Category Archives: Public Relations

Write Right

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One of the most Writingimportant skills for a public relations professional is the ability to write clearly and concisely.  Writing well takes practice, and practice often means opening yourself up to the critique of others.

Unfortunately, some people take offense to criticism about their writing.  They either want to think they are good at it, or that they should be good at it because…well…because it’s supposed to be something everyone can do.

As someone who has been writing for a living for many years, I’m happy to pass along  some basics for writing well:

  1. The most important part of writing is re-writing.  Nothing is perfect the first time around.  If I’m writing something important, I like to do a draft, then let it sit there for a while (assuming there is time).  Waiting even an hour after writing something makes me more objective about what I have written.
  2. There is a difference between style and basic grammar.  No, that run-on sentence is not creative.  It’s just wrong.  Yes, you can occasionally use a sentence fragment for emphasis, but know the rule before you break it.
  3. Punctuation is not an afterthought.  In fact, punctuation provides the framework for communication.  It’s what helps people understand what you mean.  A misplaced or missing comma can change the whole meaning of a sentence, as was cleverly demonstrated in the title of a book on punctuation, published in 2003:  Eats, Shoots and Leaves, by British author Lynne Truss.
  4. Sometimes what looks good on paper may not be what it seems.  Especially in the era of computer editing, it’s easy to become sloppy when making changes.  If you are writing an important paper, read it aloud.  You may be surprised by what you have written.
  5. Be careful with your tone.  This is especially true with email, which can cause all kinds of misunderstandings.  If you plan to discuss a sensitive subject, it’s often best to just pick up the phone.

Most of us have pet peeves regarding the written word.  Here are some of mine:

  • Misplaced modifiers:  Don’t confuse your readers.  “She saw two cows on the way to school.”  Were the cows on the way to school?
  • The use of less when you mean fewer:  If it’s something you can count, use “fewer.”  The use of “less people,” for example, is like fingernails on a blackboard to me.
  • Misplaced quotation marks:  Periods and commas always go inside quotation marks, even inside single quotes (unless you are using British English).
  • Not finishing the comma set-off for nonessential sentence elements:  “The author, who was born in New York, wanted to write about her city.”  When you leave out the comma after New York, you are separating a subject and a verb with a comma – a big no-no!

I’m sure you have your own pet peeves.  Please feel free to share them.

Posted by Margot Dimond.

Planning: The All-Important PR Tool

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plan_ahead_poster-rf50b9d08a292436b9da63b1bfb7bf4eb_w8o_400“Whatever can go wrong, will go wrong” is the only part of Murphy’s Law most people remember, and although the anonymous adage is meant to be humorous, it’s a good guideline to keep in mind when planning any PR project – especially an event.

Expect the unexpected:  promised items that don’t arrive on time, weather that doesn’t cooperate, audio visual breakdowns, last minute requests – all of these and plenty of other things can pop up.  Planning for an event is not the time to be a positive thinker.  Rather, it’s the time to think of everything that could go wrong and plan for every contingency.

This goes for small events, such as ribbon cuttings, open houses or press conferences, to large special events involving thousands of people.  Be prepared and plan ahead should be your bywords.

Tradeshows are in a special category, since most exhibitors are traveling some distance to attend them.  This makes it essential to plan every detail, as is wonderfully related by Katie Creaser in her article, “Going Back to Basics: Tradeshow Must-Haves” on Tech Affect.

In this article, Creaser not only shares some “nightmare” tradeshow scenarios, she also provides an extensive list of “must-haves” for the tradeshow exhibit planner.

Posted by Margot Dimond

Email Marketing: Does it Work?

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News PhotoOften neglected or forgotten, email marketing is the stepchild of the social media world, regularly taking a back seat to The Next Big Thing.  Yet, depending on your business goals, it may be one of the best ways to expand your client base.

Email marketing is “one of the most effective means of communicating your brand identity and generating sales,” according to Michael Beaulieu, group manager for digital media at Wayfair – a U.S.-based multinational e-commerce company – who is quoted in a recent article on Digiday.

At our firm, we have had success with e-news – a more subtle form of email marketing that includes newsletters, news announcements and articles on topics of interest to the people on your email list.  Clients who were initially reluctant to try it have been surprised at the positive feedback they get with this means of communication.

Obviously, it’s just one tool in the PR toolbox, but if your firm is trying to reach a specific market, rather than promote to a broad consumer base, it is a cost-effective way to get your message out.  In addition, by using a professional program, you can see who opens your email and how often they do so.  A regular reader might be someone who is interested in hearing more from you.

So while e-news coming from your company will not replace external media coverage, it does offer distinct benefits:

  • Clarity:  Your message is sent – exactly as you want it worded.
  • Frequency:  You can send emails as often as you have news to impart.
  • Targeted:    You can send directly to the decision-makers who can influence your business.
  • Feedback:  You will know if and when your news is welcome – if your email is opened; if you get new subscribers; or if your subscribers “unsubscribe.”

Some cautionary notes to keep your subscribers interested:

  • Keep the content valuable.  If your email is all puff and no substance, people will stop opening it.
  • Don’t send it too often.  You don’t want to overwhelm your audience to the point that you are a nuisance.
  • Make sure everyone on your list is part of your target audience.  Sending information to the wrong person can put you in a Spam category.
  • Have a recognizable design and layout for your email.    You want to look as professional as you are.

Posted by Margot Dimond

What does your front desk say about you?

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There is one client I always look forward to calling or visiting.  The receptionist, who also handles all incoming calls, is unceasingly cheerful and professional.  She is a valuable – and no doubt valued – employee.  I hope she realizes how much she contributes to the success of the company she works for.

The people who are in charge of your front desk and answer your telephone play an extremely important role.  They are the “public face” of the company – often creating a lasting first impression. They should be treated with respect, paid well and know how important you think their job is.

What does this have to do with public relations? PR is essentially reputation building and reputation management.  “Perception is reality,” we often say.  It’s difficult to see how much an executive really cares about his or her company’s image when the first – or even second or third – impression people receive is negative.

And don’t forget to keep your front desk people informed.  You may get a call from a reporter wanting to do a positive story on news your PR person has sent out, but if you never communicate with the person who answers your phone, the reporter may get transferred all around the office and finally give up because no one knows what’s going on.  (That’s why our firm does call list instructions for clients to distribute to their office staff, by the way.)

Smart company managers know this, but sometimes we all get so busy we forget to become objective observers of our work environment.  To quote Scottish poet Robert Burns:  “Oh would some power the gift give us, to see ourselves as others see us.”

Posted by Margot Dimond

Will Social Media Enhance Perception of PR?

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In a recent article in Fortune Tech, Gregory Galant, CEO of MuckRack, writes about the lack of respect for public relations as a business function, especially as compared to advertising.  There’s no program celebrating PR practitioners to compare with the popular AMC TV series Mad Men, he notes.

After providing several reasons why he thinks this is the case, Galant predicts a big change with the rising importance of social media, which “play to the strengths of public relations rather than advertising.”

Here’s why, according to Galant:

  • Effects of PR can now be measured to a greater extent than ever before in history
  • Social media can drive more human communications.
  • You can now scale PR to influencers and by promoting articles.
  • Public relations now has meaningful data to influence big decisions.

You can read the full article here.

Posted by Margot Dimond

“Spin,” Part 2: Lipstick on a Pig

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spinPutting Lipstick on a Pig, Making a Silk Purse Out of a Sow’s Ear – these phrases have been used for years to describe so-called “PR spin.”  It’s the usually fruitless activity of trying to slap a positive face on a negative event.

A few years ago, a struggling charity that had expanded its services beyond what it could adequately fund, sent out a letter to its contributors.  The letter, written in a cheerful – almost giddy – tone, described this “exciting” news:  the organization was cutting many of its programs (and the people who worked in them) to focus on its core services.

Yes, it was a positive move financially; no longer would the charity have to struggle to pay its bills.  However, the tone of the letter indicated a complete lack of regard for the negative impact of its decision – not only on the people who used those discarded programs, but also on the employees who had just lost their jobs.

In trying to make what was a necessary, but distressing, decision sound positive, the letter came across as insensitive and insincere.  How much better to just state the facts – that the organization was having financial difficulty and was forced to make cuts to ensure its future survival, since its core services were sorely needed by the community.  That could be followed up with a Call to Action, asking donors to help with the current situation and perhaps increase donations for the future in order to restore some, if not all, of those programs.  After all, one presumes that a charity’s donor base is essentially a friendly audience that supports the cause.

This type of behavior is not unique to that charity; we see it almost daily in the media.  Some prominent organization or person will do or say something that is embarrassing – or, in some cases, just plain awful.  Then they will try to pretend that the incident either never happened – or didn’t happen the way it was portrayed.  Usually these denials are so transparent they prolong what would have been long-forgotten with a simple mea culpa.

In short, when bad things happen, it’s always best to face up to it.  Get the facts out there, quickly and without subterfuge, and tell everyone what you plan to do about the situation.  Ask for assistance (if it’s called for) and report back from time to time to inform everyone about how things are going.

You – and your organization – will look a lot more credible without the “spin.”

Posted by Margot Dimond

What Does One of Those Plastic Bank Tube Thingies Have to Do with PR?

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Nothing really.  But an incident that recently occurred involving a plastic bank tube – or pneumatic carrier, as it’s referred to by pneumatic carrier manufacturers – brings to mind why good customer service at the most basic level really counts and can even avert a PR fiasco.

Recently, as I was trying to put the plastic tube back in its holder after depositing money at a branch of my bank, the tube slipped out of my hand and rolled under my SUV.  I tried to open my door to retrieve it, but the holder was in the way.  So I told the teller what happened and that I would pull up to try to retrieve it.  Then, I heard a loud crunch.  I had completely smashed the tube with my tire, and before I could get out to retrieve it, a furious bank security guard chased after me, yelling about my demolishing the tube.  I told him that I had already informed the teller about this situation and that she knew I was trying to return it to its holder.  I then walked back to the drive-through intercom system, and the teller told me that it wasn’t a problem; they had replacement tubes on hand.

So where’s the PR part of this story?  Well, thinking that I was a first-time carrier crushing offender, I posted my story on popular social media channels.  Soon my “friends” and “followers” came forward, one even confessing he had been too embarrassed to share his story (involving a pharmacy drive-through carrier) until I posted mine.

And then the questions came about where I bank.  Being sensitive to my fellow PR colleagues who often are forced to clean up social media messes, I avoided the “Where was this angry security guard?” inquiries, along with the questions about  why the security guard reacted the way he did.

But had I posted the name of the bank, or even created an “I dropped a bank tube at (insert bank name here) and was chewed out by a security guard” Facebook fan page, well, it could have caused a bit of a PR headache.  At the same time, the bank’s PR pros, who would ideally catch the chatter while monitoring the social media sites, could quickly respond.

Still, it’s best for employees at every level, especially those dealing directly with consumers, to always remember that one disgruntled customer can impact the views of hundreds and even thousands of social media users within just a few hours.

Everyone is watching these days!

Posted by Lisa Dimond Vasquez, Principal, DoubleDimond Public Relations.

Protecting Your Reputation: No “Spin” Involved

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Mark Twain is said to have coined the phrase,  “A lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is still putting on its shoes.”  Twain died in 1910.  One wonders what he would have thought of a world dominated by social media because his comment is truer today than ever.

Just a decade ago, it was a much different situation.  Public relations counselors would occasionally get calls from potential clients who needed to dispel a bad reputation – mostly earned, unfortunately.  This is not the best time to contact a PR firm.  It’s much easier to begin a PR firm-client relationship with a company that already has a good reputation – or even a reputation that is essentially a blank slate.

The problem isn’t that a company’s bad reputation cannot be turned around; it just takes time and is often hindered if a company doesn’t want to change its practices – just the negative perception its practices have generated.  In these cases, the PR firm ends up spending a lot of time trying to convince company executives that there are no magic wands that can make reality disappear.  The company actually has to change the way it does things.  Perhaps due to the overuse of the word “spin” to describe what PR people do, these company executives expect a miraculous turnaround.

But now, it can be even worse for companies who are not prepared.  Disgruntled former employees, disappointed customers, and competitors can fill online “review” sites with negative comments – earned or not.  Damaging blog posts, photos and videos can spread to literally millions of people before their content can be disputed or explained away.

Entire businesses have sprung up to deal with online reputation management.

And yet, the basic PR approach still applies:  Build a positive reputation to begin with, and it will be easier to control any attacks on your reputation down the road.  No “spin” involved.

Posted by Margot Dimond

Your Crisis Communication Plan

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Do you have a crisis communication plan?  Crisis planning is essential for any company or organization – but especially for one providing products or services directly to consumers.  With social media, small incidents can go viral, making company reputations one step away from shattering.

Sometimes it’s the response – or lack of response – to a real or perceived problem that causes the crisis.  Any delay in responding, or even a tepid response, can add fuel to the fire.  It’s important to show concern for those affected – whether they are employees, customers, or bystanders.  (Think of what happened to Tony Hayward, former CEO of BP, after his initial response to the Gulf oil spill.)

Having a plan already in place makes damage control much easier.  With the understanding that specifics will change with each type of crisis, here is a basic overview of the essential elements of a crisis communication plan:

1.  Have a Crisis Communication Team.  The team should include key people in the organization who can develop a plan of action and decide on the spokespersons in case of an event.  Everyone on the team should have – and regularly update – a management roster with every type of contact information.  The crisis team should meet on a regular basis to keep everyone in a state of readiness.

2.  Identify Designated Spokespersons.  The main spokesperson should always include the CEO or someone of equal authority, plus anyone in a management position in the area where the crisis occurred.  All designated spokespersons should have media training with an emphasis on crisis communication.  Sending someone in front of a bank of television cameras without this type of preparation can backfire – even with the best of intentions.

3.  Establish a System of Communicating with Employees, Clients and Other Stakeholders.  The system could include email alerts, an online social network platform for web-based crisis communication or even a special crisis web page.

4. Designate a Media Center.  The site for media interviews should be some distance from the crisis communication office, which may be a hub of activity.  Depending on the nature of the crisis, policies and procedures should be set for media access to people involved in the crisis.

5.  Gather the Facts.  As soon as possible, the team should gather all of the facts surrounding the crisis and issue a prepared statement to the media.  They should also release new facts as they are confirmed.

6.  Establish the Message and Key Talking Points and Prepare the Spokespersons. A crisis situation is stressful; this is not the time to “wing it” with the media. Before doing interviews, spokespersons should be rehearsed on the message, key talking points and  questions that could be asked.  There will always be information that cannot be rehearsed, but it is important to be as prepared as possible.

7.  Monitor Media coverage.  Consistently monitor both online and offline media coverage throughout the crisis to make sure your message is being communicated accurately.  If not, you may have to adjust your strategy and messaging.Posted by Margot Dimond

Is that all we can expect? Or did we choose the wrong PR firm?

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As the owner of a professional services firm, I decided late last year that we needed to do a better job of promoting our services.  I know other firms similar to ours that receive quite a bit of attention in the media, and they seem to be expanding at a faster pace than we are, so it definitely seemed like the thing to do.  We interviewed several firms – small, medium and large – and chose the largest firm because it seemed to have the most to offer.  They touted their contacts at The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal and gave us every indication that we would be featured in those national newspapers.  Unfortunately, after six months our total media coverage has been a small feature in a local business publication.  We are very disappointed and have decided to end our public relations program entirely.  Is this a common occurrence?  Why did this happen?

In answer to your direct question:  This is not a common occurrence, but it does happen all too often.  Unfortunately, it usually happens to business owners who have never before used any type of public relations service.  If your knowledge of public relations and what it can accomplish comes from what you see on television or in the movies, you may think that PR people can pick up the phone and news people will come running.  If only it were that easy!

It is rare that a small firm or a startup gets covered in major national newspapers, and for a public relations firm to dangle that idea in front of you was very misleading.  If, in fact, they promised you editorial coverage, they are in violation of the requirement to “accurately define what public relations activities can accomplish,” as listed in the code of ethics of the Public Relations Society of America, the professional membership organization for PR professionals.

Rather than giving up on having a public relations program, why not think about what you really want to gain from it?  You seem to want to expand your business.  By that, do you mean simply to have more clients?  Or do you have a specific type of client that you would like to work with?  Once you have determined the type of client you want to reach, you will need to have your PR firm work with you to design the right kinds of messages and media outlets to effectively reach them.  At that point, you should expect to see some kind of Action Plan with tactics, activities and timetables.

Your public relations program – whether undertaken internally or by an outside firm – should be viewed as an ongoing enterprise.  It’s all about reputation building and reputation maintenance, and that takes time.

Should you hire an outside firm, or go the DIY route?  Here are a some guidelines.

Posted by Margot Dimond