PR for Laughs

Marketing for Today's Niche & Small Firms

2012-01-17T11:03:00.006-06:00

Not sure if this fits my style of PR for Laughs, unless you find it to be shameless self-promotion.

This Friday, January 20, I will talk about Marketing for Today's Niche & Small Firms at the Chicago Bar Association.

Information About the Event

Date: Friday, January 20

Time: 2 pm to 5 pm

Location: The Chicago Bar Association, 321 South Plymouth Court, Chicago, IL 60604

Registration: No charge for CLE Members; $80 CBA Members; $160 Non Members

The seminar will cover the most important strategies in three fundamental areas necessary to increase your practice's business:

• Expanding your network to increase the size of your audience and potential client base

• Engaging public relations to become known in your industry/community and build credibility

• Employing online technology to reinforce your offline efforts and stay connected with contacts

Get more information at the CBA website.

Lawyers Lie and Other Truths About Attorneys

2011-12-27T08:51:00.000-06:00

Inside Counsel has an article called "37% of people say lawyers have 'very low' ethical standards" and the title really says it all: too many attorneys do not have a good reputation.

The article gets that statistic from a Gallup poll that was conducted earlier this month, and even though we're almost at a new year, I don't think these statistics will improve much, unless some lawyers work on developing a better reputation.

When an attorney really is dishonest, he or she doesn't deserve to have a good reputation, so I'm not talking about that type of lawyer. Even though there are unethical people in every profession, I doubt that the number of unethical lawyers adds up to 37 percent.

Which means that attorneys have a lot to fix if they want the public to trust them. Think of all the education they've gotten and all the hard work they've done, to only be greeted with disdain from the public. That's not good.

What you should think about doing in the new year is planning to work against the negativity by offering good advice and help in the public square. There are many ways to improve your reputation and not get lumped in with the rotten attorneys. You can post helpful information on your own website, write an article, do an interview, be an expert in the media, make a speech at an organization, volunteer at your children's school, participate in community projects, and more.

Maybe Gallup will do another poll, and by the end of 2012, attorneys' reputation stats will be better. Let's hope so.

Would Jon Bon Jovi Be Better Off Dead?

2011-12-23T09:45:00.000-06:00

Recently, to prove to people that he's not dead, Jon Bon Jovi posted a picture of himself online with the statement that “Heaven looks a lot like New Jersey”. I’m sure a lot of people think what he did is funny and are probably very happy to find out that he's really alive, after rumors of his death were all over the Internet. However, I’m not laughing. I don't consider myself a serious guy and I like to find humor wherever I can, but Bon Jovi is really making light of an eternal matter.

Newsflash to Bon Jovi: heaven isn't really New Jersey. I think it's arrogant to say that, and he never really died to find out where heaven really is. Plus, if he was right, how come no one has found John Lennon, Elvis, or Ray Charles there?

Bon Jovi's joke is a way to think about how your reputation is on the line in whatever you do. It's important to not make light of serious matters when it comes to your own reputation management. What will people think of him from now on? Have you ever made a mistake by saying or doing something that was too frivolous for a serious situation? How did people respond? If you're thinking of saying something in public you know is questionable, then consider what kind of image you're putting out there. Everyone doesn't have the same sense of humor and doesn't see the world in the same way.

Don't Slip into the "Spin Zone "

2011-11-18T09:52:00.000-06:00

There has been a lot of media coverage about what's going on at Penn State, which has resulted in thefiring of head coach Joe Paterno. Actually, Penn State didn't use the word "fire", but I am, because that's what happened. He was planning on retiring from that position, but they showed him the door. I'd say that's a firing, wouldn't you?

A Wall Street Journal column I read called "A Four-Letter Word Schools Won't Use" says that Penn State isn't the only school that avoids that word; NCAA programs don't use it either when they get rid of a coach. Maybe they want to avoid lawsuits or don't want to sound harsh, but I think they should get out of the spin zone and be real about what's going on. If they choose to not really talk about what has happened, then the media and public will take over the message and create what they want out of it.

If the concern is a lawsuit, then a company or organization should focus on what's good and say as much as they can to control their image. It's a lot better than having the media, bloggers, and all sorts of people online and elsewhere fill in the blanks with their own theories and opinions. When that happens, even a simple Google search can make all kinds of negativity come up instead of what the organization wants people to see.

Even though I think that being open and honest is the best way to go, I doubt the schools will go that route because they seem to think that playing it safe is better than communicating honestly with the public. However, if they continue to do that, someone is going to take the image ball and run with it, and it might end up not being the best policy after all.

Facebook - A Hairy Liability for Lawyers Working with the Media?

2011-11-15T16:36:00.000-06:00

I read some good advice on the Slaw blog about a partner of a law firm who was "friends" with a reporter on Facebook. The reporter wanted a good picture of the attorney, and dug through Facebook to find one. Luckily, the photo wasn't embarrassing, but can you imagine if it were? Not only would that be a public relations disaster, it could affect the firm and the attorney's own professional life.

So let this be a lesson to be careful about what you do on Facebook, and who you friend there, because you never know how much people will do with what you post or where you're tagged.

If you're wondering if there's anything embarrassing about you on Facebook, do a search on Foupas, which is a Facebook search engine. Just do a search for your name, and try using quotes around it to see if you get different results. Some people forget what they've posted on Facebook, or didn't pay attention when a photo was taken, and voila...they end up in a photo they wish had never existed.

If you feel like you've gone too far and done too much on Facebook that is making you feel uncomfortable, you can try deactiving your Facebook account to reassess your activities. Some people end up deleting their account and starting over, so that any tags or posts they're in are gone, and they can start fresh.

Whenever I think about posting anything on Facebook, I ask myself how it will affect my reputation, and even now, I feel like I'm pretty careful about what I post. But some people let their guards down and end up doing things that they don't want other people to see...such as posting photos on a network of reporters who might end up using an embarrassing picture of them! So you really have to be careful out there.

Learn from the Pig

2011-10-12T09:38:00.000-05:00

When I was growing up, "pig" meant the source of bacon, sausage, a good ham for the holidays, and even a derogatory name for the police during protests. Who knew "pig" would end up meaning big profits?

People find lots of different uses for pigs, and even Business Week has taken notice of the the pork rind battle going on for dominant market share. It sounds silly that those companies are taking pork rinds so seriously because to some people, that part of the pig doesn't seem as important as the meat, but they're obviously making good money from that business because a lot of people like to eat the skins of pigs.

When put that way, it doesn't sound appetizing, but anything we do can sound different as long as we present it in a way that people will take interest.

Which brings me to our own publicity efforts. Like the pig industry, we can get a lot of different uses with our own content. For instance, if you write an article for a trade publication, it can also go on your blog, become a pitch for the media, be the basis of a video, and can even become an outline for a speech at a professional association. There are many ways you can use your content; just figure out which part of it people are interested in, and modify it to appeal to them the most. And it's important to remember that in addition to creating appealing content, you should offer information that can benefit people so that you're not just tooting your own horn. That way, you'll profit in various ways.

Immature or Savvy Legal Marketing?

2011-10-12T09:08:00.000-05:00

A lot of men have bald or thinning hair, some have a potbelly, and others aren't thrilled about getting older. You can make money from that! Or at least from being bald. No, this isn't a sales pitch to grow your hair, but a way a lawyer is pitching himself to get new clients in his ads for Mybaldlawyer.com.

I read about it at the Legal Watch blog where they pointed out other examples of ways that lawyers stand out from the competition with garish or racy images. It's a great way to create buzz because it's controversial, but is it really appropriate for a professional? When promoting your firm, you should consider what kind of image you want people to walk away with. If you want to be smart, it's best to avoid such tactics.

In some ways, doing whatever it takes to get more clients than other lawyers seems sophomoric and immature. I'm sure those attorneys who have billboards with half-dressed women to promote the benefits of divorce aren't lacking in clients and have made decent money from selling their merchandise, but what about their reputation? You don't have to cheapen yourself to make a good living. In the long run, behaving like a professional is better than making a flashy splash and being remembered for being silly.

So it's something to think about: do you want to make lots of money at any cost, or do you want people to respect you by promoting your firm in a professional way? I'd take the latter.

Behave Lawyers, Or Else!

2011-09-12T09:41:00.001-05:00

I read an interesting post at Above the Law about judges who have "punished" misbehaving attorneys by inviting them to a "kindergarten party" and "a 'special' emergency refresher course in first year ethics and civility."

It's an obvious case of a "shame-on-you" discipline program, and both of those special "invites" sound like harsh reactions to immature attorneys, but it makes us all think that it's important to watch our behavior, no matter where we are.

Not all behavior is as extreme as in this video of a Cleveland courtroom, where a defendant throws a backpack at the judge's bench and beats up the public defender. However, not presenting truthful information or whining is not acceptable, not just in a courtroom, but anywhere.

Even though most of us aren't videotaped, we still have to be careful about how we act. One judge cancelled his kindergarten party, and the other judge was replaced by someone who canceled the refresher course, so the attorneys didn't have to “waste” their free time. But their behavior was publicly exposed, and they probably felt humiliated. Hopefully attorneys can avoid public embarrassment by acting like grownups.

Saturday Night Live is Still Dead

2011-09-12T09:29:00.000-05:00

As you know, "laughs" is a part of my blog's title, so it's obvious that I love comedy. I've been a clown, have done stand up, and have also taken Second City classes (which have helped my speaking engagements, too). I'm always looking to have a laugh after a long workweek, and I used to watch Saturday Night Live often. But not anymore.

A lot of people watch it, and lots of people have tuned in to that show for years, so SNL must be doing something right...right? Wrong. It's just not funny anymore, which is too bad because they're on a big network with a long history. But SNL has lost its heart and the essence of what made it funny.

So what's funny, you ask? I like Newsbusters. Sure, they're mostly a news site that has a lot of facts and figures, but they know how to make news funny, not stuffy or stale. Which is what SNL is: stuffy, stale, and dead. That show should learn from their older episodes to find out what funny and fresh look like.

Below is the latest Newsbusters video. It just goes to show that online video is 10 times funnier than what we can find on TV.

Are Your Friends Worth $45 Billion?

2011-08-02T08:48:00.001-05:00

Recently, USA Today had an article with the headline,"Google+ adds $45 billion to Net giant's market value." It made me think, why? Yes, Google is trying to take over all things online. And while $45 billion is still real money, even for the US government, it's still about half of Facebook's valuation. So what does all this mean to a non-business major who focuses on public relations?

Over the years, the value of my services has been tied to my personal database of media contacts. Clients and prospects have felt that because I have contacts at the New York Times or USA Today or "The Today Show," they would get great publicity. Sometimes, not always, that is true. However, the real value of having contacts at media outlets has been about my connecting to their colleagues. And that's where I believe Google and Facebook get their multi-billion dollar valuations: knowing you, means getting to know your contacts. Here's how it plays out in public relations:

The Transfer of Trust Factor: Maybe you've heard public relations professionals referred to as "flacks" or "spin masters," two very negative terms that make me ill when people describe my work that way. I knew that when I had a great working relationship with one reporter, who was my doorway into every other contact at that media outlet. Google + is all about access to whom we know who trusts us.
Faster Connections: I'm not talking Internet speed; I'm talking about the speed at which you can build a relationship with someone new. If it took me three months, three phone calls or three emails to build a relationship with the first contact at that outlet, it took about a third of the time to get up to speed with the reporters they introduced me to. With Google +, the trust factor that marketers and advertisers are buying into is that if you're a fan, you can help them get more fans faster.
Blog "Circles": When blog authors list other blogs they like, it tells you in short order who are the other key influencers. A client today asked me about research they needed done quickly. I did not have time to search Google or Yahoo! or to set up alerts. However, I did look at a key influencer and through their connections, I was able to give the client good advice in short order. Google + will also allow them to see how you "endorse' friends or business contacts and makes it even easier for them to make target pitches, not just through you, but to all your connections.

The value of a blog, Facebook page, or Google + is nothing without personal connections that help marketers sell through you. When I was growing up, network marketing was big with Avon, Tupperware, and Shaklee vitamins. These companies worked hard to get their sales agents to get friends to buy their stuff and then get those friends to sell this stuff. Except then, it took months to build a network, not moments.

Do You Really Need a Public Relations Degree to Be a Lawyer?

2011-07-29T15:08:00.000-05:00

When I was in college, there really were no formal degrees in public relations. Most professionals had degrees in English, Journalism or Communications, like I did when I graduated from the Rochester Institute of Technology. Yet, a "fake" lawyer managed to practice law after posing as an attorney and handled more than 60 cases without a law degree. The Chicago Sun-Times reported that he was sentenced to two years in prison for such a crime. Ironically, according to Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart, “No one suspected anything for years because he did everything right — except obtain a law degree.”

I won't agree that when I work with an attorney I expect that person to be legitimate. It is the type of professional service, like doctors and CPAs, where credentials, licensing, and certification are important. You can ruin peoples' lives if you don't know what you're doing. (Think about all the people locked up in prison for decades and then released because they were innocent.)

While I enjoy working with lawyers and don't expect them to get a public relations degree, in order to work with me, there are some courses I wish were part of a law degree:

Filing a Response to the Reporter on Time: Attorneys know all about statutes of limitations, court filing deadlines, and being at court on-time. Miss one of those, and it can lead to disciplinary actions against the lawyer. The same is required when attorneys are needed for a comment with reporters. The writers are on deadline, and with real-time news media, not responding in a timely manner can lead to being excluded from the story or even giving the impression you have something to hide.
The Facts Will Come Out Somewhere, Sometime: Attorney/client privilege is critical to protecting a client's interest in a legal matter. However, it's better for the attorney to hear the bad and the ugly before someone else leaks the information. When lawyers work with the media, while they may not be able to disclose confidential client information, they can still respond in a responsible way that helps to maintain their credibility with the media.
Associates Don't Become Senior Partners Overnight: I've had attorneys with no media experience, expect to become an instant source for The Wall Street Journal. Unless the attorney threatens the lives of the Supreme Court justices, it's not likely to happen. Attorneys know that most law firms have a path to go from first year associate to partner and beyond. It can often take years. While media relations may not move that slowly, building relationships and credibility with major news outlets requires paying your dues.

Perhaps Prison Legal News can develop a new section of their publication for when lawyers break the "public relations laws."

Doctors Learn How to Operate on their Personal Public Relations

2011-07-12T18:07:00.000-05:00

Doctors save lives, and we need them. And you want a doctor who’s gotten the right medical training. I mean, who wants someone to operate on you and not know their stuff?

Well there’s another thing that they’re teaching in medical schools, according to the New York Times article “New for Aspiring Doctors, the People Skills Test”: people skills.

Finally! The article talks about a “multiple mini interview” at various medical schools, including Virginia Tech Carilion. When they’re looking at medical school candidates, they assess the usual: grades, test scores, and interview each person. But they also make sure the candidates have social skills, so they have them do a kind of speed-interviewing, where they go to several rooms to deal with “ethical conundrums” so that the interviewers can determine how well they listen, speak, and communicate with people.

This just shows the obvious: communication skills are important, no matter where you are, even if you have all the professional skills that are needed to do a job well. There are plenty of talented doctors, but not all of them know how how to listen to a patient or communicate important information.

This could be the start of something big in the medical profession, and could maybe spread to other professions where people haven’t considered the importance of interpersonal communication. After all, PR applies to everyone.

When You Mess Up, Fess Up

2011-06-10T12:23:00.000-05:00

By now, everyone knows the big news about New York congressman Anthony Weiner: he did, indeed, send out lewd pictures, and finally admitted what he had done after a week of denials.

What took him so long?

It was probably fear of what people thought, including his wife, who is pregnant. Even though it’s an embarrassing situation and could cost him his job, he should have fessed up right away. Think about how he felt all those days and nights. The media kept asking the questions, and he kept lying and making excuses, and even showed his anger towards them.

Big mistake.

It made him look a lot worse. Now he not only looks like a pervert and cheat, but the media, the public, and his constituents, who have voted for him several times, think he’s a liar.

Liar, liar, pants on fire…or pants off, in his case. He ruined his reputation, whereas he could have just admitted it right away, said he’d work it out with his wife, get help, take some time off, and do whatever he had to do to make things right for himself and in the public eye.

Now the public has turned against him and think he’s a loser. It’s too bad for him, but a lesson for us: when we mess up, we have to fess up to prevent any more disasters to our reputation. It also lessons the pain.

Social Media for Snails

2011-06-10T12:21:00.000-05:00

Almost three years ago, I wrote a blog post called The New Chicago Tribune Sucks and guess what? They still do.
I still have great relationships with many fine reporters and editors at the Tribune, so I don’t want to criticize them, but wow, I just can’t believe how slow and off the mark the Tribune is with their response. I call it “social media for snails.” Here’s why: the Tribune just responded to my post this month, almost three years after I wrote it. Why didn’t they respond before? And their response has nothing to do with what I wrote. I was talking about the design of the newspaper, but their comment at my blog included, “The Client Services dept at the Tribune are more than welcome to help with any home delivery subscriptions, or store purchases of the paper.”

Nowhere in my blog did I complain about home delivery, subscriptions, or purchases. So why write that in a comment? It shows they aren’t paying attention to their online coverage or to what people actually write.

So this is something we can all learn from: remember to do frequent searches of your name, or sign up for a Google Alert to find out what people are saying so that you can respond. And read what people are actually writing so that your response makes sense.

Too bad one of the biggest newspapers doesn’t understand these simple tips.

Making a Mess of Your Law Firm

2011-05-09T14:23:00.008-05:00

While law firms are considered a "conservative" professional service business, they seldom always represent conservative issues or at best, neutral ones. The law, like anything else, is politically charged. Think "liberal" ACLU attorneys versus "conservative" ADF lawyers. Which brings me to Katherine Franke's article at The Huffington Post titled, "King & Spalding's Self-Made Mess."

Ms. Franke did an excellent job of showcasing how one law firm managed to offend both the "left" and the "right" with one statement after it decided not to support the Defense of Marriage Act, DOMA. Ms. Franke explains how this has become a public relations nightmare for King & Spalding's reputation.

Here are my thoughts about when a law firm finds itself walking a very thin line among clients with divergent viewpoints:

Review the mission and values of the law firm. Can a law firm that represents evangelical Christians also defend the free speech rights of an atheist? Depends. If the firm values that the US Constitution protects the rights of the faithful and faithless, then it can serve both clients. If the partners believe that they have a call from God to defend Christianity, then serving conflicting clients will create...conflicts.
Plan for damage control. I remember a case where a public relations agency that represented Planned Parenthood also represented a major Catholic archdiocese. Talk about a battle between pro-abortion and pro-life organizations. If this was a law firm representing both, then you have to work through various scenarios. Find a way to keep both clients, or decide which client you would rather keep and do what is necessary to break off from the second client. (I wish I could explain how to do this in a blog post.)
Be transparent with your current clients. Before a law firm takes on a potentially "hot-button" new client, consider having a conversation with the clients who love your work and are advocates for your firm. Decide on which partners can talk to which clients and clue them in to the type of client you are considering that is likely to raise concern about certain groups. It's a great way to show mutual trust, and you might learn something in the process like how your current clients value your going to the mat when it's justified.

I know this particular matter with DOMA has opened many cans of worms. However, it's a great lesson for other law firms to learn from when it comes to potential liabilities with your client mix.

Something Smells at Pew Research Center

2011-05-09T11:28:00.004-05:00

Here comes some news about news sources and how they are related to the trendiest news source, Twitter. According to an article published by Pew Research Center's Project for Excellence in Journalism, "Twitter

appears at this point to play a relatively small role in sharing of links to news sources."

I think Twitter in and of itself has been the link to certain breaking news stories, not a "forwarding service" for online news associated with traditional brands or even popular online outlets like the Huffington Post.

Here are some thoughts when you look at the mix of media outlets:

Hello, Twitter is a News Brand: Sure, any traditional news outlets can put links to their stories on Twitter with the hopes that they'll get some new readers. However, if I care about what the Drudge Report says or The Smoking Gun, I'll be checking out their breaking news directly. So, I think the numbers in the Pew Center's article don't show anything beyond the obvious.
Size Matters: The Pew Report states, "Twitter’s user base is far smaller than such sources as Google or Facebook." In my mind, this point of their research is a non-starter. Twitter has 175 million accounts, Facebook has 600 million. And when did you see the founder of Twitter on the cover of Time magazine? Besides, that's what Google does; it is a search engine to point people to the news that they are searching for. Where's the exciting research here, Mr. Pew?
The Core of Apples and Oranges Comparison: Or better yet, comparing beverages like Coca Cola with Fuel. One is a traditional drink that continues to work its way through new marketing channels, the other is a newer kid on the block that wants to break in. By the way, the Twitter account for Fuel only has 228 followers and, as of my post, has not posted a Tweet since last November (maybe they need to take their own medicine and get a jolt to update their Twitter account).

Look, social media is still the Wild West. If you don't believe me, check out http://www.namechk.com/ to see the 159 places where you can register your user name besides LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter.

Public Relations Gone to Hell's Angels: Where Were the Lawyers?

2011-04-08T16:21:00.000-05:00

The lawyers say "keep a lid on it." The public relations people say "transparency" is what wins in today's online media world. I'm not sure this classic conflict will ever be fully resolved. However, I will say there is one corporate publicity stunt that should have called on all the lawyers first.

B2B Magazine has an article titled, "Dell's Angels." The story is about how a sales manager at Dell wanted to find a clever way to let the employees know that the new Dell Streak tablet featured an integration dock for Harley-Davidson motorcycles (I'm sure when my two year-old reads this, she'll want a docking station on her tricycle for her Pod). This sales manager decided to storm Dell's offices in a skull mask and all black biker outfit, while holding up two metallic objects and trying to pretend it was a hostage situation by demanding that the uninformed co-workers gather in the lobby. You can read the story to see how this ridiculous stunt ends. What I want to know is, did anyone think to ask about the potential liability with such a risky promotion in the age of being stuck in "orange alert" for terrorism?

I think this example illustrates when public relations professionals are looking for a stunt that can go viral, they need to walk into their legal counselors office first. Here are times where I see the need for the person who handles public relations to talk to the attorneys:

When a Surprise Can Quickly Turn Into a Crisis: Publicity stunts are designed to draw attention to something in a fast attention-grabbing way. Yet this is a great place to ask the lawyers: What could go wrong? What are the liabilities if someone is not amused or the shock is so great that it causes physical or emotional harm? The issue here is "surprise" that can literally trigger a fight, flight, or fright reaction in most people.
When It Really Won't Serve The Brand: I assume the sales manager at Dell was hoping to creatively communicate the company's innovation. That's great. Apple does it all the time and makes front page headlines. However, creativity is good when it stays in the character of the product or service. Who really wants to see Jim Carey in a dramatic role? Again, it would be helpful to run this past corporate counsel because if something goes wrong, they might be the ones defending the brand in court.
When the Only Value of the Stunt is the Stunt: When one of my clients suggests something that could draw more media attention, like a publicity stunt, I also push back with questions such as: What do you hope to accomplish? What do you want people to remember about your business? If we didn't do this stunt, how would that impact the objectives in your marketing plan? My point is that if the stunt has a purpose beyond getting a couple of YouTube videos to go viral (many times in the wrong direction), then it might be worth talking to the attorneys and the chief marketing officer.

By the way, I wonder how this will play with driving safety laws? How does one put together a blog post on their computer while driving a motorcycles? Seems like a disaster in the making, regardless of whether the driver is wearing a helmet or not.

Will Twitter Destroy the US Economy as We Know It?

2011-04-08T16:08:00.000-05:00

When I think about added value, I think about how professional service businesses sell their services. After all, anyone can go online to complete their tax returns. Why spend the money with H&R Block or hire a CPA that costs more that $100/hour at the low end? There's an implied added value to the buyers that is much better than free e-filing your taxes.

Zachary Karabell, who writes for Time magazine, had this article in a recent issue: "To Tweet or Not to Tweet: Social-media sites are all the rage, but what is the added value to our economy?" I see the basis of his arguments in this paragraph of his article:

"There can be little doubt that these (social media) companies enrich their founders as well as some investors. But do they add anything to overall economic activity? While jobs in social media are growing fast, there were only about 21,000 listings last spring, a tiny fraction of the 150 million — member U.S. workforce. So do social-media tools enhance productivity or help us bridge the wealth divide? Or are they simply social — entertaining and diverting us but a wash when it comes to national economic health?"

Good question, Mr. Karabell. His article forced me to rethink what's the value of Twitter to my clients, or any social media platform for that matter. Here's what I came up with:

Twitter is one more informational and target audience aggregator: Not a very exciting premise, but a powerful one. According to eMarketer, "Demographically, US Twitter users skew young and female. The Twitter usage rate among 18- to 29-year-olds is double that of the 30-to-49 group, according to a Pew study, and women users slightly outnumber men." While this is a broad analysis of users, it does tell you that when you drill down into Twitter, this will be the core audience. Is that who you are selling to?
Twitter demands honing the art of headlines: I like the way copyblogger puts it, "Your headline is the first, and perhaps only, impression you make on a prospective reader." Newspapers have been doing this for decades. However, the difference now is that with Twitter those who "subscribe" to your Tweets will have to decide in a matter of seconds if your 140 characters is worth their time to read.
Twitter shows you're contemporary, but you still need to show competence: It's like the idea of getting a customer in the door with a sale sign. However, you still need to sell them on the product or service. Many professional service businesses use Twitter more as a recruiting tool because they know fresh college grads are using that medium. Yet when they come in for the interview, you better be sure that you've gotten rid of all the boneheaded bosses. Wait, I take that back -- if the potential employee went to glassdoor.com (one of the tamer places for employer reviews), your bonehead managers could have been made public.

So, I can't say that Twitter will bring down our economy anytime soon because I do see it adding value as a communications tool that more people are participating in. The issue is how the tool is used. Throwing a baseball in Wrigley Field brings out thousands of people to watch. Throwing a ball in a fine China shop brings out a couple of police officers.

Epic Video - Chicago "LIFE Mob" Hits the Streets Again!

2011-04-05T14:25:00.000-05:00

Does God have a Sense of Humor?

2011-03-07T10:32:00.000-06:00

Today's Chicago Sun-Times has a wonderful story titled "Churches Using Humorous Signs to Spread Gospel." It talks about how some pastors are putting signs outside their church with messages like, “Under same management for 2000 years,” and "Stop, drop and roll doesn’t work in hell.”

Over the years, I've had to communicate crisis communication messages that have been associates with both religious matters and work I've done for personal injury attorneys. And in almost all instances, I was never able to use humor, except once as it related to the ACLU warning public schools about using the expression, "Merry Christmas." For that media announcement I used the message, "The ACLU Grinch Who Wants to Steal Christmas."

In the case of working with a personal injury attorney, we positioned him as a consumer advocate with a message about home premises liabilities: "Check the Safety of Your Property for Ghosts and Goblins this Halloween." So I'm a big advocate of taking touchy subjects like religion and bodily harm and finding a way to bridge your message to the media and public. And I've kept in mind three simple rules:

Everyone cares about their personal safety and life and death issues. It's a safe bet; everyone wants to know how to protect themselves now and are curious about what happens to them after they die.
Find the justification for the most subjective issues. Life after death? Heaven or hell? The churches mentioned in the Sun-Times article have done a great job of finding messages to get people through their doors. Now, they need to provide the evidence that the gospel of Jesus Christ is real and not a fairy tale.
Humor can be a safe way to start the discussion about a more serious matter. As someone who spent many hours in dingy bars working on my stand-up comedy routines at open mics, I can tell you there's a lot of pain in the lives of comedians. I learned that I could talk to these people about joke structure and then move into more serious personal matters and share my faith. I found myself "preaching" at some colorful night spots.

So whether your message is outside a house of worship or on the home page of your website, keep in mind humor can be the key to reaching people to open discussions on some tough topics.

Public Relations Liability, Lawyers, Cults, and Kool Aid

2011-03-07T10:16:00.000-06:00

CBS News recently reported that a restaurant in Indiana decided to pull billboards with a cult reference to "Kool-Aid" that reminded people of the Jonestown Massacre which left 900 dead. While I have no idea of whether this restaurant consulted with their public relations folks or their attorneys, this advertising campaign could have warranted a little more thought.

There's something I call "corporate sibling rivalry." It has to do with the supposed battled that rages between a company's public relations staff and their lawyer. It goes like this: the public relations expert wants to get the best information out in the marketplace as soon as possible, something that is very important in a crisis communications situation. The attorneys don't want anything going out without their approval, and in many cases will err on the side of caution to say nothing. The rivalry comes in because both the public relations people and the attorneys want to protect their clients.

There is a win/win for the lawyers and the public relations counselors that come by thinking of a couple of guiding principles:

Have the conversation before you have the conversation. It's the responsibility of the public relations professional to know everyone who would be involved in public image decisions, long before those decisions are made. Setting up a protocol of how information will be processed is something to determine long before a crisis hits.
There's more than one way to use innovation in communication. In a crowded media message marketplace, I appreciate that you need something clever to clear through the clutter. However, it reminds me of something I learned about communications in grade school. There are two ways to describe what McDonald's sells: they sell either 100% beef hamburgers or ground up cows on a bun. Same message, but one creates a linguistic liability.
Default to the lawyers. One thing that I've learned over the years, is that the attorney's opinion trumps the public relations professional. This is especially true when litigation will come into play. While the public relations person should know the rules of the road with something like pre-trial publicity, it's the lawyers who know what is distributed publicly that can come back to haunt the company years down the road when the company is in court and the media has moved on to the next big story.

Santa Caught in a Lie: Jolly St. Nick for the YouTube Generation

2011-01-05T11:54:00.000-06:00

Another father who works in another office in my building shared how the night before Christmas his son wanted evidence that Santa really does come down the chimney, drop off presents and eat the cookies and milk left for him. Seemed like a normal discussion, until the boy wanted his dad to set up a camera and leave it recording so the boy could see Santa's legs dangle as he came down and did his job. I thought, "Wow, how does dad get past this one?"So I asked the father to explain.

He said that he told the son that Santa was super fast and that the camera could not catch him in action. Thenhis son asked about at least being able to see the dust from the chimney and being able to see him eat the cookies (Now that I think about it, cookies explain how Santa runs an impossible marathon around the world in less that 24 hours and still stays chubby.)
While I let this father off the hook with his weak explanations to his son, it did remind me about how when a client is thinking about releasing information that is not really true, you either stop the lie from starting, or create more lies to cover your tracks. And in some cases you have to cover your tracks because your spokesperson is clueless when it comes to understanding what to say to the public (See former BP chairman Tony Hayward during the gulf oil disaster).

Yes, over the years, some clients have asked me to lie. Sometimes it seemed as "innocent" as not wanting to speak to a reporter and they wanted me to say that they were out of the country, and sometimes it was providing information to the press that wasnot a bold face lie, but rather misleading information. In my book, misleading information is a half truth, and a half truth is not truth. Sort of like saying, 10 gallons of water is pure, but it has a teaspoon of salt in it, so it's still really pure because is it's so little salt. Bottom-line: the water is not pure.

When I grew up my parents wanted me to believe in Santa. I too even left out cookies and milk (that I assume my parents took since we didn't have mice). So now, what about my daughters who are 2-years and seven weeks old? I want them to know the truth and be able to defend it even with peer pressure they might face, at the same time be respectful of why others believe in Santa. Maybe I'll just give them each a Flip camera and they can see for themselves.

Don't Monkey with the Evidence: Lawyers Need to Speak the Truth to the Media

2011-01-05T11:42:00.000-06:00

For some reason, the Skeptics Society sent me a copy of their brochure "Top 10 Myths About Evolution (And How We Know it Really Happened)." As a matter of full disclosure, I believe there is one God that created everything. However, I do recommend that you look at the brochure for yourself because I'll give the Skeptics Society credit for taking a number of common objections to evolutionary theory and making them attention-getting headlines (even for a believer). However, their responses requires more faith than believing there is a God who did it all.

For example, people often question how the "eye" could evolve from inorganic matter? Recently, my wife and I had our second daughter and I was reminded by the doctors that the babies are born with eyes that will stay the same size throughout life. How would it be possible for such a complex part of the body to evolve from a "single, light sensitive spot in a cell" as the Skeptics Society claims in their brochure? It begs the question, then who made that "single, light sensitive spot in a cell?"

Many times attorneys are called on by the media to explain their position in a case. Often it requires taking complex legal matters and turning them into sentences that a fifth grader can understand. I've seen attorneys try to create a smoke screen when the truth is something that works against their client. Former Illinois governor George Ryan was sentenced by a federal judge to 6 1/2 years in prison in 2006 and he recently asked to be released early from custody because of his wife's terminal illness. The judge refused and made clear that Ryan was to blame for his own plight. Yet, Ryan has a bank of attorneys who have and continue to defend him, despite him being clearly convicted of criminal charges. These lawyers are trying to "monkey" with both the evidence and truth of the matter.

When I work with attorneys I make clear we are going to present the underlying truth of the matter in a way that helps the media and, of course, helps my clients. If we can't do that, then we have to reconsider our approach. I'm not going to allow a client to evolve a lie into truth.

Reputation Mismanagement

2010-12-09T13:07:00.000-06:00

Some people think the first page of a Google search has the power of God. They hope and pray their business name appears on the first page and rejoice when it does because thinking thier business is set for life. Reputation management seems to boil down to the top of a web page.

When I did a Google search for "reputation management," three companies came to the top of the page as offering a service to help improve your on-line reputation: ReputationManagementConsultants, ReputationDefender, and Positive Search Results. Positive Search Results even offers a 100% satisfaction guarantee on their services. While, I can't endorse any of these companies, I can give them credit for accomplishing a first page listing of their companies that is positive. While online reputations can be ruined by real or false claims against companies by places like RipoffReport.com and PissedConsumer.com, there's a bigger issue that many companies fail to address.

While a few customer complaints can make even the most respected companies look bad online, it really has to do with the culture of the company in building it's image through internal and external public relations. For example, PissedConsumer.com has a complaint against Verizon. I use Verizon for my mobile phone and they recently charged me almost $200 by their mistake. When I saw the bill I was ticked-off. However, I called customer service and they verified the mistake and immediately corrected the bill. So, when I see others complain about them, I'm less likely to agree with the angry consumer, since I had a positive experience.

For the company that wants to manage their reputations and keep them in a positive light, even when things get dark with customer complaints, keep in mind:

1. A reputation is connected to a company's character: Character is who you are when nobody is looking. Business that create a culture where employees can admit mistakes to management and to the customers, will come out ahead in the reputation game. We all make mistakes, the key is how quickly we address them and how we go about correcting the matter above the call of duty.

2. Character is connected to consistency: What you do repeatedly is how you are remembered over time. Do you avoid making the same mistake more than a few times? Does you company empower employees to make reputation-saving decisions on their own? One time I was in Trader Joe's and the peanut butter rung up with the wrong price. The cashier took my word for it that it was wrong and decided to not charge me for the bread I was buying. Their marketing about being a great place to shop connects with great service (and trust in the customers) from the employees.

3. Consistency will always get you better "rankings" online and offline: While the Internet has become the choice for many to evaluate a product or service, getting positive reviews with traditional word of mouth trumps all else. When you're at a restaurant checking email on your Blackberry and someone is doing the same on their Droid, any comparison with intuitive features shared in-person and then verified online will be a powerful brand and reputation builder.

As a practical matter, some companies know how to "work the Internet" system to get better rankings with the SEO strategies. So building your reputation from the inside out will help your business stay the course whether or not someone gets "pissed" or "feels ripped" off by you.

Lawyers to Avoid

2010-12-09T13:00:00.000-06:00

I've been thinking about why a law firm decides to spend money on public relations. If it's not to further promote their reputation and trusted attorneys, then that money is wasted.

If you do a Google search for "lawyer" and "reputation" one of the top paid links is for Lawyerratingz,which has the headline: Lawyers to Avoid. It appears to mostly cater to consumers looking for lawyers. For fun, I put in the name of a personal injury attorney I know and he was not listed. I then searched for one of the top intellectual property attorneys I work for and he was listed, but had no reviews for him. It's not clear to me how this particular site has value for someone searching for a lawyer be it a PI or IP practice.

While I am an advocate of lawyers having blogs to exhibit their expertise (assuming it is very specific), I also encourage them to consider how "not" to become a lawyer that people want to avoid.

Certainly, building the reputation of a personal injury lawyer is much different than a patent attorney's. I believe there are common image building traits for many practice areas:

1. Lawyers need to overcome an inherent mistrust about their character. I'm not talking about the "ambulance chaser" image of PI attorneys when I was growing up. I'm talking about 21st century "overbilling image" that is calling for the death of the billable hour. Attorneys who address this issue in regards to the integrity of their billing practices will go a long way in enhancing their reputations. For example, check out the website for Valorem Law Group. Their first flash animation states "The Billable Hour is Dead." Talk about tackling the issue head on.

2. When it comes to marketing, lawyers are still learning to crawl: I wonder how many 2010 law school graduates understand the 1950s legal term "rainmaker?" Firm growth is no longer about a few super stars at the top that bring in all the revenue. New associates are now being trained early on in business development. They are also being told in firm policy manuals to mind their manners with their online profiles at social networks.Face time client development has morphed into Facebook policing at some law firms.

3. Lawyers Fear Asking the Hard Questions for Marketing Services: I had a blog post titled Social Media Snakes for Lawyers. My point was that there are hundreds of marketing, public relations and social media services making near impossible promises such as simply pay a fee, get consultations with a marketing/public relations expert, and like magic the firm's reputation will be enhanced and clients will come begging for your services. This type of magic is reserved for something more realistic, like unicorns. I've seen too many law firms think they can throw money at something that can enhance their reputation, without their involvement. Attorneys need to ask the questions to know exactly how their reputation will be enhanced with these services and understand the "costs" that has nothing to do with what they are charged (e.g. their personal time, giving the consultants direction and benchmarks to measure progress against).

For attorneys to become trust advisors to their clients, it starts with a reputation management strategy, not a repulsive brand of lawyering.

Moses, Israel and Public Relations

2010-11-08T10:19:00.000-06:00

This week The Jerusalem Post had a story with the title: The real problem behind Israel’s dismal PR. I found the first paragraph amusing:

Israel’s public image today is dismal. As Elie Wiesel once joked, “Jews excel in just about every profession except public relations, but this should not surprise us: When God wanted to free the Jews from Egypt, he sent Moses, who stuttered."

This struck my fancy because our agency handled the public relations for the Chosen People Ministries' Inside the Middle East Crisis. Chosen People Ministires did a great job of promoting the event and attracted more than 1,500 people from around the country to attend a conference. They helped the audience consider currents events in the Middle East with a newspaper in one hand and a Bible in the other. While Elie Wiesel is one of my hero's, he should know that there are some very talented Jewish public relations professionals, as evident by the success of Chosen People Ministries event.

And to serve and Moses' advocate, here are a few things this sea-parting Jew did very well as a public relations pro:

He knew his role as representing his client and giving Him the credit: OK, Moses had a big client, God. And God needed the job done. Moses followed God's orders, got millions of people out of bondage, showed them where God provided food and water in the desert, and even when God wanted to wipe out His people, Moses was willing to take the hit for them.
Moses Stayed the Course: While it took the Jews 40 years to get from Egypt to the promised land of Israel, biblical scholars believe it could have been done in less than a year. There was a lot of wandering at the direction of God. However, even when his client took him on a difficult path, Moses stayed with God's direction. Now, God has never give me this type of assignment. However, there is value in having a relationship with a trustworthy client and sticking with him, even when you don't always understand the logic. Unless the client asks you to do something unethical.
Moses worked to get clear directions from his client: When Moses went up the mountain to get the 10 commendments from God, he managed to get what every public relations person wants from their clients: a clear understanding of the rules of engagement. While many people may not know what all is in the Bible, most have heard of the 10 commandments. Good PR job, Moses.

Now back to the present. The Jerusalem Post article goes on to trash Netanyahu's leadership in Israel and his poor PR skills when it said:

The combination of the public’s disillusionment that peace efforts will ever improve its global image and the disunity within the government further exacerbates historic public relations woes across the globe. But Israel is also inept at PR at home.

While I am not a Middle East expert, I see a country that is surrounded by enemies, surviving and thriving even after coming back to life in 1948, when the world thought that Moses' Israel would never be restored to the Jews. At the end of the day, Israel still stands despite attacks from outside and inside the country.

Are Law Firm PR Pros Overpaid or Underpaid?

2010-11-08T10:03:00.000-06:00

Sometimes the best blog posts are inspired by other bloggers. In this case, Robert J. Ambrogi's blog LawSites provided me with and idea that I have never looked into: what am I worth to a law firm? Here's something from his blog that I'd like to respond to:

The gist of my post is to ask whether law firm PR professionals are overpaid or underpaid or whether law firms even need PR pros on staff. My opinion is that a skilled and knowledgeable communications professional can be highly valuable to a law firm. That’s not to say there aren’t incompetent PR folks out there. As a former newspaper editor, I’ve encountered my fair share of clueless PR folks. But as I say in my forum post, in an age of social media, law firms do themselves a disservice not to use a communications or media professional.

If you read his entire post and related links, you'll see that law firm media professionals have salaries that range from $50,000 to $375,000. In comparison, larger law firms in Chicago, on average, publish that they start out their associate attorneys at around $160,000/year. So if you are motivated by money and deciding between legal PR verses becoming a lawyer, I've solved your career decision.

When our public relations agency works with law firms, I find that how they value public relations can be as different as practicing IP verse PI law. While the PR professional can point to values such as ad rate equivalency, number of LinkedIn connections or followers on Twitter, the real value meter lies in the hearts of the attorneys.

I find that more lawyers need to ask themselves these types of questions when it comes to deciding how much to invest in public relations:

Where does it fit into my business development chain?: While public relations results can range from being quoted in the New York Times to speaking to a national trade organization, the main issue is knowing how it fits into a marketing strategy. So if speaking four times a year at national industry conferences can eventually yield one million dollars of new business a year, then the work your PR person did might justify a six figure salary.
What will the lawyer invest? I've seen public relations and marketing people inside law firms loose their jobs because their efforts did not get the phone to ring. Yet, when attorneys were given leads to follow up with or were asked to mingle at a trade show, the lawyers dropped the ball. For the PR person in these instances, they were worth paying minimum wage because they never got buy in from the attorneys to follow through on initiatives.
Do you want tactical or strategic PR people?: Some lawyers see their internal marketing and public relations staff as additional administrative staff. Just having them order business cards, update the copy on their websites or write press releases and post online. It would be better to get an English major who knows basic HTML to handle that work. However, the law firm who sees their internal marketing people as part of a business development strategy, will include them in managing partner meetings to decide how to best bring in the business. For these marketers, somewhere in the six figures seems right.

So to respond to Mr. Ambrogi's question, it all depends on the attorneys who run the firm and whether they are willing to invest time to understand the value they want from a public relations professional. It's not a matter of getting what you paid for, it's more a matter of knowing what you want and finding the people who are worth hiring to get you the value you desire.

Give PR Professionals some RESPECT

2010-10-08T16:26:00.001-05:00

One of my favorite public relations professionals is Joan Stewart, who has a business called The Publicity Hound that helps other public relations professionals do better work. Her blog has this post: How to work with a PR firm: 15 do’s and 8 don’ts, and I'd like to add look at a few of the "don'ts" more closely:

Don't demand that the publicist write and send a press release about something she knows is not newsworthy

A few years back, I was working as the local public relations representative for one of the major national mobile phone services headquartered on the East Coast (not to date myself, but this was when combining a cellphone with a PDA was news). One of my jobs was to take corporate's press releases, edit them to make them relevant for the local market and send them out to the Chicago area media. Many times, the "news" had to do with personnel changes that would mean nothing to someone in the Midwest. Yet, I had to edit the releases, and get them to people who covered the consumer technology news. It was painful and a waste of time. I could have focused my efforts on more productive and relevant outreach.

Don't go behind the publicist’s back and send letters, gifts or anything else to media contacts

Wow, does this make me crazy. Many of my clients are very successful professionals. And I know they became successful by making friends and influencing other business professionals. However, some of them think that influence can be used to get a reporter to write something more favorable or give them more space in an article. Part of the value of earned media is that the "media" contacts decide how you "earn" space in what they report. Think of it like bribing a police officer to not give you a ticket, though it might succeed in the short-term, it might get you in deep trouble.

Don’t expect the PR firm to do it all

Amen to that. Public relations professionals help shape and carry the message to the right people. I like to think of it as getting news from the President of the United States verses his press people. The media is more likely to run footage of the President making a major announcement than the press secretary. That holds true for any professional that wants to be seen as the corporate representative. The PR person can set the stage, yet the client needs to step into the spotlight.

Joan has a wealth of information at her blog. Check it out.

The Importance of Jelly Beans in Today's Legal World

2010-10-08T12:09:00.000-05:00

All aboard the Jelly Belly Express with Tom and Elizabeth

Recently, I was on vacation with my family in Racine, Wisconsin. The great thing about small towns near Chicago is that they can be as interesting as Disney World for our 22-month-old daughter. On the way home we stopped at Jelly Belly for one of the free tours that provides a multimedia presentation on the history of the company, how those little beans are made and a drive through the warehouse.

As you board the Jelly Belly Express train, they give you a paper hat because its a legal requirement in a food storage facility. You also have to wear a safety belt. Although I saw no real danger in a train that goes .5 miles an hour The "real danger" is Jelly Belly's free sample kiosk in the store (I limited my requests to six samples).

I know we live in a litigious society where so much of life is about covering yourself legally. However, a Jelly Belly warehouse tour is a good example of being legal and having fun. Yes, you need to protect yourself by following rules and regulations, like having you hair covered in a food facility. Yet, as you can see in the picture, the hats were good fun for Elizabeth and me. And we can be sure that no one will sue Jelly Belly for finding one of Tom Ciesielka's hairs in a cherry-flavored bean.

Additionally, the fact that they provided plenty of staff to monitor the safety for guests (and give away bags of free Jelly Bellys at the end of the tour) made it a very sweet experience.

I know that when law firms think about public relations they often think about presenting papers at trade shows, writing articles in business magazines, or sending out e-cards (to be "green") at Christmas time. Those are safe ways to handle your public relations and they follow the "rules" of such a conservative profession.

However, why not have a little fun? Find a way to interact with clients in a unique fashion. I work for an attorney who brings his clients and prospects to karaoke bars for business development. Sure there are a million excuses for not doing that, one being to avoid over comsumption of alcohol and another to guard against people singing "I Did It My Way" off-key. However, he's not worried about that because he knows it will be a memorable experience.

I hope that lawyers and their marketing departments will find ways to lighten up. By the way, Jelly Belly offers a service where they can print a law firm's logo on their product. If you decide to try that at your firm, please send me a couple bags for our office. Thanks.

Woman Sues for Bumpy Air?

2010-09-07T11:13:00.000-05:00

What makes legal news can run from logical to lunacy.

I can understand why members of the original funk band War are suing Pepsi for more than $10 million, saying Pepsi did not negotiate with them to use their song "Why Can't We Be Friends?" in a new commercial. This case might be an infringement of someone's intellectual property.

However, when I saw the headline "Woman sues over rough landing", I felt like a fool. Did I miss out on a few million dollars in damages from the flights I've taken over the years? While it's possible she did suffer emotional distress, she should have been advised to have come up with a line better than this one for the media:

"That day changed my whole life -- it changed my whole world,"

Thomas said, adding: "This is one problem I can't solve."

Well, I assume a few million dollars will help her find a solution.

It would have been better for her to have either mentioned a medical or psychological ailment that resulted. The story later reports that the suit focuses on the potential negligence of the airline:

Thomas' lawsuit alleges that the flight crew should have diverted sooner to another airport before the battery ran out and key systems were crippled. It accused

American Airlines and the plane's two pilots of negligence...

Lawyers and their clients need to make sure that when they want to influence the "court of public opinion," their statements to the media resonate with their legal documents, stead of making them sound like over sensitive drama majors just out to make money.

Tom the Media Stalker

2010-09-07T10:27:00.000-05:00

It seems that location-based social media services, like Foursquare.com, are beginning to scare people. Sites like IcanstalkU.com say that whenever people post a photo of their lunch or their kids, also included are details about their exact location. We've certainly come a long way from stalking as I used to do it. OK, wait I'm not that creepy, let me explain.

A few years back, I was trying to get a story in the New York Times for the opening of an art exhibit in New York City. For those who don't know me, art exhibit public relations is not a sweet spot for me. But I was working for another public relations agency and that's the job they gave me. Little did I know I would have to do some polite stalking to get the story.

In the process of pitching the New York media from Chicago, I had a terrible time getting coverage. Nothing was working. I had to beg the New York Times calendar editor to include the art exhibit in their listings. The fact that I almost didn't get a calendar listing for an art show is almost as unlikely as not getting wet when you jump into Lake Michigan.

When it came time to go to New York prior to the show's opening, I stopped by the New York Times office to say thank you to the calendar editor. She came down to the front desk, gave me an extra copy of the listing and turned to leave.

However, I followed after her and said, "Could I have a few minutes of your time to show you who I've contacted here for a feature story on the show?" Amazingly, she didn't call security, and said I could come up to her office.

The writer I needed to connect with (who had a reputation for being a little mean) was near where I was sitting. The calendar editor offered to take my press kit over to the writer but I literally had to keep my head down, so the writer did not think it was coming from me, but rather it was a suggestion from the calendar editor (I had already left a couple messages and mailed a press kit). Two weeks later, a half-page story appeared in the New York Times and my client thought I was a hero.

I think strategic "stalking" is OK, when you know the person and you can find a way to help them, not hurt them. Hopefully anyone using Foursquare agrees.

When a Lawyer's Reputation Can be Damaged by Public Relations Consultants

2010-08-05T12:17:00.000-05:00

This week, I had two meetings at a legal trade magazine where the reporter interviewed my clients from different law firms for two profile stories. I sat in the room quietly, listening as my clients shared their experiences as attorneys. I enjoy sitting in on these meetings because I often learn something new about my clients. I also make a point to keep my mouth shut and avoid trying to control the conversation. However, there's a situation when meetings among a client, reporter and publicist can backfire in a big way.

The Seattle Times reported that a high-profile trial attorney, Anne Bremner, wants a court injunction to block the sheriff's office from releasing investigative reports and video from her arrest two months ago on suspicion of drunken driving. The story goes on to say that the interview with the paper took place in the office a public relations specialist. The article also said:

Bremner is a well-known defense attorney who has often appeared on cable and national television stations to offer legal analysis. According to her website, she covered the Michael Jackson child-molestation trial in 2005 for CNN and has appeared on TruTV, "Good Morning America" and Fox News. Over the course of her 26-year career, she's represented numerous police agencies, officers and sheriff's deputies.

Clearly, Bremner is media-savvy. However, having this meeting in a publicist's office was a strange move. If she's as innocent as she says, why not meet the reporter at her offices or at a coffee shop? Why have a publicist in the room if you're telling the truth about what happened? A publicist should not be seen or heard in these circumstances. Rather, a good prep session with the publicist and client before the meeting is the way to go.

It raises some suspicion that she needed to have the protection of a publicist and is trying not to allow the media to see her public records. This creates a "loop hole" for the media and citizen journalists to exploit, which opens up a new can of cats.

Is Second Place as Good as First Place?

2010-08-05T12:12:00.000-05:00

The battle over Arizona's controversial new immigration laws has caused quite a stir. I'm in Chicago which is about 1,752 miles from Phoenix and I've felt the anger first-hand, from protesters who have marched in the Windy City.

Now comes news that Virginia police officers can question stopped motorists about their immigration status. According to a CNN report, the state's attorney general said that Virginia law enforcement officers, may, like Arizona police officers, inquire into the immigration status of persons stopped or arrested.

I'm fascinated to see how this will play out. There's no question that states with sinking revenues are frustrated with anything they see as unnecessary financial burdens. So removing the illegal immigrants is helpful because, for US tax paying citizens, it creates the perception that law breakers who are using up resources during a recession are being brought to justice. At the same time, some businesses have exploited these illegal workers for their own profit. For purposes of staying out of the argument, I'm going to focus on the public relations issues of when and which states decide to take a position on the matter.

As a rule, first always wins out. Arizona got a tremendous amount of national and international news coverage. And "as a rule," whoever is second gets the leftovers when it comes to significant media attention. I would imagine the rule gets broken fast when you think of a crime spree or copycat criminal acts.

However, regardless of what happens with these immigration news stories, Arizona's laws are likely to always be a reference point. Is that good? Depends. If future states that generate media attention follow Arizona's legal guidelines, that's good because it proves that Arizona has a legitimate point. And for the states that follow, regardless of their position on checking the immigration status when someone runs a stop sign, if they're smart, they can adjust their public relations' message to possibly play better than Arizona's.

What tickles me will be to see how the media plays "cat and mouse" with the new states that will enact controversial police check policies with immigration status. Will they simply play off of "the states verses (fill in the blank with "Federal Government," "immigration rights activists") or will they find ways to communicate the comparisons and contrasts to reveal copycat illegal immigration busters?

Social Networking for Lawyers: Legal Marketing Tool or Faster Way to Chase an Ambulance?

2010-07-08T11:46:00.000-05:00

A few weeks back, the Wall Street Journal ran an article titled: Using Social Networking as Legal Tool. It features lessons and case studies from law firms that represent plaintiffs in personal injury and disasters (think Life of a Trial Lawyer: Boots down for BP Oil Spill Lawyer). A New York-based firm set up the website http://www.bigspills.com/ to capture clients from the BP disaster. Interestingly, as of this post, there were only four comments online for the Wall Street Journal article. (I'll leave my readers to interpret the lack of interaction on a social media article in one of the world's largest newspapers.)

The article has several lessons that can apply to almost any area of law:

Speed matters and it can be relative for marketing purposes: There's no question when there's an accident that impacts many people, lawyers are trying to capture those cases. However, even lawyers that work in areas like real estate and intellectual property can be on the lookout for new laws and regulations that can be a disaster for the clients they serve and proactively market their expertise to those markets.
Thought leadership wins, selling loses: The smartest legal marketers know that when a law firm wants to attract new clients, posting thought leadership white papers on their website and writing articles for business publications their clients and prospects read, always wins the long-term marketing war against competitors. The law firm that simply puts out more sales and marketing copy at their websites on a particular issue, particularly for business to business legal matters, will lose.
Relevant Communication Channels Do Matter: If a law firms managing partner or marketing director thinks selling the firm is all about having a website that looks like a printed brochure and the only interactivity comes from drinking at national trade shows, they're wrong. A law firm needs to master all the best channels of communication in order to demonstrate to clients and even law school graduates that they are progressive in matters of the law and communications.

With the battle of the billable hour and the fierce competition for getting legal work for a variety of practices, all lawyers should look at Sololove Law LLC. This firm spends $12 million annually on digital outreach. While I'm not saying it takes $12 million to get in the game, what I am saying is that a concentrated effort with a solid investment is required for all law firms to succeed and thrive in this marketplace.

God Bless the Atheists

2010-07-08T11:29:00.000-05:00

It's great being in a big city where you get a mix of religious activists and anti-religion advocates. A few weeks back, the Chicago Tribune ran a story with the headline: Atheists ads get OK in Chicago which reported on the Indiana Atheists Bus Campaign that was blowing into the Windy City.

This group has some playful messages like "In the beginning, man created God" and "You can be good without God." I've even seen messages encouraging people to honor God's day of rest by sleeping in on Sundays. And when you look at the atheist organization's website you'll see plenty of media coverage on their campaigns, including one in Time Magazine from May 28, 2009.

It's interesting to note that at least with these messages, the value of their messages is playing against whose name? God's. Without God, these atheists messages would not exist. Reminds me of the story where scientists told God they had found a way to take dirt and create life. God said that He'd like to see that, but the scientists would need to first create their own dirt.

This is a battle that's sure to continue to get media attention, bu the irony of it reminds me when the psychic network went bankrupt a few years back. I guess they were unable to predict winning lottery tickets to help finance their operation.

By the way, the atheists' website is asking for donations. As a legitimate non-profit, they have every right to collection tax-deductible contributions. Actually, I think God can help them with their request to raise donations. See what He says about bringing in tithes and offerings in Malachi 3 verse 8. The atheists seem to be relying on Him for everything else.

Slick Attorneys

2010-06-08T09:07:00.037-05:00

Working with both IP and PI attorneys has helped our agency get a complete view of legal marketing. And both now have a news hook to weigh in on, and possibly cash in on the BP oil crisis.

Intellectual property lawyers who specialize in green technology and alternative energy have a golden opportunity to help their clients capitalize on the U.S. government's desire to more quickly advance energy innovations.

For personal injury attorneys the question becomes: Where does the harm and damage end with the disaster in the Gulf of Mexico?

What inspired this post was a story I read at ClickZ titled BP Oil Spill Fuels Legal Marketing Machines. While the article focuses on lawyers who are marketing to find aggrieved businesses and property owners seeking damages, it really opens up a whole new discussion on law firm marketing. Here are my thoughts:

Genuine opportunity to focus on helping others: There's no question that relief efforts for the people, wild life and natural resources are a top priority. However, there are legal matters that need to be addressed almost as quickly. Attorneys who have a genuine interest and expertise should market to help the region recover and get what is fair and just from settlements with BP and the government. Lawyers might even get creative and help their reputation by finding ways to connect with non-profit organizations involved in the clean-up.
Moving Beyond the Disaster: While we know it will take months to fix the gushing oil leak and years to get the region somewhat back to normal, there is still something to consider beyond that. The attorneys that have been practicing in environmental law and alternative energy development stand ready to think through the legal implications of what can be done now in setting the agenda in the courts and in perhaps litigation that will set the stage for a greener environment.
There's Nothing Wrong with Marketing Your Services When There's A Need Due to a Disaster: People buy life insurance from trusted companies. The Red Cross mounts massive fundraising campaigns right after a tragic incident. Some people talk to a funeral director to make arrangements for after they're gone. While people may not see how such services relate to attorneys, I would argue that attorneys who have the expertise to help, should get out there and make their services known in an ethical fashion.

Most law firms still take the slow conservative approach to marketing. What's ironic is that attorneys, especially trial lawyers, aggressively go after the win in court without reservations. Why the dichotomy of lion and lamb when comparing legal practice to legal marketing?

Drunk on Twitter

2010-06-07T16:55:00.049-05:00

Some time ago back in my wild youth, I found myself getting drunk three nights a week. What was the cause? Too much alcohol. A pretty simple cause and effect equation. Good news. I don't drink anymore (and if you want to know the story of how that happened, drop me a line at tc@tcpr.net. Bad news, I'm finding some alcoholics on Twitter.

Recently, I've been looking at http://twitaholic.com/. It's amazing what it tells you about Twitter accounts and their followers. For example, as of this post, Lady Gaga has more followers than President Obama. Ellen DeGeneres is more popular than Oprah Winfrey. CNN is not even in the top 10 anymore after the well-publicized challenge that Ashton Kutcher against the news network.

I connected with someone who has one of the top 1,000 Twitter accounts in the world (based on followers). This person was asking me for public relations help. and was frustrated that this top Twitter account was not helping their business development efforts. While I'd love to help this person, I'm beginning to see a trend with people involved in Twitter that somewhat resembles drunken behavior: Followers/following for the sake of followers/following.

I do understand the value of Twitter, especially for consumer products and services that want to get the word out about a special or limited time offer, but for the business-to-business community I see people getting "drunk" with following and being followed for no strategic reason. The fact is that unless you are giving away something free to consumers, it's often a poor tactic for finding new business.

Look, I've read the blog posts of social media experts and I respect the value of Twitter for business to business client development. However, quality will always trump quantity. Why? Because relationships mean connections, not just some clever 140 character posts. How often does the average business have the type of breaking news like a plane going down in the Hudson River to justify their followers attention?

The laugh for me is that so many people are getting "drunk" on Twitter because they feel they have to join in. However, few people have more than a couple hundred contacts that they can stay in touch with in any meaningful way. Why do they need to keep signing up for platforms beyond Facebook or even a simple email group?

While I see the value of instant communications channels, I see much more of the garbage of businesses jumping on Twitter's bus with a DUI driver.

Law Firms' Public Relations Agencies Should Act Like eHarmony

2010-05-07T14:37:00.002-05:00

Can you remember what a phone book looks like? Could you underline the names of the people who are worth over a million dollars? Not likely, since the wealth of each person is not listed. That's one of the big jokes with many public relations professionals. Public relations agencies subscribe to media databases (phone books) and randomly send out generic emails messages that clog reporters in boxes or get lost in spam land. The true goal of the public relations professional is to use the data to establish a relationship between the media contacts and the agency's clients, and it's hardly done through emails or a generic phone pitch left on a voicemail.

I think a great way to think about this concept is with trial lawyers. Yes, the attorneys must prepare the court documents in a professional fashion. However, when you're dealing with a jury, at some point the attorneys on both sides need to quickly establish a relationship with the jurors. And that's accomplished through interpersonal communications that no court document can ever capture.

But back to the point of this post.

Our agency uses a media "phone book" from a company called Cision. It's a great database that allows our account executives to research media contacts based on location, topics of interest, and their contact information. MOST of these contacts say that their preferred mention of communication is email. Fair enough. You want to honor someone's request. However, emails rarely create a relationship. (FYI, I met my wife through Eharmony, so I believe in online communications. However, without that first in-person date, we would not be at the point we are at now with expecting our second child.)

Too often public relations agencies think they are doing their media contacts and clients a favor by following this "rule" of email-only communications. Yet, when an agency is doing their job, they are truly servicing their clients and the media contacts when they send the email to ONLY those people where a "first date" on the phone or in-person is likely (by the way Eharmony had me answer about 500 questions, not something I ask our account executives to do for each media contact). It's important to remember it's media "relations" not "target marketing" email campaigns. After my wife and I learned about each other through our online Eharmony profiles, we had to eventually learn more about each other and that required personal interaction. The right "blend" between online communications and interpersonal communications is what is what great public relations professionals are able to create.

Law firms need their public relations agencies to blend their "court documents" (read "emails") with interpersonal communications (read "looking the jurors in their eyes when making a case"). If your public relations agency can't do that, fire them.

In fairness to myself, I've landed our clients some awesome media coverage strictly through email communications when there was a tight deadline and I had the perfect client the media contact needed to talk to within hours. So razor sharp targeted emails do work. However, if it was such a great fit with a tight deadline, you can be sure that I backed up the email with a phone call too.

So, when should law firms fire their public relations agency or love them like an eHarmony connection? Well, ultimately it is about getting the results that matter most to the client. No results, no contract renewal with the agency. And in the process, the public relations agency should be the go between to create a relationship between their law firm clients and the media contacts. A relationship that is firmly established with the best blend of online and personal communications.

Interns BTI (Before the Internet)

2010-05-04T21:40:00.011-05:00

Our agency just had its fourth intern finish her program with TC Public Relations. Jessica's leaving was bittersweet. Bitter because our interns do very important work that helps the account executives get the job done and sweet because we celebrated her time here with an ice cream cake.

I remember my first internship. I was finishing a degree in audio-visual communications (read slide shows, not PowerPoint, and 3/4 inch video decks, not Flip cameras) with an internship at the local ABC television station in Rochester, New York. One of my jobs as a production assistant was to carry around a video deck that must have weighed about 35 pounds (or about 50% more the current weight of my 16 month old daughter). Part of that job was to guide the camera person when walking backwards for walking interviews. Often I had to make sure the camera person did no step into a pile of dog poop. These dog poop avoiding skills have helped throughout my career.

So what does this have to do with public relations interns of the 21st Century? While the sugar buzz from the ice cream cake is still with me, let me share the connections:

Interns still need to do heavy lifting: While our interns may only know Flip and Web cameras, they need to wade through tons and tons of social media opportunities (think YouTube as the second largest online search outlet) for our clients to find just the right connection points between our clients and their future customers.

Interns still need to follow (and lead) the people who have the experience: I've been in public relations for more than 20 years, so I know that when I take the time to mentor the interns, I can give them valuable insights into the business world that transcends technology and share life experiences that they can take to their next job. In exchange, the interns that grew up in a digital world can lead me and help me learn what it's like to have a life that is more centered on social media than the society pages of a print newspaper.

Interns Still Need to Dodge the Poop: Yes, I know the public relations industry is changing rapidly, and yes, I know that much of the economy is still on life support, but so what? One of the last things I shared with the intern before she left was the quote "These are the best of times, these are the worst of times." And despite the media's year-long obsession with the 10% unemployment rate, 90% of people ARE working! So I want good interns (we've always had the best thanks to our internship coordinator) to know that when they do a good job at TC Public Relations they should be able to pursue the 90% opportunity not the 10% of poop.

While I am still learning what public relations 2.0 or 5.0 should look like for our agency, the value of interns that meet the demands of the times are priceless. Now, let's see if any ice cream cake is left to fuel me through another blog post.

True or False: Corporate Counsel is to Social Media Like Oil is to Water

2010-04-06T12:27:00.012-05:00

I've been searching for something related to public relations that will transcend time and technology and I've FINALLY FOUND IT: lawyers' opinions. Over the years, there has been a polite conflict between corporate public relations professionals and corporate lawyers.

These two friendly adversaries debate whether t0 stay quiet verses almost absolute transparency, which the public craves. The PR people want let the truth be known, the lawyers don't want to get sued.

I came across an article at Ragan.com titled: "Can Legal, communicators reach accord on social media?" An attorney at Dickinson, Mackaman, Tyler, & Hagen listed five things lawyers look for in social media:

1. Use properly attributed content (our PR agency works for a personal injury attorney and on THREE occasions we found other law firms stealing this attorney's online content, including copying every word from his blog postings).

2. Avoid unfair or deceptive trade practices (At TC Public Relations, we've had to tell one legal client that words like "best," "expert" and bragging about successes could get you successfully busted by the state agencies that regulate attorney marketing. It might also get your Wikipedia listing shut down).

3. Remember the FTC guidelines (basically, if you give something free to a blogger and they review it, they need to disclose it. As a practical matter, if I'm working with an experienced blogger, I'm NEVER going to tell them about ethical guidelines they should already know about. It's my job to pursue ethical bloggers for our clients).

4. Will you allow feedback, comments or trackbacks? (I believe if you're blogging you MUST keep the comment option ON. That's like inviting someone to a party and telling them to have a good time but keep their mouth shut).

5. Have a crisis communications plan in mind (You might recall the YouTube video of the Domino's Pizza employees spitting in the food and shoving cheese up their nose before putting it on a sandwich. While the legal department can look into filing a suit, there is really very little the law can do to prepare for this, except make social media guidelines clear in the employee manual and hope for the best).

So for those of you who are wondering where's the PR Laugh is, it's two sources (Ragan.com and Dickinson, Mackaman, Tyler, & Hagen) cited in this article. Neither had readily available links for me to connect this post with. Hey, I gave them credit, so I'm trying to follow the rules. Now I hope they reach out to me and give me the links.

Demand Your Media ...NOW!!!

2010-04-05T16:20:00.006-05:00

I recently heard the term "entrepreneurial journalism," which is the concept that online writers and reporters get paid based on the number of clicks on their stories. When I was a kid, I remember television and radio shows asking audiences to send in cards and letters for contests and audience feedback. I supposed that if Bozo the Clown got more mail than Chuckles, Bozo got a raise and Chuckles got the boot.

Now has come along a more formalized version of entrepreneurial journalism known as Demand Media. They measure on-line traffic and select keywords that become story ideas that an army of freelance writers and editors transform into articles and then post online. The big idea is that the content is "guaranteed" to appeal to readers because of online research. The total cost for the content from a network of freelance writers and editors is less than $20 per article. That's an amazing business model compared to the day when someone got about $1/word for an original article. Just a 200 word article using the old model would yield a writer's fee of $200 or 10 times more than Demand Media's model. No wonder journalists are dropping like flies.

So once again, Google wins. At 4:35 pm Central on Monday, April 5, these are their most popular news stories:

- A Revealing and Guarded Tiger Woods

- Jesse James Leaves Rehab

- Apple to Reveal iPhone 4.0

Let me run this through Tom Ciesielka's algorithm to come up with a headline:

Tiger Woods Reveals Through His 4.0 iPhone that Jesse James is Free and Will Be Stalking Sandra Bullock.

There you have it. The top story at 4:35 pm Central on Monday, April 5, 2010, no charge

Q: What's the difference between a good lawyer and a great lawyer?

2010-03-07T19:41:00.012-06:00

A: A good lawyer knows the law. A great lawyer knows the judge.

This lawyer joke reminds me of the huge difference I see in lawyers who are involved in public relations for their firms and those who are not.

On one side, I see the lawyers who see no value in managing their reputations outside of the contacts and business relationships they already have. These are the "old school" rainmakers who believe knowledge and expertise are the only things that win them new business.

On the other side, I see the "new school" lawyers who are on Twitter hourly, update their Facebook pages three times a day and try to be a featured speaker at every bar association and business organization event.

Here's the PR laugh for me. Business is down for many law firms to the point where first year associates who used to start out at $160,000 are beginning at $60,000. Not poverty level for most families, but still it will slow down the tuition loan payments. For the "old school" rainmakers, this is a disaster in the making. Your business is down and you're likely to hire the less talented people.

For the lawyers who are trying new marketing techniques without knowing what is working for them, they are on the "right track," but not always going in the best direction. That's because to do new social media marketing will takes an average of five hours per media platform per week to do it right. If these "new rainmakers" are on three social media platforms, what is the "investment" based on billable rates? It's a value of $300,000 a year in marketing costs!

So the joke we started with should be rewritten: What's the difference between a lawyer who knows how to market and one who does not? About $300,000. Not very funny, but the joke is on the lawyers who have not taken the time to "know" what works with marketing and communicate with those audiences.

A History of PR Laughs

2010-03-06T20:04:00.016-06:00

With health care reform in shambles, the leader of Iran denying 911 ever happened, and Lady Gaga not in the news in the last five minutes, I decided I needed someone else to give me a chuckle for my blog.

So here are a few funny quotes related to PR:

“Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some hire public relations officers.”
Daniel J. Boorstin

I think that Jesus had the best team of public relations officers ever assembled (12 disciples were at the core). While He walked the earth for 33 years, somehow his WOMM (Word of Mouth Marketing) has gone strong for about 2,000 years. He still makes headlines. When I did a Google news search for "Jesus" this was the top listing. So if Jesus "hired" some people to help with His public relations, then maybe we all need someone to be our own advocate.

“All the president is, is a glorified public relations man who spends his time flattering, kissing, and kicking people to get them to do what they are supposed to do anyway.”
Harry S Truman

Regardless of your political persuasion, you have to admit the Obama campaign got this right. His communications team had him "loving on" people in a way that made him the "hero" they needed in the midst of wars and a financial meltdown. Now that Obama is in his second year as president, the honeymoon is over, and has the same uphill battle that all presidents have faced. In recent news, the president now is in the "kicking" phase of his public relations campaign. He kicked out his social secretary for "crasher gate" and is "kicking" his fellow Democrats to push through health care reform.

“Public-relations specialists make flower arrangements of the facts, placing them so that the wilted and less attractive petals are hidden by sturdy blooms.”
Alan Harrington

The word "relation" is a pretty big part of the words "public relations," and how the public relates to your image can determine your future and your success. Thanks to social networks and online media, your greatness and your garbage are easily exposed. So now more than ever should everyone be interested in "arranging their flowers." I'd suggest petunias.

Lawyers Need to Join Gangs

2010-02-05T12:36:00.005-06:00

Attorneys belong to everything from bar associations to industry organizations connected to their legal practice. However, I say they need to follow the lead of Los Angeles gangs. The Associated Press reported that law enforcement officials say that gangs use Facebook and Twitter to share information, including information that helps agents identify gang associates and get valuable details about their organizations.

For years, due to state regulations, lawyers have had their hands tied when it came to promoting their practices and firms. Advertising and marketing were "dirty" words that made every lawyer feel like they were "stalking" for new clients. However, that's been changing over the last ten years. I just came off the board for the Midwest Chapter of the Legal Marketing Association, and I can assure you that lawyers are marketing more than ever.

Gangs used to operate in the shadows of society (well maybe not Al Capone). And in regards to self-promotion, so have lawyers. However, with Facebook and Twitter, lawyers can stay connected with clients, prospects, law schools they recruit from, and referring lawyers. The key is CONTENT.

While most states have strict rules on "sales" messages from lawyers, sharing information that shows a lawyer's expertise or news written about one of their cases, in most instances, is fair game to share with the world. So it can be "legal" and "promotional" at the same time.

The PR laugh is the wide gap between "old school" and "new school" lawyers and law firms. If our agency was still pitching to traditional media and avoiding social media, we'd be dead.

Madonna, Lady Gaga and Tom Ciesielka

2010-02-05T11:49:00.008-06:00

I never thought I would combine my name with these two performers; Madonna is someone I followed during my wild years (side note: My birthday is coming up and she will always be older than me). What made Madonna appealing was how she effectively combined genuine talent with publicity stunts with a constant mix of reinventing her image, while working hard to remain a top shelf entertainer.

So what's my connection to Lady Gaga? None. All I know is that, like Madonna, she's doing well with selling her music and seems to always reinvent herself with every dress she wears to an awards show. Lady Gaga has managed to break into my world even though I don't read music magazines or closely follow trends and pop stars in contemporary music.

Our agency, like every public relations agency, has been reinventing itself constantly with public relations campaigns through social media. Whether it is blog relations, Facebook Fan relations or Tweets with followers who have proactively sought after a relationship with us, each day we're breaking new ground in communications.

The PR laugh is that Madonna and Lady Gaga are role models for me, Mr. Conservative. While Madonna could update her image every few years, Lady Gaga does it with a new dress every week! It reminds me that our agency has needed to adapt to a news cycle that is measured in minutes, not days. So ultimately we've moved from Madonna's business model to Lady Gaga's! While staying strategic, we are learning to change as fast as needed.

Why So Many Lawyers are Failures

2010-01-06T13:22:00.007-06:00

Around the holidays, I had a great conversation with Kevin O'Keefe who is best known as the brains behind lexblog. When he saw that I quoted him in a previous blog, he reached out to me and we pursued setting up a phone conversation. We did everything right.

My blog linked to his website, he watched for his name being used, he reached out to me, I was honored to have someone with his expertise contact me, and the love goes on. The point is, we did everything right in connecting with other people. Yes, it started out as a social media/social networking/citizen journalism exchange (or whatever you want to call it). However, we connected and learned about each others expertise and experience in a way that means I will never forget him. Too bad that so many lawyers don't get public relations.

I just noticed an article at the American Bar Association titled "Why Law Firm Public Relations Fails." Wow, what a great find for me. (Disclaimer, the author is not on the ABA staff, but it was written by a former journalist turned public relations professional). The article references the book "The Expert's Edge," which spells out how consistently presenting specific and targeted expertise in various formats (e. speaking, writing articles) will increase your public relations success and get more calls from the media.

Here's the PR laugh for me. Lawyers are very smart people. They know the power of precise words and how those words can land you in court or prevent you from unnecessary litigation. They also know that it takes time and often teamwork to get those words right. Yet, too many lawyers think that a press release, one speaking event a year, or contributing a generic article on their area of law will make a difference. However, when they decide to follow a strategic public relations plan consistently or find a trusted advisor inside/outside the law firm, then they can expert to garner the media attention that shows their smarts.

By the way, check out the video below. Do you think this is genuine public relations for this lawyer interviewed or a pay for placement?

Ogilvy PR: The Bigger they are the harder their blogs fall

2010-01-06T11:45:00.013-06:00

Is "David" (TC Public Relations) going to slay Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide ("Goliath")? It really doesn't matter. We are two different types of public relations agencies that cater to different clients. However, today when I went to Ogilvy's blog 360 Digital Influence, it had not been updated since December 9, 2009, almost one month since the post you are reading. As I was typing this Ragan Communication came out with the article "Do Communication Group Leaders Walk the Walk on Social Media?"

In fairness, they could look at my blog and draw an accurate conclusion that I only blog a few times a month. Why? Because the purpose of my blog is to force me to stay engaged in the media and let clients and prospects know that we have experience in blogging. One of our account executives did Twitter training for a customer and completely turned it around from a dead media to a proactive one for this business. So, while we do it for our clients with great success, I see my blog as a personal exercise in the media that helps me sell our services. While LinkedIn is the network I am most actively engaged in, if someone asks me about Twitter Grader or Twellow, I can share some practical information on what those are about.

However, the PR laugh that Ogilvy does not want to get is when they set themselves up with a blog title that includes the words "Digital Influence" as it becomes as stale as month-old bread.

The public relations industry will always be about reputation management. So when our industry engages in new media, we too need to guard our reputations and encourage our clients to understand if you get into social media to win, you need to play the game.

On a related note, I came across this YouTube media interview about Tiger Woods reputation management after it was damaged last month.

One thing it teaches me is that TC Public Relations reputation needs to be protected whether we are engaged in traditional or new media. I learned a lesson from Ogilvy, I too need to let outsiders see more of what I do and in the most positive light online.

Social Media Snakes for Lawyers

2009-12-07T12:34:00.007-06:00

Disclaimer, putting the words "snakes" and "lawyers" in the same line was not meant to degrade lawyers (ha, ha). Since I've worked on public relations campaigns for lawyer for years, I would not want to bite the hand the feeds me. However, the problem is that over those years, I've seen lawyers jump on the marketing bandwagon in a big way. So much so, that they'll try almost anything from buying overpriced website design services to hiring people to ghost write their blogs.

There's a LinkedIn group called Legal Blogging that has a discussion going about a BusinessWeek article titled Beware Social Media Snake Oil. The dialogue was started by a thought leader in this area, Kevin O'Keefe.

As a matter of disclosure, our agency helps our clients through the social media maze. However, we do disclose that while we can measure results, measuring the primary result with ROI in dollars is difficult. That's because too often our clients don't track all their business leads that come as a direct or indirect result from public relations or a social media campaign.

For fun, I went to YouTube and searched for videos on "social media for lawyers." At the top of this was this:

Talk about irony, this "expert" video is a talking head that gives nothing more that few tips. And it does not make clear the ROI. This video reminds me of what I see being sold to lawyers: social media utopia for business development.

The PR laugh for me is that lawyers, highly skilled and skeptical professionals, sometimes fall for these "snake oil" sales pitches. Why? Not because they are not intelligent, but because in recent years their business has been down like other professional services company and they are desperate and feel that social media is the sure shot short cut cure.

The 100 Year Old Virus

2009-12-07T11:19:00.006-06:00

One of my colleagues, Bill Moller sent me a link to a posting: 2o Winning Elements of a Viral Campaign. At the top of the list were topics on humor, edginess and brevity. It's funny because when I mentor public relations professionals, I always share the three things that usually gets publicity are connected to concepts like "first," "biggest," and "controversial." Those are the elements that since the history of public relations began in the United States continue to work regardless if the medium is a newspaper or a new social medium.

When doing a search for "viral marketing" at YouTube, the video with highest number of hits is titled: Champion cardstacker builds capitol with 22,000 cards. While it's an entertaining video, it did not help me directly see what viral marketing is all about. Actually the video titled How to Sell Soap:

This video was the first one that helped me see the value of viral marketing compared to traditional marketing. It took an everyday product like soap and brought into the latest trend with promoting products.

The PR laugh I find is that clear communications still wins in the end. The "sell soap" video is almost three years old and comes up number 15 based on views of video connected to a search for "viral marketing." Since that time so much has been said on how to become an "instant" success with making your promotion for a product or service go viral online. Here's a case where video creator was "first," used "humor" and is one of the "biggest" hits when it comes to views, which is why I paid attention to it for this post. Three years in viral marketing is almost like 100 years in normal history.

Bar Tenders and Loud Mouth Lawyers

2009-11-02T08:38:00.007-06:00

An article in the New York Times made the rounds about lawyers that have made online social media part of their legal strategy. However, many have failed to recognize the risks they face when they forget limits set by the codes of conduct in their respective states.

Amazingly, the article points out that even some judges get busted with their online communications:

Judges, too, can get into trouble online. Chief Judge Alex Kozinski of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, in California, was investigated for off-color humor that was accessible on his family’s Web server, though not intended to be public. He was cleared of wrongdoing, but a three-judge panel admonished him for not safeguarding the site, which they said was “judicially imprudent.”

(Personally, when attorneys ask me about guidelines of their on-line communications, I find there's no one answer because it depends on what you are commenting on and how close you are to the case. However, attorneys know about how electronic discovery works, and one email can make or break a case. Attorneys have little room for excuses when they get busted with bad blogging.)

Recently, I started working with a legal blogger that is part of Chicago Tribune's online media community Chicago Now: Chicago Bar-Tender. I'd recommended that Chicago area lawyers check it out. Also, lawyers anywhere in the country should look at the blog the New York Times article references, Legal Professional Blog. These type of outlets not only give you news you may not get in your legal trade publications, they also show and tell you how on-line communication is different than many favorite American Bar Association publications.

For those of you who've read my blog before, I've already given away the PR laugh for this post. I find it quite amusing that professionally trained lawyers who work so hard on their communication with clients and in court, would be so sloppy with their very public communication with blog postings and tweets.

Me and Lou Albano and a Bottle of Whiskey

2009-10-30T13:55:00.009-05:00

I have some sad news to report: Lou Albano is dead. You might ask, who is he? Lou was a professional wrestler and managed other wrestlers. He even played Cindi Lauper's father in her music videos.

As a child, my father took me to the professional wrestling matches in Philadelphia (go Phillies, you can catch up in the World series!) and I hated Lou. He was one of the dark characters played out in the ring. However, while we bought tickets to the cheap seats ($5) we often exchanged them for close views of the wrestlers. That's because my dad knew an usher and he moved us from the cheap seats to the primo locations that had not sold out.

To show his gratitude to this usher, my father would give him a pint of whiskey (I don't advocate drinking liquor anymore) to show our appreciation.

The PR laugh for me is that marketers and public relations professionals are so keen on social media and new ways to spread our clients' messages. And while that is very important, there's nothing like remembering the positive impressions that come from showing appreciation.

That's why whether it's a writer at the New York Times or a blogger in Chicago, I insist that our staff show appreciation, with at least a sincere note (handwritten is preferred). That's the ultimate way to spread your message virally.

Law Firm Taglines: Tasteful and Tacky

2009-10-09T09:48:00.006-05:00

Any legal marketing professional will tell you how they feel the home page artwork for many law firms makes them cringe. That's because so many use almost identical stock photos of court houses or scales of justice. (What justice, I was not able to participate in the Cash for Clunkers program with my 2003 Toyota Corolla, nothing just about that, anyway...)

Recently, Law.com has a story called "101 Damn Fine and Not-So-Fine Law Firm Taglines." And they did a great job of summarizing the original posting from Stem Legal. The post speaks for itself, however, here's an excerpt:

Five Law.com likes:

Shepard Mullin: Our Mission is Your Success
Arnall Golden Gregory: Not If, But How
Ervin Cohen & Jessup: It’s Not a Common Practice.
Lawrence Graham: Lawyers. Just Different.
Womble Carlyle: Innovators at Law

A couple not easily forgotten:

Foster Townsend Graham: Damn Fine Litigators.
Harris Beach: Lawyers you’ll swear by. Not at.
Harrison Pensa: In any case.

Some the writer felt were possibly made up by a four-year-old:

Dickinson Wright: Great Lawyers. Great Law Firm.
Mischon: Not just any law firm.
Here, your choice clearly boils down to Leadership versus Experience:
Alston & Bird: Leadership. Creativity. Results.
Crowell & Moring: Experience. Creativity. Results.
Harry Potter Wisdom Division
Locke Lord: Practical wisdom, trusted advice

Where's the PR laugh here? Well, it depends. It's only been in recent years that law firms have taken more marketing seriously. So while I would love to poke fun at self-serving tag lines like

"Great Lawyers, Great Law Firm." I can't. (Actually, based on marketing guidelines by individual states on how you can describe your firm, that tag line might be illegal, but that's another post).

What I can chuckle about is how so many lawyers think they are marketers. While some are great self-promoters, some of those same lawyers need to rethink how their marketing efforts make them look sophisticated or silly.

PR Rules from Kindergarten

2009-10-09T09:19:00.006-05:00

A good friend I made initially from on-lines communications is Dr. Toy. She is one the people I respect most when it comes to children and play. I even contacted her when my wife was pregnant to get advice on how to best interact with an new infant!

Recently, Dr. Toy sent me a link to a blog posting: PR rules my daughter learned in kindergarten. I could not have said it better, that while everyone is all a whirl about social media and on-line networking, public relations will always boil down to some basic communication skills we should have learned early in life.

When I first started my public relations agency, one of my media contacts told me that learning public relations should have started when as a child we were taught to "send a 'thank you' note to Aunt Sue for the red sweater."

I read a report titled: The State of the Public Relations Industry prepared by Paul Holmes. I loved what the it said about how public relations is changing in the face of social media and how it remains the same:

"Historically, public relations people have identified those people most likely to influence their client’s target audience, told the client’s story to those individuals, and then relied on those individuals to tell their story to the wider audience. Traditionally, those individuals have been journalists—relatively easy to identify, with obvious needs and interests. Today, those individuals can be bloggers, citizen journalists, or indeed anyone with influence: a hairdresser in the case of women’s products, a priest or minister in the case of a social issue. They are harder to identify, and understanding their specific information needs and desires requires more work, but the process remains the same: identify them, tell them a story, rely on them to tell the story to others."

The laugh for me is that people think public relations in the 21st Century is all about technology. And I agree, you need to know the features and benefits of electronic communications. Yet it's really a means to an end.

On the bus today, two young people bump hard into me and did not even apologize or acknowledge what they did. I don't care how robust their Facebook pages are, they missed setting up their "personal profile" when they did not learn some basics back in in kindergarten.

SueEasy is NotSo Great

2009-09-10T10:00:00.005-05:00

Law.com's "Legal Blog Watch" has a terrific posting about SueEasy.com. It's a matching Web site service for clients and lawyers that allows potential litigants to post grievances and wait for responses from attorneys with offers to represent them. It also allows users to find class actions to join in with others.

On the surface, it seems like a great marketing service for lawyers. For the consumer, it potentially represents a "one-stop" shopping location for legal services. However, from what I gather from online comments, the site got a reputation and an "on-line ambulance chasing" operation. I particularly like this comment that was posted about SueEasy.com at Techcrunch.com

The name of this website alone will cause problems in some states. According to the code of ethics in many states, lawyers have to follow strict standards when joining referral services. Names like “Sue Easy” will probably prove to be offensive to many authorities governing attorneys. I would not be surprised if there is some court activity surrounding lawyers using this as a referral service.

The PR laugh for me is that while lawyers today market their services more than even, some opportunities cross the line. Legal services should be marketed effectively. However, it is a respected profession and this type of website service hurts the legal marketing industry.

As a board member of the Legal Marketing Association's Chicago Chapter, I would be hard pressed to consider this a service to mention to my associates.

There's Always Time to Get High in Kentucky

2009-09-10T08:26:00.008-05:00

When you do a Google search for "Kentucky," ironically, the top listing is not for the tourism office or even the official site for the state. Rather the bulk of the links are related to the Kentucky derby. So I was a surprised when I saw an Associated Press story in Yahoo! News today about the amount of marijuana confiscated in Kentucky, Tennessee and West Virginia, where narcotics officers have seen a marijuana boom and confiscated more than 1 million plants in the three states. (If I wanted to add an audio clip to this post, I'd likely make it John Denver's Rocky Mountain High.)

The PR laugh for me is that this one story totally changes my perception of the these states. When I grew up in Philadelphia, we often drove up and down the east side of the country. The biggest high our family ever got was eating too many pecan rolls at Stucky's. In the future, when I drive in that area, I'll have to keep my windows rolled up so I can be sure I stay focused on the road.

It's amazing how one story can change a reputation. Maybe Cheech and Chong live at a retirement home in Appalachian region.

The Yo-Yo and Public Relations

2009-08-05T16:10:00.007-05:00

Recently the Wall Street Journal had a story about the return of the yo-yo. When I was a kid, I loved yo-yos. The Duncan brand had such an assortment. Status among peers was determined by how many Duncans you owned. However, for me, my yo-yo fame was determined by off-brand yo-yos in the shape of a football or basketball. Anyway....

The Wall Street Journal pointed out the dark side of new yo-yos that can go faster and do more daring tricks resulting in: chipped teeth, calloused hands and bandaged brows. My worst accident was the string getting too tight around my finger and making it turn purple.

What gave me a PR giggle was the point that faster is not better and can cause damage, even when you are having fun. That's the way I see much of social media today. Yes, it's a tool to connect faster with targeted audiences. Yet, it can be damaging when it gets out of control. If you curious about social media disasters check out this posting.

I am proud to say that the team at our agency, TC Public Relations, has had some wonderful successes with making social media a friend for our clients. However, one time we sent out a very misdirected email that started to quickly work it's way through a few on-line pipelines. Fortunately, we were able to trace the origional negative messages and get the situation turned around quickly. Like a yo-yo, when it seemed like the situation hit bottom, with a little on-line pull in the right direction, it came back up again.

Looking for Love from Technorati

2009-07-22T12:04:00.000-05:00

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French Bulldog Puppies Are Tops!

2009-07-13T10:46:00.019-05:00

Recently, everyone at TC Public Relations participated in a team building exercise that our high energy Melissa planned for us. The goal of the exercise was to find eight things the team had in common (it was too bad that EVERYONE did not share my love of pizza). As it turns out, we all had some affection for cats, regardless of size or color.

After the meeting, I looked at the top searches on Yahoo to see what the outside world had in common. I learned that French bulldog puppies was the #3 top search on July 13 at 10:00 am Central. When I clicked on the link, it took me to mostly listings like Wikipedia and places that that provide general information on these dogs. I did not see one significant news related item from a trusted source.

Recently, I've become fascinated with the rankings of on-lines searches and hits that certain stories or YouTube videos get.

While I know that information is no longer in the control of traditional media outlets, I trust that people question all the online rankings. How do young people looking for information learn how to "test" the information they find on-line? How can they understand that the most "popular" is not always the best? I wish I could answer that in a logical fashion.

The PR laugh for me is how all these on-line outlets are tracking clicking, linking, without the consumer even "blinking" to pause and ask: "What does this really mean?"

One side note. Michael Jackson is being honored as a god since his death and all the on-lines rankings have been pointing to his name. Yet, in his later years, he was far from a role model worth tracking. (Of course, the PR laugh there is how his family members are thinking his death was the result of foul play without mentioning his "foul" public image toward the end.)

Public Relations for Pirates and Terrorists

2009-05-19T16:23:00.015-05:00

When I read about Osama bin Laden wanting to convince Muslims they should hate President Obama, around the time he was to deliver a speech in Saudi Arabia, I thought the bad guys are a new category of "people groups" that seek publicity. Add this latest news to the publicity seeking pirates from Somalia.

It's amazing how things have changed in my lifetime. As a child I remember news stories about the bad guys hijacking planes and demanding money. It got tired after a while and you did not see it make the top story at major news outlets. I just did a Google news search and the top story related to plane hijacking came from the Pakistan Observer.

Pakistan Observer? Nothing from the New York Times or USA Today? Those hijackers need a better public relations agency.

The PR laugh for me here is how the "bad guys" are getting more attention as time goes on. Who are the "good news" heroes these days? Where is the new Mother Teresa when you need her? What I find laughable is that the news media fails to celebrate miraculous healings more often and the single moms (those who don't have eight children at once) who are raising young people in "impossible" circumstances.

Light will always overcome the darkness. It's impossible for the opposite to occur. I'd love to see the people with light get a little more of the top headlines.

Spector Found Guilty of Second-degree Murder and First Degree Bad Taste

2009-04-13T16:32:00.010-05:00

I've been following the sad case of music producer Phil Spector who was convicted on April 13 of second-degree murder in the shooting death of actress Lana Clarkson at his mansion six years ago. Our agency does public relations work for law firms and I'm going to ask one of our clients, "How do they come up with "second-degree" murder? Isn't it murder when you kill someone? Murder is murder, right?" Anyway, I've leave the definition to the legal system.

No one can question that he was a genuis as a rock music producer. However, while he obviously lost his way, he appears to have never lost his hair. As I have gotten older, I see the importance of keeping your dignity and the foundation of who you are as a person. Spector made a spectacle of himself and that's likely to be the final image we'll see of him in this life.

The PR laugh for me is that first impressions and not always lasting impressions. Even if someone does not end his or her public image with a murder conviction (e.g. Mel Gibson's DUI) it critical to keep your guard up and not let the demons in.

Download Some Free Publicity 100 Years Later

2009-03-17T20:02:00.012-05:00

Last week I spoke on the topic "Media Relations in a Virtual World" at a national conference for the American Bar Association. I had fun learning what bar associations do to promote their organizations. Although at some point, I made a joke about the news value of a Texas judge shooting a lawyer in court and it got a big laugh. Not sure what I tapped into.

Most of the audience came to hear about the tricks of using Twitter or other online communications tools. Yet, in the session before me the focus was on message development that gets to the minds and hearts of those you want to communicate with. And it reminded me of a story I read a few weeks back in the New York Times (a publication that might not be around for another anniversary, at least as a print publication).

The story's headline was "From a Vault in Paris, Sounds of Opera 1907." Here's an excerpt from the story:

PARIS — On Dec. 24, 1907, a group of bewhiskered men gathered in the bowels of the Paris Opera to begin a project that by definition they could never see to fruition. First, 24 carefully wrapped wax records were placed inside two lead and iron containers. These were then sealed and locked in a small storage room with instructions that they should remain undisturbed for 100 years.

The man behind this musical time capsule was Alfred Clark, a New Yorker who headed the London-based Gramophone Company and had provided the records. And in truth, once the ceremony was over, he had achieved his primary objective of drawing attention to his company and to the new flat-disc records it was promoting to compete with the better-known cylinders.

“I know of no other case where a commercial firm has obtained so much free publicity as we have,” he wrote to a colleague two days later.

Considering how much publicity Clarke generated on-line more than 100 years later is proof that "sticky" ideas can work no matter the time or technology.

What gives me a laugh is that the dead publicist is still getting attention for his company with thousands of stories on-line about his stunt. Amazing. These days publicists have the tools and techniques to spread a message. Yet, only a few ideas become blog or YouTube runaway wonders. And the ones that do breakthrough, are all about CONTENT.

What Clarke knew was that the right content at the right time got attention. And that will always be true whether you Twitter or Twirl.

So when I think about all those people who work at bar associations across the county looking for their on-line fix, I think about how the opera recordings are still getting attention and downloads three generations after the publicity event.

The "Fiction" About Book Publishing

2009-02-15T18:49:00.009-06:00

This week I'll have the privilege of speaking at the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University. I always consider it an honor when I am asked to share what I've learned with students. The course is called, "The Art and Craft of Writing Nonfiction Books." My topic is "Blogging Your Way to the Bestseller List."

My hope is that the students will teach me more than I can teach them. Why? Because the publishing model has changed dramatically in just the last five years. Social media and online communications such as blogs, Internet-only publications, Facebook and Twitter have burned away so much of the "paper-only" system of publishing. The students I'll meet will have known about the effectiveness of on-line communications the entire time they have been working on their laptops. My hope is to share the essential skills of book marketing and public relations that transcends a medium's technology.

Publishing used to be controlled, by...publishers. A group of companies that sometimes were refereed to as "printers with distribution." They had the inside track with places like Borders and Barnes & Noble. Then they had the fastest connection to places like amazon.com. However, it was amazon.com that ultimately made way for new preferred way to published books through self-publishing, and now elentronically with amazon.com's kindle 2.

All information, including traditional novels are available in a virtual space without the limitation of how many books will fit on a store's shelf. Just as respected blogs have become citizen journalists that sometimes have more value that places like the New York Times, self-published books are finding audiences that value them.

Time Magazine recently featured an article titled, Books Gone Wild: The Digital Age Reshapes Literature. It talks about how self-publishing is a "respectable" business. I remember when I first starting handling public relations for books, if someone asked me to promote their self-published title, I would often say "no" even before they asked. That's because of two reasons:

1. Those book were often was not properly edited

2. The writers were often full of themselves and used their own money in order to say to friends and family, "I am important and an author of a book." (Little did the friends and family know that the authors' garages were full of books nobody would buy.)

However, two things changed to overcome my and the world's dislike for self-published books:

1. Blogs and social networks help authors develop their books and get enough feedback to make them worth publishing.

2. For less that $1,000, authors can get their books published with a print-on-demand publisher and not invest several thousand dollars to print hundreds of books that were not first tested in the marketplace.

I think the Time Magazine article mentioned earlier captures these ideas when it says:

"Self-publishing has gone from being the last resort of the desperate and talentless to something more like out-of-town tryouts for theater or the farm system in baseball. It's he last ripple of the Web 2.0 vibe finally washing up on publishing's remote shores. After YouTube and Wikipedia, the idea of user-generated content just isn't that freaky anymore."

What's the PR laugh? The laugh is on first-time authors who still want to go the old route of getting published. These writers are going to spend so much time, money and effort trying to use a system that seldom promotes new authors, but rather puts their money on proven writers.

The new authors who will laugh last are the ones who embrace the power of marketing and public relations that comes from social networking, blogging, and building readerships with readers that you can build on with for many books to come.

? The Death of Public Relations Agencies and Old-Media ?

2009-01-16T16:41:00.011-06:00

Everything else is crashing in the business world, why not public relations agencies? After all, most businesses need to pay rent, meet payroll, and cover shipping costs of their products. Who needs some hacks in the backroom banging out a press release in a format that has not changed in almost a hundred years?

Don't worry, I'm OK and all is well at TC Public Relations. However, what caught my eye was a recent story in Time Magazine about how the old-media business is going down the toilet and whether or not the new-media business will save the world of journalism. After all, if places like the Chicago Tribune are cutting hundreds of jobs for journalists, what will be left except for bloggers like me (a zillion at my last count) to bring you the "news"?

Public relations agencies often work to make themselves unique by the type of services they offer for particular products or service businesses. And while even we have used something in our business development pitches that says, "we help to make our clients more popular and more profitable" it will always boil down to our reputation management expertise. That is what public relations pros do and will continue to do until the end of time. Why?

All that any product or service has is a reputation to develop. And so whether it's a public relations pro connecting with The New York Times or littegreenfootballs, it will ALWAYS be a reputation management. And that will ALWAYS be the intersection point between public relations companies and journalists (or online citizen journalists), period.

So where is the PR laugh? The joke is the smoke and mirrors that show up when people talk about the death of old-media. Nothing is going away, in fact it's all expanding (see the book The Long Tail) in a way that makes public relations professional more valuable than ever because there are more media outlets to hold conversations with on-line. And for the out of work print journalists (many are now looking to work for PR agencies), they have the same opportunities because they know how to write good copy and build credibility with their audiences.

So what about banging out those press release for a blog posting? Well, that is not the way new-media works. It's about relationship building with connecting trusted sources with trusted reporters. That relationship building skill is at the core of reputation management that a talented public relations person has. So the death of journalism and, gasp, the death of public relations agencies is not going to happen. In fact, there's new life for both.

Killing Calories

2009-01-01T11:26:00.007-06:00

The theme song from the movie M*A*S*H was titled Suicide is Painless. However, when Pepsi decided to create an advertising campaign with the lone calorie in its Pepsi Max committing suicide, it caused Pepsi much painful public relations.

To Pepsi's credit, their director of social and emerging media, contacted the media, including Advertising Age, to applogize. According to an excerpt of the director's appolgy published by Advertising Age, it included these comments:

"We agree this creative is totally inappropriate...My best friend committed suicide and this is a topic very close to my heart. So again I offer my deepest apologies."

First, the ad depicts the lone calorie with a gun blowing out its brains (right). At what point does one recognize when something like a bullet in the head for a soft drink is ad is "inappropriate."

Second, he uses the "I can identify with the pain" PR response by saying his best friend committed suicide. Maybe that friend was just "lonely." In such case, it would bring us back to the original justification for the Pepsi ad, lonely beings should kill themselves. All is well.

I know that what is "permissible" with communications has changed dramatically since I was growing up. The word "damn" in the movie Gone with the Wind was considered radical at the time. Now we have Sex in the City during primetime.

In the case of using suicide to promote any product, I can't see how it can ever work. Suicide is a terrible sickness that takes loved ones away from their families.

This reminds of something I talk about when teaching marketing principles. Sometime back, people decided to call a frozen pizza by the name Tombstone. In my mind, equating death with pizza is something I would never have agreed to in a creative brainstorm. So, in fairness, maybe I'm wrong, death can be a marketing tool.

The Mouse With Wine-Flavored Cheese

2008-12-10T08:47:00.006-06:00

I want to thank a story from the Wall Street Journal that made this posting much easier. It talks about how Chuck E. Cheese (and many times booze filled environments) is getting bad publicity because in 12 cases since January 2007, police have been called to their restaurants (not sure if serving flat and dry pizza qualifies as a "restaurant." However, I'll leave that evaluation to the food critics).

The Wall Street Journal reported (excerpt):

To appeal to adults, about 70% of the chain's locations serve wine and beer. Some city officials have pinpointed that as the main cause of the fighting. Milwaukee Alderman Tony Zielinski called for the removal of Chuck E. Cheese's beer-and-wine license in 2006 after he received police notification and complaints from constituents about fighting there. The company stationed armed security guards inside the restaurant in an effort to make it safer.

This is one time when I feel that a child in the third grade could offer up public relations advice to a corporate client like Chuck E. Cheese. Let's break this down:

"...about 70% of the chain's locations serve wine and beer."

The company promotes itself where "a kid can be a kid." And apparently where adults can get plastered. (I wonder if they serve the Miller Lite with one of the swirly straws, I used to love those.)

"The company stationed armed security guards inside the restaurant in an effort to make it safer."

Now the picture gets clearer. If someone gets out of hand after you've served them alcoholic beverages, shoot them. That will fix everything. Parents can explain that it's simply an extension of the robotic singing characters on stage to add realism to the dining experience.

What's the PR laugh here? Just read the Wall Street Journal. They're soon going to compete with Comedy Central.

Step on a Crack, Break Your Mother's Motrin

2008-11-21T16:40:00.005-06:00

Note sure if this title dates me. When I was a child it there was an expression we said to each other, "step on a crack, break your mother's back." The idea was that you would avoid stepping on cracks in the concrete, otherwise it would hurt your mom. Something like sticking pins in voodoo dolls, I guess.

This week the Chicago Tribune carried a story called "Company caves to moms' Motrin ad backlash." The story includes a link to the commercial for Motrin, which says in way too words that mothers who carry their babies somewhere on their bodies will get back pains. And Motrin will fix the problem. Here's some copy from the story to put my post in context:

"Offend mommy bloggers at your own peril. They can chew you up and spit you out in a day. That's what happened to McNeil Consumer Healthcare's new ad campaign for Motrin. Saturday morning, all was fine. By Monday, a contrite McNeil had yanked the campaign and its vice president of marketing was busy issuing apologies.The offense? An online ad aimed at moms who, the ad surmised, might need Motrin to ease back pain caused by using slings and such to carry their babies."

This is a funny public relations backlash (pun intended) because first, the commercial is stupid. It goes on and on explaining the justification for pushing Motrin onto women. Second, it shows the downside of advertising in combination with the downward spiral of negative publicity. Let me explain.

As all the marketing gurus will tell you, advertising is about pushing information onto people. Public relations is usually getting a third-party source to say you are wonderful . In the case of Motrin, the third-party sources said that Motrin offended mothers. Advertisers can show how their product solves a problem. However, researching that problem first, can give clues into what might backfire (I did it again).

In this case, Motrin could have done a better job of setting this up. If they had some parenting authority say that research shows that moms that carry their baby on their backs are more prone to back pain, then maybe, just maybe, they could make the argument that Motrin could help. It's the type of self serving attitude that has worked in the past before the Internet. I remember when I was a child that toothpaste commercials pushed the fact the fluoride in toothpaste prevented cavities based on dentists' recommendations. So, at least putting a toxic chemical in your mouth made sense.

Some well intended commercials have missed the mark many times and public relations campaigns can miss their objectives too. However, maybe in this case, thinking about the intended audience first and doing some research could have gotten this back on the right track. (I never knew there could be so much potential for puns with the word "back".)

Is Blogging a Book Author's Way to Freedom of the Press?

2008-11-10T16:18:00.025-06:00

Too many books are like the millions of sperms reaching out for that egg. So exactly how many is too many? Here's one response that puts the number at 190,000. Actually, I prefer what the New York Times website had to say on the topic. Why does this matter? Because the majority of new books are never promoted. Who's at fault?

While I don't want to make my friends at the Society of Midland Authors (SMA) my enemies, I say the author is the main villain. That's because the author usually puts in the greatest investment of time and effort into a project and does not always think about how their books will get in front of potential readers. That's why this week, I'm presenting a program for the Society of Midland Authors called, Blogging for Authors. For those who attended the program and saw my Power Point presentation (dowload here) and those who did not, I'd like this post to point to what I talked about as well as a few other ideas.

First, I don't believe that blogs will save the world. However, they can save your book. Why? Because every book has a unique audience. And traditional public relations cannot handle the demand for the 100,000 plus books that come out every year. Rather a blog is a tool, and even a free tool, that can help you build readership.

One of the blogs I pointed out in my presentation is called Greek Tragedy maintained by Stephanie Klein. Reasons for using it as an model are:

Nice clean layout

The book covers are a good size

The links are set up for interested people to buy her books

Every post has several comments (details on this were explained in my live presentation, I saved some good stuff for the Tom-Ciesielka-in-person presentation)

The authors "About Me" page is engaging (it also "sells" by showing how much legitimate attention her writing garners)

There are several comments on a number of post which shows that she knows how to engage her followers

I also talked about Problogger written by Darren Rowse. Darren focuses on information about how to make money from your blog. Look, I don't believe that you can spend money with any type of on-line marketing actitivity and make a pile of cash. It's never been that easy and never will. However, your goal is to become more popular and authoritative, then you must think about "selling" who you are and what you've written.

Finally, not referred to in my live presentation is a link to badlanguage.net. This post walks through 18 tips on how to be a better blogger. Most of which I touch upon during my presentation. Why? No, I'm not a copy cat. Rather, the fundamental rules for building an audience through communication never change. It's always been about coming up with a compelling message for the right audience and connecting with that audience. Think about the New York Times or Wall Street Journal. (I'm sure most SMA members would not want to seriously think about USA Today.) My point is that they took decades and lots of money to build up their name and audience. It's no different for an author who is a blogger.

Here's the difference: You could have a few articles about you and your book in the New York Times (nice for show and tell) and maybe found a few people who will be crazy about your book. However, with blogging, you can search for your audience and build a relationship with them directly. Something impossible with traditional media.

There's plenty written about blogging and on-line marketing. I'm sure there are many, many Dummy books available. Which reminds me, did you know that Sex for Dummies is one of that series most popular titles? Seems like a bad idea to me. Do you really want those people procreating?

But seriously folks, if you've not started a blog, go to Blogger and start one for free. And if you have a blog, please leave me a comment. I enjoy blogging. However, one of my great joys is seeing others use blogs successfully to get their message out.

P.S. I was just reviewing my notes for tonight's SMA program and found another great source for blog book tours for authors. Helpful information.

PETA - Phony Ethics for Embracing Animals

2008-11-04T15:12:00.000-06:00

OK, I'll admit it, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) makes me crazy. They ride their high horse (probably not, because it would hurt the horse) with how they protect animals from badly behaving humans. To set the record straight, I like animals. I used to have two cats and my wife has a dog that I've adopted. Animals should be respected, yet not equated with human beings.

So in this week's Time magazine, I was amused by an interview with Ingrid Newkirk who is the president and co-founder of PETA. Let's take a look at a few of her answers to reader questions:

Q: Is there a simple, everyday way people can help animals? James Dodds, KATONAH, N.Y.

A: ... if you just change to one vegetarian day a week, that's a wonderful step that will save animal lives. It means you have chosen something kind instead of something cruel.

So which animals do you chose not to eat? Eat the bigger ones because they are more dangerous? Or eat the smaller ones because they take less time to cook? Which is less cruel?

Q: Have any of your campaigns been counterproductive? Max Wilson, SEATTLE
A: ...Some may have caused many of our members to leave us, and they may have caused people to dislike us, but we're not here to win a popularity contest. We're here to get people to find out the facts about how animals suffer.

Let me get this straight, you're an organization that is trying to create positive public opinion in order to attract supporters. And the results you get are that "many members" leave, people "dislike" you, and you're not popular. Sounds like a winning public relations campaign.

Here's the laugh for me. Organizations need to avoid having a self-righteous attitude when it comes to standing up for their cause. Sure there are many causes they everyone cannot agree with. However, when by your own admission you see bad blood flowing, then maybe it's time to call home the dogs (as long as you don't eat them).

P.S. In the process of looking at Google images for something related to PETA, it returned a whole bunch of nude human figures (pornography for some). PETA is animal friendly, not family friendly.

Can You Spare a Dior and Some Political Correctness?

2008-10-25T09:20:00.000-05:00

In last Friday's Chicago Tribune I saw a story on page three with the headline: Buddy, can you spare a Dior? The reporter wrote in a sarcastic style and poked fun at Barneys Co-Op. Barneys, a clothing store, placed homeless-style cardboard signs in the hands of its mannequins that read: "DIOR-less please help," "Will work 4 PRORSUM" and "Stranded need RAF to get home." For those of you who know my middle class fashion sense, it was nice to learn about some other high end fashion such as RAF and PRORSUM.

I shared this media coverage with the staff because it did have something brilliant behind it. After all, it was a page three story (glad to see the Tribune's new tabloid format is working out great). My point to my team was that about 25 cents of cardboard and a black marker got this store thousands of dollars worth of publicity.

It also make me curious to find out how this publicity came about. What someone at the store told me was that their visual designers came up with the idea and it got out to the media through word of mouth. Ironically when I spoke to someone else at the store's New York headquarters, I learned that the publicity backfired because Tribune readers thought it was insensitive to the plight of the homeless.

First, I see the negative backlash as political correctness run amuck. Look at how the media is riping apart Sarah Palin's wardrobe and I've not seem an outcry from that coverage. Second, the Tribune added a survey to the story that asked readers, "What do you think of the display?" Not one of the options in the survey said that this was a cleaver and creative way to to get customers' attention.

The PR laugh for me is that the Tribune gives such a trivial soft news item a prominent position that belongs with the Paris Hilton coverage. To me that should have the outrage from readers.

PR for Tragedy

2008-10-17T16:42:00.000-05:00

This is likely to be one of my darkest posts. A story from Crain's Chicago Business today reported that a futures trader died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound hours after losing several million dollars Wednesday. Please understand, this is not something to joke about. The loss and pain to his wife and family members will go on long after this story is forgotten.

Here's is what I find simply unthinkable with this tradgic incident. The story that is linked above says that, "Rosenthal Collins CEO Scott Gordon declined to comment. RCG, which backed Mr. Luizzi’s trades, has more than $1 billion in customer funds."

Amazing. Where does this CEO get his public relations coaching from? With $1 billion in customer funds, you would think that he could find a few words to say out of respect. While Rosenthal Collins is not responsible for this traders personal decision, you would hope that their CEO would use some common sense in saying something polite on behalf of his company.

The "no comment" response has been gone from PR 101 for a long time. And when something as terrible as this happens, you would hope the CEO over so much wealth, would search for some wisdom to better communicate through the media.

The New Chicago Tribune Sucks

2008-09-30T17:07:00.000-05:00

I guess some people might question the word "sucks" in the headline. It doesn't fit the polite language that a PR person would use when describing a major media outlet. Stay with for a moment.

I think the Huffington Post captured the issue even before it was released this week when it wrote about how the new Tribune was "Less news, more pictures." I've heard this referred to as the "USA Today syndrome" where substancial local papers provide article with little or no depth.

For years I've had great relationships with many fine reporters and editors at the Tribune. I am sure many of them (those who are still left) are not happy with the changes. Besides, it's not just about content. It's also about design.

First, the visual guide along the top of the page which tells you where you is well, stupid. I know where I am in the the new muddle of chopped up graphics and short stories. Second, the layout emphasis the advertising in way that is distracting and I believe hurts the advertiser.

The bottom line is that sales of the print edition will continue to decline because of new media and the all the options people have for getting the news they choose.

The Power of Whisky in Public Relations

2008-09-12T17:03:00.000-05:00

One of my mentors in public relations is Ron Culp. He's had a distinguised career in the industry. Ron has also helped make me a better communications professional for more than 15 years.

Recently Ron asked me to share my career path at his blog. Here's the beginning of my guest post:

"I don’t drink. Not that I’m a Puritan that goes into bars and breaks the bottles along the back walls. I’ve known plenty of those bottles in days gone by. However, I can credit one small pint of whisky as the inspiration of my public relations career."

I hope you'll check it out. It's a personal story that I've been wanting to write for a long time. When I think back about how I came up through the ranks, I'm amazed and it brings a smile to my face.

"Big Babies" Reality TV Show

2008-08-25T16:44:00.000-05:00

I just caught up with reading PR Week and came across a story that brought tears to my eyes: last month, The Writers Guild of America West (WGAW) launched its American Idol Truth Tour in protest of reality-show working conditions. Give me a break.

So when does coming up with the crazy ideas to help ordinary people make a spectacle of themselves become a tough job? We'll I imagine the writers who encourage people to eat slime, fight with mean nannies, and tear down roach invested homes, are in danger of breaking into a sweat. This might be worse than child labor in third world countries.

According to one report:

- David Weiss, WGA vice president, said during an LA rally: "Time cards have been filled out often illegally, people are being asked to work through their lunch breaks . . . and work 15- to 20-hour days, frequently seven days a week.”

If that's true, then maybe the writers need better representation. Come on, you mean to tell me the writers need a PR campaign to travel around on a bus and cry about the horrible behind the scenes abuses that the public needs to know about? All for a product that has managed to survive longer than it should have that continues to turn television into the vast wasteland?

I say, get off the bus and stop being big babies. Maybe if your life had more reality, you'd find more important issues to protest.

John Edward's Words

2008-08-08T16:18:00.000-05:00

OK, everyone will be saying that John Edward's is a two-faced liar. The former presidential candidate admitted to an extramarital affair while his wife was battling cancer. He also denied that he's the father of the woman's baby.

While this can be one of those, "He who is without sin, cast the first stone" (don't know the reference? Check out the Bible verse it's connected with). Why? Because we all have fallen short of living perfect lives. HOWEVER, Mr. Edward's decided to dig himself a bigger hole with his follow up comments.

The kicker is that MSNBC reported the following:

"Edwards told ABC News that he lied repeatedly about the affair with 42-year-old Rielle Hunter but said that he didn't love her. He said he has not taken a paternity test but knows he isn't the father because of the timing of the affair and the birth."

He "didn't love her"??? My point is that now that the news is out, simply admit your mistake and leave it alone. Look, over the years I too have tried to justify wrong actions. However, it does not work. When you make a mistake, just acknowledge it, move and allow the healing to begin.

I know I won't have to point out why this post fits the "PR for Laughs" blog because the comics around the country are going to have a party with this one.

Richard's "Asso" is Not Grasso

2008-07-25T10:35:00.000-05:00

When I was a child there was the expression from bullies, "Your ass is grass." I never quite understood the logic. I assume it meant that the other person would mow you down. For a while it seemed that the New York Stock Exchange was about to mow down it's former CEO.

I was reading a story in PR Week about Richard Grasso (former CEO of the New York Stock Exchange) and his public relations strategy. A plan that included saying almost nothing to the media as he was being sued to return his $139.5 million retirement package. (Note to NYSE, I'd be happy with just the $ .5 million part, so consider me for CEO down the road).

His only major "comment" to the media during the case was providing an op-ed piece that was published in the Wall Street Journal. His publicist, Eric Starkman, felt that with the wave of negative publicity against his Grasso, there was no way to turn the tide...until the case was played out in court, and not the court of public opinion.

It worked. Grasso kept the money and get the last laugh with that piggy bank breaking retirement plan (my dad got a nice pin after 35 years at the American Can Company and a reasonable retirement package).

This makes me smile because, while agencies like ours love to help our legal clients win in the court of public opinion, sometimes you can win by keeping your mouth shut.

Was Tom Funny Or Not on WGN-Radio?

2008-07-19T10:42:00.000-05:00

Today at 2:30 pm Cental, Bill Moller (someone I've known from CLTV before it was broadcast in color) is having me on his WGN-AM program, The Money Show. We're going to be talking about how blogs can help (and hurt) your career and business.

When Bill let's me get a word in edgewise (he's really a lot of fun), I'll suggest that blogger newbies check out Blogger as a place to start the process. It's a great way to test the waters and start a blog about anything you care to comment on regularly (like sharing cute and stupid pictures of cats).

I'll also suggest that baby bloggers check out a source, technorati, for seeing what's popular in the blog world at their top 100 blogs. My rule of thumb is to see what's working and learn from it.

Finally, time permitting, I'll put in a gentle plug for my company TC Public Relations. While I've created on-line buzz for my clients, it would be fun to get a little buzzy myself.

And in case you wonder what I do on weekends, I think this picture says it all. (For those who might be concerned, I volunteer as a clown at a nursing home)

The is Tom Ciesielka, reporting in advance from WGN-AM radio. Back to you Bill.

Pete Wentz and Tom Ciesielka Talk "Baby"

2008-07-11T10:57:00.000-05:00

While I've worked with celebs in the film and television industries, I've accepted the fact that what I do is unlikely to become tabloid news. That's why I've decided to support Fall Out Boy bassist Pete Wentz's journey into fatherhood.

My buddy Pete (not sure if he would see it that way) has shared with the media that he talks to his baby still residing in Ashee Simpson-Wentz's womb. Hey I do that too with my baby in the lower midsection of my wife. Pay attention CNN send over the cameras! Listen People Magazine, I'll give you an exclusive to photograph me belting out "Strangers in the Night" to my wife's belly.

I guess my point is that once your fame gets rolling, almost anything could matter. I've gained and lost weight, but Oprah still has me beat on the publicity.

So if you've got some insignificant news that you think people should care about, think again. If I run my bike into a pedestrian on Michigan Avenue in Chicago, no one is likely to care. However, if Jerry Springer does it... well maybe nobody would care either.

McDonald's is Not So Sweet

2008-07-02T15:26:00.000-05:00

Yesterday, I went to the McDonald's in the pedway of the 233 N. Michigan Avenue building in Chicago. My hope was to get one of those $1 large drinks for either a soda or sweet tea. I am crazy about sweet tea. Although I noticed something was out of place. Normally all the soft drinks are in an open space where people serve themselves and can get refills. HOWEVER, I saw that the sweet tea was moved to behind the counter. I was shocked.

When I asked the friendly employee what was up she told me that the sweet tea was being abused by people getting refills. I was perplexed. I could not understand. Sweet tea at this location and other locations has been/is available for refills. What a joke. I'd like to know who in management wanted to stop the "abuse."

Speaking of jokes, check out McDonald's web page for "news." The most recent press release is dated October 25, 2007. Wow, you'd think a big company like that would have something newer. I guess they got distracted from writing new press releases while guarding the sweet tea.

Tom Ciesielka Lost on An Island

2008-06-26T17:15:00.000-05:00

Sometimes a blog posting just writes itself. Recently an associate from the Society of Midland Authors wrote this mock bio of my life and career:

“Born in a log cabin on a barren desert island (all of whose trees had been cut down to build the cabin), Tom Ciesielka lived a life of grinding poverty until he discovered Gilligan on the other side of the island, along with the professor, Maryanne, the Millionaire, and his wife. From that moment on, he became aware of the power of public relations to relieve his plight, and using a satellite radio, created a website that he named maroonedwithgilligan.com. Subsequently rescued and transferred to Chicago without a dime in his pocket, he went on to build the largest and most successful author-promotion PR firm in the city, despite a total lack of formal education. Tom also serves as a member of the board of directors of Save the Stranded, an international nonprofit that scans the globe for isolated islands that may contain marooned individuals.”

To avoid embarrassment (not sure to whom), I decided not to give full credit.

Bad Music Makes for Bad PR

2008-06-20T15:03:00.000-05:00

Earlier this week I took the TC Public Relations team out for "TCPR Healthy Day." The goal was to encourage our staff to think healthy while at work. I treated for lunch (had to be a salad or something non-greasy).

We went for a walk to Millennial Park because walking and salads are both very healthy. The connection is awesome for "TCPR Healthy Day." Anyway, there was a band, if you can call them that, performing at the Pritzker Pavilion. They were simply awful. Everyone on my staff agreed, even though some have more progressive tastes in music than I do.

Here's my point: many people from around the world come to Chicago to see a first class city and everyone within earshot of that "band" heard crap, to put it simply. The quality of the music was laughable in a painful way and gave a terrible impression to any listener (despite the free concert it was clear that most people wanted to stay away).

When it comes to public relations, keep in mind that what you say is heard beyond the scope you might have intended for it. So if you are making bad noise, there may be people who are listening that don't want to listen and will remember your sour notes.

Scientist Names Catfish After Mailroom Boss

2008-06-10T08:27:00.000-05:00

The headline for this post is taken from something in today's Chicago Sun-Times. The story is that Frank Gallagher, who spent 37 years as a mail room supervisor at a natural science museum in Philadelphia (my home town), had a species of catfish named after him - rhinodoras gallagheri.

He got this new fame because of his dedication as an employee of this wonderful institution. While this story may seem funny, it brings forth an important truth - good guys and gals do win in the end. It may not happen right away or when you expect it. However, a good work ethic and persistence does pay off.

Many times clients of public relations agencies get frustrated when the media coverage does not come in as soon as possible and the amount of coverage is not to their liking. That's understandable. Hiring a PR agency can be an expensive investment and a client wants to see a return ASAP. However, if the PR agency can show due diligence and strategic persistence, the client can win big in the end (and when it's sooner than later everyone is happier).

The moral of this post? Despite the rush to use social media and Internet media to generate "fast" publicity, there is still something to be said for staying the course even when the fish still have not taken the hook!

Fashionable Proofreading

2008-05-30T10:52:00.001-05:00

People have pointed out that I need to do a better job of proofreading my blog copy. What's "funny" about that is that I'm such a detailed and a perfectionist type of person. So it frustrates me that the copy is not correct.

To give credit where credit is due, I thank my friend Margaret, who has helped me with my writing skills (not my proofreading talents). She has a blog for lovers of the written word that has gotten international attention: http://blog.metrolingua.com/

Now, it's easy for me to use the excuse that because I need a vacation (leaving tomorrow), that's the reason the proofreading is so bad. However, it doesn't hold water. Margaret pointed out that clients or future customers might see my blog and notice the mistakes.

So I guess this post is really about something unfunny with PR. Clear communication is always in fashion. I love to write (Thanks Margaret). However, that final clean up job with copy can make all the difference in the world when it comes to your image.

In case you're wondering where I am going on vacation, my wife and I are traveling to Alabama to visit my aunt and cousin.

Steve Martin Was (Is?) Shy

2008-05-22T15:31:00.000-05:00

I've been reading Steve Martin's autobiography, Born Standing Up. He says a couple things that struck me as interesting. First, he shares when he lost his virginity, I suppose that's needed for some odd reason. Second, he says that he was shy. Now it's hard to believe that someone with happy feet and an arrow through his head while performing could be shy.

My point for this post is that even "shy" people can be "performers" for the media. If someone simply cannot deal with a TV camera or radio microphone, they can certainly promote themselves with print/on-line media interviews, or through their own written communications (I hear blogs are becoming a big thing these days).

Better yet, even the person who would rather be dead than "on stage" can learn to love the attention when it helps them get their message out.

So I hope the "shy" people who need media attention will learn to get over it. If I offended you with that suggestion well excuuuuuse me!

The Least of Things Can Be the Greatest

2008-05-13T17:07:00.000-05:00

One of my joys in life is learning about stand up comedy. I like to go to open mics for new comics and try out my jokes. Most fail and a few are a hit. I am also asked to host events ranging from corporate meetings to church programs where I get to play around with the audience and improvise my jokes.

One of my comic heroes is Bob Newhart. He is very funny, very clean and has found the "magic" formula that has lasted for decades: good humor that anyone can enjoy with anyone around them.

In his autobiography, he points out that he had a stammer in his routine that people told him to take out. He response was something to the effect, "that stammer bought me a house in Beverly Hills."

The same is true for public relations, often the thing that seems out of place is really what can promote more media coverage. Some years back we had a client that had dance breaks in the office in place of the caffeinated ones. While it seemed liked a quirky HR tactic, it was big news that made national television, dozens of print outlets and even an interview on the BBC.

So the next time you think something is dumb or out of place, remember Bob Newhart's stammer. It might just buy you a million dollars worth of publicity.

What's 100 Times Dirtier Than a Toilet Seat?

2008-05-07T08:49:00.000-05:00

Yes, the title is provocative. However, I did not write it. I found at at ABC News.

Personally, I enjoy when someone finds a fun way to take everyday activities and turn them into news. However, this story is more than just a "flush in the pan." (For those who don't know the reference the original line was "flash in the pan", and I'm not sure if everyone will get that reference.) Anyway...

Take a look at this excerpt from the story regarding the subject:

She advised: Wash your hands, of course, and avoid touching things a lot of other people have touched, like elevator buttons. Use your elbows to push the revolving door.
She also says, when in doubt, disinfect.
As you might imagine, Janse has a bit of a reputation among her fellow workers of being over-the-top when it comes to germs. But consider this: since she launched her anti-germ campaign three years ago, not one person in her family has gotten sick.

Take a look at the first sentence in red. It makes me wonder how my life would be if I used my elbow to do everything I normally do with my hands. Combing hair is just one thought that comes to mind. Now take a look at the second sentence. Clearly there is a payoff this expert is able to show. Self-serving, yes. Yet, a payoff.

I often tell my clients that saying or doing something provocative to get media attention is something that I love to do. However, I believe a "publicity stunt" or "headline grabbing quote" alway needs a real payoff.

So get out there and start re-purposing your elbows because it may save your life.

Who's Funnier: Clinton or Obama?

2008-05-06T16:01:00.000-05:00

I have never considered myself to be "politically savvy." It seems like it was not until I was in my 30s that I took voting seriously. Now that I finally understand my voting privileges, along comes the fun with "Punch and Judy" show for the Democratic Party's presidential nomination. And of course, McCain seems to have gotten to his assumed Republican nomination by some default that I cannot understand. All this to set up a joke I use to illustrate what I do as a PR professional:

"PR pros can make John McCain look like he's breathing, we can make Hillary Clinton look like a woman, and we can make Barack Obama look any color you'll vote for."

OK, I might not be the most politically correct PR person. However, this year's nomination process is the biggest joke of the 21st century. Bigger than the biggest joke of the the 20th century, "Take my wife, please."

Why I Started This Blog

2008-05-02T16:09:00.000-05:00

I've been doing public relations in some form or another for 20 years. What has always amazed me is how so many stories are just plain silly because of the media's choices or the people who do the crazy things to get their names in the public eye.

The purpose of this blog will be to share my sense of humor with some of the day's headlines.

Tom C