Editorial Content - The Swiss Army Knife of Public Relations

Writing editorial content is one of the most useful gadgets in the PR tool box. Think of it as the swiss army knife of PR practices.You need more than one hand to count how many ways a story for a trade publication or a professional journal can be flexed, bent and turned around. Spend a few hours crafting 750-800 words on a current topic, get it published, and you’ve got a piece worth well-more than the time you spent.

You can multi-purpose your work in the following ways:

• Newsletter – include it in your company newsletter – both internal/external

• Email blast – send out an email blast before and after your story is published

• Website – use it as fresh copy for your website and be sure to add the link to the publication’s website to your page

• Blog – make it your latest post

• Sales letter – include the published piece in your sales kit

• Facebook page – add to it your company’s and your personal Facebook and Twitter page

• Speaking engagements – if you are published regularly you can leverage it for more exposure

If you simply don’t have the time or don’t fancy yourself a writer, consider contracting help. Hiring out for editorial copy is far less expensive than generating paid advertising. In many cases, you can save up to two-thirds of the cost of traditional advertising.

Top 5 Networking Blunders

I had the opportunity to hear business training professional Sarah Zink speak at the monthly C3 for Women event in Fort Worth. She listed the top five worst networking habits. They are:

• Stop Assaulting People – stop “assaulting people with your business card,” Zink suggests. She advises that exchanging business cards is the last step in the networking process. Talk to someone for a few moments and then hand it over should they request.

• You’re not a card collector – “She who dies with the most business cards does not win,” proclaimed Zink. She suggests taking notes on the cards you intend to keep and then tossing the rest.

• How’s your hand? Where’s your eye? What’s that you said? – Learn how to give a firm handshake. Zink suggests Queen Elizabeth is the only one who is able to offer a bent finger shake, the rest of us should offer a firm hand ensuring a proper connection with the recipient. Don’t be bashful look your new acquaintance in the eye and speak clearly.

• Forget the name tags. – Even though someone’s name tag might not reflect a targeted industry, Zink advises what you really want to know is who they know not who they work for. “A professional networker doesn’t read name tags,” she said. Networking is about making a connection with an individual.

• Stop selling! – Go to events to give not to sell. You’ve got to give before you get!

Media Relations: An Extreme Example of the 3 Things You Should Never Do

I can’t help but laugh and then feel uncomfortable while watching the video of how a hospital public relations representative handled a television reporter in the San Francisco Bay area. This painful exchange reportedly took place at a public meeting at Laguna Honda Hospital and Rehabilitation Center.

For a little more than three minutes I sat with my jaw open as I watched communications director Marc Slavin follow reporter Dan Noyes around the room. This video is a prime example of how not to handle the media. The top three things you should never do:

1. Never touch a camera! Cameras are extremely expensive pieces of equipment and photographers are sensitive about people grabbing or swatting at them. Plus, you’re actually assaulting someone and they have it on tape!
2. Never keep touching a reporter after they ask you to stop. The same rules that we learned in kindergarten apply.
3. Never get aggressive with a reporter. No matter how tense the situation, you must keep your cool and remember you are a professional.

What could have made this better?

1. “No comment,” always implies guilt. The administrator needed some sort of prepared statement. Whether its, “This is the first I’m hearing of this, let me get back with you so that I can provide you more information,” or, “Our hospital adheres to high standards and our donation program is compliant with all State regulations.”
2. Media training, media training, media training. A few hours of media training will prepare you for being broadsided by an investigative reporter, and handling tense situations in general.
3. Treat people as they expect to be treated. Reporters, customers and the general public can be pushy and rude when they feel like they aren’t being heard or respected. Listen, validate and give a few moments of your time in order to save yourself from the long term stress of a formal complaint, lawsuit or worse yet - a YouTube video.

The Three Best Ways to Find New Business

I had the benefit of hearing Tom Pryor, author, growth coach and Executive Director of the Small Business Development Center’s Enterprise Excellence, at a recent event (more later on how you too can get invited to hear great business minds share their knowledge). According to Pryor, many of us are asking ourselves the wrong questions these days – specifically when it comes to the economy. Instead of contemplating, “when will this crisis end,” we should consider the following: How will it change the way we think, do business and our priorities?

Once we’ve divined satisfactory answers, Pryor encourages us to mine for new small facts that can make a big difference and provide competitive edge. He shared The Idea Mining Journal, a tool created the Eureka Institute. The journal suggests we mine for ideas in three areas:

• uniqueness
• your customers
• technology

Pryor suggests we choose one task out of the business building trifecta and work on it for 30 minutes each day for an entire week. For example, you might look for ways to green your business and standout from your competitors. You could also poll your customers and ask them what they value about your business, and what could be improved. Finally, see how you can leverage technology to improve your business, making you more competitive. 

Once you’ve gathered your data, Pryor suggests moving forward at a rapid pace. “People tend to make the wrong decision when they over think,” he stated.

"If you’re going to fail – fail fast, make it cheap and get smart."

Pryor spoke at the Business Bites luncheon, a free event sponsored by The Alternative Board. They are held monthly in downtown Fort Worth and lunch is provided.

5 Ways to Save Money on a Viral Video Project

Most public relations practitioners think of corporate video has high-dollar productions. However, the rules in today’s world of social media are such that creating a video for your organization doesn't have to be expensive, and it can be just as valuable as a big budget corporate blockbuster. Click here and check out this rapping flight attendant from Southwest Airlines. Southwest put it on their blog and not long after they were fielding phone calls from CNN and The Jay Leno Show! You can't buy that kind of press.

My opportunity to create a viral video came while working at JPS. We wanted to launch a new customer service initiative and roll it out to all 4,500 employees who were geographically separated. We decided creating a series of videos that used humor and was attention grabbing would be far more effective than sending out an e-mail telling everyone to be nice and smile more often. Check out how we created elevator heroes and reminded everyone to provide better communication to patients by clicking here. You too can create heroes or promote your company’s fun atmosphere without breaking the bank by using the following guidelines:

• Write it yourself
• Use your own people as talent
• Keep it short 1:30 – 2 min
• Shoot multiple videos at one time
• Use limited:
•  audio
• graphics
• lighting

Use these tactics and you should be able to produce a series of viral videos for $6,000-$10,000.

Why Your Company Needs Social Media Guidelines

My column as it appeared in the Fort Worth Business Press on Feb. 15, 2010

Though some executives may feel that social media isn’t a useful marketing tool for their company, and they could be right, employers must keep in mind that even if their company isn’t blogging, podcasting or tweeting – their employees are. Facebook, the site that allows users to share information about themselves through brief status updates, pictures, video and more, boasts 350 million users. TechCrunch.com reports that 20 million Americans are using Twitter, a service that lets you sum up and share your thoughts in 140 characters or less. And these aren’t just gum-smacking, iPod using teenagers. According to Mashable.com more than 65 percent of Facebook users are 25 years of age and older, with the greatest growth seen in those aged 55 years and older.

Companies have been governing communication tools since phones and computers became standard issue for employees. Policies regulating personal phone calls, e-mail and internet usage were naturally implemented with the technology. They serve has reminders to staff that they are able to use the equipment provided to them for work purposes, but it is not intended for personal use and nothing is sacred. The problem is that these policies don’t address how employees use their own technology when they are at work and off the clock.

Wired.com reports that 54 percent of companies ban social media usage at work. Even though the IT department has blocked social media sites on a company-provided laptop, employees can still access banned pages on their smart phone in their pocket. A study done by Nucleus Research shows that 77 percent of people who have a Facebook account use it at work. The social nature of Facebook suggests the fodder is less likely to consist of company trade secrets and more apt to be commentary on the weather, the coffee in the break room or other mundane happenings. Think of it as happy hour chit chat all day long.

However, bosses beware; this relaxed atmosphere creates the opportunity for remarks never intended for your clients’ consumption to become public. Even well-intentioned employees could create havoc by attempting to provide advice or insight and inadvertently representing themselves as a spokesperson for your organization. Regardless of a company’s presence online, a social media policy is necessary for most all organizations. One might argue some industries should have greater concern than others, such as health care, banking/finance and others that collect sensitive information from clients and customers. What might seem as friendly health or financial advice to a relative or fellow blogger, could mean trouble if the message is inaccurate or counter to a company’s mission. Additionally, depending on the method used, the information could be open for public consumption.

Winstead PC shareholder John Smart, a board-certified specialist in labor and employment law responded on behalf of The Health Industry Council, a nonprofit, organization consisting of North Texas healthcare organizations. He recommends that employers remind staff that they have no reasonable expectations of privacy on their computers at work, and that they can be held accountable for information posted after hours. “Employers have the ability to discipline employees for inappropriate postings, regardless of how they are discovered,” he said.
Before putting those reminders on paper, consider including the following in your social media guidelines:
• Employees may not use your organization’s logo on their personal blog, Web site, Facebook page, etc.
• Employees should make sure that it is clear that their views are their own and that they are not representing the organization
• Your company will not be liable for any misinformation that is published by employees on personal Web sites, blogs, etc.
• Consider whether or not you want employees to be able to include a link to your homepage
• Encourage employees to think before they post or publish, if they have concerns about information they are sharing to contact their supervisor and/or public relations department

Most employers can sum up their guidelines in a few paragraphs. Consider forming a committee of employees to review them and provide feedback before they are adopted by the organization. This will help create buy-in once you are ready to roll them out. Finally, make sure employees understand that their participation in social media is certainly their decision, but that they can be held accountable at work for what is posted on their personal time.

Communicating Health Reform

Corporate communicators would serve themselves well to pop the alka-seltzer now and begin educating themselves and their employee base about health care reform. Communicating the inner workings of health care reform can make the most senior Washington insider nauseous, much less a public relations professional. “It is an ugly set of circumstances,” remarked Jeff Kimbell, President Jeffrey J. Kimbell & Associates, a Washington-based healthcare consultant. Kimbell, Dr. James Rohack, President and Director of the American Medical Association (AMA) and Dr. Dan Stultz President/Chief Executive Officer of Texas Health Resources participated on a panel and discussed key components of health care reform.

All agreed the time is now to engage the process. Involving your staff today will help alleviate possible misunderstandings and concerns when changes are made to how the government and your organization provide health care coverage. Helping people feel a part of the conversation now will benefit your company later when changes are made. Don’t let employees depend on reports from the media or water cooler gossip.

• Send an e-mail to staff and include the following recommended web sites listed below for the salient details. Include important milestone events in your newsletter.

         http://www.ama.org/
         http://www.hsreform.org/
         http://healthreform.kff.org/

• Hold a town hall meeting and invite elected officials so they can receive feedback from members of your organization.
• According to Rohack, the AMA would like health care reform to include incentives for those who make positive lifestyle choices. Consider forming a committee of employees and form a wellness program.

With just a small amount of effort you can begin providing information and gaining awareness of possible changes that will help clear up the fog of medicine-head confusion that is likely to follow the final health care reform changes.