Most PR professionals I know are flat out busy right now and being really picky about new clients that they take on. But the way that they do business is under fire. Today’s volleys are just the most recent example, although one of PR’s own is leading the charge (Steve Rubel from Edelman, a master at his craft).
The issue Rubel brings up is whether PR really serves any purpose today given that more and more journalists, particularly tech journalists, are finding the interesting stuff on their own and ignoring the canned pitches that hit their inbox daily.
I can’t speak for big media journalists who’ve been in the game for years and years, but from my experience with blogging for a few years, I agree that PR as a profession is broken.
They’re trying to apply the same rules they used when the number of journalists covering their companies was a manageable, chummy lot. Today there’s a whole spectrum of people writing about startups in big media publications, large and small blogs, Twitter, Friendfeed and everything in between.
Most PR folks don’t read blogs and certainly don’t understand them. All they see is a Google alert with their clients name, and rush to put out a fire. Down the road they may try to bring those bloggers into the fold, largely relying on word of mouth as to the best way to approach them in lieu of actually reading the blog itself.
That leads to the occasional massive clusterfuck and some truly hilarious moments that I would like to write a book about some day. To sum it all up, the relationship between bloggers and PR firms is shaky at best. Or at least it should be. Some bloggers really cultivate PR relationships, but for me PR is the last refuge when I’m attacking a story. They keep trying to put out the fires I’m starting.
So back to practical advice: what do you do if you’re a startup looking for help in getting the word out about your company? First off, don’t hire PR help until the volume of inbound requests by press are simply too much to handle without help. That’s way down the line for most companies.
Until then, take the time to start reading blogs and other publications that cover what you’re doing. Go to an event or two. This should be fun for you, since they’re writing about stuff that you’re spending all your time on. You’ll start to see links to other relevant sites, and before long you’ll fully understand who’s who in the space, get a feel for people’s personalities and passions, etc. Leave a few thoughtful comments. Better yet, start your own blog and link appropriately. And in your leisure time participate in the fascinating conversations occurring on Twitter and FriendFeed.
Suddenly you are no longer just a spectator with an agenda. You are now part of a community. You are a person that gives and takes. Someone who makes the overall network stronger. And I guarantee that after a few weeks of actually participating in the community, you’ll have far better press connections than most of the PR people we deal with daily.
And best of all, you aren’t sucked into the web of politics and intrigue that guides the relationships between PR firms and the press. You can build your own relationships and bypass all the mess.
Of course there are exceptions to this advice. Some startup founders just aren’t comfortable talking directly to the press without guidance. And there are a lot of good PR people out there that really understand what’s going on with the profession today. The problem is, they’re not taking on new clients.
Completely agree, although I wouldn’t generalize… yet.
I have some experience with major PR companies in Europe, both from my pre-blogging days and now, and I agree that most of them don’t have a clue how to channel their efforts towards bloggers. Most important, they don’t seem to understand the dynamic of blogging and how the flow of information can be managed.
Otilia – I agree with you in that most major PR agencies outside the U.S. (and many inside the U.S.!) aren’t taking full advantage of blogging and social media opportunities – I’m not sure if it is a lack of understanding or just the learning curve. After all, it took even the most web-savvy PR companies here in the U.S. a while to get it.
I worked for large and small agencies in the US and now a large agency in Europe. Most PR agencies, most marketing people, most business people… don’t understand blogging.
PR is one of the cargo-cult reactions in Silicon Valley, the other being reflexively buying sponsorship booths at parties with lots of drunken people too busy to care.
But chasing after bloggers and being chummy with them isn’t the only thing you should be doing. How likely is it that you, Mike, will respond to startups without an extremely compelling story? Wouldn’t most of the long tail be lost in the mounds of emails in your inbox — eventually leading you to purge. Who else is there to chase after to get general interest?
Either way my point is just that it’s always a balance. Better yet, bring somebody into the fold to handle all this stuff. An evangelist. And stick with what you’re good at, managing, designing, engineering.
Speaking of startups… isn’t it ultimately down to the idea / business model behind the startup?
If Mike (or other bloggers) thinks it’s yet another silly idea and a startup doomed to fail, why would they bother talking about it when there would be so many other (more interesting) things to talk about that day and only 24 hours until the next news cycle?
The CEO should be the evangelist, but if he/she isn’t a good one I agree it’s a good hire.
You are right that “All they see is a Google alert with their clients name, and rush to put out a fire. ” What PR people and their clients need to do is monitor blogs related to their space on an ongoing basis, and build relationships with these bloggers before the fire ignites.
LOL, PR firms are whores, they’ll take anyone on anytime, “service” you and then you go on with your everyday life. Anybody who says differently is just spinning
Timmy,
C’mon, you’re a penny stock trader! How do you spin that?
Timothy, you make a gross generalization about PR firms taking on anyone at any time. We are not defense lawyers. If there is no story, no evangelist, no compelling value proposition or anything else to get the Mike Arringtons of the world or other traditional media to care, they are not going to be a client very long anyway.
but they’ll still take their money…..
Hey, some practical advice! Wise words and one that I think all startups should live by. It’s so easy to be add to the social capital in the community nowadays, that it’s just laziness if a startup doesn’t engage via commenting, twitter, friendfeed, etc. In fact, during the early stages, a startup should be completely product focused, and use the social media tools available to help spread the words via a grassroots campaign. Expensive PR people? Don’t even think bout it until you have funding and don’t have the time/resources to do it yourself.
I have to agree, as someone who has no funding for my projects I have found just getting out there on the web and sending the odd email to people I like reading works really well. crowdstatus got a pretty good coverage on the blogs( though not this one :p). if I had pr I don’t feel it would have gone down any differently.
There are some good in PR companies, but overall they lack the understanding of how to use the internet. Even some of the so called tech savvy firms really don’t get it. Bloggers are looked at as uniformed individuals who are disconnected from society and only represent the ’shut-in’ (people who don’t fit in anywhere but the internet) sector of the economy. With more mainstream business people coming online that image is changing as we speak. The power of the blog is strengthening.
Seriously? If startups had press flooding their inboxes, perhaps my profession would be negated. But for clients who have no idea where to begin- sorry mike, but there are appropriately evangelistic CEOs who do not know they ought to immerse themselves in techcrunch- sometimes PR is a good starting point.there are PR people who are true evangelists for their clients, wanting to spread the word because their clients have a viable model. Isn’t it possible that we can work in happy web harmony under mutual terms? Why does it matter where the discovery to write about something comes from- pr person vs stumbling upon something through a community? Isn’t the end result – the piece of news you create- the imprtant part?
Michael,
What if you, as a PR person, are generally interested in the conversation into which your client can/does contribute? What if your interest becomes a catalyst for helping the company evolve in their industry? I do tend to agree with much of what you say, but I can honestly say that my proudest moments in PR aren’t when I “get” a blogger – or some top-tier business journalist – to “bite” on a story or do an interview. I’m most proud when I can see my ideas (which are a byproduct of my passion and understanding of the client’s business) – turn into meaningful changes in a clients business, from sales enablement and creative promotional ideas to input that literally refines or changes their products and services.
My two cents.
I think the best advice I got was to start my own blog. I began in May this year and it led to me getting, ta dah!, a guest spot on TechCrunch UK.
http://uk.techc...tups-advantage/
I watched a debate on Democracynow! recently that involved the influence of blogs and how blogs are hurting the revenue of traditional media. It was actually kind of amusing because the people representing major newspapers kept going on and on about how bloggers are not professional and that blogging is just a “pastime”. Some of us make a living at what we do! Some of us are very good at what we do. I think part of the problem is the fact that there are millions of blogs and the majority of them are nothing more than copy & paste operations, so to speak– which makes every blog look bad in the eyes of someone who is not internet savvy.
Interesting that you urge start-ups to participate in conversations on Twitter and FriendFeed in their leisure time. Most start-ups I’ve dealt with don’t have time to woo customers, develop products, spend time on R&D, and worry about budget, let alone spend their “leisure time” carefully follwing social media outlets and creating their own blogs.
If start-ups don’t have time to woo customers, develop products, spend time on R&D and worry about their budgets, they’ll have plenty of “leisure time” within the next 6-12 months…after their start-ups fail miserably, leaving them unemployed.
There are certain things that a start-up MUST find the time for – and “getting the word out” via social media outlets and social networking are among the most important of all in today’s technological world.
We are ePublic Relations professionals – who are both Geeks and traditional media experts.
We have always realized the need to bridge the gap.
It is insane that any PR person would not be an expert on the blogosphere and other Web 2.0 matters
It’s all about relevant relationships isn’t it? Sharing stuff we think is cool with people we think will think its cool, too. That’s the approach the networked world requires of anyone wanting to spread a message. It’s different from the one-size-fits-all broadcast approach you describe as broken. It’s not so much broken as a poor fit: designed for a world of mass rather than niche.
A decent primer on the transition from traditional PR to online channels was published last year by David Meerman Scott. Its geared toward traditional marketers, but it completely supports Mikes point that standard practices are no longer viable as a default.
http://books.go...3&ct=result
Great post….a few comments.
I’ve been doing this for 24 years and have slowly transitioned into doing all you describe in your insightful post.
1. No matter how you do “PR” you still need basic elements like messaging and a communications strategy. Blogging, social relationships, attending events, etc. is just the execution.
2. I am finding an opportunity in my agency blog to write about my clients. Doing so helps my clients being “found” by journalists, analysts and bloggers. Therein lies some of the new added value to what I do.
3. The trick is getting the client to understand and manage the expectations of how long this takes, sustaining your presence in the blogosphere, and assigning metrics that matter to your program.
Honestly, at my previous job, a PR firm was an essential tool for getting the word out about our company and extending our thought leadership activity. Did they understand blogs? Not really, so I handled that. Could I have gotten most of the press coverage they got for us? Yes, we actually split the pitching duties based on our own established relationships.
However, the firm I used was very good and giving me the extra bandwidth I needed to secure more byline placements, more guest blogger posts and more speaking opportunities than I would have been able to get on my own.
Now, I’m at an early stage company and I have to do all of these things myself. Like you mentioned, the volume isn’t there yet to merit a PR firm. We are getting decent coverage in all the pubs/blogs that matter to us, but I’d imagine one day we’ll want to kick things up a notch and expand our efforts even further.
“Most PR folks don’t read blogs and certainly don’t understand them.”
I think that’s changing. There are a few clued up PR people who actually know what they’re doing – and how to deal with bloggers.
I deal with PR people who contact my chocolate related blog every day, but very few of them blindly send press releases. They might want to send samples for review, but they know that there is as much chance that any review we do will be negative as positive.
So my advice to bloggers is simply “be prepared”. Have some kind of policy in place on how you want to deal with PR people – particularly if your authority depends on impartiality. The biggest trap bloggers fall into is being unduly kind to PR people because they think it’s a big deal that their blog has been noticed.
ohh. how did they put the two cars above? haha
I agree that PR is broken. We get slammed with canned pitches from the GOLF industry daily. We try to work with these PR people but still get the same crap. We end up catering to our advertisers a bit and throwing out the rest.
Plus we try to tell them to give us real content with a pitch at the end. Most stare at us like deer in the headlights.
Thanks…Rob Walters
Editor – BunkerShot.com GOLF
Editor – YouTube.com/GOLF
Which blogger do I send a mini USB bar fridge to, to get my latest company written about?…
I think PR firms are getting more savvy simply because they have to in this day and age. The rules of engagement have become alot more complex whether it be from a communications standpoint or managing a brand from a PR perspective.
PR agencies need to have a mix of traditional PR expertise, but also how to connect with their target audience across many mediums – whether it be bloggers, video etc. all at the same time making sure the efforts are picked up by search engines and getting the appropriate traction required. It’s a brave new world and PR firms need to continually adapt to stay ahead of the curve.
Harvard B School has an interesting view on the long tail….it’s over-rated apparently. Anybody who goes to small end of tail blogs is likely to spend lots of time with mainstream media, meaning you get them with mass and don’t need to spend so much time in niche. small bloggers beware!
Wonderful article, Mike. In Brazil, we have a different cenario. There are just a few bloggers who prioritize the content and are willing to relate to PRs. Their focus is on how to make money with that.
Good article, I am really interest in finding a PR company who specialise in online media – know how blogging actually works etc.
Any ideas?
Let’s not overstate the magic and value of social media. Good PR people see it as another medium — certainly a unique one with special challenges and needs, but the fundamentals are the same. A one-size-fits-all approach to outreach/relationship-building doesn’t work. And ultimately, PR has to support the business goals. So, seriously, are people buying a lot of, say, enterprise software based on Twitter posts (I refuse to call them Tweets)?
Indirectly – sure they are.
Twitter simply facilitates a conversation between two or more people. The medium itself doesn’t contribute or detract from the credibility between the two conversational participants.
But if I discover your twitter feed, and get value from it, and thus visit your blog, and become one of your readers, and over time through following your opinions and thought processes come to see you as an expert, in part because of what you say makes sense, and in part because I see other people I respect following you, I will be influenced by what you say.
It’s inevitable. And that includes buying decisions at all levels.
Of course it’s currently very UNlikely that most c-suites understand what this “internet thing” actually is (neverlone social media) – but – they will catch on eventually
Couldn’t disagree more, snowboardjohn. Unless people writing about what they just ate or bitching about PR people is helping to sell enterprise software.
Regardless of people using twitter incorrectly – like talking about irrelevancies and complaining – Twitter is really an easy way to do a few things:
1. Demonstrate some value – someone who doesn’t know you from a bar of soap is much more likely to follow (and actually read) some of your twitter posts (140 characters), than blog posts (approx 300-500 words) – as long they point to good resources, and are relevant.
2. Engage peers in a conversation that is more personal than leaving a blog comment, but less invasive than sending an email.
3. Stay relevant to community conversations.
Now, the reality is (as you probably know) that most enterprises don’t do much more than email, and frankly this whole “facebook web 2.0 – or enterprise 2.0″ thing seems like a waste of time to them – neverlone something like twitter.
But mark my words, twitter is unbelievably powerful – when used as a personal reference search engine you can find amazing resources incredibly quickly.
Think of Twitter as less of a lead gen tool (for the moment – it will become one for the enterprise once the adoption is higher), and more of a community building tool for your customers – you can get your customers following you on twitter, increasing your mind share, their trust in your recommendations, and they become TRAINED to follow your advice.
It takes work though, and like I said, at the moment it’s not much use as lead gen for the enterprise (for the most part with a few exceptions).
Good call, I agree entirely. I’m afraid in the industry I’m from – bloggers don’t really get a look in. Their sphere of influence is still too small to allocate resource towards managing them through an online media strategy..
Bueller….anyone? Hold on, I need to turn down my eight track tape, turn off my black & white TV and hang up my analog phone so I can wipe all this mud off my face. Seriously peeps, get a grip. Stereotyping is never a good thing. Calling all PR people “whores” is like calling all Muslims terrorists, all gays pedophiles and all bloggers good writers. Ignorance appears to be alive and not-so-well here.
Most of our clients are savvy, Web 2.0-based businesses and they come to us because the “blogosphere only” strategy failed miserably. While a reasonable option for tech-based companies, most consumer-focused businesses need to leverage all mediums – broadcast, print, and the blogosphere – to build the level of awareness needed to build mass appeal. If your target audience is moms between the ages of 25 – 40, the DailyCandy is a great hit, but the Today Show is a better hit based on reach and visual execution. We don’t worship a single alter and prefer a blended approach by going after traditional media and blogs when it comes to coverage. Part of our jobs is to be Web 2.0 pimps and educate our clients on why they need to respond to blogs, start a blog and employ other Web 2.0-centric strategies. As for having the CEOs do it themselves, I encourage you to get your lips off the crack pipe and step away. Most of my CEOs don’t have time to scratch their ass never mind build and execute a blogosphere strategy or pitch, secure and manage a segment on The Today Show. And while I appreciate the self-constructed Web 2.0 pedestals most repondents have put themselves on, I hate to burst your delusional bubble, but you are surrounded by plenty of Web 2.0 savvy PR people. Like everyone in my company, I blog, tweet, utter and consider myself a proud Facebook addict who is a couple of recruits short of winning a toaster oven. There are certainly plenty of Web 2.0 ignorant PR people. They are usually the “nose-bleed experts” on Web 4.0 (huh?) and yet don’t have a blog, Facebook account, and think “poke” is something you do when your wife isn’t looking. As far as taking on any client, not in my house hommie…
Kel Kelly
Founder & CEO Kel & Partners
This is by far the best comment on this post.
So far today in similar posts/comments, I’ve been called a whore and a used car salesman – just because of the job I chose (and love, btw). To lump all PR people together and say that we have no clue, don’t read blogs and can’t tell a conversation from a pitch, is simply a bad generalization. Just like when PR people generalize bloggers and journalists, lump them into one group and turn on the SPAM engine. Isn’t that what got bloggers and journalists all up in arms in the first place?
To the media/journalists/bloggers that have written similar things: PR people are out here, we’re real people, we’re paying closer attention than you think, and in a lot of cases, we want to build a relationship with you. Please stop lumping us into the SPAM category and writing about how much you hate our profession and get back to what you were blogging about, which was far more interesting.
Gretchen, being called a whore and used car salesman is most def not a good start to your day. Would it make you feel better if i told you i started my day by receiving Mike’s tweet on this post and a flat tire? Onward & upward…
what’s interesting about this sub thread is that there are two PR folks talking to each other about each other and complaining about the tone of other comments. Not a word about their clients.
Kel started off by talking about clients. It was right there. Go reread the post. Or I’ll cut and paste:
“Most of our clients are savvy, Web 2.0-based businesses and they come to us because the “blogosphere only” strategy failed miserably. While a reasonable option for tech-based companies, most consumer-focused businesses need to leverage all mediums – broadcast, print, and the blogosphere – to build the level of awareness needed to build mass appeal.”
“As for having the CEOs do it themselves, I encourage you to get your lips off the crack pipe and step away. Most of my CEOs don’t have time to scratch their ass never mind build and execute a blogosphere strategy or pitch, secure and manage a segment on The Today Show.”
What’s more interesting, Michael, is that you missed that.
Okay, you said it way better than I did. Can I be your friend on Facebook?
yup, as long as you don’t friend poach & poke. so not cool.
First: Kel, Nice response! Its got the perfect combination of snark and content.
Second: Mike, I hate seeing you you jump on the PR bashing band wagon – at PerkettPR, we’ve read all there is to read about how “awful” our profession is and we’ve taken it to heart. We have a very informative blog, we engage on Twitter, Facebook, blog comments, etc.. we get to know who we a talking to and give information only when we think the reporter/blogger will be interested. We have become dedicated to be approachable, knowledgable advocates for our clients and it has paid off for them and for us.
If you do not like working with PR folks, please feel free to discontinue – but I would appreciate someday to have to bashing stop – recognize that there is good and bad in every profession, and those that are actually reading blogs like this are the ones that actually care and are trying to do it right, and are the strongest advocates for our clients and for the bloggers, but we are the ones who get the brunt of this abuse.
Also – believe me, PR pros actually STOP some of the email you would be getting if we let energetic CEOs loose on outreach. We are the ones constantly ensuring that the messages/news you receive is on target and in the manner that you want. They dont have time for that. We also help them be realistic about their news so they dont email you when they have a new partnership to discuss.
Do you want MORE people breaking into your house to show you their latest “ground breaking” technology? That’s exactly what will happen if you take PR out of the equation.
I love your site, I love your articles, and I dont attempt to speak to you or your writers unless I am positive I am spot on or I want to say something to you on Twitter. But I am really disappointed in this article from you today – especially when I know we’ve worked together on several successful initiatives.
–Lisa Dilg
Thanks Lisa. It’s hard not to see the humor in some of these responses. I can’t help but imagine the Dude who called us all whores using his “charm” to try to pick up girls at a bar. A real winner, Im sure. My experiences with most PR peeps are that they are good people looking to do good work for their clients. They don’t get up in the morning, eat their young and see how many journalists & bloggers they can irritate and screw. Peace out.
Lisa,
Your profession is responsible for so much stress, anger and disappointment that I really don’t think you should be surprised to see bloggers lash out regularly against “you.” At least this is above board and public. The kind of sleazy behind the scenes stuff that I’ve seen PR people pull is what really needs to be called out, not people saying what they think in public.
Perkett is one of the good guys that I refer to in the last paragraph. When you guys call we pick up the phone. I’m surprised you thought this was aimed at you. Perhaps that sensitivity is what puts you ahead of most of your competitors.
Wow Mike,
Thank you for that. And believe me, I get that “we” are our own worst nightmare – I want to scream – “quit making us all look like idiots” but the “bad” ones wouldnt be listening anyway.
It just gets so frustrating to be doing the best you can to rise above this to only feel repeatedly kicked around by the media. I know, its a hazard of the job we’ve chosen – but we really do try very, very hard to not let zealously representing our clients mean more of a nightmare for you and I appreciate you pointing out that there are some good ones out there.
Thanks, and I will try to stop being so sensitive
-Lisa
Jesus your name is Kel Kelly and you called your own firm “Kel…” – you were made for PR. What the hell is wrong with people – you’re out of a fairy tale.
Some of the best advice and rationale I’ve read in a while, “Suddenly you are no longer just a spectator with an agenda. You are now part of a community. You are a person that gives and takes. Someone who makes the overall network stronger. And I guarantee that after a few weeks of actually participating in the community, you’ll have far better press connections than most of the PR people we deal with daily.”
Lots of my clients (I do PR) are inventors, people who don’t particularly like to communicate in any mode, whether by telephone or podcast. If I like want they’ve created and think the world could benefit from their programs, products or services, it’s almost like a holy mission for me to let the public know what they’ve made. I think that’s why some folks going into high-tech PR….we’re really technology missionaries. And yes, we use the best technologies — blogs, twitter, unconferences — to communicate the message.
Right on, Sylvia!
Mike, I think you underplayed an important point here. Most start ups don’t know how to work with bloggers, or anyone in the media for that matter. They don’t understand how the process works, or even have the time for it with everything else they’re overseeing. Ask any good PR professional and they’ll tell you they spend more time trying to get clients to give them what the press needs –customer references, visuals, review units, etc– than actually pitching. I can say that I’ve personally dragged CEOs out of important meetings and begged them to catch the 5 am flights to NY or SFO because an influential blogger or reporter had to talk to meet with them immediately. We chase down investors, snap our own headshots, and spend hours on industry research so YOU can have a complete story.
WHY? –most start up CEOs and other execs don’t have the know-how or time to do it themselves. You paint an ideal picture, that truthfully, would make the PR firms job a lot easier. And yes, some savvy start ups do this well. But most simply don’t know where to start.
You can do this, you can do that… OR you get coverage on TechCrunch and you’re all set – if you have an idea worth being written about. Just how to find that idea???
At Fortune Brainstorm TECH I ran into Steve’s colleague and big-boss Richard Edelman and we had a great conversation on the excitement around the changes in the PR space right now and what lies ahead; which continued via his blog and ours after the conference.
We both somewhat agreed with the a few points that Michael and Steve raise in their posts on a PR shift away from pure product publicity. For instance, companies like Facebook, Google and Dell don’t need our help building publicity for new products (any announcement they make will be greatly publicized).
However, today’s global landscape – where brand interaction occurs 24 hours a day – creates new opportunities for PR agencies to assist companies like these in building digital and physical communities of key stakeholders in support of specific campaign goals and issues. In essence, PR professionals must become part of client’s brand management/reputation teams (through our interaction with Google, blogs and other social communities), while also assisting our clients with building their own content. Every company is a media company. That’s where we can really assist in truly defining each company’s brand, moral purpose and corporate mission.
In addition, as David Carr eloquently noted in his Media Equation column on Monday, “We are all arbiters of the news.” Yes, reporters have always enjoyed the thrill of chasing a scoop. This hasn’t changed since the inception of newspapers. The change is that today they go to Twitter, FriendFeed, YouTube, Mashable and other online destinations to find the scoop or subject to cover.
There’s no reason we, as PR professionals, can’t be part of this “groundswell.” Rubel uses the example of Robert Scoble, as a blogger who finds joy in uncovering companies without the assistance of PR executives. However, while Robert may attest that PR practitioners are useless as he comes down from a high reporting a PR-less story; he also values PR folk that are informative and in-the-know.
It’s still pretty hard for small businesses to get all of the PR exposure that they need in order to get rolling – I think PR will always be necessary given that bloggers don’t just magically discover things on their own without some sort of reference. PR is just a proactive way for companies to get noticed.
great article..in order for PR people to really step up and be effective, they need to understand what blogging is all about; and the best way to learn something is to immerse yourself in it. They should be encouraged to read through various blogs, leave comments, etc. Maybe then, they will have a greater appreciation for blogging as well as a better understanding of what goes on.
“the number of journalists covering their companies was a manageable, chummy lot.”
The number of A-list bloggers covering their niche is a manageable, chummy lot.
Sure, some of the details are different – but pitching journalists versus ego-stroking A-listers is just a variation on a theme.
You should write the book Michael and then I’d like for you to come speak in Jamaica to some Caribbean folk. We’re on the verge of a dot come boom when it comes to the Caribbean Web, yet and not surprisingly, the current crop of PR and Marketing people have nothing to do with it and are clueless about it. Clearly a glaring opportunity to educate and lead even as it is currently frustrating to deal with them.
Michael, i was shaking my head and smiling as I read each line. Sweet missive today.
Mike – I’d like to challenge your assertion with your site’s dependence on the work of truly talented and respectable PR professionals for some of its best content and most influential posts.
Instruct your entire staff to not write any posts stemming from PR pitches for a single week – much the same that you ban any content stemming from the AP.
Let’s see how this impacts traffic to your site and the overall appeal of your articles.
When finished, post some hard traffic data to prove yourself right – that tech news readers prefer content found from bloggers browsing the web independently.
My argument: public relations stemming from PR pros who truly understand the online media space and take the effort to write insightful, original pitches are the lifeblood of your business While this may be only a fraction of communications employees in the country, it is unfair to badmouth the entire profession when there are truly remarkable individuals performing legitimate work for startup companies who badly need proper media training and writing assistance.
I think you’d be surprised to see the list of top line PR firms that we’ve politely but firmly asked to remove us from their distribution list.
I doubt I’d be surprsied. I think I would have a good laugh and then refer to this:
http://www.long...-pr-people.html
And of course, Gene Weingarten:
http://www.wash...6031501775.html
Of course you’ll want to remove spammers, mass mailing, and even direct letters that contain a typo, grammatical error or way too much spin on something not newsworthy. A good agency doesn’t necessarily mean a good publicist.
The ONLY thing I wish to defend is the following: a thoroughly researched, individually sent, balanced pitch for something that would at least make you raise an eyebrow.
And personally, I agree that our industry is broken from many aspects – this will ultimately downsize the PR profession as a whole, as publicists will be fored compete at cutthroat odds for clients that have a true story to tell.
Thanks for your reply!
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At SlideRocket, we’ve just brought in a PR consultant to help us with our upcoming launch. Ultimately, the decision was pretty straightforward – while we’ve had some good success getting coverage from blogs (both direct and via word of mouth), we had no idea how to approach the more mainstream press or craft a story that would appeal to them.
I think the value in PR for a startup is when you are ready to move beyond the early-adopter tech crowd. Before then, it’s probably overkill.
Agree with you completely Mitch – As I mentioned in my post on racetalkblog.com.
Having worked at a number of high-tech start-ups (both bootstrapped and well funded) over the past ten years, I can certainly attest to the value of public relations – whether self-administered or in partnership with a professional PR firm.
To me, it fundamentally boils down to having something of interest to say to someone who is willing to listen and write about it. To this end, it’s just common sense that having a prior relationship (even if it’s just joining the conversation) and a reputation for not wasting the journalist’s time can only help you be heard. And that applies across the board – to PR professionals and company evangelists.
I happen to be one of the busy PR guys who passes on most of my prospects because the model is weak, the folks running the company are young, or I think the offering has little chance of winning. When I do engage, our clients generally do well and success, historically, can include a financial event.
PR is transitioning from the pitch to a conversation. And just about everyone in a startup has a role to play in getting the word out. Whether you need PR counsel or not on day 1 depends on how skillful you are as a communicator and marketer, how PR is intended to drive your business metrics, and whether or not you want to dedicate your valuable time and resources to managing outbound and inbound media relationships. Personally, I’m all about building the companies I represent and I’m often vested in them, so I prefer the proactive PR role.
I disagree entirely with the notion that a startup should wait to hire PR help until media/bloggers start calling you. When you’re ready to fly, get some help from PR counsel who adds intelligence, experience and strategic insight to your game.
Now lets turn the conversation around to tech bloggers who write about every company that knocks on their door, who read the PR lingo and conduct zero due diligence on the viability of the business model, and then shoot out a story. The strength of community is that people talk. The weakness is that some stories appear based on personal friendships, rather than real reporting. When bloggers float stories because someone is your friend, we’re all screwed. When bloggers dedicate editorial to sponsors without indicating it’s a paid placement, we’re uninformed. And when bloggers are vested in companies being reporting on, we’re in deep trouble. Because then the blogosphere becomes corrupt and that is worse than poor PR execution.
I’d love to see intelligence prevail and this conversation is a good start. In the end, it’s business and we’re all in this together for the kinds of shared successes that make for more fun, productive lives.
Well said. But I’d argue that “PR is transitioning from the pitch to a conversation”… online (well, it can be applied to other mediums but mainly for online). I hate to break it to bloggers but “online” is just one medium used to reach people and not the ONLY one.
I agree. This conversation is a moot point in several billion dollar industries we play in (biotech/pharma, food processing, manufacturing, etc.) that are dominated by so-called ‘late adopters’ and folks too busy jamming in their business to care much for social media and 24/7 presence. Still, it’s useful, informative and reflective of the positive transition and growth process taking place in our profession.
it’s nice in theory, but in reality most start-ups can’t afford a PR firm at their outrageous rates ($5-10k per month just to take phone calls). They’re better off spending that $ on google adwords
There are a lot of bad PR pros out there. Most of them just don’t know any better. Large firms don’t seem to be training their young guns well enough yet.
The bigger problem may be that there’s are a lot of bad journalists. Many can be brought and paid for (I know it sounds harsh, but I see it happen). Some are just looking to write controversy and will slam a company for no reason. Others write in only 8 word sound bites. So until Journalists improve, all companies need a PR firm to protect their interests.
That’s why we have PR, not to be media hounds, but strategic communicators.
re: “First off, don’t hire PR help until the volume of inbound requests by press are simply too much to handle without help. That’s way down the line for most companies.”
So how exactly does this happen?
Chicken, meet egg.
In this case, the PR chicken doesn’t lay the egg. The Product Manager chicken does.
Actually, it’s more of a collaborative process and far from black and white, and hopefully reflective of a value that PR people can bring to the table. In my model, I’ve got a seat at the table on product and strategic development directions with the majority of my clients. I would bet Jeremy’s value runs the same with his.
Thanks for posting on such a provocative subject Michael – judging from the number and range in tone of comments, this is somewhat of a “hot-button topic.”
I head-up the Digital PR/Social Community Management department at an interactive agency that houses Creative, Media and “PR” disciplines with the ability to develop and execute truly integrated campaigns. The PR industry needs to be open, proactive and vocal about evolving to which means having a full understanding of Social Media and being transparent / authentic with the development and execution of online tactics.
Until such a time as the “PR” industry embraces the fact that online social community management is an ongoing, year-round initiative with spikes throughout the year and not a one-off project with a beginning and an end, it will remain in the Dark Ages and continue to be looked upon as an after-thought as opposed to what it should be: true leaders and arbiters of social media that have a rightful place at the head of the table.
Isn’t it just easy to say that there are good and bad professionals in any profession? It’s true for blogging, journalism, law, medicine, government (shocker, I know), entertainment and even… PR! WOW! Now that’s a story worth writing about!
Seriously though, like any profession adapting to a changing landscape, good PR pros will take the time to learn about any new medium and approach it in an educated way. Don’t hate on the many because of the few.
Mike –
The issue I have with his post is you assume startups having nothing better to do than read blogs, create a blog and post frequently.
Forget about trying to grow their business, generate revenue and build out a pipeline of potential deals. Point blank – CEO’s DON’T HAVE THE TIME FOR THIS. And no VC will invest in a CEO who only blogs – and doesn’t run their business.
There are too many generalizations here, and you don’t place enough importance on how an agency can effectively work with an emerging growth company out of the gate with all media. This post does wonders for TC’s business and nothing for any of the PR firms–it’s way too one sided. I for one feel there is still a balanced approach we need to take with clients until the weight shifts to all new media.
Hell – we are living proof of it right now.
BUT, good points made: definitely monitor/listen and read the blogs on a consistent basis, have a good understanding of how to communicate with theses bloggers and study the trends that they are interested in writing about. That way PR doesn’t become a “roadblock”, but rather a valuable asset our clients’ stories.
totally agree. startups are time strapped and have to make hard decisions. but hiring a PR firm to do this for you is often like hiring a lawyer to perform open heart surgery.
But there are so many other critical elements that emerging growth companies must focus on with their PR agency in order to stay visible and communicate effectively to the target audiences — wouldn’t you agree? What about the company’s messaging/positioning, influencer relations (AR, etc.), and other thought leadership programs (speaking, bylines, awards)? Do they have a regional, national or global business strategy? Are they selling direct or indirect and what type of communication effort goes into play to support these business models?
Don’t get me wrong, blogs are critical components and I’m not saying that one approach outweighs the other right now– but that an integrated view of the entire communication program will be the most effective strategy for early stage companies.
Michael, I’m very curious why you believe PR professionals aren’t capable of handling the social media strategy and execution for a startup. Comparing social media to open heart surgery and implying that we have the wrong skill set to tackle it is perplexing. Please elaborate.
Please remember that we all agree with your stance that start up execs need to harness social networking as part of their overall marketing strategy to be successful. we champion this belief. And please also realize that most of our CEOs are NOt reading your blog, or any others, or joining social networks, or becoming part of the conversations, and WE are the evangelists teaching them how to do this.
Michael, Michael, Michael!
Who was it at which PR firm who broke your damn heart? The pain must be deep: it’s coming out in your your writing, your tone of voice, and your replies to the comments.
Somebody hurt you, bad, and now you’re striking back. And maybe that feels good, Michael, but will it heal your broken heart and let you see clearly the bountiful good in PR?
Honey, PR works and works everywhere in the world 24/7. Yeah, some PR firms suck, or are mediocre, or homely. Worse yet is when the firm and its clients are mediocre, homely, and incompetent.
But those PR firms, including mine, that are good-looking, whip smart, strategic, and clever, well, we manage our clients so they don’t hurt themselves by doing dumb things like spitting stupid pitches at folks like you.
On the corporate and agency sides, I’ve used PR to build companies, generate leads, drive record revenues, gain leadership positions, execute IPS, and successful M&A. Made a lot of CEOs rich, too. And, none of these things were accomplished by spewing stupid pitches and releases at people like you.
Michael, I hope you feel better soon. If there’s anything I could do to help you heal, send me an email.
Abbie Kendall, Armstrong Kendall, Inc.
Mike,
PR is much more than media relations or pitching bloggers. It’s much more than being the conduit between a company and the media (traditional and social.) It’s about been strategic on what you want to communicate, how, when and to whom. A good PR campaign can reach influencers beyond media and blogs, such as financial analysts, industry analysts, academia, legislators, partners, employees, consumers, customers, local communities, online communities, Wall Street, etc. It depends on the company business and its business goals.
If the point of your blog is that the media landscape is changing and therefore PR people need to understand it in order to provide sound counsel to their clients (regardless of whether you are in-house or on the agency side) then I agree with you. However, good PR people are much more than publicists. They know that blasting a pitch email hoping that it sticks will not work. And most importantly, it never worked (not with media in the past, not with bloggers today.)
Knowing your audiences, building relationships, crafting stories, engaging your stakeholders, and providing them with what they need is what PR is all about. Nothing new. What is changing is the complexity and the environment, which is more complex, and in my opinion, a lot more fun. Good PR is here to stay. Good PR practitioners will always find a seat at the table if they continue to do what they have been doing for years: listening, and adapting to a changing landscape.
I remember my days as a lawyer when I thought my clients really needed to hear my business advice. It turns out they just wanted me to draft contracts for them.
That’s probably why you changed job
This is an excellent point, Mike. You’ve given good counsel about ditching PR folks. Now maybe it’s time for counsel about ditching counsel!
Seriously… scrap all content written from PR pitches for a week. I dare you. Post the traffic fluctuation and prove all us wrong. I’ll never send you a pitch again
I’m beyond tired of this topic so I should keep my mouth shut, but that’s something I’ve never been good at.
Mike, you make some good points and you’re right about taking the time to read blogs, get to know the bloggers who you resonate with and that it should be fun. It is fun, isn’t that why we all do it?! When it stops being fun, I’m out of here.
I somewhat disagree with people who say that their clients don’t have time to follow and participate in the convo, because from my vantage point, I see that a lot of them do make the time. However, I can agree that in some cases they truly don’t have time, and therefore need PR even more, as well as a community manager.
Whether it’s the CEO, the PR person or a community manager, it’s a new ballgame guys and you had better play the game to win or you’ll get left in the dust. IMO, the game is so much more fun when you work in concert with your clients and participate together. It’s much more effective because it’s not about us (PR practitioners) owning the relationships, it’s about helping our clients build and strengthen their relationships with bloggers/journos, and at the same time providing story ideas and news that (hopefully) help bloggers and journos.
And I disagree with the notion of not needing PR because PR is so much more than getting coverage.
Most of the people commenting here make some valid and worthy points that I do agree with, but if you boil it all down, at the end of the day I think it’s about adapting to the ever-changing environment and understanding how to best craft and deliver the message to each individual blogger/journo in the manner that s/he wants it. Do we always get it right, or course not. Is PR broken, of course it is. But we are all here trying to make it better for all parties involved, and that’s a good thing!
This is great stuff. Really thoughtful and well-informed comments from a large and growing group of passionate voices. It’s also a conversation that (I’m guessing) many if not most of the commenters would have unaware of, and both unprepared and/or unwilling to join four years ago.
Is PR dead? Hell no. Is it broken? Hell yes. What this dialogue shows me is that we’re (the industry) significantly more aware of the need to change than we may have been four years ago, and that some of us are actually doing something about it.
To expect an entire industry to break a 60 year old habit overnight is wholly unrealistic; to demand that we make substantial progress quickly isn’t. I think it’s incumbent upon those of us who “get it” to drag those who still may not kicking and screaming into the future of PR.
That’s what we’ve committed ourselves to doing at Edelman, and while we’ve made a great deal of progress over the past few years, the facts that (a) schools continue to graduate students who don’t get it, and (b) technologies are being introduced faster than they’re being assimilated means that our job as pioneers, teachers and mentors won’t end anytime soon.
If you’re reading this and you’re in the profession, you share that responsibility with your staff, your peers and the industry as a whole. Don’t just talk about the need to change and/or rant about why it’s taking so long… please, do something about it.
RWM
Sorry for the cliches (holy PR gaffes batman) but PR is an art, not a science; and a marathon, not a sprint.
The best pros aren’t just pitching stories, they’re helping writers find them. They know the industry they are communicating with. They immerse themselves.
“I know how to talk. I know how to write. I can do it myself.”
But sometimes there’s a person that can help do it better. And when you’re asking people for money – whether it’s customers or VCs – sometimes a pro is needed to make sure the market grows and the angels are happy.