LT Public Relations

For more than two years, the original LT Public Relations website fulfilled our needs to communicate who we are and what public relations services we provide.  It looked good and the content was ok, but it never truly reflected our PR firm’s brand, culture, uniqueness and core offerings.

Our website was doing us, and visitors to our site, a disservice because it simply wasn’t really us.

We continually counsel our own clients that their website is sometimes the public’s only source to form an opinion about the company.  If the site is uninviting or is chock full of stock photography and fluffy marketing messaging, then prospective customers will be turned-off and go somewhere else.

So it was gut-check time for us.  As we are tasked with telling the stories of our clients, we have done a sub-par job at doing it ourselves.

Therefore, we made the decision to invest time and resources into one of our most important marketing tools–our website.  Working with one of the nation’s greatest digital agencies, Emerge Interactive, we concocted a design and personality that better reflects LT Public Relations.  With diligent attention to detail and many, many hours to get it “right,” we are proud to unveil our revised site…http://ltpublicrelations.com/

We also heeded our own advice that we constantly advocate to our clients to “use more video” to tell their stories.  So, we entered into the world of video and YouTube and produced the following for our Buzz on a Budget PR Workshop (next workshop is Oct. 14th from 8:00-11:59 AM @ LT Public Relations):

Let us know what you think of our new site.  We welcome ALL feedback.  Thank you!

There is no universally approved or formal title for professionals who perform public relations services. 

Often used titles include “PR Pros” or “PR guy or gal,” or generally speaking, “PR people” (e.g. “BP’s PR people are spinning this crisis into a positive for the oil company.”).  The label “spin doctors” is one that makes us negatively cringe.  There’s also a pop culture reference to the film “Pulp Fiction” and Harvey Keitel’s character, Winston Wolf or “The Wolf,” who acts as the ultimate “problem solver.”

As public relations professionals, we typically don’t care what you call us, just as long as you call us before we’re needed (LT Public Relations proclaims that crisis management is 99% preparation and 1% execution). 

We recently revisited these PR names and developed a more appropriate title, “Public Relations Attendant.”  As representatives of businesses, we are tasked with being stewards to their messages and brand, while being attentive to their needs to communicate to their staff and target audience.

The public relations attendant is a simile to flight attendants who 1) constantly cater to the plane’s passengers (pillow anyone?), 2) prepare passengers before the plane departs in the event of an emergency and 3) appropriately and diligently react when the plane is in trouble.

We let the CEOs (e.g. pilots) fly the plane and the board (e.g. control tower) provide direction and clearance, while we remain steadfast in our focus to inform the company’s staff and public (e.g. passengers) about news (good and bad) that affects them.

The public relations attendant position is often a thankless job, but we are critical in the success of the many journeys a business takes each day.  Without us, it’s like a plane without, well, a flight attendant.

LT Public Relations continues to seek to uncover the most cost-effective, efficient and relevant ways to communicate for its financial/professional services clients (e.g. banks, credit unions, law firms, etc.) …and we adopted another communications gem…“Twitter Town Hall Meetings”

Two excellent traditional and modern ways to communicate (and listen) to your target audiences are:

1) Conducting periodic (monthly) town hall meetings at a designated location, date and time to both inform your audience of the latest developments from your company, while fielding questions from passionate, inquisitive and concerned customers/public

2) Informing and viewing tweets on a company’s Twitter page is a simple (and a now proven) way to directly connect with a company’s audience.

So why not combine the two communication forums to develop a Twitter Town Hall Meeting?

The concept is not entirely new, but appropriately conducting these “Twitter Town Hall Meetings” is still a nascent practice.

Generally, here’s how it works:

• Announce Town Hall Meeting. Notify target audience (via e-mail, news release, social media, etc.) that the company is conducting a “Twitter Town Hall Meeting” to discuss a topical issue affecting its audience, public and/or customers.
• Schedule. Designate an exact date and time (with time frame: e.g. from 9:00-9:30 AM PT).
• Title. Have a title or theme to the town hall meeting (e.g. “The State of XYZ Bank”).
• Preparation. Prepare a few tweets ahead of time (reminder: 140 characters per tweet!) to ignite the discussion.
• Keep it fairly brief. Write 10-12 tweets about the topic.
• Q&A. Allow 10-15 minutes or more to review and respond to appropriate tweets as they are tweeted.  *You won’t be able to respond to all questions/comments…but certainly respond to the most relevant.
• Blog. Follow-up the Twitter Town Hall Meeting with a blog to summarize the salient points and address some of the overarching questions/comments that were tweeted.

Each Twitter Town Hall Meeting will be different and each company should have its own unique style…but the preceding guidelines will help get things started.

Recently the National HIV Testing Day conducted a similar Twitter Town Hall Meeting and provided a blog recap.   With more than 243,000 followers and 145 participants, the town hall meeting appeared to be a huge success.

Remember, this is a forum to inform, listen and respond. THIS IS NOT A FORUM TO SELL.  The audience will appreciate the openness and transparency from the tweeting company.

Need help developing and facilitating a Twitter Town Hall Meeting?  Contact us: 503-477-9215 or pr@ltpublicrelations.com

A major credit union publication featured some interesting news on its front page this week.  No, not breaking news on the interchange amendment, it was instead news on a credit union hiring a full-time social media specialist. Social media positions are certainly not new, by now a good portion of companies, not to mention government agencies have full-time employees that are responsible for generating and monitoring Tweets, Facebook and blog postings. Credit unions however, have been late to adopt social media as a way to communicate with members and the community. Slowly, some are beginning to abandon their conservative marketing techniques for more modern methods. The number of credit union fans and followers aren’t quite as impressive as those of  the big banks, but they are catching up and learning that social media is an excellent way to promote community events, connect with members and to answer questions and concerns. It does potentially open the credit union to risk and is an open forum for members to vent their frustrations, however, if it’s monitored well and a response is carefully crafted, credit unions can learn from these service hiccups and acknowledge them publicly; members love to feel that they are heard and recognized.  

It’s also important to point out what social media is not. It shouldn’t be another method of communicating auto loan rates or a new checking account. It should be personal and fun and assist in putting a face on the credit union. Letting the CEO post her thoughts on the interchange amendment in one post, along with pictures of a community event that the credit union sponsored in another post will keep followers interested and connected. Building these networks can be a full-time job, and interacting with the public shouldn’t be taken lightly. While not all credit unions are able to support a full time social media specialist internally, they should have a social media plan in place. LT Public Relations can assist credit union marketing and public relations staff in creating a social media plan that is engaging, informative and consistent.

 The LT Public Relations Nonprofit Challenge Provides $15K Worth of Pro Bono PR Services to a Local Nonprofit for One Year

 PR firm challenges other local complementary marketing firms to lend their services

 PORTLAND, Ore., May 19, 2010—LT Public Relations, a full-service PR firm specializing in external, internal and crisis communications for the financial and professional services sector, today announced the call-for-nominations for its 2010 LT Public Relations Nonprofit Challenge—a twelve-month pro bono public relations initiative (valued at $15,000) that will support a deserving local Oregon or Washington nonprofit (501(c)(3)) in generating awareness.

The LT Public Relations Nonprofit Challenge aims to assist an organization that focuses on providing financial education, professional services (e.g. legal support), or related assistance to the community. Each month for one year, the LT Public Relations team will work collaboratively with the chosen nonprofit to help raise awareness and support for its cause by providing public relations guidance such as news releases, media relations, media training, community outreach, social media and other related PR services. 

“Most local nonprofits are seriously challenged with raising the appropriate awareness to help their organization flourish,” said Casey Boggs, president of LT Public Relations. “The LT Public Relations Nonprofit Challenge is designed to meet this problem head-on and help provide the attention the nonprofit deserves.”

The application and submission information for the LT Public Relations Nonprofit Challenge is available at www.ltpublicrelations.com. All related Oregon and Washington-based nonprofit organizations are eligible to apply. The deadline for nominations is Friday, June 18, 2010. 

LT Public Relations also invites other Oregon and Washington based firms that specialize in branding, advertising, marketing and social media to join the challenge and provide services that would complement LT Public Relation’s PR efforts.  Firms that are interested in donating their time and talents to the LT Public Relations Nonprofit Challenge can contact pr@ltpublicrelations.com or 503-477-9215.  

About LT Public Relations

Based in Portland, Oregon, LT Public Relations, LLC is a full-service communications firm specializing primarily in servicing professional and financial institutions, as well as small businesses, entrepreneurs and non-profits. The PR firm utilizes the most relevant and current communications tools—with a hybrid of traditional and new media approaches—to develop and execute strategic public relations initiatives for its clients.  More information is available at www.ltpublicrelations.com.

TRUST. 

It is a simple word with multiple definitions in the business world.  Heck, even Wikipedia divides the definition of trust into 30+ categories http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trust.

Trust has been one of the hottest business topics over the past three years–especially in this down economy. 

The topic of trust has never been more prevalent than in the financial services industries (e.g. banks, credit unions, etc.). Tackling the nuances of trust in a blog is beyond challenging, so we were fortunate to find this gem of a video from Joe Garner of HSBC.  Pretty basic information about trust…but a great reminder of what trust is for banks and other financial services.

LT Public Relations is on the front lines of establishing (or re-establishing) trust for its bank and credit union clients in this extraordinary economic environment through strategic, proactive public relations efforts.   Now it’s not easy and it takes time and effort to develop trust…but public relations (or as we say, ”relations” with the “public”) will be at the cornerstone of trust building.

Need assistance with developing trust through public relations?  Trust us…we can help… pr@ltpublicrelations.com

LT Public Relations Introduces Workshop: Crisis Communications: Preparation, Aversion and Management

Successful crisis management is 99 percent preparation; one percent execution

PORTLAND, Ore., April 13, 2010—LT Public Relations, a full-service PR firm specializing in external, internal and crisis communications, introduces its proprietary workshop, “Crisis Communications: Preparation, Aversion and Management.”   The three-hour workshop on May 13th from 8:00-11:00 AM at LT Public Relations (930 NW 14th Ave. Suite 280) is designed to equip businesses of all sizes with the tools needed to plan for the unfortunate events of a crisis.  

The crisis communications workshop ($125 per person) is limited to 15 participants to ensure each business representative receives personalized attention. Participants will better understand the importance of preparing before a crisis occurs, as well as how to:
•   Identify a crisis
•   Prevent a crisis
•   Build internal guidelines and procedures
•   Manage a crisis
•   Communicate during a crisis (e.g. to victims, staff, media, company stakeholders)
•   Prepare spokespersons and staff

Workshop reservations are available at:
•   Online (http://ltpublicrelations.com/workshops.php)
•   E-mail (pr@ltpublicrelations.com)
•   Phone—503-477-9215

“Successful crisis management is 99 percent preparation and one percent execution,” says Casey Boggs, president of LT Public Relations. “This crisis workshop is a valuable insurance investment to ensure businesses are best prepared for the unexpected beforehand.”

About LT Public Relations
Based in Portland, Oregon, LT Public Relations, LLC is a full-service communications firm specializing primarily in servicing professional and financial institutions, as well as small businesses, entrepreneurs and non-profits. The PR firm utilizes the most relevant and current communications tools—with a hybrid of traditional and new media approaches—to develop and execute strategic public relations initiatives for its clients.  More information is available at www.ltpublicrelations.com

Recycling our blog post and grand idea from January 30, 2009, LT Public Relations once again has issued a challenge to the companies advertising during this Sunday’s Super Bowl.

Specifically, our PR firm challenges any company that chooses to frivously spend approximately $3 million for one 30 second advertisement during Super Bowl XLIV (that’s $100,000 a second!) to consider  investing that same money on a more cost-effective and impactful option…PUBLIC RELATIONS.

If the company spends that same $3 million on a whole year of public relations, we guarantee the company will yield significantly more positive buzz about its product, service, or overall brand than that one $3 million Super Bowl commercial. 

Give us 12 months and we will SHOCK and AWE our way into the company’s target audience’s hearts.  Just as important, we will clearly measure the impact of our PR efforts and the resources spent to achieve the marketing/business objectives set forth. . . and will successfully deliver on the goods.

Up for the challenge?  I know we are!  Contact us . . . pr@ltpublicrelations.com

LT Public Relations attended this morning’s (1/20/10) Portland Business Alliance “Forum” on the topic of, “The Future of Portland’s Media Industry.”  Here’s a brief blog recap.

The breakfast forum had five panelists from a range of different Portland-based media to discuss how the media industry is reacting to technology changes and what the future looks like for news outlets.

Moderated by Kerry Tymchuk of Conkling, Fiskum and McCormick, the media panel included:

• Richard Meeker, Willamette Week
• Steve Clark, Portland Tribune and Community Newspapers 
• Morgan Holm, Vice President, News & Public Affairs, Oregon Public Broadcasting
• DJ Wilson, General Manager, KGW
• Bob Proffitt, President/COO Alpha Broadcasting

The well-attended breakfast forum attracted Portland business professionals of all types, not just us PR folks. Now more than ever, businesses are curious about the media landscape and what to expect from them moving forward. 

Topics and questions ranged from:

• What keeps you up at night?
• How has social media changed the media strategy?
• How do businesses work with the media?
• The future of paying (or not paying) for online content

The panel discussion was not very long, but a few key take-aways we heard were:

• Twitter is the single most effective tool to report breaking news.
• Reporters appreciate the news release, but they don’t report on them.  They need real business stories and real trends.
• Most of the media outlets have thousands of followers, but they need to do a better job to provide important, relevant content to the followers.
• “Don’t become your own journalist”…It’s ok to Tweet and blog, but leave credible reporting to the professional journalists and reporters of the media outlets.
• There are great business stories in Oregon…and we’re very interested in hearing from businesses and the business trends.
• “We don’t have deep contacts within the Portland business community, but want to further cultivate those relationships”
• How much is content worth to newpaper readers?  People will pay for if the content is worthy…
• Instant information has a boundry…it still needs credible reporting behind it.

The breakfast forum was enjoyable and valuable, as it is always important for us PR folks to “Meet the Press.”

 Every once in a while, there’s a column that MUST be circulated far and wide. 

LT Public Relations uncovered the following PR Week column authored by Universal Health Services’ CEO Alan Miller that validates what we’ve been preaching for years…executives need to take a more active role in the company’s communications efforts.

In good times and especially in bad times, it’s incredibly important that the leader of the company speak often and speak with an authoritative voice.  This constant communication builds trust.  It builds understanding.  It builds customer loyalty…and much much more.

So attention All top executives out there, please read the following column, pay attention to the message…and get out there and communicate to your audience. 

Need help…give us a call…503-477-9215.

COMMS IS NOW PART OF A CEO’s JOB DESCRIPTION

By Alan Miller

There’s no such thing as a local story, a trade story, or even purely internal communication anymore. Everything has the ability to circumvent the globe at light speed, and corporate leaders are starting to become aware of this.Given this backdrop, the natural instinct for some leaders has been to be less communicative and engaged with the media and other audiences. Why risk saying anything when we have less control over the outcome and the audiences it reaches? Hiding behind a virtual moat and letting others do the talking would seem the easier and safer route, so the thinking goes.

Perhaps. But it’s also less credible. Stakeholders want to hear from business leaders – in particular CEOs – on a regular basis. They want to know what we’re thinking, and not just about our own company, but about the larger industry we represent, the communities we serve, and the world we live in. We have a unique vantage point in that we represent the broadest set of constituencies. Invariably, that vantage point shapes our views.

Shareholders, employees, industry leaders, the media – they’re all interested in hearing our point of view on issues, and it’s part of the job of the CEO to communicate. My advice to aspiring CEOs out there: Take the role of communications seriously because it’s a requirement of the position. You can’t rely on the CEO’s letter in the annual report and a few canned quotes in press releases to do your communicating any longer.

I make it a point to speak with the media on a regular basis, and not just around earnings, but on broader issues, too. Whether we have a good or a bad quarter, people want to know what I’m thinking and they want to know that I’m engaged. It’s easy to talk to reporters when things are going swimmingly, but it’s probably more important to communicate when things aren’t always on plan. I think consistent communications with reporters – not hiding behind press releases – builds credibility over time with analysts, employees, the media, and other stakeholders. It also accrues in a positive way to a company’s reputation over the long run.

I’m in the healthcare industry – my company owns and operates hospitals around the country. This has been an interesting time for the healthcare sector, to put it mildly. Healthcare reform has been the dominant conversation in our national dialogue for months, and will likely remain that way through the end of the year.  Even the economy has taken a back seat to this discussion – something that doesn’t happen very often.

Not surprisingly, the media and other stakeholders are curious to know what I think about the healthcare reform debate.  As a leader in that sector, it’s important to be engaged in the conversation; it would strike an odd chord if I wasn’t. I’ve been on CNBC, Fox News, and Bloomberg Television numerous times over the past months, giving my perspective on what healthcare reform could mean for my company, the sector, and the economy at large. I’ve spoken to print reporters, and I even penned an Op-Ed in The Wall Street Journal – something I’ve done on occasion over the years.

In fact, the Journal piece has led to a book that I’m finishing up on healthcare reform, which will be out in late November. I never imagined that I would write a book, but I felt compelled to expound on my thoughts. It’s been a fun, challenging, and creative process, and has really forced me to think through the issues in a much deeper and critical way.   

To aspiring executives, I repeat: Communications is a growing part of the job description. You can no longer lead a company without communicating your leadership, plain and simple.