Mike’s Points

I consider myself very fortunate to have worked — professionally — in both journalism and public relations/marketing communications. And, I still do both as I’m a periodic stringer for a couple area newspapers. (Yes, I am careful of conflict of interest and have passed on newspaper stories because of that potential.)

Being on both sides gives me great perspective — and frustration when I see supposed pros on both sides make it difficult for the other to do their job. Like it or not, media relations/PR people need journalists…AND journalists really can do their job better with assistance from media relations/PR pros. Journalists don’t NEED PR pros but do benefit greatly from good ones.

I know.

Because I’m on both sides.

In doing some recent newspaper work, I ran into some, um, issues by companies that do not make it easy for them to receive media coverage. So, let me offer three simple PR tips to help you get better coverage.

If you’re rushed, let me sum up the below quickly:

Do not make it hard for the media to contact you & talk with you for a story. If you make it difficult for the media to talk to you, the reporter more often than not can easily move on to another source. And, he/she will. I did.

Do not make the media jump through hoops to get a few comments or bits of information. Especially in this day in age, “media” can take any form. And, most of it can help you. No, you don’t have to talk to all media representatives but at least don’t make it hard to find out what they want. Example: One company required me to fax or email my request on newspaper letterhead (I’m a freelancer — I don’t have letterhead) to the marketing person who then will present it to the company president when they meet next.

Even if you have a PR agency/vendor, do have someone at the company who can take media calls. This is especially helpful if the reporter is on deadline and can’t wait to contact Mr. or Ms. PR Person first — knowing that the person you will eventually talk with is at the company. Fortunately, I had time to wait in this instance. Trust me, I understand the reasons to out-source PR (and appreciate when companies do to me!). However, there are times when the agency does get in the way. Companies should have a process for those in communications and those who answer the telephone to determine when media inquiries should be handled directly, and when they should be referred to the PR agency.

Do include media contact information on your site — don’t need no stinking forms. Corporate Websites are one of the first places journalists turn to for information, including contact information. On corporate Websites (social media ones, too!), PR contacts MUST include their email address and telephone number. That is their mobile telephone number. In this day and age, PR contacts must be accessible 24-7. It’s just the way it is. Accept it or get out of the business.

-Mike

Maybe it’s because of my journalism roots, but I never did like rags. In my POV, rags are newspapers and magazines that run every news release you’d send them, mostly verbatim.

Yeah, sure they were easy “hits” and helped make me look good to clients (not that I needed help — hardee har-har ).

But, I figured they did not provide quality coverage, and their circulation numbers were not really “real” (though I did include them in client reports).

Solid media coverage comes from media outlets that take their journalism* responsibility seriously. They don’t publish everything you send — and you don’t send them everything you have.

A real PR pro has solid news judgment, knows his employer or clients’ objectives, knows or can find the appropriate media outlets needed to meet those objectives, and knows those media outlets.

That goes whether you’re talking traditional offline media, online media or social media.

So, I was thrilled to read about MomDot’s call for for mommy bloggers to get back to their roots for one week in August:

MomDot is challenging bloggers to participate for one week in August in a PR BLACKOUT challenge where you do not blog ANY giveaways, ANY reviews, and Zero press releases. In fact, we dont want you to talk to PR at ALL that whole week.  We want to see your blog naked, raw, and back to basics. Talk about your kids, your marriage, your college, your hopes, your dreams, your house and whatever you can come up with for one week.

I’ve been involved in numerous blogger outreach efforts, including some sampling outreach where I’ve sought permission to send products to and sought feedback from bloggers on those products. In any type of outreach a PR pro does — whether with traditional or social media — there has to be value for both parties.

The PR pro has to give content, access, information, etc., — something that the blogger finds of value for his or her readers. Yes, in sampling, the blogger receives a product that he/she likely won’t return, but that’s fine. That’s not payola and should not dramatically influence the objective, pure blog post PR pros and their clients or employer should seek.

I’ve never paid — NOR WILL I EVER PAY — a blogger to post about a client’s product. If you do, that’s fine. That’s an ad. That IS NOT PR.

I will never tell a blogger what to write — or that he/she should even write at all.

I will never get upset if a blogger expresses interest in and says he/she will write a post, but doesn’t. Most bloggers still have jobs, lives, family, etc. You’re a PR pro. Bloggers very likely are not professional bloggers.

Now, I also realize that power moms — including mom bloggers — are hot. I definitely don’t begrudge a blogger — whether the person’s a mom or not — to earn a living and get some type of compensation to post on his or her blog. If the blogger has the talent and following, great. Get benefit from it.

But as a word of caution, as Trisha at MomDot seemed to say in her post, don’t forget your roots and the qualities that made you so darn popular. There are plenty of commercialized old and new media entities.

So,to all of you sought-after bloggers — as well as traditional media — please don’t loose your purity.

-Mike

Image of Rosie the Riveter. Also see Google search.

*I realize that, with few exceptions, bloggers are not journalists, and I don’t view them that way. Still, they do “report,” and usually it’s their opinion. That’s fine. Blogs are still media.

I’m fascinated by human nature, how and why people interact, and the processes of how successful results come to be.

If you’ve done any social media outreach — and been successful — then I assume you’ve also been involved in traditional, offline media relations — and been successful.

While there are many similarities, I’ve found that there are enough differences in the process of suggesting stories to media contacts — whether offline or online.

The similarities should go without saying, like:

• Know the media outlet and person(s) you want to contact. Know what topics are covered, who the audience is, how the people like to receive story suggestions/ideas, etc.
• Know that — no matter if you’re talking to your client or employer about “hits” or “getting placements” — you are still dealing with people.
• While you have some level of influence — you do not have anywhere near the final say as to if a story idea is published. After all, it ain’t an ad you’re suggesting — it’s much more valuable.

But the differences are subtle.

Generally speaking, when dealing with offline media, you’re dealing with a professional. Someone at his/her job. Someone getting paid.

When you are dealing with social media — I’m mostly talking bloggers here — you’re dealing with people with a passion about a topic. While more and more bloggers seem to be making a career out of it, there are still very much elements of dealing with an every-day person who is blogging more out of passion than profession.

The subtly comes in how you contact the two types of media outlets.

Assuming personal preferences don’t dictate otherwise, it seems:

With offline, traditional media, you give them the materials that will make it easier for them to write a story about your suggestion. Materials like sending images or links to images; sending a well-written, AP-Style news release; and coordinating an interview between a reporter and your client/employer.You’re definitely not writing the story for them, but you are doing as much of the leg work as possible.

With online, social media, you are providing access to information, images and people. You direct bloggers where to get the information, and what you can provide (like contact information for a company official, and information that you can’t link to).

While the decision whether or not your story idea is published is ultimately up to the reporter or blogger, it seems more important that the blogger maintains an air of independence and separation from the subject than the reporter. It’s not a huge separation, but because it is the job of reporters to get information, there’s a closer relationship between professional media and PR/media relations personnel.

With bloggers, generally speaking, they didn’t start blogging because they wanted to inform. So, my feeling is that PR/media relations personnel need bloggers way much more than bloggers need PR/media relations personnel.

I definitely don’t mean to impune the objectivity and independence of professional media, but it seems there is a stronger need and desire by bloggers to remain untarnished by PR/media relations professionals.

Thoughts?

-Mike

While we all are interested in “who’s the biggest,” size does not necessarily equate to quality. (Heh, I sound a bit like SWBU, but look much different.)

Guess I’m puzzled why this is such a big deal: Aegis, WPP Dominate Digital Agency Ranks, Account For Half The Industry.

Size can be important (or, impotent for some I suppose), but it’s the quality and rating of the work that really sizes up a firm. So, for those companies seeking an online marketing partner, don’t be fooled by the size of the package. It truly is what is inside that counts.

– Mike

Now, I could use this opportunity to tout my employer, but I won’t.

Let me preface with what (I hope) you’re going to read by saying that, Google can operate its business however it wishes. Let the market decide if it’s good or not. And, for the most part, the market has said Google’s actions are good.

Let me also state that its effort to prevent companies from buying page rank is not so good to some degree.

“We work hard to return the most relevant results for every search we conduct. To that end, we encourage site managers to make their content straightforward and easily understood by users and search engines alike. Unfortunately, not all websites have users’ best interests at heart. Some site owners attempt to ‘buy PageRank™’ in the form of paid links to their sites. Buying links to improve PageRank violates our quality guidelines.”

Yes, ranking high in Google search results is important for businesses. All businesses, I’d dare say.

But, there are other reasons for “paid links” like what companies like PayPerPost offer: To try to garner a level of word-of-mouth exposure among bloggers.

As long as there is up-front and easily-seen disclosure that a blogger is being paid to promote a product or service, so what?! I’m not stupid. You’re not stupid. We know ads and slanted posts when we read them. Michael Brooks/HistoryMike is a great example. He has a very insightful, and worth-reading blog about current events (international, national and Toledo-area), book reviews . . . and even PPP posts.

When he posts his PPP posts, I scan right through them. For the most part, I don’t care. But, from the majority of his posts, I know (or, assume) the segue and personal info around his PPPs are genuine. So, I might scan more slowly or even follow a link if it’s of interest.

Because I trust the blogger. In many instances, I disagree with Google’s statment that, “Unfortunately, not all websites have users’ best interests at heart.” (That is true often, but those times are rare.)

Mike is transparent.

And, so are most bloggers.

So, Mr. Googles, don’t penalize good, transparent bloggers who are trying to make a buck but still offer quality content. Let search engine visitors decide if the content is worthwhile. Don’t try to put forth some utopian stance.

– Mike

Thanks to Jason Calacanis for the pointer to the Google Webmaster Tools link.