Part 4 of What Companies Should do During a Media Crisis: Communicating with (and through) the Media

by Josh

Part 4 of What Companies Should do During a Media Crisis: Communicating with (and through) the Media

In some ways, talking to customers and the public through the media is the easiest part of a crisis.  It’s also one of the most risky as it relates to protecting your company.  The job of media outlets is to share the information of what’s happening with the public, but not necessarily to share that information in the way you want.

Assuming you’ve already read through Part 1 of this series and already have your simplified and clarified message finalized, let’s jump right in to some best practices for talking to media during an emergency.

Six best practices for talking to media during a crisis: 

  1. Designate One Spokesperson. Answers and statements to media are best when they funnel through one person to ensure consistency.  When it comes to the media quoting the company, you’ll be much happier in the end if the same person is quoted in every interview. That said, every media outlet will contact your company separately for a comment.  If you’re planning a press conference, let other communications team members answer calls and emails, and tell reporters to attend the media briefing for more information. The more time the spokesperson can spend doing interviews instead of scheduling interviews the better.
  2. Acknowledge Questions Quickly. You don’t need to know the answers, the public just needs to know you’re working on getting the answers.  Failure to respond to media quickly and acknowledge an issue implies the company doesn’t know, doesn’t care, or doesn’t know what to do.
  3. Respect Their Timeline, Not Your Own. Reporters have deadlines and they don’t work for you. During a crisis, think of it like you work for them. You can’t make a bad story go away, but you can make it less severe. If you make the reporter’s job harder, why would they give your company any breaks?  The easiest way to stay on a reporter’s good side is to ask them what time they need an answer by, and if at all possible get them an answer before the time they request. If you know you aren’t going to have an answer in time, tell them.  They will understand it takes time to get answers and it won’t always be possible by their deadline but they still have a story to write or tell regardless. If you tell them late it makes it harder for them to write or tell the story, and you run the risk they’ll take that extra stress out on you and your company in the story they tell.
  4. Don’t Let the CEO or Other Key Leaders Speak. This recommendation will be a surprise to many, but I believe that a company leader should never be the one to explain what went wrong immediately as a crisis is occurring.  Let your hired PR firm be on camera as the bad guy explaining the problem (that’s one of the services we offer for our clients to help protect them).  Only after we have an answer and a solution should the CEO or leadership talk to reporters, so they can take credit for fixing the problem instead of being seen AS the problem.
  5. Crow Tastes Better Warm Than Cold. Mistakes happen.  If you’re going to need to accept blame eventually, apologize for the mistake quickly. Why suffer extra news cycles of damage when you can shorten the window and focus on fixing the problem.
  6. Show how you fixed the problem. In the days and weeks after the crisis, share your story of how you’re fixing the problem and how you’re making sure a similar mistake never happens again.  If you have new technology or equipment to avoid a future problem, announce it and add it to your website so people know the issue has been resolved. Post “thank you” notes and comments from once unhappy customers demonstrating your commitment to making things right.  Highlight employees that went above and beyond to fix the problem and protect customers. Create a case study showing your commitment and ability to make changes that protect and help your customers and the public.  You won’t be able to erase the initial mistake, but you can celebrate your efforts to fix it.

Finally, I would argue that during a crisis you need the media a lot more than they need you.  They’re telling the story whether you help them or not.  If you want them telling the story in the least damaging way, you need to respect them, and use them to share the message you want accepted by your employees, the public and your customers.

-written by Josh Weiss

Part 3 of What Companies Should Do During a Media Crisis: Communicating to your Impacted Customers and Supporters

by Josh

Part 3 of What Companies Should Do During a Media Crisis: Communicating to your Impacted Customers and Supporters

The hardest and most important communications you have to handle during a crisis is to set the right tone and be responsive when sharing information to your supporters and any impacted customers.

Your customers are the ones who ultimately hold your company’s destiny in their hands.  If you want to weather the storm, the easiest way is to protect and save what you already have secured.

Assuming you’ve already read through Part 1 of this series and already have your simplified and clarified message finalized, let’s discuss the next section of this four-part series.  How to communicate with impacted customers and your supporters during a crisis.  

Tips for talking to impacted customers:

Be Honest and Be Direct.  People will be upset- don’t ignore or belittle that anger.  Be humble and empathetic in your wording, but also tell customers what to do or what to expect.  Provide usable information in the first few sentences, don’t bury the detail halfway through your statement.  Someone who’s stressed by your company shouldn’t have to search a long document to find updates or answers.

Provide Expectations and Instructions, Even When You Don’t Know the Answer. Even if you don’t yet have all the answers, acknowledge the issue and explain that you’re working on an answer. A simple statement on your website and SM channels can help, such as:  We are aware of the issue and are working on a solution.  We will provide an update with additional information at 3pm today, or earlier if possible.

Move the Issue Off Your Main Page.  If you’ll need to communicate lots of information over time, or will be giving lots of updates over several days, create a secondary website or social media page to separate angry customers from unknowing or unimpacted customers.

Respond to Social Media Posts.  Angry customers will make lots of posts on your social media pages. Create a series of short responses that can be used. One response may simply be that you’re working on a resolution to the issue and that the company will provide an update as soon as it can.  Another might be to direct impacted customers to another page for more information, updates and how the company plans to help impacted customers. Ultimately, people want to be acknowledged, and others will see you responded.

Accept that media is a conduit to talk to upset customers.  Upset customers during a crisis will be watching media to see how you respond to the crisis.  Therefore, your response needs to have them in mind.  If customers need to do something as a result of the crisis, tell the media what customers should do and use them to help give instructions.  I’ll get more in to talking to the media in Part 4 of this series.

For the most part, people can accept that mistakes occur, and that not everything is in our control.  Customers just want to know you’re genuine in your desire to fix the problem and truly do apologize and accept responsibility when it’s expected.  If you handle the crisis well, and your customers are content with how you handled everything, they may become even more loyal to you and your brand, knowing that they can count on you to do what’s right even when it’s not easy.

-written by Josh Weiss

Part 2 of What Companies Should do During a Media Crisis: Communicating Internally to Your Staff During a Crisis

by Josh

Part 2 of What Companies Should do During a Media Crisis: Communicating Internally to Your Staff During a Crisis

A crisis doesn’t only effect customers, it directly effects your staff. It’s your staff that has to communicate with angry, scared customers – calming their fears and resolving their problems. It’s your staff that needs to keep their cool, show empathy and have crazy amounts of patience.

Like a sports coach, leaders need to give their team the strategy and direction to implement during a crisis.

In Part 1 of this four-part series we focused on simplifying and clarifying your goals as a formal statement that all parties can focus on during a crisis.  Now let’s focus on the audience that often gets ignored and forgotten during a crisis—your own employees.

But leadership often forgets that employees themselves are often scared during a crisis. They’re scared for their jobs, they’re scared of the extra work that will be required of them, and they’re afraid of not knowing what’s really going on.

There are some important steps company leadership must take (to keep employees on their side).

Leadership needs to be seen and heard, and employees need to be told what the company is committed to doing, and how they’ll be acting in the future (see part one of this series on simplifying and clarifying your goals during a crisis).

  • Hold small group meetings with team leaders. Very quickly (within hours) have a series of small group meetings with your senior team leaders.  Hold the meeting in-person if possible, but even a video streamed meeting or conference call will work.  Tell them what you’re doing, and what they should be telling their teams.  Their staff will be looking to their supervisors for instructions, and nothing is scarier to morale that managers not knowing what to do or if they themselves look scared.  A five minute meeting can make all the difference to your teams. Make the time.
  • Walk among the workers. Have leadership walk through the cubicles and offices thanking employees and portraying confidence- even if leadership doesn’t completely feel that confidence.  If you’re in multiple locations this may not be possible, but have local leaders do the walk-around instead.  When leadership smiles and displays confidence in employees it goes a long way for morale.
  • Have your talking points and be prepared to repeat them. The key points should all revolve around the simplified, clarified statement you set (again, see Part 1 of this series).  Stay on your talking points, even when asked lots of specific questions. Stick to the main points while acknowledging that the question is valid but that you’ll make an announcement to all employees about it soon to ensure everyone has the same information at the same time to avoid more rumors or confusion.
  • Host a town hall in person or live streaming. After the initial shock, and after you have time to digest the core issues, it’s time to hold a large team meeting (or series of meetings).  Your staff may be scared, but you need to show your confidence in them.  Tell them that you know that this isn’t easy for them, but that you appreciate them. Tell them that your leadership team will support them and do all they can to help resolve the problem. Answer what questions you can, but only share information you want media or the public to hear. Even if it’s only intended for employees, all it takes is one scared or angry employee to talk to someone they shouldn’t.
  • Demonstrate your appreciation. Maybe you can buy breakfast or lunch for your teams as a simple thank you.  Maybe you can hand-write a handful of letters to key team members at all levels telling them they are appreciated.  Maybe you can send a group email to a select team saying that you appreciate their efforts.  Simple acknowledgements and thank yous go a long way in keeping staff on your side.

Your staff is already going to have their hands full dealing with customers and the public, but if you lose the support and confidence in your own employees your task becomes nearly impossible. By investing the time to communicate and solidify support of your internal teams, your likelihood of quickly winning back customers and the public support goes up significantly.

-Written by Josh Weiss

The PR crisis for your company has already begun, so what should you do? Part 1: Simplify and Clarify Your Message.

by Josh

The PR crisis for your company has already begun, so what should you do? Part 1: Simplify and Clarify Your Message.

Ready Fire Aim. That’s how too many companies handle a crisis.  They respond before they know what their message is, and they end up saying the wrong thing to the wrong audience.

It’s easier if you plan for a crisis in advance so you can execute your strategy when needed, but a lot of companies find themselves unprepared during an emergency. For this four-part blog series, let’s focus on four topics of what to do after the crisis has already started.

Part 1:  Simplify and Clarify Your Message

Part 2:  Internal Communication (i.e. to staff, investors, etc.)

Part 3: Communicating with impacted customers and your supporters

Part 4: External Communications with reporters and the public

Let’s jump right in to Part 1, shall we?

When a crisis occurs, companies tend to make one of two opposite, but equally painful, mistakes.

One mistake is being too afraid to say anything at all, and by taking too long to respond the company fails to stop the bleeding before the damage is complete. A quick acknowledgment and action by the company is essential to ending a crisis.  The more news cycles the company waits to show they care and are trying to fix the problem, the worse it will be.

The other mistake is speaking too quickly without an organized strategy or a designated spokesperson from whom all statements will be controlled and consistent. A company can look pretty bad when different spokespeople contradict one another. It only leads to more confusion and issues to resolve. It also looks horrible when a statement is made, but only hours or days later the company needs to backtrack because the company’s desired message or strategy has changed.

Both of these mistakes (and the inconsistencies they create) are not due to ineptitude by any individuals. Rather, it’s simply a lack of a simple message and simple direction from the top.  In the middle of a media crisis, it’s too late to form a committee and discuss options.  Leadership needs to act quickly to calm the storm, but clarity and consistency is also needed.

Simplify and Clarify Your Message

One of the first things company leaders need to quickly decide are a few core message points from which all statements and actions will revolve around – no matter who is speaking or listening.  The key is clarity and direction.  The statement should clearly and simply state what the company is focused on during the crisis, and what the company will do after the initial crisis is over.

For example, say your healthcare organization has a major HIPPA violation.  An example of your core message points may be:

  • We will take care of our patients impacted by the violation
  • We will investigate and take action where appropriate
  • We will redouble all efforts to prevent any future similar violation

These statements may not seem very deep, but they’re very powerful.  They’re a promise allowing all parties, internal and external, to set their expectation.  They become the mile markers for which the overall response can be judged.

The statement lets those who are impacted, the public in general, and the media know the company cares and is working on proper resolutions. It’s hard to hate someone that’s trying to help. It may not stop anger or fear, but there’s comfort in knowing the issue is not being ignored and the company has a plan of what to do to fix it.

To company spokespeople, it gives clear statements to convey to anyone that will listen.  The statements are general enough that they can be given quickly to media, even before all the facts are known.  It shows that the company isn’t ignoring the crisis, or the anger or fear it might create. It shows the company cares.  It also creates a clear path to show the public in the future that the company followed through on its commitment, wherever that path might lead.

These simple but direct statements also give internal guidance to employees on how they are supposed proceed in the immediate aftermath of the crisis.  It also points in the direction where the light at the tunnel will (eventually) appear.

The first statement, to take care of the patients effected, is something employees can start doing immediately.  The second statement lets internal teams know they need to investigate what happened and the third statement instructs employees to figure out if anything needs to change internally to make sure such a violation doesn’t occur again.

Ultimately, during any crisis there’s lots of details and nuance that to insiders seem important. As company leaders, you need that info to evaluate the details and decide how to fix the problem, but these details aren’t important to the general public.  From a message and direction standpoint, the best thing a company can do to protect its brand image and minimize the damage is to simplify and clarify the goals into a statement that is easy for everyone to understand and rally around.

– – written by Josh Weiss, President, 10 to 1 Public Relations

We’re Hiring! Seeking a PR Account Executive. Please Note Our “No Jerks” Policy!

by Josh

PR Account Executive

10 to 1 Public Relations is growing! Are you looking for a place where you can grow too? We have a great opportunity for a smart, hard-working, dynamic, creative and organized fulltime individual to serve as a PR Account Executive at our dynamic firm.

Ideal candidates will have the drive to be an essential team member that creates and implements PR strategies for multiple clients with a focus on media relations.

With offices in the Scottsdale Airpark area, 10 to 1 Public Relations is the sole Arizona member of IPREX- a network of more than 60 independent PR firms from across the globe. Winner of numerous local and industry awards, we currently serve numerous local, regional, national and global clients. Key client industries include healthcare, technology and finance.

The firm has a strict “no jerks” policy which relates to both clients and co-workers.

The responsibilities for this position include (but are not limited to):

  • Creating and implementing strategic PR plans
  • Day-to-day management of assigned clients
  • Writing press releases, media pitches, case studies and articles
  • Pitching media (local, national and trade) and securing media placements (online, print, TV & radio)
  • Monitoring media for trends and newsworthy items, and identifying unique angles for new story ideas that fit for clients
  • Development of key messages and talking points for client interviews
  • Event coordination and execution
  • Conceive partnerships with like-minded brands
  • Participate in business development

Qualifications Include:

  • BS/BA in Public Relations, Journalism, or related field
  • 2-4 years experience in full-time public relations position (agency experience a plus)
  • Strong writing skills (AP style preferred)

Attributes:

  • Great communicator, both written and spoken
  • Detail focused implementer
  • Willing to share ideas
  • Proactive, great multi-tasker
  • Works efficiently and has exceptional ability to manage multiple projects and meet tight deadlines
  • Charismatic, high-energy and team-player
  • Independent and willing to take responsibility
  • Positive attitude

Still interested? Tell us your story! 

Our Favorite Business (not political or Hollywood) PR Crisis Examples for 2017

by Josh

by Josh Weiss

Our team recently attended an event where we supplied a raffle prize.  We decided to have some fun with it, creating a “Crisis Recovery Raffle Prize” which consisted of gift certificates from Massage Envy, Chipotle and Uber.  Three companies that recently faced different types of media crisis.

Yes, most attendees totally missed the joke but those that got it thought it was amusing like we did. As a public relations pro, it’s easy to focus on all the good news we create for our clients to grow their positive image and brand, but too many companies fail to prepare in advance for a crisis so that the can quickly deal with it should a media emergency occur.  Even fewer companies have a crisis recovery plan on the shelf ready to put in place whenever needed.

Let me share a few crisis examples that Businesses faced in 2017 where a crisis prep and crisis recovery plan would have been helpful.

Massage Envy: 

More than 180 women came out accusing Massage Envy franchise employees of sexual assault. The story broke in one news outlet and quickly became a national story. Initially the company didn’t respond and it took more than a day before the CEO made his first statement, which essentially said that a more thorough response would be coming in the following days.

Here’s the thing:  Massage Envy has more than 25,000 employees at more than 1,170 franchised locations.  They can’t be expected to know everything that happens during every customer interaction, in every locally owned franchise.  But they should have anticipated this kind of accusation would occur at some point, so they should have had a PR plan on the shelf ready to dust off and respond immediately.

From the outside, the company appeared completely unprepared.  While I do give kudos to what their team eventually said and tried to do to show they are working to stop future possible incidents, they simply didn’t act fast enough the slow or influence the spread of negative stories.  While nothing they could have done would have stopped a negative story, a faster response could have stopped or slowed the bleeding much earlier, creating less long-term risk to the company and making it easier for their brand to recover.

Uber:

2017 wasn’t a good year for Uber either. The number of issues they had is actually comical and likely will be taught in PR classes as a perfect self-created storm.  Early in 2017 they faced a #deleteUber campaign to protest actions which made it appear the company was siding with President Trump and his recently proposed travel ban.  After more than 200,000 people canceled their accounts, before the CEO was one of the last company CEOs to quit a Presidential council that helped slow the bleeding.

Shortly thereafter, a former engineer wrote about sexual harassment and gender bias at Uber. Her blog post claimed that her manager tried asking her to take part in his “open relationship,” then threatened to fire her for reporting it to HR. Making matters even worse, HR allegedly didn’t reprimand the man because he was a “high performer.”

As it that wasn’t enough, Uber CEO Travis Kalanick got into a fight with an Uber driver over falling fares. Dashcam video of the altercation went viral after being published by Bloomberg. Add on a data leak and a string of other issues – Uber logged a record-breaking quarterly loss, and several executives jumped ship, including Kalanick and President Jeff Jones.

Surely, it’s no easy task to handle one single crisis for a company of Uber’s magnitude… But the ridesharing company experienced several throughout the course of the year, displaying deep issues within the organization that needed to be addressed.

With new executives in charge of altering brand perception, hopefully 2018 will start (and end) with a much cleaner slate.  For that to happen, there needs to be transparency and a lot of time and effort spent on reputation recovery efforts.

They started that by trying to get all their dirty laundry out to the public, only a few weeks ago when the new leadership team announced that in 2016 the company paid off some hackers with $100,000 not to use stolen data from more than 57 million rider and driver accounts. My guess is if the new leadership finds anything else, it will be disclosed in the coming weeks and months in hopes that they can start from a clean slate.

Ultimately, will Uber be okay? I’d assume yes, but these crises definitely hurt their market share and their top competitor, Lyft, is said to be seeing a big boost thanks in part to Uber’s missteps.

Chipotle:

Chipotle has worked hard to recover from the E. coli outbreak in late 2015 that affected restaurants in 14 states.  While the number of people that got sick was actually low, the lost perception of Chipotle ingredients being healthier compared to other fast food services took a huge hit putting the long-term future of the entire company at risk.

It’s been a slow slog for Chipotle to regain the public trust. I know several people that still won’t eat there, or significantly curtailed how often they eat there.  But one also cannot deny that Chipotle has worked hard to implement new food safety protocols, hiring experts to direct the new program in an effort to reposition the chain as one of the industry leaders in food safety.  Just as sales (and their stock price) were steadily improving, Chipotle had relapse as one of their employees caused a norovirus outbreak at one location in Virginia in July.  Norovirus is a highly contagious illness, but it is was not food related.  The incident reminded the public of earlier incidents, renewing the perception of food safety problems forcing the company to take a few steps backwards before again trying to regain their past success and reputation.

What we can learn from these PR Crises –

Each of these examples are very different from one another. Some are cultural or self-imposed like Uber.  Others may come from the supply chain or a missed process like the initial E. Coli crisis faced by Chipotle. While other crisis might be somewhat predictable like the Massage Envy example.

No matter what type of PR crisis, it’s the failure to anticipate and prepare in advance that is the biggest risk to many companies.  A slow, poorly thought out response makes a story significantly worse than it already would have been.

The reality is that you can’t stop a negative story from occurring, but your actions can make the effects of a media crisis less damaging both in the short and long-term.

Have you ever thought about what possible (or even likely) disaster scenarios could happen to your company?

Are you creating a step by step guide of how you’d handle it if that scenario did occur?

Have you shared our plan or thoughts with your PR team or outside consultants so that they can vet the response strategy, provide feedback and know what to do if that story breaks?

Have you asked our PR team or outside consultants to start building that plan for you?

By planning ahead and being prepared, your efforts can aid and guide your company to a much faster reputation recovery and regain confidence to among your current and prospective customers.

note: Sierra Oshrin contributed to this blog

8 Tips to Submitting Award Winning Nominations

by Josh

by Josh Weiss

It’s one thing if you say you’re good, but it’s something else when you can point to an award proving you really are good!  Awards are a great way to give your company third-party credibility and build trust.  The best part, is that you can win even if, technically, you lose!

Here’s what I mean—if you’re named a finalist for an award, before the ultimate winner is released you get to promote yourself as a finalist by putting out a press release, adding it to your website and company newsletter, etc. After the awards ceremony, if you win, you can do a second announcement claiming victory.  This gives you two bites at the apple of self-promotion!  But, if you don’t win and instead come in second or third, you can simply sit back and know that you at least got credit and recognition upfront from being a finalist and it will remain proudly on your website for all to see.

Several years ago, I wrote a blog sharing some tips when it comes to applying for awards.  I thought I’d revisit the list and share 8 tips and best practices when it comes to submitting award nominations.

1)      Take advantage of annually presented awards.  Someone has to win, even if the entries aren’t that strong.  You’re not competing against past winners, you’re competing only against the other nominees from that same year.  It may surprise you that when it comes to annual awards- like from a Chamber of Commerce- there are sometimes only a handful of nominations submitted.  So if you do the math, the odds are pretty good that you’ll at least be named a finalist.

2)     Read the eligibility requirements.  Don’t waste your time submitting if you’re just going to be automatically disqualified from consideration.  A simple example is if the rules say you need to have been in business for three years, but you’ve only been in business for one, then don’t waste your time applying.  Selection committees can look the other way for a lot of narrative text answers, but selection committees can’t award you the prize for prettiest cat when your nominee is a dog.

3)     Give them what they want.  Most nomination and eligibility forms state exactly what the selection committee will be looking for in the winner.  Make a list of each item that the selection committee is reviewing, and write your nomination to directly answer those questions.  Make it easy for the selection committee.

4)      Highlight the key phrases that will earn you points from the judges.  In boldface type, highlight the keywords that answer each question or scoring criteria.  Your goal is to ensure that the selection committee can find and properly score your answer for maximum points.

5)      Have someone else grade your nomination.  A great way to test your nomination is to have someone else read your submission. Have them literally check off each item they find related to a stated scoring criteria.  If they find any scoring items not explained in your answer, go back and add the needed details into your submission.  Don’t throw away any points that will help you win simply because you accidentally forgot to include an example.

6)      If at first you don’t succeed, apply again.  Just because you don’t win the first time doesn’t mean you shouldn’t re-apply the following year.  I’ve experienced cases where the awarding organization was so desperate for a quality candidate that a client has been called after a deadline has passed and asked to resubmit a nomination from a previous year.  Needless to say, the company was happy they resubmitted their nomination.

7)      Ask why you didn’t win.  If you don’t win, don’t be afraid to ask the judges how you can improve upon your nomination next year.  They may tell you what was missing from your nomination, or why they chose another winner.  You’d be amazed at how honest and helpful the response likely will be and how it will improve your chances for success in the future.

8)      You Must be present to win.  Make sure a leader from your organization quickly confirms that they will attend the awards ceremony and get your RSVP in early.  There are two reasons.  First, if the winner has yet to be chosen, judges will want to make sure that whomever they choose to win is actually there to accept.  If they know you won’t attend, they’ll give it to one of the other finalists.  Second, you need to take advantage of the media opportunities the awards event provides. Whether that be people seeing you on stage accepting the award, or in photos taken and shared with media of the winners afterward.  An award you win that no one ever knows about is basically only useful as a paperweight or doorstop.

Good luck with your submissions.  If you follow these nine submission suggestions, you’re likely to walk away happy!

Five Years Later: 10 Tips I Wish I Gave Myself When Launching My Company

by Josh

by Josh Weiss

A few weeks ago I shared a post celebrating the 5th Anniversary of my PR firm.  The reaction was a bit different than expected.  Along with notes of congratulations, I also received a lot of questions from new or struggling business owners.  It made me wonder what I wish I had known back when I started the company.  Here are 10 things I would tell myself or others starting their business.

1. Throw the Spaghetti on the Wall and See What Sticks. When I first launched, I tried to highlight about a dozen areas of expertise and gave each equal billing when meeting with a prospective client.  In time, I recognized that different PR services “stuck to the wall” for different potential clients.  For example, some of our greatest skills revolve around proactive media relations, product or new market launches, crisis communications, trade show interviews, and award submissions.  But that doesn’t mean each client needs or wants each of those talents.  Stop trying to force certain spaghetti strands to stick the wall and just accept which ones do stay on the wall and focus on those.  Later, after you gain a client’s trust can try to explain how adding new layers can benefit the client.

2. Aim for the Target Not the Bullseye. Initially I had a very narrow target audience of prospects, but quickly realized I needed to broaden my view.  Yes, it’s important to have some specific targets in sight when you start, but don’t miss out on potential clients because you fail to acknowledge the circle of companies around them.  For example, before launching my company I had a lot of PR experience in helping public safety agencies (EMS, Fire, Police) and expected to earn a lot of clients in this industry.  By broadening my target, I was able to add several healthcare related clients and other public safety vendors that respected my past experience.  I now view my firm as agnostic—willing to work with most companies regardless of industry—with a few exceptions for a handful of industries where I simply have no interest or passion.

3. Identify Friendly Foes. When I first launched, I tried to stay away from marketing firms fearing that they might try to steal my clients. Before long, I realized that marketing firms would become some of our biggest supporters and referral partners.  Yes, we overlap on some services sometimes, but for the most part we don’t compete with each other.  These partners have become great friends and have helped build my business, just as I’ve helped build there I also encourage you to find some other people that ARE direct competitors and befriend them.  It’s good to have someone you can talk with to share professional process questions, even if you aren’t talking about specific prospects.

4. Become a Department of Redundancy Department. Repeat what works, over and over again.  The more you do it, the better you get, and the quicker you can accomplish it.  Once we come up with a strategy and media plan that works, we want to copy that success market after market. Don’t feel like you need to show people something new, show them success in what you’re really good at and bring that to them- it’s what they want anyway!  I equate it to a cookie cutter.  A lot of people initially say they don’t want a cookie-cutter approach. I completely disagree… it’s the cookie cutter that provides the structure and the form.  It’s the ingredients and the frosting that should change for each client and/or market.

5. Ooze Passion. Not everyone will get as excited about what you do as you are. That’s okay… but they need to recognize how excited that YOU are.  When they see your passion and excitement, it only makes them more confident that you have reason to be so excited, giving them confidence in your abilities. It’s also why it’s okay to be proud and share your accomplishments with others.  It’s not bragging if you can back it up!  People like a winner, just like the love seeing passion.  People are more likely to recommend you if they feel confident in you and your company.

6. It’s Okay to Say No. Just because someone wants to pay you doesn’t mean you should accept.  I know that’s sometimes hard for a new business, but if you know you’re the wrong fit personality-wise, or if their goals or strategy is different than how you work, save yourself the time and trouble and simply say no. You’ll thank yourself by not having to deal with tip #7 which is:

7. It’s okay to Fire a Client. I’ve only had to do this a couple times, but sometimes it’s necessary to fire a client.  It may be due to personality conflicts, a change in their company strategy or new leadership negating your past successes.  Sometimes it’s simply because they don’t pay on time.  It’s just okay to accept it’s not working well with a particular client, and there may simply be no way to fix the issues.  Yes, firing the client might be stressful to do, but afterward the reduction of ongoing stress is worth every penny you lost. More importantly, it helps you maintain and protect your other clients that you really do like.

8. Don’t be Afraid to Ask for Help. People want to help you, they just don’t know how.  You need to ask them and tell them what you need. Just be specific when you’re asking.  For example, be direct if you want someone for an introduction to their co-worker or friend at a certain company.  They’ll be much more likely to do it rather than your making a generic request to a friend asking them to introduce you to anyone they know that might need your services.

9. Was it as easy as it looked? No, it wasn’t easy to make it to this point.  But people don’t need to know how hard you’ve worked either because, frankly, they don’t care.  Think of the most successful people you know.  Do they seem like they’re always available to chat and in a positive mood, or do they constantly talk about how busy they are and how hard they’re working?   If you’re always swamped, fix it.  Hire someone to help, or raise your prices while letting some clients go to free up time so you don’t feel so stressed.  But if you look and act too busy, people aren’t going to want to hire you because they’ll think you can’t handle it or don’t have time.

10. Accept That You’ll Make Mistakes. You’re going to make some, the key is acknowledging it and pivoting as necessary to make sure you don’t repeat those same mistakes over and over.  I definitely made my share of mistakes while building my business, but I learned to pivot when necessary while making sure I always had one foot planted in the PR skills I felt most confident.  I believe it made all the difference in success and failure.

I don’t know if these tips will help any other entrepreneurs, and I don’t mean to imply that they work for everyone or that I know something they don’t.  They’re simply reminders that I’d give myself if I was starting my business today.

Do you have any tips that should be added?  Add them in the comments below—I’d love to learn what you’d add.

Confessions of a former TV Reporter: 3 Things Beyond Media Relations That Help Define Public Relations

by Josh

By Sierra Oshrin

When I first decided to leave the news industry, my mind was flooded with questions as to what I would do next. I had always heard public relations was a relatively smooth transition, and many reporters I knew crossed over to the dark side and began careers in PR. But what exactly is public relations? Up until this point, I primarily thought of public relations as media relations. Boy was I wrong.

Robert Wynne, a contributor for Forbes, put it best when he wrote, “the public relations industry does a terrible job of public relations.” I honestly couldn’t agree more. To this day, when I’m out at networking events or meeting friends for coffee, many ask me that same question. And to be honest, it took me a while to learn how to best explain it. Some think of it as a sub-set of marketing. But while marketing and public relations can work hand in hand, there are several things that set them apart.

One of the key differences between marketing advertisements and public relations boils down to credibility. An advertisement displays a flashy image or statement aimed at leaving an impression with the consumer, with the ultimate goal of driving traffic to the company’s website or store front. But it’s paid for, and most consumers are going to be skeptical of whether or not the product does what the ad says it is going to do. Now that they’ve heard of the product, they’ll ask their friends, look at reviews online, and see if there’s any negative media attention surrounding the company. Their final decision will ultimately be influenced by the company’s public perception.

Public Relations is about altering that perception and building good will among your industry, customers, and investors. There are many ways you can do this, but the most traditional method is by securing media coverage. If a company spokesperson is interviewed during the news segment, they have the opportunity to control the message being broadcast. Companies essentially get a 30 second to 3 minute promotion of their product without having to pay a penny. And it adds credibility because journalists will offer a (mostly) objective view on it, asking the questions that consumers want answered.

In addition to media relations, here are 3 things I now think of when describing public relations.

  • The cornerstone of public relations is engaging with the public. Community involvement is important because not only does it bring new awareness to your company, but it gives people an inside look at your company’s values and culture. Organizations who closely match the things that matter most to your company will allow you to tap into your target audience and interact with them first-hand.
  • Being a recognized expert and leader within your industry is a powerful way to position your company as the first choice for new customers. The key to accomplishing this is by giving members of your leadership team opportunities to share your company’s expertise, philosophy, and successes with the right audience. You can do this through speaking opportunities at trade shows, or by piggy-backing off of news stories that pertain to your industry; telling the reporter what could have gone wrong or explaining how something went right.
  • Awards also provide your company powerful credibility. Companies that win awards or become finalists for them are seen as superior to those who don’t. With nominations and awards credited to your company’s name, you’ll be able to stand out in your industry as a leader. You miss 100 percent of the shots you don’t take, and the easiest way to lose an award is by failing to apply. But it can be a lengthy process.

Public Relations is built upon the idea of controlling your story. Find the right firm that can manage your company’s reputation and image in a positive way that will be able to withstand any threat.  Maybe that firm is the one where I work, maybe it isn’t.  It doesn’t make the need to influence and share your own story any less important.

4 Reputation Management tips we can learn from Delta and Ann Coulter’s tweet storm last month

by Josh

Quick reputation management has always been important for companies, but social media has dramatically sped up expectations.

Currently, some of the most known examples of threatened reputations are aimed at airlines where consumers are regularly posting to Twitter when unhappy about their service. Whether it be getting kicked out of their seat, not enough leg room, or their flight getting canceled; posting to social media is a major threat to the reputation of airlines—and ultimately to any company.

So how should a company respond when they’re receiving a tirade of nasty tweets from a disgruntled customer? Remember, whatever is posted online moves quickly and has the potential to last forever… So it’s important to handle these situations with grace, and good timing.

Here are four tips that will help a company manage its reputation.

  1. Pre-plan for different possible issues. Whether it be a reporter calling or something posted on your social media channels, have a crisis communications plan already in place so you can respond quickly.

Airlines must have lists of their most common complaints, and they also know which scenarios could be most damaging to them.  All they need to do if look at examples mishandled by their competitors if necessary.  Damaged instruments or sports equipment, lost wedding dresses, missed funerals, all these scenarios are easy to imagine occurring.  So instead of waiting to decide what to say during a crisis, pre-plan your responses.

  1. Acknowledge the issue quickly. Please note, acknowledgement doesn’t mean resolve the issue or give a full response.  If your company is still figuring out how to handle the situation, at least acknowledge that you’ve seen the tweet and you’re working to solve the issue.

Here’s an example. Just a few weeks ago, Ann Coulter made waves by tweeting that it took 28 hours for Delta to give her an explanation as to why she got kicked out of her seat. A tweet can go viral within hours – which means everyone who is following the situation is eagerly awaiting an explanation as well.  It’s no different than a forest fire- you wouldn’t purposely let it burn for hours before trying to put it out.  Imagine how quickly that fire would spread. An acknowledgement that you’re investigating the issue and will respond as quickly as possible won’t put out the fire, but helps contain it. It’s the waiting for acknowledgement and wondering if a company even knows of the complaint that often bothers people more than the time it takes to get a full response.

  1. Take the gas out of the bandwagon. It’s easy for people when they hear a negative story to then share their own negative experience. Stop this before it occurs.

The bandwagon effect occurs more quickly and regularly when it seems a company doesn’t care about a complaint.  Acknowledging an issue, then sharing publicly the resolution to that issue shows that a company listened and responded.  It doesn’t matter if everyone is happy with the resolution or result, but responding with respect and empathy goes a long way towards ending a stream of add-on negative impressions.

  1. Build up a good will bank so potential customers are more likely to give you the benefit of the doubt.

One of the main reasons Ann Coulter’s (or any angry passenger’s) tweets take off is because the public has gotten used to hearing about negative issues with airlines. Her incident wasn’t long after a United Airlines passenger got dragged off the airplane, or after a couple heading to their wedding claimed United kicked them off too. Both of these situations triggered social media onslaughts that hurt the company’s reputation.

What you don’t hear enough are all the good things these airlines are doing.  Yes, good news can go viral too—just look at the viral story of a stewardess saving a child from human trafficking, or how fallen soldiers are often respected on flights as a casket is being transported.  The trick is that negative news travels faster and wider than good news.  So it’s essential to build up lots of good will and positive stories to drown out any future negative story.

Conclusion:

Is the customer service with airlines progressively getting worse? Are people just more inclined to post about it now that they’ve seen their peers, celebrities, and political pundits do so? Who knows.  Either way it’s up to your company to build a good reputation before something negative is said, but also to manage and protect your reputation once that negative impression occurs.  Whether it be through a reporter’s news story, or a social media post.

By Sierra Oshrin, 10 to 1 Public Relations