IN THIS ISSUE: April 26, 2000 To Archive Index The Care And Feeding Of The Media (Part Two) How To Get Press For Your Internet Company Dumbest Quote Of The Year Customer Non-Service Story Of The Week

THE CARE AND FEEDING OF THE MEDIA (Part Two)

How To Get Press For Your Internet Company:

Be Different and Be Prepared to Justify the Numbers

Can you still get a story about a new Internet company into major media now that a lot of dot.com houses of cards have tumbled? Sure you can, but it won't be easy, according to editors at top media outlets.

To find out what new economy companies need to do to get press coverage, I interviewed editors at major media including Associated Press, Bloomberg TV & Radio, Fast Company, Newsweek and several others. The bottom line: Internet companies will have to prove they have real staying power and be prepared to justify numbers.

Show Me The Money
One clear trend emerged: you have to prove you are providing something the market hasn't done, or hasn't done well, and you have to prove earnings or revenues.

"We don't necessarily kill a story if we don't get financials," says reporter Gina Imperato of Fast Company. "With private companies we look for signs of growth: opening additional offices, hiring more employees. And we look at management practices because if they are good they translate into growth."

Sam Sayegh (pronounced Sayer,) producer at Bloomberg TV and Radio concurs, saying, "After the Internet shakeout we've seen in the marketplace, media will look more seriously at the business model and whether a company can compete with so-called 'old economy' stocks."

"A privately held company has to at least be willing to tell me who their investors are," says Michael Martinez, business writer at the Seattle bureau of Associated Press. "It certainly gets my attention if Paul Allen or Kleiner-Perkins is an investor. That would make them credible."

"No matter how interesting a company is, says Joshua Macht, Senior Editor at ecompany magazine, "they have to be prepared to show their numbers."

Prove you're smarter
Ok, so Paul Allen isn't one of your investors, you're not a first mover and your financials could be better? Will the media take you seriously? Yes, if management has a track record.

"There is a lot of vapor in this industry," says Newsweek Senior Writer Jared Sandberg. "My interest leans to new ideas, trends, what is emerging. I distinguish trends from fashion. The kind of privately held companies that are newsworthy are the ones with interesting management, an idea that's outrageously different and perhaps smarter than any competitors."

Pros and Cons of the Food Fight Approach
Every editor interviewed said that you need to understand what he or she writes about before pitching a story. In other words, blasting out press releases to every business editor in the country may not be the way to go any more.

"A lot of people take a food fight approach of throwing everything at all reporters," Sandberg says. "I understand that PR people are just doing their job, but writers like people who approach them to know some of the things they write about."

Charlie Crumpley, Business Editor of The Daily Oklahoman, Oklahoma City, OK agrees, "I get a lot of releases from people in New York about something happening in Vermont, and we're in Oklahoma. Something like that has just about a zero chance of getting published in Oklahoma." But, he adds, "I know it's a challenge for PR people because they need to get national coverage as much as they can."

"I really resent a lot of the SPAM email I get from national PR firms pushing products and services that do not have a unique local angle for me," says Dave Elbert, Business Editor of The Des Moines Register, Des Moines, IA. "I probably waste close to an hour a day looking at emails and answering phone calls pitches from PR folks who cannot pitch a local angle or even a unique angle on their product or service."

Wag Your Own Tail
Ok, so Paul Allen isn't one of your investors, you're not a first mover and your financials could be better? Will the media take you seriously? Yes, if management has a track record.

"There is a lot of vapor in this industry," says Newsweek Senior Writer Jared Sandberg. "My interest leans to new ideas, trends, what is emerging. I distinguish trends from fashion. The kind of privately held companies that are newsworthy are the ones with interesting management, an idea that's outrageously different and perhaps smarter than any competitors."

Skip The Press Conference
Can you jump into media prominence with a splashy announcement at a press conference? Not likely!

"Press conferences are good for major, breaking industry news, where all players need to be in one room," Imperato says. "With the AOL/Time Warner merger reporters needed to speak to both executives and the press conference was helpful."

If you're not AOL merging with Time Warner, or you don't have a cure for cancer, think twice about a press conference. "It's very dangerous to feed the media hype," Sandberg warns. "It can turn on you; torpedo your integrity and credibility. If you give a press conference, it better be a great, landscape shaping kind of moment."

Even if you get reporters to your press conference, you have no guarantee they will cover your event, they all insist. "If we're watching certain companies I might attend but not cover the event," says Imperato. Martinez says the issue would have to have a potential effect across industries for him to cover the story, although he might attend "for the grip and grin after the conference."

Tried and True
What's the best way to attract editorial attention? Imperato describes certain recurring themes that are always of interest: companies that come up with new and creative ways to get a leg up; the new logic of competition; the qualities of effective leaders; how to perform superb customer service. "We always ask ourselves: what can our readers learn from this person, company, team or idea, no matter what industry they're in."

Of course all of this is not to say that a really compelling game by an unknown company on a shoestring budget may not make headlines tomorrow. As long as the management team is interesting.

DUMBEST QUOTE OF THE YEAR

To protect the ignorant, I will spare this person the use of his name. Suffice it to say that the head of an online press release writing and distribution service sent me this email in response to my article "The Traditional Press Release Is Dead."

I said his sample press release is exactly what I'm saying NOT to do and he said:
"We have been using Press releases for over 30 years and get hundred of thousands of [SIC] free publicity each year. I also know that a stupid, poorly written news release can get thousands of dollars in press, it is a matter of hitting at the right time, right person."

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CUSTOMER NON-SERVICE STORY OF THE WEEK

In issue 21 of What's Next Online I told you about a special offer from Digital Work for 500 free web cards. I practice what I preach and so I ordered mine. The total fee was $14 for shipping and handling. I asked a customer service representative to call me. When she did, I told her I wanted to pay by check. And she told me, "We are not set up to accept checks. We only accept payment by credit card."

Apparently, a lot of Internet companies and traditional companies doing business online - including the venerable Wall St. Journal - have decided that checks are no longer legal tender.

Don't make this mistake in your business. You'll turn off a lot of people who have the potential to become your long-term customers. And why would any company want to do that?

Want to share a customer non-service story?
Send it to BLOchman@whatsnextonline.com

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