Fulcrum Blog

I’ve been remiss in writing a follow-up to this post about my recent accreditation in public relations. In fact, I’ve been remiss about posting at all. No need for excuses; apparently life has just gotten in the way. But I can’t ignore this … especially after spending the last few months of my life immersed in the ideals of my profession and the rigorous process of classes, studying, preparing, presenting and test-taking that we demand in order to be accredited.  The response from the Public Relations Society of America is on point. Ethics is of utmost importance in legitimate public relations. And one’s credibility is sacred. In fact, media relations makes up a total of 5% of the weighted accreditation process, while ethics and law is 15%, and research, planning, implementation and evaluation is 30%. However, it’s sad that most people won’t hear those things, except of course those who already know them. It’s sad that so many people see public relations as “spin,” manipulation and press agentry. It’s sad that even after all of the strides we’ve made in our industry, with the majority of us being hard-working professionals that spend our careers building and maintaining relationships with key publics for our organizations and clients, that we get such little respect. Needless to say, I’m proud of my own success in becoming accredited. And whether or not Andrew Cohen thinks it’s an achievement, I know what it took to get it and so do my honest, loyal and professional colleagues.

Have you ever used ProfNet? It’s basically a way to connect reporters and journalists to sources through the public relations community. We had the service at the PR firm where I used to work. Reporters submit queries, which are distributed to ProfNet subscribers who can respond when appropriate.

I loved the idea behind the service and from time-to-time found some great opportunities for my clients to get positive publicity. But I was always overwhelmed by the number of emails and queries I had to dig through. I cursed ProfNet regularly, especially on days when I was out to meetings and came back to find an e-mail box full of them. And though I never knew the exact price for it, I perceived it as expensive. As such, I didn’t sign up when I started my own firm.

Recently, I came across a similar service that I like better and that’s FREE! It’s provided by Peter Shankman and is called Help a Reporter Out (HARO). Peter sends just three e-mails a day that have a very personal tone. It’s like your friend Peter is just passing along some leads he thought you might be interested in.

I can’t for the life of me remember where I first read about HARO. It may have been on Facebook, or Wordfeeder or through MarketingSherpa, or any number of other news services I subscribe to. Nonetheless, I signed up.

I enjoy Peter’s daily commentary, even though I skip it sometimes if I’m too busy. And I’ve made use of at least two queries already. With my pursuit of accreditation in public relations, and my personal desire to pursue more public relations business, this is a great tool for me.

You should know, though, that I’m really jumping on the bandwagon by writing about HARO. You see, just since I signed up last week, I see HARO everywhere. Kind of like when you first admire a friend’s bold new fashion statement, and suddenly it’s like everyone around you is sporting the same trend. I’ve seen HARO mentioned on Twitter (and am following Peter Shankman there), it’s been on Shel Holtz’s blog, I found out I’m part of a local Facebook group that was inspired by HARO, and after passing the site along to some PR friends, saw it reported in my local PR association’s newsletter. Also, when trying to figure out where I first saw it, a Google search for “peter shankman” and “help a reporter” returned 836 results.

If you haven’t already signed up for this service, do it now. Soon you’ll feel like Peter is your new best friend and all of your other friends are starting to pal around with him too. A new clique of cool kids is forming. But this time you’re actually invited to be a part of it!

Peter – you’re taking over the (PR) world. Great idea and great job.

I saw this great post in a blog I frequent and thought it summed up some really good points about Google’s universal search. In case you didn’t notice, last year Google started integrating the content from all of its databases (like video, stocks, images, news, etc.) into the main search results of a keyword search. What that means for us, other than more and diverse search results, is opportunity. We can and should be going “multimedia” with content to take better advantage of search engine marketing.

The post primarily speaks to creating YouTube videos to support your marketing message, with the idea that YouTube videos often show up in the top results of many keyword searches. You can also use photos, blogs and press releases to do much of the same.

I think the message here is clear - universally think Google with everything you do. Google is sort of taking over the world, so rather than using it just to search for an article about Elliot Spitzer, or for a site that sells environmentally friendly cat beds, use it to market your business in any way you can.

I don’t like to be tested. I really don’t appreciate it when people put you in situations just to see how you will react, with some sort of expectation about how you should. But for some reason, it seems I’m perfectly fine with testing myself.

For several years now I’ve been interested in pursuing accreditation in public relations. It’s called the APR process and if you get it, you’re permitted to put some cute little letters after your name… kind of like M.D. or PhD. (ok, maybe not quite like that).

I’ve always thought highly of accreditation, as my major professor in graduate school was a great advocate for the program. Being accredited affords you increased respect amongst your peers and can really help someone like me (a small business owner and consultant) to gain credibility with clients. It’s also an effective way to refresh your knowledge of the profession and test whether or not you’ve effectively progressed to strategic thinking and application.

I was never quite sure if I had the time to go through the process, or if I was really ready. So I’m not sure why this February I decided I was. Momentary lapse in judgment I suppose. Nonetheless, I signed up. Accreditation is intended to be earned arduously through five steps:

1. Application – Four pages sent to the Universal Accreditation Board (UAB) which results in a letter either confirming (usually) or denying your approval to move forward. You have one year to pass the exam after the date this application is approved.
2. Workshops – Eight weekly one-hour sessions to walk you through what to study.
3. Written Submission – Responses to a series of difficult questions about your organization and role, your experience, and your strengths and weaknesses. It is given to your Readiness Review panelists before you meet with them, and typically ends up being about 10 pages in length.
4. Readiness Review – A panel of APRs meet with you for one to two hours to determine if you are in fact ready to sit for the exam. The session is focused around presenting a portfolio, which should demonstrate your experience in the 10 public relations competencies. Approximately two weeks after the review, you will receive a letter either giving you a go or no go from your panel.
5. Exam – If you pass the Readiness Review, you will be able to take the exam. Prior to doing so, they recommend studying for about 30 days. The exam is computer-based, lasts about two hours, and the questions are 100% scenario-based. You’ll know instantly whether or not you passed.

My written submission is due this Friday… two days from now. I am learning a lot through this process and really enjoying it, but getting a little worried I’m going to get through it.

I also decided it would be a good idea to enter some of my company’s work from the past year in the annual FPRA Image Awards, a local public relations competition. I am a firm believer in the value of awards programs. It allows you to reflect on the work you did in the previous year, both your successes and failures, and forces you to choose the best of the best. It also provides value through the process, by reviewing the specifics of the work that you did and evaluating the steps you took. And I guess it isn’t so bad to call some of your work “award-winning” if you’re lucky enough to win. But entering takes a lot of time… and I haven’t yet started!

This week I’ve clearly put myself to the test. And now I’m making that public. Was it a way to put even more pressure on myself to deliver? Maybe. Am I trying to spread understanding of and respect for these two programs? Sure. Or am I just procrastinating my completion of the work I’ve tasked myself with? Definitely.

Wish me luck!

Go ahead. DO IT. Come on.

We’ve all heard that kind of prodding before. Whether it’s from a friend or colleague, or your own inner dialogue, it sure is tempting to break the rules. And when we’re young, it’s fun and exciting to be rebellious. But as adults, coloring outside the lines isn’t always acceptable or responsible and it can even cost you your job. Well, do I have news for you! 

When you’re writing copy for marketing, whether it’s for your Web site, a newsletter article, or a brochure, you get to break the rules! Now be forewarned: not everyone will agree with me on this one, and you may even get scolded from time to time; there are some true grammar Nazis out there. But I’m telling you that if you want to sound genuine… if you want to connect with your audience… if you want your copy to flow… and most importantly, if you want people to keep reading, you have to be creative and sound conversational. And that means violating some basic (old school) grammar rules:

The basic idea here is simple: whenever you write marketing copy, your words should flow right off the tongue and sound natural. If you want to make an impact and communicate your message, make it easy for your audience to feel like you’re talking with them rather than at them. A great way to make sure of this is to always read your writing back to yourself - out loud - and if it doesn’t pass the “easy to say and hear test,” then try, try again.

Do you have other examples of rules that are made to be broken?