Spin Sucks: Communication and Reputation Management in the Digital Age (Que Biz-Tech) by Gini Dietrich

Author:Gini Dietrich [Dietrich, Gini]
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Publisher: Pearson Education
Published: 2014-02-19T14:00:00+00:00

Build Relationships and Let the Rest Fall into Place

Let’s say you have a great company. You behave ethically. You have great stories to tell. Your employees are active in your communities and do interesting things in their personal lives. Your customers are successful and have intriguing stories to tell. How do you go about letting the world know?

There is a lot of information online about how to do your own media relations. Inc. ran a story in July 2013, called “How to Do Your Own PR,” in which sales guru Geoffrey James offered advice to business owners.3

3. www.inc.com/geoffrey-james/how-to-do-your-own-pr.html

He wrote, “I know people who are paying as much as $10,000 a month to a PR firm and getting very little out of it. And that’s sad, because PR—getting positive media coverage—isn’t all that difficult. Here’s how it’s done.”

Geoffrey proposes an outline:

1. Devise a story worth writing about.

2. Create nuggets to insert into the story.

3. Offer yourself as a source.

4. Control the interview.

Never mind the fact PR is not about getting positive media coverage. Media relations, one tactic used in a PR program, is about getting positive media coverage. This advice makes it seem too simple. Yes, you have a great story to tell. Perhaps it’s about sustainability, waste reduction, or the empowerment of women. Maybe you hire people with disabilities, people who have gone on to push the envelope with great personal accomplishments, such as climbing Mt. Hood unassisted. Or maybe you have customers who run successful businesses and use your product in new and interesting ways. Those are great nuggets you can insert into the story. You can even offer yourself as a source, which we’ll talk about later in this chapter.

But you cannot control the interview. If a journalist feels like you’re stalling on them or trying to control the agenda, they will eat you alive. Have you ever seen a politician interviewed on television who, when asked a question about something he or she doesn’t want to answer, tries to force an agenda with a comment such as, “I can’t talk about that, but what I can tell you about is my policy on healthcare”? Do you lose respect for the person when you hear that? Roll your eyes?

The same happens when you try to control your interview with a journalist. While you can’t control your interviews, you should go into every one with a list of things you want to talk about, messages you want to relay, and well thought through answers to questions you will likely be asked.

With all the advice doled out every day on this topic on the Web, the important thing is to think about telling your story to the media in this way: You are building relationships with human beings. It’s a give-and-take relationship. If you have journalists in your industry who focus on your niche, if there are business reporters you’d like to know, or if there are bloggers who could have an effect on your storytelling, start out by introducing yourself to them.

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