June 1st, 2007
Going It Alone..Peeps Calling Peeps?
As odd as it may seem, I’ve always been an advocate of talking to the press directly, carrying your own water, delivering your own messages, speaking in your own voice, and establishing your own authentic relationship with key reporters and editors. There is no substitute for this, regardless of how good your agency or publicist is — and I consider myself one of the best.
Guy Kawasaki, a lone voice in the forest of communications sanity, urges all entrepreneurs to make their own connections with the press. He says:
The truth will set you free. Over and over, publicists
tell their clients to stick to the agreed-upon message to avoid
mistakes but this guarantees you’ll never say anything thoughtful or
spontaneous. Maybe your company has two and a half customers. So what?
If you’re reading this blog, you’re probably not dumping toxins into a
river or selling cigarettes to teenagers. Let GE and Philip Morris
retain agencies. If you were stripped absolutely naked for the world to
see, a few warts might show up, but more people would do business with
you. Once you get comfortable with that, you’re ready to deal with the
press on your own.
The whole post is a keeper– read it, print it out, and hang it over your desk, your sink, or your rear view mirror– http://blog.guykawasaki.com/2007/05/diy_pr.html.
(Thanks, NC, for the heads-up on this!)
June 1st, 2007 at 5:14 pm
Al Gore’s 2001 presidential campaign defeat is a noted casualty of this phenomenon. Sticking too much to politically correct handler-speak and using that slow, sing-songy speaking method, he lost even me, an ardent supporter, after three sentences. (Someone once said Al Gore doesn’t speak as if he’s from a foreign country, but he speaks as if YOU are.) What a travesty that such a good candidate didn’t speak more from his heart and gut. My nephew is on deck to go to Iraq, and every day I more acutely feel the loss we all suffered when Al Gore failed to win enough hearts and minds.