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How can PRs get the most from social media? Talk to journalists!

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Time to hand over the reins of the Bristol Editor blog to Simon Clarke, author of the superb Freelance Unbound site, to discuss social media, journalism and more.

Over to you Simon!

Like all the best affairs, PR and journalism has had a bit of a tempestuous relationship.

Lazy journalists take carefully prepared media releases, hack them to bits, lose all the important material, add ridiculous headlines, and then demand high-resolution photos with 30 minutes notice.

And sometimes, don’t even publish it.

Or, from another angle, time-pressed journalists take puff-laden rubbish from overpaid PRs, try to draw a real story out of a mass of client hype, attempt to hook the reader’s interest with an interesting headline, and find themselves on deadline asking for pictures the PR should have supplied in the first place.

And then get spiked, because someone’s come up with some real news at the last minute.

Then along came the explosion of social media. Suddenly, PRs could do their job without having to sweet-talk grumpy old hacks.

Brand communications was a whole new world of freedom and excitement.

But things are never as simple as that. Social media has transformed readers’ relationship with media content, and with brands. Readers are no longer just “readers” – they are active participants in conversation, and expect to be treated as equals.

Disgruntled readers can throw a spanner in the works of a carefully cultivated brand image in a heartbeat – just ask Kwik Fit.

What’s the answer?

Journalists are tiresome for a reason. We demand more from media releases than puff – we want a compelling story, and a reason for readers to care. We want to strip away the hype and the flannel, and to publish something that matters to someone other than ‘the brand’.

In the age of social media, those qualities are more valuable than ever.

Rather than seeing platforms such as Twitter and Facebook as a good excuse never to have to deal with journalists again, PR needs to embrace journalism’s skills – to tell compelling stories, without puff and hype, via those social platforms.

PR must make sure its own content passes the trust test.

How? Make sure you still work with editors and writers from the other side of the fence.

If you’d like to Guest Blog for Bristol Editor – and also put yourself in front of 1,000′s of creatives, marketing agencies, PRs, editors, copywriters and digital bods, get in touch here today. And, yes, terms and conditions do apply.

More journalists are using social media – why bother hiring a PR agency?

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It’s a pertinent question, given this article from www.journalism.co.uk on the rise of social media usage by editors, news reporters and feature writers.

New research has highlighted a significant increase in the number of editors, reporters and Press representatives using social media platforms such as Twitter and Facebook to source news, contact rent-a-quotes directly, and engage with businesses – putting more pressure on PRs and PR agencies to engage more effectively with social media on behalf of their clients.

If I were a business owner, engaged on social media platforms, writing regular blog content, posting across Twitter and Facebook, I’d be looking at the expensive PR retainer fee many PR agencies charge and asking “Why bother hiring a PR agency?”

Particularly if more media folk are approaching contacts directly for stories via social media, cutting out the Spin merchants.

I’d imagine the kind of research published by www.journalism.co.uk is a major worry for traditional, offline-media-relations-based PR agencies, who have buried their heads in the sand and ignored the rise and rise of social media.

The Press have woken up to the power and connectivity potential of social media platforms – given the amount of time Twitter, for example, can save a time-pressed journalist putting a story together on deadline, it’s hardly surprising that the British Press are utilising social media.

Now, of course, there are some savvy PR agencies out there who have redefined themselves, embraced social media as a viable service offering to their clients, and are delivering outstanding work for their clients and to the Press via social media platforms – good examples of this can be found in We Are Social, Highlight PR and 10 Yetis.

Many PR agencies, however, have become effectively redundant – and this, I’d imagine, would help explain why many traditional PRs I’ve spoken to in the last 12-18 months don’t seem to “get” social media. I’ve heard: It’s a fad. It’s a waste of time. It’s chaotic.

The reality for these old-school PR guys is this – they can’t control the ‘message’ and it scares them. And here’s why.

It might be worth asking if hiring a PR agency is worth the time, effort, and weighty retainer fee – I’d be putting my cash into hiring a savvy social media marketer, an experienced blogger, an online PR supremo.

And definitely no fee retainer with a fluffy PR bunny who advocates long schmoozy lunches with editors and faxing press releases to newsrooms. Don’t laugh, this is actually still happening out there in PR-land.

Time, perhaps, to get tweeting and blogging instead – for real business benefit?

A Day in the Life of a Social Media Editor

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It might sound like all fancy bells and whistles – being a social media editor in Bristol.

And to be fair, on some days, it can be really exciting: such huge variety, with delivering social media content, client tweets, writing blogs, devising social media strategies, drafting SEO-enhanced web copy, posting competitions on Facebook for clients.

But mostly, A Day in the Life of a social media editor is all about this:

Juggling.

Here’s an average day, as I sit and write on a laptop in a hotel room before two monthly client meetings tomorrow.

* Morning

The day starts with a check of client blogs, Twitter feeds and Facebook pages, to see what comments have been submitted for moderation and approval, any new followers or fans, trackbacks of blog posts and where the content is being highlighted on other sites of potential benefit to my clients.

Then, checking emails to see what updates are incoming – I subscribe to a number of RSS Feeds, blogs and news sites online relevant to my clients industries and business sectors, so keeping up-to-date with their worlds is crucially important in the role of social media editor for them and their businesses.

Next, drafting a 1,200-word industry article to feature online for a coaching client on mentoring and coaching. The piece needs to be laden with relevant SEO-embedded keywords and phrases, so writing it with flow and context can be time-consuming.

* Quick lunch

At the desk in my home office – a habit I got into after more than a decade working in newspaper and magazine newsrooms, where lunch was always unfortunately (due to looming ever-present deadlines), eaten in front of the monitor – and then back to the next job.

* Afternoon

Writing a couple of blog posts for different clients – a corporate aerial imaging client and a hair salon (see, I told you it’s a hugely-varied day!) which are then emailed off to the prospective clients for reviewing and amending. So much copy, so little time.

Then, responding to two new pieces of potential client work – both in London, funnily enough. One is for a documentary production company needing a social media strategy, the other to Brief a new plastic surgeon on Wimpole Street, who is a referred client from a marketing agency in Bristol who has put together his new brand and website offering.

A call from a PR agency director in Bath who has a client for me to speak to about blogging and social media consultancy – I blogged for one of his clients last year, and have helped him put together social media elements of pitches. He returns the favour by providing me with a zero-cost-of-sale piece of potential new social media work, with blogging thrown in. Result!

Next, dealing with web development queries from the technical team of a new social networking client in Bristol, and helping them plan out some media relations activities to newspapers, magazines, radio stations, and the usual TV suspects regionally.

Finally, with the clock striking 6, time to fire off a couple of email responses for social media consultancy requests via the Contact Form on the site – one’s from an old schoolmate with an awesome-looking recruitment firm who wants social media support across the UK, the other for a workshop to a group of local businesses after an introduction to the world of social.

* Evening

Time for me to keep juggling – with my own social media content and blogging schedules. I’m lucky enough to be regularly featured on high-profile sites such as www.socialmediatoday.com, www.journalism.co.uk and www.marketingdonut.co.uk, but this takes effort and a rigorous blogging practice.

I post fresh content on the blog three times a week – because it is the main source of new work to me as a social media editor, and has been for 18 months. Quite simply, giving great content works. Plus, I try and spend 25% of each day on new business tasks.

And so, finally, reviewing and sourcing top content relevant for my audiences on Twitter and Facebook, scheduling it all onto Hootsuite for the following day, and drafting a blog post or two, based on what I’m reading, experiencing, or being inspired by.

Time to stop juggling. Not a bad day, huh?

What delivering a social media strategy in Bristol taught me

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Interesting points raised last week whilst delivering social media strategy in Bristol to Rob Moore from London-based Greg Atkins Productions.

What I found particularly interesting were the lessons I learned whilst delivering strategy on social media to Rob.

I can’t discuss the upcoming project, it is highly confidential – but utterly brilliant, and the work being produced by Rob and the team is superb.

Thoughtful, challenging, insightful, and uncompromising in its creative dynamism.

I didn’t, however, expect to learn quite as much as I did about certain things during the social media strategy day with Rob, but then again, all good teaching is – as we so often find – a two-way process in which teacher and student both receive knowledge.

What did I learn? Well, a few resounding and basic truths about social media, journalism and blogging, including:

* Social media content will only endure if it is authentic, genuine, and tailored to an audience.

* Journalism and blogging require the same basic skills and disciplines to survive online.

* Broadcast marketing to online audiences is dead. Long live social media marketing.

The biggest surprise, for me, was to appreciate yet again that the potential offered by genuine, authentic and thoughtful blogging is truly limitless.

Rob came to be a client after he read my blog post on How Kwik Fit risked my life to make a sale and the concurrent social media Campaign across Facebook, which has garnished 100′s of fans – as well as national newspaper interest and a special slot on BBC Watchdog.

I suppose in a way – in light of their lack of any positive resolution – this piece of excellent business with a brilliant guy on behalf of an awesome company via the Kwik Fit story means I should be grateful to them. And, in a way, I am.

What do you learn when you deliver workshops to clients? Hopefully, as much as you give them.

Will bloggers overtake journalists in the trust stakes?

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It’s a question bloggers will be asking of journalists, I suspect, after this story from the Guardian about NoW senior journalists being arrested in London for questioning around the phone-hacking scandal.

It appears that yet another blow has been struck to journalistic integrity and supposed objectivity, if the main elements of the Guardian’s reportage are to be taken as stringently accurate.

Both journalists have denied any wrong-doing, and presented themselves for questioning at two London police stations, according to the report.

At a time when news bloggers and online journalists are increasing and posting outstanding content – see a Top 10 list here from the excellent Fleet Street Blues – it’s a time when traditional newspaper journalism really needs to be stepping up to the mark and demonstrating the very best qualities and principles of good journalism.

Rather than highlighting the very worst elements of what’s seen externally across the globe at times as a ‘grubby’ British Press pack in action on a daily basis.

I’ve been there, I’ve seen it, I’ve experienced the horror, the horror. I was lucky enough to get out, get online, and get blogging.

I’m predicting – in light of today’s Guardian story – that news bloggers and online reportage will overtake traditional journalists in the trust stakes.

If I were one of the disillusioned, disinterested, and disloyal readers of print Press, I’d be taking my attention elsewhere.

Online, for starters – oh, hang on, that’s already happening.

As Jack Nicholson said when playing the Joker in Batman: “Hubba, hubba, hubba – who do ya trust?”

Judging from the way offline newspaper journalism is shaping up, and the measures senior editorial staff are finding themselves taking to get the ‘best’ exclusives splashed on Page One, I’d suggest that online journalism, reportage-based blogging, and media commentary-style blogs will be more popular than ever before within the next 12 months.

Readerships take years to hand over their loyalty – and they’ll withdraw it in seconds, as the papers are finding to their cost.

Turning journalists into entrepreneurs

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This was one of the topics of conversation at a meeting I had with Professor Jason Whittaker from University College Falmouth today – and an interesting conversation it was.

How to turn the journalists of tomorrow, our last bastion of editorial Hope, into entrepreneurs – who are ready, willing and able to handle the evolving challenges facing contemporary (digitised) journalism and editing in the UK.

A few areas of interest came up, namely:

* How can trainee journalists get incentivised to embrace digital journalism when it’s often an add-on to their newsroom tasks, rather than an integral, recognised, and ‘serious’ part of their journalistic daily duties in British newsrooms?

* How can experienced journalists and editors get engaged with digital mediums, when many are seemingly afraid of change?

* How can journalists – newly-qualified and experienced alike – get motivated with an entrepreneurial mindset to succeed and thrive?

There are some answers here, from an excellent blog post from Alfred Hermida at REPORTR.NET – but be aware, Alfred is using dangerous words like ‘innovation’ and ‘digital mindset’ alongside the words ‘journalists’ and media’ in his blog. I love it.

My suggestions to Jason today on this subject? Well, they included:

* Get students blogging as early as possible, and encourage them to blog around niche topics they are passionate, knowledgeable and positive about.

* Integrate social media into digital journalism modules, so media students are able to tackle the platforms with confidence before they’ve graduated.

* Inject concepts and examples of entrepreneurial journalism into their modules during the course, making it something they are comfortable with throughout their first learning experiences of the world of journalism.

And this doesn’t mean just pointing them at The Huffington Post.

We considered, just for a moment, the positive impact on British Journalism if students left colleges fully-digitised, social-media-savvy, blogging with passion, and also able to handle standard journo fodder tasks with ease and confidence.

Powerful stuff, huh? Inspiring and exciting meeting – many thanks, Jason.

Have you caught your monster client yet?

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If not, taking a few tips from this guy might be useful.

Watched an incredible documentary last night, in which extreme fisherman Jeremy Wade traversed up and down the Congo in search of a monster fish called a Goliath Tigerfish – basically, a six-foot-long piranha hybrid which has been responsible for the deaths of people getting in its way.

The moment of glory can be seen here – when Wade catches a huge Goliath Tigerfish in the Congo river. Awesome.

And what a journey our extreme fisherman had hunting down and landing this monster fish – one which made me think about searching for an equally tricky beast – the monster client.

Have you ever caught a monster client? Was it a good experience? Was it enriching for you, or an absolute nightmare?

Let’s look at Wade’s experience for illumination:

* He spent more then three weeks of fruitless fishing, almost catching a monster fish and losing it

* He researched extensively, speaking to villagers and local fisherman about the elusive Goliath Tigerfish

* He consulted an esteemed witch doctor, gaining powerful potions and competitive knowledge to win the catch

* He patiently returned to the hunt – catching a fine specimen of a monster fish, the Goliath Tigerfish

What happened next? Did Wade get fame and glory? Riches beyond his wildest dreams in the world of fishing?

No – in fact, the Tigerfish died at the riverbank within 30 minutes, having been exhausted beyond reason by the struggle. And so, despite having caught his monster fish, Wade was resigned to taking it back to the witch doctor’s village, where it was eaten.

Have you ever tried to land a monster client?

Invested in extensive research, jumped through all the right hoops in order to get the prestigious monster client you think your business needs to succeed?

Have you given blood, sweat and tears to catch the monster client, only to see it die on you when you’ve won it?

Life can be like that.

Three years ago, I had a monster client. Key account, 80% of my revenues all tied up in the one piece of business.

Trouble was, after 18 months of brilliant account management, great results, and a fantastic relationship with one of the Directors, the Managing Director of the business (not my main contact point) put the firm into overnight liquidation.

Lost all that revenue with the death of the monster client within 24 hours. Gone. Never to return. Sunk without a trace.

My point is this – if you’re chasing the big account, the moneyspinner business win, the monster client – beware.

If the prize fails you, it could become an expensive mistake, as our extreme fisherman Wade finds out with the Goliath Tigerfish.

My monster client died on me, too, and taught me an amazing lesson. Never hunt for a monster client again – it’s not worth it. Instead, work with a group of more consistent clients, all with roughly equal revenues.

Today, I work with corporates on the odd project, repeat campaigns and one-offs. But it’s not regular work, just nice additions to the portfolio. It doesn’t pay the bills.

My rosta of 6-9 ongoing clients, all accounting for up to 15% revenues each of total revenues (maximum, ideally) form the bread and butter of my catch.

These smaller fish are easier to handle, easier to take care of, easier to catch, and rarely die on me after being landed.

Think about it.

Now – are you sure you want to land that monster client? Why not let it go, and hunt for more profitable fish instead.

Is there a right time for a freelancer to sack a client?

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It’s one of life’s difficult questions, which luckily as a long-term freelancer, I’ve only had to ask myself three times in nine years.

I usually post about interesting, positive, useful things to do with social media, blogging, editorial best-practice, media relations strategy and similar areas of core expertise – with the odd bit of funny, unusual, business experience thrown in for good measure.

There’s been the odd bit of consumer injustice covered, such as the ongoing debacle with life-threatening service from Kwik Fit, but mostly it’s all pretty upbeat content.

I’ve covered off the odd negative item now and then, as necessary for readership benefit.

So, returning to my initial blog post question – Is there a right time for a freelancer to sack a client?

My answer is Yes – and on the three occasions in the past nine years where I’ve been forced to do it, each time was the right time.

As a freelancer, you choose who to work with. And who not to.

I had one of the three ex-clients, a one-man-band video and podcast producer, sending one of my trusted and very happy current Agency clients in Bristol, a personal message across LinkedIn last week, saying a few inaccurate and slanderous comments about my delivery to them of media relations services over a short (emphasizes the word short) period of time in 2009.

I won’t name the ex-client, as the point of the post is to highlight a bigger issue than one individual’s name, of course.

It was also, for your information, a short period of time, as I was forced to give them Notice of Termination of Contract, after it became painfully clear that the ex-client thought that they knew more about media relations than I did – a newspaper and magazine Editor of more than a decade’s experience, no less.

Not to mention the PR stints I’ve delivered for the likes of Apple and Mitel Networks.

The warning signs? They were, and in no particular order, as follows:

* Ex-client spends nearly the entire first meeting telling me how to deliver media relations (the service they’ve hired me to do for them)

* Ex-client makes six sets of amendments to the first press release copy (this has never happened before or since: even Apple, with their meticulous and orchestrated global PR machine, only ever made minor tweaks to copy I produced for them in the past)

* Ex-client is consistently verbally aggressive, bullish, and generally unpleasant when everything else isn’t dropped immediately for them (bearing in mind, I usually work with up to nine clients at any one time, giving excellent service to all, not just one) – I also found out soon after that the ex-client had taken the same aggressive approach (just prior to hiring me) with a large, well-respected, and long-established PR Agency in Bristol…

* Ex-client threatens not to pay due consultancy Fees if certain things aren’t done the way they want them to be done – rather than as is Contractually agreed (trying to financially blackmail an established media freelancer with a great reputation is obviously a bad idea)

* Ex-client dismissed Contractual obligations of any kind (at the time, I was offering a Guaranteed Results Programme over a six-month Campaign period: if clients didn’t get at least their Fees paid back in press coverage terms in the six months, the Fees were returned in full, without quibble. The ex-client had not completed even half this time, when I was forced to sack him)

* Ex-client threatens to go legal if all Fees are not returned (even though I reminded the ex-client they were liable for another three months’ Fees, as per the Contract, and that they hadn’t completed the full six months, thus nullifying the Guarantee anyway)

Yes, you’ve guessed it – the ex-client was sacked. And I learned some incredibly valuable lessons.

It got me to review the services delivered at the time, and to gain some important and positive insights: I discovered that every single client who had previously engaged in and completed a six-month media relations Programme had gained significant and multiple press coverage.

Every single client.

There was a consistency in delivery from that fact-finding exercise which I’m still extremely happy with, and proud of, even though I don’t deliver much in the way of offline media relations anymore: the market is all about blogging and social media now.

I also learned: If it walks and talks like a bad client from day one – it’s probably a bad client. Sack them and move on. Consider it, in every sense, a Bad Debt. Align your freelance time and efforts with the clients you really want to work with.

I think the issue of when to sack a bad client also comes down to the confidence of the freelancer.

Let’s face it, if as freelancers we all worked with any kind of client, and chased only cash cash cash, what would be the point of actually living a freelance working life in the first place. One may as well be working for ‘The Man’ and resigning yourself to a gold watch in the future.

My business model revolves around a freelance-style delivery because it suits me, and the clients I work with, on a longer-term basis. I’m in the incredibly fortunate position to be able to say the following of all of my current clients:

* I like the client

* I admire their company

* I respect the way they do business

Returning to last week’s little incident from the ex-client and the message they posted to one of my current clients, I must conclude by adding that the current client immediately emailed the ex-client, to tell him how surprised they were to receive such a message, and how incredibly happy they were with everything which had been delivered by Bristol Editor.

This, of course, made me very happy. My current clients are absolute gems of integrity, good working practice, and professional conduct.

But then again, I make a point of inviting my clients-to-be the opportunity to talk to all of my current clients before they sign a Contract with me. Nothing to hide, nothing to fear – that’s my working motto.

So, if you’re in the position as a freelancer – whether it’s a freelance editor, freelance PR, freelance copywriter, or similar – and you have a client from Hell like the guy I’ve described to you above, ask yourself this question.

Is now the right time to sack them?

More importantly, can you afford not to sack them.

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