Guerrilla Marking for Job Hunters 2.0 - Jay Conrad Levinson [73]
■ YOUR PUBLIC RELATIONS STRATEGY—PUBLIC RELATIONS IS NOT JUST FOR PRODUCTS
After the invention of blogging, it didn’t take long to attach voice capabilities to an RSS feed. Next came the software to allow people to organize and automatically download posted mp3s from podcasting web sites. Enter Peter Clayton, an award winning writer-director of corporate image, marketing, and documentary films and founder of TotalPictureRadio.com. TotalPictureRadio.com was the first-ever podcast for job hunters and career strategists. Now some 50,000 people download his show and listen to it whenever and wherever they want.
GUERRILLA INTELLIGENCE
Working with the Press
Peter Clayton
Working with the press can be a good thing. In fact, it can be a very good thing. It can help build your personal brand (a term I’m not all that keen on, but I can’t think of a better one), expand your network, and add credibility and exposure to your professional credentials. Here’s a framework you can use to successfully develop relationships with traditional and new media/online reporters.
First, a word of caution: if you work for a company (especially a publicly traded company) and are contacted by a reporter, blogger, podcaster, public relations (PR) firm—whatever—who wants to interview you; using your name, title, and employer in their article, you must get clearance from your internal public relations/communications department before you agree to an “on the record” interview. You’ll need to get as much information about the reporter, publication, and topic as you can, along with the reporter’s contact information. What is the subject of the article? Who else is being interviewed? When/where will it be published? What’s the deadline? Will you have an opportunity to review, and approve, the article (video, podcast, blog) before publication?
Is the reporter a freelance journalist or staff writer? When you hang up the phone, Google the individual: read some of what they’ve written to make sure they’re someone you would want to write about you. I’ve produced a number of webcasts for the American Management Association that required recording interviews with executives of large organizations. Even in these situations, with a very well known and respected brand, there is always a PR or communications person involved. I provide information about the webcast, an overview of the topic, who else will be interviewed, and a list of questions I’ll be asking.
Sometimes, you may be contacted for “off-the-record background information” regarding an idea a journalist is researching. Once again, you need to find out who he or she is writing for and something about the reporter. Why are they calling you? Helping a journalist can be a smart investment of your time. Developing these relationships can prove to be extremely useful as your career and reputation progresses. That said, I would avoid negative comments regarding a current or past employer. If they’re doing something unethical or illegal that’s a different story, but just to dump on an employer will do nothing to advance your career.
It’s pretty much of a no-brainer if you are contacted by the Wall Street Journal, Fortune, Newsweek, the New York Times: you’ll want to try and cooperate with the reporter. Sites like ZoomInfo (popular with recruiters), spider online editions of publications, so the chances are very good that your ZoomInfo profile will contain the article. But what about podcasts and blogs? You’re probably familiar with Chris Anderson’s book, The Long Tail. I think this concept is very powerful. You’ll still want to approach anyone who contacts you with caution. Google is a beautiful thing. My podcast is focused on career and leadership development. That’s it.
Many, many of the professionals I’ve interviewed have generated useful contacts and