In response, consumers have rebelled: millions now own a product called TiVo (or one of its competitors), which enables them to pre-record their favorite programs and easily skip through all of the commercials when they replay the show. (That's how my interest in "The West Wing" was rekindled.) Unfortunately, a similar technology does not exist for radio.

    The popularity of TiVo is not the only difficult challenge advertising agencies and their clients face today. Another is the "segmentation" of the media landscape. These days, you can find hundreds of cable and satellite TV channels, thousands of magazines and millions of websites to suit every possible demographic group, hobby or lifestyle choice.

    You'll find advertising in formerly non-traditional arenas as well. Promotional messages are appearing in abundance on the popular video website, YouTube. Airlines, which have already installed advertising messages on airplane fuselages and in their video entertainment systems, have experimented with ads printed on airsickness bags, and this year have expanded to the covers of overhead luggage compartments and the backs of closed tray tables. Both parties see benefits: the airlines are receiving additional revenue, and the advertisers are looking for "uncluttered" environments where their messages will stand out. How airline passengers are reacting is another matter entirely.

    It takes a great deal of time to research all the possibilities and figure out what the best advertising medium is - especially for entities that have limited budgets.

    That is why I suggested at the end of my previous column that advertising is not the only strategy you can employ to attract attention to your product or service. A public relations campaign should be seriously considered.

    However, PR specialists face at least one of the same challenges that advertising people are contending with: the segmentation of the media landscape. And when you throw blogs, podcasts and online video into the mix, the possibilities become "dizzying."

    Therefore, the issue is not the frequency of the messages (the more repetition the better). The most important issues are:

1. Where the messages are appearing. Is this advertising vehicle actually reaching your target audience(s)?
   
2. How “crowded” the advertising vehicle is. Will your message get lost in all the clutter?
   
3. What your messages look or sound like. Are they distinctive enough to break through any clutter?
   
4. What your messages are actually saying. Will your target audience(s) perceive that your product(s) or service(s) can really meet their needs?

    Since my questioner is a consultant, I would say to him that advertising is not the only strategy he should employ to attract attention. He should also find ways to showcase his considerable expertise to his prospects (and his current customers) by writing and speaking and becoming more visible on the World Wide Web.

    If you believe that only technically knowledgeable people might be searching the Internet for the type of product you’re offering, then you might be inclined to use technical language.

    However, I believe you cannot assume that all potential searchers are equally technologically savvy. A less knowledgeable person might also be surfing the ‘Net - perhaps at the behest of a supervisor.

    Furthermore, some prospects might not even be aware that a product such as yours actually exists. Your website is a potential opportunity to educate them.

    I prefer to err on the side of inclusiveness, and therefore I would advise you to use clear, non-technical verbiage on the pages of your new website. By doing so, you’ll avoid putting up barriers to education and understanding, and you’ll expand your reach to a broader range of potential customers.

    Another step you can and should take to attract both knowledgeable and less sophisticated prospects is to be sure to add a full range of keywords to every page - so that the website pops up no matter what search terms people use.

    To convert website visitors to foot traffic in the company’s Albuquerque and in Santa Fe stores, information about them should be very easy to find. Company managers should also strive to give site visitors some powerful incentives and/or reasons to visit the stores in person.

    Here are some suggested steps to take to achieve this goal:

1. Make the stores more visible on the site. The web master should add labeled buttons to the Home Page that link directly to the store pages. At present, information about the two bricks-and-mortar stores appears - albeit somewhat buried - on the About Us page.
   
2. Remove the “links-to-nowhere” and finish constructing important sub-pages. The store pages list what types of items they sell (i.e., crystal gemstones and geodes) and also mention special events the stores host (such as classes, school field trips and birthday parties). However, the highlighted keywords link to blank pages – with the same message indicating that the pages are under construction.
       The web master should remove all the “links-to-nowhere” until the new sub-pages can be added. Strong efforts should be made to finish and add the sub-pages as quickly as possible.
   
3. Add more photos. The page for the Albuquerque store has a photo of the outside edifice, but no images from the inside. The page for the Santa Fe store displays no photos at all. Image possibilities include the outside edifice in Santa Fe; unique displays of geodes, gemstones, etc.; unusual items for sale, and the special events.
   
4. Provide more unique offerings. In addition to the special events the pages already mention, I will assume that the stores offer displays of unusual, museum-quality gemstones, geodes, etc. (if they do not, they should). However, it is not clear that the stores sell items that can’t be purchased from the website. If they did, this feature could be another powerful attractor.
   
5. Offer in-store specials. The website could offer special discounts, sales or coupons that apply only to transactions in the bricks-and-mortar stores.
   
6. Add the “missing links”. The store pages should be linked to one another so that site visitors can easily navigate between them.

    Finally: Since the stores already do see out-of-state visitors, company managers can position them as genuine tourist attractions. If this hasn’t happened already, steps to take include:

1. Distributing rack cards for displays in the airports and at local hotels,
2. Educating hotel concierges about the stores,
3. Joining and providing information to each city’s Convention and Visitors Bureau, and --
4. Seeking alliances with companies that provide tours of the Albuquerque and Santa Fe metro areas. The Mama’s Minerals website could even provide tour company contact information and website links.

1. Your firm and the PR agency were not a good match for each other. I have seen instances where "small" entities have engaged big/giant agencies, only to have the account assigned to young and inexperienced staff.
   
2. Your retainer agreement did not list specific activities that the firm would perform on your company's behalf each month.
   
3. The PR firm did not highlight your company's differentiators and uniqueness in the material they sent out.
   
4. Your firm did not have enough "news" for a regular schedule of press releases or feature story and interview ideas.
   
5. The media were not interested in the news releases or story ideas the PR firm was sending because they weren't timely, creative or "different" enough.
   
6. While not necessarily likely, the firm could have been sending information to the wrong people or inappropriate media outlets.
   
7. You - or your designated representative - did not meet with the PR firm regularly to brainstorm publicity ideas and track progress.
   
8. Your expectations might have been unrealistic: a PR firm cannot and should not guarantee that a media outlet will automatically print a news release or get excited about a story idea. (However, the agency should be expected to get the material to the correct reporter or editor.)
   
9. There are other ways to get a message out beyond news releases, feature stories and interviews; however, the PR firm might not have considered them.
   
10. You could have made an arrangement with the PR agency to pay them on a project-by-project basis, with a flat fee for doing the work and a bonus for actual results.

    With these challenges in mind, you may want to try to avoid competing on price alone; the better strategy would be to compete on quality of work, a full range of offerings (including in-house graphic design), superior customer service and honesty and integrity.

    Beyond that, you will need to pursue some activities that will demonstrate to the local business community that your shop really is capable of doing the work:

1. Assemble a portfolio of pieces you have produced, types you know are of interest to your prospects. Take the portfolio with you when you pay calls on prospective clients and current customers. Put the most shining examples on your website.
   
2. If you don’t currently have such pieces to demonstrate your capability, offer to produce some at lower-than-your-usual rate or pro bono for emerging businesses and non-profits - including any business or trade associations to which you belong. This will help you build a reputation for doing superior work.
   
3. If you are not already a member of a business or trade association that attracts the type of customers you are seeking, join one or two, become involved and active, and offer the services described in #2 above. Since you are located in Albuquerque, be sure to join and strongly support the efforts of the Albuquerque Independent Business Alliance, whose mission is to encourage the community to patronize local businesses.
   
4. Secure written testimonials from satisfied clients (even pro bono ones) that you can put in your portfolio and on your website. There is nothing more powerful than positive words of appreciation from happy customers.
   
5. Network...network...network: to meet more people, and develop email and snail mail lists.
   
6. Develop a company newsletter (preferably printed to demonstrate the quality of your work), which you can use to announce high-level projects, provide tips and otherwise educate people about the world of printing.
   
7. Develop talks and write articles for the business press (and/or for posting on your website or in your newsletter) that are strictly educational in nature, informing business people how to get best results on complex print projects.
   
8. Hold annual or semi-annual open houses on your premises, and - if appropriate - offer your site as a venue for special events, especially those sponsored by organizations of which you’re a member. Such events provide unparalleled opportunities to build awareness both of the substantial investment you’ve made in equipment and of the quality of the work that you do.

    It is significant when a publication prints feature story about you, your business or your non-profit organization because it means that an outside party believes there is something special here that merits attention. A positive story not only informs strangers, but also helps reinforce and cement your reputation with people who already know you.

    If you have a strong, positive reputation, people who know you are very likely to speak about you to others and make referrals. You’re in an enviable position if you or your organization is held in such high esteem that business comes in primarily on referral.

    However, I do not believe that we can “rest on our laurels”: any person or organization may be in a strong position today, but new competitors inevitably enter the marketplace; not everyone who needs to know about you actually does; and even people who do know you aren’t necessarily aware of the depth and extent of your skills and knowledge.

    Therefore, showcasing your expertise through speaking and writing is critical to your success: it reminds those who know you (including your customers and clients) what you’re capable of; it builds “top of mind awareness” among them so that they think of you first when they need the products or services you offer; and it helps you differentiate yourself from your competitors.

    For print publications, your ultimate goal should be to provide a good-sized image of the highest quality - but not so large that it is too time-consuming to send as an email attachment. Most editors prefer to receive your electronic images in jpeg (.jpg) format.

    Before we go into more detail, it is important to talk about how electronic images are constituted. They are made up of thousands of little pieces called pixels (for "picture elements"). The more pixels there are per inch, the more detail can be revealed.

    Therefore, for most purposes and best results, the rule-of-thumb is to send an image with 300 pixels per inch (ppi) at the maximum size a publication can use - generally 4 x 5. The one exception is an image for a cover photo; in that case, you will have to submit a much larger file - but also at 300 ppi. Check with the editor or art director of the publication you’re targeting for exact sizing and other information.

    Images destined for websites should be treated somewhat differently. Since a typical PC monitor displays 96 ppi (the value for Apple computer monitors is somewhat lower), you should submit an image at 96 ppi at the largest size you expect it to appear on the monitor. The site’s managers or webmaster can provide you with that particular piece of information.

    If you anticipate that members of the print media will want to download images from a website for their publications, then you will need to provide larger versions of the images with 300 ppi.

    Before sending out any image, it is likely that you will first have to "massage" or manipulate it in some fashion (for example, it may be too dark, or have some undesirable shadows). You’ll be doing the manipulation in Photoshop or other editing software.

    Start by working on the original, large image at 300 ppi before you save it in .jpg format at the smallest acceptable size (and with lower ppi if a website is the ultimate destination). When you save the image, the program will ask you what quality level (from 0 to 12) you wish to use. The lower the number (let’s say 2 or 3), the smaller the file will be - which makes it easier to send over the Internet. However, you pay a price in reduced quality because the compression process will discard a lot of information.

    Therefore, save the image at the highest number possible without creating a file that is too large: a value of 6 or 7 will probably be good enough for most purposes. If the image is to be displayed on a website, the webmaster can easily reduce the file size without sacrificing quality.

    In my view, photographic images are a very important element of public relations: they can evoke powerful emotions when used appropriately. That is why quality is so important. If you do not have much experience with photography, and/or do not have someone on your staff who understands it, you will be better off hiring an outside professional to do the work.

    Desert Sky’s photographer, Philip Blume, who has five decades of photographic experience, is willing to answer questions of a technical nature. You may reach him by phone or email, 505-980-1374 and .

    If a reporter or editor is not interested, but spontaneously gives you the name of another colleague who might be more inclined to cover your story (or sounds friendly enough to give you advice if asked), it might be helpful to tell the other journalist who referred you.

    If you find yourself in a situation where you have no idea which departments or specific reporter(s) might be interested in your story, you can call the City Desk (if it's a newspaper), or the managing editor (for any publication), and ask advice about which reporter or editor you can approach.

    If you think a story idea could be presented to more than one department of a publication, there are two good reasons why you shouldn't send exactly the same proposal simultaneously to each department. First of all, each department has a different mission and viewpoint about its coverage. Therefore, it's not likely that the same story idea will interest them.

    Second: even if the separate departments might be interested in exactly the same story, you need to be aware that editors get together in regularly scheduled story meetings and talk about the ideas they're working on that day (or that week or month). If two or more editors discover that they have the same story angle from you, they won't react very favorably.

    However, you CAN pitch a story to different departments simultaneously if you can figure out a different angle for each one.

    For example: one of my former clients, a non-profit alternative lender that focuses on lending and technical assistance to small women- and minority-owned businesses and non-profits, was organizing a gala event several years ago to celebrate ten years of lending a total of $10 million dollars statewide - a substantial accomplishment. Approaching New Mexico's largest daily newspaper, I successfully pitched a story to the business section about the non-profit's lending and technical assistance activities, and worked with the paper's monthly women's magazine on a profile of the executive director.

    Here's another twist on the multiple-reporter angle: the newspaper I referenced above has three reporters who cover the same topic area, but from different angles. We've been told that instead of trying to figure out which one of the three might be interested in a story, we should just send the idea - and then the writers will get together and decide which one might be interested enough to cover it.

    Don't forget: whenever you call an editor or reporter, the first question you should always ask is whether or not he/she is on deadline. If that person is too busy to talk now, ask when you can call back. Your courtesy will always be appreciated.

    Although the time of day you send out a press release is generally not important, some days of the week can be more advantageous to you than others.

    For example, if you know that a specific publication or section of a daily newspaper that you're interested in is distributed on a certain day, then reporters and editors are more likely to pay attention to your information if you email it, fax it, or plan for your snail mail to arrive on the day of or just after publication. In the last couple of days before a publication goes to press, reporters and editors are usually under severe deadline pressures.

    The time of day can be very important, however, if you want to have a conversation with a member of the press. With both the print and electronic media, you have to be sensitive to their busy times, such as when editorial and story meetings might be taking place (this is where decisions are made about what topics may be covered and how much room or time is available for specific stories), when reporters are actually out in the field, and when they are back in the newsroom preoccupied with preparing their stories.

    Therefore, if you are able to reach a staff writer or editor, the first question you should always ask is, "Are you on deadline?" TV news assignment editors can be asked, "Is this a good time to be calling?" If the person you've reached responds that he or she is too busy to talk right now, politely ask what the best time may be to call back. I can promise you that your courtesy will be much appreciated.

    Also please remember that reporters and editors receive hundreds of emails, letters, faxes and phone calls on a weekly, if not daily basis. Therefore, your phone messages and conversations should be brief and concise.

    One last thing to be aware of is that if you receive a telephone call from a member of the news media, they are usually on some sort of deadline - and you should ask them just to be sure. If you can provide the reporter or editor with the information that they're asking for in a timely manner, they will appreciate your professionalism and be more receptive to hearing from you in the future.

    The problem is outlined in a recent book written by TIME magazine columnist Joe Klein, titled Politics Lost: How American Democracy was Trivialized by People Who Think We’re Stupid. In this book, Klein traces the influence of political consultants through insider accounts of presidential campaigns from 1968 to the present. He describes how traits such as courage, spontaneity and leadership have disappeared from the political landscape, and how politics has become increasingly less about ideology and more about how to gain and keep power.

    In other words, Klein is saying that politicians for the most part have lost the courage to display their authentic selves and stand for what they really believe, because they have fallen under the sway of political consultants who think that they know better.

    Of course, there have been notable exceptions to this: examples include Senator John McCain’s “Straight Talk Express” in his 2000 campaign for president, and the campaigns of former Presidents Bill Clinton and Ronald Reagan for the same office. However, this sad state of affairs is repeated time after time at every political level.

    One of the most egregious examples cited by Joe Klein was President Clinton’s Vice-President, Al Gore. In the 2000 presidential campaign, Gore said nothing about his accomplishments in the Clinton Administration (you would hardly have known that he had served as vice president for eight years), didn’t discuss his admirable environmental record and concerns (especially about global warming), and displayed a different personality each time he debated then-Texas governor George W. Bush.

    Since Gore did win the popular vote, it is tempting to speculate where he would be today if he had had the courage to display his authentic self to the voters - just as he is doing now as he promotes his new documentary about global warming, “An Inconvenient Truth.”

    This unfortunate situation was brought home to me very forcefully just last month, when I was enjoying a week-end workshop lunch break at an Albuquerque metro area restaurant. An attractive, well-dressed woman walked up to our table, introduced herself as a candidate for New Mexico Secretary of State in the Democratic Primary, and handed us her literature.

    I reviewed the piece on the spot and discovered – buried in the verbiage - that she had served as secretary of state between 1979 and 1982. “Shirley, why are you de-emphasizing your previous service as secretary of state?” I asked. She hemmed and hawed.

    “Why don’t you have a slogan right at the top of your piece that says, ‘Bring Shirley Back!’?” The candidate finally confessed that she wanted to do something very much like that, but that her campaign consultants had told her that it would be “corny”. Unfortunately, I didn’t hear much about Shirley after that encounter - and she came in third in the primary.

    As you have probably guessed by now, my strongly-held view is that public relations practitioners can and should have a very powerful and positive role to play in the political arena (and in public communications in general), but it should be to help their clients express their authentic selves to their target audiences.

    I’m beginning to hear political pundits say that “authenticity” is what the voters are looking for these days in their leaders – especially at the presidential level. We will see if this holds true, and what candidates will be saying, as we gear up for the mid-term elections this year and the presidential election in 2008.

    In principle, I do not think that it is inappropriate to have a PR consultant nominate a client for an award - if the nominator knows the client well and can demonstrate in the application (and with supporting materials, if required) that the nominee has attributes, or has engaged in activities, that legitimately match the selection criteria. A PR person - or any nominator - can only follow the process to a certain point; the final decision rests with the awards committee, anyway.

    Even with competitions that do not require an “outside” nominator: in my experience, professional PR people or writers are hired to help write awards applications because they require a lot of time and attention to detail; in organizations, there is often no one on staff who has (or, if it’s an individual, that person might not have) the time or expertise to devote to this activity; and an outsider can (usually) evaluate the qualifications vs. the criteria more objectively.

    This question also goes to the heart of what the role of a public relations professional is - whether that individual is a staff person or an independent consultant. I do not think of public relations people as mere “hired hands” (as it were), whose function is just to do what the boss or the client asks for. I firmly believe that I and my colleagues have an ethical and moral obligation to go beyond that - as an attorney or CPA might - and provide early warning and strategic advice about opportunities, threats and pitfalls.

    For example (although this has not happened so far), if I thought that a client did not have the credentials to meet the criteria for a specific award, then I would say so, and discourage that person or organization from entering the competition.

    However, I have fulfilled the obligation I described above in instances where clients wanted to send out press releases about something or other, or to pitch certain story ideas to the press - and I have advised them that the information they were wanting to disseminate would not be seen as “newsworthy.”

    How you update your website will depend upon the type of organization you have and how you use your site. If you offer professional services as Lisa does, some of your updating options - in addition to the ones she mentioned - might include:

1. Your basic contact information.
2. Services you provide.
3. White papers on various subjects.
4. Case histories of successful projects.
5. A calendar of speaking engagements, seminars and other public appearances.
6. Articles that you or your own clients have written.
7. Promoting pamphlets or books that you or your clients have written.
8. Profiles/bios of yourself and your staff (if you have any).

    [Example: One of our clients, an electrical services firm, intends to update its new website on a monthly basis with an employee profile and a featured client and community project - because the company, DRB Electric, is generously charitable and actively involved in its local community.]

    Sites that focus on e-tail business will need to think about regularly providing new special offers and listings and images of new products - and notifying customers of their availability. Companies that also sell products through retail outlets will want to keep their customers informed about where they can go make their purchases.

    International Advantage's website is content-rich and up-to-date as Lisa says; however, I discovered that some posted links to sub-pages were not working or had been severed. This should serve as a reminder to every person or organization with a website: that while it's important to update the information in a timely manner, you shouldn't forget to check on a regular basis to make sure that everything is functioning mechanically as you intended.

    Your organization's image can be negatively affected, and site visitors are not likely to return, if they find that they can't navigate your site easily and see pages that are labeled "under construction." One non-profit organization with which I'm familiar re-created its website from the ground up, but left the old one in place - without mentioning that a new site was being built - until the latter was completely ready to launch.

    I wrote, "... that is one reason why we're seeing the explosion of websites, blogs, podcasts, and instant and text messaging: these are alternative channels people are using to get information out to the world, without having to rely on the traditional 'gate keepers' in the 'mainstream' media."

What are websites, blogs and podcasts?
    If you're reading this column, then you're Internet-savvy, and you're more than likely aware that a website is a set of interconnected pages, generally located on an Internet server, that are prepared, posted and maintained as a collection of information by a person, group, or organization. This information can include blogs and podcasts.

    According to Jay Cross, CEO of eLearning Forum, a blog is short for "web log." Blogs are dated, regular entries of any length, usually by a single author. "Think of a blog as one person's public diary or suggestion list," says Cross. "Special software, which has been available since 1999, comes with a personal website for people who don't already have one," and allows anyone (yes, anyone) to post a blog. "The software and the personal websites are usually free. Currently, blogging is one of the fastest growing trends on the Web. Nearly half a million people have downloaded blogging software."

    Podcast News defines podcasting as delivering audio content (music or talk) to portable media players (such as iPods) on demand, so that you can listen to it at your convenience. Because podcasts are typically saved in an electronic file format called MP3, you can listen to them on nearly any computer, and you can download them from websites where they're stored. Podcasting is spreading quickly due to "the rapid adoption of MP3 players," and the owners' desires "to have fresh content."

    As with blogging, anyone can create a podcast with the right software. Although podcasts are available only in audio format at present, "some developers are exploring the idea of using the same techniques to publish video," Podcast News reports.

The role of e-media in PR
    Can websites, blogs and podcasts play a role in PR? They certainly can and do, because they enable individuals (including entrepreneurs and consultants) and organizations of all types to build credibility by showcasing their expertise in a particular area. Websites have filled this role for quite a while now, blogs are rapidly catching up (if they haven't done so already), and podcasts are still a relatively new phenomenon.

    According to WebGeek, "Blogs can be used to make political statements, promote products, provide research information, and give tutorials." The same can be said for podcasts and websites.

    "Everyone's jumping on the blogging bandwagon," says WebGeek, including celebrities, sports figures and politicians. "Because of this, blogs have also been the center of controversy." Since anyone can write about anything in a blog, the authors frequently complain about other people. "In many blogs, names are named. There have also been issues with employees writing about their place of employment in blogs and getting fired. Though you can write what you want in a blog, you're not exempt from the repercussions. Anyone who makes a controversial statement had best be well prepared to back it up," WebGeek warns.

    Eventually, the same issues will likely hold true for podcasts once they're more established.

    In terms of PR value, most of us know that websites enhance credibility if they are attractive, well-designed, easy to navigate and provide interesting, changing content. But what about blogs and podcasts? Should you (or your organization) try to provide them? My view is that if you're going to enter this brave new world, you have to be prepared to block out time, or find the right personnel, to provide material on a regular basis - and then promote it widely.

    Furthermore, if you want to distinguish yourself from your competitors and build an audience for your e-content, in addition to being prepared to back up potentially controversial statements, the material will have to be of the highest possible quality - consistently informative, compelling and concise - to stand out from all those other blogs and podcasts on the Web and to keep your audiences interested. At present, the quality of the offerings varies widely.

    The news media receive hundreds - if not thousands - of telephone calls, emails, “snail mails” and fax messages every week. A certain percentage of this material is not newsworthy, interesting or relevant - to them, anyway. As far as the rest of it is concerned, there is still never enough room or time to print or broadcast every detail; therefore, reporters and editors have to make some tough choices.

    We may not like their choices, but they are the ones who have the right and responsibility to make those decisions. Therefore, there really isn’t anything you can do if an editor decides to rearrange material in - or eliminate some words and sentences from - your news release.

    On the other hand, if you discover any factual mistakes once a media outlet prints or broadcasts something, you have the right and responsibility to send a polite letter to the editor correcting the error(s). As long as you’re doing that - and if the announcement or story also failed to cite information you thought was important - then you have a ready-made opportunity to find some way to mention the details that were eliminated.

    Incidentally, that is one reason why we’re seeing the explosion of websites, blogs, podcasts and instant and text messaging: these are alternative channels people can use to get information out to the world, without having to rely on the traditional “gate keepers” in the “mainstream” media.

    Therefore, there are some questions you'll need to answer before you decide whether or not to take any action:

1. Your community is served by more than one newspaper. How influential or credible (to the public) is this one?
   
2. Even though you were not named, have you (or other staff or Board members) received any feedback or questions - positive or negative - since the editorial appeared?
   
3. Because the editorial did not name names, many - if not all - of the "insiders" who matter to you will already know to what and to whom the piece is referring and the general public will not. How important is that to you?
   
4. Do you have any indication that the editorial has inflicted any damage to you or your organization's reputation?
   
5. Do you know whether or not the editorial writer - or anyone else in a powerful position at the newspaper - has close personal ties to the leader of the other non-profit?

    What I am leading up to is this: since the editorial did not specifically let the readers know exactly to whom the piece was referring... and if you have received no feedback of any kind... and if the people who need to know the truth (your stakeholders) already do... then you probably shouldn't respond at all. Your organization was not the primary focus of the editorial, anyway.

    Actually, the city officials who ousted the other non-profit from the contract are the ones who have the right and responsibility to respond if they think it is necessary and will bring the truth to light. Before they can make that decision, though, they will need to ask themselves some - or all - of the questions that I've outlined above.

    You always have the opportunity to correct any possible misinformation by responding immediately to people who ask you questions or give you feedback. If the newspaper in question publishes stories about the situation and you are incorrectly quoted, and/or if the reporter misconstrues your role in the controversy, you can always respond with a letter to the editor.

    But you have to be careful to limit your responses to what is said or written about you and your organization. Any comments you make about the other non-profit can and will be seen as self-serving.

    Second, determine if you have the resources - both financial and human - to put together and execute a PR plan. If you have the finances but not the personnel, then you’ll need to hire either an employee or an outside specialist to do the work.

    Third, decide which audiences need to be reached. You would be surprised how many there potentially are - ranging from current clients/customers and prospects to the general public, news media and government officials.

    Fourth, decide if you already know what reputation your organization currently has among your target audiences. If you’re not sure of the answer, you will want to do a survey to find out. It’s important to have this information; otherwise you could embark on a campaign that will misfire.

    Fifth, you will need to be sure of what your underlying message is. Example: When I worked for the Portland (Oregon) Opera a number of years ago, the company had introduced a number of innovations to make this wonderful art form accessible and attractive to a wide public. Therefore, every PR activity I pursued had to communicate that basic message in some way.

    Finally, you will have to figure out how to reach your target audiences with your messages. Are you engaging in any PR activities now, or are you starting from scratch? Where are your stakeholders? Are they only within the community in which you’re located - or beyond it? What communications vehicles (newspapers, magazines, radio & TV stations, websites, etc.) do they pay attention to? Do they belong to any particular organizations? Can you become visible to them at specific community events?

    Once you have all this information in hand, you’ll be able to plan a schedule of activities to increase your visibility, differentiate yourself from organizations doing similar work, and gain the recognition you so richly deserve.