Maine Creative Services

Lots of people, including PR firms, are wary and distrustful of reporters, producers, the media in general. If you’ve ever been misquoted, misled or simply mystified by what appears in print or on the air after an interview, you know what I mean. But as David Koretz remarks on his blog,

“I met an editor from one of the major trade publications, and we hit it off. We ended up going out for drinks that evening and speaking off the cuff. When I told my PR firm the next day, they were livid, and warned me, ‘the media is not your friend!’

That may have been the worst advice I was ever given.

Fast forward five years, and I count many members of the media as close friends. Writers tend to be a very insightful, analytical crowd. They talk to an extremely wide range of people each day, and therefore are knowledgable on a broad swath of subjects.”

What’s your opinion? Have your experiences with the media been positive or negative? Do you perceive them as friends or foes? What advice (cautions, encouragement, etc.) would you give to those courting the media?

As for Koretz, it worked out just fine. His advice:

If you have the opportunity to build a relationship with someone from the media, jump on it. But in order to build a meaningful relationship, avoid the fluff. Don’t talk about the weather or sports; focus on your perspective on the industry and why it is unique. Be candid, be edgy, be aggressive – just be memorable!

Thanks Keith for the link.

Is your boss a psychopath? Fast Company just published an 8-question quiz to help you decide.

Of course, if you’ve got one, you probably don’t need a quiz to know it.

Avoiding psycho bosses is yet another benefit of self-employment, which I think I’ve mentioned that I love. The self-employed simply don’t have to deal with bosses from hell. (Unfortunately, a few of us probably become one, but that’s another story.)

Sure, now and then a client might fit the profile. Every small businessperson has encountered the Client from Hell. Luckily, they usually give themselves away before it’s time to sign on the dotted line. And if you do find yourself dealing with one, you can bail out as soon as the first assignment is complete.

That’s much harder to do when the psycho is your boss, and providing 100% of your income.

Most of the time in this blog I write about marketing communications, copywriting, and the like. But your company “communicates” with customers in dozens of non-verbal ways as well. Yesterday, for example, I was in a small neighborhood pizza place waiting for some pizzas to go.

They have great pizzas, but my wife hates the place so we rarely eat there. The decor is dingy and depressing. The waitresses are unfriendly, abrupt. In the two years we’ve gone there, I’ve never heard a single one say “Hi” or “Thanks” or even “Are you ready to order?”

While I was waiting for our order, I ducked into the tiny men’s room to wash up. I pressed the lever for soap. Nothing. I stabbed it again and again and finally got a few spritzes, but nowhere near enough to really wash my hands.

The non-verbal message: If I can’t wash my hands, neither can the guys in the kitchen. The ones making my pizzas… touching my food.

Bottom line: we’re looking for a new pizza place…

What’s your take? Does the lack of soap in a restaurant restroom gross you out? What other non-verbal ways have businesses sent you the message that you’re not important? Which companies communicate that they really do value your business? How did they do that? I’d love to hear…

Sounds like a great idea. Your laptop is stolen, you call a toll-free number, and the company tells you where to find it as soon as the bandits go online. Even police are cooperating to help you track down the perps.

But Forbes writer David A. Andelman is rightfully concerned about privacy:

“First, the software does live on your computer pretty much forever. You can “uninstall” the software, but I had to wonder whether it really goes away. Second, it turns out that the folks in Vancouver can, only on your instructions of course, wipe the hard disk or any of the data or software on it when you report the computer stolen. Now that’s great, if you don’t want your last five years’ tax returns falling into the hands of a greedy whistle-blower. But, despite Livingstone’s assurances, I was a little worried about just how much Tania in Absolute’s recovery department was able to see on my hard drive back there in Vancouver.“

There it is again: the delicate balance between security and privacy. It’s one of those things that keeps me awake at night. You, too? Hey, I want to be safe. But I want my privacy, too — just the Bill of Rights guarantees.

It’s a serious concern. If you were doing the marketing for this company, how would you address this customer worry?

Probably not immediately, says Rich Brooks in Business Blog Consulting. As he puts it:

I argue that business blogging should fall into Stephen Covey’s second quadrant: important but not urgent. I don’t think many people would argue that a business blog alone is enough marketing for any company, even a business blog consultant. However, it can be a great, long-term investment…

That’s a pretty understated and sensible outlook. But wait a sec– Sometimes results outweigh our expectations. Rich’s post received this eye-opening comment:

Been blogging for slightly over a year. I have $35,000.00 in sales I can tie directly to blogging…

Now, $35K is no fortune, but it’s a nice additional chunk of change for a small business. (I know you’re curious, so I’ll tell you. He’s got a sign company.)

And as I mentioned a while back, one consultant just signed a sweet Fortune 50 deal because of her blogging.

Blog now, blog later, or don’t blog at all. Your choice. (You have the same choices with your company web site, brochure, business cards, etc.)

If it’s just too much trouble to right-click and choose “Blog this,” now you can draft and even post a Blogger entry right from Word. Pretty handy for guys like me, who spend a huge percentage of our time in that particular program.

Has anybody tried it? What’s the verdict? Give me some help, OK?

Get it here. Thanks to Lifehacker for the tip.

In a humorous and head-slapping post, Seth Godin confirms that marketing is now officially about wants, not needs. Check it out here.

Of course, marketers have known for years that people are willing pay much more for what they want, compared to their needs. In fact, they’ll skip their needs to get what they want.

Is your business marketing to wants? Or needs? Which? How?

How do you determine your customer’s wants? Then how do you feed that need, er want.

Who’s willing to share what you’ve tried, and tell us how it’s worked out for you? I’d really like to know.