Archive for May, 2008

The Way You End Your Emails May End Your Media Relations

Published
by
Robynn
on May 30, 2008
in Media Relations Tips
. 2 Comments

Stuart Jeffries wrote an article in the Sydney Morning Herald yesterday on “A guide to signing off your emails“. He raises some interesting points about netiquette and how PR practitioners should avoid faking a sense of intimacy through over-familiar email endings.

Although Stuart yearns for a return to proper business correspondence, personally, I always avoid what feels like overly formal communication, such as addressing someone with “dear sir”, or ending an email with “yours faithfully”. It just feels dishonest. Not that it’s untruthful, but rather, by using these standardised formalities, it strips all sense of individuality. Your real message, feeling and tone gets muffled.

Don’t get me wrong though, there is always a place and time for the formal, business communication style. Also, I’m certainly not suggesting a descent into colloquial, over-familiar chit-chat with the business contacts and journalists you email.  As an example, I did a double-take today when I opened an email from a job applicant I have never met, which started with “Hi there”. Hmm, not really appropriate as a first time introduction, considering the applicant already knew my full name.

So what is appropriate in emails to journalists? Is “warm regards” too warm and fuzzy? Stuart Jeffries seems to think so, although he’s received far worse. In my case, I’m a warm-blooded human being, a pretty friendly one at that, so I regularly use “warm regards” to end my emails. Although, if I’m emailing a complete stranger I normally opt for the slightly more stand-offish “kind regards”, or more formal “best regards”.

While “warm regards” might still be debatable, “love and kisses”, “xoxo”, “ciao” and “cheers” definitely are not. You might well be filled with divine “light and love” at the time of sending, but these phrases are reserved for friends and family only.

You can’t try to imitate a closer relationship with someone by using an over-friendly ending to your email. You’re more likely to cause the opposite reaction and irritate the journalist.

Phrases like “God bless” and “take care” can also be irritating when received by a stranger. The words come across as empty or insincere when you are asking someone that you have never met to take care. Why? What for?

When in doubt, rather stick to a neutral email ending, such as:
Regards,
Kind regards,
Best regards,
Thank you,

By the way, by not using a sign-off at all, you will come across as curt or rude. Read more about email sign-offs and other email etiquette on NetManners.com.

Popularity: 21% [?]


Leveraging Your Publicity - Why Not?

Published
by
Robynn
on May 30, 2008
in Public Relations
. 0 Comments

One of my clients forwarded an email to me last week (sorry I didn’t get to share this with you until now), where she pointed out a simple, yet very effective marketing message she received from Dawn Wing Couriers.

The email simply referred to an upcoming guest appearance of their CEO, Mike Fanucchi, on 702 Talk Radio. Dawn Wing’s marketing manager invited their clients to share their comments and opinions during the show. The email provided all the details of the interview and the studio number.

Why does an email like this stand out? Well, for some of Dawn Wing’s clients it probably doesn’t. But PR practitioners would certainly recognise this as a way of leveraging publicity. In this case, it was done in an excellent way. It’s not boastful to tell interested people about the media coverage you’ve gained, it’s smart - especially if it’s done in the spirit of sharing information about topics that would interest others.

If you’ve done all the hard work and research to organise a great radio interview or magazine feature, surely you would want as many people as possible to hear it or read it. That is, after all, the whole point. Who better to inform about your media coverage than your existing networks - the brand or company’s employees, clients and suppliers. They can then spread the message to other people who would be interested.

This is so obvious, yet I’m not sure how many PR companies and publicists actually have systems in place or set time aside to really leverage the hard work they’ve already done.

Popularity: 11% [?]


Mother’s Day or Mothers Day - Quick Lesson on Apostrophes

Published
by
Robynn
on May 13, 2008
in Communication skills
. 6 Comments

After Mother’s Day this past weekend, we’ve all seen enough adverts, posters, junk mail and retail signage to remind us of just where and how to spend our money spoiling mom. Of course, Mother’s Day promotional mailers and press releases were abundant too, but apparently the time for checking grammar was not.

In an email titled “Mothers should be Mother’s” (huh?), a well-known global skin care brand couldn’t quite decide which plural was correct, so they simply used them all. 

“This month we’re celebrating mothers’ everywhere…”

“The perfect gift for Mothers Day.”

And a little further in the email…

“The perfect gift for Mother’s Day.”

Ok, so not everyone is a grammar guru and apostrophes can be particularly tricky. But by nature, apostrophes tend to stick out, so here’s a quick lesson on how to use the darn things and get it right. 

There are several uses for apostrophes. They can be used to show the plural of an abbreviation, letters and numbers (there are two m’s in accommodation). They are also used in time expressions (one day’s leave). Here are the two other uses that I’ll focus on a bit more:

1. Apostrophes replace missing letters.
Examples:
- We’re celebrating. (In full: we are)
- Don’t buy this. (In full: do not)

Please note that “it’s” is short for “it is” or “it has”. It is not the same as “its”.
- It’s been a great lesson. (In full: It has been a great lesson.)
- Its whiskers are long.

2. Apostrophes show possession.
Examples:
- John’s coffee is great. (Whose coffee is great?)
- That shop’s flowers are fresh.

Before or after the s? This depends on whether the word is plural or singular. To show singular possession, put the apostrophe before the s. To show plural possession, put the apostrophe after the s.
Examples:
- The cats’ bowls are empty. (Many hungry cats.)
- The cat’s bowls are empty. (One hungry and thirsty cat.)

The reason why so many people get it wrong is because there are several confusing exceptions. Plural words that don’t end in s have the apostrophe before the s when showing possession.
Examples:
- The people’s poet.
- The children’s jackets.

Here’s another exception:
- James’ car is red. - Interestingly, James’s is also grammatically correct. It depends on whether you pronounce the word “James” or “Jamesiz”. The spell checker shows that James’s is incorrect though (and it just looks strange to me), so I prefer to stick to the first option.

As an example of people getting it wrong, here’s a piece out of a CV I received recently:

“Worked at a Candy flosss stand Andys’s Candy. Worker at Cathys’s gift shop. Worked as a manager for Ann’’s Beauty Salon.”

To learn more about apostrophes, here is a good grammar lesson that I used to check my facts for this post. :)

Popularity: 21% [?]