INK PUBLIC RELATIONS

On Monday’s twitter #journchat, there was much discussion about pitching – and some PR folks said their clients are the ones to blame for bad pitches because they insist the PR team pitch certain reporters even though the PR people know they aren’t appropriate. What? I don’t buy that. If your client is telling you you must pitch its CRM software to Ed Baig at USA Today then the person not doing their job is YOU – it’s your job to counsel the client that Ed covers consumer tech and is totally not interested in the hottest new CRM software to hit the market in the last decade. “But it’s the best thing since sliced bread!” they say – “how could he NOT be interested?” Um, perhaps because his readers don’t buy CRM software – they buy Bluetooth headsets and new cell phones and the latest netbook. Why would you, Mr. Client, want to let folks who have no intention of buying your product know about said product? It’s a waste of everyone’s time and energy and in the end does not affect the business’ bottom line AT ALL. Go tell your story to InformationWeek and see what kind of results you get it. It’s about relevance – for the reporter, the audience, the client and you.

If your clients don’t listen to your counsel, you’ve got a bigger problem then sending bad pitches. You’re irrelevant.

In the U.S. we’re in the eye of the clean energy revolution – it seems you can’t turn on the television, read a magazine or listen to Obama speak without some mention of our clean energy future in the U.S.  Everyone is getting involved.  I just read that Hummer is producing a new H3 hybrid which was shown at the U.S. Capitol last week.  Working in the clean energy PR space, we are very much attuned to the industry since we’re continually reading up on the latest trends, but it’s no secret that young and old are joining the clean tech movement.  This Newsweek article says it so well:

“You might not expect the under-30 crowd to queue up for a cap-and-trade hearing on Capitol Hill. But there they were, all last week, many wearing green shirts with environmental slogans, waiting patiently for hours to get seats for a public meeting on the American Clean Energy and Security Act. At times, fully one quarter of the room appeared to be in their 20s.”

It’s true that a younger generation of people have been energized by Obama’s campaign and as someone that’s part of that generation – it’s exciting.  Although I think everyone recognizes that this is a huge issue and change isn’t going to happen overnight, there really are small things that each of us can do every day to help do our individual part.  I recently picked up a book with some tips on living a greener lifestyle and was amazed at the little things we can all do to help.  One of my new favorites – organize your refrigerator so that you know where everything is and can use less energy when you’re opening and closing the door.  Doesn’t it seem so easy?

The little things are so simple, but I certainly recognize that a lot of this clean energy fight will not be easy.  This was clear as INK traveled to Chicago for Windpower 2009 this month with our renewable energy client and saw firsthand many of the big and small players trying to make a difference in the wind industry.  We even got a glimpse of the man himself – T.Boone Pickens.  The show this year had more attendees than 2007 and 2008 combined, reaffirming that this issue is not one that’s going away any time soon.

The following week, Blair and I headed out to Rochester, NY, for media training for the same renewable energy client.  As we flew in over the quaint little houses and perfectly lined streets, the question was asked: Would you want a wind farm in your backyard if you lived here?  The answer is yes.  Although we’ve seen that there is often a NIMBY attitude in some of the smaller communities, these wind turbines are majestic and a symbol of empowerment.  They are helping the U.S. live a clean energy future and improve our energy security.  So if asked if I would want one of these wind farms in my backyard – I’d say go right ahead.

That is my “green” rant and I’m excited to continue working in this industry and watching the changes and progression over time.  Are you?

Last night while I was in another part of the house I heard my husband shout from the kitchen, “Are these cookies in Lucky’s treat jar for humans or dogs?” (If you had not gathered yet, Lucky is our pooch.) Oh, this could give me fodder for months to write about the many things that were so dumb@$$ about his question, but I will keep it short and sweet for you readers. #1) Why would I put human cookies in the dog’s jar? #2) I don’t really buy things like that for “the humans” in my household which is occupied by me (they call me Steak and I run 30 to 40 miles a week hence my never ending appetite) and my husband (they call him Festival Eater and I don’t know what his excuse is but he once ate my supply of chocolate flavored running Gus in a marathon…a marathon video game session). Anyway, after agreeing with him that they certainly smelled great, I explained they were indeed for dogs. The next morning upon returning from a strenuous workout, I ate one. Now, what does this tell you about me? That’s right, I truly learn from applying myself in the real world.

So here I am, sitting in the captain’s chair about to kick off a truly 100% guerilla style marketing campaign for a client of ours. The program will have many tried and true viral and social networking tactics that some in our field are old hands at and some (like yours truly) will be experiencing for the first time and just how I like to… by drinking out of the fire hose. OK…so the first step will be to launch a successful Facebook presence. I know, I know…some of you are like, “that’s so yesterday” but the planets have aligned in such a way that it now makes sense for me to engage this tactic, number one being that this client already has quite a substantial customer base (over 3 million thanks in no small part thanks to traditional PR programs conducted by INK). This means, I have a built-in audience to go after to start building a Facebook fan base quickly.

Another key point – we are targeting a younger demographic, particularly college students. I saw a recent stat that 8 out of 10 college students are registered on Facebook. However, lately I have seen a sudden rush of older peeps joining up (my 88 year old father-in-law just requested to be my friend) so how much longer do we consider it to be a forum for  targeting young whippersnappers? Lastly, for this client, we have achieved great success in securing endorsement from media and industry influencers (and intend to continue to build upon that) but in today’s transparent and communicative world, you must have peer-to-peer endorsement as well and this Facebook tactic is our first step down that road.

I want to hear from you. What elements should be in place to establish a SUCCESSFUL Facebook presence? I  have about two months to prove to the client that this is a good idea. What success of failures have you experienced with similar programs. Who does it well on Facebook?

I will also be keeping you posted along the way about other the other tactics to be employed as part of this so called guerilla program so stay tuned!

In my house, you gotta work hard for your treats!

PS – The cookie? It was good…even if it was meant for dogs.

In a previous life I was a camp counselor at a dude ranch. I got the gig for the summer and was hired to be a drama coach. I had ridden a horse or two prior to moving out to west Texas for the summer, but certainly wasn’t a capable horsewoman. I got to camp expecting to not have to deal with the horses at all – uh, wrong. I rode twice a day for the entire summer. The younger kids (who I was initially with) rode pretty sedate pack horses – really, you couldn’t upset those guys, they were docile and sweet. The older kids (who I was later charged with) rode out of a different stable and the horses were a bit more feisty (read that to mean A LOT more feisty). Anyway, I was thrown off a horse when I was showing the older girls how to run barrels (I have a picture somewhere, but cannot find it, so this will have to do). I was already skittish with the horses, and I was beyond shocked. Inside I was completely freaking out – but there were fifteen 13 to 15 year olds watching me, and if I spazzed, they would spaz. Not a good plan. So I hopped right back up on my horse and just kept on keeping on.

Ahhh, we have reached the moral of the story…are you excited?

I got home from my relaxing two-week vacation from social media (blogging, tweeting, facebooking, everything) about three weeks ago and immediately had to go on several business trips, went to visit my older sis in DC, ran a half, sold my house, bought a new house – it has been a crazy three weeks. I have fallen off my social media horse. I have twittered here or there, but mostly, I have remained AWOL. I miss my online friends. So I am back.

I would like to officially start my time in the saddle by pointing out that I find the current backlash against twitter rather annoying. I know Oprah, Ashton and CNN made twitter a household word and now there are “too many people” and “too much spam” but really, it was bound to happen.  Honestly, the more the merrier – if there is something going on you don’t like, ignore it and move on.  It is an ‘opt out’ technology – if someone is annoying you, just un-follow them. No need to complain about the tool as a whole when the problem is clearly user error.

Alright then, see ya around the corral – and by corral, I mean twitter feed.

I recently experienced the fine line between bloggers who write and bloggers who get paid to write – turns out, it can be (and perhaps it often is?) one in the same. I followed the “rules” that I highlight to others on my team – that is, read what they write, don’t pitch unless it fits their interests, and even then CHECK AGAIN and be sure to be personal. I read the blog, found several signs pointing to yes, Mr. High Profile Blogger would be interested in my client’s product, wrapped these signs up into an email (note: I don’t like to pitch in the comments – I like to comment in the comments) and hit send. Apparently I was right on in thinking Mr. HPB would be interested – he replied immediately with interest and asked to receive the product for review. Once received, he played with the product, found it to his liking and, for my purposes perhaps even more importantly, in the best interest of his audience. So he told them about it. With video. In a positive light, with a positive recommendation. The client was thrilled and presumably so were Mr. HPB’s readers – so much so that they tweeted about taking his recommendation to the store and plunking down their own money to buy the gadget.

From my client’s perspective, this was a mini-case study in PR driving sales. From Mr. HPB’s perspective, this was a one-time “gimme” that he would now charge for going forward (he made me aware of this in subsequent emails after his audience’s Twitter commentary).

Was I naive to be surprised by this turn of events? Perhaps. I took to heart the “treat bloggers like traditional journalists” cry that they, and those in our industry, have propogated. Perhaps that’s not what they want after all? There is a part of me that sees his point – he’s built up this following and he wants to charge others an entry fee to it. I get it – it’s not easy building online communities. But if that’s where we’re going, just tell me up front. Charlie Brown isn’t the only one that doesn’t like the bait-and-switch routine.

At the beginning of the year, I – like many other business owners – took stock of our expenses and analyzed various ways to get more for less. Telecom expenses seemed a natural area to examine. After all, we had contracts in place for over 4 years at our current location and surely prices had gone down – and quality up – in that time. At first blush, that appeared to be the case. Switching from TWTelecom to Time Warner Business Class would save us money and provide us with higher bandwidth – great, right? Um, yes – unless as a business we actually want to receive phone calls. Callers beware – if we’re on another line, we can’t see that you’re calling nor will you be directed to our voice mail. The caller ID call waiting and voice mail services I take for granted on my home phone line are non-existent at work, where I need them most.

Ultimately, this is completely unacceptable. Efforts thus far to rectify the situation have also been unacceptable to this point. Vendors are playing the “it’s not my fault, it’s their fault” blame game and I am not amused. Hopefully, Time Warner will come through and let me out of the voice side of the contract based on a total fail in the quality of service area. I’m not going to hold my breath though. After all, Time Warner doesn’t have a stellar reputation around Austin and it’s for reasons like this.

Two lessons learned – the hard way – in this one: 1) brand reputation does count for something (people “hate” Time Warner for a reason), and 2) you usually get what you pay for.

Have something to share about Time Warner? Prove me wrong and tell me everything’s going to be okay. Or share your sad story here – misery loves company.

I love my job, I really do. I am one of the lucky ones. That’s not to say I don’t get in ruts, or get burnt out, or just plain overwhelmed because I do. It’s in those times that I try to stop, lift my head up and look around for the inspiration, the flame in the dark that will keep me going or open my eyes to a whole new world I hadn’t yet explored. More often than not, it’s one of these guys that provides that flame:

Todd Defren has inspired me to think broader about what I do – and what I can do – and want to improve the image of the industry as a whole. He also makes me want to be a PR rock star, take the risks, jump off the buildings and oh hey, write a pithy post with a powerful punch along the way.

Chris Brogan – along with our own @poloskey – inspired me to start writing this blog, and my personal blog, and participate in other blogs, and hey throw in some twitter love for good measure. He also makes me go “hmm” quite often and that’s always a good thing in my book.

Eric Schneider inspires me without even trying. An amazingly smart guy, he is so calm under pressure and the pressure he deals with – well, that’s just say that if you ever need someone to teach you how to take it all in stride and still kick ass, he’s the one. He also inspires me to learn.

And of course, it’s amazing what the wee ones can do with the powers of inspiration. Every day my daughter makes me want to be a better person – the best inspiration of all.

Georgia Isabella, 11 months

So who inspires you?