Murphy's Law

There’s loads of excellent content and opinions across all the PR blogs.  Here’s a selection of the current PR memes in blogland…

 Paul Griffo gives his pitch on why PR people should embrace the term “flack”:

“PR people, note how computer geniuses have adopted the term geek. That’s refreshingly honest. Or how about the indispensable policy wonks? When I hear either of these terms, I think, “Now there’s a group of people who are brilliant, but yet don’t take themselves too seriously.” The world needs more people like that.”

 

 Profnet’s MediaInsider offers some tips on writing financial press release from Ann Sommerlath, assistant business editor at the Associated Press.

“The biggest mistake in an earnings release is when a company doesn’t itemize gains or charges that affect the current period, or provide “real” non-GAAP and GAAP figures with a detailed explanation of how they differ and why. We’re looking for the figures that compare with what analysts expect. Another problem is when a company presents tables that are reversed. Normally, the columns are labeled with the most recent period on the left. As we’re focused on speed, switching the traditional format can really slow us down.”

 

 ZDNET journalist David Berlind is very impressed with Scalix CEO Julie Farris following her wilingness to engage in a public conversation via the comments section on Berlind’s blog regarding her company’s products.  It’s a good example of good first person communications. Thanks to Steve Rubel for the link.

“Public relations personnel cringe at the idea of executives diving into the blogosphere and mixing it up with the press and end users. Maybe that’s because of how the blogosphere prevents them from interceding when an executive is about to say something that shouldn’t be said. Personally, I think it makes both the executives and the company seem more open and approachable.”

 

 Trevor Cook has a guest editorial from Talespin author Gerry McCusker on why he believes that press release-based media stories should be clearly labelled as such.

“Don�t get me wrong; I�m all for transparency and playing fair, but a lot of PR�s still get paid for �under the radar� message communication. And a lot of newsrooms rely on PR briefings and backgrounders to help them shape the stories they put out. But if VNR�s merit such clear labelling, why not press releases?”

 

 The New Communications Forum blogzine is out covering ethical blogging, the risk of blog-related libel, increasing visibility online and offline and many more articles including Elizabeth Albrycht‘s thoughts on the emergence of a new communication model.

 

 Neville Hobson reviews a Wall Street Journal article on how blogs can not only attract potential customers, but keep them coming back.

 

 Jeremy Pepper argues that blogs are a complimentary addition to a company’s communications programs, but it’s not for everyone.

“And, yes, I am recommending to a few clients that they do adopt a blogging strategy. But, only as it fits into their overall marketing mix. Not every business needs a blog, because not every business has the time for a blog.”

 

 Dan Gillmor points to the Citizen Journalist Starter Pack sounds like it might be useful for a number of crisis management teams…

 

 Hans Kullin has documented over 200 Nordic media RSS feeds.

 

  Steven Phenix offers the ten most important elements of a corporate press room.

 

Catherine Helzerman has created a PR message board designed to get people discussing the issues of the day, sharing knowledge etc.

There’s a whole host of different discussion areas from public relations to analyst releases, agency life, jobs links etc.

 Trevor Cook has a very thoughtful opinion piece on the recent spate of PR- and Media-related cash for comment scandals.

 

 Another PR CEO blogger joins the growing ranks.  Steven Blinn, President and CEO of BlinnPR has kicked off a blog.

 

 Parry Headrick was in touch with me about a new PR service being launched by SHIFT Communications.  They are planning to offer clients a PR/Sales Extranet where a client’s sales people can find the latest news, press coverage, competitive information etc. Sounds like an interesting service, albeit fraught with dificulty.  Ensuring a client’s sales people will take advantage of the resources will require a lot of work on the client-side.  However, SHIFT deserve plaudits for trying to push PR’s contribution to the sales process.

 

 The Portland Press Herald has an article on the importance for PR in management. It’s a useful beginner’s guide to PR.

 

 John Strauber provides an alternative review of Denise Deegan‘s book “Managing Activism: A Guide to Dealing with Activists and Pressure Groups”.  He is unimpressed.

“As someone who has spent the last decade investigating the seamy side of the “perceptions management” industry, I wish I could tell you that this book is a gold mine of revelation, but for me it is not. Still, I recommend that my fellow citizens read this book. It is written in classroom text-like fashion, and the author is careful to put the best face on her profession and not include advice that might offend the atypical reader. Nevertheless, it can help people working for democratic social change to understand the often successful ways in which we are targeted for defeat, especially the “good cop/bad cop” tactic for dividing and conquering activists through “partnering” and co-optation by industry. For activists, Deegan’s book provides a primer on how to recognize these traps and hopefully avoid them.”

 

As I wrote yesterday the marketing environment continues to evolve and blogs are one of the tools that are assisting in that process of change.

One of the major benefits of blogging – either writing or reading – is that it creates informal networks of like-minded people all around the “Interweb”. On a personal level I’ve built a whole range of informal relationships through these very web pages.

An even better example of the blog’s ability to bring people together is a new company that launched yesterday.  Blogging Planet aims to provide:

“… counsel and training to organizations in Europe and the United States on how to effectively adopt new communications tools such as business blogging, wikis, RSS feeds, podcasts, and more for a wide variety of corporate functions, including corporate communications, marketing, public relations, employee communications and investor relations.”

Three of the individuals behind Blogging Planet will be well known to anyone who reguarly reads PR-related blogs: Elizabeth Albrycht, Guillaume de Gardier, Neville Hobson.

I’d like to wish them all the best in their new endeavour.

 

Successful marketing and Public Relations programs adapt to changes in their audiences.  Whether those changes are the adoption of new technology or changes in behavior, it’s essential that programs reflect those differences.

There’s a lot of hype online about blogs and RSS, which are both growing nicely, and they will ultimately become an everyday part of corporate and personal marketing campaigns. But there are other changes afoot.

The Cluetrain Manifesto has finally infiltrated marketing departments around the world.  Marketers are increasingly aware of the need to reach out and connect with consumers and influencers in a personal manner. Blogs are one of the tools which enable this person-centric communication, but it’s broader than blogs.

We need to think about how we engage with our audience.  How do they find information, how do they share that information.  There’s loads of opportunities for organizations that think through these issues.  The important point is that you need to be addressing these changes.  They still apply to a small proportion of the total market, but it’s growing fast.

James Cherkoff has published a ChangeThis manifesto titled “What is Open Source Marketing” which looks at many of these issues.  Just as James Governor over at Red Monk believes industry analysts can learn from the success of Open Source, Cherkoff tries to apply some of the same open source principles to general marketing practice.

“A new breed of marketers is emerging with a different vision of the world. Inspired by websites such as The Cluetrain Manifesto, they understand the mindset of the modern consumer and the influence of open source values.”

Cherkoff provides an interesting read and also offers some modern context for this growth in the number of consumers actively choosing what information they will use and where they will find it.

Although the original Cluetrain book is nearly six years old, it should still be your starting point on this journey. While the economy and technology have moved in the meantime, it still provides the best thinking on the need for organizations to learn about one-to-one communication.

Footnote:

Dan Gillmor‘s book We the media is another must-read if you’re interested in how your audience and media are changing.

Matthew Podboy calls out an untargeted pitch he recieved from an online service provider, regarding the possibility of a briefing for any future stories he might be writing on subject X.

I also received this pitch, as I imagine did many others.  They actually sent two similar pitches within a day of each other.

Now the very first lesson in pitching blogs is to read the blog you are pitching.  Get a basic understanding where the author is coming from, what subjects they’re interested in and what is the style of the writing. I can’t imagine you’d send a pitch to a magazine you have never read or researched. Maybe I’m wrong on that score.

Anyhow if the publicist in question had taken the time (probably all of ten-fifteen seconds), they would have realized that the product/service they are pitching is completely inapplicable to this blog. Completely. Mistake number one.

If they had taken the time to read even a week’s postings the publicist in question would have found a post I recently wrote on pitching blogs that would have saved him making this mistake.

However, the pitch was a mail merge which rather than being targeted was sent to probably a large number of bloggers. How do I know? Check out this paragraph for tell tale mail merge problems:

“Tom                 , we’d like to meet you and see where we might be able to serve as a source for future articles and offer some possible story ideas for your readers.  If you’d like to have a one-on-one briefing, we’d like to get on your calendar right now. Please drop us an e-mail with times you’ve got available and we’ll confirm your appointment and briefing.”

The spaces after my name point to the tell tale signs of an incompetent mail merge.

Looks like I’m not that special after all.

Now before anyone thinks I’m being overly harsh here, I get loads of pitches, some good, some OK, some awful.

If you need to promote your clients to the PR/Marketing audience and you have something interesting to say, then get in touch.  But for god’s sake do a little bit of research. This blog covers PR and Marketing related issues. That includes PR/Marketing services, useful applications, techniques, books there’s a huge rang eof subjects.  However it is not a blog about tax, legal affairs, politics or domestic cleaning agents.  You might spot that from the headline of the blog.

Footnote:

Thanks to Steve Rubel who points to Nick Wreden‘s 7 Habits of Highly Effective Blog PR:

• Never pitch, personalize
• Respect a blogger’s time and intelligence
• “A blog is not about you, it is about me”
• Quality, not quantity
• Feed the food chain
• It’s no longer just about the media
• Keep learning

“AMD has come close many times. I think of Lucy holding the football for Charlie Brown.”

— Insight 64 analyst Nathan Brookwood offers up an apt analogy AMD’s latest failed attempt to win Dell’s business.

Quote courtesy of the always brilliant Good Morning Silicon Valley…

Congratulations to Mike Manuel and his Media Guerilla blog which has been named as the best PR blog in the 2005 Business Blogging Awards.

Congratulations also go to the other finalists including DrewB, Jeremy Pepper and Steve Rubel.

No doubt competition for 2006 will continue to get tougher.  Constantin Basturea, who I often think of as the guardian angel of PR blogs, thanks to the work he does, has a list of over 100 PR blogs.

Richard Koman over at Silicon Valley Watcher is a little upset at my comments earlier in the week regarding the post announcing Tibco as their blog’s first sponsor.

You can see Richard’s comment at the end of the original post.

“No, I don’t think it qualifies as advertorial. It is editorial about a company clearly identified as a sponsor. Nothing in it rings false or is anything Tom wouldn’t have written under other cicumstances. It signals that we will seek to work with companies that really have something to offer, not just that want to through money at us. As a blog, it’s nonproblematic to have a post about our first sponsor. It’s a big deal to us and validates our model of original writing on a blog.”

Now I think this is something of a storm in a tea cup.

In my post I clearly stated that Tom Foremski (correctly) flagged the Tibco post clearly as relating to a new site sponsor.  So anyone with any media savvy would realize that what followed was sponsortorial or whatever.

However I think it would have been better for the post to have been actually flagged as such.

I don’t believe for one second that Tom would have written that post if they weren’t a sponsor. Re-read the post

I don’t have all the answers.  No one probably cares.  Maybe I’m wrong on this one, but personally while I think it’s great Tibco have come on board that post ain’t editorial.

In fairness to Richard here’s his formal response on the blog.

Footnote:

In the long tradition of bloggers indulging in ‘upward link management’ you’ll see that Richard only links back to Dan Gillmor‘s post on the matter and not my little creaking blog. I’ll try not to get too upset about that…. 🙂

Paul Griffo has kicked off a new PR blog called Washington Flack.

Paul is a senior public affairs specialist for the Federal Transit Administration. It’s great to see a growing diversity of PR blogs.