what tiger woods can teach us about public relations

this past sunday was a great day. i had so many sports to choose from: baseball, basketball, golf, etc. i chose a little of each and spent the afternoon reading and watching television. yes, i can do both. it’s a gift.

watching the memorial was great. no, watching tiger woods finish the memorial with birdies on 17 and 18 to win the memorial was, well memorial. (disclosure: i’m not a tiger woods fan)

watching this spectacular finish while reading pr and media blogs got me thinking. there’s a lot going on with tiger woods’ approach to the game of golf that relates to public relations.

i decided to throw some thoughts out there. feel free to add your own ideas.

practice

tiger woods works out every day with a number of coaches for golf, strength training and flexibility. while pga tournaments take place thursdays through sundays, tiger is practicing every day.

as a pr pro we must continuously practice our trade. we have to work hard to be the best writer, best researcher and best salesperson possible. it’s an evolving industry and those of us who don’t practice the tools of our trade will fail, especially in the age of new media.

research

prior to the opening of any golf tournament there are one or two practice rounds. the golfers play the course with caddies in tow. tiger woods takes extra time to walk the course so he can learn the way the grass grows, how deep the bunkers are, which way the wind blows, where the fairways narrow, etc. he take notes. he take a lot of notes. tiger woods knows every inch of each course he plays.

in pr, everything we do is based on research. we must know our everything about our clients, their products or services and their target audiences. we must know their industries and their competition. and what’s most often forgotten, we must know their media.

we must study media the way tiger woods studies a golf course. we have to understand who writes what and how they write it. we have to dedicate time to reading the trades so that we know how to pitch them. otherwise we’ll end up in the bad pitch blog.

know your opponent

tiger is perhaps the most studied of professional golfers. he knows how each pga tour player approaches the game and he uses this to his advantage. this is why on sunday, no matter with whom he is matched, tiger knows how to beat him. tiger knows where and how his opponents will hit each shot. he knows where they will try to take advantage and take a lead. and he knows where he can pressure them into making a mistake.

we have many “opponents” in public relations, and we must know them all. we must know our clients, fully understanding what they can and cannot do or say. we must know if they’re good at speaking, interviewing, etc. and we must create a program around this.

we must know the media. we must know how they approach stories, otherwise we’ll never be able to take advantage and get our clients some ink.

we must also know our environment. we must know when to speak and when to shut up. we must understand our place when participating on client calls. we must know when it is our job to research, build media lists, pitch, create programs, etc.

know your self

tiger knows his game. in an interview at the memorial, tiger was asked why he increased the angle on one of his wedges. “i just can’t hit the ball the way i used to a couple years ago.” tiger knows his limits and he uses this to his advantage.

in pr we must also know our strengths and weaknesses. are you a good writer? are you the creative that always comes up with that great idea? do you have that wonderful personality that has the most success pitching media? know who you are and use this to make your self better. know your strengths and weaknesses. learn from your peers’ strengths and teach others from yours.

game day

tiger woods approaches each tournament the same: be leading on sunday. he doesn’t come out on day one and dominate the field. instead, he typically takes it slow, but stays within a few strokes of the leader. he uses the first couple days in each tournament to get a complete grasp of the golf course so that come sunday he can’t be beaten.

we can’t come out swinging in public relations either. we need the first two elements of practice and research before we can accomplish our goals. and true public relations isn’t really measured in brief campaigns. rather they must start and build to a crescendo (and maintain it). while there are a few media darlings that have achieved immediate success, there are also golfers who have won one major and then slipped back into mediocrity. the most successful approach to public relations is to build relationships with the media and all stakeholders. this is a long-lasting approach that continues to build, through good times and bad.

know how to adapt

the golf course changes throughout the day. dew slows down balls rolling across the green. a sudden wind can carry your ball into the rough. the grass follows the sun and the grain on the putting green changes throughout the day. there’s rain, light, heat, cold. you have more energy at the beginning of the round and can hit the ball further and with greater accuracy. tiger woods knows how to adapt to the greatest of challenges. he recently won tournaments going into and coming out of knee surgery. that’s knowing how to adapt to pain.

what do we need to adapt to in pr? we create a pitch and away it goes. the email fairies deliver our perfectly crafted pitches to the top or our targeted journalists’ e-mail inboxes.

but what happens when there’s a disaster? what if a hurricane or tornado hits your target market? what if your client is involved in a scandal? what if a competitor comes out with the same news a day earlier? we must know how to adapt and know how to use anything to our advantage – or not do anything at all. we must read the headlines and study our clients’ industries. i had a pitch (which i thought was the greatest pitch ever) that no writer or editor would consider. then something happened. a leading research firm released a survey  stating that this industry would see gains where all other would see declines. and my client’s largest industry association committed to cutting two trillion dollars over 10 years. I adapted and I succeeded.

close out with class

win or lose tiger is a classy guy. you never see him calling out his opponents (although his caddie sometimes does). he plays hard and wins with grace. he is respectful of other players and of legends from pga past.

we are creating relationships for ourselves and our clients. we have to be respectful in our wins and our losses. show class when you get that businessweek feature. be respectful when that trade publication turns you down. treat others how you want to be treated and you’ll be a winner.

these are my thoughts on how tiger woods can teach us about public relations. for a look at how the golf swing is like a pitch, check out prdude’s blog in defense of pr. and please let me know your thoughts.

think like a reporter

i recently read a report from publicityinsider.com entitled “the ultimate pr and publicity secret.”  it was a bit drawn out, but it was fantastic in its simplicity. the overall message in bill stoller’s report is that business owners need to “think like a reporter.” simple, right? yet how often do we, pr practitioners actually do this? the sad truth is that we don’t do this often enough. to think like a reporter we need to understand how to:

• separate real news about your client from promotional puffery
• deliver a sharp story angle that will be of real interest to the news reading or viewing public
• deliver this angle in a professional, courteous way.

here are some truths that you ignore only at your own risk:

• reporters don’t care about helping you
• reporters are hassled all day by pr people and they’re pretty much sick of it
• reporters don’t care about your client’s web site, book, products or life story, unless…

…you are providing something that helps make their job easier – that is, a really good story. in that case:

• reporters love you
• reporters are happy to take your call
• reporters are fascinated by your client’s web site, book, products and maybe even life story

so what’s the bottom line? when you design your public relations campaign, develop your angles, develop your media materials and begin contacting the press, always think: “what can I do at this step that will make this more useful to a journalist?” That means:

• developing story angles from a reporter’s perspective, not a business owner’s
• conducting yourself in a manner free of hype, clichés and puffery
• using proper etiquette when contacting a reporter or editor

keeping in mind this report was written for business owners, there is still a lot of good, basic information included here…information we learned long ago and have either forgotten entirely or are it’s so basic that it’s often overlooked. either way, it’s a good idea to return to the basics of good public relations.

putting relationships back in public relations

there’s a lot to be said about building relationships. it requires an introduction. it requires building trust. and it takes work to make the relationship last. this is true for all relationships, whether it be a friendship, romantic relationship or media relationship.

walk in the shoes of a journalist for a day and you’ll understand why relationships matter in the pr industry. you arrive for work, fire up your computer and open your email only to find countless emails from pr flacks that arrived overnight. what do you do? delete, delete, delete.

now you’re n deadline and are writing diligently to get your story to your editor. ring ring!!! who is it? it’s the pr flacks who sent you the emails overnight following up to make sure you’ve read their emails. some are friendly. some won’t take no for an answer. some have a good story to tell. most have no clue what you write about.

this is why we need to rethink how we (pr flacks) approach media.

first, media databases serve a purpose. they help narrow down a nearly endless list of journalists into a manageable group. but this does not mean you can spam these journalists with news releases. no, it goes much further than this. it requires time and commitment.

the best way to approach a journalist is to read what they write. sounds simple, doesn’t it? but it’s hardly ever done.

study what the journalists write about and how they cover the topics. understand where they’re coming from. then put yourself in thier position and ask, “would i write about this company or its widget? is there a story here, one that my readers would like to see?” if the answer is no, delete them from your list. if the answer is yes, pick up the telephone.

you need to call the journalist to introduce yourself and your client. let them know you’ve followed their writing and understand and respect their perspectives (at the very least this will gain you brownie points).

you have to be open with journalists. make yourself available to them and provide them with information when they ask. do this with the understanding that it could take several months before they write about your client. afterall, there is no guarantee in pr.

if you do this you will create lasting relationships that will make your job much easier. the journalists will respect you. your clients will love you. all you have to do is read, listen, learn and deliver. just remember, think like a journalist.

pr vs publicity

there’s been a bit of an uproar in the pr biz due to scobel’s blog on the “death of pr.” while i have to stand up and defend my practice, scobel does have a few good points.

clients demand results. senior management demands results. junior staffers do whatever it takes to get results. the problem is we can’t all agree on what constitutes results.

are the results quantitative? are we counting clips and sending a binder to the client each quarter? some clients like these results. they can hold the clip book in their hands and show their boss the results. we can even make pie charts showing distribution of media hits: trade vs business vs top 100 DMA, etc. we can break in into tiers and show inflated web circulation. and my favorite measurement is showing the client a pr newswire report. clients can be amazed at how their news release landed in forbes and the wall street journal, not to mention every business journal in the country.

are the results qualitative? is the client mentioned at the top third of the story rather than the bottom third? is it a feature? are we hitting the right audience? is the client’s message resonating throughout the story? is the client mentioned in a better light than its competitors? these are the results we pr practitioners like. while more difficult and costly to measure, qualitative results show us we’re doing our jobs. they demonstrate we’re telling out client’s story.

that’s the challenge in pr. clients want publicity and pr folks want actual pr…and there’s a big difference.

for an example of pr vs publicity, take the 2008 presidential election. i will argue that both obama and mccain received equal publicity if you were to count the number of media hits. but did they receive equal pr? no. and the one who received pr was elected president of the united states.

obama ran on a message of “hope” and “change.” nearly all media repeated his campaign message. funny thing is that he never defined exactly what “hope” or “change” meant. he didn’t have to, and it’s not because the media is biased. his message was simple. he wanted to inspire hope and bring change, period.

mccain ran on a message of “country first.” do you recall any media repeating that message? no. because mccain never defined his message. while his message was as vague as obama’s, it required definition. and mccain couldn’t define what “country first” meant. he received equal media attention, but his messages were never driven home. and this is a major factor as to why failed in his election bid.

back to scobel…he’s upset at the number of poorly written pitches and unsettling telephone calls he receives daily. it’s understandable, as someone with his influence will be constantly bombarded with unsolicited emails and calls. it’s not fair to scobel. but it’s also not fair to simply blame the pr professional.

as pr professionals, we have to deliver quantitative results, and this is why journalists are hit with email and calls. are these clips delivering the client’s message? probably not.

i’ve been in the position of blasting pitches and news releases to media lists with more than 1,000 journalists. did i get results? sometimes. but i can’t tell you the number of “please remove me from your list” responses i’ve received. my clients got their clips, but my email has been address added to a lot of spam folders, ruining any chance for building a relationship.

pr professionals need to read what the journalists are writing before they send pitches. does it take time? yes. but i will argue that 20 well-placed pitches tailored to each individual journalist will yield more results than a pitch email blasted to 1,000 reporters. the journalist will appreciate that you’re pitching them a story they would actually cover. the journalist appreciates that you’re doing your job and acting professional.

so what comes from this? pr and publicity. while the number of clips will be down, the client’s message will resonate throughout a story written by an influential journalist, placed in targeted publication and read by its key audience.

we can all learn something from scobel’s rant. and we can all do better jobs at getting our clients real pr rather than only publicity. doing our jobs will shape opinions and make waves in whatever industry our clients exist. if we work a little smarter, we can achieve pr.

why searching?

so now i’ve got this thing started. searching. what does it mean?

i decided to name my blog searching because it’s the very thing i’m constantly doing. i’m always searching for ways to better myself. searching for ways to better my work. searching for new friends, girlfriends, colleagues, etc. searching for the perfect day, night, vacation. searching for the best day at work, or for the best clients. and the search never ends.

that having been said, what am i searching for in social media? the obvious answer is to build a database of knowledge that will position me for future greatness. but i can learn a lot without publishing it in a blog for all to see. so what are my true intentions?

i’ve surrounded myself with social media pundants, all of whom think they are the best of what they do. for the most part, they’re right. my social network is built around the best in the pr industry. i read their blogs and their tweets and i learn. but it’s easy to get caught up in all the noise, an echo chamber if you will.

is the point of my social media plan to have the most people regurgitating my blog posts? is my purpose to become one of the many self-proclaimed social media experts? am i branding myself, and what is the point of self-branding? am i the expert who can tell hundreds, no thousands of followers which twitter applications of new social media news release sites to use? why would anyone listen to me, unless i’m the person with 20,000 twitter followers. that makes me an expert, right?

no. my mission is to find ways to bring my clients into today’s digital media spectrum. i want to deliver social media programs for enterprise technology clients. and for B2B clients, it isn’t always easy. hell, it doesn’t always make sense. and i have to be smart enough to let them know when it doesn’t make sense. but the point is that i have to know.

i’ve stopped reading blogs on how to attract followers. funny thing is that i was spending so much time reading these how-to blogs and i hadn’t even begun building my network. as i previously mentioned, this blog isn’t going to write itself. but i also don’t want to simple regurgitate what i’ve read from the experts. i read dennis howlett and matt dickman. i follow phil gomes and kevin dugan. i’m learning from todd defren and becky mcmichael (and ruder finn’s dot comms and dot orgs). i read everything and i draw my own conclusions. and this is the way it should be.

i read corp/tech pr blogs, social media blogs, etc., because i want to share this information with others. i read everything i can so that i can develop the best social media programs for my clients. i read everything so that i can be the best i can be. and i am thankful for this education.

so i am constantly searching, but that’s a good thing. i hope my relentless search will benefit you as much as i hope it benefits me. so please chime in. let’s go on this search together.

hello world

“hello world”

i’ve been staring at that for nearly eight weeks, tossing over potential topics. do i jump into discussing pr? tech? social media? do i really know enough about any of these topics to actually jump right in? perhaps a good night of bourbon or a night of good wine could inspire. nevertheless, i’ve realized this blog isn’t going to write itself. so here goes…

allow me to introduce myself. i’ve been in the pr world for a few years now. i graduated with a degree in communications and immediately found myself with an internship at one of the big pr firms. following three months of creating media lists and clipping bookss for my 14 clients, i took a job with a private company within the construction industry in chicago…a big one at that. i created the company’s first marketing, advertising and media programs and transformed the way the company approached business and sales by engaging local community and business leaders and building relationships. but after one year i realized i could only teach myself so much and left the company for – get this –  an internship.

i wanted to get back into pr and i recognized that agencies are the best place to learn, despite my previous experience. this time i took an internship with an investor relations firm that had a boutique corporate communications practice. i found my niche in the corporate technology space and i fell in love with pr.

following a buyout, a little restructuring and some internal politics, i found myself without a job. but there was nothing to fear. the job search boards were filled with so many positions i assumed i would land on higher ground within a couple weeks. didn’t happen. the job boards dried up within a week and interviews were few and far in between. i had my resume everywhere, and recruiters were hitting the telephones hard for me. three months. nothing. and then, an email.

i was invited to interview with one of the pr industry’s larger independent firms. i approached the office on a smoldering june day wearing a wool suit, desperately searching for place where i could cool down and dry off before taking the elevator to the sixteenth floor. now presentable, i entered the office and was met with smile after smile. everyone was young, but not too young.  they seemed to be right at the point of still learning but having enough experience to teach. the position was much more in depth corporate technology than my previous experience, but i knew it was what i wanted. the interviews went well and i accepted an offer.

i fell in love with corporate technology with my previous position, but i proposed marriage to it at my new job. i had the luxury of working with and learning from the brightest coworkers who were the best at the pr corp/tech practice. and making things even better, i was quickly learning how social/interactive/digital media was transforming my industry and how my clients could benefit. i decided to steer my career in this direction and i haven’t looked back.

i began reading every blog available and attending social media seminars whenever i could attend. i had a boss who offered to pay for me to attend these things. life was good. no, life was great. for the first time i loved going to work. and then the economy crapped out.

it hit me pretty hard when i saw coworkers walking into the bosses office, door closing and now ex-employee walking out. i liked these people…a lot. and then there was a knock on my door. “have a minute to go to the bosses office?” they asked. “do i have to?” i responded. i knew it was coming, and i was devastated.

it wouldn’t have been so bad having been laid off during normal times, but i personally knew of numerous other pr firms that had recently been cutting their workforces. how am i going to find a job in chicago when there are a few hundred other people with my skills roaming the job boards? how do i make the case to hire me when pr firms are letting staff go left and right? that’s when i decided to start this blog (and not write anything until now).

i got lucky. ten days later i interviewed at a boutique firm. not three weeks after being laid off i received an offer. heaven. not only am i continuing in my corp/tech niche, but i am also allowed the freedom to pursue the social media aspect of pr i have been wanting. i’m creating social media programs for all the firm’s clients, and i’m even creating rfps to grow the business.

i still read everything i can because i know that if i don’t, the world will quickly pass me by. i have a nice group of equally eager social media pr friends on twitter. we educate each other. we are all at different levels of our careers, but we are all striving for similar goals. we all want to be at the forefront of digital public relations. and we are working together to better ourselves. it’s a great thing, this social media.

i’m sure this blog will evolve over time. the overall emphasis will be public relations, but i plan to discuss my views on the digital media transition. i’m hoping to learn a lot through my reading and writing, and i hope you will get something out of this as well.

cheers,

pd