Have you emptied your Y2K “war room” yet?

Remember not too long ago when the looming threat of the Y2K computer failures had people around the world designating a safety locale and filling it with dried food, water and medical supplies to protect against the possible doom (think Southern snowstorm on steroids)? It seems silly now, but people wanted to ensure they were prepared to survive the uncertain conditions if the world’s computers crashed.

Of course, the world did not end at midnight on January 1, 2000, and those Y2K “war rooms” instead became safe havens for the junk you do not want your friends to see. But at the end of the day, those individuals who took those steps did so with a well thought-out, ready-made, “this may not happen, but if it does, we need to be secure” plan.

In much the same manner, PR professionals face the looming threat of a “Y2K” every day.  While some client misfortune can be anticipated, the levels of impact resulting from a damaging incident will vary. And, as much as we’d like to think otherwise, we can’t foresee everything that could go wrong for our clients, their customers, and/or their brands…especially given today’s instant-reaction, online news cycle.

According to social media expert Sarah Evans (@prSarahEvans), the lifecycle of an online crisis depends heavily on how the first hour is managed. As a result, proactive social media tactics should be a focal point of any crisis communications strategy.

As Evans outlined in a recent PRSA Georgia presentation, PR professionals should consider these social media essentials as the food, water and medical supplies for your “Y2SM war room.” While your clients may not experience such a catastrophe, it is better to have a thought-out plan and never need it than to need a thought-out plan and never have it.

Don’t Get Locked Out
Be sure to maintain a login list for all of your client’s social media accounts and save it in a central, easy-to-access location. Should an event take place, you can’t afford to waste time tracking down your client contacts or communications colleagues for the password you can’t seem to remember. Likewise, be sure to update this list should you add separate pages/accounts, or change the user name or password.

Determine What’s ReTweetable
Effective crisis management now requires your team to condense your message into 140 characters or less. Prepare to quickly develop a headline specifically for Twitter that relays what you want to say at all stages of the crisis (even if as simple as “Stay tuned for more…”), but keep it short enough that your audience can reTweet it. Likewise, your team should create a list of Twitter handles for relevant media, stakeholders, customers and bloggers, enabling you to quickly see who is saying what about your brand and communicate directly and quickly.

Depending on the nature of your brand, your team may also want to consider establishing a separate Twitter account specifically for news updates surrounding the event, to direct followers easily to one location separate from the brand’s day-to-day (for example, @XYZcorpRecall).

Show your Face
Online video can become the most versatile and powerful tool in your arsenal during a crisis. Beyond the seamless integration with social networks, video sites can provide a real-time identity for your company and its executives that creates a connection exceeding faceless words in a printed statement.

If you haven’t already done so, set up a YouTube channel for your client, and ensure you have tools on hand (whether traditional video recording equipment, or a direct, computer-based program such as MailVu) to easily create and upload videos to both that channel and your website. Also, be sure that your company spokesperson is comfortable being on camera and can convey your message clearly.

Ultimately, by giving your team the chance to correct misinformation and engage directly with your audience, a 30-second video could make the difference in combating a developing situation from escalating in the media.

Add an Ad
When interested consumers use search engines to learn more about your company’s situation, a sound advertising strategy can ensure your messaging is the first link they click.

Evaluate now what the costs and specifications are to secure ad space, either through direct purchase or a pay-per-click program, with major search engines and websites your audience will likely visit for additional details.

Likewise, plan to leverage social media outlets, including Facebook ads and Twitter sponsored trending topics, to capture the attention of visitors perusing popular sites for information.

Regardless of whether your company’s crisis is abrupt or foreseeable, your team can take several steps now that will minimize the damage of the situation…while also saving you a potentially large headache.

While you may not need everything you store in your supply closet, proper planning can save you from sweating it out as the clock draws closer to midnight.

After what feels like hours of pacing back and forth, you finally muster up the strength to pull out that number and make the call. Thousands of thoughts are racing in your mind – what do I say if she picks up? What do I say if she doesn’t? Do I leave a message with her friend and hope she gets back to me? How can I stop myself from rambling once I have the chance?

Oh how reporters and editors can string your heart along…

On the surface, pitching is both the easiest and hardest thing PR professionals do every day. Talking to your fellow man (or woman) is fundamental human activity, and media professionals should be as excited to receive your phone call or email as your grandmother would. Likewise, reporters should be excited to hear about your client’s new product, or want to hear what’s new and exciting during a meeting at an upcoming tradeshow. They are human, just like you are, and you are making their job easier.

Unfortunately, as we’ve all seen, the media relations process is far from that perfect image, with reporters facing a mound of emails and voicemails from across the globe stating why their product or expert is worthy of their time, and little to give. At times, hearing that “I’m on deadline, call back later” is a victory, because it at least means the reporter you are trying to reach actually picked up the phone. Not to mention the client that just let you know yesterday that they want to schedule briefings for a tradeshow taking place tomorrow.

It can all turn you into the crazy, stalker boyfriend or girlfriend asking the media, “WHY WON’T YOU LOVE ME?”

It’s fitting that just a few days after Valentine’s Day, I came across a Forbes interview with Peter Shankman, a longtime PR professional and founder of Help a Reporter Out (HARO), a site that serves as a matchmaker for reporters and sources. Peter outlined several essentials for PR professionals to keep in mind when pitching, probably out of a mix of desire to help solid industry workers increase their chances of winning over reporters and as a plea to a population prone to making the same mistakes over and over again.

Shankman can see the makings of a combustible relationship – journalists are working with fewer resources while under more pressure to find actual, interesting news, while PR professionals are paid to get their clients in the press. However, with some “counseling”, the two sides can work through their communication issues.

According to Shankman, PR professionals should always verify the following before clicking send or hitting dial:

• Your news is actually news: PR professionals can be guilty at times of trying too hard to manufacture news for their clients. As reporters receive thousands of releases daily, only the ones that have something groundbreaking or intriguing will capture their attention. Press releases announcing that a client has repainted a conference room or is holding a company picnic will not only get passed over, but has the same effect as crying wolf the next time a more credible release is distributed. While it can be hard to tell a client their news isn’t really news, it can prevent possible long-term damage.
• The reporter writes in your space: Some media research programs make things incredibly hard for PR professionals. Just because a reporter is listed under the “Technology” beat, for instance, does not necessarily mean he or she wants to be pitched with any technology-related angle. Before pitching a particular reporter, read some of his or her previous articles to get a sense of coverage topics, style and frequent sources. Not only does this provide great ammunition when pitching, as reporters like it when PR professionals are familiar with their work, but it can prevent the embarrassment of learning that they don’t cover a client’s space.
• You are using the right tools: With seemingly few seconds to spare each day, reporters can be very particular about how they are contacted, and using the wrong outlet can get a PR pro started on the wrong foot. The same aforementioned media research tools can provide great direction for reporters. If a reporter’s profile notes to not call during work hours for any reason, put the phone down. Likewise, while most reporters work away from their desk and “office number,” calling them on their personal cell phones from an unfamiliar can be troublesome. Learn what mechanisms and times of day reporters like to be pitched during, and the chances of a successful connection increase.
• Your grammar is pristine: Nothing turns a reporter away faster than a typo or misused word – or as Shankman puts it, “If you want to make sure I never write about you, pitch me with a grammar error.” Taking a few seconds to confirm that a pitch makes sense and is error-free can protect a PR professional’s credibility more than anything else.

While there is no absolutely right or wrong way to pitch, and different reporters and PR pros will have different paths to what works best, there are some basic practices we can easily forget while under the gun that will make the media relations end of the job less stressful.

After all, if your first date with the reporter goes well, it will make securing the second date that much easier.

Are you looking for the most innovative, ground-breaking tips that will be key to revolutionizing your writing in today’s fast paced environment right now?

At first glance, a line like that seems ridiculous and unbelievable. So why do we, as PR professionals, continue to try to sell both journalists and audiences with the same clichés over and over?

I recently attended a writing workshop for PR and marketing professionals moderated by industry expert Janet Reed, who offered fundamental tips to avoid the repetitive, overinflated writing traps that, as much as we try to avoid, we tend to fall into. According to Reed, writers get in trouble by adding too many details when selling a reporter on a pitch or a consumer on a product and lose the message in the process. Most times, short, sweet and to the point does much better than an abundance of detail.

In honor of the holiday season, here are a few basic practices to ensure your next press release or byline is sharp, concise and captivating. In other words, make sure your write plate is not “stuffed.”

Cut Your Calories
When sitting with your loved ones at the Thanksgiving table, would you ever say, “Can you please circulate the tryptophan-laced, bi-colored poultry that is adhered to its porcelain mechanism?” when “Pass the turkey” will get the message across with less effort?

We’re all guilty of adding inflated, convoluted terms to sentences, convinced that some fancy words will give our writing more conviction and pop. In reality, this expansion gets confusing and buries the message rather than highlighting it.

Reed mentioned that sentences grow dangerous when longer than 14-16 words. Using this practice can help us reach the message faster. Try to write your release or pitch as if you are selling a 10-year old, or your grandmother. Avoiding highly technical speak can get your message across faster, too.

Also, keep the smartphone culture in mind when writing. A reporter or reader is not going to scroll through lengthy, seemingly endless paragraphs when checking email on a mobile phone. Get your most important details across early and use bullets and subheads as support rather than additional lines.

Try a New Recipe…
Every Thanksgiving dinner has its staples – turkey, potatoes, gravy, stuffing, cranberry sauce and “whatever’s in that bowl over there.” While we all love the traditional items, how many times has the most memorable dish on the table been something new that your family has never had before? Maybe a fresh marinade for the turkey? Or spice for the potatoes?

Along those same lines, we should challenge ourselves to add some seasoning to our writing. According to Reed, there’s a fine line between “killer words” and “words that kill” – while “killer words” can make your audiences want to read more, “words that kill” (like the ones in the opening line of this blog) will do just that to any possible interest.

Maintaining an active voice and relying on strong, exciting verbs add refreshing flavor to your writing. Choose your words wisely, but don’t be afraid to add in a phrase or term you have never used before. Every so often, I’ll hear a term or phrase on a television show and think, “I like that. I’m going to use that in my next case study.” If it was memorable once, it may be equally memorable to your readers.

…But Don’t Forget the Basics
The growth in social media and text messages made “the casual” acceptable in most PR circles. And, with surmounting deadlines across several clients, we don’t have as much time as we would like to check the AP style guide for every single word in our writing. As a result, we tend to stray from the basic principles.

Being lazy can weaken any attempt at strong writing. For starters, make sure your subjects, verbs and pronouns all agree (hint: someone, each and everybody are all singular!) If you would use it in a text message, even though your audience will understand it, it should not go in your press release. And while we are all scrapped for time, even 15 minutes of proofreading can make the difference between an effective piece and a mistake that could harm the reputations of both your client and yourself.

Enjoy the Leftovers
While the amount of effort that goes into preparing the perfect Thanksgiving meal can be troublesome, we do it because we want to provide something memorable for our guests. Much in that way, PR professionals put a great deal of effort into writing in hopes of not only generating “delicious” results for their clients, but also to challenge themselves to make every authored piece better than the one before.

Returning to basics can add that memorable zing to your writing. Removing a few of the “excess ingredients” will better highlight what’s really at the core of your message in a clear, concise and complete fashion – and make your audience want to go back for seconds!

From your parents, to your teachers, to your boss …how many times have you heard the phrase “honesty is always the best policy” when facing an important decision?

Why do dilemmas about stretching the boundaries of truth always seem to hold us captive, when it is, after all, supposed to set us free?

I recently attended a public relations networking meeting featuring a speaker from the Arthur Page Society, which creates advanced learning and development opportunities for senior PR and corporate communications professionals. The meeting served as my first exposure to the “Arthur Page Principles” –seven tenets designed to guide decision-making and management within any area of communications.

The first principle – TELL THE TRUTH!

In staring that line down, it seems so obvious. Mama always said to never lie and always be honest, which now applies when dealing with colleagues, clients or the public. But in a professional environment so full of crazy schedules, client confidentiality and on-the-fly adjustments, what does it really mean for PR professionals to “tell the truth” today?

Tell the Truth When Addressing the Public
Investor and business guru Warren Buffett once said, “It takes 20 years to build a reputation, but only five minutes to ruin it. If you lose me money, I will forgive you, but if you lose a shred of reputation, I will be ruthless.”

As PR professionals, we hold the reputations of our clients in our hands. Advise them right, and consumers will speak favorably about them and build greater trust with their brand. Advise them wrong, and customers could become dissatisfied and possibly abandon their brand altogether.

Today’s social media, instant-news world places greater scrutiny on companies and executives. It is our job to help them maneuver through all situations – the good, the bad and the ugly – by being as honest, forthright and dependable as possible. As different scenarios arise, PR professionals should work with clients on the most open and truthful approach to address both the media and customers. You can better control reactions by being open and honest than by saying nothing at all.

For your clients, telling the truth also means delivering on their promises. Clients who make statements or offers should be prepared to answer those claims, or risk being viewed as untrustworthy by the public. For example, if your client unveils a new product, ensure that every service and benefit of that product you promote to the media actually works. If your client promotes a webinar that offers the top business management tips and a copy of a white paper to explain more, ensure that all attendees walk away with business management tips and a copy of a white paper.

For PR professionals, honesty to the public and media is as much about being able to deliver on what you say as it is about what you say.

Tell the Truth When Managing Clients
It shouldn’t come as a surprise that PR professionals don’t want to have the people paying the bills to view them as sketchy.

Much like the media or customers, telling the truth to clients is also about being able to deliver on promises, and being proactive when things go off schedule. Everything will not always work out as your plans and budgets dictate – in those cases, it’s our job to make sure there are no surprises for clients. If you anticipate your project will run over budget, or if random happenings occur that delay that project’s completion, let the client know as early as possible and work to find the best solution. While your client might not always be happy, chances are they will appreciate your honesty and willingness to correct the problem much more than receiving a high bill at the end of the month or missing a key deadline.

Telling the truth with clients also means being “the bad cop”. As PR professionals, we won’t always agree with our clients’ ideas, and it will sometimes require a fight to convince them that a course of action is the best one. In reality, this counsel is what they are paying for – they turn to our expertise and advice to make sure they are making the best decisions. If they wanted to hear how great everything is, they would never hire a PR team!

Tell the Truth When Managing Yourself
In trying to manage busy schedules, tight deadlines and workloads that can sometimes seem endless, we all wish we could have a few more minutes to stop and think – whether for proofing a project or for simply managing to-dos.

On a daily basis, you know your limitations and judgment. Being honest with your colleagues and asking for their honesty in return can save you and your clients from potential headaches.

Should a client ask you a tough question, and you are unsure of the best answer, reply that you will look into it and get back to them. Much like in training for the media, it is better to make sure you have worked out the best plan rather than giving rash advice that could lead the client to take a dangerous action.

Likewise, if you are facing a deadline and know that your workload may not allow you to complete that project, be honest with your colleagues. Instead of worrying about the perception that not being able to meet a deadline could render you incapable, work with your teammates to determine the best response rather than rushing the job or missing it altogether.

Trust is the foundation of effective public relations, and it is a challenge for professionals today to balance what is right with what is possible. As the Arthur Page Principles will tell you, some of the most important words behind effective communications won’t be learned in a textbook, or on Twitter.

Trust what mama said – always tell the truth.

It’s no secret that social media has emerged as an efficient outlet for businesses to relay messages to their desired audiences. As a result, most businesses have one, if not more, Twitter pages. It is one thing to have a Twitter page – it is another to know how to properly use it.

Take a quick search on Twitter, and you’re bound to find some notable companies whose Twitter pages are dormant. Maybe they simply have a Twitter page because everyone else does and are unsure of exactly what content to Tweet about. Businesses with inactive Twitter pages are missing out on easy-to-execute opportunities to promote their brand and reach out to vital audiences.

Today, more and more PR professionals are being asked to draft tweets for their businesses or clients. It can become a challenge to come up with new and interesting information that will capture the eyes of Twitter followers. So the next time you’re battling “Tweeters block”, consider these options to maintain a steady content flow.

What’s in Your News? Are you about to make a major announcement? Set to speak or attend a major conference? A primary reason businesses use Twitter is to promote important news. As you post releases to your websites, make sure you Tweet the news and link to the announcement. Some companies even use Twitter to tease upcoming announcements and appearances to generate some pre-event buzz. For instance, if followers read that a “major announcement is coming at noon tomorrow” or a VP is speaking at an upcoming industry event, they will be more likely to check back again for updated information. Make your followers take action to learn more.

What’s in Your Customers’ News? Twitter-savvy businesses should already be following the pages of their key customers. If a customer makes a big announcement or wins an award, you can tweet about the honor as well. Throwing congratulations to your customers not only boosts your content flow, but can score you some big points with those who fuel your business.

What’s Going on in Your Industry? Keep tabs on what’s being said by the top journalists, analysts and bloggers in your industry. If you find an interesting article with business news or tips relevant to your followers, tweet a link to the story and offer some background on why it’s interesting. Posting insightful industry articles can help your position as a thought leader.

What Can we Do to Gauge our Followers’ Interest? You’ve likely seen tweets that offer special promotions for followers who use a special code or visit a place at a certain time. Such interactive, tweets are an effective way (if used occasionally) to measure just how many people are actually reading your content and are willing to take action.

What Should we Not Tweet? While some companies are struggling for content, others are guilty of Tweeting too much and/or blurring the line between business and personal messaging.  A company Twitter page should be for business-related messaging and news only. Save the “What a Beautiful Day”, “My Lunch was Great” and “Great Episode of American Idol last night” Tweets for your personal page. With countless Twitter pages updated each day, you are competing for viewer eyes.

Every business is different and might have differing game plans for social media goals. However, creating smart, relevant Tweets from a variety of sources can help boost your visibility and foster cost-effective interaction with crucial followers.