Public Relations Princess

Goldman Sachs Tries to "Spin" its Way Out of Trouble

It was a Goldman Sachs Bar-b-Que today on Capitol Hill as the first of many Goldman Sachs grillings took place in the Senate subcommittee responsible for investigating the company's role in the 07-08 Wall Street meltdown.

Goldman has a long road ahead. With a looming SEC lawsuit, a bonus scandal that outraged the country just a few months ago, now is NOT the time to start lying. Goldman wasted no time in hiring a high-powered flack Mark Fabiani, and his partner Chris Lehane, who were known as the "Masters of Disaster" in the Bill Clinton campaign years. Chris Lehane stayed on for years in the White House and then I ran into him on the Gore campaign, where he was staffing Hillary Clinton.

But hiring Democratic campaign experts is exactly the wrong tactic. You see, starting a PR offensive when you are already under the microscope has the opposite affect in most situations. When companies start contradicting previous statements and denying emails that say, "That was a shitty deal" aren't bad for consumers, then it's hard to defend. It falls on deaf years. People sense that something dirty has gone down. This is known in the business as "spin." It's dangerous and disingenuous to try to defend such plain words in an email, with the company's CEO chiming in. Under oath today, he may well have perjured himself.

Good public relations practice starts with building up a store of goodwill for your company or organization. It's not a sexy job, but one that takes years of due diligence, putting your best foot forward, and doing the right thing when no one was looking. Clearly, Goldman Sachs did not make the grade.

Here's my free PR advice to Goldman Sachs. Tell the truth. Apologize. Pay your fines. Clean out your management team. Reform your firm's practices. Get rid of the insane bonus structure that fuels your drunken greed. Give a year's worth of profits to charity. 

You're welcome, Goldman Sachs. Now get outta my face.

What is Public Relations? Top 10 Things PR Can Accomplish

The number one question people ask me, bar none, is simply: What is public relations? A close second and third: What does a public relations practitioner actually do and what benefits do businesses who hire me get in return? I'm going to try to address the answers to all of these questions in one post.

My best answer to what public relations is: Public relations is a process by which the attributes, benefits and stories of an entity are highlighted in the news media or in other arenas.

Public relations tactics are specific actions that are taken to bring these stories to life.

I've never seen a business that does not need public relations at all. When sales are up and business is rolling in, many owners and managers see no need to spend money on PR or marketing. If fact, they say, we couldn't handle the extra business if it came our way.

This reflects a somewhat twisted view of the fundamental reasons to practice PR in business in the first place. Perhaps the most prominent role of PR in a company should be to build the reputation of the company and increase its "store of goodwill." Increased sales and monetary gains are possible outcomes of public relations execution, but in my opinion should not ever be the sole reason for a PR campaign.

The ongoing reputation management is the ultimate reward for consistent public relations efforts. Media relations campaigns are also part of the mix and should be planned on a regular basis, when there is news to tell. However, I often advise my clients work their plan, but ALSO take advantage of more on-the-spot opportunities. For example, if my client was a car dealer, I would have recommend less sales-y pitches during the "Cash for Clunkers" government rebate. I tell them to try to tie your PR efforts to a national trend when possible. And, keep your stories people-oriented, not "thing" oriented. Story telling is alive and well, and the best stories, of course, feature real people.

Here are the top ten things that PR can do for an organization.

1. Provide credibility: Using relatively non-biased third party sources
2. Promote community involvement: Prove your organization cares about others
3. Show thought leadership and expertise: Smart people with good ideas always have something valuable to share
4. Showcase corporate culture to potential employees:  Future employees use the web to research your organization
5. Praise employees: Awards, promotions, human interest stories
6. Increase sales: PR can create the atmosphere for increasing sales and creating demand for a great brand
7. Boost advertising and social media programs: PR works best in cooperation with an advertising or social media effort and (obviously) repetition creates a more lasting impression
8. Create top of mind awareness: People may not need you now, but they will think of your biz first when they do
9. Protect the organization's reputation during a crisis: This cannot be emphasized enough! Every business needs a "store of goodwill" to cushion a hard fall
10. Use storytelling to convey how the organization benefits its customers/constituents: As I tell all my clients, if you have a story about a real person and how your business helped, TELL IT!

Did I miss anything? Share your thoughts!

Are Professional Associations Obligated to Help Job Seekers?

I read a great article about what PR professional organizations are (or aren't) doing to help their unemployed members. The author, Janet Falk, suggests that membership organizations have an obligation to help members find employment when they've been laid off.

I'm going to advocate for just the opposite position. I believe professional organizations like PRSA and IABC are there to educate PR professionals to learn the skills that will keep them employed, or give them the tools to keep themselves marketable in these changing times. Members deserve to get the professional development they paid for, and unemployed people are just as welcome as others to come and learn new information.

In fact, I would argue that professional associations should facilitate relationship building among members, so that an unemployed colleague might be scooped up quickly by another company. A professional mentoring program between students and professionals, or young professionals and more experienced practitioners should be a better buffer to prolonged unemployment than waiting to help after the fact. The Truth is: It's all who you know.

I found this out immediately after I lost my job in April. Colleagues from PRSA and other organizations reached out to me, putting me in touch with freelance gigs and speaking opportunities. In fact, several of my PRSA colleagues have gone above and beyond the call of duty by actively funneling business my way. Friends from all over my rolodex also called and sent leads my way. Networking while you are employed is the best way to constantly build and maintain these relationships.

If you're a member of a professional organization, here is my advice:

1. Go to the events your member organization plans. Write stuff down. Learn!
2. Network with the members who show up at the events. Move around and introduce yourself.
3. Bring business cards, and be sure to include your Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn handles
4. Join a planning committee, and find opportunities to be involved
5. Write a blog or articles for your chapter's newsletter
6. Utilize the job banks provided by most professional organizations

Keep your professional connections strong and take advantage of the opportunities that your colleagues are working hard to provide.

PR Practitioners: Still Hiding From Social Media, I See.....

(Image credit: Bobby's Blog)

I follow several excellent public relations professionals on Twitter and Facebook. It never ceases to amaze me how much these people share with the larger community. For example, Todd Defren at Shift and his blog PR Squared provides thought leadership from an agency's perspective. My friend Barbara Nixon teaches PR at Georgia Southern and writes a blog that should be any PR student's online bible. Always relevant and timely, Peter Himler keeps me in touch with what's going on in the Big City.

What do these folks have in common? They've mastered the art of using social media to point people to their online content. This is the best use of social media in PR.

So if these accomplished professionals are doing this for themselves, all PR professionals need to learn from this playbook. Social media is an AMPLIFIER of your message. It is not THE MESSAGE.

Every time I speak with groups of PR professionals, I get sheepish admissions. They seem compelled to tell me where they are at, mentally, with social media. Here are a few of my favorites:

1. I don't have anything to say
2. I don't have time for this
3. My company blocks social media sites
4. My clients don't pay attention to social media
5. I am not allowed to express my personal opinion

Ok, fine. Not everyone can spend time blogging or updating Facebook or Twitter all day. I get that. But that is not what some of the most successful people in the space are doing. They're successful because they see social media as a long-term reality. They also publish original thinking and content. They share their own experiences. They tell stories.

Our job is to tell stories. If we can't tell our own, why should someone hire us to tell theirs?

Please follow @peterhimler, @tdefren and @barbaranixon and tell them I sent you. And stop making excuses.

Public Relations vs. Damage Control

The Iowa Board of Regents recently posted an RFP on its Web site, and is seeking public relations counsel. I could ridicule the Board of Regents like the local media did. But instead, I applaud them because the first step in getting the expert public relations help you need is recognizing that you are not an expert in that field.

As a taxpayer in the state of Iowa, I would much rather have the Board of Regents concentrate on providing my daughters with the best possible chance of attending college. I'd rather that they'd not spend all of their time writing talking points. That is why there are PR professionals. Hire them and let them do what they do best.

That being said, the RFP on its Web site provided no budget parameters and had a state holiday (Memorial Day) as the deadline. Instead of admitting they were looking at a calendar from a different year when deciding the due date, they're actually opening their office for an hour on Memorial Day to accept RFPs. Not exactly the best way to start a great relationship.

I can't wait to see who they hire. I don't envy them starting with such a big hole to dig out of.