AHA Creative Strategies - B Seen B Heard B Known

Communication is a wonderful thing, and as a communication specialist, I am happier than most people (I think) for blackberries, wireless Internet connections in coffee shops and that my clients, my business partner, our strategic partners, our staff and the media can reach me when they need me.

It’s a bit of a running joke with clients and friends that if I don’t have my blackberry nearby, I go looking for it … if someone needs to speak to me immediately, I want to take that call.

However, I think that people need to respect the levels of need, urgency and expectation when it comes to being able to reach someone 24/7. Just because I have a blackberry with me all the time doesn’t mean that everyone has an all access pass to me all the time. The interesting thing is that the people that have the right to call me at all hours (especially our clients…) are much more respectful than those who are almost strangers. Many of the people I deal with on a regular basis go out of their way — unless it is immediately important or urgent — not to call me on off-hours, if a subject or question can be answered in an hour or two or even a day or two, they email me. If they call me at the office and I am not in, they leave a message. They don’t just call me on my cell expecting me to drop what I am doing and turn my focus to something that is not urgent.

However, there are others out there that don’t seem to understand this approach. They call the office and if I am not there, they chase me down on my cell phone. I recently got a call from someone I had met briefly at a business event where I presented. She called me on my cell in the middle of a particular hectic workday. She hadn’t even bothered to email or call me at the office. She wanted to know if I would be her guest at a BNI meeting three weeks from the day of her call. Not an urgent call. And the truth is, in the middle of the day, going from meeting to meeting, dealing with media calls, talking to my colleagues at the AHA office, discussing projects and initiatives with clients, it was pretty challenging to focus on this woman.

On the other hand, several years ago, I spoke to a class of new business entrepreneurs and one of them, a graphic designer, kept in touch with me. She would email once in a while and update me on what she was doing, remind me that she was talented, hungry and looking for work – all in a very respectful way that was convenient for me. That allowed me to actually focus on what she was doing in her business and think about how I could be of assistance to her. She and I met for coffee last week and if the opportunity comes up, I will go out of my way to recommend her or to work with her. This is a vast improvement compared to the woman who made the assumption that her call would be good for me at any time.

In our work, we are always thinking about how the person on the other end will best receive our information. For the media, we know their deadlines and what the best times are to call and pitch them. For our clients – we ask them how they would like us to communicate with them. Even within the AHA team, when we call one another, we almost always say – is this a good time? I have something that I need to run by you right now.

Immediate, instant communication is a great thing if used respectfully, properly and effectively. Remember – just because you have someone’s cell or home number doesn’t mean you need to use it. Would you want people calling you at home or on your cell if it wasn’t urgent or immediate? If you treat people the way you would like to be treated, it really does deliver results.

Sometimes it is the simplest actions that are ignored or forgotten. This week alone I have counted 22 emails that have come in to me from colleagues, clients and potential suppliers that have not had contact information on them.

Not only does this create a challenge in getting back to the person in anyway other than email (not always the best or most reliable form of communication), it is also a lost opportunity. Let’s talk about the contact information first – anything you do to make it harder for someone to contact you is a bad thing.

I can remember in my career as a reporter – when I would receive media kits delivered by courier, receive faxes and emails …with no obvious contact information on them. This wasn’t a rare occurrence, it happened on a regular basis. Even if the story was a great one, it was a challenge to find that person – and if two great story pitches came in at the same time and one had contact info and one didn’t – guess who I called…

And – as for the lost opportunity I mentioned above – all it would take to give your business, company or project a little boost would be a short tag line above or below your contact info. For example: We’ve just launched our new blog, check it out at www.yourcompanyname.com.

Communication doesn’t always have to be complex and complicated. But you do have to remember to do it.

I recently chatted with my friend and colleague Ken McQueen. Ken is the Bureau Chief for Vancouver for Maclean’s Magazine. He covers the West Coast of Canada and the U.S. for the magazine and is one of the best journalists around.

I asked Ken to tell me what he wants to receive from someone who wants to have Maclean’s cover their company’s story.

Here is what Ken told said:

“A good pitch is aimed at Maclean’s (link), not a generic pitch to all media. It is a story of national interest, or a story that is nationally interesting. And it arrives, miraculously, on a day, and in a week, when I have time to write it and the editors have an interest in slapping it into the magazine. This is a rare, but not impossible, confluence of events.

Somewhere in PR school they must teach that it is a good idea to follow up an email pitch with a phone call. Wrong. It is a bad idea unless there is something exceptional to add. I don’t know how many dozen pitches I get over the course of a week. If everyone includes a phone call I get no work done.

A general all-points pitch is dead on arrival. And a pitch that I think is going just to me, and ends up in the next day’s dailies, is a very, very, very bad idea. I need things exclusively, and well in advance if I’m going to hold my editors’ interest.

I honour embargoes. I appreciate tips and will sit on a story until a mutually agreeable date. I work for a news magazine, I don’t write advertising copy.”

This is great information – straight from a well-respected journalist. Read, watch or listen to the media organization you want to tell your story to … think about whether it is right for that organization. Then think about it again. Don’t pitch to everyone – choose who your target is and do your homework. Find out what they cover, find out what grabs their attention. Remember that the journalist you pitch has to find your story compelling enough to take it to the story meeting and pitch it to their editor or producer, give them the ammunition to do that.

What’s a blog for — if not to talk to a great person that will come and join our team! Below is the ad we have put out for a PR coordinator!

AHA Creative Strategies, a boutique PR firm with its head office in beautiful Gibsons, B.C. (on the Sunshine Coast) and a client service/business development office in Vancouver, is currently looking for a Public Relations Coordinator. This position is based in Gibsons – a short 40-minute ferry ride from Horseshoe Bay (North Vancouver). Preference will be given to those who live or are willing to live on the Sunshine Coast.

Qualifications and Requirements
-Excellent communication, organization, and time management skills.
-Must be able to communicate effectively and professionally over the phone with company contacts and media.
-Ability to manage simultaneous tasks, think out-of the-box and take initiative.
-Creative, intelligent, positive attitude, team player, flexible, and reliable.
-Strong work ethic and strict attention to detail.
-Proficient with Cisions Media Source (previously Bowdens Media Source) media database.
-Must have excellent grammar and writing skills.
-Advanced skills in Microsoft Word, Excel, Outlook, and PowerPoint.
-Proficient Internet research ability.
-Strong understanding of social media, especially blogging.
-Degree or certificate in the field of PR or communications.
-A minimum of one year’s experience in public relations.

Responsibilities
-Write, edit and proofread news releases and pitches.
-Coordinate media interviews.
-Pitch story ideas to the media.
-Build and maintain media databases.
-Contribute to client brainstorming sessions.
-Maintain client media binders.
-Project account coordination.
-Assist partners with event planning and onsite coordination.
-Admin duties as necessary – including answering the telephone.
-Walking the AHA mutts – we have two!

The AHA office environment is casual, fun and lively. We work hard AND we have fun. Our clients are based throughout North America and are exceptional. This is a great opportunity for someone with a positive, “can do” attitude who wants to build a career with one of Canada’s best boutique PR agencies.

If you have the drive to succeed and are looking for a PR position in a fast-paced organization in one of B.C.’s most beautiful areas, we want to hear from you. Please email a cover letter and resume ASAP to paul@ahacreative.com.

Compensation is based on relevant experience. We will be hiring mid-July.

By now, many people have heard about (or seen) the on-air fight that View hosts Rosie O’Donnell and Elisabeth Hasselbeck had in front of millions of people.

Naturally, like anything embarrassing, controversial or amusing, the video ended up on YouTube.

This is a perfect example of how people can lose it in front of a camera. These women are seasoned professionals – and yes, I am sure their mandate is to discuss and debate, but I would doubt that the producers wanted their conversation to disintegrate into this mess. These two women are on television all the time, they know how to behave in front of a camera, they are (agree or not with their view) TV professionals. But what happened here hit their hot buttons and common sense and logic went out the window and it turned personal. Except for that feeling of watching a train wreck happening, nothing good came of this fight. Did you learn anything specific about their opinions or was your mind opened to a new fact or information you didn’t have before?

Dealing with controversy is not easy, especially if someone is hitting your hot buttons. A good reporter who wants a passionate or dramatic response will know how to hit your hot buttons. How do you manage it if you find yourself losing your temper during a conversation with the media, on a panel or answering questions after a speaking engagement?

Many people think that it’s easy. It’s not. One of the components of our media training workshop is identifying the hot buttons and working through how to manage your personal feelings and emotions. Think about what your hot buttons are, what sets you off, how you can manage your message while lowering your blood pressure. Practice the key points that you would like to communicate. That is what is important, not biting at every controversial push from someone.

A few tips, if you feel yourself heating up.
• Before answering any questions, count to three. Visualize the answer on the evening news. Do you want your clip to be of you yelling?
• Put yourself in the shoes of the person asking the question, what is their agenda?
• Breathe deeply.
• Acknowledge that this is an important, personal or emotional question for you – and then focus on the three points you want to make about this issue.
• If the person asking the question is emotional – acknowledge it respectfully, (“I see that this is an emotional/personal/important issue for you and I appreciate that…”).
• Do NOT get into a yelling match, no matter what. If voices are escalating, take a deep breath, ground yourself and respond by saying something about the emotional nature of the issue and that perhaps a short break might be needed so that everyone can collect their thoughts and return to the question at hand more calmly.

Disagreement is not easy. Conflict is not easy. And it has splashback. For the women of The View, it went farther than the fight between Rosie and Elisabeth. Guest star Alicia Silverstone was on as a guest right after the fight and she completely snubbed Elisabeth.

If I was Silverstone’s publicist, I may have given her grief about that snub. That fight was between Rosie and Elisabeth – and Silverstone put herself into it. But – you have to remember when you let your hot button get pushed – that it is usually in front of more than one person and you may negatively influence other people by losing it.

I am often asked why an entrepreneur, small business, CEO or multinational company’s employees should blog…is it worth the time and effort, does it have a return-on-investment or a ROB (return-on-blog)?

YES!

According to a wide-range of surveys, it is estimated that there are more than 80 million blogs on the Internet. That’s a lot of communication going on. And either you are a part of this conversation or you aren’t. I would bet that several of your competitors are out there.

If you aren’t blogging, and that includes reading and posting and linking to other blogs, you are missing out on a huge opportunity to connect with an audience that has similar interests, that wants to know more about what you do, how you do it and wants to tell you what they need.

Blogging gives you:
• An informal way to talk about your company.
• A place to ask for feedback – about your service, products, promotion and your approach. (Marketers used to, and still do, pay huge amounts for focus groups for just such information. Create an audience for your blog and you have an incredible opportunity to hear directly from your stakeholders.)
• The opportunity to showcase your expertise, knowledge and know-how. Give away some of your knowledge on your blog. Prospective customers or clients will love you for it and come back for more information – and to work with you when the opportunity arises.
• Sales tools – send a link to your blog out to everyone you can think of. Hopefully, they will see the value in it and sign up on your RSS feed so that they can receive new content when you upload it.
• The opportunity to create an authentic conversation with your readers. (Don’t just talk at them, listen to what they have to say as well.)

For decades, companies have worked hard to generate media coverage and while it’s still very important – a blog gives you the opportunity to have your own media. And along with your blog, you can produce a podcast or a vodcast. This gives you a huge opportunity to start the conversation with your consumer base.

Over the next few weeks, I will be posting “how to” information about blogs – from who should blog to when you should blog and what you can write about. I will include some insider tips on blogging. Let me know if you have anything you would like me to write about. Or if you have tips you would like to include, send them to me! I would love to hear what you are doing at your blog!

Public Relations has changed drastically over the past two years. Blogs and blogging are a part of day-to-day life, so are podcasts (audio files that can be downloaded to an MP3 player) and vodcasts (video files that can be viewed on your computer).

And – like it or not – as a company or as an individual this new era of citizen journalism means that your mistakes, moments of temptation or greed and wrong doings can be completely exposed within seconds of it hitting the fan. (Look! The Emperor Has No Clothes!) We have seen a great many “celebrities” get exposed via the Internet (and I’m not talking about Pamela Anderson and the Tommy Lee tapes). Michael Richards and his racist rant at a comedy club in L.A. is a good example. Don Imus was fired from his high profile job at MSNBC because his racist comments on his shock radio show made it to YouTube and was viewed hundreds of thousands of times.

Recently, actor Alec Baldwin had the Internet turn on him after his ex-wife, Kim Basinger, released a cell phone message that Mr. Baldwin had left for his 11-year old daughter. There is some debate on whether Ms. Basinger actually released this audio file to the media and if she did whether she should have, but whether she did or should have done it – it got people talking about Alec and how abusive he was to his daughter in that message. I have heard the message and find it appalling that anyone would ever speak to another person that way, let alone a child. But – that isn’t the point of this blog.

It damaged his personal brand – and given that the Baldwin brothers don’t exactly have the most polished brand in Hollywood – that says something. What do you think NBC, the company that produces 30 Rock, the comedy series in which Mr. Baldwin stars, thinks of this voicemail being out there for anyone to hear? (Google Alec Baldwin, this topic comes up in the first five links.)

What would happen if something you thought was private ended up on YouTube or MySpace or was being passed around via email by your colleagues and competitors. What if it was something that was a mistake you made or what if it was wrong and you were being unjustly accused of something? How could that hurt your company, your professional reputation and your life? What would you do about it?

Blogs and other social media have created an incredible opportunity to communicate. They have also opened up the curtain and let us see the little man at the controls. (If you didn’t get The Wizard of Oz reference, my apologies.)

One of my favourite blogs is the bad pitch blog by PR gurus Kevin Dugan and Richard Laermer – this blog has a long list of smart, lively and witty contributors. Here, bad news releases and pitches are put under the microscope.

This blog has great information if you want to see what mistakes can be made – before you make them. They also showcase good pitches. The good pitch badge of honour award is named the “Glinda”, (after the good witch of the East in
The Wizard of Oz).

This blog covers an important topic in PR – the pitch. It is such an important part of reaching out to the media. Check this out and find out what works and what doesn’t.

There are a lot of people contacting the media that don’t even get the reporter’s name or their beat right.

Before you contact the media, make sure you have something to say, that you are saying it to the right person and that you are putting it in front of them at the right time and in the right way.