Well, At Least I Have a Clean Shirt.
Tom Rath: I don’t know anything about public relations.
Bill Hawthorne: Who does? You’ve got a clean shirt and you bathe everyday. That’s all there is to it.
In the “Man in the Grey Flannel Suit,” Gregory Peck’s character is essentially told that having a “clean shirt” is the most necessary asset for working in PR. (Sorry the clip has been taken down from YouTube.) Contrary to the opinion espoused in this great film, Public Relations is more than just a clean shirt and bathing regularly (though it helps). Public relations is a profession that ethically identifies, develops and creates strategies to communicate the key messages of the client.
If you’re in business or have an organization that depends on engagement with others, then you have a message; whether it’s about a product, service, organization or cause. You also have thousands of potential avenues to deliver that message: television channels, radio stations, blogs, micro-blogs, podcasts and publications.
A Public Relations professional should have the strategic and tactical experience to tailor your message and identify the right channel for the best possible impact–ethically and tastefully.
We’re curious about your impressions of Public Relations–as a profession or its practitioners. We’re under no illusions that you have a 100% positive impression of Public Relations. Frankly, we’ve seen plenty of people who have no business being in PR. That’s why we work hard to earn your respect and demonstrate the positive aspects of Public Relations. To be candid, we in the Public Relations profession need to be better at spreading our own message…at telling our own story.
We think a conversation between people outside the profession and those of us working to make it better is a good start.
So, leave us your comments–let us know what you think about “PR”: the good, the bad and the ugly.
Use the Tools–Don’t Let the Tools Use You
The numerous online and social media tools vying for attention are enough to give some small business owners an anxiety attack.
Case in po
int, I met with a prospective client last week, and she was a little worked up after attending a class led by a social media expert. Apparently the expert had the class pretty amped about using social networking tools right this minute. My prospective client fired off several questions at me, including:
“Facebook? I use that, yes. My blog–working on it. LinkedIn? How important is that? Twitter? MySpace–is that still around? What about using Foursquare–is that important?”
Foursquare really stuck out–the expert apparently said “You better be using Foursquare or you’ll get left behind!” (Or something to that effect).
For the uninitiated, here’s what Foursquare is:
Foursquare is a location-based mobile platform that makes cities easier to use and more interesting to explore. By “checking in” via a smartphone app or SMS, users share their location with friends while collecting points and virtual badges. Foursquare guides real-world experiences by allowing users to bookmark information about venues that they want to visit and surfacing relevant suggestions about nearby venues. Merchants and brands leverage the foursquare platform by utilizing a wide set of tools to obtain, engage, and retain customers and audiences.
It obviously has its uses–particularly for businesses that wish to increase foot traffic. Personally, I think it’s right up there with doing my mileage report–tedious. I don’t use it also because it’s just one more thing I don’t have time to do well–and I have my doubts that even doing it well will do me any good at all. That aside, it also has a potentially dangerous aspect, as this article in Time magazine highlights:
Think before you tweet. You might not be aware of how much information you’re revealing.
That’s the message from the founders of Please Rob Me, a website launched on Tuesday that illustrates just how easy it is to rob people blind on the basis of the information they’re posting on the Web. The site uses streams of data from Foursquare, an increasingly popular location-based social network that is based on a game-like premise. Players use smart phones or laptops to “check in” to a location, recording their position on a map for friends using the service to see. The more often you check in, the better your chances of being declared the mayor of a particular location, be it a restaurant, bar, office or even your own home.
The problem comes when users also post these locations to Twitter, says Boy van Amstel, one of the founders of Please Rob Me. Then the information becomes publicly available, making it theoretically possible for a robber (or anyone else) to keep tabs on when you say you’re in your home or not.
“We saw people checking in at their home addresses, or even worse, those of their friends and family,” van Amstel says. “Which we just thought was very wrong.”
My prospective client said she didn’t want to broadcast her location to the internet for just those very reasons, and I don’t blame her. What concerned me was she that was told–or it was strongly implied–that she needed to be an avid user of such tools in order to succeed.
That said, I told my prospective client to step away from the computer and put down her smartphone for a minute.
“All these things you mentioned are tools. Use the tools that you need–don’t let the tools use you.”
And there it was. She looked relieved!
Of course. Your car may have heated seats, but you don’t use them in the summer, right? You may have access to an air wrench, but you probably don’t use it to tighten a bolt on your kid’s bicycle. You could buy a full page ad in a newspaper about hiring a new account exec, but a notice on your company website is probably all that’s necessary. It’s about being sensible and practical with your resources and time.
Tools like Foursuare, Facebook, LinkedIn and your blog are tools that certainly have their uses to grow and enhance your business–if used correctly, sensibly and as proscribed. If you’re a person who makes a living driving long distances by yourself, “checking in” and tweeting your locations may not be a good idea. Your empty house could get robbed or worse, you could get into some trouble with ne’er do wells on the road.
A less dire consequence of using tools simply because you can is that it will certainly “rob” you of your time and you probably won’t use them effectively. I’ve covered that ground before in another post about having a blog and making it an asset rather than a chore. I’ve also recommended three relatively easy things you can do to get your business noticed.
People are very excited about social media and online tools as ways for even the smallest business to compete. That’s great.
But you have to keep your feet on the ground and remember that with a finite amount of time, energy and focus, you should choose to use tools that enhance your image, product or service. Don’t get so enamored with the latest “hot” online thing that you lose sight of your goal.
Or, to put it in a way my pre-internet grandfather would appreciate: don’t let the tail wag the dog.
UPDATE: Just found a great article here on cell phones “unleashing our inner rudeness” that has a quote from the first man to make a cell phone call back in 1973–it really resonates with the theme of this post (bold emphasis mine):
“You should not be a slave to your telephone,” he said. “The technology is there to serve you, not the other way around. If the technology is not making your life better — if it is robbing you of experiences in the real world that you would otherwise be enjoying — then you are working for it, when it should be working for you.”
Three Easy Ways to Get Your Business Noticed
I’m not a big list maker and definitely not the only one who’s pretty sick of the “Top Three This” or the “Ten Things That” type of blog posts. However, just like ordering “Combo Meal #3″ is faster than saying “I’ll have a single cheese, chili instead of fries, medium Sprite and hold the fingertip,” I’ll break my own rule and offer three easy (once you get the hang of it) things you can do to get your business noticed.
Before I commence, I should add that these three suggestions aren’t one size fits all. Your business may not benefit from all, some or any of these three things. If that is the case, well, sorry–but at least it’s only a list of three rather than ten and I only wasted a third of your time by comparison.
1. Blog. Yep. Blog. As in Weblog. You’re reading one now. But don’t set one up and then never write in it. You need to blog everyday–okay at least every business day. I try to blog everyday (don’t always, but I try). If I do a weekend post, I try to make it a little lighter–as in more fun than a weekday post which for some reason I feel has to be more serious. Write about what you know and how it effects your business or clients/customers. If you’re a Realtor, talk about what’s going on in your sales territory. My buddy Mary Hutchison excels at this on her blog. She’s like (hell, she is) a reporter–blogging about neighborhood association meetings, school happenings, etc. She even does restaurant reviews! People know that Mary knows her stuff, and that gets her noticed. Note: if you aren’t going to blog often, don’t blog at all. Nothing worse than a blog tab on your site with precisely two entries, like it’s some abandoned car you left on the side of the information superhighway.
2. Social Media. Specifically, Twitter. I know, I know. I thought it was all bullshit myself only a short time ago. (Please spare me the “It’s people telling you what they had for lunch.” It isn’t.) If you do it right, it pays dividends in many ways. How do you do it right? First, follow people who are ethical and good at it. Like my pal Shelly Kramer or the Orange Sock King himself, Mike Brown. They don’t just broadcast or sell. They interact in a positive way. They form communities that share information and encouragement. They’re human. And kinda funny (looking.) Kidding. They are funny and informative and you should follow them and their example. As in #1, if you don’t intend to stick with it and contribute, don’t do it. It’s worse to have a Twitter account that sits idle than it is to go without. (Also instructional is Redhead Writing–she drills down deeper into whether you should be on Twitter or not here.)
3. Do Good. Do the right thing, even when nobody’s looking. I assure you that even if you don’t get caught doing the right thing. eventually somebody’s going to notice. Maybe you’ll hire a PR guy who knows how to get your good deeds front and center without being obnoxious (ahem). Or just maybe somebody will read about it in a modest, humble post on your blog (see #1). Perhaps they will Tweet about it (see #2) and you will become an international sensation. Getting noticed often comes with doing good. Ask these guys. (And okay, if nobody finds out but you and your employees or family, what have you lost?)
That’s my three. I confess that none of this stuff is “easy” right off the bat. It takes effort. But anything worthwhile does, right? Now get out there and get noticed. If you need a PR firm to help, you can find us right here, trying to do good. Or on Twitter. Whichever.
The aRT of the RT: Enthusiasm Levels
Mike Brown has nice handwriting. RT that.
I often meet my friend Mike Brown, the guru over at the Brainzooming Group, for coffee. Actually, Mike doesn’t drink coffee and cannot abide a place that smells like coffee, yet somehow we manage to meet at a local coffee spot every now and again to talk business, collaboration, creativity and the absurdities of life in general.
Speaking of absurdities, Mike is pretty active on Twitter (as am I) and a while back we were discussing the Art of the Retweet, or “RT” as it’s known on Twitter. If you’re into Twitter, you know that when you see something pretty cool that might be of interest to your Tweeps (readers, followers, etc.) you “retweet” it.
Example:
RT: @PRWeekUS Poll: Did Ricky Gervais misrepresent the Golden Globes as a host? http://www.prweekus.com/online-polls/section/990/
RT @MEAndersFit Looking at Pilate’s Cross by J. Alexander Greenwood @A_Greenwood at #smashwords http://smashwords.com/b/6806 Cannot wait to read this book! <This rocks! Thanks!>
RT @Brainzooming Blogging Challenges? Ideas for When You Find Blogging Difficult http://bit.ly/hLCaHJ #blogging #sm #writing #creativity <snarky>
Season’s Greetings & Best Wishes for the New Year
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Direct (E)Mail #Fail
They Didn't Have a Photo of Spam Fail.
Had to share. Besides the fact that it’s spam (and how the heck did it make it through my filter?), can you tell me all the things wrong with it? (Yes, I’m being a Scroogey Snark, but really–if you are going to be a spammer, at least get the fundamentals right….and yes, it is apparent English is not their first language, but still.)
{mail_to_name}
Hi Thanks for your time and we are here to offer the best service for you ,for the coming Christmas . Here you can find what you want,like cellphones ,laptops ,TV,LED. Although low price ,high quality! All of the products are brand new and original,you can enjoy a very good shopping from here . And now free shipping as a promotion for all of you except motorbikes!Hope we can have a nice cooperation! Have a look at www.###.com，Thanks in advance{mail_from_name}
Listening In the Internet ‘Hallway’
Photo credit: www.trueforcedloneliness.com/
Received some nice amplification of my recent interview with the Spiral16 blog:
You’re going to be hearing more about this as we get further into the social media age, but Alex Greenwood outlines the case for monitoring social media as a means of growing a business or other organization and protecting its interests. Isn’t that what PR is about?
[...]
Alex Greenwood likens social media monitoring to being out in the hallway, say, the Internet, listening to the talk there. How do you know your organization’s name will come up? You don’t until it does, or a reporter calls. But even if your organization doesn’t come up for a while, the names of competitors, or the emergence of new business conditions, will be generating buzz. If you’re listening, you’ll be gaining valuable new business intelligence.
“Companies and organizations that monitor the social media space today – and use the data to address problems and opportunities –are years ahead of the game,” Greenwood believes. “Aha,” he adds, “a competitive edge. Who doesn’t like that?”
Read more at: Listening In the Internet ‘Hallway’ | Flack Me.
When Improvisation Is Not An Option
Teamwork is the only way to go.
There’s a lot of talk of “rugged individualism” these days–of making it on your own or being a “maverick” (or branding yourself as one. See: Palin, Sarah).
I’ve noticed this tendency in myself–I’m not much of a joiner. That isn’t to say I haven’t been that proverbial “good team player;” just that I trust my instincts and find solitary pursuits (writing, running a business, hiking, watching Zombi 2 every October) fulfilling and stimulating.
However, there comes a time when going it alone–or improvising– are not only not the best options–but not options at all.
The legendary first man on the Moon himself, Neil Armstrong spoke about the need for teamwork on his historic mission in a letter to NPR’s Robert Krulwich:
I talked about Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin’s walk across the lunar surface back in 1969 and wondered, how come they walked such a modest distance? Less than a hundred yards from their lander?
Today Neil Armstrong wrote in to say, here are the reasons:
- It was really, really hot on the moon, 200 degrees Fahrenheit. We needed protection.
- We were wearing new-fangled, water-cooled uniforms and didn’t know how long the coolant would last.
- We didn’t know how far we could go in our space suits.
- NASA wanted us to conduct our experiments in front of a fixed camera.
But basically, he says, we were part of a team and we were team players on a perilous, one-of-a-kind journey. Improvisation was not really an option. (emphasis mine)
Sure, you’re probably not landing on another planet as part of your business, but you are doing things everyday that effect the profitability of your company.
Part of my hesitance to be a team guy probably stems from my early career as a journalist. Reporters aren’t team players–at least they weren’t in the newsrooms I haunted. When I moved from journalism to PR, my early jobs were at companies where I was basically a one-man shop. That changed as my career progressed, but old habits die hard. Even when I had staff and team members to work with I had a tough time letting go of some things. That may also have had something to do with my ego, too.
Though I now run a truly one-man shop, I’ve learned to call upon strategic partners who can do some things better than me. I want my clients to not only get the results of the best job I can do, but I want them to get the best results possible. Period.
Ask yourself: does your learned behavior, ego or even insecurity prevent you from being a team player when it counts? Make sure when you make that one small step for (a) man…well, you get the idea.
Framing the Issue: One Political Party Stinks At It
Framing is normal; we think in frames.
Anybody who knows anything about framing social and political issues knows the name George Lakoff. I first encountered the esteemed linguistics professor by way of his seminal book on framing Don’t Think of an Elephant! when I was involved in politics.
It’s described as “the definitive handbook for understanding what happened in the 2004 election and communicating effectively about key issues facing America today…Lakoff explains how conservatives think, and how to counter their arguments. He outlines in detail the traditional American values that progressives hold, but are often unable to articulate. Lakoff also breaks down the ways in which conservatives have framed the issues, and provides examples of how progressives can reframe the debate.”
Lakoff’s framing philosophy is right on so many levels, though it’s apparent the Democrats don’t do a lot of listening to him these days. For example, their abysmal framing of the tax issue:
Let’s start with an example, the slogan “No tax cuts for millionaires.” First, “no.” As I have repeatedly pointed out, negating a frame activates the frame in the brains of listeners, as when Christine O’Donnell said “I am not a witch” or Nixon said “I am not a crook.” Putting “no” first activates the idea “Tax cuts for millionaires.”
Next, “millionaires.” Think of the tv show, “So you want to be a millionaire” or the movies “Slumdog Millionaire” and “How to Marry a Millionaire.” To most Americans, being a millionaire is a good thing to aspire to.
Then, there is “tax.” To progressives, taxes are forms of revenue allowing the government to do what is necessary for Americans as a whole — unemployment insurance, social security, health care, education, food safety, environmental improvements, infrastructure building and maintenance, and so on.
But the conservative message machine, over the past 30 years, has come to own the word “tax.” They have changed its meaning to most Americans. They have been able to make “tax” mean “money the government takes out of the pockets of people who have earned it in order to give it to people who haven’t earned it and don’t deserve it.” Thus, “tax relief” assumes that taxation is an affliction to be cured, and a “tax cut” is a good thing in general. Hence, conservatives make the argument, “No one should have their taxes raised.”
The conservative slogan activates the conservative view of taxes. But the progressive slogan “No tax cuts for millionaires” also activates the conservative view of taxes! The progressives are helping the conservatives.
Right or wrong, the conservatives have done a masterful job of framing this issue (and many others). And here’s the kicker, donkeys: Lakoff doesn’t think Dems are wired to change this.
The conservatives have a superior message machine: Dozens of think tanks with communications facilities, framing experts, training institutes, a national roster of speakers, booking agents to books their speakers in the media and civic groups, and owned medias like Fox News and a great deal of talk radio. Their audience will hear, over and over, “No one should have their taxes raised.”
There is no comparable progressive message machine. But even if one were to be built, the Democrats might still be using messages that are either ineffective or that help the conservatives.
Lakoff further explains that everything from education to moral beliefs are to blame for the superiority of the conservative message machine. (Read the article here for his compelling thoughts on the subject.) The takeaway is that your messaging has to be well-considered, logical and created with the conventional wisdom and thinking of your audience at the forefront.
I once worked in public television. As you probably know, public TV is in a perpetual state of war with those who want it to go away. The issue has been framed by opponents that public television is no longer necessary because of the range of educational programming on cable channels. Another argument is that it should get by without government assistance and let the invisible hand of the market determine its rise or fall. I’ll overlook political motivations that are also behind some of this and take these arguments at face value.
My frame of the issue is that cable television (unlike public TV) is advertiser-driven and the educational value of the programming isn’t the top priority (besides the fact that not everyone can or wants to pay for cable). Also, in many markets, the public TV station is the only one that’s effectively responsive to the needs and issues of citizens–it’s the only “locally owned” station in town. This establishes two value propositions for public television that I think are strong rebuttals to the opponents’ frame. These reasons–among others–make public television necessary and worthy of taxpayer support.
Note I didn’t say that opponents of public TV wanted to “kill Big Bird;” that kind of cheap shot doesn’t advance your argument. Whatever your beliefs about public TV, there’s a big difference in how the issue is framed by supporters and opponents. I think my framing was successful on some levels, though obviously the “war” continues.
A warning: framing an issue isn’t the same as spin:
Learn the difference between framing and spin/propaganda. Framing is normal; we think in frames. If you want to formulate a policy that is understandable, the policy must be framed so it came be readily communicated. Framing precedes effective policy. When you use framing to express what you really believe and what the truth is, you are just being an effective communicator. Framing can also be misused for the sake of propaganda. I strongly recommend against it.
As do I.
