Warnock was correct in his assessment of the Internet’s capabilities, function, reach and potential. The Internet is becoming a major source of information and entertainment for people around the globe. We are constantly online gathering information, conducting transactions, being entertained and most of all…communicating.
Industry analysts note that every day business people and “others” send more than 17 billion emails. They also acknowledge that more than 70 percent of the Internet traffic today is spam, phishing and other abuses of our bandwidth and time. But it still represents the primary tool of public relations contact and communications.
Email has become such a basic form of business communications – business to business, business to consumer – that the government has established clear guidelines on email archiving. That means you as a professional have to be concerned not only about what you say but also how you say it in your email communications. Not only can you embarrass your company and yourself but also email archives can be used in the court.
For public relations people email and Internet-base communications provides a new and exciting opportunity to reach people directly – press, industry analysts, consumers, business partners and business associates. With broadband access already available to most businesses we are accustomed to being able to send enhanced documents, audio and video files and comprehensive presentation materials effortlessly.
That same bandwidth is rapidly being deployed in homes (Figure 2) as people begin to use the Internet to do more than just send email. The ability to be able to access the high-speed communications tool means people will increasingly enjoy Internet radio and TV. In addition, they will quickly share photos and videos with friends and family. It also represents an excellent means of reaching customers in their home.
Internet Communications Power
It is becoming such a widespread and immediate means of communications that Paul Vixie, author of a number of UNIX programs, warned; “The Internet is not for sissies.” Jack Welch put the technology in a more positive light when he noted, “The Internet is the Viagra of big business.”
We would have said it differently because the Internet puts all business – large and small – on a competitively equal footing if it is properly and effectively used. It provides unprecedented opportunities to economically and quickly reach broad and niche markets around the globe.
Unfortunately too many of us are “typical” Internet users (Figure 3). In fact, you’re probably using the Internet for a lot more for “other” activities than communicating with business partners, customers and members of the media.
And you probably do it all subconsciously.
But at the end of the day you find your to-do list hasn’t gotten much shorter.
Peter Straub, a noted author, was pessimistic about how effective we are in using the Internet and our time. He commented at a conference, “Actual work takes up approximately a third of the day, not counting the lunch hour, and the remaining two-thirds are spent in meetings, gossip, flirtations, and checking out e-mail, favourite news groups and porn sites on the Internet.”
Because almost all of our information is electronic today, individual public relations and communications professionals have a responsibility to be constantly vigilant on how they communicate as well as what it says about the organization and the originator. They also have to ensure that the information they communicate is properly protected.
The Two Lane Highway
Email is a two-way pipeline. You need to make certain that no viruses, Trojans or worms come into the company or are sent. You also need to ensure you don’t overuse the power of email by carrying out aggressive spam activities – shotgunning every potential editor, reporter and analyst you have in your address book.
Since public relations professionals are in the communications business, you probably spend even more time than the average US employee handling email (Figure 4). At least you should!
An inquiry from a newsperson or analyst should never go without a response more than 24 hours. Power communications tools such as cellphones and Blackberry handhelds allow people to reach you and for you to reach others when immediate answers and assistance are required. You shouldn’t hide behind email.
As a matter of policy, we respond to every email received before we leave in the evening. It is simply the professional and courteous thing to do. If we are away from the office, a staff member handles the routine queries and we handle the rest when we arrive at our destination.
These queries aren’t an interruption to your job…they are an important part of your job! Even if the response is that you need to gather the information and will get an answer within 24 hours – and you meet your commitment – it shows that you respect the urgency and importance of their inquiry.
Internet communications shouldn’t be as Dave Barry, the humor columnist of the Miami Herald, once wrote…“The Internet is the most important single development in the history of human communication since the invention of call waiting.”
As PR professionals we rely on email communications. How often have you said to yourself our mail server is down and I can’t contact anyone? We can’t be the only ones!
Increasingly it is becoming not only time-consuming but also cumbersome to manage messages but it must be done. If you don’t/can’t manage your professional email communications who will?
Email Writing Skills
A recent study by Information Mapping Inc (IMI) found that email writing skills are “extremely” or “very important” to the effectiveness of doing their job. Effective writing skills should come as no epiphany to people in our profession. What bothers us about the report was that 34 percent of the respondents spent 30 minutes to one-hour reading and interpreting poorly written and error filled emails.
Granted the survey was across a broad range of corporate employees but the fact of the matter is sloppy writing of any type is a waste of time. In addition, it is impossible for us to believe that every public relations person has email writing skills that are superior to the general business population.
As Shel Holtz, author of Public Relations on the Net, points out in his book email writing is very different from news release writing. In addition, it is a skill that every public relations professional must master and practice on a daily basis.
While there are a lot of how-to articles regarding email writing available, we found
Yukihiro Matsumoto’s -- the creator of the Ruby language -- explanation to be the most down to earth and logical we have seen. He said simply, “Imagine you are writing an email. You are in front of the computer. You are operating the computer, clicking a mouse and typing on a keyboard, but the message will be sent to a human over the Internet. So you are working before the computer, but with a human behind the computer.”
He puts everything in perspective.
Clear, Concise, Fast
Organize your email message clearly and effectively. Poorly written emails are more than just a waste of time for the person receiving your correspondence. They are also a poor reflection on your organization and you.
Keep emails short.
Make certain:
- the recipient understands what you have said so they can use and act on the information
- to organize your email just as you would in a conversation or presentation
- that important information is included in the email and is easy to find
- you don’t make it a challenge for the recipient to wade through a long, wordy and difficult to read email. Get to the point quickly because their time is as precious as yours
All computers today has two important application packages installed that every public relations and communications people should use religiously…spell check and grammar check. A few minutes of review before hitting send can save you from embarrassment.
Contrary to what Peter Steiner said with his 1993 cartoon in The New Yorker, “On the Internet, nobody knows you’re a dog.” If you can’t use email effectively to communicate with editors, reporters, analysts and other stakeholders, they will find out…faster than you think!
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Internet Communications…Let’s Get It Right!!! - To learn more about this author, visit Andy Marken's Website.
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