Archive for the ‘Worth Your While’ Category

Most PR practioners claim neutral when it comes to politics as an agency’s client base can range from the far corners of the right and the left.  

But we all work with elected officials offices and want to be sure our clients’ messages are heard.  One office staff member I give kudos to for his real community involvement, technology and communication skills, and vast intelligence is Woo-Jin Shim, Director of Community Relations for San Diego County Supervisor Ron Roberts – 4th District.  Here’s some of his direct insight re: office communications and how to possibly get your clients’ activities recognized. 
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When we heard about SDSU’s program in digital media, we wanted to find out the details.  Here’s insight from an interview held with Tamara McLeod, executive director of professional development for SDSU’s College of Extended Studies on the new educational offering in digital media.  

With a full-house response to the program, we’d all be lucky to get a seat in SDSU’s classes.  People from various industries are flocking to learn more about digital media.  The value of the certificate will be determined in future job interviews.  For now, I think the content of the classes is going to be where the value lies.  Take those skills and apply them at work immediately.

When asked what companies she felt were doing a great job in digitial media, our team didn’t get references of consumer brands, yet.  It sounds like there are real opportunities for business leaders who are doing a good job to get involved.  Let’s see which local PR leaders will start teaching these classes.  We’ll keep this on our radar!

1) What are your expectations for the program as far as students’ interest?
The Professional Certificate in Digital Media, offered through SDSU’s College of Extended Studies, surpassed enrollment goals during its first delivery. We believe that as long as we continue to present relevant content aligned with workforce needs, the program will continue to grow and flourish. 
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Here’s input from a PR consultant and entrepreneur who is doing things right.  Dana Humphrey from Whitegate PR in New York shares some insight for southern California readers on networking and building smart campaigns for clients in the booming pet industry. 

How are you successful in getting linked in with so many social media groups like Small World?  ASmallWorld.net is an invitation only social media Web site. I love to connect virtually with friends and colleagues on as many platforms as possible. Internations.com is another great tool for the globally minded!

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I’m inquisitive.  I like to find out what makes people successful.  And, I love to serve as a connector of useful information that can help provide critical direction, insight and contacts to help those in need of a better path forward in reaching their goals.   That’s why I absolutely adore my work every day in PR.  With that in mind, I’ve decided to take this “Worth your While” column and get more direct questions answered from business people that I admire.  This forum is a place to find tools from those folks who are simply doing a great job in our field and related industries.

This week, I had a chance to meet an enthusiastic entrepreneur that is seemingly doing all the right things in making it an easy choice to bring her on board as a design resource for clients.  She hails from one of my absolute favorite towns – Boulder, Colorado.  Influenced by the region’s  focus on outdoor sports, she gained a ton of experience working with a variety of fun and familiar consumer brand names.  So, I had to ask how I can reciprocate to get the best result for my clients’ design work.

Three Questions with Tara Brouwer,  Creative Director of  Shovel Creative:  

The best tip I give PR and Marketing agencies that I work with for developing a targeted creative brief is be specific. For example, many clients have a target of middle-aged men. So what do these middle-aged men read? What type of sports do they play? The more specific one can get about a targeted demographic, the client’s goals for the project and the message / purpose for the project, the better the designer can create the impact and provide measurable results with the piece.  Read the rest of this entry »

I’ve served as Ethics Officer of the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) San Diego Chapter for the past five years. During that time, I’ve received numerous phone calls, e-mails and heard countless complaints from colleagues “ratting” out other colleagues about unethical behavior. They want the bad apple kicked out of PRSA or barred from practicing public relations altogether. Frankly, after hearing some of their stories, I don’t blame them. I want that too!

The problem is that the re-written PRSA Code of Ethics is not intended to be enforced.

You read that right. It’s no longer intended to be enforced.

So what’s the point of having a Code of Ethics if it can’t be enforced?

The point is that acting morally and ethically is the responsibility of all practitioners no matter what industry they serve.  It’s really the responsibility of all humans on this planet. But I won’t go there.

I would hope that as public relations practitioners who disseminate information to the public and our clients, we would hold ourselves to the highest standards and operate with the utmost honesty and integrity always adhering to the principles set forth in the PRSA Code of Ethics. The Code is intended to serve as a guideline for ethical conduct among PRSA members.
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How-to Tip from Greg Phillips Media (along with my two-cents): Here’s a solid reminder to prep your clients to serve as terrific on-air guests that won’t be known as “talking heads.”  Instead, with the right tools, producers will be seeking your clients to come in for segments again and again.

Provide Demonstrations
Instead of just being what is known as a “talking head” in the television news business, think about what you can demonstrate.  Depending on the interview and your profession, consider a “show and tell” demonstration. 

Show off the latest and greatest product – don’t just talk about it.  Whether it’s live or on tape, chances are the interviewer will welcome it. 

Demonstrate Sincere Passion
The key is to sound passionate about whatever you’re talking about and have fun.  If you have fun, you look relaxed (even if you aren’t), the interview will almost always turn out a lot better. 
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One of my favorite media trainers who is also known well as a familiar face on southern California news stations, Greg Phillips, has tons of tips that I’m happy to share with clients and contacts about how to nail the pull-through needed to get your message accross during  TV interviews.   As part of a series of blog posts, we will share tips and tricks of the trade that are solid reminders for all PR pros to make the most out of the 2-4 minute air times we work so hard to secure.  Today, we kick off the series with a special focus on how clients may appear relaxed on camera:

Use Your Hands and Other “Non-Verbals”
An easy way to look natural and relaxed in front of the camera is to use your hands.  A dead give away that someone is nervous when they’re on camera is they keep their hands by their sides.  Think about it.  Usually when people talk they use their hands.  Some more than others.  So use your hands to gesture when it feels natural.  Read the rest of this entry »

It may just be me, but I feel like I’m engaging in contests every day – whether I’m the participant or the creator, I love the process. It’s a fun extension of a brand and a terrific way to link social media tools with a Web site and e-commerce.  Be it friends pushing their love story on Crate and Barrel’s “Ultimate Wedding Contest” or a business aiming to win a “Best of” ranking, there is fun, prizes and customer relationships to be had.

A great example is Artistic Hub, a technology platform that makes contests easy to create, manage and share on the Web. I had the chance to interview the founder, Patrick Dillon, based in San Diego, Calif.  Here’s the scoop:

1. How do contests serve as a smart tactic to support a larger marketing communications strategy?
Integrated marketing strategies are really about how to complete a picture, and contests are a simple and effective way to reach people. That’s where it all starts. We focus on creating truly interactive contests that generate enough interest so that you can spread a bigger message with a captive audience. We make contests sticky!
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Since launching my own business after working within the formalized structure of a global PR agency five years ago, I’ve found golden nuggets of information that have helped shape the vision, processes and structure of how I conduct business. 

One of those is nuggets is this: it is important for independent PR agencies to get outside perspective to support the business overall and the professional growth of the individuals within the firm.  Ultimately, a business coach can provide guidance that supports (1) existing goal achievement and (2) enlightenment to create new visions.  They are there to ask you critical questions about where you’re heading, and then help you determine how you’re going to get there. 

With many type-A personalities in the PR profession, this can also serve as a useful resource to get feedback that might be in line with a year-end review provided within the traditional PR agency model.  It gives us a chance to ask, would I give myself a promotion?  Or, is it time to hunker down, get back to basics and fine tune our team’s client relations skill set?  Read the rest of this entry »

Photo by Justin Marty

Working in a collaborative environment at the HIVE, “water cooler talk” tends to be less about what’s happening on TV and more on comment about trends affecting our business, kudos on campaigns and getting answers from consultants on their areas of expertise.  Take my latest conversation with Anne McColl, a copywriter, on how to pitch ideas in today’s world.  Here’s her take:

Pitching in an ADD-friendly world.

.45 of a second.  That’s all you’ve got to catch someone’s attention – be it a web page, an ad in a magazine, a Twitter post or the inspirational copy on the back of your cup of Starbucks coffee.

You’ve got to be punchy, pithy and potent.

The folks at Sequoia Capital, the venture capital firm that funded the likes of Apple, Google and Paypal, tell pr Read the rest of this entry »