Congrats Horizon Data Center Solutions

Once in a while I like to share something about one of my clients. Today's story is about Horizon Data Center Solutions.

HDCS operates a 25,000 square foot state-of-the-art data center that is based in Dallas. In their world, what that means is they are big. Big, big. The gentlemen behind this operation are leaders in their field, and they are motivated, service oriented, and smart.

Last week we put out a news release about their "stellar" growth, and it's been picked up in their industry very respectably. The client seems almost surprised by this first success, and I have to smile, because I know clients, and with these guys, this is just the start. They have a lot more great things to talk about and a lot more opportunities to share their news. Horizon is a new client that I will enjoy working with.

Here's why: PR gets a bad rap on occasion and has somehow been associated with not telling the truth or with making up stories. We've all heard the phrase, "Give it the PR spin." But the role of a publicist and the real goal of PR is to provide journalists with access to interesting stories that their readers will care about. You do that on either a very selective or a mass distribution basis.

A good client for me understands that they can't have press releases that sound like sales sheets or ads. They understand that if they are willing to give numbers (a $70 million lease, 300% growth, plan to add two data centers in the next six months...in Horizon's case) that's a story. If everything is secret or shrouded by a corporate veil, or they don't have "permission" to talk about it...there is no story. Then the PR person has nothing to deliver, and journalists will not be interested in being the conduit for the fluff. Not to mention that if you're a publicist your reputation is at stake every time you send something out. If you send schlock just to appease a client, the good stuff you send out may not get looked at either. You can quickly get locked out.

Back in 1987 -- a long time ago when I was a public relations coordinator at a national association I went to a conference, and one speaker was the Public Relations VP from BASF or some gigantic company. I remember him saying something shocking and exciting at the same time. He said, "If you are forced to write a release that is not news, do yourself a favor and once it's approved, throw it out. Don't send it." This resonated with me because at the time half my time was being spent on news that wasn't news, or that wasn't going to do anyone any good. It was what today they would call "vanity PR," "So and so has written an article entitled blah, blah, blah.."

Of course this was in the days before we had email, when we would xerox, fold, stuff and stamp press releases and physically mail them, often with pictures of people, products, and events. PR departments had big trays full of mail. We had labels, and stamps, and everything went through the mail room. It was hard to "dump a tray" and not send out a release, but I do think I may have done that once or twice. In the long run, it was better for my employer and for me.

Today I avoid that problem by telling my clients that we not only have to have a story, we have to have a really good story, something worthy of an impactful headline that is keyword rich and SEO-friendly. We also need a combination of custom distribution and targeted pitching and national wire service or paid placement. That's just the way it works today. We also need an understanding of timing and opportunities and goals and objectives -- not just the clients, but the media target timing, opportunities, goals and objectives. It's a science with a creative execution, and I like that.

So welcome Horizon Data Center Solutions to the OutreachPR portfolio of clients. We certainly hope you'll continue to be pleasantly surprised at the results we can achieve. PR really does work. You just have to have the right person handling it for you, and she has to have the right clients. When that happens, it's a good combination.