Tips Archives - Page 3 of 5

PR PARFAIT REPOST: PR Pro Spotlight – Pat McCormick

March 11, 2015/in AM:PM PR, Cultivation, Guest Post, News, Reputation /by ampmpr

U of O senior and Allen Hall PR Account Supervisor, Kati VanLoo, interviewed Pat McCormick for her blog – PR Parfait. We’re reposting and giving Kati two thumbs up.

By Kati VanLoo
Published March 11, 2015

I was thrilled to have the opportunity to interview AM:PM PR Partner Pat McCormick. A communication pro with over 40 years of experience in issue management, Pat knows the ins and outs of the public relations industry. Now he spends his days at the Portland agency with his daughter Allison McCormick and other team members navigating the PR needs of their clients. Here’s some insight he provided on the industry and advice for those of us just venturing out into the job market.

Photo from The Portland Business Journal’s “Cool Spaces” feature May 23, 2014

How did AM:PM PR come to be?

My daughter Allison worked for me at a PR agency in Salem for fifteen of the twenty years that I was there. In the final five years she was there, she helped with more consumer-facing PR. The young professionals were really having an impact on how everybody was communicating. It made it really clear how difficult the evolution is in our business. It personally excited me to be working at a time when there was so much change going on. When I could have retired, I talked to Allison about starting this business to continue to be a part of what’s changing.

How are young PR professionals impacting the industry?

Young professionals come into the workplace now with a sense of the currency of what’s going on. There’s a type of reverse coaching that comes from young professionals today because there are ways they grew up communicating that are different from the way older practitioners communicate. This generation also comes into the workplace in a little bit of a different fashion than, say, the Baby Boomer generation. That generation’s young professionals came into the workplace with the notion of “keep your head down; keep quiet.” Young professionals will come in today thinking, “I can contribute today.” It’s energizing in the workplace.

How important are ethics in PR?

I think an important element of PR is adhering to the ethical standards of our business. We want to have credibility, and we want reporters to trust us. The longer you’re in the business, the more you value those standards to not only help guide what you do but also decide what lines those you’re working with may be crossing. Also, we are often called in to help organizational leadership identify how their decisions could impact significant stakeholders of their company. That means sometimes you’re telling a CEO something he doesn’t want to hear, but in order to live up to the standards of our business we have to do that to our best ability. If that means that we have to fire that client when they want to continue making unethical decisions, then we fire that client. There are no long-term benefits to crossing those lines.

What is one challenge you think many PR pros face?

Part of what I think is often overlooked as a significant component to what we do is listening. We have to listen in order to fully understand what they are asking; they may not know enough to know exactly what to ask for. So, we have to listen and help them figure out what it is that they need. It’s really easy to just jump to, “Oh, why don’t you just do that,” without truly understanding what their needs are. Don’t jump too quickly to a solution without fully understanding the problem.

What advice do you have for PR pros in training?

Building a network can’t start too soon. The best available tool right now is LinkedIn. Be hungry for every contact that you make to be a connection on LinkedIn. Include the people you are going to school with; there will be times later on when those connections will give you the opportunity to speak with someone through them. Capitalize on those connections.

What are you looking for in new hires who have just graduated?

Something we look for, which I always credit Kelli Matthews for being the one who helped make possible [at the University of Oregon], is a student who understands the digital platforms. Do they have an online portfolio, a blog, a Twitter feed? What do they like to post, and how active are they? I just like to know they have familiarity with those types of platforms.

Also, we look for the ability to write. Along with being able to write well, journalistic-ally speaking, it’s important to see if the person can identify what’s important and can be clear, concise, and to the point.

Bylined articles can help build reputation and credibility

PR Tip – A thesis on the art of crafting a bylined article

February 19, 2015/in AM:PM PR, Influence, Tips /by Mike Phillips

Have you ever wondered about bylined articles? Well, wonder no more. I’m here to share my vast knowledge with you.

Bylined articles can be quite the handy public relations tool if you’re ready to try your hand and want to expand your reach. It’s also a tactic that’s as old as time. In fact, the top ten list on Moses’ Commandments was practically a bylined article sent directly from the heavens.

What are some more “contemporary” byline examples?

Most magazines and online publications (Huffington Post, Mashable, Entrepreneur, Inc., etc) use contributing writers to publish the level of content expected in today’s 24 hour news cycle.

A few of our clients’ bylined articles:

What is a bylined article, anyway?

A bylined article is an article that an entrepreneur, business leader or expert will write, often similar to an op-ed in format, intended for a specific target publication and target audience. If you have some helpful industry-related insight or an interesting perspective on current hot topic you are well-positioned to contribute an article.

What are the benefits of a good bylined article?

Getting an article published can:

– Demonstrate your expertise and thought leadership;

– Build your reputation;

– Expand your reach and grow your audience;

– Draw traffic via valuable links to your own website to improve your site’s rank; and

– Successfully spread your message or increase interest in your product or services.

What are some tips for writing effective bylined articles?

Write about what you know. Don’t stretch the limits of your creativity, write about something directly relevant to your experience or work. This will make your job easier and will help retain the interest of your target audience.

Research your target publications. Spend some time reviewing bylined articles articles to get a feel for the typical voice or format of a specific publication. Most sites also offer specific instructions for submissions including word count, accepted image file sizes, rules for hyperlinks and product sourcing.

Know your target audience. What media do your target audiences consume? Which have the most influence on your audiences? Target those publications and direct your writing at the specific audiences of those sites.

Make it timely. Many bylined articles are successful because the author is able to demonstrate knowledge or expertise on a given subject area. Often overlooked is the timeliness or newsworthy element. If you can tie your piece into a specific date, anniversary or current news event you’ll increase your chances for success.

—

Good luck!

Mike Phillips - Washington... University

Mr. Phillips Goes To Washington (state university)

December 3, 2014/in AM:PM PR, Tips /by Mike Phillips

Mr. Phillips, a.k.a. Mike, shared his thoughts on writing effective cover letters and resumes with students at Washington State University in Vancouver and, now, you.

Last month I traveled to the beautiful campus at Washington State University in Vancouver where I was a guest lecturer for a technical and professional writing class taught by professor Craig Buchner. I spoke about writing effective cover letters and resumes for job applicants.

Although I somehow managed to talk for an hour and fifteen minutes, the essence of my presentation can be distilled into two simple points:

1. Know your audience.

2. Check for spelling and grammatical errors.

This may appear to be non-information, but believe me, if you’re out applying for jobs right now, many among your competition are sending the same generic resume and cover letter to all prospective employers without regard for the company or position they are applying for. If you are guilty of such things, this blog is for you.

How does this look in practice?

Now, I have enough empathy to recognize that applicants resort to these tactics in an effort to cover the most ground possible while expending the least amount of personal energy. Unfortunately, this is a flawed tactic, mostly because the people getting hired aren’t using this tactic. As a golden rule, you always want to personalize your writing to the specific job and company you’re applying to.

At AM:PM PR we’ve seen cover letters that begin with “Dear to whom it may concern” – kind of a mashup between two boringly generic introductions. People will sometimes do this when they can’t find the appropriate hiring manager. But you can get around this problem using Google to find the correct contact. Or if it’s a small company, identify someone that appears to be senior-level that you feel you might have rapport with due to common interests or experiences. Personalize your outreach, but don’t be too cheesy (or stalker-like).

In other cases we’ve seen people gloating about their attention to detail in the same paragraph as a major typo. We’ve received long-winded cover letters that read like novellas, yet have no direct application to any position we’d ever have at our business.

Another writing tip is to include some information in your cover letter to acknowledge that you’re familiar with the company and position that you’re applying for. Spend some time with the prospective employer’s website, read some recent news coverage. Use what you learn and insert it into the cover letter to foreshadow how your resume will be directly applicable to the position you’re applying for, and demonstrate some enthusiasm.

Finally, tweak your resume so that your past experience is relevant to the position you’re applying for. If your previous experience is baggage handling and you’re applying for a writing position, you may need to get creative. But don’t get so creative as to lose credibility.

A Final Word

First impressions are important, and even seemingly inconsequential typos can make for a dour first impression among potential employers. You can’t underestimate the importance of good writing, punctuation and grammar. If these are areas where you lack expertise, it may be worthwhile to call in an expert to help you.

You can avoid all the aforementioned problems if you customize your resume and double-check your work before submitting. Two seemingly simple ideas, but woefully lacking from a surprising amount of job queries and applications.

For more, here’s a handy WikiHow entry titled, “How to Write an Email Asking for an Internship.”

For future insights and ideas from AM:PM PR, like us on Facebook.

How to Successfully Pitch Media

November 19, 2014/in AM:PM PR, News, Speakeasy, Tips /by Allison McCormick

Media pitch tips from a veteran-TV reporter

KGW’s Pat Dooris spoke at AM:PM PR’s Speakeasy about what to expect if you have a story to pitch. These were his tips.

Only Pitch What’s Current.

“I don’t care about something happening in August when it’s February,” Pat says. “I need to fill a news hole today and tomorrow. Much farther out and it better be really good.”

Be Available Now.

“If you pitch me and I bite, you’d better be ready to go in 30 minutes,” Pat warns. “I’m not kidding. You have a short shelf life. If I can’t lock you in with that time amount I’m moving on to the next potential source or story. I have no time to waste and no option for no story tonight.”

Offer Compelling Humans.

“Every story needs real people that are affected by the issue we’re talking about. Whether it’s sewers or acupuncture or taxes or a mission to Mars, we need real people that will talk with us for our story – and yes, that means on camera!”

Make the Humans Available!

“I once had someone pitch me a ‘C’ level story. But on this particular day we were short of story ideas so a ‘C’ looked like an ‘A.’ I called back quickly, but they didn’t have anyone…not ANYONE who would go on camera,” Pat shared. “Not only did we dump that story and move to the next – I was pissed and never took another pitch from that person.”

What Gets Through

The number of people affected – Is it significant?
New news – Is this the first we’ve heard about it?
Stories with people willing to talk openly.
Good visuals i.e. video, compelling photos, infographics.
Compelling sounds.
Media trained experts.
The “What’s In It For Me?” (WIIFM) translation.
Something that runs counter to prevailing conceptions.
Something that reveals truth about ourselves.
Stories that involve emotion.
Stories that involve animals.

The 5 Biggest Influences.

Emotion
Number of people affected
Visuals
Sources available to go on camera
Good talkers

About Pat Dooris

Pat Dooris has worked in TV News for 29 years. He’s interviewed more than 29,000 people and done at least 17,000 live shots. He’s won awards including two Northwest Emmys along with awards from the Oregon Association of Broadcasters and even a National UPI award. Yep, United Press International. He’s been reporting that long. Pat is a reporter at KGW TV and a media coach who trains people and companies on how to respond to the press. Rather than ducking the media, he believes people and companies should embrace the chance to tell their story in powerful ways. Find out more about his services at PatDoorisMedia.com

Editor’s Note: While Pat’s tips are focused on pitching TV media, much of his advice works well for pitching any kind of media. So be wise, think ahead, and put yourself in the reporter’s shoes.

Whether as a speaker at a big event or a participant in a small meeting, we all have an audience.

Everyone Has an Audience

November 11, 2014/in AM:PM PR, Influence, Speakeasy, Tips /by ampmpr

How do you want your audience to perceive you?

Everyone has an audience. Do you know who your audiences are? What do you want them to learn from you? How can you influence them?

On Your Feet co-founder, artist and accidental movement starter, Gary Hirsch, got AM:PM PR’s Speakeasy guests pondering these questions and shared some ideas for influencing our most important audiences.

Gary and his partners have been hired by Intel, Disney, Nike, Apple, P&G, The British Ministry of Defense, a small band of Northern Californian Buddhist monks and so many other organizations to use improv to improve communication, leadership, idea generation, brand building, organizational development, and collaboration. He shared some of what he’s learned from these enviable experiences.

Learn by observing

You can learn a lot by observing audiences.

“I often go to plays and sit where I can inconspicuously see the audience’s reactions,” Gary said. “People behave completely differently than they would on their own. Audiences are an interesting and unique organism.”

Start paying attention to audiences of any size and try to understand what influences them. What catches and keeps their attention? What do they seem to want? Try shifting your perception away from the traditional audience/speaker relationship and to make the audience the focal point.

We’re all creators of content. We all have audiences. How can we make the most of those interactions? How can we ensure the impact we hope for?

Let go

Don’t be afraid others will steal your great ideas. Openly sharing your ideas and expertise can give you credibility and build your reputation.

“Letting go” helped shape Gary’s philosophy as an artist and professional communicator.

“It’s so easy for us to hoard information and ideas. We grasp on to the idea of intellectual property,” he said.

Gary had an epiphany with his Bot Joy, business. What started as a small totemic art project for On Your Feet clients grew into little bot armies hidden around cities across North America and Europe. Demand for these little bots grew with orders from fans and from more cities who wanted a little joy spread in their own region.

In order to grow and feed the demand he needed help. He decided to invite others to build their bot armies. He realized by letting go, the importance and impact of the Bots could outlive him.

Applying the creative principle of ‘letting go’ to the professional world your work can have greater impact, too.

More lessons from Gary and On Your Feet:

Inspiration can come from anywhere
Listening is hard work
Things almost never go (or feel) like you think they will, and this is (almost always) a good thing
Trying something different can be better than trying harder
Stories help create meaning
T-shirts can make good uniforms

Learn more about Gary and how you can steal some of his ideas at BotJoy.com.

Make sure you get invited to our next event by joining the Speakeasy Facebook Group page.

Ryan Block’s cringe-worthy recording of his call with a Comcast customer service representative had been played almost times

Comcast’s Teachable Moment in Customer Service

July 17, 2014/in AM:PM PR, News, Reputation /by Allison McCormick

Today’s customer service extends far beyond just the one-to-one relationship businesses have with their customers.

20+ years ago when I was being trained for a retail job at the mall (Sock Wear Consultant at Boston Socks) we were warned that happy customers will tell three friends but angry customers will tell dozens. Now angry customers can tell hundreds or thousands with a few key strokes. When combined with entertaining or aggravating images, videos or recordings, those complaints can go viral because they resonate with a common experience.

We experienced our own frustrations with Comcast when we opened our first AM:PM PR office in 2010. We couldn’t get anyone to talk with us at Comcast until we posted about our experience on Twitter. We got a call the same day and our issue was resolved by the following week.

Comcast appeared to handle this recent public customer service embarrassment well by:

Taking responsibility;
Apologizing; and
Taking steps to get it fixed.

Time will tell how far Comcast will go to actually fix the problem. Pay policies at Comcast are coming to light that show the incensed employee on the recording is likely one of many and a symptom of a much larger customer service issue at Comcast. No one is surprised.

Comcast’s teachable moment demonstrates that brand damage can be substantial from one small incident involving a single employee in a large organization. Every customer interaction is an opportunity and a vulnerability. Customers want attention, honesty and efficiency. As long as you abide by those guiding principles, your reputation is protected.

Comcast and every business with customer service should assume every customer has thousands of social media connections and any interaction is being recorded. Today’s customers have the power and are enacting change – even in monolithic organizations. I like this trend. I know I’m inspired to hit “record” more often. I wish I thought to when going back and forth with a relentless car salesman last week…

AM and PM discussing Comcast's damaged reputation

AM:PM PR Chiming in on KGW-TV’s Comcast Story

July 17, 2014/in AM:PM PR, News, Reputation /by Allison McCormick

After a cringe-worthy customer service call with Comcast went viral on the interwebs, KGW-TV asked AM:PM PR to talk about what it could mean for all businesses with customer service. AM:PM co-founder Allison McCormick spoke with Channel 8’s Joe Smith about the power of today’s customers and how businesses should be thinking about every customer touchpoint.

Offer content that interests your audience and take the steps to optimize it.

SEO Tips From a Portland PR Firm

July 15, 2014/in AM:PM PR, Cultivation, Influence, Reputation, Tips /by ampmpr

Have a strategy and offer content with value to your audience

If you have a business or a brand, you must have a strong online presence. Public relations agencies are no different. Every business wants to stand out and show up on the first page of searches.

Businesses and brands face ever increasing competition to be noticed. With more than 1 billion active websites, consistent attention to Search engine optimization, or SEO, is key to raising visibility.

SEO is the process of affecting the rank of a website in a search engine’s “natural” or un-paid search results. The earlier and more frequently a site appears in search results list, the more visitors it will receive.

Basically, SEO encourages keyword use to increase traffic based on what people search for. However, there is a drawback. Focusing on keywords can stifle creativity.

At AM:PM PR, we write about what we’d want to read. We want what we write to be interesting, authentic, and worth our reader’s time. It’s always a bonus if we write something others find worth sharing.

It’s a complicated balancing act. How do you safely walk the tightrope between entertaining readers and attracting potential new clients with strategic keywords planted throughout the copy?

SEO Tips

Be Subtle – While keywords are important to search, don’t litter your posts with them. In this post all focus keywords are in bold. Words and phrases like “public relations,” “search engine optimization,” and “SEO Tips” are all terms that could bring people to our site.
Be Creative – Sensibility with keywords can attract visitors, but creative, useful content is what keeps them coming back. Try writing your post first without worrying about keywords and then add them where they make sense. While headlines should contain focus keywords, you also need to grab attention with them.
Be Mindful – Think like the reader you want to have. What do you want your audiences to think about you? What do you want to portray? Being mindful of how copy, relevant content, and keywords work together will help attract visitors and keep them coming back.
Be Visual – Google likes images. Adding images and properly naming, sizing and tagged them will help your rank and make your content more attractive and memorable.

Paying more attention to SEO does take time, but it’s part of today’s cost of doing business.

PowToon: Punch Up Your Presentations

July 1, 2014/in AM:PM PR, Tips /by ampmpr

At AM:PM we make an enthusiastic effort to discover new technologies, platforms, Apps and programs to improve communication, whether online, in the conference room or in front of live audiences. We’ve been following new trends in animation that offer more engaging ways to present information to respective target audiences, and our new favorite technology is a fun platform called, “PowToon.”

In simple terms, PowToon is a web-based service that allows you to create your own animations with pre-designed templates and characters. All you have to do is choose from the menu of actions and props, drag, drop, and scale your scenes, and shorten or lengthen each item in the animation using an easy sliding scale at the bottom of the slide. The rest of the set-up works very much like Powerpoint or Prezi.

The basic version of the program is available on www.powtoon.com and is functional, but has limited options for character styles and export options. When you are finished with your animation, the only easy export option available is Youtube. You can also copy the embedding code and convert it into a QuickTime movie. Either option allows you to easily embed the video into a presentation platform. Conveniently, if you embed your PowToon video into Prezi as a Youtube video, it will play automatically once you click to that slide.

Besides more animation options, the other benefits to the paid version of the program is removal of the PowToon branding from the lower right corner of your video, and higher quality video available for export. However, for its more basic functions, PowToon is a user friendly program worth checking out.

Enjoy our intro video we created using PowToon and then try it for yourself. Happy animating!

Intro to PowToon

Interview Tip: Identifying Your PR Superpowers

June 25, 2014/in AM:PM PR, Influence, PR Jobs, Tips /by ampmpr

Manipulating the weather. Super speed. Telekinesis. We’ve all thought about what our superpower would be. While for many, this thought may not have crossed our minds since our pre-teen years, now is a good time to revisit the question: What would your superpower be?

A new trend on the job market is leading employers to be more creative in their interview questions. While a few years ago, the biggest trend interview question was, “what is your biggest weakness?” Now employers want to know your greatest strengths.

In the fast-paced, unpredictable field of public relations, having superpowers in your arsenal is essential to success. Knowing what they are and how to access the skills that set you apart from the rest of the team is the first step to finding your place amongst extraordinary PR professionals.

Why it’s a smart interview question:

It breaks the ice. Everyone knows that interviews are nerve wracking and a more off kilter question gives applicants a chance to take a breather and go off book.
It gives more insight about the candidate. This question is essentially just asking, what is your greatest strength? However, the format allows the employer to more fully assess the applicants personality by forcing them to give a more candid answer.
The answer is honest. It’s easy for an interviewee to say what they think their potential employer wants to hear and interview answers can often be overly rehearsed and impersonal. Being able to answer this question honestly conveys your strengths in a more honest, and personal way.

The reason this question works is because when you honestly consider the superpower you wish you had, it tells you something about your personality. The key to success when coming up with your answer is to identify the positive attributes of your personality that power represents and how they will be advantageous to your future employer.

For example:

“My superpower would be mind reading. I’m very in tune to people’s thoughts, emotions, and needs. It allows me to predict what clients want and need from me. It also gives me the foresight to address issues before they become a problem.”

or

“My superpower would be shape shifting. I’m a very adaptable person and I’m comfortable filling many different roles. To me, change is a good thing and I’m always ready to face a new challenge head on with fresh perspective.”

In public relations, skills like mind reading and shape shifting can be necessary. We never know what our clients are going to need, and as their communications counsel we need to be in their heads. PR professionals also wear many hats, the ability to shift into who your client needs you to be is a power highly befitting an important member of a PR team. In the new world of business, successful people are ones who can answer this question immediately and honestly. So give this seemingly silly question some serious thought and for your next job interview, prepare to break out your cape or your adamantium claws.