Shel Horowitz of Frugal Fun in Massachusetts asks:
“In June, I started a campaign to change the business paradigm–to create a climate where ethical business is the norm. I see this as a 10-year effort, and I have a background in both marketing and organizing. This is not the first time I’ve attempted to do something the experts said was “impossible.” (For instance, I started a campaign that protected our local mountain from a large development after all the experts said there was nothing we could do.)
“So far, the campaign has attracted good attention from ezine editors and bloggers–and signatures from six of the seven regions of the world–but almost nothing in the mainstream press. Since this is a volunteer effort, I don’t have much in the way of resources to throw at it. And while it’s great to see it spreading around the Internet, the number of signatures is a long way from critical mass. I feel this story belongs in Forbes, Business Week, Wall Street Journal, NY Times, etc. Any ideas to get it there?”
Hi Joan and Shel,
Two ideas:
First, consider an alliance with Rotary International. RI is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year and boasts 1.2 million members worldwide. Rotary members use the 4-way test, asking 1) Is it the truth? 2) Is it fair to all concerned? 3) Will it build goodwill and better friendship? 4) Will it be beneficial to all concerned? RI publishes a magazine and clubs nationwide might be interested in getting on board.
Second, target the new magazine Worthwhile. Its coverage mixes passion and profit, with an emphasis on social responsibility.
Good luck! Brenda Haines, Blue Door Consulting
Hi Joan and Shel,
Shel, your campaign fits in very nicely with Oprah’s focus in her O! magazine. Each issue emphasizes one person or organization that is creating a better world. Pick up a copy of the magazine and follow the intructions for sending in a nomination. I believe it is listed at the end of the one-page article.
Can you get someone of importance to submit this nomination for you? Someone unquestionably famous for his or her integrity, or someone recently in the news (Deep Throat comes to mind). Of course, you can create the submission and have your celebrity sign it.
I’d also suggest that you contact Janet Switzer of Leading Experts.net to do a teleseminar with you about grassroots publicity for books. Put yourself in the “hot seat” with Janet to discuss how to publicize your book and concept. She has helped many authors make it to the bestsellers list, so I’m sure she will have loads of ideas for you. Or perhaps she simply sells her book marketing plan and you can purchase it (but that would be expensive, I think).
Have you tried contacting the freelancers who write for your targeted magazines? I would pitch stories to them that pair your ideas with current events.
Good luck!
Lois Carter Fay, APR
Marketing Idea Shop
Massanutten, Va. 22840
http://www.marketingideashop.com
and http://www.womenmarketing.com
Hi Shel and Joan:
This is one of the hottest topics in business today. The issue is creating a “hook” that is compelling for business journalists. Here are a few ideas:
1) Find a famous business person who is known for his or her ethics to endorse your effort. Until his recent AIG troubles, my top pick would have been Warren Buffet. He still may be the best pick. His track record of financial success, while being frank, open and folksy about big business is the kind of endorsement that will your campaign clout.
2) Not as much of a home run, but a solid hit, is to find an organization or individual (ideally a business school ethics center) that would join you in an “open letter” campaign to get business leaders to endorse your effort. Central to this could be the release of the letter, who you sent it to, and any responses (you’d want to do your publicity about two weeks after sending out the letters in this scenario)
3) Do a survey of business leaders asking them what aspects of ethical business practicies are important to them. Align that with your own principles, and release the survey results to the media.
4) Similarly, survey collegiate teachers of ethics, asking them the same questions based upon what they see in the business world. Their responses, because they are academics, won’t have the same weight in the news cycle as the opinions of people running businesses, but that will be a good second option.
Finally, no matter what you do, be persistent and consistent! In other words, do think of this as you suggest, as a campaign. But make sure the “story” you have to tell has regularly developments and climax points that you can make with the media over and over again. Remember the three most important words in publicity: repetition, repetition and repetition.
As the Publicity Hound often suggests, develop a list. How about the 10 Worst Business Practices in the U.S., followed by recommendations of leading business people on how to clean them up?
If you need help on how one major car manufacturer mistreats customers, I can provide some info.
Ted Fuller
The Publicity Hound says:
Shel, start searching for reporters who cover business ethics. Then pitch them on what you’re doing.
How do you know who they are? Use the Google Alerts function which my friend, Terry Brock, explained a few weeks ago in my ezine. If you want to see it again, it’s at http://terrysstuff.com/JoanStewart/JoanStewart-GoogleAlerts.html
The ideal time to pitch them is the day they write something related to business ethics. When you call or email, say “Here’s an idea for a follow-up to today’s article on business ethics.” That will get their attention.
The Publicity Hound also says:
Today’s Wall Street Journal has a story on Page 1 about alleged price fraud by some of the world’s largest drug makers.
It refers to a “corporate integrity agreements” that prosecutors might force the companies to accept. How are these agreements similar to what you are doing?
Email the reporter who wrote this story and tell him what your campaign is all about and how it fits in perfectly with this story. Then in future pitches, you can tie what you are doing into this fraud story.
Hello Shel & Joan,
Disasters bring forth the generosity and heroic nature of many people. However, some businesses use disasters as an opportunity to run scams, price gouge and throw ethics to the wind in favor of making some money. Disasters also command MASSIVE media attention.
ANY disaster, particularly a large-scale event, would be an opportunity to put out the benefits of adopting ethical business standards, and would allow you to be a different spin on the traditional disaster stories. Seniors and people with disabilities are often the targets of these scams, so you could certainly get support from various senior agencies and such. Being the “positive angle” during a crisis can be a great thing!
Good luck to you!
Excellent responses. I’ll be putting several into practice. Thanks, Hounds–and thanks, Joan, for creating this forum!
You might consider finding a reporter who’s interested in the story of how your project has been shunned by the major business magazines, and then contact those magazines that you want press in and ask them again do they want to be included or excluded from that list in the published article. 🙂