The Intersection of Online and Offline

Like a rabid dog with a with the mailman’s leg, I just can’t seem to let go of the whole hand-wringing scenario about media and public relations “professionals” doing bad pitches. In the old days, I have noted, as a young buck in the PR agency side of things, I reporters would screen my calls or just hang up on me. And it was over. I’ve been rejected more times than Kate Moss at Weight Watchers meetings (and I won’t even get into my dating life back in the day).

Now you have things like the “Bad Pitch Blog,” designed to bitch-slap mostly junior or clueless individuals who don’t know how to pitch properly. The tag line is “read our wrath.” That’s telling. I won’t mention any of the creators by name, but you need to get over yourselves. Has anyone keyed your car? Stolen your iPod? Assassinated your penguin? You don’t kill a fly with a sledgehammer, and this site reeks of new media hubris. Bad karma. I loved Jason Falls’ “Friday Frustrations” post in which he stated:

“A-list bloggers have an awfully bad habit of blowing smoke up each other’s asses. I’m probably guilty of it, too, though I don’t consider myself an A-lister, but for chrissakes people, you’re not celebrities so stop acting like them.”

Amen, brother.

I swear this is the last time that I am going to say this, but somehow, I am not that irritated by bad pitches. I either ignore them or have even created a folder in my email programs that pick up on key words, stores them there and I go back and read them when I have time. Maybe I am a softy in this regard because I have been both the pitcher and the pitchee, but I think that most people complaining about this just need to get over themselves (see above).

But in the spirit of “can’t we just get along?” here are just a few fundamental tips that I would provide to people who pitch either in the offline or online environment. Good communication is good communication if it’s a ten page fax or a 140 characters.

1. Identify your target audience. If you are looking to reach a target audience via a publication or blog, your first step should be making sure that the outlet matches up with the audience that you are attempting to influence. Otherwise, as Shel Holtz calls it, it is just “shovelware.”
2. Think about your objectives. Why are you communicating with this audience? I know that in the agency world you are communicating because your client thinks that he/she should be above the fold in the Wall Street Journal, but if you spend some time thinking about the benefits NOT to your client or organization but to the people receiving or potentially reading the information, you’ll go a long way towards happy, shiny people reading what you have to say. And if you work for an agency, the best consultants know when to say “no, this will be a waste of your money.” Courageous conversation for sure, but things will end up better.
3. What messages are your target readers likely to want? Knowing this will make you happy and, provided that you select the right people to pitch, it will make the writers/bloggers happy too.
4. List the types of questions that individuals may ask or additional information they may want. This is how your are going to write your pitch, your press release, or if you are doing it right, putting together your interactive press release. Answer these questions in advance and reflect it in the way that you present your information.
5. What do you want to achieve? Think about this in two ways. If you send a pitch to a blogger or print reporter, what is the action that you want he/she to take? Visit a link with more info (good call). Read an attachment (bad call: Esther Schindler has correctly noted that “attachments merit the death penalty”). If you have spent all of the time and money getting something placed, I am no fan of the statement “raising awareness.” In the age of interactivity, there has to be some action that people reading your information can take besides merely processing it.
6. Surmising that you accomplish your objectives, then what? If a reporter calls you back, you had better have your act together (no “ummm, uhhh,” or putting reporters on hold while you look for your cheat sheet with talking points on it) . And for God’s sake, list your cell phone number on your voicemail. If a reporter/blogger calls you back and gets your voicemail, it drastically reduces your chances.
7. Push vs. pull. Regurgitating information all over people who may or may not want it can work, but a largely ignored pitching vehicle is simply putting information where you want reporters or bloggers to get it. Think: ProfNet, SEO, Peter Shankman’s “Help a Reporter” listserv and Web site. If your information is waiting for people who want it, your chances go up dramatically.

I could go on and on, but given the fact that I keep promising that this will be my last post on bad pitches, look for my next post on bad pitches.

Mark

There has been some really interesting debate and commentary about yesterday’s Twebinar, put on my Chris Brogan and David Alston, both of which were kind enough to comment on yesterday’s posting. Most blog posts that I found, including Marc Meyer’s were positive - “Twebinar Mashup Was a Success.”

Time lends perspective, and after thinking about it for 24 hours, there were a few things that are buzzing around in my head:

1. This must have been a technical nightmare. Pulling all of the technologies together for the mash-up and counting on Twitter (which has been about as reliable as Paris Hilton at an open bar) must have been extraordinarily difficult. So kudos to Chris, David, SNCR and all of the participants for pulling this off. It has only whet our appetite for more.
2. I read many of the tweets that came out of yesterday’s commentary, and a few folks commented that the subject matters was a little basic, e.g., “social media IS game-changing…duh.” In thinking about this, I realized that the subject matter experts were talking in terms that were understandable to the masses, but I bet that the people who watched the two twebinars were a bunch of propeller-head wanna-bes like me. So that had to have been a tough thing to do as well: have a really kick-ass mashup and have a set of social media thought leaders who were telling us things that we already know.
3. The case studies offered by the guests were compelling and can help those of us who find it difficult to sell social media a little easier to explain to others. I really liked Richard Binhammer’s example that, since Dell began to talk and listen to customers using social media, complaints came down by 30 percent. That is something that can reverberate with anyone who understands a profit and loss statement or lifetime customer value.
4. Finally, Shel Israel traced the roots of social media, but like the title of this blog an the course that I teach, I firmly believe that good social media practices are rooted in good communications practices. Listen to your customers. Practice an open system of communication. Make your employees your ambassadors. A lot of this was possible before, but has been made much easier lately.
5. There were others who made good comments as well and I have listed some of those in an article published today in Media Bullseye.

All in all, not a bad start.

Mark

I can’t do it. I just can’t let this one go. After listening again to Media Bullseye’s Roundtable with Jason Falls, I am still a little perplexed — and steamed.

As a PR agency veteran of more than 11 years, I can’t help but wonder why bloggers feel so aggrieved that they are being pitched — incorrectly, I understand — by some people who are clearly inexperienced in doing so.

I am “old school,” so much that I have pitched more offline PR than online PR. You have to have your act together and do your homework no matter who you are pitching. Early on in my career, I got hung up on or blown off by numerous print reporters. And it was over.

My final word, as it often is, is that there are people who are much smarter than I am. And since this blog is about the intersection of online and offline, I have reached back to Esther Schindler’s “The Care and Feeding of the Press.” I first read this in Shel Holtz’s book, “Public Relations on the ‘Net.” It talks about offline pitching, but the basic tenants are still the same, including:

• Do you need to send this document?
• Making a press release worth our time!
• Let’s make this clear: unsolicited attachments merit the death penalty!

Please read Esther’s tips because I think they are funny, timely, worthy and truly represent the intersection of online and offline.

Mark

Today is a good day.

Got Part Deux published in Media Bullseye on my series about online reputation management. The cool part about having an interactive platform is that others can see and comment on it. More often than not, people make you smarter.

Kami Watson of Communications Overtones saw Part I of the series and noted that, when it comes to online reputation management, the best defense is a good offense, meaning that a strong Google page rank and presence will help provide a better base from which to communicate if and when the attacks come. Jason Falls also had some good thinking that I drew from for the article.

So thanks for your input, Kami. “Determining the Voices That Matter,” the article in today’s edition of Media Bullseye is Part II of my thinking on best practices for setting up an online reputation management program.

And since I don’t have my other blog any more, I HAVE to give a shout-out to Jon Lester of the Boston Red Sox for pitching a no-hitter last night.

Mark

I was listening to a recent “For Immediate Release,” aka the “Hobson and Holtz” report, and listened with awe that frequent contributor Dan York pulled off a Craig’s List miracle.

For those of you who are regular listeners to FIR, you’ll know that Dan often reports from the “picturesque countryside of Vermont.” Well, Dan is relocating to Keene, NH, as he describes in his blog. Here’s where it gets interesting: Dan listed his house on Craig’s List at 8:30 am and had a signed offer by 4:30 pm - THAT DAY. As the cheesy commercials say, “your results may vary,” but this is an incredible testament to the power of Craig’s List, which has already punched a hole in traditional advertising and is now making its way into new venues.

First, congratulations, Dan.

Second, I had a similar experience a couple of years ago. I got a serious steal on a house in a very desirable neighborhood outside of Washington, DC — with a huge caveat that we settle and move in 13 days (this is not a typo). Two sleepless weeks later, my family and I moved and I was faced with selling my own house in a market that had just begun to slump.

I went with a real estate agent who had never heard of Craig’s List, but knowing that I was tied into a 90-day contract with him, I cross-posted the MLS listing on Craig’s List. What happened was that two I-can’t-sleep-at-night-because-I-am-carrying-two-mortgages months later, my old house sold. But what happened in the meantime was interesting.

When I posted my house, I was getting inquiries from interested parties who were going about the traditional route through their agents. Then after hearing all of the wonderful things that real estate agents say, the prospective buyers would email me questions. And I would answer. And they would email more. And I would answer. And I would subtly let them know that I was pleased at the attention that my listing got on Craig’s List (read: competition).

So what happened? My house sold the good, old-fashioned MLS way, but had that not worked out, I had two interested parties with whom I had already developed a good relationship waiting in the wings.

Had I had more time, I would have (like Dan did) listed my house exclusively on Craig’s List. With a six percent commission on a average house value of $500,000, I would say that a Craig’s List posting is definitely worth a $30,000 real estate commission fee.

Sorry, National Association of Realtors.

Mark