Category: writing

No More Kool-Aid

Radioactive warning signFor some additional perspective on this topic be sure to check out Jason Mollica’s blog – One Guy’s Journey.

Get your coffee, turn on the tunes, and settle in for a read.  I’ve been avoiding a post of this nature for some time, but its time has come.

Most everyone in PR has an opinion of Peter Shankman.  It’s a bit of a litmus test – doesn’t matter what your opinion is, as long as you’ve got one there’s a strong chance you’re actually in PR.  I won’t go into who he is – if you don’t know this post is likely not for you. Continue reading No More Kool-Aid

“Writing is still important” or “Writing is like hygiene”

Over the last several months, notwithstanding going solo recently, I’ve spoken with a number of agency higher-level folks and internal recruiters  about the job market and the candidates they’re seeing and seeking.

Regardless of the position (Entry, SVP or Director) or company (from various agency-types all the way to in-house) or type of work (media relations to a social media specific position) the one thing I keep on hearing, in various forms, is “we’re not seeing a lot of candidates with really good writing skills.”  Continue reading “Writing is still important” or “Writing is like hygiene”

Some great quotes…

I recently rediscovered from “Tunnel in the Sky” while doing some housekeeping.  My particular favorites are bolded.

“Man is the one animal that can’t be tamed. He goes along for years as peaceful as a cow, when it suits him. Then when it suits him not to be, he makes a leopard look like a tabby cat. Which goes double for the female of the species. ”

“Remember though, your best weapon is between your ears and under your scalp-provided it’s loaded.”

“Now keep your shirt on. I know you can make fire by rubbing a couple of dry words together.”

“And remember – when it gets down to fundamentals, do what you have to do and shed no tears.”

“…with weather, women, and wine there was nothing ‘just as good.'”

“Knew a man once who didn’t get shot at sunrise because he overslept the appointment.
Really? Who was he?
Young fellow I used to know. Myself.
Hunh? You really did, sir? You mean you were
Not a word of truth in it. Good stories are rarely true.”

“You used logic again … you use the stuff the way some people use dope. Why don’t you use your head instead?”

“Man Up” (Woman up works as well)…

Or, let’s stop stroking each other

This post was originally going to be about how often it seems we’re stroking each other’s egos in the industry — can we all really think all of our friends’ blog posts are that fantastic that we’re retweeting them to everyone and commenting?

Of course not, but we’re there supporting each other in the industry and trying to provide new and insightful commentary.  Of course much of what we say has been said before, perhaps not as well, by others and we’re just adding our own spin to it.  While not necessarily academic, it is supportive, and given what I’ve seen lately probably for the best.

Now, as far as “Man(ning) Up” …

Over the last several weeks (and the last week in particular) I’ve seen a number of negative, condescending, passive aggressive and/or half-assed tweets directed at campaigns or individuals.  Some of the campaigns being run by our brethren (or at least their clients). (No I’m not naming names or linking tweets, no need to call anyone out).

Seriously folks — we’ve got the world at our disposal to get our ideas out there – twitter, blogs, podcasts, video blogs, etc.

If you’re going to muster up the energy to type in 140 characters or less being negative or objecting to someone’s content (whether it’s a campaign, blog post, or twitter stream) at least “Man Up,” put on the track suit and run the race (This is particularly true if the receiving party calls you on (what is likely) your BS).

If you’re (considered) a thought leader in our field, or actually do have deep  thoughts about these things (and simply don’t have the 5-figure fanbase), you owe it to your listeners to give them more than 140 characters on your groundbreaking, cutting edge, revolutionary [how many more horrible press release words can I use] theory/conclusion.

A Campaign sucks? Tell anyone who will listen why in a full blog post or podcast – talk to them about branding, how the LCD (lowest common denominator – i.e. the great majority of the populace) will view the campaign, how it damages the company’s prior reputation or image in the sector where they were the leader.

A twitterer’s stream bothering you? Tell ’em why and offer advice on how they can fix it to your liking, not just to ‘stop.’ Or, when they respond, engage in what we call dialogue and perhaps you’ll find a meeting of the minds, or at the very least a more thorough understanding of each other.

Whether or not the advice is taken at least at that point you’re providing a real opinion, (hopefully) backed up by coherent thought, logic, perhaps even case studies or the like.  Not firing off a half-assed, extraordinarily brief, (non-rebuttable since there’s nothing to respond to but a conclusion) attack on their work in the public sphere.  We’re all professional communicators (heaven help us), don’t we owe it to each other, and those that learn from us, to give it our best each and every time we try to express a professional thought?

Dear Client … Write for the right reasons

Here’s to hoping I’m the only one this happens to and that it’s a wasted read for the rest of you, I doubt it tho.

–PC (PR Cog)

Dear Client –

Write for the Right Reasons.

When you send me an article for placement (that is, a ‘byline’), after reading it and fixing some of your wretched speeling and grammer (ha!), I try to figure out what the best target publication would be for your piece. Among the items I consider –

  • who can make sense of this article (is it too technical for a general purpose publication),
  • who would be most interested in the article (if it’s stale it does little good to anyone) and
  • are there any other factors limiting its usability (a 12K word commentary is probably NOT going to find a home in a newsweekly).

Once I think I’ve found an appropriate set of targets I’ll likely run that list by you, and anyone else in your PR, marketing, business development department that needs to see it. Then the inevitable will happen. I (and you might be CC’d on it) will get an email, that in some way or another can be distilled to one of the following:

  • How will placement there help us get new customers/business/clients
  • No one in the industry we know will see it when it runs in X
  • It’ll be meaningless and/or a waste of time if it runs in Y because we’ll have to cut it down to size.

There are three main (non-academic) reasons to put pen to paper and author an article you want to see placed:

  • To bring in new business
  • To strut for your industry (can overlap with #1 if referrals are a big part of your business)
  • To reinforce your reputation with old business

These are all perfectly valid reasons to write, but for each purpose there are considerations to well…consider (I only take out the thesaurus for paying clients, you readers will just have to cope).

If you want to develop new clients/business you have to write at a level your client will understand. If you work with widgets, don’t get into statistical analysis of widget use over time – it’s boring and no one will want to read it except subscribers to “Widget Analysis Weekly.” Write instead, on what people/businesses can get from statistical analysis of their widgets – use plain English and real life examples:

When XYZ Corp analyzed their widget use they discovered none of their clients actually LIKED the yellow widgets but they ordered it because they wanted the complete set. They discontinued yellow, introduced canary, which customers loved, and began ordering individually.

No mention of how the survey was done or other minutiae that potential clients don’t want. Give them the what and the why – not the How. These type of articles CAN go in general purpose business/entrepreneurial publications. Potential big circulation, but the trade-offs will be 1) No one from your industry will see it and 2) a pretty small percent of the readers will actually be interested in it so that circulation number can be deceiving. That being said – the ones who are interested, can become clients.

If you’re trying to strut for your industry peers, which is not at all inappropriate if a significant part of your business comes from referrals or you get a decent amount of B2B work, go as high end as you’d like.

Make it excruciatingly detailed on the how – they’re the ones that will be able to call your bluff if you gloss over something – let it be known far and wide that you are the man (woman) when it comes to this field and if they want the best they need to call you.

The trade-off – No WAY does it make it into a magazine you can find at the airport and your friends and family will have never heard of it (with certain exceptions – JAMA, etc.). What I’m saying is that it WILL end up in a trade. Circulation will be low, but of those subscribers, a well developed concept will be important to most of them and will get readers. These also frequently take the form of newsletters with high annual subscription costs (they’ll have a big pass-along rate where a large office only has 1 subscript.) and no advertising since the circ. numbers are low. The readers are looking for deep content, not something to read while waiting for the dentist.

Both of these types of articles can help with #3 – building up your rep with existing clients.

A stat I’ve heard tossed about indicates it costs around 1/10 the cost to keep a client than it does to get a new client. Remind your clients of why they hired you – if you send them a newsletter with your ‘published articles’ and it’s recognizable business magazines or respected trades they’ll know you’re staying sharp and current on the industry.

Don’t wait for an RFP where you’re begging for your lunch to make the client feel good about the choice of hiring you (or buying your product) – do it continually, like bringing your spouse flowers for no external reason, or doing the dishes/dinner/other chore without being asked (or asking if you should).

And so the moral of my story — write for the right reasons:

  • If you’re looking for new clients, figure out where they read and write to their level – tell them something they don’t know but should.
  • If you’re looking to impress – do it, but realize who’s going to be most interested.
    • One one more thing – if you’re doing this do it when it’s most helpful. If you’re writing an overview of a new law or regulation in your business do it when it’s new – not 6 months later. If you write an ‘overview’ article 6 months later write it ‘down’ to a general reader because everyone IN your business already knows what you’ve managed to regurgitate onto the page and needs analysis or real deep thought – not just summaries.

Sincerely,
Your PR Cog.

www.twitter.com/prcog