Fear Is Its Own Food

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By Grant Wright, CEO

It struck me the other day that America was consumed by fear for so many months leading to the election. Fear of more Obama. Fear of change to Romney. Fear that the housing market isn’t strong enough. Fear that it’s too strong and becoming unaffordable again. Fear of Obamacare. Fear that Obama really does care. Fear that things won’t be OK. Fear that things will be OK for us, but we’re not doing enough for others. Fear. Fear.

Watching a morning ‘news’ channel that for months pedaled little more than outrage, speculation and what-ifs, suddenly overnight seeming to set its communication priorities on a discussion of coffee varieties; reading of Mitt Romney no longer having Secret Service or his campaign plane, and leaving a meeting a couple days later by getting into the back seat of his son’s ordinary gray Subaru; seeing the media offer us the latest catchphrase to turn our suddenly vacant fear capacity to “fiscal cliff” (listen for it, it too was everywhere overnight) – reminds me to stop and refuse to buy into it.

Don’t get me wrong – if you’re a gazelle with a cheetah bearing down on you then fear is a good thing. And arguably a little more tempering fear and prudence preceding the 2008 financial meltdown would have been a good thing. But we’re not gazelles and so much of what we fear is manufactured by others who profit ridiculously by playing to our fear response. So it can be hard to know good fear and harmful fear.

I recently heard someone quote a study that something like 98 percent of what we fret about never comes to pass. Arguably, at least some of it doesn’t come to pass because we worried about it and prevented it. But still, the extraordinary price we humans pay by worrying is, well, extraordinary.

Antacid sales worldwide each year alone reportedly top more than $10 billion. Sure, a lot of this is to do with other health factors like the obesity epidemic here in the U.S., but I’m guessing another big factor in this is simply people worrying, often needlessly.

KPBS radio recently reported that each year in the U.S. hospitals and surgeons have to pay out a total of more than $1 billion to surgery patients who have had something left inside them, like a sponge. And this is because there’s on average 4,000 items unintentionally left inside patients each year. Should I fear this if I need surgery? Of course not, in the same way you can’t worry about your plane being the one to crash from the roughly 50,000 commercial flights that take off every day somewhere in the world.

Since we live in the information age, we are bombarded with things to worry about like no time before. Things to potentially worry about have always happened; it’s just that we never knew about a lot of them.

So, how do we filter but not become callous? I don’t know. If you have a sure-fire solution let me know. For now, and for me, I do my best to balance and try to err on the side of concern versus indifference. As they say, what goes around comes around. So we can hope to put out more good than less, and if we’re lucky maybe some of that will come back to us. But you can’t, and shouldn’t of course, have that expectation.

At (W)right On, we advise our clients not to make decisions from a platform of fear. It is a poor platform. Better to make it from a reasonably and intelligently informed position, and then put full effort behind making whatever that decision have the best possible outcome.

Fear. Worry. Unless there’s a cheetah chasing you, in the inimitable words of Meher Baba made even more famous by Bobby McFerrin, “Don’t worry, be happy.”


Image credit: ajlber / 123RF Stock Photo

Making a Difference

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By Grant Wright, CEO

At (W)right On, there are principles by which we operate that we call our Core Values. They’re how we roll, or try our best to.

Written some years ago, they have evolved a bit, sometimes to add greater clarity and sometimes to simply articulate a new Value that through experience was realized to be there all along.

It’s # 3 – “We are inspired by our clients” - that prompted me to write this today. Well, part of its precept actually: “We choose to work with people who and organizations that are visionaries, leaders and changing the world for the better…”

This notion largely relates to another belief, that life is short and there are far more great things to do than we have time (a precept of Value # 13 – “We act with a sense of urgency.”) So at (W)right On, while remembering the bills that still need paying and all other things being equal, when we can turn our team’s capabilities toward maximum good, we should, and do.

While we have other great stories and outcomes for our visionary for-profit clients, over the years there have been numerous not-for-profit organizations we’ve been privileged to support. Currently, these include Toward Maximum Independence, The Roddenberry Foundation, New Haven Youth & Family Services and Tri-City Hospital Foundation, to name just a few.

Toward Maximum Independence is a nonprofit agency with a long standing reputation for “best practices” in providing personalized assistance to people with disabilities enabling them to live, work and participate in their communities. The positive attitude and work they and those they assist do everyday is extraordinary, and personally inspiring.

The Roddenberry Foundation, founded and chaired by Rod Roddenberry, son of Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry, for its part has a vision of supporting efforts to expand new frontiers for the benefit of humanity.  Focused on the four pillars of the Environment, Science & Technology, Humanitarianism and Education, its Roddenberry Center for Stem Cell Research at Gladstone Institutes was established one year ago. A couple weeks ago, Dr. Shinya Yamanaka, who divides his time between Japan and the Roddenberry Center, was awarded the Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine for his stem cell research discoveries. How cool is that? And how profoundly privileged is (W)right On to help carry on the Star Trek legacy established by Gene Roddenberry so many years ago?

New Haven Youth & Family Services is yet another organization making a difference. Established in 1967 and having helped more than 15,000 families to date, today New Haven is transforming lives for at-risk adolescent boys through an innovative education model that supports troubled youth, guiding them from despair to hope. Every young person they help not only helps them and those around them, but helps the community today and for the long term. It’s truly win-win.

Tri-City Hospital Foundation was established in 1964 with a mission of inspiring community health and wellness through support of Tri-City Medical Center. Recently I had the opportunity to trial for a few minutes Tri-City’s incredible new da Vinci Robotic Surgical System in part made possible by the Foundation. Humbling, to say the least. (No human or anything else was harmed in the process!) And while Tri-City helps thousands every year, it made a difference in the life of Caleb, and through a new law and its own ‘Code Caleb’ now other newborns that you should read about.

Each of these organizations I do injustice by mentioning them so briefly, and there are many others. I hope you’ll take a moment to check them out, and in a world all-too-focused on pop culture, or the latest talking head on what used to be legitimate news channels, think about what really matters to you.

There are many worthy organizations, and I hope we hear from you on the above or any of the other great things you know of going on around us.

And if you’re curious what the rest of WOC’s Core Values are, shoot me an email at gwright@wrightoncomm.com.

Step Outside Your Comfort Zone and Build Your Network

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By Chancelor Shay, Account Executive

Don’t you hate that feeling where you’re around a group of people you don’t know but they seem to know each other? Every ice breaker line you come up with sounds foolish in your heard and you’re not sure how to interject. When you finally do there’s a communal awkward look as the group doesn't get your humor. Where do you go from there? Networking can be unsettling and everyone has had this experience at some point in time, but putting yourself in a position to develop new relationships is essential to achieving client goals and career growth.

It’s often said for most businesses, but especially for public relations agencies, that relationships are everything. That means more than just having relationships with the right reporters to earn coverage for your clients; it means having relationships that add value to your client by connecting them in ways that help beyond their PR goals. Creating a valuable network takes a little bit of time, a little bit of tact and a lot of proactive effort, but opportunities to grow your connections and develop them into fruitful relationships are all around. Banquets, galas, conferences, social outings, seminars, panels. The list goes on. The trick is getting started to hone your skills, utilizing the network you already have and finding a sweet spot. Here are some tips to set you on the right track.

Start with what you know

You wouldn't swim the English Channel before you try swimming to the end of the pier, so take the same approach with networking. Look for events that will attract like-minded people around a subject you’re knowledgeable on. If you enjoy science fiction and fantasy movies, head to Comic-Con, the largest gathering of sci-fi and fantasy film/television fans and industry professionals in North America. However, more important than simply meeting a new person is being able to connect the dots to you and your client’s advantage. Perhaps you meet someone from a special effects studio in desperate need of a new website. Or maybe an IT client can benefit from your new connection to the production company that’s exploded thanks to a new, hit movie. If nothing else, having the confidence that comes with great content knowledge will allow you to practice on networking skills to translate into a different environment. Once you have a sound networking skill set, stepping outside your comfort zone will produce the biggest returns.

Don’t forget about the relationships you already have

PR rule No. 138 is, “Don’t only reach out to your contacts when you need something.” Yes, I made that number up, but it’s in the rule book somewhere. This one is simple since you’re already friends and can avoid the pressure to fill pregnant pauses after a good laugh. So call up that assignment editor you used to work with and grab coffee. Or even better, since we know how much business is handled around a few drinks, head to happy hour with your pal from the ad agency you've collaborated with. Find out what’s new with them, give them an update on what’s keeping you busy and perhaps there’s a way to connect a few dots.

Go where your clients go

Whether it’s a big industry conference or a panel discussion, go where your clients go. There’s nothing more effective than firsthand testimonials of your brilliant work to get a new connection started on the right foot – not to mention you must already have some familiarity in the space that allows for a more free flowing discussion. Attending events where your client goes also allows for invaluable face time. It’s a chance to gain firsthand experience to support communication around similar events in the future and point out opportunities for your client that they may have missed otherwise. If those opportunities are mutually beneficial for your client and your new connection, then you've just showcased your value.

It may not be what clients pay for, but the value of a good network is worth the sweaty-palm handshakes and nervous car rides that come with stepping outside your comfort zone.

PR: One Part Legwork, One Part Arm-Twisting and a Dash of Brilliance

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By Julie Wright, President

Albert Einstein quipped that genius is one percent inspiration and 99% perspiration. My formula for PR genius is very similar; however, it includes equal parts sweat and influence. Or, as I like to put it: one part legwork, one part arm-twisting and a dash of brilliance.

With advertising or direct mail, you can control who sees your message, where they see it and when. You can apply metrics to gauge how many times an ad needs to run before the target really notices it, or how many thousands of recipients need to receive an offer before the desired number take action.

But PR pros are in the business of ‘earning’ media coverage and generating positive word of mouth. Let’s just say that a lot of things have to align in the time and space continuum to achieve PR success. Therefore, we sweat the details, probably more so than most other marketing specialties!

Whether the campaign bombs or soars in the end will come down to how well all of our messaging, storytelling, pitching and spokespeople worked to influence the opinions and actions of others.

And here’s another old saw: “you can control everything but the weather and other people.”

Our creativity (that dash of brilliance) can set our client’s message apart and ensure a compelling story that captures attention and generates interest.

But we can’t be truly successful unless we sufficiently influence the client to endorse our approach, the campaign spokesperson to adopt the right messages and get the story across, the targeted reporters to cover it and, ultimately, the readers or viewers who must connect with the content in a way that changes their perceptions or prompts an action.

When we get the formula right and our ideas, effort and influence come together, the return on investment is tremendous with people often amplifying our client’s message through shares, likes, Tweets and yet more media coverage, invitations to speak and positive word of mouth.

With so much riding on our ability to influence other people’s behaviors and actions, what are some of the ways we work to influence our clients, campaign spokespeople, media and our target audiences?

Communicate with Clients

Clients may be the toughest to influence. Start by clarifying their objectives for the campaign or project. What would they consider ‘success’? Next, manage their expectations. They need to know what it will take to achieve their idea of success with a timeline, budget and strategies. Keep clients informed of project status – they should never have to come to you for an update. If you’ve managed expectations, are moving ahead with the project in a manner consistent with the expectations you set for the client and are proactively communicating with them, you are building a platform of trust. And, ultimately, you can only influence your client if you have their trust.

Understand the Role of a Spokesperson

Campaign spokespeople need to be provided with messaging that is short, easy to recall and relevant. When everyone agrees to the key messages in advance, all press materials, interviews and presentations can flow efficiently and consistently from that point forward. For inexperienced spokespeople, media training and ongoing coaching and feedback helps them improve. For members of the agency team that do not have experience in a spokesperson role or as media having interviewed numerous spokespeople to know what’s effective and what’s not, it’s recommended they seek out volunteer opportunities either by joining a nonprofit’s committee or freelancing for news outlets. Expert spokespeople like scientists or technologists, who are unable to speak in layman’s terms, pose a unique challenge. Pre-interview them and ask “what does that mean?” every time they use jargon, and when they make a point ask “why is that important to people?” Eventually, they’ll start telling their story in a manner that’s accessible to people outside of the lab. There are many resources where you can study and read about media interview and presentation best practices.

Get to Know the Media

Knowing how reporters work, what kinds of stories they’ve covered in the past (hint: read their stuff) and plan to cover in the future (hint: ask them), and how to be responsive and accurate in fulfilling any of their requests for information, will go a long way to building your influence with this group. Knowing your client’s business sufficiently well so that you can answer background questions reporters might need answered before they’ll commit to a story is also essential. In today’s electronic era, also know how to write a short email subject line that contains the pitch’s news hook. Be able to set up your client’s story in one sentence and back it up with a few key details. And use hyperlinks rather than long scrolling messages.   

The subject of influencing these three groups – clients, spokespeople and reporters – are blog posts in their own right, but the tips offered here should help. Ultimately, influencing target audiences is as close to a three-word definition of the entire public relations profession as you’re ever going to get, so I would need to write a book to expand on that topic. And I’m too busy sweating, arm-twisting and thinking about client projects for that!

Journalism Skills for a PR World

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By Kristina Houck, Research and Online Content Specialist

Thinking about leaving the newsroom for the PR world?

Many reporters successfully make the transition into public relations. (Several of us on the (W)right On team have a journalism background.) To do so, you’ll need to learn about the field and obtain new skills. Still, you will find more than a few journalism skills useful in your new career. Here are the top four:

Write well

Although you will be doing much more than writing as a public relations professional, you’ll still depend on your excellent writing skills to succeed. As a reporter, you’ve likely received a number of news releases that read like sales pitches or user manuals. Because of your writing and editing experience, you will know how to present the facts without the frills while making sure your client’s message is compelling, but also accurate and clear.

Communicate effectively

Your interview skills will come in handy in the PR world, which actually requires a lot of time listening to clients as you come up to speed on their industries, business models and products or services. Instead of speaking with sources on the phone, you will pitch to media. To get your client’s message across, you will need to know how to communicate effectively with others.

Understand newsworthiness

As a reporter, you’ve had years of experience pitching story ideas to your editor. You’ve also received countless phone calls and emails from PR pros looking to get their stories published. Therefore, you understand what gets published and what doesn’t. You also understand what makes the front page and what receives a brief mention. Understanding newsworthiness can help you relate a client’s message to a current events story or a larger trend piece so your story gets picked up.

Work on deadlines

Reporters know a thing or two about deadlines. You’ll need to manage your time as a PR professional, too. Instead of working on multiple stories with different deadlines, you will work on multiple accounts with different expectations. Many PR firms require account executives to document the time they spend on each account, so be sure you use your time wisely.

Happy job hunting! Oh, and if you’re actively seeking a new opportunity, check out ours at (W)right On Communications: http://www.wrightoncomm.com/careers.htm