The Blind? Deaf? Or Just Dumb Pitch

Bloggers send more than a few emails asking to be removed from a media list, we also send emails to PR people to tell them why a pitch doesn’t work for their blog – and perhaps what might work in the future.

I rarely receive a response from these notes – which is unfortunate and yet telling. But music blogger Olivia Giovetti brings us an experience with a PR firm representing high-end hospitality clients that serves as a clear, and very frustrating, example of what not to do.

Chinese water torture via email? A steady stream of news releases
“I'm a writer who somehow wound up on a PR firm's mailing list receiving releases that were way outside of my beat. I first sent polite yet firm responses to the (frankly terrible) releases asking to be removed from their list to no response and no action.

“After averaging a release a week for about three months (each one followed up with a "Please remove me from your list" and a reminder that it had been requested numerous times before), I sent an e-mail to the firm's CEO and president, beseeching both of them to help. When I STILL got releases from their firm, I wrote a much more terse e-mail back asking if I'd have to ask their clients for help in getting off their lists.

“When that resulted in nothing but more press releases, I broke down last night and e-mailed their clients, who couldn't have been nicer or quicker to get my complaints passed along to the appropriate contacts at their PR firm. I kept it to a mainly just-the-facts e-mail with an emotional plea at the end noting that they may want to reconsider their PR teams if this was how unresponsive they were being to journos.”

Denial – not a river in Egypt
"Today I received an e-mail from the firm's president stating:
'We have learned that you are emailing our clients with negative and incorrect comments about our company refusing to remove you from our media lists. Point of fact is that we don't know you nor have we never heard directly from you about this matter. You are also obviously someone we would not want to work with. If you have issues with our agency please contact me at XXX-XXX-XXXX to discuss. Otherwise we will take steps to report your harassment to us and to our clients.'

"I e-mailed and called her back immediately, as polite as I could be. In the e-mail I pointed out that I have dozens of e-mails (both sent and received) in my archives that I would be happy to send. I then forwarded a sample of five or six and called her to be lambasted on the phone with various and sundry threats. I then received an e-mail stating:

'It's been more than 20 minutes and I have not received any of the emails that you supposedly previously sent to me and XXXXXXXXXX asking that you be removed from our mailing lists. Please advise so that we can resolve this matter.'

"I re-sent from my Blackberry (and received delivery confirmations for each e-mail) and then received a phone call from her assistant demanding to know when I would be sending. I told her that they had been sent (a second time) and then also forwarded an e-mail from one of their clients to me, which mentioned that 'They’ve received your previous communication and are committed to honoring your request.'"

"Summing up a back and forth, the PR prez has decided the whole incident was a "fabrication" on my part (because, especially in a recession where I'm going bonkers to make ends meet, I have time to do this stuff). I realize I wasn't going to earn any friends at this firm for jumping on their clients, but it's interesting to see how inept these people were at relating with the public. Now they've not only turned one journo off, they've tapped into that marketing adage that a person with a good experience with a company will tell three people and a person with a bad experience will tell 10. And the only thing that's a fabrication about me is my hair colour. "

The Patience of Job
First let me say that Olivia went above and beyond to try and make this right. The PR firm however took a bad situation, chopped it up into kindling, sprinkled it with gas and light it on fire.

Could we have what Cool Hand Luke would call “failure to communicate?” Nope. I’ve seen screen grabs from Olivia proving that this particular agency was employing what we used to call the rolling thunder strategy: a press release every few weeks regardless of whether or not you have news. Worse still is that the agency paid no attention to their media lists or to their email inboxes for that matter.

According to the agency president, Olivia does not exist on any of their lists; however the agency does use Cision. Having seen screen grabs it does not look like the agency is using email marketing software. In fact, if Olivia was replying to the notes and not getting a bounce back, that proves they probably were not using email marketing to push out the latest in high-end hospitality news.

The PR exec’s arrogant and defensive response is ridiculous. But I’m giving this NYC-based agency an early Christmas gift by not outing them – despite the fact that Olivia asked them more than three times to stop sending her news releases.

Media Relations = Customer Service
If anyone you are pitching ask to be removed from your list? Do it. And make sure you tell them you’re doing it. If you get any communication from these folks that merits a response? Respond. It’s kind of why you send out email in the first place.

Never forget that you’re pitching on behalf of your clients and that’s kind of a big deal. Changing your story, acting arrogant, defensive or just being stupid? It’s eventually going to get back in some form or another to your client.

1983 I'm Surrounded By Idiots uploaded by JD Hancock

Believe In Yourself; But Believe In Trends More

We're all looking for something to take us to a better place-workwise, that is.

How do we do that? Follow trends.

When you’ve got one example, it’s a “noticeable situation.” When you’ve got two examples, it’s a fact. And when you’ve got three examples—welcome to a trend.

A trend is something that is just happening—the way ads are becoming smaller by the second (and disappearing, thank G-d); the use of tiny devices that are almost ear-sized for us to check who wants to reach us; the tendency for movies to be built around consumer products like Ben Stiller’s haircut or a particular type of Mercedes (crap slogans, wicked cars)—and that is happening in a significant enough way to portend real and widespread change.

The trends enjoyed by a few today will be experienced by many tomorrow, and virtually all next week. And a PR person that wants to excel needs to be a great, not good, trendspotter who can separate the wheat from the chaff, distinguish today’s passing fancy or fading passion from tomorrow’s hot new item du jour.

In lots of businesses — media, entertainment, marketing, fashion or stock-market-related professions — knowing the latest trend is a prerequisite for success (or even survival). The message is clear: you miss out on a trend, you’re out on the street.

I asked a friend, a journalist, why she thought we are so fascinated by trends. “Simple,” she said. “The trends happen without fail, and we find ourselves in the middle of them, and we want to identify what is happening.”

The most important rule in spotting trends is the rule of talking to experts.

Here’s how:

1. Pay attention to people you believe in. Get in touch and ask questions.

2. Ask really good (and useful) questions. Have total belief in your sources and make them know this.

3. Find visionaries who can teach you new ideas, and try to tell them one thing they weren’t aware of. People who are true visionaries know they can take a new person’s idea to another level. So they are thankful to respond to your call/e-mail. It’s important to learn to recognize the difference between true visionaries and slick BS.

4. Be aware of where life is going. Pay attention to the signs that something — big change — is on the horizon.

5. Great trendspotters are always evolving, learning, and growing. Remember that Italian class you’re always thinking of taking? Right.

6. Don’t just read the Arts section. Be well-rounded. In marketing, and in life, nothing succeeds (even success) like a person who is knowledgeable and, er, interesting. And stuff.

Since You Weren’t Reading Carefully, I Made Another List

Here is a sum of what you can do today. It has more group action—in case you didn’t feel like reading before:

1. Follow leaders — pay attention.

2. Use the Net for everything (forget privacy concerns—they’re nonexistent and almost funny now, so go, click, and be merry),because at any given time you can follow the thoughts of approximately 1.5 million random, just-as-fascinated people. A nice number—and one I didn’t have to make up.

3. Collect data on areas that interest you. Hey, one thing that everyone
forgets—and I know I said it before, but I can’t stress it enough—get a napkin and write it down. Even if you don’t ever look at thepage again, the brain works in oh-so-mysterious ways. I do this with my always-neglected shopping lists that I don’t bother with before I "dial up" the Chinese Delivery Guy.

4. Get on mailing lists about things that interest you. It’s so easy to do that now. Gosh, in the old days you had to send SASEs (for the confused, that’s self-addressed envelopes with stamps—or snail). Today you just shoot an e-mail to someone or click a link. I mean, jeez, there’s no excuse.

5. Use separate e-mail addresses just to collect separate information. Get a Hotmail or Gmail account for spam. In these cases, e-mail is—dare I say it—worthy.

6. Subscribe to trade publications. Man, you can get so many of them gratis. In trade magazines you read passionate and often interesting articles on things you had heretofore thought were dull. Plus, you get to see others work hard to explain what you found inexplicable.

7. Talk to experts—arrange to meet. I’ve said it before, and that means I mean it.

8. Don’t ignore indicators. In 1929, the only ones who made it through the crash were those who read newspapers. And really read ’em. By the way, myyahoo.com and mywashingtonpost.com—all that stuff you think you want to know—are not good enough. Expand your wings, broaden personal focus, all those other clichés . . .

9. Just do it over and over again. Nike had a point, albeit a repetitive one.

10. It is indubitably a must to be informed. But come on, talking about being interested in order to succeed is so obvious. If you don’t know this, then close the book. Today, it’s more urgent than ever to be interesting since that would put you in a class by yourself—people tend to like you better because you are a hotbed of “hmm, cool fact” in a society where people repeat the same one-liners daily.

It is better to be remembered for who you are than simply nodded at.

11. Stay awake. I like my lattes with lowfat.

*****Twitter @laermer

Know Yourself, Be Yourself for Better Pitches

Last week, I had the blind luck to present right before Artie Isaac at SummitUp. If you don’t know Artie, you should.

Artie Isaac co-founded SpeakerSite and the Young Isaac Agency. He also teaches creativity, consumer behavior, copywriting and the history of advertising at The Ohio State University and the Columbus College of Art & Design. Artie started his career with agencies in New York, including Ogilvy & Mather. He holds an MBA in Marketing from Columbia and a BA in English Literature from Yale.

So what do I mean by blind luck? Well Artie’s presentation rocked the house and I would have hated to follow it. But there was some wonderful synergy between my presentation on storytelling and Artie’s presentation on social media as a vehicle for creativity.

Artie’s inspirational speech on creativity convinced me to interview him for the Bad Pitch Blog. While I ask Artie about tips for more creative pitches, he actually gives us a bigger picture perspective from his own experience. And I think it's even more applicable and can be applied to your media relations approach.

Chris Brogan on Better Blogger Pitches

Earlier this week one half of The Bad Pitch Blog kicked off SummitUp -- an event packed with great content, including presentations from Bob Garfield and Chris Brogan.

The Bad Pitch Blog took advantage of this quality time to ask a few folks about how to improve the pitch. First up is Chris Brogan -- author of the New York Times Bestseller "Trust Agents."

The book stems from his extensive blogging, speaking and community building efforts as president of New Marketing Labs. Here's his quick take on creating better blogger pitches.

The Axed Hack's Guide to Flacking: Are Journalists Meant For PR?

I'll get right to the point: PR is not the dark side any more.

As a reporter for a plethora of publications in the hard-to-remember '80s, I do recall titters from my colleagues when I defected to PR. I had to make more money and I couldn't cope with holier-than-thou editors. I'd written for USA Today, New York Daily News, New York Times, Crain's NY, Editor & Publisher, Us... and all I got was a T-shirt that said, "Someone read my article."

A lot of PR peers were once reporters who failed in the new gig because PR was immoral or beneath them (don't get me started!). You have to think of yourself in the highest esteem to make it as a journalist -- I get it -- but in order to make the leap into public relations, just cut out that attitude with a scalpel. If you want to be great and make money, you need to passionate about the work. And you just can't fake passion unless you're in porn.

Ever since I switched teams, I have met PR folks who started sentences with, "Back when I was a reporter..." Most were let go from reporting duties by slimming corporations. But some proved to not be so good at either profession.

To do well in the PR industry, you need to make a tough job look easy. You've got to have many balls in the air at one time. A lot seem to juggle well, except for those tasks you didn't come up with on your own.

Here is how to determine whether you've got the goods to make it in our hood--particularly since tons of reporters need jobs.

You belong in PR if...

You have attention to detail (or ATD)


Those devilish details are required. Consistency is everything, and if you're careless or sloppy, we beseech you stay away. But if you can spot a mistake from a mile away -- and stop it from attacking -- please join the PR association.

A guy employed at RLM PR previously worked at a terrible agency and came equipped with bad habits. He would write a mediocre draft, and when I said rewrite it, he shrugged, "Why? The client won't notice." He's at Gap now.

You can write -- and edit


You hate wimpy words like "accepts," "offers," and "ensures." You are all about full and clear sentences. You say what you mean to say, and you aren't that cretin always trying to "come up with a good way to say X." You use lowercase and capital letters correctly. Come on down.

Writing is rewriting.

There was a -- ahem -- creative type in our office who loved to write as though he were pontificating. He was a college professor, so he said. It's one thing to love to hear your own voice, but on paper, that's useless.

You need to see everything to its rightful conclusion


Reporters can write bad copy, hand it to an editor, and think, "S/he'll fix it." If you can't stomach that though, then join "the lighter side." You know the colleague who figures someone else will finish the product? That guy disgusts you, right? You're the one who ambles into a PR office and says, "What's it going to take to get this done?!?" We call it Gumby -- you never shrug or roll your eyes! You're our type.

You don't get scared at B-movies (or several simultaneous deadlines)


You would have never said, "I can't do more than one story at a time," as a journalist, and you can manage many screaming babies at once.

A reporter acquaintance came to work and freaked out because our computers were down. He was gone by lunch on day one.

You never call yourself "a people person"


You deal with words; people are secondary. Of course you're a team player, but will you sit down and create something? From scratch?

In Detroit, the GM Nod occurs when people come to meetings and say yes to every new fantastic idea until they leave the room and murmur, "That ain't going to happen." In PR, you always have to sell in your ideas to clients and colleagues.

How can you tell if you're right for this evolving field that happens to be hiring? You have an innate ability to leave your ego at the door and you can take a message to the people without editorializing!

You don't belong anywhere near PR if...

You think it's a breeze


Oh puh-leeze. I work my ass off and answer to a ton of chieftains: editors, reporters, producers -- and those clients who send passive aggressive emails all day long! Nothing we do is easy. Don't apply here. You already aren't applying yourself.

We ask applicants from the field of journalism why they want to be in PR. They say it's because they know how reporters work. The last one we hired answered, "because I want to make more money, and I'm not afraid to work hard." We love you!

You've dealt with PR folks so you've got mad skills


What's that -- incessant babbling against an onslaught of cheery PR types? We already put up with you at one job.

We hired an ex-producer who made an excellent first impression, but the second she arrived, she spent gobs of time saying why pitches wouldn't work and had a nonstop, almost obsessive need to communicate developments. She didn't let the elevator door hit her on the...

It's your way -- forget the highway


You are so darn flexible, you can do handstands! When push comes to shove, you've never met an answer you didn't know.

Two words: shoe salesman.

If the person doing most of the talking in meetings is you, then we're just not that into you. The best PR people ask lots of questions and listen to answers.

Your mother told you everything you do is precious


Your mom was wrong, and you've got no stomach for PR because you are as thin-skinned as Bill O'Reilly.

I once hired "The Smartest Person In The World," albeit temporarily. When errors were astutely pointed out to him, instead of learning from them, I got fistfuls of vociferous arguments. His mother worships him; he Tweets about it all the time.

You need someone to hold your hand because an editor did


A lot of applicants ask: Will you show me the way? Yes, if I was Peter Frampton! You don't have the "pit bull" self-starter thing going on, so let's not.

One of my firm's most successful PR pros arrived from a journalism career in Europe. He asks a ton of questions, but not before trying to find the answer himself. God helps those who help themselves. And we believe in him (lowercase "him" -- the guy we hired).

There are exceptions: You can write a scintillating press release, but still have an ego like Montana? Your ADD is stuck, and your ATD is phenomenal? Hang a hat here!

During these fast four years of co-crafting Bad Pitch Blog, we made it a home for reporters to articulately moan about PR simpletons. But through the most maudlin of economies, more than half of BPB's e-correspondence has been you people (journalists) asking if this snickered-at field could be a home for your needy selves! Letters say, "I can do this, no sweat. I know what's good because, gosh, I've turned down so many pitches!"

You know what I think? You could turn down a bed!

So it appears our two divergent careers have finally fallen in love. Now you have to decide if you're a sweet-grapes person who wants to learn and influence the public while connecting to always-busy people for 10 (you heard 10!) hours each day. If you see yourself pacing in that cubicle, you are a PR person who was once a full-time scribe.

That does not mean call for a job—unless you are offering me something fitting all the above. I'll take the call.

Twitter @laermer.

Selling Ideas with Words, Numbers and Pictures

We're always trying to tell more compelling stories...delivering messages that get our point across credibly and effectively with our target audiences.

It's one of the reason research and hard numbers(regardless of the sample size) tend to make big news.

When creating messaging to tell a story, consider if words, numbers, pictures or a combination of all three get the job done. Let's say you're trying to note that Wal-Mart has far more stores than their nearest competitor.

omg, Wal-Mart has a freakin' buttload of stores.
or
Wal-Mart has over 4100 stores and clubs in the U.S.
or
As you can see above, the biggest retailer in the world covers an area larger than Manhattan.

All Hail the Infographic
Especially in our social world where people pass around good content like a joint at Woodstock, turning a compelling factoid into an infographic gives you the ability to share it and to share it much more easily than in the past.

And while it would behoove you to work with a graphic designer in creating said infographic (to ensure it doesn't look jank), if you have no other option you can jump into Powerpoint, use Smart Art to create your own and save the slide out as a .jpg.

You can see the dramatic impact a visual makes in truly getting a point across. Creating one is time well spent.

Cross-posted from Strategic Public Relations

The Trap of Desperation Tactics

Some say we’re out of the recession. But if you consider the number of people you know “in transition,” I’ll argue we’re still in a period of forced change.

Cue inspirational quote:
“A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity while an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty” – Winston Churchill.

Forced change can be a good thing or a bad thing…it all depends on your outlook. I’m not going to turn this into a rallying cry. There are plenty of those out there already – from classic to irreverent to misunderstood. But I am going to suggest that doing more of the same isn’t going to get us anywhere.

The Worm Has Turned
It became clear to me how bad things have gotten when media outlets started pitching me. This actually started happening some time ago. But the stream of media-issued news releases has increased significantly over the last 12 months. The scary part?! They’re now promoting single episodes of specific programs. What are the odds that mainstream media are going to get a ratings boost around a specific episode by issuing news releases to bloggers?

Add to this the proliferation of spam into every other electronic nook and cranny I have access to and it looks like, anecdotally at least, that people seem to think that more is more when times are tough. Some are relying more on email marketing because it’s "cost-effective." Others are getting onto social media sites and using them as a broadcast channel.

Action is required. So is speed. But without strategy it’s all futile, turning into white noise.

Rally Caps?
The challenge is to push ourselves creatively and try something new. And herein lay the traps.
When looking for a job right out of school they tell us to stand out. In the same breath they quickly warn people not to send your resume on a pizza box or send one shoe with the note: “I’ve got one foot in the door so I would like an interview with your company.” You don’t want to be a water cooler trophy for people to point at and laugh.

So how do you show someone you’re urgent and intense, but not desperate? How do you stand out for the right reasons?

Start with your instincts. Just don’t start with what worked yesterday. And remember that more of the same stuff is just desperate. In times like this, we need better stuff.

Rally Cap uploaded by sarowen