The 26-Hour Day

We devour books, movies, get addicted to TV shows, consume blogs, and online media. Why? because we love a good story. We want to escape, imagine, learn, hope, aspire.

As a business owner, we want to be a part of that consumption i.e. the conversation. We want our videos to go viral, and our visits to skyrocket. As restaurants, wineries, hotels, resort properties, we want media and influencers to visit our properties and “write about us”. This is an excellent tactic,  yes, but have you taken it one step further? Have you given thought to your story? What makes you interesting, educational, inspirational? How can you appeal to your audience (writers, journalists, bloggers, community members, stakeholders and employees) and engage in positive conversation about you?

Craft and tell your story (ies). In PR speak we call this key messaging. I prefer storytelling.

1. Find your story: Ever do a retreat, attend a conference, get out of town and just step in a new world? This is a must. I attended Counselors’ Academy for the first time in 2009. It’s a conference for PR agency owners and CEO’s but that doesn’t’ matter here to you. I was in a brand new environment, with all new people. At every introduction, I was telling my story without realizing it. As I progressed, I refined it based on the feedback I was getting. “I run an small PR firm in Sandpoint Idaho and work with clients in the outdoor recreation and lifestyle industry yadda yadda yadda.” CEO’s of global firms were envious. Everyone seemed to love what I was doing. I thought, really? me? what? Because it’s my every day. it’s what I know so it must be boring and humdrum. Not true. step away from it and write your story.
2. Please, make it interesting to others. Don’t forget to use the why-should-I-care filter. ( The “I” being your audience of course). For example, you might think you’re new state-of-the-art reservations software is exciting, after all it’s going to make your business more efficient and your life much better (ideally),  but you know your audience won’t care, right? If you’re not sure, test it in your social and professional circles. Just like I did unwittingly in Step 1.
3. Benefit – whats in it for me syndrome – does your story have a moral, does it teach, does it inspire? It should do at least one of the above.
   • Educational story – what can you teach potential customers and clients. If you are a winery, you teach them different things about wine making or wine appreciation. If you are a restaurant, you teach them seasonal cooking techniques, or how to cook using local ingredients, if you are a real estate community, you can teach them about new regulations in lending. tell them how to protect their home from pests or natural disasters. Educate your audience so they become more knowledgeable and purchase more of your product.
   • Inspirational story - maybe it’s a great story on where you got to be where you are today. We all want to be inspired, to feel hope. If you have something neat to share with us, we want to do business with you. We want to be associated with your brand and we want to share your story. I can’t really tell your for sure why this is, maybe we just hope it will rub off!!

Then share the story with journalists, bloggers, your facebook and twitter audience, perhaps it’s for your YouTube channel, or your blog. The distribution channels are endless, but that’s a topic for another time.

In the end, we all love a good story. When I see my husband at the end of the day, instead of, “how was your day?”, he says, “tell me a good story.”

The End

I’d love to know what you think. anything to add?

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I just returned from the Travel Bloggers’ Exchange Conference (TBEX) in NYC. I learned a lot of things and met a lot of great people in both travel writing and PR. At the “Working with PR” panel, it was eye-opening to discover that many bloggers don’t understand the role of PR. I was dismayed, however, to discover that many are loathe to work with PR. I would venture to say that they, too, don’t understand the role of PR. Or let me rephrase: they don’t understand what the role of PR should be.

The relationship between a blogger and PR pro can be a beautiful and mutually productive one. Travel bloggers/writers, please don’t feel like you have to go wash after you’ve worked with us.

Our relationship should be one of collaboration; an understanding of each others goals, and how we can help each other to achieve them. You want to travel and tell stories of the places and people. We want to encourage that. We have destinations and products that can help create experiences. You have a dysfunctional business model. If you are trying to generate revenue, you can’t possibly afford to experience everything you write about it if you had to cover all your expenses. We can help bridge that gap.

The truth of the matter is, there are good writers/bloggers and there are bad writers/ bloggers. There are good PR reps, and there are lame PR reps. Our jobs are to scope each other out and make sure we are each dealing with the “good” and not the “bad”.

PR and writers having fun together

I’ve created this Good PR/Good Blogger Manifesto aka The Eight Step Program to a loving PR/blogger relationship:

1. Understand Each Others Goals Part 1: (understanding travel writers’ goals) In the Saturday morning TBEX10 panel, Travel Writing: Upping Your Game, travel, writers Don George and Alison Stein Wellner said that good travel writing is not about recounting the situation, it’s about telling the story. Your goal is to weave a story, a lesson. My role as PR is to facilitate that, and get out of the way. We’ll establish that in our initial communication. How can I help you find your story? I’ll point you in the right direction, or set up an introduction, and then I’ll get lost.
2. Understand Each Others Goals Part 2: (understanding PR’s goals) I have to show my clients the value. This will never go away. I’m guessing this is why some of you hate us; because you are an artiste and are opposed to defending your worth. I understand that. But you are also a business, and my clients are a business. So we have to “sink to this level” and make sure we’re a fit. If you are contacting me, I need help understanding who you are and who your audience is. Just like I do my research before I pitch you, please do yours and let me know that this indeed can be mutually beneficial.
3. Research before Reach-out: If I’m contacting you, it’s because I’ve been following you and I’ve done the research. I enjoy your stories and I think my client might have something interesting to offer you and your readers. Rene Mack with Weber Shandwick said it. “We are not trying to reach an audience of a million people.” We are trying to reach an audience of 10 who will take action based on your stories, then tell their stories to ten others, and so on and so on. (wait, isn’t that a shampoo commercial?)
4. Just say no to Group Fams: I know you hate them. I do too.  If I wouldn’t want to go on the trip, why would you? Where’s the story in THAT? the reader doesn’t want to hear about how the OTHER journalist on the bus spilled his coffee all over your lap ruining the day and all the museum tours for you.
5. Spam sucks: A good PR person promises to never spam and mass email lame press releases. I do send pitches out, and news updates. It’s a great way to keep in touch, and I do my best to make sure they fit. I won’t send you, the sustainable travel blogger a pitch on an ATV tour. I might, however, send you something about refillable wine bottles. I don’t expect you to act on every one of my updates/pitches. HIT THE FREAKING DELETE BUTTON AND MOVE ON. sheesh.
6. PR does not control the story: I never require visiting writers to write about something specific. I know, and my client knows, we don’t control the story. We trust you won’t take advantage of us because we’ve had lots of communication prior to your arrival. Of course you wouldn’t accept our offerings if you knew it wasn’t a fit for your audience. If you have a negative experience, we know you will write about it. That’s the risk we take.
7. We Love What We Do: the good writers and the good PR people just love what we do. I am passionate about my clients, you are passionate about your outlet (blog, podcast, etc). I swear, I am not a cheeseball talking head. I am a normal, fun person to work with. I get to make new friends, and share with them destinations and products that I truly believe in. I get to meet you for wine, coffee, a bike ride, or a ski day. I introduce you to people you might find interesting. I listen to your needs and plan appropriately.
8. You; appreciate it by being a friend back (ok, well, we’re not ALL going to be friends), and sharing your stories with your audience (the good and the bad). You don’t ask me to be your babysitter or your concierge. I know you can look up the weather yourself. I also know you know how to use google maps.

If we have a deal, sign on the dotted line, and let me help you create great content.

Lisa

Do we need to anything to the list?

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Grove Park Inn – site of Counselors Academy 2010

How do you spark the passion and fall in love again? Well, many couples might take a second honeymoon or romantic retreat. And what about in our work lives? Don’t we need some sort of romantic retreat with our careers? I’m referring to a working, creative and transformational break surrounded by industry peers, away from our co-workers, employees and clients. When is the last time you hit the reset button in your business?

I just did. I am energized and excited to hop back into things with a fresh perspective, new ideas and an amazing support group with whom to do it.

For me, my professional getaway is Counselors Academy. This is my second year attending. A chapter of the Public Relations Society of America, the 3-day conference is intended for CEO’s and owners of PR Agencies. The sessions and conversations are centered around the business side of running an agency. For you, your professional vacation is, (fill in the blank with your industry specific event).

I had so many excuses not to do something like this for myself.

Its expensive, I’m too busy to spend that much time away from the office. It’s a risk. How do I know this is going to be worth my time and money?

As I learned from Michael Gerber in his book the e-Myth Mastery,  it was time for me to stop being a technician and put on my entrepreneur hat.

And now, I have seen the light. I have drunk the kool-aid. Here is what I learned on my professional vacation:

• I can do this. I’m not afraid to admit that when I hit a bump in the road, I can feel pretty tempted by that barrista job at the local coffeehouse. I became inspired by peers in my industry and what they are accomplishing. Yes, in another room, at another time, “peers in my industry” would mean competitors, but that’s not the case in this environment.
• Think about throwing a cocktail party: Design and build a culture into your business. Don’t let it happen by default. Surround yourself with clients and employees you enjoy working with and who bring value to the conversation.  Tom Gable of Gable PR suggested that we think of our business much like we would think of throwing a cocktail party. Great concept – I plan the guest list, the menu, the theme, the decor all around a desired level of engagement I’d like to achieve.
• Learn from the ones ahead of me, mentor the ones behind me. wow. Elise Mitchell blew the crowd away when she shared her experience growing her agency. I learned a ton from her, but there is one thing in particular I’d like to share here: I will never again be hesitant to impose on people smarter than I for advice. We all need it from those with more experience than we have. But how can I repay them? By being successful and paying it forward.

Now I have work to do, visions to clarify, plans to develop and actions to implement. How do you renew the passion for what you do?

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Millions of people are active on Twitter daily to learn, teach and network. If you, as an organization, are on Twitter to broadcast your news, sales and promotions alone, then you have likely been frustrated about “getting it”.

Following are some tips to help you build your community, and deepen relationships with your current and potential customers. This should be your primary goal for being there. Sales growth is the objective.

But first, some fundamentals. What is your strategy? Who is your target audience, and what do you want to accomplish? When I ask that, I don’t just mean “to increase sales”. That’s a given. Make a plan for what type of information you want to share with your audience. How can you be of help to your customers so they will purchase your service or product?

Secondly, a great profile pic (avatar) and a compelling online bio along with a link to your website or blog are a must.

A quick look at an organization’s twitter page and I can make a snap decision if I want to be following their stream or not.

Here is how I decide if I want to follow you:

• Is there relevant content in your twitter stream? Content that interests me, educates me, and/or entertains me?
• Are there any @ symbols in your twitter stream? This shows me you are interacting with us as individuals – answering our questions, engaging with us. If there are none, you are what I call Output Only. The boring guy at the cocktail party that talks non-stop about himself and then walks away. Sometimes I make an exception and follow these twitter streams, but with rare exceptions – like @breakingnews, for example.
• Who is tweeting on behalf of the organization? There should be a person behind the brand. I don’t want to tweet with a thing, I want a person and a personality to go with it.
• Is your feed full of links to your blog and YouTube videos? There’s a fine line between sharing your blog and videos, and again, mixing it with interaction. If you are using twitter simply to drive traffic to your blog, etc, you’ve lost my interest. If I want to subscribe to your blog, I’ll do that.

Are you harnessing the power of Twitter?

• If you’re using the web-based Twitter application, you’re missing out on many powerful features to help you reach your goals. Download tweetdeck or hootsuite. I promise you, you’ll start to get it now.
• Set up search columns for key words to your organization and industry. This will help you to respond to questions directly related to your business by people you are likely not following. I’ve seen a number of questions go unanswered locally, including my own, because you aren’t paying attention to the twitterverse.
• Watch what your competitors are doing on twitter. Set up a column pertaining to them, and their keywords.
• Go out and actively follow people. Use a directory such as twellow and search people to follow based on geographic location, or key words in your potential customers’ bios.
• Conduct market research: once you have a decent, loyal following. Ask them questions that help you understand your customer better.

Lastly, and I can’t say it enough: Don’t just talk about yourself. Balance with the following: Ask me what I’m doing, share news from your industry that I might find interesting. Retweet what others are talking about. Tell me something personal but not mundane – I love a good story.

Does this help?

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train wreck

Originally uploaded by woodleywonderworks

Is it over yet? Can I open my eyes? Sure, a lot of you did well in 2009, but I’ll be honest, the year was a train wreck for me and I am pretty happy to ring in a new year with some good lessons learned and a strong action plan in place.

I thought I’d share some of those lessons learned, and what I intend to be my recipe for success as I focus on my 2010 planning these last two weeks of December. They apply to any organization or sole proprietor, really.

Please add your ideas in the comments.

• Work ON my business: not just in it. I’ve increased the percentage of hours I spend working ON my business to about 25% of my time. It turns out this wasn’t hard to do since I lost a lot of client work!

• What is my vision? What do I want my business to look like in five years? I’m talking big picture stuff here, not the details. What type of clients do I want? Who specifically do I want on my client list? Where do I want to be geographically and do I want to add staff?

• Revisit and refine my positioning: I pulled out that business plan and walked myself through the exercise again. Where are the opportunities and threats? What markets are doing well right now? What industries? Why would someone choose me over everyone else? In other words, what is my positioning statement?

Based on that, I asked myself:

• Where are the Weak Spots? I love doing business development, and writing proposals. But I realize I haven’t been winning new business from those with whom I don’t have an established relationship. I am not winning trust from new contacts. Ok, then what’s wrong with my pitch documents? I’ve asked a few people I know and respect to critique them for me. It’s not easy to ask people for help. I worry about putting them out. But I’m honored when someone asks me, so I’m guessing they feel the same way.

• Expand my credibility and my exposure: I’ve defined my goals, my specialties and my target clients. Now it’s time to demonstrate my expertise. I am actively seeking speaking positions on pr and social media. I’m in the process of rewriting the copy on my website. I finally launched this blog.

• Tools in place, now lets actively use my networks to find that business. I can use all my efforts to drive traffic to my blog and my website. I’m finding strategic partners, and I’m reconnecting with old colleagues via traditional and social media outlets.

So I guess there is a bright side to this. 2009 has taught me to work smarter.

Please weigh in below in the comments section. What are some of the lessons you learned in 2009? What are you doing to turn it around? What advice do you have to share with me, and others in a similar situation?

Happy New Year!

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