Marketing Joint

The PR Agency Retainer: Dead But Thriving

Our previous blog on ARe You Sure? Analyst Relations in 15 Minutes has been a pretty popular post among readers. It covers some basic observations about analyst relations for startups with some strong opinions and a heavy dose of simplicity. We think the “Q&A” format also had a little something to do with its popularity. Maybe.

Let’s try the same thing once more to cover a pretty common topic among those of us passionately interested in public relations and startups. The topic of this posting is PR agency retainers ... and why it is dead but still thriving.

3 Elements of Great Storytelling

Every startup will someday face an opportunity to tell its story to the world. You need to be prepared. Forget the elevator pitch. It should be a given that you know how to explain what you do in one or two sentences. The problem with elevator pitches is that what usually follows is some complicated, boring stuff.

Focus on telling a great story. People love stories. People remember stories. Stories are meaningful. How do you tell a great story?

Revisiting NEWS WAR on PBS Frontline

This week, PBS re-aired its popular FRONTLINE (investigative) documentary on the future of news. PR pros, newspaper journalists, and bloggers will find Part Three particularly interesting. But, I think all Americans will find the entire series pretty engaging.

Here's a link to the four part series entitled News War.

- John

Meet The Press: How To Interview

How many times have you had “media training” to help you interview with the press? How many times were you disappointed with the training? If you’re like most people, you were probably ok with the training but felt a tiny bit let down. Part of the problem is that most media trainers focus on how not to have a bad interview and/or drag on with the “no duh” tips like stay on message, have something to say, make it interesting and relevant, and so on. In other words, don’t talk about a million irrelevant things, ramble on about uninteresting stuff, and jump all over the place.

Blogs Are The New Media Establishment; Bloggers Are The New Influencers (Huh?)

Not so fast! What happened to the previous crop of influencers? Did they all just vanish? There isn't a day that goes by without someone ranting about how blogs (and bloggers) will change the world. Blogs will change how we generate and consume media. Blogs will change PR. Blogs will change how corporations (and startups) communicate and converse. I'm very surprised that very little is being written about the history of mass media and how media in general has evolved over time.

Press Releases Are Calling Out For Help

Everybody knows what a press release IS but I’m not entirely convinced that everybody knows WHY it’s called a press release and what PURPOSE it serves. I’m almost tempted to use the past tense here because the press release we all came to know has really changed or evolved rapidly over the last half a dozen years. PR teams must adapt and adjust to this reality. Here’s a before and after look at our beloved press release.

Startups: Selecting a PR Agency

The process by which a tech company selects an agency involves a lot of variables. So, I’m going to focus on how a startup in its early stage of growth should pick a PR agency. Here are some rough guidelines from my years in the trenches.

PR: Buzz is an outcome, not a goal

If you’re working in the tech industry, it’s inevitable that you’ve heard someone say, “we need some more buzz.” Quite often, this phrase is uttered in the direction of a PR (public relations) personnel. It’s also a phrase tossed around quite frequently in board rooms. Today, and in tech marketing especially, the notion that PR is a function that goes out and gets (finds?) “buzz” is fairly prevalent. It is, however, the wrong way to look at PR. Obviously, PR does not create “buzz.” PR builds and maintains the relationships, or connections, with industry and market influencers who themselves create the “buzz” on your behalf. Hence, “buzz” is the outcome, not the goal of great PR. “Buzz” also does not come solely from press articles or media coverage.