Gail Sideman of Milwaukee, Wisconsin writes:
“I’m what the business calls a veteran publicist and media relations professional who has landed quality hits, and believes she does a good job in explaining how a PR or publicity campaign works to those who have never been involved in one.
“I outline the fact that an online newsroom is necessary and why, and that a foundation and reputation must be built before reporters have enough trust to include or feature the client in a big story. I also explain the differences between public relations and advertising.
“Despite all of this and making sure potential clients know what they’re getting into before they sign on the dotted line, I have found that some people, two or three months
into the effort, maybe while we’re still trying to build a quality online press room, question why I have not been able to score that ‘big story’ for them.
“How do other media relations professionals deal with complaining clients after they’ve already explained the industry to them and they’re working diligently to do things in step?”
I’m also a publicist and if you have clients asking
after two months, you’re lucky. They ask me after two weeks! I also tell them the difference between
PR and advertising and tell them what won’t happen:
hire me one day and the next be on the front page of
the Times. They laugh and say they understand and
then a week later want to know what I’m doing that’s
taking so long. Honestly, I don’t know what to tell
you but I’ll be interested to hear what others say.
I’ve had this very same problem and I’ve only been at it full time for almost a year now. I’d attributed some of it to the fact that I still need to work harder to build relationships with key media execs, never of course voicing that to my clients. However, I have began keeping track of published articles, editorials, press announcements, tv appearance, etc. we have gotten for her (however big or small they are) and produce them on a list for her (attached to monthly invoicing) along with the time put in making calls to try to get her speaking engagements and the community relations work we’re doing for her just so the client can see how much time and relationship building goes into this whole process. I figure when she sees how that all adds up, she can choose to either handle it all herself and run her business (which already keeps her overwhelmed, or let me do what I feel I do best. I start off telling my clients that I don’t promise anything…in this business, I don’t think you can really make promises. The only thing I promise is that I’ll work just as hard for them as I would for myself…and I do.
This is an excerpt from a blog post I wrote in response to this request – thanks to Joan and Gail for the inspiration! The post also includes a few tips on how to reach major media markets.
Since we transitioned away from counting clips to more of an SEO/virtual PR visibility approach, we find that our clients appreciate their different, but more measurable and immediate results. Within 24-48 hours, many of our clients land on page one of Google news for the desired search terms.
After a few web releases, many of them vault way ahead of their competition, both in terms of number of Google results and page rank. One client showed up at 4, 5 and 6 on page one for their keyword term for the first month or so after their release. Three months later, their news release shows up at 35/232,000 results – while their own site is buried many, many pages back.
We’ve come up with a measurement tools like this one to gauge effectiveness: reads/impressions = response rate. Using a comparison to other direct marketing methods, where anything above 1-2% is considered a success, we interpret the results for them.
When you distribute your news release via PRWeb at the $360 level, you’ll see stats along with search engine terms and geographic readership. So, in addition to releasing news, you’re also testing search terms and mining readership data. If you’re in the search engines, the media will find you.
If clients are obsessed with immediate results, then give them immediate results.
Not in the traditional media but in the hundreds of social media sites like MySpace, Facebook, YouTube, and Squidoo. Choose just a few, create their profiles, then teach them how to use the sites. If you do it right, they could see a boost in traffic—and possibly sales—in just 24 to 48 hours.
I’m no expert on social media, but I signed up for StomperNet’s 12-week coaching program, so I’ll be sharing some of those tips at this blog and in my newsletter. Stay tuned.
By no means am I an expert at time management, but I am always up front with people about the value of time. Impatient clients are a reality we all have to deal with, especially in the public service arena. I guess it goes with the job:(
Tough one, impatient clients are a given in my PR business. especially when dealing with owners of public companies. NO real solution accept acceptance.