s akin to Donald Trump refusing to talk after a particularly heated episode of The Apprentice or Steve Jobs demanding to be left alone after sending out a press release announcing a new iPhone. Small-business owners and entrepreneurs take note: Going dark to the media when your product is hot is no way to make friends or keep the “positive” going.
Great advice.
And I say that not as a hater of the musical. Far from it. I saw American Idiot in previews this spring and walked away thinking it was one of the best shows of the last Broadway season.
Yet the producers stonewalled reporters at a time when the anemic musical could use a shot in the arm. Don’t they understand that when the smell of death starts to linger around a Broadway show it usually makes people turn away in droves? The Armstrong boost makes now the time to talk to the media–especially media so obviously disposed to writing a positive story. Instead, the reporter wrote this:
It all made me eager to write about the brilliant move behind getting one third of Green Day to fill in for the actor who normally plays St. Jimmy, who had to take time off to deal with a family matter. But then when I got shot down by the publicist—and, by extension, the producers—I was left only with a set of unanswered questions.
I’m sure they have their reasons, and they may be very good ones–but the fact is they blew a great media opportunity. Keep that in mind when something good happens to your company or organization. Don’t let the opportunity to make a splash with the media slip by.
To put it plainly: don’t be an idiot. Sing when you’re winning.
Huffington Post Blogger Insults PR Professionals
I bill by the hour and will charge extra for being project manager of the Death Star.
It’s a tough line of work, being in Public Relations, what with all the evil we do.
Just ask the blogger at the Huffington Post who blithely portrayed public relations professionals as cynical, evil minions of “the dark side”:
Can you ever trust a PR person? If he’s working pro bono and has only six weeks of unemployment to his name, then the answer is probably.
After Kevin DeSoto , 41, was laid off after a 20-year career in PR and marketing — an industry which is sometimes cynically referred to as “the dark side” — he began using his social media savvy to help others… for free.
Note to blogger: “Can you ever trust a PR person?” Really? You actually wrote that with a straight face?
The story, titled Kevin DeSoto, Former PR Exec, Crosses Over to the Good Side (!) condescendingly compliments Mr DeSoto for his admirable work on behalf of people in need. I suppose that the author of the piece thought that his pro bono work would seem even more admirable if DeSoto’s recent change of fortune had transformed him from a killer of Jedi Knights into a pillar of the Forces of Good.
Yes, I know the “dark side” slam on PR has been around a while, but I’m challenging it anyway. Besides being a lame angle for a story and lazy stereotyping, it’s unfair to public relations professionals. It also cheapens what Mr. DeSoto is doing. To that end, Mr. DeSoto made a good point that was unfortunately met with a backhanded compliment:
Since leaving the corporate world, the former camera marketer says he has focused on “going back to the basics of true, honest PR and marketing,” which may sound oxymoronic but after being “burned” in the corporate world, DeSoto says he is confident his good deeds will pay off some day.
“I struggle with being optimistic about this sometimes, but I have a strong conviction that if you do the right thing, it will pay off some day. Good things can happen when you give your time, skills and resources to help someone with asking for anything in return.”
Most PR professionals I know do pro bono work as a matter of course in our careers, and it doesn’t take a sudden job loss to make that happen. On the whole as a profession we’re not unethical shills for nasty corporations that rape the environment or bilk taxpayers. No, most of us work for non-profits, hospitals, social causes and responsible companies. Yes, by telling our client’s story we help sell products and services–but that makes us a vital part of capitalism, not Lords of the Sith.
There are bad players in every profession–whether it be PR, journalism, law, medicine or even blogging. Tarring everyone with the same “dark side” brush isn’t fair or responsible.
You can trust me on that.
High Fructose PR Problem
The folks at PRWatch.org are concerned about the attempts to change the image of the cheap, subsidy-sweet high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) by changing its name; even comparing the HFCS lobby to the evildoers at Philip Morris and worse, Blackwater:
Philip Morris tried to escape its tarnished reputation by re-branding itself “Altria” and the private military contractor Blackwater tried to ditch its bad image by re-naming itself “Xe.” Now the Corn Refiners Association is taking a tip from these companies and trying to re-brand its much-maligned product, high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS), as “corn sugar.” Consumption of HFCS is at a 20-year low. This might make doctors and nutritionists happy, but it’s bad news for manufacturers of HFCS, who hope to turn the trend around. No longer should we refer to chemical-sounding “high fructose corn syrup,” but instead we should use the fresher, gentler and more natural-sounding term “corn sugar.” HFCS has gotten a reputation as obesity’s public enemy number one, and over-consumption of HFCS and other sweeteners has been linked to a list of chronic health problems. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has not yet approved the name change for food labels, but the corn producers are already working to change public perception of their product. They are running TV ads featuring a down-home family farmer and sweeping shots of nature, and their Web site extolls the virtues of HFCS.
The re-naming could work. In the 1980s, there was an ingredient called “low erucic acid rapeseed oil” which was re-named “canola oil,” and more recently, the FDA permitted prunes to be marketed under the name “dried plums.” In both cases, after the name change, sales of the products increased.
As they say, you can put lipstick on a pig, but it’s still unhealthy, delicious bacon. Dr. Andrew Weil has weighed in:
Instead, in the web age, the name-change petition quickly became an appropriately sticky public relations mess. After just nine days, a Google search for the twin terms “high-fructose corn syrup” and “corn sugar” garnered 143,000 results, and asking social media posters for their own alternate names became a raging meme. I happily joined in, posing the challenge on my Facebook page and Digg profile. Hundreds volunteered tags including “liquid suffering,” “cellulite syrup,” and several that can’t be published in a family website, despite my instruction to avoid profanity.
via Dr. Andrew Weil: Fortunately, ‘Corn Sugar’ Has Become a Sticky PR Mess.
So, PR geniuses, what would you do if the Corn Refiners Association were your client? I think I’d be looking up case studies on New Coke, myself.
