Remember when we were little and were playing and we’d somehow end up locked on the outside? The other kids would ask us: “What’s the password?” and they would not let us come in unless we guessed it? Sometimes it would go on and on cause we had no idea what the password was…Well, back then it was funny!

Protecting your media section with a password? Not funny anymore! I have ran across several websites lately that had such a marvelous strategy, but this post reminded me of it and of my needing to address the issue.

First off, why on earth would you need such a password? We’re usually talking logos, hotel photos, press releases, company overview, management and team profiles. How exactly would these be misused.

Secondly, any business needs the press, blog or social media coverage they get. And journalists, bloggers and social media users don’t have the time or urge to apply for yet another account that they might not use for more than once! Plus, if the deadline is today or tomorrow, no one will change an entire newspaper layout for you. No one will just wait in the high-seed online news world of today!

As their covering your story is something that helps you a great deal, why would you make them jump through hoops? Why would you make anyone who wants to know more about your company jump through said hoops?

As a PR specialist, I can’t find any way to explain this. If it’s to fish for email addresses, this is bad! Better create a special emailing list for the press and ask them to subscribe to it AFTER they get in the Media section of your site!

It is great that Michelle Obama is advising US citizens to vacation in the Gulf. There are, in the end, thousands of miles of beaches that the oil has not touched yet. Getting involved in the effort to help local communities and the overall economy while still having a blast during your vacation is something to admire. An example to set that other will follow and make sure people are stronger than the oil spilt in their waters.

“It is vacation time.  Folks are looking for things to do with their kids, and this would be a great opportunity to do a few things — help this community, send a different message about the extent of the spill, and also think long term about how the rest of the country can help this economy and the folks down here,” Mrs. Obama said at the Panama City Welcome Center.

But is this PR move still brilliant when the Obamas themselves chose to vacation elsewhere, Maine to be precise? Isn’t taking your own advise proof that you believe in what you are saying and that you are also involved and doing, not just reciting PR speeches carefully crafted for you?

Maybe there is a perfectly good reason why the US President and his family have chosen Maine’s Mount Desert Island, home of Acadia National Park. Then again it’s a weekend mini-trip and the reason why it’s not the Gulf Coast for them as well is unclear to me.

It breathes hypocrisy and actually a poor PR strategy of the White House. I am sure people who knew Michelle Obama was to speak at the at the Panama City Welcome Center cheering for Gulf Coast vacations also knew where the First Lady and her family were planning to go. Couldn’t they connect the dots?

There is a Romanian saying stating you should do what the priest says, not what he does. Maybe it should be extended to presidents and their families as well.

What do you think of all this?

If you’ve been in the PR field for a few days, you have heard at least one journalist complaining about bad press releases saying nothing and being sent to them in an attempt to get their attention. There are quite a few articles about effective press release writing complete with ebooks and hardcover books to help you get the hang of this important task: crafting a news release that works.

No wonder there have been some harsh reactions to the latest New York Times press release that says (almost) nothing new. After bragging on a few paragraphs about how their business section is the greatest they finally throw in some bits of info about a new column being launched.

I for one cannot imagine why you need a press release to announce the world how cool your paper is. Who are you sending the release to? Would you actually expect other newspapers to say how much cooler you are? Are you trying to impress young business people looking for info and mentors? Or are you trying to get some more ads on you website and in your print version and writing a release to convince companies they should do whatever to get some editorial or advertising coverage? Whatever the reason, it still is a bit lame. It’s still pseudo-news, it’s still time wasted saying nothing…

The fact it comes from the New York Times is even worse. You’d expect more for them! If they wanted to send such a material out, they could have done so to a business newsletter list. Add a list of top 10 reasons to advertise/invest in getting editorial coverage in the New York Times and throw in a discount for orders placed in the next few days and that’s still a way better idea than the said press release.

Head over to the PR Newser website and read the entire release text (if you have the patience) and the statement of NY Times’ PR reps explaining why they have issued the release and let me know what you think about this entire affair!

Yes, common sense! What we should really take for granted is becoming as rare as miracles. People are so hasty in pushing their own agenda that there’s no time for courtesy, for being nice instead of completely selfish and oblivious of the fact you’re addressing a human being.

Never mind the poor texts sent through email, blog comments and all other channels. Never mind the “what’s in it for me part”! That’s a whole other level of refinement. I really mean the basics of social interaction. Like saying hello, using someone’s name, saying thank you and goodbye. Yes, I am talking about making that other person feel a bit more valuable than just a blog name and an email address you’ve just ticked on a long xls file.

This is becoming so rare, it scares me. OK, you have no time to look for my name, although you can see it on every post I publish. I get the pressure of long to-do lists. But use a ” Hello” or a “Hi” or just “Good morning”! Thank me for allotting 5 minutes of my time to your email or message, then drop a copy/paste line such as “Best regards” or “Have a great afternoon!”.

Either PR people lack all common courtesy skills, or they think bloggers are vane, sub-human creatures that don’t need hellos, but need their ego-boosting pat on the back. Something like saying you chose them because they rank well on some fairly popular site. By the way, try to use a site they actually show up as top dogs on!

I tend to believe it’s the first theory, because such thoughtless messages are also sent to journalists, business partners, customers and whoever else they might come in contact with, not just to bloggers! I understand the fast-paced, Internet-bound world we’re living in has turned us into creatures talking in text message and instant messaging slang. But even on Twitter and messenger we stop to say hello!

Let’s return to the basics! Let’s be nice and thoughtful, act like human beings and have a tidbit of common sense! It’s good PR

The pressure is killing us, I know. Our clients want something done yesterday and all at the same time. I know it’s hard completing everything on time and making it perfect. But like it or not, the devil is in the details! So stop focusing on the major ideas only and pay attention to details as well. The reason is simple: not doing it and making little mistakes slip in makes you look sloppy! No one will care that you were all tired and stressed and the phone was ringing non stop. They will only care that you had typos in every paragraph of the text you have delivered.

I’ve happened to come across quite a few invitations, press releases and announcements, all hurried and sloppy-looking. Typos, text format inconsistencies, important details not mentioned, overlooking negative meanings that could be linked to a whole event concept, poorly chosen locations, you name it, they’ve got it! And this makes the PR people behind it look really bad, although they are quite good at what they do.

But coming up with the plan is one thing, implementing and delivering it is another. And the great ones do all of these steps perfectly. Think of it this way: your press release, your advertorial, your event invite, your email might get to your future customer. They won’t care about anything but the fact that their name might be misspelled in your next press release. Or that their event name will be trashed online. And they won’t be there to listen to excuses.

We’ve all been there and overlooked something. Have we all learned from it? Are we all paying more attention to such aspects? Unfortunately, no… But we could start today!

I’ll keep this one short and sweet. I get a lot of Twitter direct message spam. I overlook some of it, because it’s unintentional. I don’t think all Twitter users a) realize they send direct messages to those following them with Mafia wars requests and b) can tell how utterly annoying it is when it comes a few times a day from different people. But I draw the line at so called online professionals doing the very same. Stop! It’s annoying.

Yes, if you have a twitter account that you use casually to fool around with friends, by all means, play all the Mafia Wars you want. But if it’s a business account and you are trying to show how much of an expert you are, you should know better! No, you can’t get away with it as easily! You’re on probation! I follow people in my line of business because I admire them. We can brainstorm, discuss our ideas, share news. But I can’t look up to spammers or waste my Twitter time on them

Just when I though Samantha Jones of Sex and the City was the major challenge when it comes to explaining what PR is all about, I heard news on some new PR-centered reality show produced by Kim Kardashian and showcasing two of her male BFFs. Yes, that is male Best Friend Forever.

So after finally getting to a short, sweet and powerful speech explaining how PR is not exactly what Samantha seemed to be doing, after occasionally explaining that Samantha’s translation of “I’m in PR” was just a funny example, not the real deal, I am now facing a new challenge. How will I respond to “So, you’re in PR! You do what those guys on Kim Kardashian’s TV show do?”

Skipping the “who is Kim Kardashian” part, I’m sure Google is helpful there, let’s move on to analyzing who the so-called PR gurus (People.com calls them that! Beware), Jonathan Cheban and Simon Huck are. Fist, their company’s site. Command Public Relations has a site no decent PR company would ever come up with: commandpr.com (yes, I cringe at the thought of linking to it). A one page… thing, music, flash of course, no way to stop said music, annoying as that might be, oh, and yeah, no real information. Client list? About us section? Services? Who cares about that? Just listen to the rad song explaining that the singer has told many lies and needs to be freed from oppression. I wonder if the “I’ve told many lies” line is their mission statement. Or if the song’s senseless speech, repeating the same idea over and over again, in two languages, is their idea of effective communication.

I dug deeper and read about this Twitter account for Jonathan Cheban. Yes, a master communicator who believes in dialogues, that’s why he follows 38 people and 20% of those are the Kardashian clan. Then Everything PR linked to this Washington Post article about Cheban. Which made me realize my impression of him was not wrong: he cashes in on his famous or semi-famous friends, he’s a party boy that also makes a buck while partying, and he should thank God every day that his celeb friends still love him. The day they stop, he’ll be royally screwed!

But to get a clearer picture on Cheban, here’s what other people say about him:

“If he told me that the sun was hot, I’d try to keep in mind that the sun was paying him to say that[..] Is he a self-centered narcissist staring at himself all day in the mirror? Yes. Is he a name-dropper who checks his pager all the time? Sure. But it works for him.” – Timothy McDarrah, US Weekly editor.

“We’ve actually been following Cheban on Twitter for a few weeks, and the publicist’s Tweets are definitely heavy on the “OMG LOL” style of writing, if you catch our drift.” – Joe Ciarllo, PRNewser

Why are his celeb friends in on this? Well, lots of freebies for the start of course. It works out great for everyone.

Yes, people are free to create all the TV reality shows ever! I am sure Kim Kardashian’s fan base will watch it religiously. I am sure there will be plenty of girls to fall in love with Cheban’s tan. And I am sure there will be kids out there, dreaming to work and party with Command PR.

But as they have their freedom of speech, I also have mine. And I would like to tell you that my life in the PR world and that of all the PR and Marketing people I know (yes, I know a lot of them), has nothing to do with what these people do every day!

And if you don’t believe me, see what other PR people have to say about it. Yes, these people could be rightfully referred to as gurus!

Yes, it’s true, there are hundreds and hundreds of press releases sent out every day. Yes, some of them will be picked up, some won’t. Yes, some of them are boring and some aren’t. I am all for making things differently, try something new, but that does not mean you should change what’s already working.

There’s a reason why press releases are built they way the are. You know, most important information in the first part of the release? Or the inverted pyramid model? And it’s simple. Whoever you send it to, journalists, bloggers, customers or partners, you want them to know what’s new and cool fast. No one has the time and the patience to dig the information out of paragraphs and paragraphs of metaphors and pompous word twists.

I’ve recently come across a few releases where only the very patient managed, after a few tries, to find out 1. what the release was about and 2. what was important and what was just nonsense. If you’re message is hidden and readers have to go through time-wasting quests to discover it, you have failed!

I know all about the overused phrases, but if you want to write a press release that works, try making your message simple, clear and fun! Then send it to people who are actually interested in what you have to say. I think you have a better chance like that, as opposed to hiding it between long sentences that took you hours to come up with and that need a detailed commentary to be understood.

Photo credit.

…be smart about how you try again!

I don’t really understand why some PR and marketing professionals are off to a good start and then mess it all up in the end! Let’s say you have a cool security product to promote. You wander around the blogosphere, looking for relevant blogs. You find them, you make sure they have covered a certain story, one presenting a problem your product can easily solve. You send a nice email to the author of the blog, showing that you’ve read it, understood who they target and only then contacted them.

All great! You get no reply for a couple of days. And you ask yourself: “Shouldn’t I remind them of my initial email?” And then you blow it! Instead of writing a short follow up email, you resend the same email, completely disregarding the fact you’ve already sent it again. If you take the time to try again, why not do it right?