PRactical Relations sources the best practical public relations, media relations and publicity tips and advice. Journalists and editors share what works and what doesn’t, along with practical solutions.
Before sending out your press releases to the journalists in your media database, have you ever tried sending an introductory email to ask whether the journalist would in fact be interested in receiving the type of press releases and angles you have planned?
A PR professional named Scott Duehlmeier did just that when he sent a short, descriptive email to a well-known blogger, Chris Brogan, asking if Chris would be interested in receiving further emails with PR announcements from their clients.
Have a look at Scott’s email on Chris’ post “Great PR manners go a long way”. Chris refers to it as “a very polite, very personal-seeming opt-in letter”, which came across well because it was “human-sounding”.
Unfortunately, far too many journalists (and bloggers) are on the receiving end of the spray-and-pray press release distribution approach. Even though software can automatically enter the journalist’s name into the email, they can mostly tell that they’re part of a mass mailing, especially if it starts with “I thought you’d find this interesting”.
Nothing beats personalised, thoughtful communication if you want a good response from the journalists. Of course, if all you’re looking for is a long list of media contacts to tick off and show to your client, then you may need to revisit what your PR goals are.
For some great tips on how journalists like to be pitched to, sign up for this free media pitching tips email series. It’s full of advice on various PR-related topics from editors, producers and journalists across South Africa.
I’ve attended two of Dr Demartini’s talks this week and I thought I’d give you some quick feedback before his third Cape Town talk tonight - in case you’re still um-ing and ah-ing about where to spend your Friday night.
Our relationships with people, whether personal or professional, can often be filled with so many misunderstandings and misperceptions, which prevent us from communicating effectively. On Wednesday night, Dr Demartini spoke to us about how to empower relationships and master the art of communication. Although it sounds pretty serious, he had us in stitches of laughter with his sometimes subtle, sharp innuendos and other-times overt, candid stories and illustrations. He certainly entertains as much as he teaches and inspires!
The Nature Of A Good Relationship: In talks I’ve done for companies about media relations, I’ve covered the fact that a good relationship simply means that you give someone something that they really want, and then they’ll help you get what you really want. It could be giving someone money for a service you need; or giving journalists good, relevant content to fill their magazines, helping you get publicity. It’s all about giving and receiving. But when it comes to communication, we need to be aware and artful in how we “give” our message, so that we can “receive” the response we’d like.
Value Determination:
It comes down to awareness of your own values and those of the people you have relationships with. By values, I don’t mean the high ideals of honesty, ethics, liberty, etc. Rather, Dr Demartini talks about your priorities and the things (or people, activities, goals) that are most important to you. These are normally the things that you spend your most time and money on, how you fill your space and spend your energy.
For example, a stay-at-home mom probably has her priorities fixed on her kids and will spend her money on school books and kids’ clothes before even thinking of luxuries like a gym membership. A training athlete values his fitness so much that he couldn’t imagine not going to gym or buying the latest technology in running shoes and wouldn’t even notice the 50% discount on kiddies sneakers. Another clue to picking up on people’s values is to listen to what direction they steer a conversation.
Whatever is highest on your values is where you have the most order, motivation and inspiration. On the other side, you tend to procrastinate on the things that are lowest on your values, which have the most disorder and chaos. Every single person’s values are different and they act as lenses through which we view and filter the world around us. If you expect people to live and react according to your unique values, you’re living in a fantasy and setting yourself up for disappointment.
However, once you recognise different people’s priorities, you can start to communicate in a way that builds lasting and meaningful relationships, whether it’s in business, social circles or family.
Gosh, there’s so much more to this - Dr Demartini speaks really fast so you can imagine how much he covered in his 1hour 30 minute talk. Have a look at this video clip so you can hear him explain how you can determine your own values.
Art of Communication: The art of communication is in communicating your values in terms of the values of others. Ask yourself, how can I phrase what I want so that it serves the other person’s values in some way? What’s important to me and what’s important to them and how can I link the two?
Tonight he’ll be giving a 1hour talk, followed by the screening of the movie The Opus. His talk, entitled Activating Vision, will cover how you can be the difference and live an inspired and amazing life.
It’s at the BOE Conference Centre (next to the Clock Tower, V&A Waterfront) at 19:00. Read more details on www.going4gold.co.za.
For those Capetonians interested in building greater networks, learning how to positively influence people and how to improve your professional and personal relationships, keep your schedule open on Wednesday night.
Dr Demartini, international authority on maximising human awareness and potential (among many things), is on his way to Cape Town this week to present a few talks and seminars. On Wednesday he’ll be talking about “Empowering relationships - mastering the art of communication”. It’s at 19:30 at the Westin Grand (next to the CTICC).
Although I’ve heard him speak on this topic before, I’m not missing this one, because apart from being a philosopher, teacher, author and international speaker, Dr Demartini is an absolute genius and he generously shares his inspirational insights.
On Thursday night, this self-made multi-millionaire will be doing a talk on how to build wealth (no matter the obstacles) and master your finances. For these two talks, you can book through Computicket or find out more on Dr Demartini’s event schedule.
Friday night sees him joining a Going4Gold event where he’ll be talking about activating vision, how to be the difference and live an inspired and amazing life.
The Public Relations Institute of South Africa (PRISA) has cancelled its annual conference, which was set to take place next week. The official reason: low bookings due to the recent xenophobic violence and unrest in Gauteng. Is it just me, or does this sound somewhat like a story that’s been spun?
Zimbabweans living in the townships have had a terrifying time trying to travel via public transport. But public relations practitioners travelling by plane and by car are in a very different situation, very far away from experiencing any xenophobic attacks. I find it hard to believe that people outside of Gauteng would decide not to attend the conference for this reason, it just doesn’t make sense. Perhaps the increase in petrol prices would be a more believable reason.
Maybe I’m wrong about this, but it actually isn’t the point. I completely agree with Louise Marsland where she says that PRISA’s statement - citing xenophobic violence as the sole reason for low bookings - is highly irresponsible. According to a statement by PRISA’s president, Mixael de Kock, South Africa will have great difficulty in restoring its reputation following the recent xenophobic attacks. The statement said “PRISA is ready to play its part in strategising the country’s communication efforts in the months to come”.
Hmm, so after fanning the flame you then offer to help put it out?
The planning of this conference has been going on for months, whereas the xenophobic violence has only flared up over the last few weeks. The conference organisers could’ve seen early on how the bookings compared with those of previous years at the same stage of planning. If the sales were slow, they could’ve used their strategic skills to make changes or increase the marketing and PR efforts much earlier. Granted, South Africans love to leave things for the last minute, so perhaps they were counting on a mass charge for tickets in the last month.
To my mind, perhaps the biggest barrier to ticket sales was the choice of topics covered during the conference. Covering “Communication - The Sixth Sense“, topics ranged from the nature of intelligence and consciousness to neuro-semantics and neuro-hermeneutics. Although these topics fascinate me and I can definitely see the benefit of these for communication in general, I’m probably in the minority.
The choice to cover these topics was very brave and perhaps even pioneering for a conservative type of organisation like PRISA. I applaud them for trying something new, but considering that it is such a new angle, surely they should’ve done their homework first to see if the idea would take, or at least keep a very close watch on ticket sales in the early stages. PRISA plans to reschedule the conference for September and they say they will tweak various aspects of the offering to make it an even better event.
The biggest irony for me is that a conference covering emotional, social, ethical and spiritual intelligence is cancelled due to fears of unrest, which is perhaps not the most ethical or socially aware response. I really am sad for PRISA that the conference has been cancelled, but I can’t help but wonder if it could’ve been avoided or could’ve been handled differently.
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.
I’ve received a few marketing/spam emails lately, where the marketers have included the email addresses of their full recipient list for all to see. Although frustrating, this is of course nothing new. But I’ve never seen a reply, or a string of replies, quite like this before.
It started with a well-meaning email, where the sender, Siva, was trying to introduce himself and his new business, apparently ignorant of the fact that he was spamming everyone on his rather long list. After receiving what must’ve been several scolding replies, he then emailed everyone again (with all the addresses on view, again) to apologise for spamming them.
I thought this was a little strange, instead of just replying to the specific complainants and leaving it at that. But, as it it turned out, the comedy hadn’t even begun yet.
Wim sends a “reply to all” asking Siva for a price list, while letting everyone know (through his signature) exactly who he is. In the meantime, several people on the recipient list feel that they can follow Siva’s unfortunate example and send their company info and promote their sms competition lines to everyone too. It starts to get a bit ridiculous when Emma shouts this reply:
“PLEASE STOP SENDING YOUR ADVERTS TO ALL THE CC EMAILS! I’M GETTING BOMBARDED WITH EMAILS !!!”
To which Wim feels compelled to reply, replying to all, of course:
“I Agree… I only replied to a message sent to myself… So, some of you that swore at me, shame on you!”
A very frustrated Hermann, who had obviously emailed Wim privately before, now sends this message to everyone:
“I wrote you before DON’T SEND ME YOUR MAILS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!“
The final reply from Wim sends me into shrieks of laughter:
“Its N OT MY MAIL A-HOLE!”
Well, I don’t think this post needs much more explanation. Revealing all of your recipients’ email addresses is dangerous; and using “reply to all” can be professional suicide.
Although I’ve heard him speak on this topic before, I’m not missing this one, because apart from being a philosopher, teacher, author and international speaker, Dr Demartini is an absolute genius and he generously shares his inspirational insights.
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