Better PR Now with Mark Phillips

Helping leaders build strong brands and stakeholder relationships with effective communication.

021 - Fred Wellman - Hardest working man in PR 01/02/2019

020 - Curtis Sparrer on why celebrity interviews are like a high-performance sport 11/13/2018

020 - Curtis Sparrer on why celebrity interviews are like a high-performance sport Curtis Sparrer, principal at Bospar PR in San Francisco, shares terrific insights on why celebrity interviews are like a high-performance sport. He also explains how to set up really successful media engagements, tips on working with celebrities (he's done award-winning work with George Takei of Star Trek fame), and how to grow trust-based relationships with clients. Working with a celebrity or CEO on successful media engagements: Consider what they can and can’t talk about; do a deep dive with them and their management team about those issues before any media interviews. Before an interview, clarify with the journalist what questions will be asked; ask for a written Q&A beforehand; be clear about ground rules; let them know what you want to focus on. Be clear about anything you’d like the journalist to include in the story. Send a follow-up note with thanks and a reminder of the key point(s) you’d like to have included in the story. If your key message isn’t included in the final version of the story, contact the journalist to politely ask that the message be included in that or a future story. Crafting the message: First, ask celebrities what they are planning to say. Repeat the message: Working it into every interview in several ways helps ensure that key messages are included in the final article. Use pep talks with spokespeople to help keep them on message and excited to keep delivering the messages. Why celebrity interviews are like a high-performance sport: For media tours, consider how many engagements is enough versus what is too many. For a celebrity, after about five interviews, you often have diminishing returns as they get tired. Manage the message and the energy in interviews: For longer interviews or media tours, include refreshments to get their sugar levels/energy up so they can perform. Avoid including dairy products to keep the voice clear. Include long energy foods that won’t lead to a sugar crash; fruits like bananas are great. Check with the talent’s management or agent to information on what they prefer. Media training: Use recorded media simulations to prepare senior leaders or other spokespeople for their on-camera interviews. Give criticism in private to help them learn and develop their skills without needing to save face in front of their staff. Arrive early to media interviews to give them a chance to get a feel for how the show is flowing. Ask production assistants if they have a copy of the script, because it might have a copy of the questions. Make sure your clients read the news on the day of their interview and give them a run-down on that day’s news in their sector, because they could be asked their opinion on breaking news. This keeps them from being caught off guard. Newsjacking: Pay attention to the news for opportunities to give your perspective on breaking stories. Local news producers are always looking to localize (find the local angle) national or international stories to make them relevant to their local audience. When a story breaks, journalists are trying to figure out what will happen in the future, what people can expect in the next X days. To get coverage that matters to your client’s business, have the CEO give a three-sentence statement, including what this news event means, what people can expect in the future, and why we are an expert to talk about this. The importance of speed when responding to media: Don’t perfect a statement to death; perfect is the enemy of the good. A good-enough statement on time is far more valuable than a perfect statement that is too late. Personal branding and networking for PR professionals: Share with your boss what your professional priorities are; helps build your reputation with your coworkers and leadership. On LinkedIn, talk about your core values and why they are important to you; make sure you also live those core values. Don’t depend on building your brand on only one social platform; cross-pollinate content across your social platforms; show your personal side. Brand consistency in developing your personal brand is important, with some exceptions: Authenticity that is not self-promotional (such as sharing photos from your birthday or other important personal event). The biggest turnoff with LinkedIn is that it can be an echo chamber of bragging, so break that up with something other than how great you are professionally. Be willing to talk about your mistakes and the lessons you learned. Failure is the best teacher and we can learn from it. Fail fast, learn from your mistakes, and tell the story as you go. Be willing to be vulnerable; it makes you human. This isn’t appropriate for all CEOs, so it’s important to know your client and what will work for them. Media tours are a great way to bond with your CEO (or other client), because you’ll spend hours with them in the process. This presents opportunities to get to know them better and to identify other PR opportunities for them. Make it a point to attend awards ceremonies and other events that are important to your client. They need to see you as someone who really is in their corner. You want to be seen by your client as the trusted, safe counsel for them. /episode/index/show/betterprnow/id/7536584

019 - Josh Elledge generated $6 Million in free publicity! 10/01/2018

018 - Authority Marketing: Michael Greenberg's secret sauce for positioning brands 08/14/2018

017 - Kill the PR Girl: Amy Sutton shares why diversity is key to powerful Public Relations 07/28/2018

016 - Jake Eisenberg turbocharges lead generation via social media 06/25/2018

015 - Strategic Communication lessons from the Marine Corps 06/02/2018

014 - Secrets to Win Tech PR - Curtis Sparrer of Bospar PR Shares Secrets of His Award-Winning Boutique Tech Public Relations Agency 05/22/2018

014 - Secrets to Win Tech PR - Curtis Sparrer of Bospar PR Shares Secrets of His Award-Winning Boutique Tech Public Relations Agency The most important thing with PR is asking your clients what business results they want to achieve. And then reverse engineering a PR program around that. Welcome to another episode of Better PR Now. This episode is sponsored by our official transcription partner, transcribeme.com. If you'd like to see an example of their terrific work, check out the "notes" page on the Better PR Now website. For a 25% discount on their services, go to transcribeme.com/betterprnow. Today, we're fortunate to be joined by Curtis Sparrer, principal at Bospar in San Fransisco. Bospar recently won the PR Week Boutique Agency of the Year award. Congratulations and welcome, Curtis. Thanks. Thanks for having me. So, as we jump in, I'd like to find out about how people got into public relations, how they started their career in communication. You graduated from UT Austin with a degree in Radio, Television, and Film. What's happened between graduation and ending up in San Fransisco as a principal at one of the nation's leading agencies? Well, I think what happened in the short term is I got smart. But the long-term is a much more complicated story. I went to LA, worked for Roger Corman. He's a famous B-movie producer and discovered that I just did not have the patience to pay my dues in Hollywood. When I was going to school at UT Austin, I worked as a video film editor for the local TV stations, and I used that skill to go back into news. And my first job as a producer was in Toledo, Ohio. I cut my teeth as a producer there for about three years rising up the ranks and even moonlighting as a restaurant critic and advice columnist. I then moved to Huston where I worked the overnight show there. And then I got an amazing offer to produce the 9 PM news at [inaudible] in San Fransisco. I worked there. I won a regional Emmy. And I was promoted to the executive producer. And then as I kind of ended my career at [inaudible], I was faced with the choice that I could either move to a different city, or I could change my career trajectory so I could stay with my friends. And I gave it a long thought and determined that it would be best if I took all my skills and applied them somewhere else. I applied at a lot of different PR firms thinking that would be the best use of my skillset. And I was really surprised by the obnoxious response of a lot of people. How so [laughter]? I got some responses like, "Oh, I couldn't possibly qualify to do PR. It was far too complex." "Oh, PR is just so difficult and you would not just understand it." A lot of self-satisfied responses about how complex PR was. And I didn't get a lot of encouragement. I answered a Craigslist ad for a PR position, an internship really, and I met this woman named Kris [Balkie?]. And after Chris and I had a very long conversation, she called me back and said, "I don't want to do an internship. I want to get married. I want to hire you as our senior associate and I want to get things started." And so I started as a senior associate and started learning, very quickly. And I learned that a lot of people in PR were really good at telling clients no. And I decided that my fastest route for survival would be learning how to tell clients yes. And I I treated clients like anyone would treat a television anchor, with the utmost respect, and I learned that really paid off well. I also learned that a lot of times the press release material that clients were trying to get in the media was not useful for any journalist having both been a TV producer and also having been a writer. So before we go any further. Why was it not useful? Was there a pattern there? Yeah. It was. A lot of the content was jargon-heavy. A lot of the content was something that would not fit in any kind of current narrative or current story that journalists were already talking about. It was very tone deaf. A lot of the content was just tone deaf and it was as if a bunch of marketers were thinking I want to have this content run in TechCrunch without really bothering to think well, what is TechCrunch right now? What's important to them? And so my point to all our clients was that we needed to understand what our journalist contacts were working on and then reverse engineer our story so we would better match their priorities. That sounds a lot like in the startup community where people are tempted to-- they have an idea and they say, "This is a really cool thing. Let me go find a market for it." As opposed to looking at the market, seeing where the pain points are where people are having challenges, and then coming up with a solution for those challenges. Absolutely. Just because I have a story I want to tell in a certain way doesn't mean that anybody is going to be interested in hearing it. That's exactly it. And that's the problem that a lot of companies have and they kind of-- the expression, of course, is drink their own cool-aid but it's kind of a reality distortion field where they seem to think that the news that's important to them will be important to other people and the thing that I try to tell our clients is that's not the case. And I even been so much as vulgar to one client and I said, "Knowing a plot until you masturbate [laughter]." That's true. So the client was— And how did the client take it? -- like, "That is pretty stark but point taken.” So were you able to convince them to take a different path? I have. I have been able to convince a lot of clients that the crazy thing they want to do is not really what they want to achieve and I think the most important thing with PR is asking your clients what business results they want to achieve and then reverse engineering a PR program around that. And I also counsel our clients that just because a story is published doesn't mean your target is going to see it and that you need to take that story and put it in front of your target's face so that the can actually see it. And I think it's resonated with me more now than ever since I'm a principal at my own firm and I use PR as our principal means of business development. Yeah. That's absolutely true and what you're talking about is helping them shift from focusing on tactics which is where all the bright shiny objects are to focusing on a more strategic level what do you want to achieve? And then, figuring out from there okay, how do we get there? Absolutely. And I find that when I do that that I am providing a much more full-service approach along the PESO model where some clients will say, "Well, I really want the sense at this convention that everyone's talking about us." And then I can say, "Well, that's really not going to be any story placement. What you're going to want is you're going to want to buy advertising space all over that convention so that you are the only thing people see." And the client's like, "That's what I want to do. You're right." And sometimes it's a matter about counseling a client out the bead idea. I remember one client wanted to have a press conference and if you're Facebook or Google or Apple you can probably do that but when you're a startup that's impossible. And so I had to work very hard to not insult the client but to convince him that that was going to provide the results he was looking for. Yep. That's absolutely right. And frankly, that's really challenging sometimes. That is really challenging sometimes and I think that it's one of the big things that all agencies and all people of marketing really face. Yeah. Absolutely. As you've been around the public relations world for a while you've seen people execute in ways that I'm sure are just [eyewateringly?] stunningly brilliant and you've seen I'm sure people do the opposite where they fall on their faces. And I'm not asking you to out anybody [laughter] but can you describe an example where somebody did something just incredibly dumb in public relations. And the reason is I think there's a teachable moment and good lessons for all of us every time we see something like that happen. You know, I think everyone has done something really stupid that they regretted. For me, when I think of all the dumb things I have done, I think the stupidest thing I ever did is I was trying to get a story placed because I had a crush on someone and I thought that this would be helpful and I had the whole backstory with the journalist about the crush and how great it was. And so finally the journalist coughed up the story and I was so excited about it that I forwarded the whole thread to said crush without realizing that I forwarded the whole thread to the [crush?] [laughter]. Talk about being transparent. Awkward. Yeah. Yeah. How'd that work out? Well, let's say I'm not married to them [laughter]. Okay. Got it. Got it. Okay. So flip it around. What's the most brilliant thing that you've ever done in your career or that you've seen somebody else do? You know, I will probably think of the brilliant things a lot later as I'm doing something else mundane and boring. I think one of the prouder yet smaller things I did is I was faced with this press release that needed approval from this marketing company and everyone from the marketing company had gone home for the day. Their New York line was closed, their San Francisco line was closed and I really was beginning to panic until I realized that this marketing firm was an international marketing firm. So I called their Australian affiliate. They were up. They were just starting their day and they managed to approve the whole thing. And while that not a, 'Oh, my God. I'm the next Einstein," sort of thing, it's that kind of thinking that has saved me time and time again where we get in the mode of thinking in just a very narrow, narrow focus and I think the more that you can expand your thinking and expand your approach the better you're going to do. Yeah. I think you're absolutely right there. You recently wrote a blog post on the [inaudible] blog about how audience targeting is changing in the age of digital transformation. In that article, you talked about turning brand ambassadors into influence. Can you tell me a little bit more about that? You know, when it comes to turning brand ambassadors to influencers it's all about increasing their reputation and their footprint. It's not just a matter of them to be kind of these solitary people who are working on their own. You really need to promote them as you would promote any brand or company. And you need to do your very best to amplify what they're saying, so that more people will see it and more people will see them as a respected third party who's credible. Yeah. That's absolutely wonderful. If you were talking to your younger self, as you [laughter] were getting ready to finish college and start your career, what advice would you give yourself? Or what advice would you give young people who are just getting started or contemplating a career in communications? Take more Botox; take more Propecia [laughter]. I've never heard that advice before. It's usually about "Hey, take more of these kind of classes." But, okay. I take them as an important thing that you can do is take an internship because I think that everything is good in theory. But learning about something, that scholastic environment versus doing it are two different things entirely. And I think if I could have done something differently with how I was approaching that, I would have brought in the scope of my internships. I focused very heavily on a journalism set internships. And I wish I had done a public relations or marketing internship because I think that would have given more experience in the other side. And maybe I would have started off with PR instead of broadcast news. Just because the economics that are happening now, there are so many people moving from journalism into public relations. So that transition that you did, there are a lot of people doing the same thing. And so you look around the field of PR practitioners, and there are lots and lots of former journalists. People with journalism degrees, who, for whatever reason, made that change. Absolutely. And one of the things that I find is that I frequently counsel people who are looking to make the switch. And how they can do it and what they can do. And my number one advice to media people, journalists who are trying to transition to PR, is to start doing charity work. So that you can get your toes wet, and you could really get an understanding of how it works. And I also recommend that they start taking informational interviews. And finally, I recommend that they work at an agency, and they don’t go too big too quickly. I think the biggest example of a kind of Icarus falling situation was with one CNBC reporter was brought in to this war between Facebook and Google over privacy concerns. And it was revealed that the former journalist was trying to get people to place contributed content under various names of reporters that would raise privacy concerns about the two companies. And it just blew up in a space in spectacular fashion. And I think if he had been in PR longer, that would not have happened to him. Yeah. I mean, it sounds like the ethics lessons that we learned as we're studying public relations or earning our accreditation, ethics is a major component to that. And that would have helped, I think, stir that person away from whatever temptation there was to take that shortcut. I think there are a lot of marketers who want PR people to practice theblack arts. And I've always advised marketing people who brought that up that generally, there's always have a habit of blowing up in your face and just making you look bad, for lack of a better word. And I have recommended often that you should just stir away from that. That's just something that's going to haunt you. It's always the cover-up that's worse than the crime. Oh, that's absolutely true. And it always comes out. It always does. Whatever it is, It will always eventually come out, and it will be worse. Yup. What's your perspective on the importance of relationships in public relations practice [laughter]? It's only the second word in public relations [laughter]. I think that media relationships are so important because they give you a sense of what you can and can't do in a story. And they really give you the reality check you need outside of your experience with the client. And so I make sure that I attend journalism conference every year. I'm a member of the National Lesbian & Gay Journalists Association. Your listeners may have been able to figure that out themselves by the butch tone of my voice [laughter]. But I find that being able to talk to journalists on a regular basis is the best way to inform a strategy and then come up with creative ideas. And so I encourage every one of my colleagues to meet journalists, to take them out for lunch, breakfast, dinner, drinks, whatever. And to really get to understand what they're up against professionally and personally, as well as understand what sort of story narratives are really important. And I find that those relationships are key in really making some stories really work well for our clients. That's right. You mean, you talked earlier about knowing what stories they're following or what they're interested in. And in reverse engineering, your plans to fit that when you only know if you're talking with them. Yeah. And you can only intuit, or even better, have them tell you, "Hey, here's what we're lookin for. Do you have anything that would fit?” Absolutely. And during a crisis situation, having one of the journalist friendlies to go and help you with your response or your reaction. Or even as a sandbox the testing's out is critical. Yeah. Yeah. I think that's spot on. When you think about this as a career, like any career, there are challenges. It's hard. It's busy. I know in every job I've ever had in communications, there's way more to do tha you can possibly get done in a day. What keeps you inspired? When you wake up in the morning, and you think about going to work, what really gets you psyched up to go and tackle everything again, one more day? The fear of being homeless [laughter]. You're very practical. No, I'm kidding. I think that the thing that makes me most excited is when we do something wacky or crazy that just might work, and it does. I think that when I hear my colleagues achieve something that they didn’t think they could do, I love being a part of that. Or saying that, I love cheerleading. I like to see people excited about what they're doing. And I like to see people overwhelmingly happy and feeling realised with what they're doing, and how they're doing it. So ultimately, I'm very, I guess, platonic, if you will, in the sense that I believe the end goal of life is to be happy and if people are getting that happiness out of their work, then I'm happy too. Yeah. Yeah, I think that's right. And if you think about, sort of, the real essence of public relations, it's to help organisations have better relationships with the publics that they depend on and that depend on them, and as a result, things should be better for everybody, everybody should be happier if we're really effective at doing our jobs. Absolutely. And so that, generally, is what gets me going. I think what is the challenging part of this job is that I get that what we're doing is of real value, and because what we're doing is of real value and is transformative and has the opportunity to make sales and make budgets happen, that there sometimes is high anxiety and high pressure and sometimes nerves are rattled and sometimes tempers get really, really, kind of, out of control. And so I bring that to bear when I'm working with these people who are some brilliant executives, some brilliant minds and sometimes are really needing PR to be transformative in their business designs, and I get that. If there was one thing that you could do better, what would it be? Everything [laughter]. I recently had a colleague call me and she was complaining about an email I sent that it wasn't deep enough, it wasn't thoughtful enough, and I'm not going to out her, and I said, sometimes I just suck, and I just suck because sometimes there's just not enough time to be as good as I need to be or as you need me to be. And so I think that if I had anything, it would be more time in a given day, and I know that's pretty pat and cliche, but I think that that is the one thing that you need in order to do your best work. That said, I think the thing that annoys me the most is people who let perfection be the enemy of the good and will sit on things forever, and ever, and ever til the moment is lost. I remember one colleague who met a journalist who said she was interested in any kind of pitch, and that colleague took two months perfecting her email [laughter] to the journalist until she sent it. And the journalist probably forgot who she was and never responded. And so I'm a big believer in get things out quickly, and fail quickly, and improve quickly. Yeah. I think that's right. The nature of the business we're in, those windows of opportunity close pretty quickly. And if you're spending too much time on perfection, the window of opportunity is closed. Yeah. I was a journalist and I didn't have time for you to come up with your Gettysburg Address. I just needed someone to cobble together five sentences so I could get it out and meet deadline. And I think a lot of marketers will fool themselves into thinking that if they write the Magna Carta or something, that that's really going to move the needle for them, and it's not that which is going to help them, it's being responsive and being quick. Sure. So there's that time component. There's also the expectation of what it is the... /episode/index/show/betterprnow/id/6621457

013 - Jason Anderson explains why emotional stories hook customers 04/06/2018

012 - Roll up your sleeves and get in the trenches - Megan Driscoll of EvolveMKD 01/21/2018

012 - Roll up your sleeves and get in the trenches - Megan Driscoll of EvolveMKD Founder and CEO of EvolveMKD As a business owner, she likes controlling her destiny, who to work with, who to hire, how to invest in the business, and whether to expand. How she fell into a career in public relations, intern boss suggested it. Loves how dynamic working in PR is and how you get to “peek into” and get a behind-the- scenes view of other industries and companies. Likes: You have to continue to learn and grow. You will always be challenged. As technology changes and, how we consume news and media also change, you have to adapt. The importance of balancing the needs of your organization, your clients, and the media. Advice: Early in your career, recommend people get well-rounded, diverse experience, rather than immediately get pigeon-holed (e.g., digital, media, writing press releases, handling budget, developing strategy, etc.). Courses recommended: Take writing classes (e.g., business writing), “If your best-foot- forward includes typos, that’s not good enough.” Accounting (get comfortable with numbers), financials, “You have to have an understanding and appreciation for math.” Frustrations in the PR field: Lack of education among potential clients, who don’t know what PR is now (it’s changed: digital), working with clients to broaden their understanding of what PR encompasses; PR can be used for evil as well as good (current politics); Strong PR people are a voice of reason. The importance of reputation management: “Our job as communications professionals is to gently remind business leaders that you can say whatever you want, but if you don’t have the proof to back it up, you shouldn’t be saying it.” Our job as communication specialists is to ensure the business folks have thought through what they want to say and how they should act. “Good PR people want their company or client to speak the truth; that’s an important part of the job.” Some clients can be short-sighted. “The energy you put out there, the words you put out there, the actions you put out there carry weight and have business implications.” How she advises business leaders: You can’t just talk the talk, you have to walk the walk. Think about what is behind a clever or fun campaign; what will you need to do to reinforce the campaign’s message. Education about how media relations and social work together. What do your leadership teams look like? Do they reflect the consumers you’re trying to reach? “If you don’t interact with the people you’re trying to sell to, how can you have an effective strategy?” Genius PR move: Alyssa Milano’s support for the #MeToo movement on social media to drive real, meaningful discussion. Dumbest thing you’ve seen in PR: United Airlines’ handling of removal of a passenger from a plane and the communications follow-up. How they could have better handled it. When a company gets it wrong, but handles the aftermath well: Alaska Airlines’ prompt, on-target handling of Randi Zuckerberg’s complaint about sexual harassment by a fellow passenger. They took immediate accountability, were public about it, and resolved the issue in a classy way. Just because you make a mistake, doesn’t mean you’re doomed, but you do have to own the problem and proactively solve it. This keeps a mistake from turning into a huge scandal. Most PR crises start as operational issues that are mishandled. What does the future hold for PR and marketing? PR and social media are so intertwined that they will require integrated communication strategies. Communications must be integral in order to truly have a positive reputation. Must-have tools: Cell phone, laptop, Cision, access to social media platforms (Twitter is a great resource for understanding what stories reporters are working on and for following the news, as well as what competitors are doing), Mophie battery packs to keep mobile devices charged. Social media for research: Twitter, private groups on Facebook to stay engaged with other communications professionals and journalists, as well as Instagram. Helping clients avoid the shiny object syndrome: Everyone wants to be on Snapchat, but just because it’s new doesn’t mean it will fit. Unless you’re trying to reach teens and those in their early 20s, it’s probably not right for you. Snapchat is not the tool to sell anti-aging products. Facebook might not be cool anymore, but it might be right depending on who you’re trying to reach and to what effect. “Having great media relationships isn’t enough to be a great PR person, you also need to understand the consumer your client is trying to reach.” That will identify the appropriate media and engagement activities. Current projects: Had a client (Lia Diagnostics) who won TechCrunch’s Startup Battlefield at Disrupt 2017 in Berlin with the first major update of the pregnancy test since it was created in the 70’s. Also working with Merz USA, another client, on a partnership with Christie Brinkley. Words of wisdom to new college grads: “Be ready to work.” “Roll up your sleeves and get in the trenches.” You grow and learn by having a lot thrown at you. www.evolvemkd.com Instagram Facebook Instagram: @megankcraig Twitter: @mkdrisco Look for her book coming out in Spring 2018! /episode/index/show/betterprnow/id/6172319

011 - Why PR and Marketing might become synonymous - Doreen Clark of SmartBug Media 12/21/2017

011 - Why PR and Marketing might become synonymous - Doreen Clark of SmartBug Media Doreen Clark, Director of Public Relations at SmartBug Media, shares some of her secrets to generating great press coverage, coaching executives to communicate more effectively, and the intertwining of PR and Marketing. Media relations: According to Doreen, public relations is a powerful tool and that we should, “Communicate in a way that is not just beneficial for us, but also for the people we’re reaching out to.” This forms a trifecta of solid media relations that comes together when we understand and communicate: What our audience needs to learn, The information reporters need to know to cover the story, and What we want to deliver for our company or client. She notes that, for media relations professionals, it’s easy to deliver the facts that journalists need. But journalists also need us to offer an opinion, because that helps them craft stories with perspective and emotion. Media training: Doreen has trained a lot of senior executives to be better spokespeople for their organizations. When she provides media training for senior executives, some of the key lessons include: Coaching leaders on speaking to the common person, by using language they can understand. Executives are used to speaking with other experts in their industry; they frequently use jargon and technical language that the man on the street might not understand. Shifting their focus to be able to communicate with those who are not experts in their industry takes work, but helps them be much better communicators. Helping executives learn to speak in soundbites during interviews. Long-winded, detailed explanations allow the speaker to be precise, but they run the risk of losing control of the messages that will come through in the final news report. Making the information digestible by giving clear, but concise quotes, helps ensure their most important messages are included in the story. Everyone is a spokesperson: In an age of social media and 24-hour news cycles, everyone connected to an organization essentially is a spokesperson. Having a strategic plan, in which everybody knows their role and what they are expected to do, is key to success in public relations. Doreen also recommends that we identify the subject matter experts in our organization, train them to be effective spokespeople, and that will lead to more opportunities to engage the media. It’s important for communication in an organization to be “by all, for all” and not just downward from managers. Working with freelance writers: When asked what she is most excited about, Doreen said that working with freelance writers has become a secret weapon. Her force-multiplier tip is to build relationships with freelance writers. It’s common for them to write for many different media outlets, both online and off. These relationships can help us get more coverage, if they are willing to share the work they do for us with their contacts in these outlets. Merging PR and marketing: Looking into the future, Doreen expects that “Public relations and marketing will become even more intertwined and might become synonymous.” She sees a blurring of the lines already, with paid advertising taking the form of earned editorial coverage. She sees a future in which PR will have more pay-to-play coverage, as advertising does now. While such changes could present signification challenges for those currently working in both PR and marketing, it could have certain beneficial effects, as it will drive improvements on both sides. For example, she notes that, “PR measurement tools are getting better and will eventually be on par with marketing measurement.” “ Doreen also sees a future in which podcasts and videos that are engaging, but brief, will become more important. After all, journalists need things to write about and to share as examples within their articles. Lesson learned: When asked what she knows now that would have been good to know when starting her career, Doreen said, “You don’t have to be everything to everyone; hone your craft; it’s okay to specialize.” Quotable quotes: “If you really pay attention, you can become an expert in anything.” “Relationships are everything.” “Stay up to date on your craft; you have to always be a learner.” “PR is necessary, 100%.” “PR is about elevating reputation and building credibility.” /episode/index/show/betterprnow/id/6077271

010 - Great story seeks teller as OnePitch plays matchmaker 11/08/2017

010 - Great story seeks teller as OnePitch plays matchmaker Jered Martin discusses OnePitch, which he co-founded with Rebecca “Beck” Bamberger in San Diego. OnePitch serves as a matchmaker to help journalists and publicists find each other with the right story idea at the right time. Think of it as eHarmony meets Bumble, but for communication professionals. OnePitch screens out the vast majority of pitches that are not a good fit for a particular journalist, and delivers only those story ideas that are closely matched with the journalist’s interests. The journalist can browse pitches anonymously and connect with a publicist when they see a story idea that interests them. According to Jered, “We’re offering a platform that’s relevant, but not invasive.” Jered described the value proposition that OnePitch offers journalists in that the use a categorization process to tailor pitches to journalist’s needs. “You are going to receive at least one email a day that is going to have only the most relevant things you want to write about.” He noted that, “The beauty of OnePitch is that, as a journalist, you can expect to only receive the most relevant inquiries.” For publicists, OnePitch helps them connect with the journalists who are most interested in their story. Say goodbye to the “spray and pray” approach of blindly sending releases and pitches to every journalist in the hope that one will be interested. Jered noted that, “We care if their story gets coverage. In discussing the rise of chat bots in a wide range of customer-facing businesses, Jered noted the unique value of engaging a human being. “One thing we pride ourselves on at OnePitch is the high level of customer service and personalization.” He pointed out that, “It’s really important to understand how folks communicate and why they communicate.” Prior to co-founding OnePitch, Jered earned a BA in Communication Studies with a minor in Marketing from Cal State Long Beach. He gravitated to a career in communications out of a deep desire to help people. He entered the public relations and marketing world through work with BITE San Diego, which he described as “A walking food tour with history.” He started as an intern and worked his way up to eventually being the head of operations for BITE San Diego, as well as working for Beck at BAM Communications. In discussing how the OnePitch and BAM Communications teams maintain high performance, he noted the importance of senior leaders taking the time to mentor their employees, having regular face-to-face communication, and having an internal messaging tool, such as Slack. According to Jered, Slack is a great way to easily keep everyone on the same pag As for project management for the OnePitch team, Jered discussed how the team ran into scaleability challenges as the team’s work grew. The project management and collaboration solution they settled on is a combination of Hubspot, Trello, and Slack. Jered noted that, “We have to have a solid system to organize and manage everyone, and without Hubspot, I would be pulling my hair out.” He also discussed the importance of tools that work well together, noting that “One thing that is great about Trello is that it integrates with Slack.” In addition to his work on OnePitch, Jered also is part of Tech Coast Angels, the largest angel capital firm in San Diego. He’s working with them on a volunteer analyst program, in which his team conducts due diligence on start-up firms. In addition, he is also working with the Young Leaders of the Americas Initiative, to support their program for entrepreneurial women. This program brings female entrepreneurs from countries throughout the Americas to Southern California to see how business is done in the United States and to provide them with mentoring opportunities. /episode/index/show/betterprnow/id/5922276

009 - Harnessing Leadership, Ethics, Intuition and Courage 11/01/2017

009 - Harnessing Leadership, Ethics, Intuition and Courage Public Relations expert Deb Radman discusses the power of harnessing the four horsemen of public relations: Leadership, Ethics, Intuition, and Courage. She explains why she would advise her younger self to shut up and listen, so she could really understand what’s being said. She contends that there is great power in taking time to think about something before you formulate an answer. We should then leverage the power of persuasion to engage, motivate, and activate. Because of changes in the media landscape, PR now has “the opportunity to be the primary source of ideas for our companies and our clients as they seek new ways to communicate.” To do this, we have to venture way outside the box we’ve been in for so long, and have the guts and courage to do that. Deb also is in favor of integration across the communication spectrum. She argues that public relations professionals have “to be strong enough to go to clients with recommendations that transcend specific disciplines; we cannot be afraid to recommend integrated campaigns that include advertising, digital, promotion, direct response, and public relations.” According to Deb, all of these disciplines are part of PR, because they are all part of trying to persuade an audience to do what you want them to do. In her words, “Paid, earned, shared, and owned media all have to work together.” If paid, earned, and owned are not consistent, they will not help people share our message, because it will be fragmented. With this in mind, she argues that social media now is the province of public relations, because it is part of what PR practitioners do in the earned media arena. According to Deb, mentoring adds tremendous value by helping our people develop creativity and that “it’s no longer sufficient to be able to write; we must also be creative problem solvers.” She describes the ‘ work with educators to create momentum for mentoring. She also urges junior PR practitioners to “Find teachers and mentors who will teach you what they know and what other people know.” While public relations people might be well-trained in communication techniques, they need to be even more capable of understanding what motivates people to engage. Deb stresses the importance of lifelong learning and the value in being exposed to marketers, innovators, researchers, and creatives in the advertising world and beyond. High points in her career have included winning the contract, when she won her first Silver Anvil award, presenting the at the , and serving as project lead for the IBM centennial celebration, which included IBM’s Watson supercomputer competing on Jeopardy. /episode/index/show/betterprnow/id/5901133