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Visibility, Credibility, and Growth.

From media strategy to reputation management, we explore the trends shaping public perception and share the approaches that drive measurable results for growing brands.

Five Habits of Highly Effective Communicators

As communication practitioners, we’re constantly counseling our clients on how to effectively communicate with a variety of audiences, whether it’s to customers, partners, internally within the organization, or third-party influencers such as media. We often work with CEOs, product developers, engineers and marketing managers to help ensure they stay on message, address questions in a clear and concise manner, and do the myriad things necessary for good communication. But, there are some aspects of communicating that are harder to teach and learn.

We all know that some of the world’s most renowned leaders were also great communicators. Think of history makers such as Martin Luther King, Jr., or well-regarded CEOs and industry influencers such as Steve Jobs. While many of us will not reach the levels of MLK or Jobs, it’s important to realize that in order to inspire and guide others, you must communicate in a clear, credible manner.

Forbes recently ran an article on the “Five Habits of Highly Effective Communicators.” The article resonated with me. It demonstrates that in order to be a leader you must effectively communicate, and in order to effectively communicate, you must understand that authenticity is key. But can you really counsel people on how to be good leaders or how to be authentic? Or is it the natural-born leaders that rise to the top?

Susan Tardanic, CEO of The Authentic Leadership Alliance, a leadership and communications consultancy, shares five essential communication practices of effective leaders. In my opinion, Susan is spot on. From my experience, the leaders that have made the most impact on my life and career have embodied many of these characteristics. 

1. Mind the say-do gap. This is all about trust, which is the bedrock of effective leadership. Your behavior is your single greatest mode of communication, and it must be congruent with what you say. If your actions don’t align with your words, there’s trouble. And it can turn into big trouble if not corrected swiftly and genuinely. Since it’s often difficult to see the say-do gap in yourself, rely on a few trusted colleagues to tell it to you straight and flag discrepancies. Rule of thumb: It’s better to say nothing or delay your communication until you’re certain that your actions will ring true.

2. Make the complex simple. Your employees and customers are being bombarded 24/7 by information, making it hard for them to hear you. Simplicity has never been more powerful or necessary. Effective leaders distill complex thoughts and strategies into simple, memorable terms that colleagues and customers can grasp and act upon. If you’re having trouble distilling something to its essence, it may be that you don’t understand it. So get clear and look out for technical jargon and business speak, which add complexity. Say what you mean in as few words as possible.

3. Find your own voice. Use language that’s distinctly your own. Let your values come through in your communication. Often, executives will opt for the sanitized “corporate voice” instead of their own because they think the former is more eloquent, more appropriate. This is not to say that correct grammar and use of language aren’t important — strong leaders know how to string a sentence together. But don’t fixate on eloquence. Concentrate on being distinct and real. People want real. People respect real. People follow real. Don’t disguise who you are. Be genuine, and people will respect you for it.

4. Be visible. Visibility is about letting your key stakeholders get a feel for who you are and what you care about. It’s easy to hide behind a computer and transmit messages to others without seeing or interacting with them. Although e-communication serves a valuable purpose, it is no substitute for face-to-face and voice-to-voice communication. In today’s environment, people are often burned out and need to feel a personal connection to you and the work that you believe in. Do a “calendar test” to make sure you’re allocating time regularly to be out on the floor, in the factory, in the call center, in the lab, in the store. Show your people that you’re engaged and care about them and their work.

5. Listen with your eyes as well as your ears. Stop, look and listen. Remember that effective communication is two-way. Good leaders know how to ask good questions, and then listen with both their eyes and ears. It’s easy to be so focused on getting your message out — or persuading others — that you don’t tune in to what you see and hear. Because you’re in a position of authority, the stakes are even higher because you won’t always get direct feedback. You need to read between the lines. Listen and hear what is coming back at you. Look for the nonverbal cues. Sometimes a person’s body language will tell you everything you need to know.

 

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When Should a Start-up Business Hire a PR Firm?

Recently, I was invited to be a guest panelist for a grad school class at the University of Washington focused on entrepreneurial marketing. One of the students asked, “When should a start-up hire a PR firm?” There were three of us on the panel and the students heard three different answers that day.

John Cook, founder and reporter for GeekWire and a fellow panelist that day, believes start-ups under 15 people should not really have a PR consultant. As a reporter he wants to talk to the CEO and founders directly, understand their technology and discuss the ideas and see the passion behind their business first-hand. What he doesn’t want is PR spin that sanitizes the sometimes messy details of launching a business, which help tell the story of founder’s passion and their next big idea, and makes people want to read more. When it comes to brand-new businesses, the founder is the only person who can deliver that level of passion and detail, and really the person who should be telling that story.

I think John is right about that. PR professionals are not stunt-doubles. If you hire a PR person who tries to stand in for you to talk about your passion, the interview will fall flat and you will waste a lot of money. (For another perspective, read Mark Cuban’s blog post.)

Also on the panel was Margo Meyers, a former TV journalist turned PR consultant and communications coach. Margo advised how a good PR person can be a benefit to a start-up company. A professional communicator can help a start-up craft their story, find a compelling angle or trend, and coach the founders on how to deliver that message effectively. She can also manage all the elements that go into a good news story like customer testimonials, case studies and impactful images that will enhance a reporter’s interview and help the story come to life. Margo made some great points as well. The process she described can add value and set up a founder for success, which in turn could be a good investment of scare resources in the early days of a start-up.

So who is right? Well, like most things in life and business, it depends.

When you hire a PR consultant in the evolution of your company depends on a lot of variables. Are you comfortable being interviewed or do you need practice? Can you craft a compelling story about your idea? How large a net do you want to cast in order to garner attention? Do you have people around you who can manage the details of a media relations campaign? Do you have a marketing plan and dedicated budget for PR? Should you hire an internal PR director, or a larger PR firm? And consider this: What is the long-term cost and risk of bad press or missed publicity opportunities when you are just getting to launch your product or service?

Without the answers to all those questions, I’ll offer a third alternative, as I did that day on the panel. Have a PR or communications professional as part of your advisory team in the first months of your start-up. In the same way that you seek out financial, legal and human resources advisors, a public relations professional brings a unique set of skills that adds value to any size business. (Read more about the link between PR and organizational success in a prior blog post “PR: A Critical Success Factor for Business Leaders”)

The upsides of having a business advisor experienced in PR include having an outside perspective about your message, how it will be perceived externally, how competitors’ messages are being interpreted in the media, and perhaps, when it is better to say nothing at all.  We can also advise you about milestones in your business growth that are going to attract media attention to your company whether you want it or not, like SEC filings that alert reporters to otherwise “stealth” companies. And we can offer help answering all those questions listed above that will lead you to a decision about when it is time to hire a PR manager or an outside PR firm for your business.

Many public relations professionals are happy to offer advice to start-ups on an ad-hoc basis or as part of a more structured advisory team. The point is to ask for advice, be bold in your questions, and be open to having your beliefs about “spin” versus strategic communication altered.

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RPI Partners With Cheezburger and The Madison Park Group to Extend Brand Experiences

 

Remember when the book you were reading served as a conversation starter? I’ve observed complete strangers who are sharing a flight engage in in-depth chatter, all stemming from someone’s book cover. Today, as tablets and mobile devices increasingly replace physical books, those forms of spontaneous engagement are decreasing.  Additionally, with Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram, among others, we are constantly inundated with digital forms of communication and social sharing. Today, more and more people yearn for a connection with personalized, physical objects to couple with their virtual experiences.

In order to drive awareness and demand for RPI’s personalization storefront and Cheezburger/The Madison Park Group’s new products, Communiqué developed and distributed customized pitch emails to business, tech, pet retail, stationery, photo merchandise and local media outlets. As a result, we secured coverage across several industries and expect additional stories to post. Below are a few coverage highlights:

Earlier this month, Communiqué PR had the pleasure of assisting our client RPI, a leader in make-on-demand, private-label personalized photo books, greeting cards and stationery products for mass and specialty retailers, announce an innovative partnership with Cheezburger and The Madison Park Group to showcase how companies can expand their existing brands, drive additional revenue and increase customer loyalty through personalized products.

Specifically, Cheezburger and The Madison Park Group are leveraging RPI’s embedded storefront service to offer personalized greetings made by RPI, sold by The Madison Park Group, and branded by Cheezburger and the consumer. This partnership is significant for a couple reasons: 1) it helps Cheezburger extend its online brand offline, allowing them to reach wider audiences and further engage fans; and 2) RPI’s personalization platform provides an easy way for any business to break into the growing mass customization category and gain market share.

Cheezburger’s personalized print products are available just in time for the holiday season online so check them out at The Madison Park Group’s www.create.madpark.com.

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Five Invaluable Mobile Apps for Professionals

“There’s an app for that” has become more than a catchphrase – it is a way of life for busy professionals on the go. Staying up to date on new apps can be challenging. As such, I was excited to see Shane Robinson’s recent Forbes column, “Free Mobile Apps Every Entrepreneur Should Use,” highlighting Shane’s picks of the most useful apps for business people (specifically, entrepreneurs).

Out of Shane’s list, I immediately identified my five personal favorites. They are as follows:

  • Skype – Skype is an excellent, universal way to keep in touch. If you are communicating internationally, you are able to use your phone’s WiFi connectivity to access Skype, which can save you huge expenditures on international calls. Furthermore, with the mobile app you will receive real-time Skype messages—so you are always available.
  • Dropbox – Dropbox is an easy and free (up to a certain disk-space amount) way to store files in the cloud. Some people back all their files up on Dropbox; I only keep certain items I always need. However you use the software, the Dropbox app allows you access your Dropbox files from your phone, and share them with any recipient.
  • Genius Scan – Shane’s list was the first time I heard of Genius Scan, and I immediately downloaded it. The app uses your phones camera to “scan” documents and then send them to a recipient as a single PDF file. This app might be useful if you forget to make a soft copy of a contract or if you want a virtual copy of something for later.
  • Splashtop – Splashtop allows mobile access to your computer, from your phone. This app is excellent if you did not back up your files on Dropbox, and need to access them, or need access to your machine for some other reason.
  • MobileDay – Like Genius Scan, I had not heard of this app until reading this list, but it immediately appealed to me. At Communiqué, we frequently are scheduling and participating in conference calls with clients, press and analysts. This app searches all calendars synced with your mobile phone (personal, professional and otherwise) and reminds you when you have upcoming scheduled events. The best feature of this app is that you can input dial-in information at your convenience, so that when you go to make the call, you can just press one button, and you’re in—perfect if you are on the go and don’t want the trouble of searching through your calendar for a set of phone numbers and access codes.

Check out Shane’s full list here.

What is your most used app? Has your work day been impacted by a specific app or tool?

 

 

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The Delicate Balance of Media Follow up

Securing media coverage is always a challenge. We’ve provided numerous tips on how to pitch a newsworthy story, but once you garner initial interest, what do you do? How do you move a story from just interest to print?

First, congratulations. You’ve won the first battle. You’ve successfully broken through the thousands of emails that most journalists and editors are sifting through on a daily basis.

The next step is tricky, as you don’t want to damage any relationships, but at the same time, you want to make sure that the story sees the light of day. Following up with a reporter or publication that has already expressed interest is important, but you don’t want to be a nuisance.

In my experience, I like to act as the mediator between the publication and my client. I start to build a relationship with the journalist or editor and try to gather as much information as possible. What is the proposed timing? What is the focus of the story? What elements do they need? My goal is to ensure the reporter has what they need to develop a well-rounded story and I check-in to ensure it stays top of mind. However, be patient. You have to understand the challenges that journalists face — they are often moved onto different stories because of breaking news, so timelines often shift.

Recently, I had the opportunity to partner with two different clients on two different stories, but used the same follow-up method. We teamed up with The Omni Group to pitch a proactive story offering journalists with a behind-the-scenes look at how the Omni Group builds apps. We secured interest from reporter Mike Vardy and helped coordinate interviews and images. I already have a relationship with Mike, but made sure that I followed up regularly to get an update on where he was in his process and what additional information that I could provide. The result was an excellent feature story that illustrated how the Omni Group approaches building apps and what it takes to succeed.

I also had the opportunity to work with our client Sprig Health to pitch media in Bellevue about its availability and the immediate access to healthcare it provides. We received initial interest from the editor at the Bellevue Reporter several weeks ago, but it took time for the story to come to fruition. Once the editor expressed interest, I called initially to make contact and to try and establish a schedule for subsequent check-in calls. After each subsequent call, I would check in to see where he was in his process and confirm a time that I could call back thereafter. This ensured that he and I were on the same page and I wouldn’t be bothering him if I called again. Once the editor assigned a reporter, I made sure to follow up with her every few days to ensure she didn’t have any lingering questions. The result was a well-written story that helped us accomplish our goals and that provided valuable information to the people of Bellevue about the new service.

Every reporter has his or her own style and may be more responsive to email versus phone calls. The key is to understand what they are up against and make it as easy as possible for them to do the job. With this consideration in mind, you’ll likely make valuable friends for life.

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Pitching Tips From Media Pros: BusinessWire Media Roundtable

If you are in the public relations industry, you know the power of strong media relationships—and the problems that can arise if you aren’t able to effectively pitch your story.

Editorial coverage is incredibly valuable, not only because it creates awareness for a company, product or service, but because it also can help validate what people and companies are doing. The art of pitching a story in a way that will entice journalists to write third-party articles about a company is constantly evolving.

Due to the importance of securing editorial coverage, I was delighted to attend the BusinessWire Media Roundtable meet and greet on Nov. 7, 2012. Present at the event were:

I sat with Greg, John, Cynthia, and Holly, and received their insight on journalism in Seattle, how to foster effective (and healthy) relationships with media, and learned about their respective interests. Some general tips I gathered were:

Understand Reporter’s Beats

Unanimously, every journalist noted that a pet peeve is receiving pitches that are completely off target. People in our field often use databases (such as CISION) to compile media lists. However, information in these can be out of date. It is important to have an understanding of who a reporter is and what they cover before pitching them on a story. In this day and age, finding this information is pretty easy; simply look on the publication’s website, and you will find archived articles which you can sort by author.

It is also important to stay on top of what reporters are currently covering. For example, Greg Lamm used to cover technology at the Puget Sound Business Journal, and now is focused on business and finance. Therefore, technology pitches sent to Greg are no longer relevant and clog up his inbox.

Once you see what a reporter is writing about, think through: Will they care about my story? Is my client (or company) relevant to their coverage? And of course, most importantly, why is it relevant?

Pay Attention to the Publication’s Focus

Think through who the publication caters to, and what they write about, before sending out a pitch. Puget Sound Business Journal, for example, only writes about Seattle-based companies. If you’re a Bay Area start-up, they’re not going to cover you.

Additionally, think about the publications audience. To whom are they catering? Would this audience be interested in your company or client? Remember, a publication’s main goal is to gain readership. Your story needs to appeal to their audience, or it won’t be beneficial for a publication to write about it.

One useful tip Greg Lamm offered was to ask clients what publications they would like to see themselves in. Your client may have a more in-depth understanding of what type of audience they would like to target.

Do Your Homework

Plenty of information about publications and journalists is available online. As I mentioned before, it is relatively simple to discern a publication’s and journalist’s focus from their online article archives. More often than not, publications will also clearly state their target audience in their mission statements or “about” sections on their websites. Holly Smith-Peterson from the Business Examiner Media Group also noted that Business Examiner publishes its editorial calendar online, where you are able to then understand what each issue will be covering year-round.

Additionally, as John Cook from GeekWire pointed out during our media roundtable, you can usually see the “most popular” stories online at each publication’s website. This allows you to think critically about what is driving readership for each publication. If a story caters to a publication’s readership, it will likely drive traffic for the publication. At the very least, this knowledge will give you something to mention in your pitch (i.e., “I noticed your story on apps for the workplace has been wildly popular this month, and one of my clients has developed a new fitness app that integrates…”).

 

This meet and greet was fun and educational. It’s always great to connect with local colleagues and hear what they’re up to. I highly recommend attending a BusinessWire event if you get the opportunity.

When pitching journalists, reflect on the above tips—they’re straight from the source. Additionally, remind yourself that the ultimate goal is to create a mutually beneficial situation for your client/company and the journalist/publication. A journalist should want to write about your client/company because its story is newsworthy and will drive readership. As a PR representative, your job is to facilitate an understanding of why this is.

What do you think makes for an effective pitch?

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