Digital Street Journal

Mark Story is pissed.  Wicked pissed.  He’s probably calmer now that he’s got three posts off his chest.

One.  Two.  Three.

What’s got him pissed is Robert Scoble’s rant on PR.  Scoble is pissed too.  He’s trashing PR, calling it dead…at least as it’s practiced by lame bloggers.   Personally, I’m can’t stand the “dead” meme.  PR is dead.  The press release is dead.  Banners are dead.  Mass media is dead.  Television is dead.  Newspapers are dead.

Enough of “…is dead” crap.

PR is still very much needed and it employs a significant amount of talented people who value their professionalism.

And Scoble doesn’t do himself any favors by slashing out at PR people by saying that pitching by email is stupid…that’s the way it’s done as Shel Holtz point out here from this study.  Scoble goes on to say that he prefers to be pitched by going out to dinner.  LOL.  Note to Robert:  not everyone lives near Silicon Valley.  I’d have to haul my ass 3000 miiles for that.  And sitting at a table over dinner won’t necessarily improve the pitch…even if it’s subtle.  Not everyone is as talented and connected as Brian Solis. In fact, practically no one is.

End of that rant.

You see, Robert Scoble has a very good point.  So I guess I’m agreeing with two people who disagree.

I’m sick of seeing (and got sick of being a part of) the mad scramble of what much of PR is.

I’m sick of seeing PR companies get $10,000 per month retainers from clients that have very little worth telling, but nevertheless turn out to be press release factories.

I’m sick of seeing PR firms fetch young, quite often underpaid staffers onto reporters (or bloggers like Robert Scoble) in a desperate attempt to get some sort of coverage, where these young PR types make phone call after phone call (or email after email) about some sort of technology thing that they learned about the day before in a one hour strategy session (and then reread the notes that morning), contacting reporters/bloggers who they’ve never talked to before to see if they got the damn press release or the email.

It’s sort of a version of “OK, great.  We got this client.  Here’s what they’re about.  Start calling”.

That’s no way to do things, BUT, quite often, there’s no other way.  At least the way many agencies are set up.  $10,000 retainers, young eager employees, senior managers who want to get the job done.

Reporters and bloggers say they want PR types to get to know them first.  Establish a relationship first.  How do you establish a relationship with them without contacting them?  How does a young PR person (which I no longer am) do this when they’re often chained to their desk so their hours can be billed?  And clients want results.  Sometimes unreasonable results.  That’s because they either 1) are egotistical dunderheads  who overvalue their product/service (its’ a no-brainer, it sells itself) or 2) haven’t been fully briefed by the PR firm to set reasonable expectations.

How did it come to this?  Mark lays it out:

• Billing pressure. When you work for an agency, your job is to bill as much as you can, and quite often, falling back on old ways is the best way to make your hours. Brutal, but I believe it to be true.
• Clients are in love with statistics. Many clients would rather hear “we pitched 2,000 bloggers,” (spam, of course), than “we did our research, waited and make 10 carefully crafted pitches to 10 leading bloggers.” 2,000 versus 10? Please.
• Clients or supervisors who don’t “get” social media are reluctant to green light innovation. The “young bucks” generation in public relations agencies have a hard time selling concepts that are new and people don’t yet understand.
• The pressure. The higher you go in agencies, the more pressure you have to bill hours, supervise people, develop businesses and further existing client relationships. “Creating magic” takes some serious time - and thinking.

What can be done about it?  Mark lays it out:

1. Identify your target audience. If you are looking to reach a target audience via a publication or blog, your first step should be making sure that the outlet matches up with the audience that you are attempting to influence. Otherwise, as Shel Holtz calls it, it is just “shovelware.”
2. Think about your objectives. Why are you communicating with this audience? I know that in the agency world you are communicating because your client thinks that he/she should be above the fold in the Wall Street Journal, but if you spend some time thinking about the benefits NOT to your client or organization but to the people receiving or potentially reading the information, you’ll go a long way towards happy, shiny people reading what you have to say. And if you work for an agency, the best consultants know when to say “no, this will be a waste of your money.” Courageous conversation for sure, but things will end up better.
3. What messages are your target readers likely to want? Knowing this will make you happy and, provided that you select the right people to pitch, it will make the writers/bloggers happy too.
4. List the types of questions that individuals may ask or additional information they may want. This is how your are going to write your pitch, your press release, or if you are doing it right, putting together your interactive press release. Answer these questions in advance and reflect it in the way that you present your information.
5. What do you want to achieve? Think about this in two ways. If you send a pitch to a blogger or print reporter, what is the action that you want he/she to take? Visit a link with more info (good call). Read an attachment (bad call: Esther Schindler has correctly noted that “attachments merit the death penalty”). If you have spent all of the time and money getting something placed, I am no fan of the statement “raising awareness.” In the age of interactivity, there has to be some action that people reading your information can take besides merely processing it.
6. Surmising that you accomplish your objectives, then what? If a reporter calls you back, you had better have your act together (no “ummm, uhhh,” or putting reporters on hold while you look for your cheat sheet with talking points on it) . And for God’s sake, list your cell phone number on your voicemail. If a reporter/blogger calls you back and gets your voicemail, it drastically reduces your chances.
7. Push vs. pull. Regurgitating information all over people who may or may not want it can work, but a largely ignored pitching vehicle is simply putting information where you want reporters or bloggers to get it. Think: ProfNet, SEO, Peter Shankman’s “Help a Reporter” listserv and Web site. If your information is waiting for people who want it, your chances go up dramatically.

The reality is twofold:  1) The PR industry has to rexamine itself, but it never does.  2) Reporters and top bloggers will forever often need PR folks to clue them in on a great story.

In the meantime, everyone will stay pissed.