Crisis planners take note: there are significant lessons to be learned from the tragedy wrought by Hurricane Katrina in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. Painful lessons that, morethan four years after the anniversary of 9-11, we still have not learned.

First and foremost is the need to fix the problem and provide care for the hundreds of thousands of people displaced and devastated by the wind and water damage. Next up is the need for a plan that anticipates the magnitude of this kind of calamity. And finally, we should never assume that prior planning is sufficient to prepare us for the disasters we seek to mitigate.

Watching the news and listening to the various responsible parties point the finger at each other reminds me of the time when, after an argument with my wife, we found our three-year old son walking around the house saying, “It’s not my fault, it’s your fault. It’s not my fault, it’s your fault.” What lessons do we teach our children and each other when we shirk the responsibility that comes with the job of being a parent? An adult? A leader?

We are awfully able at assigning blame after the fact and pathetically poor at preparing for the inevitable crises that await all of us. I suppose it has something to do with control and our need to exert it in the realm of our daily lives. When we believe we have control, life somehow seems more manageable and predictable. Trouble is, the power to control our fate is not in our hands. What we do have is the ability to manage the variables that constitute life as we know it. When we confuse our ability to manage with our ability to control, disappointment –- even catastrophe –- is inevitable.

If we are to be effective crisis planners, we must first play the “What if?” game -– what is the worst thing that could happen? In New Orleans, this question has been asked and answered repeatedly. Just last year, FEMA participated in a mock exercise they labeled Hurricane Pam and the predictions were eerily similar to what we are seeing on our television sets today. So what went wrong?

The five “Ps”. Poor planning produces poor performance. The resources needed to prepare for the predicted devastation – money, materials, time and manpower – were not sufficiently allocated. At every level, the managers sidestepped their responsibility to be managers and turned over their authority to the controllers. As in, don’t worry about the details, everything’s under control.

Perhaps the American institution best-prepared for a crisis is our military. After all, that is its reason to exist, defending Americans and our interests when all else fails. While some argue that events leading up to 9-11 could have been anticipated, few can question our country’s military cability to respond in the immediate aftermath. Yet the consequences of Hurricane Katrina show us that our civil agencies were woefully unprepared for the inevitable. It’s like the man who marches into the woods with a shotgun to defend his property, yet succumbs to a heart attack from a lifelong diet of junk food.

The cost of being unprepared -– not just in dollars, but in human life -– is staggering and incalculable. When it comes to assigning blame, it appears our elected officials, Democrat and Republican alike, are the guilty parties. Hoping beyond hope that such a tragedy would not occur on their watch, they led us all whistling through the graveyard. If such a collapse befell a corporation, the shareholders would toss the officers and board members out on the sidewalk. Let’s hope the American voters have the constitutional strength to do the same with their politicians.

Crisis planning is not easy and never perfect, which is why many people, businesses and institutions fail to do it. Yes, it takes time and energy away from managing our day-to-day activities. And it cannot be reduced to an exercise that is documented and put on the shelf. It is an ongoing, organic process that must adapt to ever-changing variables. If we fail to plan for a crisis, we will ultimately fail anyway. We need to start now. In our lives, our businesses, and our country.

Peter terHorst is president of SymPoint Communications. For more information, visit sympoint.

© 2005 SymPoint Communications. All rights reserved. You are free to use this material in whole or in part in print, on a web site or in an email newsletter, as long as you include a complete attribution, including a live web site link. Please notify me where the material will appear.

The attribution should read:

“By Peter terHorst, SymPoint Communications. Please visit sympoint for additional articles and public relations services.”

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Tags: public, relations, crisis, management, communications

As a teenager, I used to sell baseball cards at local flea markets. My father and I would spend a few Saturdays each year standing on hot asphalt as we peddled an unsealed pack, a slightly bent Nolan Ryan rookie card, or a late model Mickey Mantle.

On one particularly slow Saturday, a hot prospect finally came over to my table – a boy of maybe nine or ten years. We were close to finishing a sale, when I casually asked him if he liked any of the girls in his class. Within seconds, his mother scooped him up and whisked him away, costing me the sale.

“You broke the cardinal rule of selling,” my father admonished. “Never talk to customers about sex, politics, or religion.”

For the first time since then, I’m throwing caution to the wind and discussing…

The Harriet Miers Fiasco

When President Bush nominated White House Counsel Harriet Miers to the Supreme Court, he couldn’t have expected such fierce opposition. That some democrats would have spoken against her was predictable; that conservative republicans would do so was not.

Numerous conservative groups publicly opposed the nominee, as did high profile republicans such as Senator Trent Lott, Rush Limbaugh and George Will.

Late last month, the president accepted her withdrawal. For a White House so well steeped in message control, what went so terribly wrong?

According to USA Today, just four people considered Harriett Miers prior to her nomination to the Supreme Court – President and Mrs. Bush, Chief of Staff Andy Card, and Ms. Miers’ deputy, William Kelley. (In contrast, new Chief Justice John Roberts was interviewed by at least twice as many people prior to his nomination.)

Join the “Real World”

In keeping the selection committee so small, President Bush failed to take a “real world” test. The four people Ms. Miers met with knew her well, liked her personally and believed she’d be seen the same way by everyone outside the room as well. She wasn’t.

Instead of doing the same market testing any manufacturer would do before introducing a new product to the marketplace, the president eliminated the market testing stage. A “real world” test could have saved his administration a lot of heartache.

Popping the Bubble

Many executives, isolated at the top of the food chain, make the same mistake. They socialize with people “like them” who tend to see the world from the same vantage point. They tend to agree that their ideas are good ones. Worse, they rarely solicit feedback from their subordinates – and even if they do, their employees are reluctant to disagree.

When Rainforests and Museums Collide

The head of a major environmental group with whom I once worked was a media darling. He was regularly interviewed by the nation’s largest news organizations, and had a habit of likening the destruction of rainforests to the destruction of museums.

“Imagine how you would feel if we destroyed all of the great art in the Louvre or the Guggenheim,” he might say. “The same thing is happening to the species that live in our planet’s ever-shrinking rainforests.”

The comparison always fell flat with me – so I market tested it. Roughly half the people I asked said that linking museums with rainforests resonated for them; the other half said it didn’t. I decided fifty-fifty odds weren’t good enough – and kept developing new messages until we found something better.

So What Should You Do?

Before you finalize your next message or introduce your next big idea to the marketplace, test it. Ask the receptionist his opinion. Ask the janitor hers. Talk to the middle manager. And include the senior staff as well. Just a few minutes of extra work can help avert a public relations disaster.

Brad Phillips is the founder and president of Phillips Media Relations. He was formerly a journalist for ABC News and CNN, and headed the media relations department for the second largest environmental group in the world.

For more information and to sign up for free monthly media relations and media training e-tips, visit PhillipsMediaRelations.

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Tags: pr, issues, management, ethical , marketing

Managers: Yes, You DO Need Public Relations

Why? Because sooner or later, virtually all business, non-profit and association managers must alter individual perception leading to changed behaviors among their most important outside audiences.

And they must help persuade those external publics to their way of thinking, then move them to take actions that allow the manager’s department, group, division or subsidiary to succeed.

Yes, all managers really DO need public relations.

Which means, should you be such a manager, that you must do something positive about the behaviors of those important external audiences of yours that most affect YOUR operation.

Results can come quickly when business, non-profit or association managers use public relations to alter individual perception among their target publics, leading to changed behaviors which then helps to achieve their managerial objectives.

Fueling such an effort is the reality that people act on their own perception of the facts before them, which leads to predictable behaviors about which something can be done. When we create, change or reinforce that opinion by reaching, persuading and moving-to-desired-action the very people whose behaviors affect the organization the most, the public relations mission is accomplished.

If you decide to undertake such an effort, please keep in mind that your PR effort must demand more than special events, brochures and press releases if you are to achieve the quality public relations results you’re counting on.

No end of positive results can come your way. Capital givers or specifying sources begin to look your way; fresh proposals for strategic alliances and joint ventures appear; politicians and legislators starting to view you as a key member of the business, non-profit or association communities; customers start to make repeat purchases; membership applications on the rise; welcome bounces in show room visits; prospects starting to do business with you; and community leaders beginning to seek you out.

Your public relations staffers, who are already in the perception and behavior business, can be of real use for your new opinion monitoring project. But be certain that the PR staff really accepts why it’s SO important to know how your most important outside audiences perceive your operations, products or services. And make sure they really believe that perceptions almost always result in behaviors that can help or hurt your operation.

Meet with your PR folks and review with them your plans for monitoring and gathering perceptions by questioning members of your most important outside audiences. Questions along these lines: how much do you know about our organization? Have you had prior contact with us and were you pleased with the interchange? Are you familiar with our services or products and employees? Have you experienced problems with our people or procedures?

Measure the cost benefit of using those PR folks of yours in that monitoring capacity against the cost of using professional survey firms to do the opinion gathering work. You may find that using your public relations people is the better bargain. But, whether it’s your people or a survey firm asking the questions, the objective remains the same: identify untruths, false assumptions, unfounded rumors, inaccuracies, misconceptions and any other negative perception that might translate into hurtful behaviors.

At this juncture in the problem solving sequence, establish a goal calling for action on the most serious problem areas you uncovered during your keyaudience perception monitoring. Will it be to straighten out that dangerous misconception? Correct that gross inaccuracy? Or, stop that potentially painful rumor cold?

No one these days sets a goal without a supporting strategy to show them how to reach that goal. However, there are just three strategic options available to you when it comes to doing something about perception and opinion. Change existing perception, create perception where there may be none, or reinforce it. The wrong strategy pick will taste like butterscotch syrup on your fish sticks, so be sure your new strategy fits well with your new public relations goal. You wouldn’t want to select “change” when the facts dictate a strategy of reinforcement.

Here comes some real work. You must write a persuasive message that will help move your key audience to your way of thinking. It must be a carefully-written message targeted directly at your key external audience. Your very best writer will be needed because s/he must produce really corrective language. Words that are not merely compelling, persuasive and believable, but clear and factual if they are to shift perception/opinion towards your point of view and lead to the behaviors you have in mind.

Some view the next step as a wild and wacky part of the effort — selecting the communications tactics most likely to carry your message to the attention of your target audience. There are many available. From speeches, facility tours, emails and brochures to consumer briefings, media interviews, newsletters, personal meetings and many others. But be certain that the tactics you pick are known to reach folks just like your audience members.

Fact is, HOW you communicate should also concern you since the credibility of any message is fragile and always up for grabs. Which is why you may wish to unveil your corrective message before smaller meetings and presentations rather than using higher-profile news releases.

The thought that a progress report may be needed usually pops up at about this point. Which means you and your PR team should view the notion as an alert to begin a second perception monitoring session with members of your external audience.You’ll want to use many of the same questions used in the benchmark session. But now, you will be on strict alert for signs that the bad news perception is being altered in your direction.

Of course, the reality that you can always speed things up by adding more communications tactics as well as increasing their frequencies, will be a source of comfort for you should program momentum slow.

So, it’s true. Sooner or later, virtually all business, non-profit and association managers must alter individual perception in a way that leads to changed behaviors among their most important outside audiences.

Which translates this way: managers really DO need public relations to achieve their managerial objectives.

Please feel free to publish this article and resource box in your ezine, newsletter, offline publication or website. A copy would be appreciated at bobkelly@TNI.net. Word count is 1155 including guidelines and resource box.
Robert A. Kelly © 2005.

Bob Kelly counsels and writes for business, non-profit and association managers about using the fundamental premise of public relations to achieve their operating objectives. He has published over 200 articles on the subject which are listed at EzineArticles.com, click ExpertAuthor, click Robert A. Kelly. He has been DPR, Pepsi-Cola Co.; AGM-PR, Texaco Inc.; VP-PR, Olin Corp.; VP-PR, Newport News Shipbuilding & Drydock Co.; director of communications, U.S. Department of the Interior, and deputy assistant press secretary, The White House. He holds a bachelor of science degree from Columbia University, major in public relations. Visit his site

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Tags: public, relations, manager, management, resume

In the ‘Age of Scepticism’ gaining media coverage is one way of cutting through the ever increasing noise to get your message across.

Research shows the average consumer receives between 1500 and 3000 marketing messages a day.

Editorial generated by media coverage is more credible than advertising and can help cut through the clutter.

It can also help build your reputation.

But how do you get media coverage?

Here are 10 tips for harnessing the marketing power of the media.

1. Know Your Strengths.

What are you an expert at? What is your specialized area of expertise? What unique services or information can you offer? Position yourself as the expert. Even in a crisis this can position you or your organisation as the ‘go to’ person. This builds credibility.

2. Clarify your communication objectives?

What do I want to achieve? To inform or entertain? To provide information? To build a profile? To influence public opinion? Personal marketing? Marketing or launching a new
product or service?

3. Define your target audience?

Who is my target audience? General public? Customers? Competitors? Suppliers? What age are they, what level of education, what beliefs and values, geographical location, how do they use the media? What influence do they have?

4. Identify the best channels of communication.

What is the best way to reach your target audience? TV, Radio, Internet, newspapers – local or Statewide, specialist or generalist, industry publications, community newsletters?

5. What is your key message?

Distil what you want to say into three key points. Remember less has more impact. Be disciplined and stay ‘on message’. How can this message resonate with, influence or tap into collective attitudes among relevant consumers?

6. Build your case?

What are the features, advantages and benefits of your message for your target audience? What evidence and proof do you have? This helps overcome what I call ‘the hump of cynicism’ entrenched in many journalists when they ask ‘why is this news?’.

7. What is the hook?

What will make your message or news release stand out from the rest. Be creative. Use a media release to control the information flow.

8. Develop long-term relationships with the media.

Visit and meet them face-to-face. Network and get to know them.

9. Use the Three Golden Rules to Perform at your Best = Know Your Topic, Be Prepared, Relax.

10. Seek Professional Help.

For maximum impact, effectiveness and value seek the advice of a media and communications professional.

Thomas Murrell MBA CSP is an international business speaker, consultant and award-winning broadcaster. Media Motivators is his regular electronic magazine read by 7,000 professionals in 15 different countries. You can subscribe by visiting this Site. Visit Tom’s blog Here

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Tags: marketing, strategies, plan, strategic, management

No comment. These are probably the two most damaging words in the English language to the reputation of a professional, business or organization. While positive publicity is always wanted, what happens when bad publicity comes your way?

One day damage control is bound to be necessary. It might be a lawsuit. Maybe an accident at your place of business. Or perhaps a labor dispute. Want it or not, a crisis will bring the media to you and thrust you into the spotlight.

Often the first reaction is to say “no comment.” This is the worst thing you could ever say, short of a full admission of wrongdoing. Such a comment is condemning, as it implies you have something to hide. The news media and the public will assume you are guilty.

If your goal is to postpone comment until you assemble the facts, there is another phrase you can use. When asked to comment before you are ready, say this instead: “It would be premature to speculate at this time.” Tell the media that you are greatly concerned about the issue, it has assumed top priority, and all resources are being used to assess the situation.

Many reporters will admit privately that you will be treated much better by the media if you use this approach. Look at the world through their eyes. They are on a deadline to produce a story. Even if all you can say is that it’s premature to speculate, you are helping them out.

If the situation is ugly, by all means get professional public relations help. You are about to be tried in the court of public opinion. Abraham Lincoln said that a person who defended himself in court had a fool for a client. You wouldn’t go to a court of law without legal counsel. Don’t go into the court of public opinion without competent counsel as well.

In dealing with the media during a crisis, here are 10 specific steps to follow:

1. Provide media with access to top executives. A senior executive must represent the organization. Someone who sets policy will carry the most weight.

2. Never say “no comment,” even for sensitive legal or HR matters. Instead say: It is not our policy to comment on pending legal actions, except to say we think this is without merit and we will defend ourselves vigorously.

3. Know your rights as an interviewee. Agree on the ground rules up front. Insist on time to prepare, no matter how hastily.

4. Prepare, prepare, prepare for media interviews. Have three points. Rehearse taking questions. If possible, tell the whole story at once, rather than keeping it alive in the media while additional facts are uncovered.

5. Be open, candid and non-adversarial. Withholding information or evading questions will always backfire. This will look like an attempt to cover up incompetence, or worse, malfeasance.

6. Present information from the viewpoint of the public interest, rather than from the corporation’s interest.

7. Respond to all media inquiries. Avoid the appearance of dodging media inquiries. You will be treated worse. Much worse.

8. Never speculate. Guesswork can be reported as fact. Don’t create expectations you will be held accountable for in the future.

9. Remember past performance when developing responses. Your past record of positive achievements will serve you well during a crisis. Stress positives where appropriate.

10. Sometimes start with a prepared statement. Explain the situation, concern and solution. Tell the truth without being too expansive — then be quiet. Wait for the press to ask questions before going into unnecessary detail.

Henry DeVries is a marketing coach and writer specializing in lead generation for professional service firms. An adjunct marketing professor at UCSD since 1984, he is the author of “Self Marketing Secrets” and the recently published “Client Seduction.” Visit this site

© 2005 Henry DeVries, All rights reserved. You are free to use this material in whole or in part in pint, on a web site or in an email newsletter, as long as you include complete attribution, including live web site link. Please also notify me where the material will appear.

The attribution should read:

“By Henry DeVries of the New Client Marketing Institute. Please visit Henry’s website for additional marketing articles and resources on marketing for professional service businesses.”

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Tags: media, crisis, management, communications, training

If public relations tactics like special events, brochures, broadcast plugs and press releases dominate your answer, you’re missing the best PR has to offer.

Things can change fast!

Tactics will probably no longer dominate the public relations plan. Instead, when needed, they’ll hopefully assume their properly limited role as the primary means for moving a publicity message from one point to another.

But in their place, at the top of an organization’s public relations effort, professional business, non-profit, government agency and association managers will instead marshall the resources and action planning needed to alter individual perception leading to changed behaviors among their most important outside audiences. And then follow up by persuading those key folks to his or her way of thinking, moving them to take actions that allow their department, group, division or subsidiary to succeed.

What a difference that’s going to make as managerial public relations is at last applied. The reason why is really the underlying premise of public relations: People act on their own perception of the facts before them, which leads to predictable behaviors about which something can be done. When we create, change or reinforce that opinion by reaching, persuading and moving-to-desired-action the very people whose behaviors affect the organization the most, the public relations mission is usually accomplished.

Implicit in that premise is yet another reality: public relations planning really CAN alter individual perception and lead to changed behaviors among key outside audiences. But you’ll only get there when your PR demands more than special events, news releases, brochures and talk show tactics. Only then will you receive the quality public relations results you deserve. What kind of results? Community leaders begin to seek you out; welcome bounces in show room visits occur; capital givers or specifying sources begin to look your way; membership applications start to rise; new proposals for strategic alliances and joint ventures start showing up; customers begin to make repeat purchases; new prospects actually start to do business with you, and politicians and legislators begin looking at you as a key member of the business, non-profit orassociation communities.

Look first to your public relations professionals for your new opinion monitoring project because they’re already in the perception and behavior business. But be certain that the PR staff really accepts why it’s SO important to know how your most important outside audiences perceive your operations, products or services. Above all, be sure they believe that perceptions almost always result in behaviors that can help or hurt your operation.

Take the time to review with them your plans for monitoring and gathering perceptions by questioning members of your most important outside audiences. Ask questions like these: how much do you know about our organization? Have you had prior contact with us and were you pleased with the interchange? Are you familiar with our services or products andemployees?Have you experienced problems with our people or procedures?

Of course using professional survey firms to do the opinion gathering work will cost considerably more than using those PR folks of yours in that monitoring capacity. But whether it’s your people or a survey firm asking the questions, the objective remains the same: identify untruths, false assumptions, unfounded rumors, inaccuracies, misconceptions and any other negative perception that might translate into hurtful behaviors.

With that work under your belt, you must establish a goal calling for action on the most serious problem areas you uncovered during your key audience perception monitoring. You might decide to straighten out that dangerous misconception? Or correct that gross inaccuracy? Or, stop that potentially painful rumor cold.

No one sets their PR goal and forgets to link it with an equally specific strategy that tells you how to get there. You have just three strategic options available to you when it comes to doing something about perception and opinion. Change existing perception, create perception where there may be none, or reinforce it. The wrong strategy pick will taste like sauteed mushrooms on your pumpkin pie. So be sure your new strategy fits well with your new public relations goal. You certainly don’t want to select “change” when the facts dictate a strategy of reinforcement.

In public relations, a central talent is good writing. And sure enough, here, the best writer on your team will have to prepare a persuasive message that will help move your key audience to your way of thinking. It must be a carefully-written message targeted directly at your key external audience. Select that best writer because s/he must come up with really corrective language that is not merely compelling, persuasive and believable, but clear and factual if they are to shift perception/opinion towards your point of view and lead to the behaviors you have in mind.

Now we move to what some practitioners feel are the “fun” part of PR action programming – the communications tactics most likely to carry your message to the attention of your target audience. There are many available. From speeches, facility tours, emails and brochures to consumer briefings, media interviews, newsletters, personal meetings and many others. But be certain that the tactics you pick are known to reach folks just like your audience members.

As you probably know, the “believability” of any message is fragile and always suspect. The means by which you communicate should always be a concern. Which is why you may wish to unveil your corrective message before smaller meetings through presentations rather than using higher-profile news releases.

When chatter about a progress report surfaces, you might take it as a cue to begin a second perception monitoring session with members of your external audience. You’ll want to use many of the same questions used in the benchmark session. But now, you will be on strict alert for signs that the bad news perception is being altered in your direction.

Program momentum has been known to flag. In this event, you can always speed things up by adding more communications tactics as well as increasing their frequencies.

Once again, when managers take control of the public relations being performed on their behalf, the more perceptive tend to move away from dependence on communications tactics and on to a plan for doing something about the behaviors of those important external audiences of theirs that MOST affect their operation. That’s when they take steps to persuade those key outside folks to their way of thinking, then help move them to take actions that allow their department, division, group or subsidiary to succeed.

Please feel free to publish this article and resource box in your ezine, newsletter, offline publication or website. Word count is 1200 including guidelines and resource box.

Robert A. Kelly © 2005.

Bob Kelly counsels and writes for business, non-profit and association managers about using the fundamental premise of public relations to achieve their operating objectives. He has published over 200 articles on the subject which are listed at EzineArticles.com, click Expert Author, click Robert A. Kelly. He has been DPR, Pepsi-Cola Co.; AGM-PR, Texaco Inc.; VP-PR, Olin Corp.; VP-PR, Newport News Shipbuilding & Drydock Co.; director of communications, U.S. Department of the Interior, and deputy assistant press secretary, The White House. He holds a bachelor of science degree from Columbia University, major in public relations. Visit site.

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Tags: public, relations, management, issues, cases

Business, non-profit, government agency and association managers with public relations reporting to them are likely to miss achieving a killer edge when they focus strictly on communications tactics like press releases, special events, broadcast plugs or brochures.

On the other hand, those managers striving to alter the individual perception of members of their key outside audiences, as they create change in their behaviors, are surely moving towards that killer competitive edge.

And progress will accelerate as they persuade many of those important outside folks to their managerial way of thinking, helping to move them to take actions that let their department, group, division or subsidiary succeed.

In the proverbial nutshell, such managers take a giant step forward by using public relations to do something positive about the behaviors of the very outside audiences that MOST affect their operations.

Thus, their reward arrives when PR creates the kind of external stakeholder behavior change that leads directly to achieving their most important managerial objectives.

However, getting to this point means you need a clearcut public relations blueprint designed to get every member of your PR team working towards the same external stakeholder behaviors.

The team might well implement a blueprint along these lines: people act on their own perception of the facts before them, which leads to predictable behaviors about which something can be done. When we create, change or reinforce that opinion by reaching, persuading and moving-to- esired-action the very people whose behaviors affect the organization the most, the public relations mission is accomplished.

In due course, the plan should deliver results like these: a rebound in showroom visits; capital givers or specifying sources looking your way; prospects starting to work with you; fresh community service and sponsorship opportunities; improved relations with government agencies and legislative bodies; new proposals for strategic alliances and joint ventures; customers making repeat purchases; membership applications on the rise; new thoughtleader and special event contacts; and even stronger relationships with the educational, labor, financial and healthcare communities.

Whom, do you suggest, will do the work? The usual public relations staff? People on-loan from above? Or could it be specialists from a PR agency? Nevertheless,they must be committed to you as the senior project manager, and to the PR blueprint starting with key audience perception monitoring.

Another caution. Check to insure that your team members accept the reasons as to why it’s SO important to know how your most important outside audiences perceive your operations, products or services. Be certain they buy the reality that erceptions almost always lead to behaviors that can help or hurt your unit.

It will be time well spent for you to review your PR blueprint with your team members, especially your plan for monitoring and gathering perceptions by questioning members of your most important outside audiences. Questions like these: how much do you know about our organization? Have you had prior contact with us and were you pleased with the nterchange? How much do you know about our ervices or products and employees? Have you experienced problems with our people or procedures?

One option at your disposal is professional survey counsel for the perception monitoring phases of your program. However, keep in mind that your PR people are also in the perception and behavior business and can pursue the same objective: identify untruths, false assumptions, unfounded rumors, inaccuracies, misconceptions and any other negative perception that might translate into hurtful behaviors.

By now, you will face the need to set down your public relations goal. This gives you the chance to do something about the most serious distortions you discovered during your key audience perception monitoring. Your new public relations goal might call for straightening out that dangerous misconception, or correcting that gross inaccuracy, or stopping that potentially fatal rumor.

It almost goes without saying, but to achieve success, you must employ a solid strategy, one that clearly shows you HOW to proceed. To keep things simple, note that there are only three strategic options available to you when it comes to handling a perception and opinion challenge. Change existing perception, create perception where there may be none, or reinforce it. Of course, the wrong strategy pick will taste like pancake syrup on your garlic pickles, so be certain the new strategy fits well with your new public relations goal. Naturally, you don’t want to select “change” when the facts dictate a “reinforce” strategy.

One of the most difficult moments in public relations is selecting the ideal writer for a challenging writing assignment. And now is such a time when you must share a powerful corrective message with members of your target audience. But persuading an audience to your way of thinking is hard work! And that’s why your PR folks must come up with words that are not only compelling, persuasive and believable, but clear and factual. This is how you will be able to correct a perception by shifting opinion towards your point of view, leading to the behaviors you are targeting.

This is also the time to decide if your message’s impact and persuasiveness are good enough to do the job. If it is, you can move on to selecting the communications tactics most likely to carry your message to the attention of your target audience. You can pick from dozens that are available. From speeches, facility tours, emails and brochures to consumer briefings, media interviews, newsletters, personal meetings and many others. But be sure that the tactics you pick are known to reach folks just like your audience members.

You might also decide if you would rather unveil your message before smaller gatherings rather than using higher-profile tactics such as news releases. Reason is, the credibility of a message can depend on the credibility of its delivery method.

Someone’s going to suggest that progress be summed up in a special report, so you and your PR team should be prepared to return to the field and start work on a second perception monitoring session with members of your external audience. To create this before-and-after comparison, you’ll want to use many of the same questions used in the first benchmark session. But this time, you will be watching very carefully for signs that the bad news perception is being altered in your direction.

Should progress slow, you also have at your disposal the option of speeding up matters with more communications tactics and increased frequencies.

So, the manager’s quest for a killer competitive edge really IS dependent upon doing something positive about the behaviors of the very outside audiences that MOST effect his or her operations.

Which is precisely why PR must create the kind of external stakeholder behavior change that leads directly to achieving that manager’s most important operating objectives.

Please feel free to publish this article and resource box in your ezine, newsletter, offline publication or website. A copy would be appreciated.

Robert A. Kelly © 2005.

Bob Kelly counsels and writes for business, non-profit and association managers about using the fundamental premise of public relations to achieve their operating objectives. He has published over 200 articles on the subject which are listed at EzineArticles.com, click Expert Author, click Robert A. Kelly. He has been DPR, Pepsi-Cola Co.; AGM-PR, Texaco Inc.; VP-PR, Olin Corp.; VP-PR, Newport News Shipbuilding & Drydock Co.; director of communications, U.S. Department of the Interior, and deputy assistant press secretary, The White House. He holds a bachelor of science degree from Columbia University, major in public relations.

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Tags: public, relations, management, crisis, issues

Once upon a time, there was a young, stressed out corporate events planner called Tanya. She was organising a large-scale event for her firm’s biggest client.

In the midst of organising the guest list, Tanya’s boss told her that the client had requested some video footage be edited together to open the event. It had to be done in a hurry.

Tanya asked her boss, “What do they want the video to tell their audience?”

“Oh, they don’t have any messages”, said her slightly panic stricken manager, “they just want to show footage that was taken years ago that seems relevant for their new launch”.

Tanya knew nothing about video production. She didn’t even have the time to find out. After quickly talking to a few production houses, she chose one that was close by that had quoted a cheap price.

The production house was able to quickly edit the footage together in one day. They did what she said, but deep down she knew she really had no idea what she wanted or why the video was being made.

The video opener was used to kick start the event. Tanya noticed that nobody seemed enthralled by the vision and that some people started talking half way through. Luckily, the client and her boss seemed happy with the result.

A couple of months later, Tanya was out at a networking function. She met another corporate event planner who told her how well video had been used at their events. Tanya was amazed and asked what they were doing.

“The most important thing we do is spend the time working out what the video has to do”, said the vibrant woman. “Then, we make sure that it ties in to our theme and our communication objectives. If you just edit together a collage of pretty pictures, all you’re doing is creating a meaningless video that doesn’t connect with people. People get bored because there is no clear message”.

‘Next time’, she advised, ”spend the time working out what the video needs to do, before getting anything made. Work out the objectives with your client and refuse to just make anything just for the sake of it. Otherwise, all you’ll do is waste their money”.

There are lots of event planners and PR account managers like Tanya who are put into this situation.

Tight deadlines, lack of clear client direction, little knowledge of how video can be used and minimal budget all compound to make it really difficult to create a video that pulls people in.

The secret is skilled strategic planning. All this requires is spending some time working out the objectives.

First of all, what is the event all about? Is it a company celebration or an awards night? Is it a product roll-out or a publicity event? What problem does the video need to solve? These days, the need for return on investment is imperative. By having some defined goals, you will have metrics to measure the success of your video.

Second, describe the audience. Does it include sceptical buyers or excited employees? How likely are they to take home your message?

And last of all, what are the main communication messages? Do you want your audience to learn about the success of others? Or do you need them to be sympathetic to your messages?

When you have important messages that need to cut through, you need to get out the big guns.

The Use of Emotion

Want to get a message across that won’t be forgotten? Then, remember this formula. E+I=C. Emotion plus Information equals Communication.

Using the right blend of emotion and information is a powerful way to get people to listen to what you have to say. And want to hear more.

If you really want to captivate a large group with a message, you have to grab them with emotion. Otherwise, you’ll have a bored and noisy bunch who will turn to the alcohol for entertainment far too early in the night.

For special events, create a video that has an emotional angle to the set mood and tone. Use video to inspire, motivate or excite.

Communicate with Stories

Story telling is a powerful way to pull people in and listen to what you have to say. Let’s face it; we all know how relaxing it is to chill out at the movies or in front of the television to watch stories about other people.

There are many ways to tell your story in a corporate environment. Show re-enactments, use historical footage and photos, interview people and use engaging case studies. Make use of video testimonials.

The Gift of Music

Music has a way of touching the soul like no other type of communication. Used properly it can make people laugh, cry and feel inspired.

Used badly and it will turn people away.

At an awards night I once attended, a motivational video was displayed that featured greyhound racing highlights throughout the year.

It pulled out all the tricks in the book – action shots, over-animated titles, emotional winners and screamingly bad 80’s guitar music. The type that instantly made you think of bad hair, leery jumpsuits and ridiculous make-up. The result was an audience who stopped watching and spent the rest of the night complaining about it.

The only other caution with music is that everyone wants to use commercial tracks. This music requires expensive licensing fees and permission from the artist. Royalty free or production music are often the best choices. A good producer will be able to choose the right music for your production.

So if you are an over-worked Tanya type, who needs to produce a video in a hurry, just remember that you are wasting your time and money, if it has no specific message. Spending a couple of extra hours working out what the video needs to do will create an enjoyable and successful event that people will remember for years to come.

(c) Marie-Claire Ross 2005. All rights reserved.

Marie-Claire Ross is the Director of Digicast Productions a full-service, concept-to-completion video production facility specialising in videos that connect with your audience.Feel free to visit the site

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Tags: pr, communications, consultant, campaign, management

So you have spent hours and hours writing, shaping and crafting your media message. You’ve worked on setting your objectives, identifying your target audience and working out how to reach them. Your release is well structured and packaged, leaving just writing the head-line remaining.

Unfortunately with little time remaining you hastily put together the headline and send out the release but fail to hear from any interested journalists.

Why? A poorly written headline will fail to attract the attention of a reporter, journalist or editor.

Let me give you an example.

“Triple Bottom-line Community Net Benefit Decision Time for Sustainable Economic Development Decisions Needed Says Economist”

This is an actual headline on a media release from MacroPlan Australia published in ‘The Australian’ Media Section on Nov 13, 2003.

Would you want to read more if you got this on your fax machine or email inbox?

How can you write better headlines?

Here are my Top 10 Tips:

1. KEEP IT TO 1 LINE.

More than one line and you are likely to loose a busy journalist who would receive hundreds of media releases a day. Be sharp and precise, remember your trying to hook the journalist in to read the rest of the release.

2. KEEP IT TO LESS THAN 5 WORDS.

Remember with headlines, ‘less is more’. Make each word effective rather then having too many.

3. EDIT FOR BREVITY

You probably won’t achieve points one and two on the first go. Rewrite and edit every time. Even experienced journalists take several attempts to get a headline right.

4. DON’T TRY AND BE TOO SMART.

Writing headlines for the print medium is a real art form. Leave it to those who make a living out of it – namely newspaper subeditors. Remember newspaper headlines have to sell papers, your headline has to engage one reader – a cynical journalist or editor with a ‘so what, who cares’ attitude.

5. KEEP TO THE ESSENCE OF WHAT THE STORY IS ABOUT.

The headline should summarise the story. Make it relevant. If the headline is too flamboyant it will be disregarded, make sure it is appropriate to the story.

6. USE A BIGGER FONT SIZE THAN THE REST OF THE RELEASE.

Don’t go smaller than size 12 for the main body of the text and use size 14 or 16 font or bigger for your headline or title.

7. USE THE SAME FONT STYLE AS YOUR TEXT.

Never change font styles in a release. Times New Roman is the most accepted and professional.

8. USE BOLD TO MAKE IT STAND OUT.

9. CENTRE IT IN THE MIDDLE OF THE PAGE.

10. ALWAYS SPELL CHECK AND DOUBLE CHECK FOR TYPOS.

Nothing harms your credibility more than a typo in the headline!

Thomas Murrell MBA CSP is an international business speaker, consultant and award-winning broadcaster. Media Motivators is his regular electronic magazine read by 7,000 professionals in 15 different countries. You can subscribe by visiting this site. Thomas is available to speak to your conference, seminar or event. Visit Tom’s Blog

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Tags: pr, strategy, marketing, communications, management

In a media interview, always stick to your main points without rambling or digressing. Practice this when you rehearse.

Sometimes, when you are doing a great job of keeping on topic, the reporter is leading to you talk about different topics, some of which you aren’t as knowledgeable about. If the reporter leads you into different areas, go there only if it suits your needs and you are comfortable there.

One advanced technique you can use in a tough interview is “bridging.” Bridging is simply steering the interview back to your topic. Going down any side roads a reporter pursues is usually a bad idea – even if the detour is innocuous, it takes you off your main points. You may find, when the article is published or the interview airs, that the only comments of yours that reach the general public are those about a topic that you don’t know much about. This isn’t going to help your marketing efforts at all.

Don’t be afraid to bridge. If the reporter asks, “Well, how do they feel about that in Argentina?” and you have nothing to say about Argentina, diplomatically acknowledge that the question is valid. For example, say “That’s a good question. I don’t focus on Argentina in my practice, but I can tell you what my clients are saying.” Then move back to your topic – gently but firmly.

Ned Steele works with people in professional services who want to build their practice and accelerate their growth. The president of Ned Steele’s MediaImpact, he is the author of 102 Publicity Tips To Grow a Business or Practice To learn more visit this site.

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Tags: media, relations, crisis, manager, management

Each of us is exposed to people from other cultures on a regular basis, in the workplace, in our social activities, at school, or even within our families. Our culture hinders us from getting our message across as well receiving the full message that others want to convey to us. This article expound on three aspects: what culture is, the main causes for cross-cultural misunderstandings, and the attitudes and skills that we need to communicate cross-culturally.

When we think about culture we first think about a country, and particularly about its food, art, customs, and patterns of behavior. These are the outward manifestations of a system of values, assumptions, and deeply rooted beliefs. Culture emerges as a group of people face and then react to the challenges of life. The responses to those challenges that are successful are taught and shared among members of the group and are passed on from the older to the younger members. Culture is then learned through experience.

You can think of culture as having three levels:

• The top level is the outward manifestations, the artifacts: visible behavior, art, clothing and so on.

• In the middle level are the values. These are invisible rules that cause the artifacts

• The most powerful dimension of culture is the implicit cultural assumptions. These assumptions lie so deep that they are never questioned, stated or defended

Culture also exists among Americans, but what are the implicit cultural assumptions of Americans? Some of the most distinctive characteristics of the American culture are: individualism, equality, competition, personal control of the environment, self-help concept, action orientation, informality, directness, practicality, materialism, and problem-solving orientation.

These American values and deeply rooted beliefs are very different from other country’s values and beliefs. The implicit cultural assumptions of Americans are often opposed to those of other cultures. When individuals from different cultures run into each other’s values and beliefs, cross-cultural misunderstandings take place.

People constantly interact with people who have similar views and who reinforce their beliefs. To be able to distinguish between the in-group and the out-group is of central importance for individuals because it allows them to find an identity as to who they are and who they are not.

In the book entitled Cross Cultural Encounters , Brislim states: “If individuals have out-groups whom they can blame for troubles, the in-group is then solidified since there is a common goal around which to rally.” Later on he says: “Individuals become accustomed to reacting in terms of in-group and out-groups. They continue to use such distinctions when interacting with people from other cultures whom they do not know.”

This in-group/out-group distinction provides us with the basis for ethnocentrism, which is the tendency to interpret and to judge all other groups, their environment, and their communication according to the categories and values of our own culture. We are guilty of ethnocentrism when we hold that our view of the world is the right one, the correct one, and the only one.

We are all familiar with stereotyping, which is one of the most serious problems in intercultural communication. Our tendency to hold beliefs about groups of individuals based on previously formed opinions, perceptions, and attitudes is often a defense mechanism, a way of reducing anxiety.

There are many other causes of cross-cultural misunderstanding: lack of trust, lack of empathy, and the misuse of power. All of us know what they are about and the turmoil that they cause. But, how can we do a better job at communicating among cultures?

The same skills that we need to communicate in general apply to cross-cultural communication. Lets look at some of those skills:

Know yourself: Identify your attitudes, your opinions, and the biases that we all carry around. Identify your likes, your dislikes, your prejudices, and your degree of personal ethnocentrism.

Take time: Listen to the other person and allow him or her to accomplish their purpose. Don’t jump to conclusions. Some times we finish the thoughts and ideas of the other person before he or she has finished talking. Some cultures non-verbal styles call for periods of silence and long pauses.

Encourage feedback: Feedback allows communicators to correct and adjust messages. Without feedback we cannot have agreement. First we must create an atmosphere where others are encouraged to give us feedback. Again, don’t be afraid of silence. It could be the appropriate feedback at times.

Develop empathy: The grater the difference between us and others, the harder it is to empathize. To develop empathy we must put ourselves in the other person’s place. By becoming more sensitive to the needs, values, and goals of the other person, we overcome our ethnocentric tendencies.

Seek the commonalities among diverse cultures: Despite our cultural differences we are all alike in many ways. We need to seek that common ground to establish a bond between ourselves and the rest of humanity.

Although our own ethnocentrism might have hindered us from getting to know people from other cultures, let us be more than ever committed to help ourselves and others overcome the barrier that culture creates. Let us endeavor to minimize the occurrences of cross-cultural misunderstandings as we develop the attitudes and the skills that are needed to communicate cross-culturally.

Dori Kelsey is owner operator of SpainExchange. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Spring Arbor College (Michigan) in Management and Organizational Development, and a Master of Liberal Studies from The University of Toledo (Ohio). Through her 25-year career in the United States she acquired professional experience in the fields of international education, employment and training, and human resources development along with effective skills in the development and coordination of programs and the provision of services to foreign nationals.

As owner operator of SpainExchange, she has developed educational tours of Spain, school exchanges, and customized training programs for various schools, universities and educational services. All programs have successfully met the clients’ objectives as they provided relevant learning as well as enjoyable activities for the participants.

Article Source

So you have spent hours and hours writing, shaping and crafting your media message. You’ve worked on setting your objectives, identifying your target audience and working out how to reach them. Your release is well structured and packaged, leaving just writing the head-line remaining.

Unfortunately with little time remaining you hastily put together the headline and send out the release but fail to hear from any interested journalists.

Why? A poorly written headline will fail to attract the attention of a reporter, journalist or editor.

Let me give you an example.

“Triple Bottom-line Community Net Benefit Decision Time for Sustainable Economic Development Decisions Needed Says Economist”

This is an actual headline on a media release from MacroPlan Australia published in ‘The Australian’ Media Section on Nov 13, 2003.

Would you want to read more if you got this on your fax machine or email inbox?

How can you write better headlines?

Here are my Top 10 Tips:

1. KEEP IT TO 1 LINE.

More than one line and you are likely to loose a busy journalist who would receive hundreds of media releases a day. Be sharp and precise, remember your trying to hook the journalist in to read the rest of the release.

2. KEEP IT TO LESS THAN 5 WORDS.

Remember with headlines, ‘less is more’. Make each word effective rather then having too many.

3. EDIT FOR BREVITY

You probably won’t achieve points one and two on the first go. Rewrite and edit every time. Even experienced journalists take several attempts to get a headline right.

4. DON’T TRY AND BE TOO SMART.

Writing headlines for the print medium is a real art form. Leave it to those who make a living out of it – namely newspaper subeditors. Remember newspaper headlines have to sell papers, your headline has to engage one reader – a cynical journalist or editor with a ‘so what, who cares’ attitude.

5. KEEP TO THE ESSENCE OF WHAT THE STORY IS ABOUT.

The headline should summarise the story. Make it relevant. If the headline is too flamboyant it will be disregarded, make sure it is appropriate to the story.

6. USE A BIGGER FONT SIZE THAN THE REST OF THE RELEASE.

Don’t go smaller than size 12 for the main body of the text and use size 14 or 16 font or bigger for your headline or title.

7. USE THE SAME FONT STYLE AS YOUR TEXT.

Never change font styles in a release. Times New Roman is the most accepted and professional.

8. USE BOLD TO MAKE IT STAND OUT.

9. CENTRE IT IN THE MIDDLE OF THE PAGE.

10. ALWAYS SPELL CHECK AND DOUBLE CHECK FOR TYPOS.

Nothing harms your credibility more than a typo in the headline!

Thomas Murrell MBA CSP is an international business speaker, consultant and award-winning broadcaster. Media Motivators is his regular electronic magazine read by 7,000 professionals in 15 different countries. You can subscribe by visiting this site. Thomas is available to speak to your conference, seminar or event. Visit Tom’s Blog

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Tags: pr, strategy, marketing, communications, management

Each of us is exposed to people from other cultures on a regular basis, in the workplace, in our social activities, at school, or even within our families. Our culture hinders us from getting our message across as well receiving the full message that others want to convey to us. This article expound on three aspects: what culture is, the main causes for cross-cultural misunderstandings, and the attitudes and skills that we need to communicate cross-culturally.

When we think about culture we first think about a country, and particularly about its food, art, customs, and patterns of behavior. These are the outward manifestations of a system of values, assumptions, and deeply rooted beliefs. Culture emerges as a group of people face and then react to the challenges of life. The responses to those challenges that are successful are taught and shared among members of the group and are passed on from the older to the younger members. Culture is then learned through experience.

You can think of culture as having three levels:

• The top level is the outward manifestations, the artifacts: visible behavior, art, clothing and so on.

• In the middle level are the values. These are invisible rules that cause the artifacts

• The most powerful dimension of culture is the implicit cultural assumptions. These assumptions lie so deep that they are never questioned, stated or defended

Culture also exists among Americans, but what are the implicit cultural assumptions of Americans? Some of the most distinctive characteristics of the American culture are: individualism, equality, competition, personal control of the environment, self-help concept, action orientation, informality, directness, practicality, materialism, and problem-solving orientation.

These American values and deeply rooted beliefs are very different from other country’s values and beliefs. The implicit cultural assumptions of Americans are often opposed to those of other cultures. When individuals from different cultures run into each other’s values and beliefs, cross-cultural misunderstandings take place.

People constantly interact with people who have similar views and who reinforce their beliefs. To be able to distinguish between the in-group and the out-group is of central importance for individuals because it allows them to find an identity as to who they are and who they are not.

In the book entitled Cross Cultural Encounters , Brislim states: “If individuals have out-groups whom they can blame for troubles, the in-group is then solidified since there is a common goal around which to rally.” Later on he says: “Individuals become accustomed to reacting in terms of in-group and out-groups. They continue to use such distinctions when interacting with people from other cultures whom they do not know.”

This in-group/out-group distinction provides us with the basis for ethnocentrism, which is the tendency to interpret and to judge all other groups, their environment, and their communication according to the categories and values of our own culture. We are guilty of ethnocentrism when we hold that our view of the world is the right one, the correct one, and the only one.

We are all familiar with stereotyping, which is one of the most serious problems in intercultural communication. Our tendency to hold beliefs about groups of individuals based on previously formed opinions, perceptions, and attitudes is often a defense mechanism, a way of reducing anxiety.

There are many other causes of cross-cultural misunderstanding: lack of trust, lack of empathy, and the misuse of power. All of us know what they are about and the turmoil that they cause. But, how can we do a better job at communicating among cultures?

The same skills that we need to communicate in general apply to cross-cultural communication. Lets look at some of those skills:

Know yourself: Identify your attitudes, your opinions, and the biases that we all carry around. Identify your likes, your dislikes, your prejudices, and your degree of personal ethnocentrism.

Take time: Listen to the other person and allow him or her to accomplish their purpose. Don’t jump to conclusions. Some times we finish the thoughts and ideas of the other person before he or she has finished talking. Some cultures non-verbal styles call for periods of silence and long pauses.

Encourage feedback: Feedback allows communicators to correct and adjust messages. Without feedback we cannot have agreement. First we must create an atmosphere where others are encouraged to give us feedback. Again, don’t be afraid of silence. It could be the appropriate feedback at times.

Develop empathy: The grater the difference between us and others, the harder it is to empathize. To develop empathy we must put ourselves in the other person’s place. By becoming more sensitive to the needs, values, and goals of the other person, we overcome our ethnocentric tendencies.

Seek the commonalities among diverse cultures: Despite our cultural differences we are all alike in many ways. We need to seek that common ground to establish a bond between ourselves and the rest of humanity.

Although our own ethnocentrism might have hindered us from getting to know people from other cultures, let us be more than ever committed to help ourselves and others overcome the barrier that culture creates. Let us endeavor to minimize the occurrences of cross-cultural misunderstandings as we develop the attitudes and the skills that are needed to communicate cross-culturally.

Dori Kelsey is owner operator of SpainExchange. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Spring Arbor College (Michigan) in Management and Organizational Development, and a Master of Liberal Studies from The University of Toledo (Ohio). Through her 25-year career in the United States she acquired professional experience in the fields of international education, employment and training, and human resources development along with effective skills in the development and coordination of programs and the provision of services to foreign nationals.

As owner operator of SpainExchange, she has developed educational tours of Spain, school exchanges, and customized training programs for various schools, universities and educational services. All programs have successfully met the clients’ objectives as they provided relevant learning as well as enjoyable activities for the participants.

Article Source

Where is there a business, non-profit or association manager who does not need all the help he or she can find in achieving their managerial objectives?

Help like altering individual perception leading to changed behaviors among their key outside audiences?

Help in the form of positive actions affecting the behaviors of those important external audiences that most affect their operations. And the help afforded when the manager persuades those key outside folks to his or her way of thinking, then moves those people to take actions that let the department, group, division or subsidiary succeed?

Of course they can use that kind of help. It’s called public relations.

And here’s the premise upon which it’s based: people act on their own perception of the facts before them, which leads to predictable behaviors about which something can be done. When we create, change or reinforce that opinion by reaching, persuading and moving-to-desired-action the very people whose behaviors affect the organization the most, the public relations mission is usually accomplished.

Managers who adopt this course of action are then free to move beyond tactics like fun-to- anage special events, press releases and brochures and pay closer attention to the perceptions and behaviors of the very people who could hold their professional success as a manager in their hands.

And there’s no end to the positive results. Savor these for a moment: new approaches by capital givers and specifying sources; community leaders beginning to seek you out; prospects starting to do business with you; welcome bounces in show room visits; rising membership applications; customers making repeat purchases; fresh proposals for strategic alliances and joint ventures; not to mention politicians and legislators viewing you as a key member of the business, non- rofit or association communities.

Will an outside PR agency team do this sort of work? Folks assigned to your operation? Your own public relations people? Point is, regardless of where they come from, they need to be committed to you and your PR plan beginning with key audience perception monitoring.

As with any manager, you need to talk to your public relations people in order to be certain that those assigned to you are clear on why it’s vital to know how your most important outside audiences perceive your operations, products or services. They must accept the reality that perceptions almost always lead to behaviors that can help or hurt your operation.

Take the time to sit with them and go over how you plan to implement the PR program, especially how you will monitor and gather perceptions by questioning members of your most important outside audiences. For instance, how much do you know about our chief executive? Have you had prior contact with us and were you pleased? How much do you know about our services or products and employees? Have you experienced problems with our people or procedures?

Budget is always a concern, so if you have the resources, by all means use professional survey firms in the perception monitoring phases of your program. And remember that your PR people are also in the perception and behavior business and can pursue the same objective: identify untruths, false assumptions, unfounded rumors, inaccuracies, misconceptions and any other negative perception that might translate into hurtful behaviors.

You’re employing the heavy artillery when you set the kind of PR goal that lets you deal effectively with the worst aberations you discovered during your key audience perception monitoring. In fact, the new goal will undoubtedly call for straightening out that dangerous misconception, or correcting that gross inaccuracy, or stopping that potentially fatal rumor right in its tracks.

The importance of selecting the right strategy telling you how to move forward cannot be overemphasized. Keep in mind that you have just three strategic options available when it comes to handling a perception and opinion challenge. Change existing perception, create perception where there may be none, or reinforce it. Since the wrong strategy pick will taste like red eye gravy on your pumpkin pie, be certain the new strategy fits comfortably with your new public relations goal. You don’t want to select “change” when the facts dictate a “reinforce” strategy.

Somebody on the PR staff (hopefully your best writer) must prepare a strong corrective message and aim it at members of your target audience. It’s hard work, no doubt about it, but you must have words that are not only compelling, persuasive and believable, but clear and factual if they are to correct something and shift perception/opinion towards your point of view leading to the behaviors you are targeting. It’s that simple.

You can have some fun with the next task — selecting the communications tactics most likely to carry your message to the attention of your target audience. (Suggest you do this after you run the draft by your PR people for impact and persuasiveness). There are many tactics available to you. From speeches, facility tours, emails and brochures to consumer briefings, media interviews, newsletters, personal meetings and many others. But be sure that the tactics you pick are known to reach folks just like your audience members.

As you probably know, a message’s believability can sink or swim on the credibility of the means used to deliver it. So, you may decide to unveil it (and monitor reactions) before smaller meetings and presentations rather than using higher-profile news releases.

You will soon hear suggestions that progress reports might be a good idea. Best reaction is to take it as a signal that you and your PR team should think about a second perception monitoring session with members of your external audience. Many of the same questions used in the first benchmark session can be used again. But this time, you will be watching carefully for signs that the problem perception is being altered in your direction.

If program momentum appears to slow, you can always speed things up by adding more communications tactics, and increasing their frequencies.

In as few words as possible, what is the PR advantage managers need? Public relations’ ability to alter individual perception leading to changed behaviors among key outside audiences. Particularly when the effort persuades key outside stakeholders to the manager’s way of thinking, and then moves those folks to behave in a way that leads to the success of the manager’s operation. It doesn’t get any better than that.

Please feel free to publish this article and resource box in your ezine, newsletter, offline publication or website. Word count is 1200 including guidelines and resource box.

Robert A. Kelly © 2005.

Bob Kelly counsels and writes for business, non-profit and association managers about using the fundamental premise of public relations to achieve their operating objectives. He has published over 200 articles on the subject which are listed at EzineArticles.com, click Expert Author, click Robert A. Kelly. He has been DPR, Pepsi-Cola Co.; AGM-PR, Texaco Inc.; VP-PR, Olin Corp.; VP-PR, Newport News Shipbuilding & Drydock Co.; director of communications, U.S. Department of the Interior, and deputy assistant press secretary, The White House. He holds a bachelor of science degree from Columbia University, major in public relations. Visit site.

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Tags: public, relations, professionals, management, agency

Is your business looking for new and creative ways to gain publicity and build your customer base? Partnering with non profit organizations may benefit your business in many ways.

Why business owners and managers should consider supporting non profits as part of their marketing strategy:

1. Advertising opportunities are usually offered when non profit organizations request corporate sponsorship. Types of advertising may include a business card size ad in a program, a sign at an event, or your business name mentioned in radio or TV ads.

2. Partnering with non profits increases public relations and a general feeling of goodwill toward your company.

3. Participating in the planning of non profit events, attending an event, or volunteering your time increases your opportunities to meet potential customers.

4. Finally, there are tax breaks for donating money to a charitable cause. Check with your accountant for more details.

There are many ways that business owners can partner with non profit organizations in order to reach more potential customers.

Volunteering Your Time

Volunteering your time to help a non profit cause will give you an opportunity to develop relationships with non profit leaders and volunteers. You can work on volunteer committees, planning events, or even just stuffing envelopes. How about donating an hour or two to man the phones for MDA on labor day weekend, a public television drive or another telethon? How about staffing a booth at a school carnival? Savvy business people see such volunteer activities as opportunities to connect with other business people, network and build relationships with potential clients.

Donating Merchandise

Many non profit groups hold live and silent auctions or need door prizes for their events. This is an opportunity for you to show potential clients your merchandise or sample your services. This strategy works well for many types of businesses, here’s some examples:

A photographer donates a gift certificate AND loans the NPO a large scale portrait from their portfolio. Even if someone does not win the gift certificate, they may be impressed with your style of photography and call to set up an appointment anyway!

Restaurants have an easy way out on this one! Donate a gift certificate to the non profit organization. The receiver gets to sample your food, service and atmosphere. Who knows, you may have just gained a customer for life!

Financial Donations

Donating a financial gift to a charity of your choice may have advertising and tax benefits as discussed earlier.

Attending Non Profit Events

Charities host a variety of fun events such as arts festivals, dinners, galas, casino nights and auctions. Participating in a charity fundraiser or other event will give you an easy way to donate financially to the group. Events also provide time to build relationships with other business people and potential clients, in a fun relaxed environment.

Donating Facilities

Does your company have a gym, banquet facility or auditorium? By donating or offering a reduced rate to non profit organizations, you may receive great public relations and word of mouth advertising benefits in return.

Here’s a great example: A bowling center in Florida offers their facility for students to hold a bowl-a-thon. Students get per pin pledges prior to the event. According to owner, Lisa Ciniello, “The Bowling Centers do not make a lot of money, but we encourage these events as it gives great exposure. In our locations we charge $5.00 to $8.00 per student and no charge for rental shoes.”

Connecting With Your Community

One of the best ways to find opportunities to donate to non profits and network with other business leaders is to join a civic club or chamber of commerce. These organizations meet 1-4 times per month in your local city. They usually have a small list of favorite charities or support their own foundations.

The civic clubs that you may want to consider joining include Optimist International, Kiwanis International or Business & Professional Women.

Finally, partnering with non profit organizations gives your business a way to reach out to the local community. Your business can contribute to the greater good and help many people, just by joining forces with charitable organizations.

About the Author: Sandra Sims has been fundraising for various charities for over 10 years. She is the publisher of Step By Step Fundraising e-zine, which will help you get maximum results from your charity fundraising campaign. Get a free report The 5 Keys to Successful Fundraising

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Tags: public, relations, management, crisis, issues

Dear New York Times:

I’d like to be quoted in one of your news stories. Enclosed is a check for $500. Please call me to arrange the interview sometime this week. Evenings are best. Thank you.

Imagine how such a letter would be greeted in the New York Times newsroom. The recipient would likely laugh out loud and might even post it on the bulletin board so other reporters could walk by and enjoy a good chuckle.

The letter wrongly assumed that the New York Times would accept “pay for play,” or would run a news story as long as a payment accompanied the request. It’s preposterous, of course, and U.S. news organizations just don’t work that way.

Or do they?

I recently booked a client on a Washington area radio talk show. After booking the client, I spent some additional time exploring the show’s website. Here’s what it said:

“Guest Opportunities: $600 to appear as a guest, 6 minute (minimum) interview.”

Although the host agreed not to charge my client, it made me wonder how pervasive this practice is, and whether media relations professionals should ever take advantage of this type of pay for play.

It’s not as uncommon as you might think. When I headed the media department for an environmental nonprofit, I used to get calls from production companies who were purportedly interested in producing half-hour documentaries on our group. The pitch was that they would then sell the completed program to a national network like Discovery or PBS, which would happily air it.

But later in the conversation, they would inevitably reveal their less than journalistic motives – they wanted us, as the subject of the piece, to pay tens of thousands of dollars to “defray their costs.” (Could you imagine Mike Wallace, after his recent interview with Russian President Putin on CBS, asking the Premier for a few grand to help 60 Minutes recover its production costs?)

When we asked the production companies what they could guarantee, they told us the show would appear on at least 80 PBS stations – but they couldn’t tell us in which markets and at what airtimes. In other words, they wouldn’t tell us if we would be buying a 3:00 A.M. timeslot in a small town or primetime in New York City. Something seemed off, and we decided to walk away from it.

A few months ago, I met someone who tried it. According to the president of a well-respected cultural nonprofit organization, the producers promised her that for $60,000, they could guarantee her that the show would air in at least 80 markets. After the show started airing, she asked the producers repeatedly for a list of the markets in which the piece was running. She never heard a word. She suspects the number was closer to 12 than 80.

So what should you do if you’re ever confronted with a pay for play opportunity? In general, I’d advise you to walk in the other direction. There are many news outlets that will report your story the right way – for free. Plus, the public is savvy enough to detect the difference between a balanced piece of journalism and an infomercial, and is more likely to regard the former with more credibility.

Is there ever a time to say ‘yes’ to pay for play? Well, perhaps. If, for example, the pay for play offer allows you to own the rights to any raw video footage the production team shoots and you can use that material in other ways, it might make sense. Or, if the venue is a direct hit on your target audience and you have no hope of getting coverage with that outlet in any other way, it might be worth it.

But in general, be wary. Pay for play has a way of making its customers pray for pay – in the form of a refund check.

Brad Phillips is the founder and president of Phillips Media Relations. He was formerly a journalist for ABC News and CNN, and headed the media relations department for the second largest environmental group in the world.

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Tags: media, relations, strategy, communications, management

The easiest way to meet city council members is to meet them at an event. Usually city council members have a phone number that is listed. Many will not ever answer the phone, but events they must be cordial and open to all. Explain who you are and your business and thank them for some endeavor they feel strongly about in the city. If they are too busy to talk with, then make friends with everyone who talks to them and make sure they get a business card too.

If you make friends with all their neighbors and they see you, you will obviously make an impression. A perception – politicians are always dealing with perceptions. So turn the tables a little. Other ways to meet city council members is to find out things about them from neighbors such as:

What service clubs they belong to

What school their children go to

What church or temple they attend

What pet projects they like

If your city is set up with a Mayor, city manager and council people you will additionally have to meet them all. To meet your city manager this requires a completely different approach. City managers usually rely on many vendors and special relationships that go way back. It is important to know the movers and shakers of the town especially those ‘Good ol’ boys’ who do contract consulting with the city. A good city manager can usually get someone to do a report that shows figures any way they want.

You should be doing business with those companies who support the city through contract consulting or major contracts. Also builders, shopping center owner/managers and large employers are generally on the city managers list of close contacts. One idea is to try to get on the Mayors Task force of small businesses, there is a time commitment, but it is worth it. If you find difficulty getting on the board of such a group look to your chamber of commerce to assist, no matter how large the group everyone needs volunteers and people who can get stuff done. This is serious politics. Be friends with everyone. Never take sides. If anyone asks you how you feel about an issue simply say:

“I think that’s very important.”

If forced into an issue, listen, ask questions and agree 100% with the side and opinion of who ever you are talking to. It’s not lying. It’s surviving and it’s a taste of their own medicine. They deserve it. All politics is local and they are all scoundrels anyway, if you can’t throw them very hard, the trust ought to be about the same distance. Think about it.

“Lance Winslow” – Online ThinkTank forum board. If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance. Lance is an online writer in retirement.

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Tags: public, relations, communication, management, excellence

Writing a press (or media) release is quite an art (and a science) but don’t let that scare you. Here are 10 tips to point you in the right direction…

(1) Make sure the information is newsworthy.

(2) Tell the audience that the information is intended for them and why they should continue to read it.

(3) Start with a brief description of the news, then distinguish who announced it, and not the other way around.

(4) Ask yourself, “How are people going to relate to this and will they be able to connect?”

(5) Make sure the first 10 words of your release are effective, as they are the most important.

(6) Avoid excessive use of adjectives and fancy language.

(7) Deal with the facts.

(8) Provide as much Contact information as possible: Individual to Contact, address, phone, fax, email, Web site address.

(9) Make sure you wait until you have something with enough substance to issue a release.

(10) Make it as easy as possible for media representatives to do their jobs.

Remember this, a news or media release is not meant to be a blatant self promotional vehicle – it’s meant to make the journalist’s job easier for them and be interesting reading for their readership. Keep this in mind and you’ll have a fair chance of coverage.

Author: James is a freelance writer and consultant, meet him here.

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Tags: public, relations, strategies, campaign, management

A Press Release is a captive story that can be about a person, a business or organizational group that is submitted to the media. The distribution of a release can be targeted to media outlets in newspapers, TV, radio stations, magazines and global newswire networks. Like with any other form of marketing, a well-submitted press release will give added publicity and creditability to an individual or a business.

Journalists look for newsworthy stories that they can use in their publications. Newsworthy simply means a story on current issues or events that have an appealing interest in today’s news.

Some examples of this can be:

* Stories that cover the launching of a new business.

* Solution and problem solving reports that deals with the current market trend.

* New products or services that impact today’s business.

* Research and findings on the latest business trends.

* Partnerships with other businesses.

* Sponsorships that you are affiliated with and contributed to.

* Achievements/awards that you have received recognition for.

Press releases are not to be confused as an advertisement to sell your products or services. An advertisement is to get your customers attention, whereas with a press release you want to capture the attention of the journalist.

The idea is to write a press release that generates a current interest to the media. If a journalist finds your story newsworthy, they are sure to feature your story.

The best way to start out is by researching some of the media websites first. One of the media websites that is worth checking out is Prweb.com. Their site is easy to navigate through and provide some very useful information on submitting a release. The idea is to visit a few of the media sites to understand their guidelines before you submit. It would also be beneficial to view several of the press releases on their site to get a better perception on writing your own. You will find that most press releases are between 400 and 500 words.

Once you have the concept, organize and put together all the information you will be using on a piece of paper. Make sure you are using current information with topics that have new and compelling interest (journalist are not interested in old news).

Make sure to illustrate your release with only solid facts. Emphasize on the benefits and key points in your story line.

If applicable, give examples, quotes, and testimonials. Do not use any bold statements, hype or sales pitches.

Proof read your release several times. Correct any grammar mistakes or misspellings.

How To Submit A Press Release:

Obviously your first step would be contacting the media. This can be through local media groups within your area, or through the Internet for worldwide distribution.

Submitting a press release is done by mail, fax or email. You can simply check with the editors to see what their requirements are for submitting your release.

Use journalist that are targeted to your business market. You can accomplish this by researching some of the past stories published by the editor.

Note; if you find editors that accept a release through email, it’s important to put your release into the body of your email and not as an attachment.

When submitting a press release, the way you format your release can play a crucial role on whether a journalist picks up your story.

An example of a format that is commonly used, would be as follows:

1.) Type in “For Immediate Release” or you can specify the date you want it released for a different time period.

2.) Create a headline that would attract an interest.

3.) Add your contact information here. Your name, company, phone number and your URL.

4.) City, State and Date followed with your opening paragraph answering all the questions to who, what, where, why and when.

5.) Your next paragraph should cover the details of your story, which should highlight your first paragraph. If applicable, include quotes or endorsements from other business associates that have used your products or services. This will build creditability to your story (be sure to get approval prior to adding this).

6.) Followed by a short summary highlighting your key points to your story.

7.) A short company profile about your business.

8.) At the bottom, put in three (3) ### signs or “End” to indicate the end of your press release.

Final Note:

Be sure to add your contact information including your telephone number with your release. If an editor finds your story newsworthy, he may contact you for an interview or possibly just to attain more information on a follow-up story.

To look for newswire networks where you can submit a press release, go to this link for our complete list.

John Kovacs is the CEO and founder of “A Home Business Opportunity”. His website mainly focuses on supplying free marketing tips, resources and support for home startup businesses and Internet marketing. To get a step-by-step guide in building an online business, visit this site.

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Tags: public, relations, strategies, campaign, management