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	Phil's Blogservations Friday, May 20, 2005 Posted by philgomes 7:50 PM PR, BusinessWeek, Alarm:Clock, And Salma Hayek PR, BusinessWeek, Alarm:Clock, And Salma Hayek I decided to give myself time to think about this one. Sarah Lacy of BusinessWeek recently took a refreshingly measured approach to the question of whether a startup is better off hiring an agency or pulling its PR operation totally in-house. Her post was written in response to an attack piece (and, yes, that's a very fair description) over at Alarm:Clock, which lit this particular fuse earlier that week. Alarm:Clock's post effectively vents the (unattributed) writer's angst, but doesn't really accomplish much else. (Not that I'm necessarily curing diseases here with this blog.) This part here was most interesting to yours truly. BusinessWeek's Lacy writes: Here’s the most important thing I’d look for in anyone I was hiring, were I a startup CEO: Someone who can stand up to a bossy client. The worst PR firms, from a journalist’s point of view, are ones who keep pitching you a story they know is lame, that you’ve already told them you aren’t interested. Ever wonder why so many journalists are cranky? Fielding the same phone call over and over again. Imagine if I called you several times a week about a story you’d already said you didn’t want to be interviewed for. Often times, the caller knows the journalist won’t bite, but they’re checking off a list of things to do the client has ordered them to do. Only problem? It’s at the expense of their relationship with the journalist. The calls I pay attention to are from PR folks who have proven they get what I do and what I’m interested in and don’t waste my time with something lame. Doesn’t always result in a story, but they will always get a call back. Isn't doing the same thing over and over again, hoping for a different result, one of the sure-fire signs of insanity? I guess that's why there's money to be made in slot machines. So, many thanks to Ms. Lacy for bringing this up. Based on my conversations with members of the business media, Ms. Lacy's comment rings very familiar. Far too often, startup companies want "business press" long before they are really ready to take that step. Tom Murphy and I discussed this particular element of the PR-to-corner-office relationship in early 2004, which inspired this post. I've since started calling this phenomenon the "Date With Salma Hayek Syndrome." Here's how it works. You see... I think maybe I would like to have a date with Salma Hayek. Stop laughing... Finished? Okay... Realistically... For a rather funny-looking thirty-something who lives a pretty modest lifestyle, has no celebrity status, and does not at all mix with the Hollywood scene, this date is not very likely to happen. But... Were I someone who was serious about this goal and addressed his dating life in a far more calculated manner than I do now, there would certainly be a number of steps that I would have to take. All of this would involve significant strategy and planning. These steps would include, but not be limited to: A change in career, specifically one that brought me into the entertainment industry such that the six-degrees-of-separation effect can perhaps take place. The Friendster connection would look like: Phil > farmer's market tangerine salesman > market-frequenting housekeeper for entertainment lawyer > said entertainment lawyer > lawyer's golfing buddy > golfing buddy's dentist > ...who is also the dentist for Ed Norton > ...who used to be involved with Salma Hayek A move to the hub of the entertainment industry, presumably Southern California With the first and second tasks accomplished, I would have to ensure that I learn about key entertainment industry events, such that I could be invited to them and that there would be the possibility of being introduced to Ms. Hayek by Mr. Norton's dentist's golfing-buddy's lawyer-friend. Determining our shared interests, such that we can actually talk during a date and maintain some kind of decent conversation An updated wardrobe (Not that I'm accusing Ms. Hayek of being shallow, but my current stash of clothing could use a makeover. While it may meet the standards of Silicon Valley, it's probably not up to Hollywood snuff.) 'Nuff said. That's not even half of what needs to happen, but you get the idea. There's also a significant amount of what some call "luck." Since I do not believe in "luck," really, we'll instead call it "preparedness meeting opportunity." To the degree that I would have to plan in order to achieve the goal of a date with Ms. Hayek, so too does successfully engaging the business press require significant preparation on the part of any startup or enterprise seeking coverage in those high-profile and highly coveted outlets. For one thing (and there are many gating factors), some folks in the business press won't even touch a private company unless there has been significant coverage in the scientific, trade, and enthusiast media first. And, yes, engaging those outlets, in turn, requires a very significant amount of planning and preparation as well. (And, yes, I know that any media relations planning is far more likely to achieve its goal than any amount of scheming that aims to result in a date with Ms. Hayek. Difference is that, yes, the former is something I have actually achieved.) Of course, all of this is to say nothing of the phenomenal amount of work that the startup's founders and employees must undertake to get the business to the point where it even makes sense to begin communicating in the first place. However, that's a topic for another over-long post with a very bad analogy. To paraphrase Thoreau, if you build your castles in the air — where they should be — you have to be sure to build the foundations under them. | HOME | OBSESSIONS | FAQ | HEROES | CAREER | BLOG | CONTACT Note that the views expressed on this site do not necessarily reflect those of Phil's employer, its business partners, its clients, or anyone or anything that doesn't come from Phil's demented imagination. Hell, to be perfectly honest, even Phil disagrees with what he thinks sometimes. This site has virtually no redeeming qualities whatsoever. Clicking on a link doesn't automatically send a 1/2-cent donation to UNICEF. You can't buy, sell, auction, swap, find a date, win friends, influence people, cross the chasm, or decode the human genome using this site. You won't get free email. You won't win a free video game console. This site will not end world hunger, foster peace in the Middle East, help you smell better, teach you how to swing dance, or move the global economy from petroleum to hydrogen fuels. You'll learn a lot about this site's master, though, which amounts to a haphazard collection of strange and useless facts that pretty much won't help you at all.	ABOUT THIS BLOG This is the blog of Phil Gomes, SVP with Edelman Digital and senior advisor to the Society for New Communications Research. This blog not only discusses PR and media matters, but Phil's everyday observations about a variety of topics. Phil currently resides in Chicago, IL. EMAIL phil[at] philgomes.com View my page on PROpenMic SYNDICATE Feedburner ARCHIVE YAHOO! IM SKYPE WISH LIST PITCH POLICY MY PHOTOS www.flickr.com Photostream RSS Enter your Email Powered by FeedBlitz COMMENT AND TRACKBACK POLICY Comments and trackbacks are unmoderated, though I will delete the patently offensive ones. Any comments and trackbacks are the opinions of the individual writer of those comments and trackbacks, and not those of Phil Gomes, his employer, its clients, or its business partners. If you have a bone to pick, bug the people who wrote the comment or trackback.