AHA

There is an ongoing discussion out there about whether or not the press release is dead. (Google: “is the press release dead?” – you’ll see.) And on that topic, in my humble opinion, the title “press release” is dead. It should now be called a “news release” or a “media release” to reflect the shift in journalism from print publications to broadcast and digital media. According to Wikipedia, the press release was first used in 1906 after a train wreck. It was distributed to the press, which back then was printed.

We believe the news release still has value, but you have to clearly define what the objective of your announcement is in order to decide if a news release is the right option for your outreach. Sometimes a targeted pitch is better. However, for search engine optimization (SEO) purposes, a news release can be a good tool. It can help you directly connect to your target audience. There are lots of free or reasonably low-cost websites out there where you can upload your news release and help your target audience find you.

There is also, of course, the digital news release (also called the social media news release) that includes images, video, links and other resources. We’re big fans of this because we believe that there is an opportunity for organizations to authentically tell their story through images, video and well-written content. The digital news release may be a media relations tool, but it is also brand journalism.

Whatever format you choose – your news release needs to be informative and newsworthy. Those lame quotes should be pulled (although full disclosure, we distribute some releases with them because the client insists), and anything that isn’t newsworthy or doesn’t answer who, what, when, where, why and how doesn’t belong. Your news release needs to provide value; it needs to meet the criteria of being newsworthy. It needs to tell the journalist something that will be of interest, in some way, to their audience. We put our clients’ news releases through the “who cares” test – if no one outside of their workplace or immediate family is going to be excited about the information in the release, we need to either identify more interesting and timely information or talk to our client and see if this information isn’t better suited for a newsletter or other internal communication piece.

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I got up quite early this morning (2:30 a.m.) because I had some work with a tight deadline that I had worked on over the weekend and wasn’t quite happy with it yet. I had an early ferry (6:20 a.m.) to catch, so that meant that getting up at my usual early time (5 a.m.) to catch up on things was out of the question – I needed to get up earlier. As I hauled myself out of bed, I wondered if other people do this – get up this early because something is due and it needs work. I thought about my boundaries and the AHA boundaries that we set – and if we need to be stronger about them. Then I had a cup of coffee and laughed at myself.

The fact is, some of the work we do happens on weekends. This weekend, we had a client with an important event – so for three hours on Saturday and Sunday, Paul was on the phone with media pitching them to come out to the event. He was pretty successful and his efforts resulted in three major media outlets covering the event.

I am working on a big project for a client and I feel a little behind on it. It seems everyone on the client team feels that they are behind too – it’s a result of the enormity of the project – and we’re all working hard to keep up. I don’t like feeling behind; I don’t think anyone can do their best work if they are always rushing to meet deadlines, and my goal for this week is to get ahead of this project – no matter what it takes (early mornings, long days and working on the weekend).

We have great clients. They approach the relationship as a true partnership – they work with us, they listen to our advice and counsel, they bring us into interesting projects, and they rely on us and trust us to provide support for the tough projects (like when they may be facing an issue or crisis and need strategic communications help). And in return, we do whatever it takes – within our abilities and power – to deliver excellence. And I have to say, excellence isn’t a 9 to 5 activity. It goes beyond that. We are committed to our clients and in our world that means something to us and to our clients. And the work we do doesn’t always happen during the regular workday. It’s great when it can and does, but it’s not the reality we live in.

We believe in a work/life balance here at AHA. We believe in working as partners with our clients – and that means setting boundaries on both sides that are clearly communicated. And we believe that our commitment to our clients pays off every day. We have loyal, caring clients that are engaged with us, they pay us in a timely fashion and they go out of their way to recommend us to other organizations. I’d say that getting up a little earlier is a small price to pay for those kinds of professional relationships.

This morning, as boundary thoughts bounced around in my mind, a blog post by Danielle LaPorte came winging into my inbox and, since I am a big fan of hers, I drank my coffee and read it (I always want to know what she has to say to me!). She is a sassy, upstart, smart, spiritually-focused business/life coach who defies description. She isn’t for everyone, but if you “get her” and are ready to truly listen to her and yourself, she can change your entire life (business and personal) for the better. And her blog post today was about boundaries. It’s worth a read.

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Like many, I am fighting off a cold, the flu or some other illness that is threatening to sideline me from the piles of work I need to get done in the next few days. An annual report to review for a client, a communications plan to write, a video storyboard, a proposal and script to revise… The list just goes on. And writing the AHA blog post is one of the tasks that I needed to get done yesterday that I didn’t quite accomplish. Client work is always more important to get done and I focused on that, but our AHA blog posts are important too.

With that in mind, I am going to send you to a great source for communicators – ragan.com – to read about the importance of punctuation. It is important and not always as straightforward as it might seem. We have lots of discussions here at AHA about the details of punctuation. And I know I am guilty of using too many commas (I even have a grade four report card that says that I appear to have a special connection with commas – go figure). I also know that one of my pet peeves is the overuse of the exclamation mark. It drives me crazy!

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How people take in information has changed. I read The Shallows: What the Internet is Doing to Our Brains a while ago and it resonated with me. Communication has shifted and people want short, informative pieces that they can quickly read, hear or view.

Years ago, when I worked at Maclean’s magazine, the People page was consistently the most read page in the magazine. It wasn’t because the people who read Maclean’s weren’t interested in the other longer pieces – it was partially because that page had information on interesting people and partially because the pieces were short bites of content that could be easily digested.

In working with clients, we often have to remind, encourage, cajole and even push them to edit their work. (Five pages is not a briefing document!) We have clients who are incredibly intelligent and sometimes that works against them. The curse of knowledge can be a challenge, as can the curse of words. For many of us, we grew up in a time when using “big words” was encouraged and many people think that way – they aren’t trying to impress anyone using those words; that’s just how they think. The challenge is in how people absorb what you are trying to communicate. If you use big words that some people won’t know the meaning of, they will tune out. If you use too many words – they will tune out. If you don’t focus on what they need to know and how they want to take it in, they may not tune in at all.

Writing for the People page prepared me for online writing and writing for social media – short, informative and engaging pieces with smart, cheeky headlines. Take a look at the last five communications pieces that you developed – how long are they? How straightforward are they? How engaging are they? Do they really meet the needs and expectations of your audience? These are tough questions to ask, but once you view your communications pieces through this lens – you will find they are more effective.

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We all know that visuals are a compelling part of your communication toolbox. They draw the reader in, they engage the audience and tell an important part of your story. They make a connection between the storyteller, the story and the audience. And thanks to leaps forward in technology, it’s no longer a challenge to create strong visual elements for your communications pieces.

While we are big fans of using professional videographers, photographers, illustrators and other visual medium professionals, the fact is there’s not always a budget to do so. That’s why it is important to identify ahead of time when it is necessary (sometimes even crucial) to bring in the professionals and when you can get away with using an image you took or a Flip-style video clip.

The way we see it here at AHA, if the communication piece is more casual, you can get away with a little when it comes to the visuals. For example, if it’s an update from the project manager, you can likely get away with a more basic shot of this person in action, on location somewhere. A message from the president, managing director, CEO or executive director needs a professional photo – in my opinion.

For social event photos and fun photos, someone at your organization who has an eye for photography can take them. They still need to be done well. I can’t tell you how many times we have had to go back to clients and tell them that they can’t use a blurry image or have important people half cut out of images. Even if you aren’t using a professional – you do need to have someone who has some skills in this area to take the photos.

Newsletters are obvious venues for images; you can also link to an interesting Flip-style video, if that medium resonates with your target audience. A blog needs visuals, as does your website. Don’t shy away from video; it is an effective medium.

Using just images to tell the story is another good way to attract attention. Finding five to seven good photos and letting them tell the story is a compelling way to communicate.

Depending on what news you are sharing, a photo or link to a video, as a component of your news release or pitch to a specific journalist, is also a good thing. We often send out photo releases – a great image with two or three sentences explaining the context. Media love great visuals.

As communicators, we often see ourselves as writers, editors, internal communicators, media relations specialists, corporate communicators and storytellers. At our PR agency, we have shifted that perception. We see ourselves as strategic advisors and storytellers, because at the heart of it all that’s what we do. And that includes a big focus on telling the story through images.

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