Post 24, 2009: So your client is an expert? Prove it with unique insights, experience and a track record of more than sales.

October 20, 2009 in P-aaaaargh!, Security

Scarcely a day passes on which I am not offered an interview with a supposed expert in their field.
When the alleged expert has a track record of achievement in the field, they are generally interesting interviewees.
But when the expert is a corporate hack visiting executive, I get very sceptical indeed because long experience tells me [...]

Post 10, 2009: Some reasons why Twitter is and is not the new e-mail.

April 20, 2009 in P-aaaaargh!, Web 2.0, social networking

I’m getting a fair few Direct Messages and @messages from Twitter friends – and folks like PRs.
They’re using it as an alternative to conventional messaging tools like e-mail.
Is it a good idea?
Perhaps, because Tweets are:

Short! (mercifully so compared to many emails)
Intimate, thanks to Twitter’s rules it is very hard to spam someone
Deniable – Email is [...]

Post 8, 2009. PR “Truthiness”

March 19, 2009 in P-aaaaargh!, Worst Pitch Ever?, Worst practise

When I practised PR, there was often a certain amount of truthiness involved in the way I communicated with media.
I hope it was pretty harmless, because what I was trying to do was to explain to media how an event, issue or product could become a story for them, even though I knew the content [...]

Post 1, 2009. Twitter is not a zoo in which PRs can watch journalists work

February 9, 2009 in P-aaaaargh!, Worst practise, social networking

The big trend of my year so far has been the daily ritual of checking out my new Twitter followers. They’re coming thicker and faster than ever.
And about half of the new ones are in PR, as that industry seems to have decided that Twitter is important to their work.
Now I have no problem with [...]

Post 72:08 Green IT is a dead meme

December 23, 2008 in Globalism, P-aaaaargh!, Random, Ranting

Throughout the year, I have been pitched countless stories about green IT.
And a couple of weeks back, when I attended a PR training session, it was the ace in many PRs’ hands.
I didn’t fall for the bluff because in my opinion greent IT is a dead meme. Or at least a dormant meme.
I say this [...]

I’ve been way too busy to post lately …

December 13, 2008 in P-aaaaargh!

… but if I had the time, I would have written something like this or maybe something along these lines.

Post 68:08 Hateful?

October 30, 2008 in P-aaaaargh!, Work

A couple of days ago, it was suggested to me that this blog expresses a hatred of PR people and that some PR people are therefore fearful of approaching me.
Hate is a strong word. So let me put on the record how I feel and why I blog.
I certainly find that many PR people make [...]

Post 66:08 I cannot believe I have to write this, but here goes

October 2, 2008 in Freelance life, P-aaaaargh!, Work

Hey PRs. Two tips!

READ THE PUBLICATIONS YOU PITCH TO BEFORE YOU PITCH TO THEM
Note the sections they include. Form an opinion about the type of readers the book or site cultivates. This will avoid you wasting time when calling journalists with bad ideas. It will also mean you are actually delivering value for your clients [...]

Post 65:08 PR kids deserve better from their managers

October 1, 2008 in Freelance life, P-aaaaargh!, Worst practise

Over the last week or two, I’ve had a few sad calls from young PRs.
I’ve tried to be nice but the calls have been dreadful. They go like this:
PR: Hi. I’m XXX from PR Agency YYY. I see you have a feature on topic ZZZ.
Me: Yes I do. Who’s your client?
PR: Company A.
Me: Why do [...]

Post 62:08 What PRs can learn from call centres

September 5, 2008 in P-aaaaargh!, Work

One of my activities is running a podcast about call/contact centres and customer service. On the most recent episode, I look at some new data from callcentres.net that suggests contact centres are getting better at generating revenue on the phone.
The thing to understand about this trend is that it does NOT refer to telemarketing. Instead, [...]