Patience and Persistence in Pitching

In our technology-centered world we’ve come to expect rapid responses. Instant communication is possible through a variety of channels. I often spend time in areas without cell phone reception and if one of my colleagues can’t call me, she’ll e-mail me; if she can’t reach me via e-mail, she’ll twitter me; if she can’t reach me via twitter, she’ll page me…and on and on…

We become impatient if e-mails aren’t answered within 24 hours – and with certain people I even find myself picking up the phone if I don’t hear back in a few hours. For those in PR, working with the media can often be a reminder that “all good things come to those who wait,” especially when you’re the one with the great story idea.

It goes without saying that when the media calls I move quickly to fulfill requests by their deadlines, but when I’m pitching something, it doesn’t always happen that quickly.

One of Red Shoes’ clients, Affinity Health System, recently began using Barrx, a new technology to prevent esophageal cancer. The expectation was to have a story placed, in addition to blurbs running in local trades. We sent out a release announcing the new technology in October and kept talking about Barrx to the media.

After unsuccessfully pitching the technology to two different media outlets, I finally had a break in June. One of the local TVs had a new reporter from Rochester, Minn. (where the Mayo Clinic is located), with a niche in health care. I told him about Barrx and he was immediately interested. After lining up a patient and the physician, the story went off without a hitch.

After nearly nine months of not getting any coverage, I know a few people had given up, so the satisfaction that came from the story was enormous. The process was a good reminder in the basics of proactive PR: be patient and be persistent.  

Social Media: My Intro to Social Media for Business

Red Shoes PR is happy to welcome the latest addition to the team, Rachel Wollersheim. Rachel graduated from St. Norbert College in May of 2009 with a degree in English and a minor in media communications. In her role with Red Shoes PR, Rachel will support the client services team through media relations, social media and public relations planning and execution. 

Over the past seven weeks, I have been immersed into the exciting world of social media. While I have had a Facebook account for four years, and joined Twitter and LinkedIn months ago, the way I think about these sites is rapidly changing.

Upon graduating in May, I immediately jumped into my intern position at Red Shoes PR in Appleton, WI. While I have previous PR experience, I have never been in an agency setting, especially an agency that focuses heavily on social media.

As a college student, I used social media as purely a social tool—a way to keep friends from home and family updated on my life, a place to share photos from various events and a way to plan and share my social calendar with friends at school.

So, throughout my time at Red Shoes PR, I am quickly learning and catching on to ways social media can be used beyond a personal social tool, as part of a public relations strategy communications channel for companies and individuals.

One of the many changes I have made to the way I use social media is in who I interact with. During college, I used social media as another way to communicate with people I already knew and already talked to or interacted with on a daily basis. Now, I am beginning to use social media to reach out to people I have only briefly met, or people I have never met at all. I am finding thought leaders in my field to follow, interacting with clients and talking with other recent graduates looking to get into the PR field.

Along with expanding who I communicate with, I am redefining the way I present myself through social media. I no longer present myself as simply a college student interacting with friends. Instead, I aim to show a balance of my personal interests and day-to-day happenings alongside what is going on at Red Shoes PR.

While this new outlook on social media is a bit overwhelming, especially for someone with a quieter personality like mine, it is also an exciting time to enter the PR field. For us recent grads, with a little training and guidance, our vast knowledge of using Facebook and other sites as social tools can be transitioned into making us thought leaders in the social media world.

Public Relations: The Art of the Pitch

Do you send out news releases and then wonder why your story isn’t getting the placement it deserves?

Many PR professional know and understand the intricacy of the pitch. And the pitch is an important part of the PR process. What I do is more than just send out a news release. Once the release is distributed that’s when the hardest part begins.

While each situation or pitch is different (reporter’s style, preference, angle, etc.), I’ve certainly learned a lot over the years to increase the odds that our clients’ news will get covered.

Here are some basics that you should think about when it’s time to play ball.

Make reading daily global and national news a part of your routine. Every morning I peruse the headlines from multiple sources. I’m always looking for trends taking place globally or nationally that are impacting or have the potential to impact our community regionally or locally. Is what your company talking about or doing tie into to these trends?

Know who you are pitching. This seems the most obvious but maybe the most over-looked principle. It is important to know what and who you are pitching. Reporters want to be pitched stories on beats they cover. You wouldn’t pitch a technology reporter on the latest developments of the credit crisis. Take the time to research who covers the particular topic you want to pitch and review recent stories or blogs they have written. And by all means, don’t pitch the same story to every reporter or every publication in sight.

The lead. These days, the media is forced to do more with less. They don’t have time to read through a 2-page pitch about your company, product or service. You need to get their interest in the first or second sentence. Develop a pitch that is compelling, factual, relevant and interesting.

Timing is key. The time of day you call or send an e-mail to a reporter can be crucial to a successful story pitch. Also, keep in mind holidays, weekends, breaking news and highly publicized events as well. If there is a major political election taking place or a five-alarm fire, it’s most likely your story won’t get the attention it deserves.

Don’t send e-mail attachments. Reporters rarely have time to open news release attachments, look through numerous photos or sort through pages of information. Keep the content of your pitch in the body of an e-mail. Interactive media allows us to add links to outside sites or photos where the reporter can seek out additional information if they want to.

Remember, it’s a two-way street. Keep this in mind with whatever phase of the story pitch and execution you are in. My golden rule is to treat a journalist as you would your client. Don’t just meet their expectations…exceed them.

Put yourself in the shoes of the media. Ask yourself, “Why would my target audience care about this?” Also, if you are pitching for TV, the story must have interesting visuals and the same goes for radio and sound bites. The media is constantly looking for fresh ideas for stories. A good pitch and follow through will often make reporters come back to you in the future, which is good for you and your company.

SlideShare April Fool's Joke Parts 1 and 2

SlideShare AFJ Part 1: Red Shoes Speak - Slideshare April Fool's Joke	SlideShare AFJ Part 2: Conference Call with Dan at SlideShare

If you’ve been following Red Shoes PR on Twitter and Vimeo these days you’d know that we were a little miffed about the SlideShare April Fool’s Joke. Here’s what happened - SlideShare added two extra zeros to everyone’s presentation views on April 1st as a joke. They then sent out emails to all of their subscribers calling them “SlideShare Rockstars” and sent the following message:

    Hi ___,

    We’ve noticed that your slideshow on SlideShare has been getting a LOT of views in the last 24 hours. Great job … you must be doing something right. ;-)

    Why don’t you tweet or blog this? Use the hashtag #bestofslideshare so we can track the conversation.

    Congratulations,
    -SlideShare Team

What looked like overnight success for SlideShare users ended up being the work of the SlideShare team who had falsly increased views by a significant amount. Angry subscribers began to take their frustrations out on Twitter and the SlideShare blog, which disclosed  it was an April Fool’s Joke. Some users laughed it off and moved on, while others became quite upset after having spent a significant amount of time trying to figure out from where the flood of new viewers came.

This could seem like a harmless April Fool’s Joke, but here’s where it went wrong - SlideShare is a credible file sharing site that contains professional presentations created and uploaded by users. The only tracking mechanisms in place to gauge success are views, downloads, embeds and comments. Therefore, when SlideShare changed the number of views by two zeros they fudged one of the only measures of success.

At Red Shoes PR, we decided to let our voices be heard so we made a video with our thoughts about the prank. The video went live on Friday, April 3, and we received a call from Daniel Lu at SlideShare that day apologizing for what had happened. Dan asked if he could comment via a video recorded conference call.

Here’s what we learned. As companies begin using social media as a communications channel to engage, they are inevitably going to make mistakes. It’s what you do after the mistakes are made that say a lot about who you are as a company. SlideShare began immediately answering angry posts on their blog and via Twitter. They also monitored the online conversations and responded to those in a sincere and timely manner. They continue to use these opportunities as a way to turn the situation around.

Will Red Shoes PR still use SlideShare for posting our online presentations and e-books? Absolutely!  

What are your thoughts? Did they handle the situation well? What would you have advised them to do differently?

Social media for the people by the people

One of my favorite aspects of social media is its approachability. The majority of the platforms are free and Web-based, and with a little instruction, they become easy to use. The more people I meet and talk about social media with, the less I’m able to guess who has already integrated social media into his/her life – my best friend makes fun of my Twittering, yet a 60-year-old friend of my father’s has taught me a few things about Facebook’s capabilities.

It’s this “by the people, for the people” spirit that has got me hooked, and also makes me want to look out for my Tweeples’ best interests. I recently heard about an in-person networking event for people who connected online. (I recommend these beneficial events as a way to extend your online networks.) What made me pause about this particular gathering was the fact that the organizers were charging attendees.

 It’s important to look at different online opportunities and evaluate them based on what they offer:

•    Who has been invited?
•    How many people are planning on attending?
•    Is there going to be programming offered?
•    Are there additional enticements (free drinks, etc.)?

I’m a fan of the informal, spur-of-the-moment meet-ups and the more organized Tweet-ups. I think this is what social networking is all about: finding like-minded people online and furthering your interactions by meeting off-line.

Like paying for anything, it’s important to remember “caveat emptor” and to discover what benefits will come with your payment (time, money or both) to attend social networking events. As social media continues to become more mainstream, it’s important to hold true to its foundational tenant: to provide networking and idea sharing forums within everyone’s reach.

Add Twitter to Your Job Search Strategy

Today's guest blogger is Cathy Browne, a tech-savvy PR gal. I first connected with Cathy via Twitter a few months ago. As a fellow PR professional, I was saddened to hear about her losing her job. Since that time, Cathy has shared her situation with the social media world and through numerous media outlets. What resulted is astonishing and, I think, demonstrates the power of integrating on and offline communications to stand out in her quest for the next job. I asked Cathy if I could share her blog post. Thank you Cathy!

 

I’ll state the obvious right up front – this is not a great time to be job hunting. I’ve been looking for a PR job myself for many months, first in Silicon Valley, where I had lived for several years, and now in Vancouver BC, where I came after my visitor’s visa had expired.  It hasn’t been easy – but I’ve learned a great deal along the way.

At first, I did many of the same things most people have been doing – I scoured the major job boards, as well as craigslist, LinkedIn and Facebook.  I even paid a hefty monthly fee to a well-known organization to give me ‘exclusive’ access to choice positions – a huge waste of money I didn’t have.

I was also on Twitter, but it wasn’t part of my job search strategy - but it is now.  One single tweet changed my approach in December.

I simply love Twitter. I had been using it faithfully to connect and engage people in conversation, and had built a nice community for myself, but I had never really brought up my situation.  Then, on a particularly tough day, I announced that I was on the verge of losing everything and would have to leave the US.

The response was immediate – and overwhelming.  Since then, I’ve had the opportunity to tell my story through guest blogs, media interviews, speaking engagements and Internet radio shows.  Several people offered to circulate my resume to friends and colleagues.  To this day, folks I’ve never met and probably will never meet write me to see how I’m doing, feed me leads, give me encouragement, and tell me things will get better.  I’ve started my own blog, Cathy’s Clean Slate.  I have hope.

Twitter is now one of my primary job search tools that I use in conjunction with other social media.  If you are job hunting, or know someone who is, here are a few Twitter tips based on my own experiences.  I hope they help.

•    Build up your Twitter network – follow people you respect, the people they follow, and the people who respect them.  Use tools like Twellow.com and the brand new WeFollow.com to find like-minded people who may be helpful resources. 
•    Follow job sources such as @JobAngels, @SocialMediaJob, @MicroJobs, @SimplyHired and more.
•    Take a good look at your skills and spend the time to ensure that your Twitter bio reflects them.  Your bio is easily searched, so the right buzz words matter.  Be direct.  My bio says I am job hunting in the first line!
•    Make sure you have a twesume - what you do in 140 characters - and tweet it on a regular basis. (No spamming, though…)
•    Join Twitter discussion groups like #journchat, #smbiz, and #gno (Girls Night Out) to talk to people who have similar interests or shared experiences.  Someone online may be able to help.
•    Check out Tweetups or Twitter interest groups on Meetup.com to mix and mingle with people in your area.  Nothing beats face-to-face contact.
•    Let your followers know you are looking, and if there are certain contacts or companies you’d like an introduction to.  This is no time to hold back.  If no one knows, no one can refer you.
•    Keep your followers posted on how the search is going.  We can all relate to your frustration, and cheer you on when things look promising.
•    Talk about your job search in your blog or ask bloggers you follow if they accept guest posts, so you can provide your own insights on social media and job searches.  Post the link on Twitter.
•    Share information. If you find a great new tool, or if you know of opportunities that aren’t a fit for you, tell the world.  Someone will benefit.  Twitter is all about supporting each other.
•    And never give up. I’m not.

What strategies have worked for you – and what haven’t?  What tools have you used successfully?  Share your experiences so we can all benefit.  And if you are hiring, post your requirements here. 

Let’s keep on working for each other.
 

Connect with Cathy Browne: 
Twitter: @CathyBrowne
http://www.cathybrowne.com/