13 Lessons Learned in the PR Agency Business

Back in ’92, when I started my PR firm, I had more than a dozen years of PR experience – and more than half of that with another agency – so I thought I knew pretty much all I needed to know.

I was wrong. Really wrong.

And as Bianchi PR heads toward its 21^st anniversary, I realize just how much I have learned over the past two decades … and thought it might be helpful to share a few key lessons.

Here’s my baker’s dozen list:

1. If your staff needs a pool table or basketball hoop in the office in order to have fun at work, either they’re doing it wrong or they are in the wrong business … or both.
2. If a prospective client or employee is problematic or inconsiderate at the very start, they’re just going to get worse.
3. It’s good to take PR, your job and your client seriously; it’s not good to take yourself too seriously.
4. If a prospect won’t give you a budget figure upon which you can base your proposal, they probably don’t have an approved budget.
5. Toxic employees are not worth all the pain. Neither are toxic clients. Move on.
6. No one is irreplaceable, not even you. Really.
7. If you spend the client’s money and time as carefully as you would spend your own, you’ll both be better off.
8. Monthly PR retainers are not necessarily evil. Some clients actually need and prefer a predictable budget spend and a steady, consistent effort.
9. If you take care of your clients, they will take care of you. Same goes with your employees.
10. It’s not our job to be the hero. It’s our job to make the client the hero.
11. It’s okay – even beneficial sometimes – to make mistakes … as long as you own up to them, fix them, learn from them … and don’t make the same ones twice.
12. Listening is the most important skill in PR. If you’re talking more than you’re listening, you’re broadcasting, not communicating.

Oh yeah, one more thing ..

13. It’s not as easy as it looks.

Business Best Practices: Every Office Needs an Eagle Eye

(Post by Jessica Killenberg Muzik, APR, Vice President – Account Services)

I’ve always had a love of editing.  Sure, as a communicator I like to write, but there’s something about editing that I enjoy even more. 

Perhaps it’s taking a fresh eye at something and realizing that you caught an error before it went out the door that feels almost rewarding … or perhaps it’s knowing that one small editing suggestion made the final written product that much better?

Whatever the case may be, at our office we call this person an “eagle eye” – which, by definition, is one that observes with close attention. Yep, that sounds about right.

As long as I can remember, we’ve always been in the practice of having an eagle eye review and proofread our work before it is sent to a client / reporter, is posted to the newswire / website, etc. Typically, this eagle eye staffer has been uninvolved in the drafting process for this project, so she or he comes to this review with a clean, fresh perspective.

Why uninvolved? Why an eagle eye?

Well, it’s pretty simple. As writers, sometimes we are too close to our own work to see the imperfections. Our minds tend to gloss over typos and fill in the gaps between what we wrote and what we thought we wrote.

When you have someone who is far removed from a project take a final look at a document, they will often catch a mistake or two that those closer to the project may have simply overlooked.

It adds a step and a little time, but taking the time to do things correctly the first time actually ends up saving time, money … and, often, embarrassment.

Having an eagle eye is a safety net. 

Even still, mistakes occasionally can and will happen. We’re only human, after all.

But having an eagle eye process in place can minimize mistakes and enhance credibility, especially when writing is a key part of your business.

What best business practices have you implemented within your organization to catch potential mistakes before they happen?

Business Best Practices: Kudos, WOWs and All That Good Stuff

(Post by Jessica Killenberg Muzik, APR, Vice President – Account Services)

Meetings … love them or hate them, they are an essential part of doing business.

But what if meetings were something your team actually looked forward to or, at the very least, didn’t mind attending?

Yes, it can happen.

At Bianchi PR we have a standing (albeit flexible) Thursday morning staff meeting and toward the bottom of the agenda is always a bullet point titled “kudos.”

During the kudos portion of the meeting, our leader acknowledges each team member’s achievements for the past week.  Sometimes the achievement is a major media hit for a client in a key publication, sometimes it’s scoring a big media interview, and sometimes it’s just stepping up on those everyday tasks that keep things humming along for the firm and our clients.

The key point: giving positive recognition to each team member for “things gone right.” It encourages and reinforces positive behavior. And beyond that, it helps close the meeting on an upbeat, sometimes inspirational, note.

Now, above and beyond the kudos, we also celebrate “WOWs.” A WOW is an acknowledgement for those times when a staff member has figuratively “Walked On Water” for a client.

Although our clients are unaware of it (until perhaps they read this blog), WOWs actually come directly from them.

Any time a client takes the time to write an unsolicited email or note of thanks to the agency for a job well done, our agency CEO generates a WOW certificate for that staffer.

The certificate itself isn’t anything fancy.

It’s simply a piece of paper prominently featuring the acronym WOW along with a brief description how the staffer wow’ed the client.

It’s presented at the next weekly staff meeting, and the recipient posts it near their workspace, as a pleasant reminder of an appreciative client and a grateful employer.

Now, who wouldn’t want to attend a meeting that promises kudos, WOWs and all that good stuff?

When you end a staff meeting on a high note, it encourages your team to continue to do great work. And isn’t that what best business practices are really all about?

What have you done to make your meetings more enjoyable or to encourage great work among your staffers?

The Sneaky Seven: How to Avoid Media Interview Pitfalls

Post by Jessica Killenberg Muzik, APR, VP – Account Services

“Help! I’ve fallen … and I can’t get up.”

Many executives have stumbled in media interviews because they fell prey to unexpected questions or techniques commonly used by some journalists to help extract information or juicy quotes from tight-lipped or cautious executives.

Of course, the best way to prepare for such interviews is to refer all unsolicited media inquiries to your PR representative, who can help you to understand the nature of the interview, identify likely questions and help you develop appropriate answers.

However, when that’s not an option, it’s important to be aware of some of the techniques that could trip you up, so that you can at least be prepared to deal with them … and avoid blurting out something you might regret later. Now, most journalists don’t use sneaky tactics, but the few that do can lead you into dangerous territory.

Based on our experiences, here are some of the techniques that can trip you up … and our advice for each:

Allegation – calling to get a response to rumors, innuendoes or hypothetical situations. Comment only on what’s real or what you know to be true.

Pregnant Pause – using lengthy periods of silence, after you’ve answered a question, to make you uncomfortable enough to volunteer more information.  Don’t feel obligated to fill up the silence.

Zinger – gaining your confidence and comfort, the reporter closes an otherwise easy, cordial interview with one last question, usually the zinger that really prompted the interview in the first place. Don’t let your guard down.

Right to Know – implying that the public or the reporter has a constitutional right to know even the most confidential information about your business. If the information is confidential, it’s OK to say so.  

Deadline Leverage – using the pressure of a last-minute call before deadline to get you to reveal something you normally wouldn’t say. Don’t let the reporter transfer his/her stress to you. Be helpful and be calm.

Odd-Hour Call – calling in early morning, during lunch or after hours to catch you off-guard. Again, always be on guard. If you need a few moments to collect your thoughts or obtain an answer, say so and tell the reporter you’ll call them back in 10 minutes – and do it.

Reference Check – where an unscrupulous reporter poses as a personnel manager or a credit agent and calls former employers, colleagues and customers, disguising their call as a background check. Make sure you know exactly who you are talking to and where they are from.

As a business-to-business PR firm, we find the media we work with are generally straightforward and honest. But you never know when you might come across one of those ambush-type journalists. So, forewarned is forearmed.

If you’re still not confident about avoiding these pitfalls,  take some media training … and practice dealing with them. The career you save may be your own.

7.5 Media Interview Tips

 Guest post from Account Supervisor Leslie Dagg.

You’ve landed a media interview and have done all your homework. You know some background on the reporter and you’ve prepared your key messages.

So now it’s time to get down to the nitty gritty.

Whether your interview is in person, over the phone, being recorded for radio or a podcast, or recorded on-camera for a video segment, the tips below can help ensure your success:

 1. Find a quiet place to conduct the interview where you won’t be inter­rupted by anyone and remember to turn off your cell phone, radio, fans, etc.

 2. If doing a phone interview, use a land line if possible. Cell phones are more likely to cut in and out and not offer as much consistency. Also be sure to turn off your cell phone and any call wait­ing or intercom alerts on the land line to avoid interruption.

 3. Regardless if your interview is on camera or over the phone, remember to speak up and smile while talking. It makes you look and sound better … and automatically bumps up your enthusiasm. Practice your key mes­sages out loud before the interview to get a feel of how they’ll sound.

 4. If you’re being recorded for a TV or video segment, dress appropriately. Try to avoid wearing busy patterns or solid black, red or white. Pastel tones and blues work best. Also be sure to nix any large or bulky jewelry that might distract or interfere with a microphone.

 5. Remember to always face and answer the interviewer – not the camera – unless otherwise directed. Find a comfortable position to sit, leaning slightly forward, and don’t change positions or fiddle.

 6. Be sure to speak in shorter sound bites, especially when responding to questions that go above and beyond your practiced key messages. Be careful not to be long-winded or use too much technical jargon. Covering a lot of information is great – just be sure to break it up. into digestable chunks.

 7. Don’t get flustered and stop mid-interview if you misspeak. Correct yourself and keep going. If the interview is being recorded for video, the interviewer will stop and back up if they deem it necessary.

 7.5. Always be camera-ready. Many print and radio reporters bring iPhones or Flip-Cams to capture interviews on video, so treat your interview as if it were for TV (see #4 & #5).

 What tips would you add?

Top 10 Bits of PR Advice

This time of year, when high school and college students are graduating, the floodgates of advice seem to open up. Graduates receive unsolicited, and often unwanted, advice from their relatives, from their neighbors, from their parents, from their friends and even from strangers.

Over the years, I’ve received a lot of advice. Some good.  Some bad. I’ve also given a lot of advice. (Ditto.)

Advice seems to rise from experience. Experience comes from mistakes. And Lord knows, I’ve made a lot of mistakes in 30 years, so I have LOTS of experience … and hence, advice to offer.

Here are 10 of my favorite bits of PR-related advice:

1)      In PR (and in life), attitude makes ALL the difference. A person with a great attitude and limited skills beats one with great skills and a bad attitude … every time.

2)      Brilliant strategy without flawless execution is like a new Lamborghini without fuel – it looks good but it isn’t going anywhere.

3)      The most important tools in PR are your brain and your heart. Be smart and be passionate.

4)      If you want your media pitch to be received with enthusiasm, be enthusiastic when you research your target and be enthusiastic when you pitch.

5)      Despite all the new tools and technologies, good PR still comes down to relationships and trust. If you build relationships and earn trust, you’ll succeed.

6)      Don’t forget to use a picture (or video) to help tell your story. Everyone “reads” pictures.

7)      The best way to stand out is not to behave brashly or dress flamboyantly. The best way to stand out is to do outstanding work.

8)      It’s important to really care about your work. But it’s also important not to let your work drive you crazy.

9)      Always have a plan. If it doesn’t get written down, get measured and get rewarded, it won’t get done.

10)   Your Mother was right: Honesty really is the best policy. The truth is powerful … and besides, it’s a lot easier to remember than lies!

Here is one final thought about advice, a quote from poet Edna St. Vincent Millay: “I am glad that I paid so little attention to good advice; had I abided by it I might have been saved from some of my most valuable mistakes.”

What’s the best — or worst — PR advice you’ve ever received?

Biggest PR Blunders & Lessons Learned

Remember when you were a toddler and your mom told you not to touch the hot stove because you’d burn yourself? What did you do? You touched the stove. You burned yourself. And you learned a lesson that you will never forget.

Years later, when you told your own toddler not to touch the hot stove, what did she do? She touched the stove. And she burned herself. Not because she didn’t want to believe you, but because she had to learn from her own experience. She wasn’t going to learn from yours.

English humorist/novelist Douglas Adams once said that human beings, who are almost unique in having the ability to learn from the experience of others, are also remarkable for their apparent disinclination to do so.

I might add, especially teenage human beings. But I digress …

So let’s go against our disinclination, tap that unique ability Adams talked about and see if we CAN learn from each others’ PR mistakes.

Now, don’t tell my staff, but I’ve made a few mistakes during my career.

Oscar Wilde once said experience is the name we give our mistakes. So my claim to have LOTS of experience is true in so many ways. Sometimes they were hugely embarrassing incidents of experience, including one faux pas I made more than 20 years ago that was mentioned in a national business magazine (you know, the one famous for its “500” list).

But that’s another story for another time.

We’d like to hear from you … what’s the worst, the funniest or the most embarrassing PR mistake you or “a friend” have ever made?  Share it with us. It may be cathartic for you … I mean, for your “friend.” Comment anonymously if you want. Use a pen name. Or better yet, use your bosses’ name.

Perhaps we all CAN learn something from your mistake. And if we do laugh, remember that we’re laughing WITH you, not AT you – probably because we’ve made a similar gaffe!

In the end, the only experiences lost are the ones we don’t share.

Go ahead. It’ll be fun …