Category Archives: Journalism

How to work with journalists effectively

Posted by: | May 15, 2013 | Best Practices, Featured, General Business Practices

Conceptual sign of sucess in business and lifeThe foundation of public relations is relationships — specifically, forming, developing and maintaining them. Our relationships with journalists are as important as they are delicate. But whether you work with journalists or clients, you must conduct yourself as a business professional.

First and foremost, be relevant and stand out. No one wants to pass along information that is considered outdated. Your customers and clients want to share content that makes them sound like thought leaders. Update your audience with new data, share your community relations efforts or discuss what’s happening in your industry and how it affects your customers. Share anything else that positions you as a leader.

Before sending anything to the media, follow these simple tips:

  • Do lots of research. Be clear about what a reporter covers before contacting one.
  • Check out media websites. Review titles and departments so that you call the right person. When in doubt, speak with the department manager or secretary and ask who your point of contact should be. This shows you did your homework and that you respect the journalist’s time.
  • Be courteous. During each and every conversation you have with a journalist, thank the individual for taking time to speak with you. Everyone likes to feel appreciated and you will appreciate the publicity you snagged for your business.

How have you been able to build strong relationships with the media? Share your success stories in the comments below.

The mistake that can ruin your company’s reputation

Posted by: | February 28, 2013 | Best Practices, due diligence, General Business Practices

PinocchioWhen people visit your company’s website, they take it for granted that the content is authentic. If you say that you fill orders in 24 hours, readers believe it. Some embellishment is a given when promoting your business, but don’t take liberty with the facts.

Credibility is crucial to your company’s success. Prospects and clients need to know that your business is legitimate and that you’ll do what you say you’ll do. Similarly, if your site contains glowing customer testimonials, they’d better be real quotes from current or past clients. Assume that prospects will contact every individual for more information. (more…)

B2B trendspotting: What we learned in 2012

Posted by: | December 27, 2012 | Education, General Business Practices, Journalism

TSG 139 - cell talkerAs 2012 draws to a close, it is worth reflecting on a number of milestones and trend lines in the world of B2B marketing and advertising that emerged this year, developments that may make a big splash in how businesses interact with their current and potential customers in the coming years.

Mobile tipping point?

More than two years ago, Wired set off an existential crisis for tech types and marketing/advertising executives with the article “The Web Is Dead. Long Live the Internet.” In it, the magazine speculated that the then-recent advent of smartphones, tablets and other portable, app-based devices would soon send Web browsing, Googling and other 1990-era Internet trappings the way of the Dodo. (more…)

An insider’s guide to getting media coverage: Part one

Posted by: | March 8, 2012 | Best Practices, Journalism, Marketing planning

Some things haven’t changed since I was a reporter. News staffs are stretched thinner than Demi Moore after her breakup with Ashton. And they’re still inundated with requests for publicity. Hundreds of press releases, story pitches, emails and phone calls cross their desks every day. Break through the clutter and get coverage for your business with a few straightforward strategies.

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Exclamation points: The ugly truth revealed!

Posted by: | July 28, 2011 | Blogging, E-mail, Journalism

Any reputable grammar and style guide tells you to use exclamation points sparingly. Never! Ever! Abuse! Them!

But there’s a caveat. Grammar and style guides are writers’ bibles. They tell us whether health care is one word or two and when to use a comma or a semicolon. Lis and I refer to them because we want our copy to be professional and error-free. The content we provide, however, is for blogs, websites, e-blasts, newsletters and other marketing collateral. The guides we rely on are intended for these uses.

Where does that leave email and texting? Both forms of communication have exploded for business and personal use. And they’re often more informal than other kinds of writing. Exclamation points are creeping in because they convey emotion. The same goes for their evil twins – smiley and frowney faces.

One is the loneliest number

Writers often have the space to set an emotional scene or atmosphere with words alone in an article or Web page, but emails, text messages, Facebook posts and tweets aren’t that generous. You’ve got to get in and get out. The limitation seems to encourage an exclamation point – or even two.

I don’t seem excited when I text, “I can’t wait to go to the Cubs game.” But consider, “I can’t wait to go to the Cubs game! (smiley face)” Is there any doubt I’m fired up now? Of course, the only thing Cubs fans are looking forward to is next year, but that’s another blog topic.

Just for fun, I asked our clients what they think about exclamation points and smiley/frowney faces in emails and texts. My informal poll of 17 people shows that exclamation points and faces are A-OK more often than not.

“I hate to admit it, but I’m the exclamation point queen,” says Dianne Ransom, senior editor and editorial programs manager at PDI Global. “I put them everywhere, but not in official articles. In email, it’s game on. And I love smiley faces.”

Christy Baranowski, CPA at Morrisey Associates, says, “I use exclamation points all the time, particularly when I’m expressing happiness, congratulations or anger. I use smiley faces as well, but pretty much only in texts since it’s easier.”

It used to be that less is more, but now more is more among some proponents.

“I’m prolific with my use of exclamation points,” says Robyn Traub, program coordinator for the Family Business Council at the University of Illinois at Chicago.” I find that I’m using them two or even three times in an email, and have tried to limit myself to just one per email as necessary.

“In texts, I think it’s OK to use as many as you want, especially since those are usually intended for friends or family,” Robyn adds. “Smiley and frowney faces are definitely a must in texts.”

Just say no

Not everyone is a fan of exclamation points and smiley/frowney faces.

“Texting can give you some liberties: People accept more abbreviations given the more difficult nature of entering the message from various keyboards,” says Dan Oscarson, vice president of Global Buyer Marketing at Insurance Auto Auctions. “It’s best to spell things out and punctuate appropriately, however. A text doesn’t give you additional license to be goofy or more lighthearted than you would in regular communication.”

“I hate exclamation points,” adds Lucy Ramirez, communications and marketing manager at Chicago Family Health Center. “I think they make people seem obnoxious and angry, even though I know it’s impossible to tell the real demeanor of the person who is texting or emailing. For me, they are as bad as typing in all caps.”

Beating temptation

In the end, I would apply common sense. Just as I wouldn’t send an expletive-filled email to my boss, I wouldn’t go crazy with exclamation points and smiley faces in business or personal communications. The more you use them, the less power they have.

Get my point?!!!!!!

Want readers to understand you? Bring on the jargon slayers

Posted by: | January 27, 2011 | Best Practices, Journalism, Writing Tips

The next time you’re tempted to write that a court case was “dismissed with prejudice” or that your company is “conducting a needs assessment to evaluate just-in-time work flows,” back away from the word processing station. Translation: Computer.

These special or technical words, phrases and idioms are known as jargon and they are difficult for most readers to understand. Messaging should be simple and clear, especially when it comes to marketing your company. Jargon doesn’t sound more impressive or make ordinary ideas sound important – it only muddies the intended message.

The most common objection is, “Everyone in our industry knows what that term means, so it’s fine.”

I’ll let you in on a secret: Clear and concise language makes you a better communicator. Be direct and you’ll engage new readers (and thus new customers) who might not otherwise invest in your products and services. You’ll also increase the chances that your content will go “viral.” Translation: It will be popular and a lot of people will share it.

Test Your Grammar IQ

Posted by: | August 2, 2010 | Best Practices, Journalism, Style Guru

Who doesn’t relish a challenge, especially when it comes to dependent clauses, parallelism and collective nouns? OK, so that’s a stretch, but go with it. Find the errors in the sentences below and I’ll send you a fabulous prize. Not really, but what have you got to lose?

  • Neither an e-mail or a phone call to the family were returned immediately.

“Neither” is a correlative conjunction, which means it always pairs with “nor.” I also threw in an agreement trick. “Were” is incorrect – it should be “was.” Corrected, the sentence is, “Neither an e-mail nor a phone call to the family was returned.”

  • Marketers say they will devote 41 percent of their 2010 budgets to TV advertising, compared to 51 percent two years ago.

“Compared to” and “compared with” are not interchangeable. Use “compared to” when comparing two or more items that are similar. For example, “She compared her work for the disabled sailors’ organization to her efforts to connect service dogs with wheelchair-bound adults.” Use “compared with” when juxtaposing two or more items to illustrate similarities or differences. The example I provided above should have used, “compared with.”

  • The car moved backwards into oncoming traffic and the impact was really loud.

Although you might think about changing “impact” since incorrect use of the word is a big peeve for me, I threw that in to trip you up. “Backwards” should be “backward.”

  • The way it looks now, he will not be traveling to see his sister since he doesn’t have any money.

I threw this one in as an example of bloat. There’s no reason to write, “he will not be traveling to.”  Instead, write, “The way it looks now, he will not visit his sister because he doesn’t have any money.” Succinct is usually better.

  • The general consensus is that we should close the store next year.

“General consensus” is redundant.

  • If bloggers could figure out a way to monetize their writing, they would be better able to make a living.

Words that end in “ize” are jargon. Please eliminate “monetize,” “monetization” and the like from your copy. Instead, use “revenue,” “make money” or “profit from.”

How did you do? Even if you missed some of these, don’t give up on grammar, style and punctuation. By investing a little time and effort into learning and breaking bad habits, you’ll get better. I’m sorry I don’t have a giveaway, but your reward will be better business communications – and that can only help your company.

Preposition snafus, plurals and other grammar missteps

Posted by: | July 26, 2010 | Best Practices, Journalism, Style Guru

Since newspapers seemingly can’t afford to hire more copyeditors, the ones who are still at the helm are probably overtaxed. I don’t have to hunt for errors anymore – they pop right off the page. I finally finished reading a stack of issues of The Wall Street Journal that had been piling up while I was on vacation and found several mistakes:

July 18

“The Trouble With Teacher Tenure” – Saturday detention for this headline writer. The trouble is he or she forgot there’s more than one teacher in this country. It should be, “The Trouble With Teachers’ Tenure.”

July 14

“Planning for the Unthinkable” – The text in the headline is fine, but the individual who laid out the page put “Planning” and “for” on the first line and “the Unthinkable” on the second deck. So much for not ending headlines with prepositions. Rewrite the headline or move “for” to the second line. (This was in a dreaded “special section,” which in reporters’ parlance, means copy the newsroom has to churn out to fill ad space. Translation: No one read it.)

“He argues that this was even more intrusive ‘because it was done without the knowledge of customer.’” The genius that didn’t catch this mistake must be the same one who believes that only one teacher is working. The error is included in a story about privacy concerns associated with smart phones. Smart-phone makers obviously have more than one customer. (By the way, Associated Press style is smart phones, two words. This is relevant for the next example.)

June 16

In a single issue, the newspaper referenced “smart-phones” and “smartphones.” The paper’s style is “smartphones,” one word.

June 15

“Brown Rice Linked to Lower Diabetes Risk.” The issue here is that the paper ended the first deck of the headline with the preposition, “to.”

That’s enough picking on The Wall Street Journal for now. I need to spread the wealth.

The newsroom: Another view

Posted by: | July 23, 2010 | Journalism, Print

The newsroom: Another view

When I’m wrong, I’ll admit it. I’ve never been one to shy away from ‘fessing up to my mistakes. My post on Wednesday about my former newsroom ruffled some feathers. One of the editors pointed out that a two-hour visit is not enough time to assess the current state of the paper or its staff. All I know is what I saw and heard, but it seems I rushed to judgment.

With her permission, I’m sharing some of her thoughts:

“Yes, you were there on a bad day, but that doesn’t tell the full story. We have made no staff cuts. We are down one reporter through a resignation, but are actively looking for a replacement. There were few reporters and editors there that day because of vacation and other days off – the latter a mandate to prevent permanent layoffs companywide. There are plenty of people there to put out the paper.”

When I worked there, it was sometimes a struggle to get supplies, such as reporters’ notepads and pens, but we didn’t have to take unpaid leave. So that is new. And it’s not just happening here – it’s occurring in other newsrooms as well. And the day I visited, the overall atmosphere was nothing like it was back in the day. It was subdued and quiet. But as the editor noted, it was a bad day.

She went on to highlight the paper’s equipment and coverage of significant events. She’s proud of their achievements – rightfully so:

“Most of production is fully automated these days. We have top-of-the-line equipment that is operated by the best people. You should have also seen the full (the late U.S. Sen. Robert C.) Byrd coverage. It was comprehensive and among the best. Did you see any of our coverage of the explosion at the Upper Big Branch mine in April? It was top flight. We are also in the midst of putting together a special series on the disaster.”

The editor conceded that the building needs work, as I wrote, but said the buckled floor will be repaired soon.  

In closing, she wrote that the paper is among the largest and most profitable in its group and that the staff still puts out a great issue every day.

“I just want you to see things through my eyes,” she said.