New Client PR Red Flags: Clients to Avoid (maybe)

We work with a lot of small business and start-ups.  I enjoy working with entrepreneurs as I find the accounts exciting, high-energy and challenging both from a creative standpoint and from a business / financial management perspective. They keep us fresh with ideas and with our skills.

Over the last 20 years I have worked with dozen and dozens of successful start-ups started by serious entrepreneurs.

However, I have also had my share of kooks, from a guy that claimed a government conspiracy was preventing him from launching his anti-hurricane technology post-Katrina to a firm that insisted I did not need to know what his business did, who is customers were, all  he wanted was for me to perform a publicity stunt as if I was a trained seal.

Through the years I have seen it all, and here is a sample list of red flags when dealing with potential start up and new clients looking to hire a PR firm.

Some red flags are just out of naiveté in dealing with an agency, others are signs of something far more serious. So take these red flags with a grain of salt, my observations are just that and at the end of the day go with your gut!

 

• We don’t need a contract

Translation: we plan on screwing you.

 

No contract = no work. That is our policy. Yes, learned this the hard way. That’s why I now use a  lawyer to review all contracts.

 

• We’ll pay you at the end of the month (or we have good credit)
  

 

Translation: we want you to be our bank and finance our PR with your other clients’ fees or from your cash flow.And we will pay you when we can.

 

• We want to grow with you

Funny how concerned they are about your business.

Translation: we don’t have money, but if you do a great job for almost free, one day we can hire your bigger competitor.

 

• We want to do a one-month program and see the results
  

 

Translation: We don’t trust you and want a quick sales gimmick or a hit

 

Ans: if you want a quick hit, buy an ad, PR is an investment in your brand not a sales gimmick

 

• Can you guarantee results?
  

 

Translation: We don’t trust you and want a quick sales gimmick or a hit

 

Answer:  we are a professional services firm, much like a doctor, lawyer or a CPA, and as such we provide professional services for a fee.

 

• How can we trust you?
  

 

Translation: Because you can’t trust us.

 

Answer: (this one makes my blood boil and I never work with these people)

 

I’ve been in business xx years and have impeccable references, and what about you? Can I trust you and see your references? That’s what we have a contract.

 

• We want to pay a success fee or a percentage of the fee then the rest based on results
  

 

Translation: you will never be successful for us to pay in full, because we will keep changing the definition of success 

 

• We have no competition
  

 

Translation:  clients that say this either have no clue about their business or have the monopoly on Oxygen

 

• We want to see creative ideas, strategies and tactics 
  

 

Translation: we want to steal your ideas and do it in-house.

 

We get around this by having a huge case study library and references.  We do not (almost never) give ideas away to clients. Period (mostly).

 

We want you to pay our expenses and bill us later

 

Translation: we don’t have money and want you to be our bank.

We will front wire fees and small expenses for solid clients, all other pay up front or pay direct. 

 

• Can we pay you at the end of the project?
  

 

Translation: we’ll screw you at the end and pay you less than the agreed upon cost

 

Ans: if it’s a project we take 50 / 25/ 25

 

• 50% to start (non-refundable)
• 25% when halfway done or a set time  say 30 days
• 25% at the end – this way all I have at risk is the profit margin, assuming the project has not gone south by that time anyways 

With all start-ups and small businesses we insist on payment up front and then we can slowly move them to net 15 or net 30 if they have proven themselves as creditworthy, because I’m not a bank.

PR is a major investment for these firms and I get that.  However, if they do not have the money to pay up front you put yourself at risk of being paid last, paid late or not at all.

You have to be ready to walk away from a deal if the client cannot pay his first month’s fee in advance, won’t sign a contract or other red flags. This can be tricky, especially of you are starting out as a solo pr person.

Some of my best clients are stat-ups and small businesses, but I have also lost money over the years because I did not listen to my gut.

 

Behind the Scenes of a Front Page PR Hit

All clients want to get on the front page of the paper or a major magazine cover. Here is our story a recent front-page hit, one of many we secure on a regular basis for our clients.

Details:

• Client: Toyota of South Florida 

• Agency: AJR & Partners  

• Acct team: Alec J. Rosen (strategy development) and Typhanie Thomas (media outreach and pitching)

• Media outlet: Miami Herald

• Strategy – tested concept first via SM then went to traditional media

• Pitch: Toyota puts women in drivers seat, breaks glass ceiling

• Story headline:  Auto dealers shift gears, hire more women

• http://www.miamiherald.com/business/story/1202368.html

Idea creation

In the beginning of any client relationship we get to know the client, by visiting offices, factories, warehouses, plants, showrooms, etc. For out-of town clients or international ones, we still make the effort to visit, but sometimes we have to do it virtually in order to understand their business from A-Z.

In visiting TOSF I noticed most if not all the senior managers were women – odd for a car dealer. After all I have bought, sold, leased many cars over the last 25+ years and really couldn't recall seeing so many women in high management positions.

I realized we were looking at a major story – one the client couldn't see, because of their proximity to it – working with the same people for many years, they didn't realize they created something unique and newsworthy.


Communications Strategy

First we had to convince the client that this was newsworthy --- we did our HW on women in the auto business and had the statistics to prove we had the right story, then we pitched the client.

Once we had their greenlight we did the following:

• Interviewed all the women executives, understood their roles and responsibility and background

• Conducted media training and role playing with several executives to understand their approach to the business and media Q&As

• Created a press release for online and SM distribution only as a test of our thesis and to gauge pick-up / story interest

• We fine-tuned our pitch focusing on : TOSF puts women in the drivers seat by breaking the glass ceiling and car dealer stereotypes

Media Outreach

• Focused on those covering w omen's issues in business and focused it locally, as TOSF is a local car dealer and at the end of the day, we need to get people to the dealership to buy cars in this economy.

• We sent the release to just 2 media, both resulted in follow-up interviews and photo shoots : a full page piece in a weekly community paper, and the front page Business story in Miami Herald.

• Sometimes, the right strategy and pitch does not need massive distribution, just hitting the right people with the right pitch at the right time.
  
  Results
  
  
• The Social Media outreach caught attention of bloggers and car buyers, driving traffic to the website and dealership - good for sales and online SM buzz 

• Generated twitter traffic. and grabbed about 500 new followers – mostly local women – our targeted buyer for the dealership (our SM strategy allows us to engage them separately)

• The pitch was well received by the media as it was already vetted w/ favorable comments online and on twitter – so we knew we had winner

• front page story Miami Herald and full page in Doral Community Papers

Link to Miami Herald click here

PR Budgets and Reality in Today's Economy

What a topic: PR budget's in today's economy. This is first in an occasional  series 

• Clients are slashing budgets. But want SOW to remain the same. 
  
• Agency's are trying to push back. 
  
• New Business Prospects are retainer-weary, most want short-term projects.
  

What's an agency to do?

At AJR & Partners, we have looked at this very carefully and have designed several programs to help clients and prospects navigate today's economic waters and still continue their marketing efforts.

in a down economy when your competitors  are cutting back on their marketing, you have a chance to grab marketshare and build brand for the future, when the economy is sure to bounce back.  let's take a look at some options we are providing for our clients and that are working in this economic environment: 

QuickStart Plans 

AJR’s QuickStart program enables us to meet quick tactical PR and marketing needs while simultaneously creating a long-term strategic plan. In Today's economy, this agile approach saves time, money and drives results, especially for start-ups.  

Well-defined Projects

 

Some of our clients are only seeking short term sales goals, and here is where flexibility of a small shop rules.  Without high overhead, we can perform near miracles in 30-days or on specific projects like PR for a tradeshow.  

the key for success is to have a well-defined scope of work for the project and to prevent "mission creep" by the client, who is seeking more than a the project's parameters.  (of course some over-servicing is OK and expected to show that you are investing in the client, but there needs to be balance) 

Public Relations  Seminars 

Some clients are just Looking to enhance their  in-house PR capabilities or give their staff  an added edge in a challenging economy.  This is where we provide training without the strings of a retainer.

Our full-day PR seminars are custom designed to meet  specific client  needs and have the client's in-house  PR team working and thinking like an award winning agency.
 

Clients love seminars as it's a way of enhancing their team without the cost or commitment of an agency (can't believe I wrote that) 

Social Media 

Social Media and Web 2.0 refers to a second generation of web-based social-networking sites like YouTube, Facebook and Twitter as well as other online communities that cater to unique and diverse groups.

Many  brands are now engaging their customers directly through Social Media. AJR has created web 2.0 and social media programs for a variety of clients, ranging from start-ups to major consumer brands. 

While many of the tools of Social Media  are free, a skilled agency or in-house team member must devote time and resources in order to use these tools to their fullest extent possible.

We have built and managed communities for diverse groups such as Gamers, Toyota drivers, HDTV fans, audiophiles and many others.  

Finally,  whatever you do in this economy, don't stop marketing or you will lose momentum when the economy comes back to life.

We did it again .. this time with AOC

AJR & Partners did it again.

yes, we won two more PR Awards, the Hermes Creative Awards  http://www.hermesawards.com/ 

2009 Platinum Award for Viral Marketing using Twitter for PR and tradeshow outreach (client AOC) 

2009 Gold Award for Integrated PR and Marking Campaign for "Gamer Certified Monitors" (client AOC) 

Incredible work, from an incredible team from AJR & Partners  

see all our awards here AJR Awards 

will post the case studies soon.

alec

Twitter PR Case Study Success Story

Using Twitter and Viral Marketing For Public Relations Outreach

An AJR & Partners Public Relations Case Study 

Overview

The 2009 Consumer Electronics Show (CES), held in Las Vegas served as a Social Media experiment on Twitter for our agency and clients. Over all, it was a success and AJR & Partners will incorporate Twitter in all future PR outreach efforts with current and future clients.

AJR & Partners focused our Twitter PR campaign on a core group of media that attended CES 2009 in Las Vegas.

All tweets were targeted to #CES09 attendees by employing the popular hashtag (#) symbol to track tweets (#CES09). Tweets were also sent to @ces09 who in turn, re-tweeted them to all CES09 followers.

By using Tweeter search, we were able to find and reach out to reporters attending CES or tweeting about the show. We followed and communicated with media directly. Naturally, not all media expressed an interest in our client, but a dialogue was created and established.

The twitter campaign was initiated several weeks before CES 2009, with once-a-day updates. As the event got closer, we tweeted several times per day leading up to CES and then as needed onsite for live updates on our clients’ activities, etc.

Tweet Pitch

The 140 character limit set by Twitter did not hinder our ability to craft targeted pitches. In fact, the short and to-the-point communication enabled us to quickly get our message across while providing hyperlinks to clients’ microsites to cut down on the number of characters tweeted.

How Tweets Were Used:

a) Client informative

b) Call to action to book actual interviews

c) Marketing driven – generate foot traffic to booth

Sample Tweet Pitch:

#CES09 - AOC will be at Bellagio Tower Ballroom 3 launching Gamer Certified WLED monitor: interview/ demos available (@alecjr)

#CES09 http://www.gamercertified.com/ Sponsored by AOC visit at Bellagio Tower Ballroom 3 - interview/ demos available (@alecjr)

some additional Tweets used in this campaign: 

• http://twitter.com/alecjr/status/1097317729
  
• http://twitter.com/alecjr/status/1084005017
  

Successes

Twitter resonated with the online media community more so than with “traditional” media outlets.

Through twitter, we successfully booked 16 interviews and had a higher PR response rate versus traditional “e-mail” pitching. We also generated more PR and a different caliber of reporter than originally targeted – including an increase in blogger and gaming oriented media interest.

Metrics

Metrics for our PR efforts through twitter were measured by 1.) The number of media interviews booked and 2.) The number of articles / reviews published as a direct result of twitter.

Of the 16 booked interviews resulting from Twitter media outreach, 15 reporters showed up for their interviews / demos, resulting in 14 published articles.

Articles generated by media that were “pitched” via twitter were more engaged than those contacted by traditional PR practices due to pre-interview communications though Twitter.  

The use of Twitter before, during and after CES greatly expanded the number of niche media contacts in our database, resulting in larger and more targeted media lists.

Follow us: 

http://twitter.com/alecjr

http://www.ajrpartners.com/

http://www.thinkgreenpr.com/

Synopsis of an Award Winning Campaign: Branding and PR

As an award winning PR and MARCOM Agency, we will post our winning campaigns and select case studies in order to help other PR pros breaking into the agency game for the first time or starting their own shops due to the recession and job layoffs. here is the first of many posts.

An AJR & Partners Public Relations Case Study 

• Synopsis of an Award Winning Camping  
  
• Client: Sleek Audio 
  
• Award: 2008 MARCOM for Best Corporate Brand,  Marketing and PR - Platinum 
  

Objectives

• Launch high-tech customizable in-ear headphones for use in iPods and MP3 Players.
  
• Create an online community of audiophiles for Sleek Audio
  
• Position Sleek Audios’ products as an audiophile’s dream come true with customizable treble and bass ports to create your own audio fingerprint. 

Challenges

• Start-up company with very limited marketing funds, but a truly great product with a father and son team that believe in themselves 

Strategies

• Communicate directly with audiophiles and build an online community of supporters
• Get product into hands and ears of tech reviewers and other online influencers 

Solutions

• Created an Integrated PR and Web 2.0 marketing campaign with a pre-launch viral marketing site (http://www.youraudiofingerprint.com/)  and a microsite for news and reviews (http://www.sleek-audioreviews.com/)
• Launched product at 2008 CES, focusing on media reviews with audiophile press and blogs
• Conducted ongoing successful technology and audiophile media outreach program, securing reviews in the following influencer media:

• CNET
• ComputerShopper
• CoolTechZone
• Gadgetnutz
• HiFi Headphones
• iLounge
• Laptop Magazine
• Like Cool
• MyMac
• Neowin
• PC Magazine
• Popular Mechanics
• Popular Science – Best of What’s New 2008 Audio Gadget of the Year
• Positive Feedback
• SevenClick
• SlashGear
• Stars and Stripes Magazine
• TechnicallyTech
• TechPowerUP
• TechTalk Radio
• Trusted Reviews
• Wired 

these and other media hits can be found on the micro-review site we set up for Sleek Audio Reviews 

Synopsis of an Award Winning Campaign - Viral Marketing

An AJR & Partners Public Relations Case Study

As an award winning PR and MARCOM Agency, we will post our winning campaigns and select case studies in order to help other PR pros breaking into the agency game for the first time or starting their own shops due to the recession and job layoffs. here is the first of many posts.

 

• Synopsis of an Award Winning Camping  
  
• Client: Sleek Audio 
  
• Campaign: "Find Your Audio Fingerprint" 
  
• Award: 2008 MARCOM for Best Viral Marketing - Gold

Synopsis:

• As a pre-launch teaser campaign for Sleek Audio, AJR created a simple website for viral marketing purposes: http://www.youraudiofingerprint.com/

• AJR launched the site with a press release sent to audiophile and technology media as well as through PR Web and Business Wire

• The http://www.youraudiofingerprint.com/ website introduces the concept of “finding your audio fingerprint” customizable in-ear headphones for MP3 players and iPods

• The http://www.youraudiofingerprint.com/ site also links back to the client’s main website and it’s MySpace page

• Members of the media contacted AJR for more information regarding Find Your Audio Fingerprint

• http://www.youraudiofingerprint.com/ increased pre-launch media awareness, consumer requests for more information and pre-sales

e-mail to My Clients: The Demise of the Rocky Mountain News And Its Impact on PR Today and Tomorrow

Dear AJR Clients:

Today is the last day of the Rocky Mountain News. This week UM hosted a conference on the future of digital media – with a sub text of its impact on print and TV. So what does all this mean for AJR and you?

While we do not live in Denver, nor are we representing you in that market , let’s discuss the impact on how the newspaper and the larger media crisis is impacting PR and marketing:

First the bad news

• More media layoffs across the country means less news coverage for all 
  
• Miami and South Florida are not immune to media cutbacks or ad revenue shortfalls 
  
• newspapers are relying more and more on wire services (including Business Wire, etc.) for content and less on locally generated news (good ol’ fashioned journalism) 
  
• More newspapers around the country are shutting operations, scaling back or talking about shutting down (such as the San Francisco Chronicle) 
  
• regional media are combining operations (Miami Herald, Palm Beach Post and Sun Sentential combined local reporting) meaning that they have less resources to over a larger area 
  
• TV stations relying more on pre-packaged online video content than news 
  
• Ad revenues continue to slide, thus putting more financial pressure on the media (resulting in staff cutback and less news coverage) 
  
• Newspaper subscribers are an endangered species (ask your staff how many subscribe and read the local paper) 
  
• TV news are focusing on crime and the old adage if it “bleeds it leads” and not on other stories 
  
• B2b media and trade publications are migrating to online only 
  
• technology is driving consumers of news online where the content is “free” 
  

Now the good news

• technology is driving consumers of news online where the content is “free” 
  

• people still want news and info, but are using the internet, social media and other tech tools to access info when they want it and how they want it.
  

Notice how the last bullet point of the bad is the only good news point.

Impact on PR in this environment

Taking the sub bullet point of the good news people still want news and info, but are using the internet, social media and other tech tools to access info when they want it and how they want it — this is what AJR is doing on your behalf:

• We are and have been focusing more and more on online media and news – building relationships with bloggers to online only news sites that cover all our clients industries from banking to insurance to gaming to software to school supplies to cars and so on. 
  
• focusing on experiential PR and reviews for products, services and software that can be posted and reposted online many times or events where media and customers can experience your brand 
  
• we are using viral marketing to push news to your target audiences instead of being passive and allowing the media to deliver your news to their shrinking subscriber base 
  
• we are building micro-web sites that feature your news and press releases and enhance the SEO of your main site -making you more attractive to in google searches and peole “looking for you”
  
• Using social networking tools such as Twitter, YouTube and FaceBook to communicate directly with our clients’ target markets and reporters 
  
• Using online wire services such as Business Wire, PR Newswire, PR Web, and free ones such as Pitch Engine and others to widely disseminate our releases to a myriad of online news sources and then replicating that news through re-positing 
  
• Our press releases are written with built-in SEO based on Your Key Words and Web 2.0 social networking tools with hyperlinks back to your websites- thus ensuring that our news is delivered to your target audiences and published online even if it is printed in the ever shrinking print media 
  
• We are communicating directly with key media online through social networking tools like Twitter where we follow dozens of reporters (locally, nationally and internationally) 
  
• we remain at the forefront of online viral marketing and PR and using advanced Web 2.0 PR tools (we even won an award for this last year!) 

The Bottom line

• The media landscape is changing fast and some of our venerable titles may not be here next year (are you listening Washington Post?) 
  
• We expect to see more print media cutbacks but also more news coverage shifting online by the same titles 
  
• People still crave news and the demand for information (your company news) is expanding exponentially not shrinking 
  
• The young (under 35 crowd) get their news online mostly and use social media tools – these media outlets are growing exponentially unlike print media 
  
• B2B and trade news is mostly being driven online where access to info is fast, free and more targeted and relevant than print media 
  
• increased focus on “experiential PR and marketing” - i.e., product / service reviews, events, sponsorships and other interactive activities both online and offline (e-books, newsletters, reviews) 
  
• Social media tools are mostly FREE and will have little to no impact on your budget but will reach the people you want to reach when they want to access your news 
  

So, as the media is slowing dying, PR is expanding and growing online and PR still remains the most cost-effective tool to communicate with your target audiences. Technology allows us to do that directly. We may see less “news” in print or TV, but we will have more online coverage and can track results better for all of our clients.

If you have any questions about how this directly impacts you and your company, call me. Trust me, we have built all of this into our strategic plans and continue to monitor this situation for all our clients regardless of your industry, target audience or customer base.


Regards


Alec