The Good, The Bad, The Stupid - PR Woes

What's wrong with public relations industry? Will they let just anyone work in the biz?

I deal with so many great PR reps, some true pro’s, but there are some of them out there that baffle me. Maybe I shouldn’t rant on them, maybe I should talk to whomever hired them.

Almost once a week I receive an email with a press release attached in a word document. I just won't read it. With all the macro viruses out there it’s just not worth it. DELETE.

I regularly get giant emails from people I don’t know. Why am I receiving 8MB file attachments for an engine part? I don't mind emails that are under 100k but where do these agencies find the idiots that manage to attach 8mb and send it to someone they don't know. DELETE.

If you want us to review your hotel, then you’ll have to cover the costs of our writers to conduct a site visit. That includes airfare, accommodations and some meals. We get nearly 10 trip offers a week and not enough space to publish all of them. We’ll pick the ones that fit into our editorial guidelines and that will cost us the least. After all, we’re still a business.

Respect goes a long way with me, I don't pretend to be the king of the world, but when I travel I expect that the host understands that each page of RICH GUY costs $16k. An article can run 3 - 4 pages and provides them with a significant value. Each page that is taken by editorial is a page that can't be sold as an ad. So don’t nag about a penny here or there. Cheapskates get axed.

Talk fast. If you hear me talking fast, talk at my speed because I’m busy. Every day I have my phones ringing non-stop and I try to take every call that comes in. I hate returning calls but I do it (make sure you leave your email address when you call). So please, be respectful, talk at my speed.

Also, I’m getting really sick of the pot head type of phone calls I receive from people that start off with “uhhh hi”. No conversation on the planet should start with “uhhh” simply because people that start a conversation that way instantly sound stupid and usually talk slow. I lose interest right away and will probably ask them to email me.

In fact, I do prefer email.

Here’s what you should do if you want to pitch me a product. EMAIL FIRST. Send me an email without pictures or if you must, a small picture, if I’m interested I’ll email you back. It’s ok to follow up ONCE. If you keep calling me every two days or every week, I’ll ignore you and your product. It’s happened before, I’ve yanked editorial at the last minute because of a rep nagging me about it.

Mind you, if you email and I don't respond, it's ok to call me and ask if I got the email. That's just common sense, just make sure you talk fast when you do.

There are some brilliant agencies out there that I would do work with at the drop of a hat. I trust their opinions and know that they’re dealing with a high quality of client. The rep is such an important part of the business that I usually won’t put myself or any of my writers in a situation with a poor agent.

I recently went to Cabo. After a missed connection and missed flights, US Customs issues etc.. I arrived a day late. I went to the mall where I thought everyone would be and sure enough it seemed as though the entire town was there. I couldn't tell heads from tails when all of a sudden I heard my name “Bassam over here!”. Jason the PR Ninja (that's him pictured above) had printed out my picture and memorized what I looked like. Good job on his part because I had no idea what HE looked like. I could’ve been lost in Cabo.

Sometimes I run into PR people that are just cool. You know who you are, because I've told you. Other times unfortunately, poor PR reps have their emails go directly into the delete folder.