DIY is in the these days – home renovations, Christmas cards, and clothes. And PR is no exception. Especially when it comes to small businesses or start-ups who need press to build credibility and/or get the word out.
Here’s a tasty lesson from a citizen publicist: How to Get Killer PR.
It’s the story of Sarah Endline, founder and chief executive of Sweetriot, a small New York company that sells chocolate-covered cacao beans. She’s nabbed 20 + beefy media hits that would make most publicists’ mouth water.
Ms. Endline is clearly good at playing to her strengths and has concocted a media strategy that blends the help of Think PR with her own hard work to catapult Sweetroit into the media mix.
She dishes to WSJ’s Independent Street about key ingredients to her success:
1) Attend events. Many of her introductions with journalists are at trade shows and other events. Every January, for instance, Ms. Endline attends the Sundance Film Festival and hands out samples of her cacao beans and chats with celebrities, and often gets Sweetriot mentioned in celebrity-hounding zines.
2) Find compelling themes. Ms. Endline has identified two angles that reporters find intriguing about Sweetriot: its a fast-growth start-up with many entrepreneurial traits and marketing tactics and its unique product. She promotes those aspects when talking about the company and telling its story.
3) Take advantage of opportunities for publicity. Sweetriot applied for Fortune Small Business’s 2007 business-plan competition and ended up with a nice write up and big pic of herself.
4) Be accessible and open. Journalists often work on tight deadlines. So when one calls asking for an interview, call them back quickly. (I’ve never waited more than 30 minutes for Ms. Endline to return my call.) She happily talks about nearly any aspect of her business from fund-raising strategies to annual revenues and marketing tactics. Journalists love that.
5) Devote time. If you think PR will help your company, make time for it. It can’t be just something you try to squeeze into your free time between sales meetings. It takes time, persistence and strategy.
Her media magic is almost as sweet as the beans she’s known for!
Filed under: PR, business, crisis communications, media | Tags: business, crisis communications, eliot spitzer, media, news, PR
Ok. I admit it. The whole Spitzer thing is fascinating and also has me considering a career change. $5,000 an hour isn’t bad and Eliot isn’t ugly. Just kidding, mom.
The interest is from a crisis communication standpoint. How to handle this blow to Spitzer’s image and career? He certainly isn’t the only politician or high-profile guy to have a morale hiccup in the arms of a very hot twentysomthing prostitute.
Then there’s the additional issue that he made career by going after the bad guys aka hookers and pimps amongst others.
If Mr. Clean called you at 3am asking for your counsel: what would it be?
Gawker asked one top crisis communicator:
Expert #1 is Michael Robinson, an SVP at DC-based crisis specialist Levick Strategic Communications. He’s an ex-NYT reporter who used to run communications for Nasdaq and the SEC, and has worked in the White House. “With regard to your question…about potential paths for Gov. Spitzer to follow, the only realistic outcome is for him to resign,” he writes. Shucks!
I say this primarily because his “brand” was that of a squeaky clean politician and now it’s just squeaky. It as if another famous Elliott – Elliott Ness – was in Al Capone’s pocket all along. For somebody who built their entire image and reputation fight crime, his continued tenure in office just can’t be sustained. As it turns out, the entire foundation of who he was (at least as far as the public is concerned) was built on sand.
Agreed. Not a lot of wiggle room in terms of shifting public opinion immediately. A B2B Marketing post describes how these types of situations look to PR for a quick fix when the real strategy should focus long term instead of immediate gratification.
Here’s a round up of PR related (news, advice, media) coverage.
Gawker: PR Experts to Spitzer: Uh, You’re Toast
Gawker: Riding the Spitzer News Cycle
The New York Observer: Eliot Spitzer, Public Relations Ace
PR Insider.com: Political/PR Guru Ned Barnett Identifies Spitzer’s Real Victim – Hillary Clinton
PRNews: PR pros discuss Spitzer’s actions
PRNews: Spitzer needs the right communication plan
PRNews Blog: Spitzer’s Accidental Beneficiary
PRNews Blog: Another One Bites the Dust
B2B Marketing Blog: Eliot Spitzer – PR Style
