Posted on Fri, Aug 06, 2010
By Cathy
Last Sunday’s New York Times Magazine featured an article titled, “The Web Means the End of Forgetting,” and the lead focused on the story of a young woman whose teaching career ended before it ever began because of an ill-advised posting on MySpace.
The Times’ article is another example of the hand wringing going on in the media and in popular culture regarding privacy concerns online and in social media in particular. Perhaps fueling this discussion most recently is the firestorm caused by Facebook’s changes to its privacy policies -- changes that have not sat well with its users.
Which is why last week’s introduction of a test for the new feature, “Facebook Questions,” is so interesting in its timing and possibility.
In introducing Facebook Questions on the company’s blog, Director of Product Blake Ross writes, “Millions of people ask their friends questions on Facebook every day. What new music should I listen to? Where's the best sushi place in town? How do I learn to play the piano?
Today we're introducing Facebook Questions, a beta product that lets you pose questions like these to the Facebook community. With this new application, you can get a broader set of answers and learn valuable information from people knowledgeable on a range of topics.”
Hmm. So if I pose a question, my name and picture and any other information I have not adequately protected become visible to half a billion Facebook users? Will this lead to many, many more offers from Nigerian millionaires who need my checking account number so they can wire me money?
Facebook Questions is only available to a select number of users right now, and we’ll be watching carefully to see how it is received. While we expect individual users will be cautious about posing questions to the entire Facebook community -- questions that might be answered more easily, privately and reliably via a search engine such as Google -- there might be extended customer service, public relations and marketing opportunities here for businesses. By asking for feedback on a product or service, businesses could spur traffic to their Facebook pages, increase their number of “likes, ” and widen the circle of people who regularly receive company updates.
Undoubtedly, the social media giant’s newest application will be thoroughly vetted in the press, on blogs and, of course, on Facebook.
What do you think? Will you use it?
Posted on Wed, May 05, 2010
By Melissa
It happens often in the PR world. You write an e-mail pitch, you send it off and you sit there hoping you’re going to get a response back. Then, five times out of ten, you’re still waiting after three days, wondering why you did not get a response. You start evaluating your pitch and whether it really relates to the contact you e-mailed as much as you thought it did. But what if it isn’t the content in your actual pitch? What if the problem is as simple as your subject line?
In my last post, “What is the Real Value of Public Relations?,” I spoke about an experience I had working at a former agency that demanded business press for no reason. It was during this exact experience that I learned how a subject line could actually affect if or when someone would respond. We experimented daily with subject lines to get responses. We tried catchy, off-the-wall subjects to get feedback from our contacts. Some laughed or didn’t react, but, overall, we got a response. It was embarrassing, yet gratifying at the same time. Hey, you’ll do anything to help your client understand why their top contact won’t speak with them, right?
So, as I evolved in this PR profession, I’ve helped my teams realize that it’s more about getting to know your contact then thinking of a catchy, off-the-wall subject. From my experience and discussions with contacts, the crazy subject lines didn’t prove to be as worthwhile as they seemed at the time. I generally ask colleagues: Do your contacts respond to “Re:” or “Fwd:” or just your client’s name? Maybe. Do they respond when you paste in the title of a release or the trend subject about which you think they are writing? Probably not. The point is: You need to experiment - Find a pattern in your outreach, get to know your contacts, research them before you speak with them, provoke their interest through your subject line and get noticed.
Here are some additional tips from an online service called Mail Chimp, “Best Practices in Writing Email Subject Lines.” My favorites are:
- Avoid the words free, help, percent off and reminder
- Keep your subject line to 50 characters or fewer
- Keep the message straightforward and avoid using splashy promotional phrases, CAPS, or exclamation marks in your subject lines. Subject lines framed as questions can often perform better.
- Put yourself in your recipients' shoes. Don't sell what's inside. Tell what's inside.
So, instead of telling your manager that you can’t get an answer, think about what you can do to get that answer next time. It will help you and your contacts understand what you are pitching, and help you get the answer you’re seeking.
Posted on Tue, Apr 20, 2010
by Kristen
Well, here I am. After eight and a half LONG months of unemployment, I am back in the workforce.
And the biggest lesson I learned from this experience? Never, ever settle.
I’ve always been one of those obnoxious over-achievers: six internships in college, hugely involved in PRSSA and all-around driven. Because of that, I was hired right out of college and loved my job.
Skip to two years of hard work later, the economy took a dive and I was laid off. ::Cue violins::
I was used to being hired on the spot, so I thought it would take me no time at all to find a new job. Thankfully, my dad had been in my head enough all those years, so I had a nice cushion of cash to keep me safe for several months. (Note: No matter how young or old you are, 10 percent of your check needs to be put in a savings account that you DO NOT TOUCH. Life happens and it will save you.)
At first, I was very picky about where I went to interview, because I only wanted to apply to companies where I saw a long-term future. I searched on Monster.com, Craigslist, Hound.com and every other job Web site there is, plus I had my own Web site created to present my résumé in a way that would set me apart from everyone else who was searching for a job. I was starting to feel the pressure.
About six months in, a company found me on Monster.com and invited me to an interview. For some reason, it made the voice inside my head scream “NO, NO, NO!” But I thought, “hey, a job is a job and I just need to suck it up.”
I was about five minutes early and was asked to sit in the front room to wait for my interviewer. An hour and 25 minutes later, someone finally came to interview me. It was absolutely robotic. No niceties, no personality, no questions to get to know more than will I make this company money, or not? I felt like I had a huge number stamped on my forehead.
However, yes it was in PR, yes it was a job and yes I got an offer.
But I couldn’t bring myself to accept it.
I’m not a person who can be in a job I hate or even take a “just-for-now” job while looking for something I actually want. I put 100 percent of myself into the work I do and there was no way that I was going to do that for something I only cared about 2 percent. I declined and went back to the warm embrace of my online applications, though I was starting to feel like I’d be doing this forever.
Two months later, I applied to Metis through Craigslist and was called in for an interview. It was one of those moments in which your friend sets you up on another blind date and you’re apprehensive, but when you meet them, they’re of Brad-Pitt caliber. I was thrilled.
Metis felt like me. It isn’t a time clock, punch-in, punch-out company. There are REAL people working here who care about me and my success. They understand their clients and know the industry really well, but still manage to maintain a comfortable atmosphere that allows employees to do their jobs better.
It just felt right. I was offered the job and couldn’t say “yes” fast enough.
So here I am, starting over. My nice little cushion is now more of a thin, worn sheet, but I am doing what I love at a company that feels like home and I have never been happier (Really.).
If you’re job hunting, you know it’s a tough market out there, but stay hopeful and wait for something that makes you happy. No matter what anyone says, that’s what matters most.
Posted on Wed, Mar 31, 2010
By Melissa
What is the meaning of coverage in today’s PR world?
Every once in a while, a PR professional comes across that Very Special piece of coverage for a client – one that supposedly makes her client “look like” a credible organization. It's that old-school philosophy that some organizations live by – the ones that think the ultimate PR is coverage in the Wall Street Journal, BusinessWeek, Forbes, etc. But, the question is, what if that coverage has nothing to do with the business the client operates; doesn’t position the company as a thought leader; or doesn’t even come close to generating leads?
Well, unfortunately that has become the story of some PR lives: Too many PR people are still missing the boat, getting coverage for the sake of coverage without considering the impact each hit has on an organization’s sales and marketing strategy, not moving beyond media relations into a wider range of opportunities for companies. In fact, Author Brian Solis talks about this very struggle and the importance of moving beyond media relations in his book “Putting the Public Back in Public Relations.”
I’ve worked with these kinds of PR people. They call the top-tier papers daily trying to capitalize on any kind of coverage they can get for their client regardless of its true benefit. I even worked at an agency once where the CEO pulled my account team in and said, “I don’t care how you do it, but I want business press in the next month for this client. Figure it out.” When I questioned why we were taking this strategy, there was no rhyme or reason behind it. The answer was, “Because I said so.”
Let this be a lesson to all the companies out there that wonder how PR is beneficial for their organizations. If you don’t feel a difference in leads, industry buzz or increased Web site traffic within six months of employing a PR agency, then go back and evaluate where your PR firm is placing content and coverage. It’s probably not in the right place.
The right place is where customers are reading, searching and networking. It’s sitting down with a client during the first week of working with them and asking some of the following questions: What are your goals? How can PR help your lead generation and sales activities? Where do your customers tell you they find their information? These questions, along with others, help frame an initial public relations, social media and content marketing strategy that help PR people talk to the right influencers and place content in the right areas. These questions help PR move beyond the “hits just for hits” to the “a client is there because that’s where their customers are.”
Posted on Thu, Mar 11, 2010
By Ben
The reductive nature of reality television certainly does not provide the best forum in which to portray solid business operations. Viewers look for drama and blunders, and they find a bevy in “Kell on Earth.” Bravo’s new show chronicles the inner workings of Kelly Cutrone’s PR firm, People’s Revolution, which represents international fashion houses. Operating from a multi-story New York compound, which serves as a work and living space for Cutrone, the show gives viewers a 360-degree view of the business and Cutrone, a single mother.
Each episode consists of a barrage of drama. Dejected interns are expelled from the office after creating hack-job gift bags going to major design editors. The entire team is in a flurry for hours over a spreadsheet that could not be printed, which ultimately leads to the loss of an account. A new assistant is hired and quickly fired after tweeting about her new job. With such constant chaos and endless miscommunication, the entire business comes off as a lackadaisical farce.
While viewers may flock to Bravo to get the latest fix of this frenzy, are they getting the reality? When you introduce cameras and cut a 12-hour work day to 44 minutes, a lot is lost. Of course, the reality format prompts producers to focus in on the squabble, the lost client or the fight between interns. This makes it easy to forget that People’s Revolution is still the leading PR and branding firm for the fashion industry. Overlooked are the years Cutrone spent fostering relationships, the countless client success stories and the deep focus Cutrone places on mentorship and career development. Or the success of her newly penned book, If You Have to Cry, Go Outside: And Other Things Your Mother Never Told You, offering empowering career guidance.
While we may love the drama, we lose a lot with the editing. Quality PR is built on a series of seamless interactions requiring countless hours of detail management. Building databases, trending news, reading and all of the other daily, detail-oriented tasks certainly make boring TV, yet it’s what makes PR firms successful -- Including People’s Revolution. This passionate commitment to the actual work is cut from “Kell on Earth” and we are left with interns fighting over stamps.
I don’t think real PR makes good TV. The compulsory commitment to jobs with long lead times and too many hours in front of the laptop would leave viewers in the doldrums -- hence, Bravo’s hyper focus on the explosive. While it would be easy to dismiss Kelly and her gaggle as guilty pleasure TV, we have to remember what gets cut. Ironically, it’s where the true success of her business lies.