The older I get the more time I seem to spend helping my friends with their marketing and PR. I don't mind. My friends have interesting businesses like coffee shops and patio stores. They design houses and are interior decorators and photographers and fitness instructors and realtors. One friend (and most of the people she and I collectively know) sells Mary Kay.
My friends are also do-gooders, and I usually get to help. They host fundraisers and weekend retreats. They run for school board and city council. Inevitably, once new friends find out what I do, they come up with a project for me. The discussion usually goes like this:
"So what do you do exactly?" I usually answer with whatever I did that day. For example today I would say, "I help clients with their communications, write brochures, manage print jobs, help with client presentations, design ads, and talk to the press." "Oh," they say, "I wonder if you could help me with..." and that's how it starts.
I'm not complaining. I like being busy, and I like helping friends build their businesses or do their good deeds. I like helping people do something "professional" when they had no idea that they could. I love making my friends look good, helping them get a little publicity for themselves or their events, get their picture in the local paper, get elected.
And in truth, this work is never done for free. In exchange, I've been paid in dozens of creative ways. I have an enclosed breezeway in my house for helping launch a new business. I have energy efficient solar screens on both the front and back of my house from various efforts managing publicity, and writing stories, and designing stuff. I get free coffee, probably for life. I have friends willing to "pose" as my associates and accompany me on business trips or to meetings where showing up alone could be detrimental.
Today I got a "free" skirt and blouse for just saying I'd help with a presentation. And I'll get paid foundation, mascara and lipstick for ideas and assistance with a special promotion and some PR. The list goes on and on. I've had free months of pilates and "friends discounts" on professional services. It's great to live in a society where this is possible. It's good to have successful friends.
So that leads me to the point of this post. I'm looking for a few new friends. I'd love to have a friend who is a plastic surgeon or aesthestician. I could also use a friend in the dry cleaning business. If you meet these qualifications, let's get together soon! And I look forward to working -- I mean being friends -- with you!
Thursday, April 26, 2007
Thursday, April 19, 2007
Turn the channel
Believe it or not, I'm in PR and I don't watch the news. Once in a great while, I have a client with a story and we use the news to spread the word. Most days, that's not the case. So I don't watch the news. I turned off my television to the six and ten o'clock news programs eight years ago. It was after a gradual phasing out and flipping away that eventually led me to turn it off for good.
My kids were little when Bill Clinton was president. I didn't need them hearing about Monica Lewinsky and cigars. "Turn the channel." Around the same time Jon Bonet was killed. We lived in Boulder. She had been one of "our" kids. "Turn the channel." Then on April 20, 1999, just a few months after my dad died, the Columbine massacre happened just an hour down the road. That was the end of television news for me. "Turn the channel."
Not watching the news hasn't curtailed my awareness too much. I listen to the radio and I read the headlines on the internet. I watch BBC on PBS, and sometimes the McNeil News Hour. But mostly I stay informed through my mother -- a TV junkie whose television never gets a rest.
My mom's the one who told me about Virginia Tech. It was Monday around 3:15. I had arrived early to get my son from school, I had a few minutes to kill, so I called my personal anchor. "What's going on?" I asked. Without skipping a beat, she told me about the horrific events in Blacksburg. "Turn the channel," I said. Not a chance.
Now I'll admit that Monday night around 8 p.m. I turned on CNN. I needed to be informed. I wanted to know. But the sadness was unbelievable. And in the middle of it all, there was Paula Zahn -- practically jumping up and down in excitement over the big story she was hosting that night. She didn't look sad. She looked downright elated. Perhaps it was her over-done botox that wouldn't let her scowl. Or maybe it was her cleavage that seemed a bit inappropriate for the occasion. Maybe it was just her enthusiasm for what she was doing -- holding court over a team of reporters who themselves didn't seem so spry. Paula's excitement seemed somehow out of place and inappropriate. Once again, I couldn't watch. As much as I wanted to be informed, as much as I felt an obligation to know what was going on in my country, I couldn't watch TV personalities getting so much enjoyment and so much air time out of others' pain.
"Turn the channel."
Sure, when it comes to news impacting my clients, I'm up to speed. But most of them have businesses that are not affected by Dannilynn's paternity, or murders, or other horrible, sensational, really, really bad news. My life isn't affected by those things. Yours probably isn't either.
"Turn the channel."
My kids were little when Bill Clinton was president. I didn't need them hearing about Monica Lewinsky and cigars. "Turn the channel." Around the same time Jon Bonet was killed. We lived in Boulder. She had been one of "our" kids. "Turn the channel." Then on April 20, 1999, just a few months after my dad died, the Columbine massacre happened just an hour down the road. That was the end of television news for me. "Turn the channel."
Not watching the news hasn't curtailed my awareness too much. I listen to the radio and I read the headlines on the internet. I watch BBC on PBS, and sometimes the McNeil News Hour. But mostly I stay informed through my mother -- a TV junkie whose television never gets a rest.
My mom's the one who told me about Virginia Tech. It was Monday around 3:15. I had arrived early to get my son from school, I had a few minutes to kill, so I called my personal anchor. "What's going on?" I asked. Without skipping a beat, she told me about the horrific events in Blacksburg. "Turn the channel," I said. Not a chance.
Now I'll admit that Monday night around 8 p.m. I turned on CNN. I needed to be informed. I wanted to know. But the sadness was unbelievable. And in the middle of it all, there was Paula Zahn -- practically jumping up and down in excitement over the big story she was hosting that night. She didn't look sad. She looked downright elated. Perhaps it was her over-done botox that wouldn't let her scowl. Or maybe it was her cleavage that seemed a bit inappropriate for the occasion. Maybe it was just her enthusiasm for what she was doing -- holding court over a team of reporters who themselves didn't seem so spry. Paula's excitement seemed somehow out of place and inappropriate. Once again, I couldn't watch. As much as I wanted to be informed, as much as I felt an obligation to know what was going on in my country, I couldn't watch TV personalities getting so much enjoyment and so much air time out of others' pain.
"Turn the channel."
Sure, when it comes to news impacting my clients, I'm up to speed. But most of them have businesses that are not affected by Dannilynn's paternity, or murders, or other horrible, sensational, really, really bad news. My life isn't affected by those things. Yours probably isn't either.
"Turn the channel."
Wednesday, April 11, 2007
The importance of planning ahead
Last week a really good guy -- a green builder and environmentally friendly real estate developer in Houston -- ran into a bit of a communication problem.
There was a street demonstration complete with protest signs and television cameras in front of a high profile corner property he owns and is redeveloping in inner Loop Houston. The protest wasn't really about him or his company or the townhomes he plans to build. It was about the development process in general and the fact that some residents of the area feel they don't have enough of a say in the development of property in their neighborhood.
As a result, this good guy developer became the poster boy for "bad" development. My new client, who cleaned up the neighborhood by demolishing a burned out crack house and desolate service station on a blighted corner, was only getting started with construction when the protesters showed up in force to cry foul that the development had been "rushed," insinuating to the television reporters and their giant audiences that this developer had somehow avoided the usual public hearings or city processes.
The truth is that my new client did only one thing wrong. He dotted all his "I"s and crossed all his "T"s when it comes to the building process, but where he erred was in the commmunication process. No, there is not a public hearing requirement for the plat of land he purchased. No, there's nothing to require him to tell anyone -- even his closest neighbors -- that he's going to build townhomes. Yes the zoning was for multi-family housing, and No he was not taking away any green space but planned to actually add a little back.
But none-the-less, his property came under the microscope because of a failure to communicate.
Now I can't take the blame, because I didn't know him BEFORE this problem and only met him after it occurred. But we're communicating now: to city council officials and homeowner's boards, nearby neighbors and the media. Although placed in a position of defensiveness, we're not being defensive. We're communicating our concern about the neighbors' concern, and we're moving forward with a strategy that would have been a good one to put in place before the demolition or redevelopment ever began.
The lesson here: proactive is better than reactive, but when it's time to react, do it quickly and get the help you need. This new client was lucky to have a good friend who has my number and knew I would help -- even on Easter weekend. By Monday morning, we were alerting those that were alerted by the protesters that we were concerned for the protesters' concerns and ready to disclose everything anyone wanted to know about our plans for our property AND help them figure out a better way to tap into the city process.
So far it seems to be working, and this developer now believes in the value of plugging in a little planning and preparation time for the communications surrounding his developments. Before he moves an inch of dirt.
There was a street demonstration complete with protest signs and television cameras in front of a high profile corner property he owns and is redeveloping in inner Loop Houston. The protest wasn't really about him or his company or the townhomes he plans to build. It was about the development process in general and the fact that some residents of the area feel they don't have enough of a say in the development of property in their neighborhood.
As a result, this good guy developer became the poster boy for "bad" development. My new client, who cleaned up the neighborhood by demolishing a burned out crack house and desolate service station on a blighted corner, was only getting started with construction when the protesters showed up in force to cry foul that the development had been "rushed," insinuating to the television reporters and their giant audiences that this developer had somehow avoided the usual public hearings or city processes.
The truth is that my new client did only one thing wrong. He dotted all his "I"s and crossed all his "T"s when it comes to the building process, but where he erred was in the commmunication process. No, there is not a public hearing requirement for the plat of land he purchased. No, there's nothing to require him to tell anyone -- even his closest neighbors -- that he's going to build townhomes. Yes the zoning was for multi-family housing, and No he was not taking away any green space but planned to actually add a little back.
But none-the-less, his property came under the microscope because of a failure to communicate.
Now I can't take the blame, because I didn't know him BEFORE this problem and only met him after it occurred. But we're communicating now: to city council officials and homeowner's boards, nearby neighbors and the media. Although placed in a position of defensiveness, we're not being defensive. We're communicating our concern about the neighbors' concern, and we're moving forward with a strategy that would have been a good one to put in place before the demolition or redevelopment ever began.
The lesson here: proactive is better than reactive, but when it's time to react, do it quickly and get the help you need. This new client was lucky to have a good friend who has my number and knew I would help -- even on Easter weekend. By Monday morning, we were alerting those that were alerted by the protesters that we were concerned for the protesters' concerns and ready to disclose everything anyone wanted to know about our plans for our property AND help them figure out a better way to tap into the city process.
So far it seems to be working, and this developer now believes in the value of plugging in a little planning and preparation time for the communications surrounding his developments. Before he moves an inch of dirt.
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