Saturday, July 23, 2005
The 15 Minute Press Release
Is it possible to write a press release in 15 minutes? That's what the marketing chief at my first PR job seemed to think when he told me to run along and write up the first draft of a partner announcement he had just briefed me on.
Surely it's possible, but how effective is that press release going to be? In addition to technique, a press release requires research. No matter how much research the marketing department may have done, there's always a need for market context around specific announcements.
Each release will have to stand up to intense scrutiny. In the tech world, the audience is well-informed, but they are busy. They won't have time to extrapolate what "might" be relevant to them if it is not clearly spelled out.
Think about your news from their perspective. Whether they are journalists or industry analysts, they are writing or advising others of the latest trends and best buys, and they will sound the first siren if anything is wrong. What is the customer pain point and how does your product help?
Today's Web access means that customers are as likely to see your press release as are the press who used to be the only point of access to the public (whether through PR, advertising or self-publishing). Anyone who has access to the Internet can receive press releases directly through RSS feeds and other channels.
A release should contribute to industry discussion. If it doesn't offer something more than the company's news, and speak directly to the intended audience -- telling them why they should care -- it probably won't achieve its purpose.
To my former boss: "The 15 minute press release is a myth!"
Surely it's possible, but how effective is that press release going to be? In addition to technique, a press release requires research. No matter how much research the marketing department may have done, there's always a need for market context around specific announcements.
Each release will have to stand up to intense scrutiny. In the tech world, the audience is well-informed, but they are busy. They won't have time to extrapolate what "might" be relevant to them if it is not clearly spelled out.
Think about your news from their perspective. Whether they are journalists or industry analysts, they are writing or advising others of the latest trends and best buys, and they will sound the first siren if anything is wrong. What is the customer pain point and how does your product help?
Today's Web access means that customers are as likely to see your press release as are the press who used to be the only point of access to the public (whether through PR, advertising or self-publishing). Anyone who has access to the Internet can receive press releases directly through RSS feeds and other channels.
A release should contribute to industry discussion. If it doesn't offer something more than the company's news, and speak directly to the intended audience -- telling them why they should care -- it probably won't achieve its purpose.
To my former boss: "The 15 minute press release is a myth!"
Sunday, July 17, 2005
Remember It's About Ethics
The other day, a new client asked me if I ever "offer success-based pricing -- normal rates if no success, but above normal rates if success?" By "success" he meant getting press coverage for his company.
This is the kind of question that shows up on my PR listservs from time to time, and it always stirs up a hornet's nest of indignation. Let's just say it isn't pretty to witness.
I drew in my breath and replied to my client that any self-respecting PR type avoids success based pricing because this is anathema to the journalists with whom we have relationships. It would make us more akin to advertising reps, from whom we are quite different. We rely on getting articles in publications based on good story angles, I explained. I should also have mentioned that at the end of the day it depends on the product or service, but since I try to look for clients that have "all the goods" so to speak, that seemed a moot point.#
He said he thought what I said made sense, but ... "on the other hand investment bankers (like I used to be) have success based pricing and greatly rely on their relationships with the banks and financial service orgs."
What can I say? It takes years of exposure to PR and training in journalism to even begin to understand and embrace the ethics behind this question. This discussion cuts particularly close to the bone for me, a recovering journalist. After 12 plus years as a foreign affairs/defense reporter for various industry pubs, I went to the "dark side" and became a PR flak. Actually, I try never to use that term "flak" even in jest because I take my job very seriously and getting a client published exercises every bit of journalism training I have accumulated. Sometimes I think I spend more time thinking about the readership of my press targets, and sweating over what would make a good story for them, than I ever did for the publications that I spun out thousands of words for over the years. I wrote about whatever I happened to be interested in -- after I dealt with the breaking news, of course.
As I log nearly 11 years in public relations now, I find I have become just as passionate about PR, and what it stands for, as I was about journalism. I would never have left journalism had I not uprooted myself from the East Coast to follow my heart to California. That proved to be a serendipitous voyage because I landed in what was to become a plum PR position. I was fortunate to join one of the two companies that launched Travelocity. I learned about PR on the job as that brand grew almost overnight with the advent of the Web for the masses.
Until then, I had a myopic view of PR. I had contact with the communications departments of the foreign embassies that were part of my beat, and I dealt with the PR heads at the major defense companies -- when I couldn't find any other way around them. I gave little thought to what their jobs entailed. They always seemed to be throwing parties and inviting me on junkets. They were never my source of news, but in the government they were the only gateway to the military brass and foreign dignitaries that I wrote so intimately about.
It is only now when I have spent an equal amount of time as a journalist and a PR professional that I can see many similarities and admirable qualities in both disciplines. There are good and bad in every profession, and there are always stumbles along the way, but the codes of ethics are always clear. It's tempting to cut corners when you are stressed and facing seemingly impossible deadlines or when you are struggling to launch a new PR practice or magazine. Professionals have to make decisions every step of the way, but they should remember that there have been many others that tread the same path earlier and the course is clearly charted.
Blogs and listservs serve as an invaluable communication channel for sharing such information and experiences. There has never been this much information so readily available.
So what's all this got to do with my client's question about whether he could just pay me for success? It's an example of the important role that PR people play in educating their clients on what PR and journalism are all about. We PR folks are the frontline to the companies who make the products and offer the services. Without us there would be no code of ethics.
Technology companies have become savvier to PR in the past five years as their industry took a beating and the press turned on many of them because of their irrational exuberance in the dot-com boom. Today clip counts are not as important to C-level corporate types as they used to be. Volume has given way to quality. CEO's now tend to ask: Was the article accurate? Did it reach the right audience? Was it positive? Did it result in customer sales?
We've come a long way baby, but there are always new entrants to the market, and boutique PR agencies like the JAG Wire Group, must help in educating these shiny new CEOs that are our future success stories.
This is the kind of question that shows up on my PR listservs from time to time, and it always stirs up a hornet's nest of indignation. Let's just say it isn't pretty to witness.
I drew in my breath and replied to my client that any self-respecting PR type avoids success based pricing because this is anathema to the journalists with whom we have relationships. It would make us more akin to advertising reps, from whom we are quite different. We rely on getting articles in publications based on good story angles, I explained. I should also have mentioned that at the end of the day it depends on the product or service, but since I try to look for clients that have "all the goods" so to speak, that seemed a moot point.#
He said he thought what I said made sense, but ... "on the other hand investment bankers (like I used to be) have success based pricing and greatly rely on their relationships with the banks and financial service orgs."
What can I say? It takes years of exposure to PR and training in journalism to even begin to understand and embrace the ethics behind this question. This discussion cuts particularly close to the bone for me, a recovering journalist. After 12 plus years as a foreign affairs/defense reporter for various industry pubs, I went to the "dark side" and became a PR flak. Actually, I try never to use that term "flak" even in jest because I take my job very seriously and getting a client published exercises every bit of journalism training I have accumulated. Sometimes I think I spend more time thinking about the readership of my press targets, and sweating over what would make a good story for them, than I ever did for the publications that I spun out thousands of words for over the years. I wrote about whatever I happened to be interested in -- after I dealt with the breaking news, of course.
As I log nearly 11 years in public relations now, I find I have become just as passionate about PR, and what it stands for, as I was about journalism. I would never have left journalism had I not uprooted myself from the East Coast to follow my heart to California. That proved to be a serendipitous voyage because I landed in what was to become a plum PR position. I was fortunate to join one of the two companies that launched Travelocity. I learned about PR on the job as that brand grew almost overnight with the advent of the Web for the masses.
Until then, I had a myopic view of PR. I had contact with the communications departments of the foreign embassies that were part of my beat, and I dealt with the PR heads at the major defense companies -- when I couldn't find any other way around them. I gave little thought to what their jobs entailed. They always seemed to be throwing parties and inviting me on junkets. They were never my source of news, but in the government they were the only gateway to the military brass and foreign dignitaries that I wrote so intimately about.
It is only now when I have spent an equal amount of time as a journalist and a PR professional that I can see many similarities and admirable qualities in both disciplines. There are good and bad in every profession, and there are always stumbles along the way, but the codes of ethics are always clear. It's tempting to cut corners when you are stressed and facing seemingly impossible deadlines or when you are struggling to launch a new PR practice or magazine. Professionals have to make decisions every step of the way, but they should remember that there have been many others that tread the same path earlier and the course is clearly charted.
Blogs and listservs serve as an invaluable communication channel for sharing such information and experiences. There has never been this much information so readily available.
So what's all this got to do with my client's question about whether he could just pay me for success? It's an example of the important role that PR people play in educating their clients on what PR and journalism are all about. We PR folks are the frontline to the companies who make the products and offer the services. Without us there would be no code of ethics.
Technology companies have become savvier to PR in the past five years as their industry took a beating and the press turned on many of them because of their irrational exuberance in the dot-com boom. Today clip counts are not as important to C-level corporate types as they used to be. Volume has given way to quality. CEO's now tend to ask: Was the article accurate? Did it reach the right audience? Was it positive? Did it result in customer sales?
We've come a long way baby, but there are always new entrants to the market, and boutique PR agencies like the JAG Wire Group, must help in educating these shiny new CEOs that are our future success stories.
Friday, July 15, 2005
Virtual Business Networking
Does virtual business networking work? Here's my experience after being a member of LinkedIn for a year and a half.
LinkedIn sent me an email alert the other day. Two former colleagues had come across my name in the network and wanted to know if I would like to connect to their business circles. LinkedIn conveniently serves up the names of everybody in the network who identifies themselves as having worked for any of the former employers you list in your personal profile. My LinkedIn home page tells me that there are 50 people I may know at my former company VERITAS Software (now Symantec), and others in the network from my now defunct companies, SmartAge and Niehaus Ryan Wong. It even tells me how many new people from those companies have joined since I last logged in.
Up until recently people were saying that the social networking "clubs" aren't useful for anything beyond dating and keeping up with friends, but I've got to tell you that my dance card has been filling up lately with colleagues I thought were long lost. It was less than a month ago that two other lost colleagues tracked me down. It's almost like bumping into people on the street, only its virtual.
Most of my associates have moved on to interesting new jobs as they've climbed the corporate ladder. Some have stayed with dot-coms, others with the Fortune 500s, and some are re-entering the tech industry after several years' hiatus while they rode out the downturn. I have to wonder how else we would have tracked each other down after all these years and our hectic work schedules if not for this online business network that seems to exponentially grow every time I log in? Today, LinkedIn tells me that since I last logged in a couple of days ago there are 15,529 new people associated with my current 31 direct connections.
I haven't used the network to its full advantage. I'm like the wall-flower at the dance who sits patiently hoping to be asked. Others I know have been more proactive and have contacted me to get to a business or job prospect three or four degrees removed from them. These are the more enterprising people in my immediate circle of 31 direct contacts. The network map tells them that I am connected to the next person closest to their target, and so they ask me to make an introduction to that person who will in turn be asked to make an introduction to the next person closest to the target.
A couple of months ago, a woman who sits with me on the Board of a software organization approached me in her quest to get to someone four degrees separated from her. It was fascinating to me that her network chain identified my connection to Anne Holland, publisher of MarketingSherpa. Anne won't be happy with me saying that we used to work together in Washington DC at a magazine called Defense & Foreign Affairs in the 1980s. We haven't seen each other since, but she and I linked via the network about a year ago when I came across her name. Yes, I was proactive that time.
Most people join these networks because someone they know sends them an invitation to join the network. I signed up after a client invited me into his "network." How could I refuse?
There are others out there like Spoke Software, which is also great for sales prospecting and lead generation, at least according to the articles I have read. I think I am a member of that one too because at one point a client of mine was talking about partnering with them. I can only handle one of these networks at a time so I am focusing on LinkedIn unless someone makes a compelling argument for why I should have more. It's kind of like a loyalty program in that if I am going to grow my circle of contacts I want to see all my miles, er people, accounted for in one place.
An Awkward Moment
I can see where I might get into a bit of an awkward situation as more people start using this network. What will I do if someone that I don't really want to be linked to invites me to connect? I guess I can just ignore it and pretend that I didn't see the invitation, but I still bristle when I remember the one person who never replied to my invitation a year ago -- did they do that intentionally or did it get routed to junk mail? I will never know because I don't have the guts to ask. Then there's the added inconvenience of having to write recommendations for people to connect with the next person in the chain of linked connections. And what do I do if someone in my circle gets tied to a scandal or big, public SEC investigation, for example? Do I have the courage to dis-invite them? No probably not, so I guess I will forever be tied to them in the hall of infamy.
Aside from those troublesome concerns, I am quite happy to be one of the first to explore this new medium. LinkedIn calls me a Beta subscriber, which I think means I get the service for free until they decide how to charge for it. A while back they sent me a questionnaire asking how much I would be willing to pay for each connection. At the time I thought I would pay $5 or $10 to keep it a somewhat exclusive club. Yeah, money talks!
So now I'm still waiting for someone to track me down from my former company Worldview Systems. We were a tight-knit bunch all working in the trenches 10 years ago together to launch Travelocity. My one remaining friend from those days isn't even on LinkedIn. Yes, I guess I could take the initiative and invite her.
LinkedIn sent me an email alert the other day. Two former colleagues had come across my name in the network and wanted to know if I would like to connect to their business circles. LinkedIn conveniently serves up the names of everybody in the network who identifies themselves as having worked for any of the former employers you list in your personal profile. My LinkedIn home page tells me that there are 50 people I may know at my former company VERITAS Software (now Symantec), and others in the network from my now defunct companies, SmartAge and Niehaus Ryan Wong. It even tells me how many new people from those companies have joined since I last logged in.
Up until recently people were saying that the social networking "clubs" aren't useful for anything beyond dating and keeping up with friends, but I've got to tell you that my dance card has been filling up lately with colleagues I thought were long lost. It was less than a month ago that two other lost colleagues tracked me down. It's almost like bumping into people on the street, only its virtual.
Most of my associates have moved on to interesting new jobs as they've climbed the corporate ladder. Some have stayed with dot-coms, others with the Fortune 500s, and some are re-entering the tech industry after several years' hiatus while they rode out the downturn. I have to wonder how else we would have tracked each other down after all these years and our hectic work schedules if not for this online business network that seems to exponentially grow every time I log in? Today, LinkedIn tells me that since I last logged in a couple of days ago there are 15,529 new people associated with my current 31 direct connections.
I haven't used the network to its full advantage. I'm like the wall-flower at the dance who sits patiently hoping to be asked. Others I know have been more proactive and have contacted me to get to a business or job prospect three or four degrees removed from them. These are the more enterprising people in my immediate circle of 31 direct contacts. The network map tells them that I am connected to the next person closest to their target, and so they ask me to make an introduction to that person who will in turn be asked to make an introduction to the next person closest to the target.
A couple of months ago, a woman who sits with me on the Board of a software organization approached me in her quest to get to someone four degrees separated from her. It was fascinating to me that her network chain identified my connection to Anne Holland, publisher of MarketingSherpa. Anne won't be happy with me saying that we used to work together in Washington DC at a magazine called Defense & Foreign Affairs in the 1980s. We haven't seen each other since, but she and I linked via the network about a year ago when I came across her name. Yes, I was proactive that time.
Most people join these networks because someone they know sends them an invitation to join the network. I signed up after a client invited me into his "network." How could I refuse?
There are others out there like Spoke Software, which is also great for sales prospecting and lead generation, at least according to the articles I have read. I think I am a member of that one too because at one point a client of mine was talking about partnering with them. I can only handle one of these networks at a time so I am focusing on LinkedIn unless someone makes a compelling argument for why I should have more. It's kind of like a loyalty program in that if I am going to grow my circle of contacts I want to see all my miles, er people, accounted for in one place.
An Awkward Moment
I can see where I might get into a bit of an awkward situation as more people start using this network. What will I do if someone that I don't really want to be linked to invites me to connect? I guess I can just ignore it and pretend that I didn't see the invitation, but I still bristle when I remember the one person who never replied to my invitation a year ago -- did they do that intentionally or did it get routed to junk mail? I will never know because I don't have the guts to ask. Then there's the added inconvenience of having to write recommendations for people to connect with the next person in the chain of linked connections. And what do I do if someone in my circle gets tied to a scandal or big, public SEC investigation, for example? Do I have the courage to dis-invite them? No probably not, so I guess I will forever be tied to them in the hall of infamy.
Aside from those troublesome concerns, I am quite happy to be one of the first to explore this new medium. LinkedIn calls me a Beta subscriber, which I think means I get the service for free until they decide how to charge for it. A while back they sent me a questionnaire asking how much I would be willing to pay for each connection. At the time I thought I would pay $5 or $10 to keep it a somewhat exclusive club. Yeah, money talks!
So now I'm still waiting for someone to track me down from my former company Worldview Systems. We were a tight-knit bunch all working in the trenches 10 years ago together to launch Travelocity. My one remaining friend from those days isn't even on LinkedIn. Yes, I guess I could take the initiative and invite her.
Tuesday, July 12, 2005
Paid vs. Unpaid Press Release Distribution
Those of you who post press releases to Business Wire and PR Newswire know that the first replies to hit our email mailboxes are rarely press inquiries. Yes, we all know it takes more PR muscle and persuasion than that, but if you're like me you still eagerly jump to every email ping that follows your expensive transmission.
But isn't it true that we are almost always disappointed by the legions of solicitations from the "free" newswires that seem to be in perpetual supply these days? It would be easy to conclude that they are the only ones out there reading our releases off the wires. We know that's not the case, but gosh they sure are responsive.
Who are these guys, anyway? Why should we trust them with our news? I know a lot of people are wondering the same thing because there's always inquiries on PR listservs asking what others think about the freebies.
You'll recognize some of the services that have been around for awhile -- PRWeb is one. They've got the art of viral marketing down. PRWeb even has a convenient link you can click from their home page to "Tell a friend about PRWeb," I know because an acquaintance recently sent me an email via the link. Interestingly when I clicked on it tonight all I got was "The page cannot be found." Hmmm.
Anyone remember Internet Wire? It was big, and really aggressive in its follow up to the countless releases I put out during the dot-com boom. The first of the genre, I think. I just googled it and came up with this old Clickz article that brought all the memories flooding back. If you follow the link in the article for Internet Wire it leads you to Market Wire. It looks like it morphed and these guys have found their kitty jar, and guess what? They're not cheap! Lest you balk, they provide a convenient table on their site that compares them favorably to PR Newswire and Business Wire.
Transworldnews -- never heard of them before -- was the first to send me an email today after my latest press release went out over Business Wire for Ridgecrest Surveys and Computer Troubleshooters USA . They wanted to tell me in their html email solicitation:
"TransWorldNews is currently preparing for its launch. During this phase, TransWorldNews invites you to post your news stories FREE." Yeah, right! And exactly what newsrooms and trade publications subscribe to their service?
All these choices are rather mind boggling, and would take more time than a working stiff like me has to unearth. I'll leave it to more inquiring minds to sort out, and continue posting my releases to Business Wire and PR Newswire because I know they have major newsrooms that subscribe.
But isn't it true that we are almost always disappointed by the legions of solicitations from the "free" newswires that seem to be in perpetual supply these days? It would be easy to conclude that they are the only ones out there reading our releases off the wires. We know that's not the case, but gosh they sure are responsive.
Who are these guys, anyway? Why should we trust them with our news? I know a lot of people are wondering the same thing because there's always inquiries on PR listservs asking what others think about the freebies.
You'll recognize some of the services that have been around for awhile -- PRWeb is one. They've got the art of viral marketing down. PRWeb even has a convenient link you can click from their home page to "Tell a friend about PRWeb," I know because an acquaintance recently sent me an email via the link. Interestingly when I clicked on it tonight all I got was "The page cannot be found." Hmmm.
Anyone remember Internet Wire? It was big, and really aggressive in its follow up to the countless releases I put out during the dot-com boom. The first of the genre, I think. I just googled it and came up with this old Clickz article that brought all the memories flooding back. If you follow the link in the article for Internet Wire it leads you to Market Wire. It looks like it morphed and these guys have found their kitty jar, and guess what? They're not cheap! Lest you balk, they provide a convenient table on their site that compares them favorably to PR Newswire and Business Wire.
Transworldnews -- never heard of them before -- was the first to send me an email today after my latest press release went out over Business Wire for Ridgecrest Surveys and Computer Troubleshooters USA . They wanted to tell me in their html email solicitation:
"TransWorldNews is currently preparing for its launch. During this phase, TransWorldNews invites you to post your news stories FREE." Yeah, right! And exactly what newsrooms and trade publications subscribe to their service?
All these choices are rather mind boggling, and would take more time than a working stiff like me has to unearth. I'll leave it to more inquiring minds to sort out, and continue posting my releases to Business Wire and PR Newswire because I know they have major newsrooms that subscribe.
Monday, July 11, 2005
Do you blog or wiki?
If you are in the San Francisco Bay Area on July 27 and want to hear a panel discussion on how companies are successfully using blogs, wiki's, RSS feeds and other online collaboration solutions to build a sense of community, there's a SofTECH event you shouldn't miss. JAG Wire will be reporting on the event.
Friday, July 08, 2005
JAG Wire Starts Blogging
JAG Wire is finally getting a blog!
While we handle PR accounts for technology companies, the so-called "early adopters," we would never in a million years be mistaken for early adopters ourselves. I don't even have an ipod! I've been watching the blog phenomenon gather momentum ever since attending Doug Kaye's presentation on blogging at a SofTECH SIG way back in May 2003. We're now ready to put a toe in the water.
JAG Wire's Wired Business Communications Blog is meant to be a place to exchange ideas on anything that has to do with business communications and integrated marketing concepts. We're a public relations agency with a healthy respect for integrated marketing approaches.
Wish us luck with this blog. We're ankle deep now!
While we handle PR accounts for technology companies, the so-called "early adopters," we would never in a million years be mistaken for early adopters ourselves. I don't even have an ipod! I've been watching the blog phenomenon gather momentum ever since attending Doug Kaye's presentation on blogging at a SofTECH SIG way back in May 2003. We're now ready to put a toe in the water.
JAG Wire's Wired Business Communications Blog is meant to be a place to exchange ideas on anything that has to do with business communications and integrated marketing concepts. We're a public relations agency with a healthy respect for integrated marketing approaches.
Wish us luck with this blog. We're ankle deep now!
