LT Public Relations

Everyone’s favorite microblogging site, Twitter, has recently been getting a bad rap.

From folks commenting that it’s “a waste of time,” or it’s “a fad,” to a recent Vanity Fair/60 Minutes survey indicating only 15 percent of Americans believing Twitter is an important new tool for mass communication. 

Only time will tell if Twitter is a fad or the real deal.

We do, however, believe Twitter has many, many practical uses.  Too many, really, to list in one blog.  At LT Public Relations, we think Twitter’s biggest value is in its reach and super fast ability to communicate news when it matters most (i.e. a crisis).

During a crisis, a PR team or PR firm is immediately called to handle a potentially damaging situation.  Typically this team promptly puts together a plan on “what to communicate” and “how to communicate.”  During this rushed time, PR practitioners are tasked with ensuring front-line staff are informed, the call centers (e.g. 1-800 numbers) have a script, the home page of the website is updated and the media is informed.

Hard to believe that with all those communication vehicles running simultaneously, the time it takes to get the message to the target audience still isn’t quick enough.

Enter our friend Twitter. Immediately tweeting about the situation has quickly become a company’s first line of communication to inform its target audience/customers. 

Think about it…if you’re a customer and there’s a major issue about a trusted company you do business with, you want answers FAST.  You may look online for news or call the 800 #, but what if you can jump on Twitter and find real-time tweets from the company on what’s going on?

This immediate communication sends a powerful message to the customers that they’re concerns are important and the company is taking fast action, and using the latest social media tools to communicate.

A recent Wall Street Journal story highlighted a laundry service company that used Twitter to contact customers of an ice storm.  The story also profiled a Web critic who immediately tweeted in responding to an attack on his Web site. These are just a couple examples of how a company can use Twitter to communicate in a crisis.

A few caveates before using Twitter as a major communications vehicle during a crisis:

1. Be sure you have followers on Twitter.  If there are no followers now, no one will follow during a crisis. GET FOLLOWERS!
2. Have a designated employee to regularly update Twitter.  This same person should also be ready to post on Twitter when a crisis happens.
3. Monitor Twitter to understand customers’ tweets–especially during a crisis.  There will likely be harmful tweets you’ll need to address.
4. Twitter is unlikely to be helpful in dealing with a crisis if it isn’t updated regularly. As quoted in the WSJ article, “If you just go to Twitter when you have a crisis, you will have no followers and no credibility. The key to using Twitter effectively is to build trust with people who are relevant to your business.”

Like all communications (not just crisis), it’s about building trust.  Constantly build this trust…and use Twitter during a crisis.

During today’s (9/16) PRSA Portland seminar on social media planning,  one of the instructors—Jonathon Hensley of Emerge Interactive—discussed the term “citizen reporting” or “citizen reporter.”

The term really caught everyone’s attention…especially for us public relations folks.  On the surface, the term “citizen reporting” seems self-explanatory and not necessarily a new concept…but certainly not a term that has hit the mainstream (at least we haven’t heard it used much).

Put into context, citizen reporting is a reference to real-time reporting from consumers, advocates, Tweeters, bloggers, online critics, etc. voicing their opinion on a product or service.  For example, if an Amzon.com customer wants to rate a product, they’re actually a citizen reporter.

Used interchangeably (yet slightly different) is “citizen journalist.”  Wikipedia defines it as a “concept of members of the public playing an active role in the process of collecting, reporting, analyzing and disseminating news and information.”

Are citizen journalists or reporters important to your public relations effort?  You better believe it!

LT Public Relations still believes journalists or reporters from the media (TV, radio, newspapers, magazines) and other respected mediums are still one of the most credible sources to help tell a company’s story…but “citizen reporters” continue to gain traction from a “word of mouth” perspective.

We like the term and will continue to “report” on it if it continues to gain traction.

Hello All.

We’re thrilled to share with you some exciting news…LT Public Relations has introduced its workshop (trademark pending), “Buzz On A Budget: PR Tools for Small Businesses and Entrepreneurs.”  The four-hour workshop is designed to equip small businesses with tailored public relations strategies and tactics that can help significantly—yet inexpensively—raise awareness, complement the brand, and meet business objectives.

See news release attached below.

The first official workshop is Tuesday, September 29th from 8:00 AM – 12:00 PM at McMenamins’ Kennedy School in Portland, OR.  See details below.

Although our firm will continue to focus on professional and financial services institutions, we felt there were many others among us (i.e. small businesses and entrepreneurs) who could benefit from the numerous PR opportunities available.

Hope you can join us.  We’ll keep you posted on upcoming dates on this blog, our Facebook page, and Twitter (LT PR).

 LT Public Relations Introduces Workshop, “Buzz On A Budget: PR Tools for Small Businesses and Entrepreneurs”

 Businesses will learn new and traditional PR strategies and tactics to cost-effectively generate awareness that helps build brands and increase sales 

 

PORTLAND, Ore., September 9, 2009—LT Public Relations, LLC, a full-service communications firm specializing in cost-effective public relations support for emerging companies, recently introduced its proprietary workshop, “Buzz On A Budget: PR Tools for Small Businesses and Entrepreneurs.” The four-hour workshop is designed to equip small businesses with tailored public relations strategies and tactics that can help significantly—yet inexpensively—raise awareness, complement the brand, and meet business objectives.  

The ability to clearly and consistently communicate a company’s brand is critical to the success of any business. Today’s businesses are challenged with determining the most impactful and cost-effective mediums to pursue to communicate their offerings—e.g. traditional media (TV, radio, print), social media (Facebook, Twitter, blogs, LinkedIn), etc.

The “Buzz On A Budget” workshop will help participants:

• Strengthen their brand and increase sales through public relations
• Identify and pursue PR opportunities that directly and positively impact their business objectives
• Capitalize on the numerous new PR tools currently available  

 “As a small business ourselves, we empathize with emerging companies and entrepreneurs that have limited resources to broadly market themselves,” says Casey Boggs, president of LT Public Relations. “Since we actively research and pursue these new public relations approaches that get the biggest bang for the buck, we felt others could benefit from this valuable information, and ultimately, help themselves generate buzz.”

Each workshop ($85 per participant) is limited to 30 participants to ensure each participant receives proper attention. Workshops will initially be scheduled in the Pacific Northwest, with expansion plans throughout the United States in 2010. 

Upcoming Portland, Oregon workshops are:

• September 29^th (8:00 AM–12:00 PM) at McMenamins’ Kennedy School (5736 N.E. 33rd Ave. Portland, OR)
• October 13^th (8:00 AM–12:00 PM) at McMenamins’ Kennedy School
• October dates and locations in Seattle, Tacoma, and Eugene to be announced soon
• Workshop reservations available by e-mail (pr@ltpublicrelations.com) or phone—503-477-9215

About LT Public Relations

LT Public Relations is a full-service communications firm specializing primarily in servicing professional and financial services organizations, as well as small businesses, entrepreneurs and non-profits.

Based in Portland, Oregon, LT Public Relations has extensive experience in all aspects of communications, public relations, and marketing. The 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.  More information is available at www.ltpublicrelations.com and at the LT Public Relations blog www.ltpublicrelations.com/blog.

The public relations professional continues to be tasked with the issue of how to deal with online  criticism. 

Our recent blog post this summer, “Addressing Online Criticism,” received quite a bit of attention and calls from businesses challenged with this new communications issue.  If not handle appropriately, egregious feedback from a disgruntled customer on such sites as Facebook or Twitter can lead to a whole host of PR issues. 

The good folks from Credit Union Times interviewed LT Public Relations for their September ‘09 issue story, “Dealing With the Ugly: CUs Need Active Approach to Negative Feedback.”  Although the article was obviously written for credit unions, the same rules of how to handle online criticism apply for all businesses–big and small. 

We encourage you to read the story.  If you need assistance with a sticky online situation, we’re here to help…contact us (pr@ltpublicrelations.com).