FOLLOWING FUNDAMENTALS

There's no magic, there's no mystery, and there’s no hidden agenda in getting company and product publicity and feature articles into publications. All it requires is being professional, following some basic guidelines, understanding the masters you serve and not taking yourself too seriously.

Today’s public relations professional’s problems arise because:
 businesses today operate at a blistering pace with products being introduced every four months rather than annually or semi-annually
 we serve two exacting masters – clients they and their products deserve coverage in Business Week and the Wall Street Journal and journalists/industry analysts who must meet critical deadlines while hearing from hundreds of us via email, voicemail and smail
 we “embellish” our influence over and relationships with the media
 as with business as a whole media outlets and staffs are shrinking
 we fail to fully understand our client management, their overall markets, their competition, their products/services, the applications and the customers

Rather than focus on what PR people do wrong – there are enough people out there doing that every day – we want to focus on what you can do to succeed.

Lower Management’s Expectations

Helping management set realistic objectives is perhaps the most difficult task facing any public relations practitioner. Managers want coverage in specific publications or favorable reports by specific market analysts but have no idea why the publication or research firm should be interested in covering them.

Management has to understand that monthly publications have two-four months lead-time, weeklies have three-four weeks lead-time except for breaking news and dailies have different lead-times for major features, breaking news and filler news (items that are good today but also good in three-four days if print wells are filled). Even web sites have lead times of a few hours to a few days

Rather than looking around your organization to determine what management would like to appear in print, focus your attention on the publications' and the readers' wants and needs. Then you can determine how your organization and your products can meet those wants and needs. Information sources should include your staff, customers, industry spokespersons, partners, research firms, distributors and dealers.

Training Management
Unfortunately, too many business managers feel public relations is the easiest job in the world and anyone can do it. After all, everyone can write and everyone can talk to people. Partially true but few do it well.

It takes time but convince management that you know your job and get them to trust your judgment on content and wording. Too many good ideas are buried in Dilbert-esque releases because every person in the company gets involved in editing them. And every corporate executive gets quoted. Part of your expertise should be in writing and prove to management that you can communicate the story in 300 words better than they can in 3,000 words.

Many entrepreneurs and startups are so wrapped up in their technology, their products and themselves that they can't be dispassionate. It is easy for these individuals to shoot themselves in the foot by being brusque and arrogant with the press. We once had a client that was so certain he and his product were so perfect that he turned journalists off and cost his company and himself a lot of coverage. After a number of negative articles and hours of briefing and debriefing the executive finally came to understand that it was important to listen to what was being said and wasn’t being said as it was to talk.

Be a consultant to management, not just a tactician. Many CEOs and sales managers are inexperienced in the ways of the media. As a result, they have unrealistic expectations about their dealings with the press. The media is seldom the enemy but likewise they are not the company’s propaganda funnels. Spend time explaining what the journalist wants and expects as well as why. Help them be prepared with information and facts about their products, technologies, applications and customers as well as competitive or alternative solutions.

Even in this time of instant Internet communications, management (or the PR people) often wants to conduct a press tour. It is not uncommon for a publication to receive 15-20 requests a week and they simply don’t have the time to meet with everyone. Reserve your press tours for significant announcements.

Often executives who meet with journalists and analysts are inarticulate. They can give the canned PowerPoint presentation that extols the funding of the firm and the pedigree of he management team but can’t articulate the true benefits of their product or service. A presentation is a guideline for the meeting, not the precise roadmap. Prepare management for questions that are asked and help them become comfortable from throwing out the script and focusing on the editor's, reporter's or analyst's area(s) of interest.

Help management understand and respect editorial deadlines and how to reach their targeted markets. Simply because the query isn’t from the New York Times, Fortune or Forbes doesn’t mean the editor or reporter shouldn’t have his or her call or email promptly returned. Whether the publication or Web site has a readership of 10,000 or one million the editor or reporter feels the information is of interest to their audience.

We have a rule here that every query is answered within 30 minutes. We are continually amazed when one of the first things a reporter says is “thanks for getting back to me.” By preparing and updating product technical and application information as well as customer contact data you can usually provide the information the journalist or analyst needs in a few minutes. If it requires answers from management help them understand the importance of deadlines. If the executive is going to be out of town or unavailable, know it in advance and have an alternative source available to respond.

Sometimes, luck and timing beat out strategy and planning.

It’s vital for PR people to build relationships with journalists and analysts but it is also important for company executive to develop these relationships. Once the executive is well founded in dealing with the press and analysts – there is no such thing as off the record, etc – PR people don’t have to be in the room or on the conference call. This runs counter to “policy” in many corporations but we feel the PR person shouldn’t insert himself or herself into the process any more than necessary. PR people shouldn’t focus on developing the relationship with the journalist or analyst at the expense of the firm they represent.

Once a spokesperson says something it can’t be retracted. Just ask President Bush when he quietly referred to a NY Times reporter as a “horses ass” during the campaign. There was nothing public relations could do when the president of WebVan told analysts during a conference call that the firm was investing tens of millions of dollars in warehouse infrastructure across the country to support strong sales in the future. The IPO had to be withdrawn. No amount of spin will change what was said and it is better to have a well-prepared executive than an interpreter.

Once this is done, take into account your company’s corporate, marketing and communications goals. Blend these with an approach that appeals to a specific publication's editorial goals and its readership's interests.

Now that you've selected your target publications and the topics you want to project, you need to shift your perspective to that of the editor to pinpoint the type of article you want to see developed. If you can picture the precise headline and article in your mind then you can articulate the message efficiently and effectively to the right reporter/editor.

PR counsel – internal and external – needs to focus on two goals … meeting the needs of the publications and analysts while supporting the company’s corporate and marketing objectives. The goals aren’t mutually exclusive.

Good PR consultants must spend a lot of time and effort researching publications target audiences and the areas individual reporters cover. They have to develop expertise in helping management develop and carry out the development of the proper strategy. They have to have the specialized talent necessary to write pieces and materials that appeal to editors. They have to use their time and skill to present and place the right stories with the correct editors or reporters.

Basic Guidelines
The real art and science of public relations is found in the ability to provide information through news releases, white papers, position papers, articles and interviews that has style, meaningful content and the necessary angle that will satisfy a publication's editorial view and readership's interests.

Many PR people will say that the news release is passe and a waste of time and effort. For many this is true but then they also can’t write their way out of a wet paper bag. The written word whether on paper or in electronic form remains the fundamental form of communications the world over.

Regarding the preparation of news releases and background there are some basic guidelines:

1. Write simply and factually. Forget the hype. Facts and figures attract journalists’ attention. “The world’s leading,” “largest,” “pioneering,” “leading-edge,” “turn-key solution,” and similar data sheet marketingese seldom excite a journalist unless they are backed by facts. Make certain that you tell the complete story as quickly as possible.

2. When the story dictates, prepare background with customer and industry expert inputs/contacts as well as biographical information that gives facts, not personal "puff." This kind of information should inform editors, not flatter management.

3. Photographs should be available that are real with sharp contrasts, not retouched ad shots. Increasingly these should be electronic photos that can be sent as an attachment (when requested) or put on a CD and smailed. Make certain that the caption is attached to the photo, explains the photo and ties into the release.

4. The release should contain the name and email address as well as day, night and cellular telephone numbers of the person who should be contacted for additional information.

5. Write the release with the specific publication's readers in mind. Don’t take the easy way out by doing a one-size-fits-all announcement. When a product has a number of applications, it pays to prepare a release for each class of publication/reader. It's a simple matter to modify the lead and body copy, but it can produce greater results because editors can quickly see how the product would be of interest to his or her readers.

Build Relationships
Editors, reporters and industry analysts are deadline driven and the target of not just your messages but also tens of thousands of companies and individuals around the globe. Unfortunately, the Internet has become the easy way out for many PR people to hand their public relations efforts. All too often people use the one-size-fits-all approach of blasting emails to the widest list possible.

To help you build solid journalistic and research firm relationships, we’ll share some of the things we have learned the hard way over 20+ years in the industry.
 Read – This sounds very simplistic but the most common complaint publications, editors and researchers have is that PR people don’t have a clue as to what the organization or individual covers. We subscribe to more than two dozen on-line newsletters. We take home 50+ publications a week to read in varying degrees of depth. Articles are read completely, skimmed or torn for future reference. This keeps us informed on who is covering what and current hot-buttons as well as helps us develop ideas we can use to gain additional coverage for clients and their products. Technology doesn't replace the need to understand the publications and people you are trying to reach.

 Use the Web – When you don’t have access to a specific publication or don’t know who is currently covering your company’s market area – journalists do change jobs about as frequently as PR people – then go to the Web. In a few minutes you can review their Web site to learn about their areas of focus as well as who is currently covering specific beats.

 Know your company, know your competition – Want to be a resource editors, reporters and analysts turn to for information and assistance? Then know your company, marketplace, channels of distribution and the competition. We track our clients’ coverage as well as the competitors. Because most industries are coopetive (cooperative – competitive) there are days you company will have an alliance with a competitor and days when they will be competing for the same customers. We have a detailed list of our key client personnel including their home and cell phone numbers (they also have ours) so that they can be reached quickly when an editor or reporter wants timely information. We also maintain a list of key analysts who follow our clients as well as major competitors, their phone numbers and senior management. At least two or three times a month we’ll have a reporter calling who is doing an industry wrap-up article. We provide them with comprehensive information and customer contacts via email. We also guide them to favorable analysts and we give them information on and contacts at major competitors.

Aiding the enemy? We don’t think so. Instead, we’re being a resource that the editor or reporter wants to call in the future when he or she is working on a short deadline. Often the journalist doesn’t have the time to make five – ten calls and wait for responses so they will turn to the people who will give them the information they need…we want to be the resource they turn to. In addition, when journalists find a PR person who understands their publication’s needs and delivers, they trade the name around. Of course they trade the other names around as well but that’s another story.

 Forget about sending unrequested email attachments – Sending a detailed pitch email and an attachment (say a Word file) to 50-100 of your “close” editorial friends only means you have irritated 50-100 people. There’s a growing trend in attaching enriched documents such as a company logo and 2,000-word release. That means 10,000 characters of text balloon to 100K-plus because it is a Word document. Word documents are just a bad way of getting the word out. As creative as the effort is, the hard truth is that most journalists delete the attachment unopened rather than take the chance of releasing a virus onto their system. All of the good information ends up in the trash.

While it isn’t true, many reporters, editors and analysts say that most of these attachment emails are received while they are on the road when connectivity is painfully slow. Depending upon the editor, reporter or analyst as well as their mood at that specific moment you might also receive a nasty little note telling you in no uncertain terms what you can do with your attachments in the future.

 Tailor your email lists – Admit it. Everyone in public relations develops lists of publications, reporters and analysts in addition to our one-to-one email address directories. That’s okay but you need to tailor them even further. For example, we maintain very extensive lists for networks, storage, video production and Internet with 10-15 sub-categories. For example in our storage database we have PC, Mac, Linux, server, enterprise, OEM, reseller, corporate, consumer, general business, Webzines, and other categories. A number of editors and reporters are in multiple categories and it may seem like micromanagement and overkill because keeping these lists current is a never-ending job.

Editors, reporters and analysts have internal defense mechanisms they develop over time to efficiently and effectively cope with the volumes of email they receive. One of the first things they do is look and see if the subject of the email catches their attention. The second thing they do is see who the email is from. If they become accustomed to being carpet-bombed by you that is get into the habit of seeing your name and determining the email is a waste of time it will instinctively be deleted. Instead of being a resource, you become a minor nuisance which can hurt because occasionally your message may actually be of interest and use to them.

 Put down the phone, don’t touch the fax – As a general rule unless a reporter or editor has contacted you for information don’t call. Most phone pitches seem to be as poorly scripted as those you receive from telephone solicitors right in the middle of “Millionaire” or “Survivor.” And they are as warmly received. Calls to ask if the editor received the emailed release or wants to fill an interview slot at a trade show are a waste of everyone’s time and the company’s money. If the email didn’t catch the recipient’s attention then it is highly unlikely that smile-and-dial will win them over.

Unless the editor or reporter requests that you fax them some material, don’t do it. It’s one thing to waste electrons but quite another to waste trees.

 Forget the gifts – Editors, reporters and analysts aren’t really captivated by your efforts to get their attention with boxes filled with coffee cups, inflatable chairs, yo-yos, company/product caps, bottles with messages in them or other “attention-getters.” We know of editors who have received invitations with confetti that spills out all over the desk when they are opened or boxes that are stuffed with Styrofoam popcorn that falls everywhere. Not a good first impression.

In the same vane, don’t send products for review unless editors have requested them. Top ten technology journalists like Walt Mossberg of the Wall Street Journal, Steve Wildstrom of BusinessWeek, Dan Gillmor of the San Jose Mercury/News, Michael Miller of PC Magazine, John Markoff of the New York Times and in fact every editor/reporter have plenty of products that they want to review. The chances of your unsolicited product being covered are slim to none. While these are technical products the same is true with editors in every media segment.

 Build your Web resources – Company web sites should have a separate public relations area. The first item that should be on the page is complete PR contact information – name(s), email addresses, phone numbers – day, night, cell – as well as senior management data. The site should contain all of your news releases – the most current as well as a comprehensive archive. Here is also where you should post executive bios, PowerPoint presentations, technology and application white papers, application notes as well as a comprehensive illustration area – line art, executive photos, stock photos and application photos in both high and low resolution.

Each publicity opportunity for a company and its products comes along only once. Windows of editorial opportunity open and close almost as rapidly as new product opportunities. The problem is that too many organizations can't understand why an editor won't extend a deadline for them a week or two while they tend to other 'more pressing' business. Good PR counsel protects management from themselves by ensuring that editors, reporters and analysts get information when they need it and in the form they need.

Focus on developing relationships not just information. Information is important. However when you can share complete information that is accurate and to the point that the recipient wants and needs lasting relationships are established.

Unfortunately, it's so simple that too many people are still packing for the cruise while the boat sail away from the dock.

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FOLLOWING FUNDAMENTALS - To learn more about this author, visit Andy Marken's Website.

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