Monique Perry Danziger

Politicians have earned a bad rap for making empty promises, speaking misleadingly, or telling outright lies. Politics is PR cloaked in the robes of historical protocols and diplomacy. Don't be fooled. A politician - be they Congressman, Senator, or even the President of the United States - is a brand. Which leads me to the much-maligned, unfortunate story of the Affordable Care Act. 

In the case of President Obama's Affordable Care Act launch, lessons abound for PR flacks. What should have been a legacy-making, gamechanging affair for our nation is, at best, a cautionary tale of the dangers of over-management, discordancy, and bad timing. 

1.Avoid the Bait and Switch: Obama had to pitch his concept of affordable, universal healthcare to a broad audience including an intractable Congressional contingent determined to see the initiative fail. After the Act passed, President Obama has had to clarify or backtrack on some of the Act's signature provisions -- specifically the now infamous promise that Americans could keep their healthcare plan if they were happy with it. A good selling point for the legislation except that it turned out NOT TO BE TRUE. The lesson: while it can be tempting to gloss over contentions elements of a pitch, or file down pointy edges of a story for the sake of a media sell: BE WEARY. Don't promise reporters something you cannot deliver. You'll sacrifice a long-term relationship and your credibility for the sake of a quick press hit.

2. Shoo those Extra Cooks out of the Kitchen: The utter flop of the HealthCare.gov site is the fault of several factors, the first of which was that there was no singular, central oversight of the project. HOW CAN THIS BE? Rollouts- be they campaigns, events, or a website meant to accommodate millions of unique users - must be conducted like a symphony. One conductor + one composition = beautiful symphonic harmony. With multiple contractors working off of God-Knows-How-Many work orders -- HealthCare.gov is a cacophonic mess of bad code and discordant operating protocols

3. Timing is Everything: Critics have charged that HealthCare.gov was released with insufficient testing. When the beta version of the site was tested with just a fraction of the intended user base, it stalled, crashed, and caused havoc. They still released a month later in the hopes that they'd patch the bugs in situ. The result: a crummy website made an already unpopular legislative initiative look even crummier and the President burned precious public goodwill at a critical juncture in his program's debut. 

4.Be Informed and Make Sure you Have a Team that Gives you the Straight Dope: It's been reported that many of the fatal website glitches were not reported to the President for fear of his reaction. The President would have done well to seek more sit-downs, more face-to-face, and more hard-to-hear truths about potential problems and dissension. When the forecast is clear skies and smooth sailing, you're missing something. Ask difficult questions and be ready for obstacles.   

My grandfather, Robert Perry, was an accomplished scientist in the field of cancer research. Following his recent passing many of his writings and musings were collected by family, friends, and colleagues. One of the things which surfaced was a list of proverbs for scientific research and analysis. In looking over his list I saw that many of the same ideas which dictate best practices in the laboratory also hold true for PR. Here is my own take on Dr. Perry's proverbs, tailord for PR flacks: 

Perry Proverbs

Always include something in each written piece that establishes continuity with your brand.

Too much “canned language” is lethal!

Getting the results predicted means you’ve succeeded, unpredicted results offer key insights and opportunities to learn.

Don’t be afraid to try new things: Experiments that challenge assumptions are necessary to growing as communicators.

Don’t waste your time obsessing over social media metrics– who knows if the impressions are of actual audience impact significance?

The amount of text in a media release should be proportional to the amount of visual and digital content – including pictures, links, graphics, and block quotes.

Platitudes and generalities cover a multitude of sins –keep all messaging substantive, clear, and concise.

Embrace all elements of an argument – don’t eschew contradictory or problematic data: the strongest argument addresses all points of view, including the opposition.

A writer's life has never been glamorous. The quixotic miseries of writers -- constant rejection, penury, substance abuse, and even suicide, to name a few -- are well documented. 

These days, the options for aspiring writers are a mixed bag. Print media is dying - but may ultimately be reborn as an E-paper hybrid which will enable the broadsheet format to remain relevant in modern media. *The 2002 blockbuster "Minority Report" imagines this with a scene in which subway riders read the news on paper thin video screens which mimic the broadsheet format but feature constantly changing content - it's a marriage of traditional journalism with the new culture of meta media.

At the moment we are in a transitory phase. Print media is struggling to stay relevant by laying off writers and erecting disastrous paywalls to their online content. Meanwhile the internet is being populated in a land rush where everyone has a website and everyone needs content for that site.

This brings me back to that mixed bag. From cents per word to lump sums for a finished piece - there is a plethora of job posts for freelance writers. Unfortunately, good journalism, beautiful prose, and even the occasional dirty limerick are no match for the cult of SEO. Search Engine Optimization. 

Many aspiring writers hoping to keep the aspidistra flying must resort to taking jobs where they are writing for Page Views and Conversion Rates - these types of pieces are soulless, vapid pieces called "clip jobs" or "write arounds." 

If it feels too good to be true...It Is!

Have a Champion

Matthew Inman taught himself computer programming at the age of 13. This would have been about 1995, a time when connecting to the internet involved a telephone, modem, and telling everyone else in the house not to pick up the phone lest they knock you off before you finish posting your X-Files fan fiction to your Prodigy account. 

In  2009 Inman launched The Oatmeal - an amazingly funny, beautifully rendered, ingeniously sticky website. As of 2010, The Oatmeal got more than four million unique visitors a month. In 2012, its annual revenue was around $500,000, 75% from merchandising and the rest from advertising.

Not everyone can be a graphic design/computer programming/hilarious cartoonist genius. Inman's site is successful because the content on it is superb. It is funny. It is share-able. 

Beyond the excellent content, Inman's site and his promotional technique are highly instructive. 

Communications strategy ultimately boils don to to doing exactly what Inman has done: create good content, make that content visible to people, and get them to keep coming back for more. 

In an interview with the Washington Post, Inman laid out some of his own promotional best practices:

EMBRACE THE INTERNET AND ABANDON NEWSPAPER SYNDICATION:

"My advice [to aspiring cartoonists] is to abandon the traditional route," Inman tells Comic Riffs. "Abandon newspaper syndication -- there's no comparison to a mom-and-pop website. The best advice is ... to get on the Internet, give [your comic] a tone and support that 'branded' feel. ..."My suggestion is to tackle things that are relatable and be immersive in social media. ... StumbeUpon and Digg are very powerful."


YOU WRITE COMEDY, BUT YOU INVITE COMMUNITY:

"Building and hanging on to an audience is the biggest role of social media," Inman tells us. "Then every time I make a comic, I can broadcast it out to them. That's been really helpful. I have this audience waiting for me. It's been awesome. ... You need to be funny and continually make them laugh. But when I started, I also had this [casually inviting] tone: 'Hey, guys, I just made a new comic -- check it out!"


"OATMEAL" COMEDY, LIKE ZOMBIE BEARS AND PTERODACTYLS, IS NOT QUITE INVINCIBLE:"

I continually put up things that the folks at Digg like to read, but occasionally I do a crap comic, and they bury it off the home page," Inman tells Comic Riffs. "It's a reminder that the Oatmeal isn't invincible and that Digg is still fair."

"OATMEAL" VIRALITY IS NOT A HOUSE OF SEO CARDS:

"A lot of people say: 'How do you do it?' I just make things that people like ... " Inman tells 'Riffs. "SEO has no bearing on the Oatmeal -- I did SEO in my old job [so I know] -- but social media has played a gigantic part in what I do."


MERCHANDISING MONETIZES 

"Merchandising, I felt, was the best way to go about" monetizing the site, Inman says. "I'd love to drop advertising altogether. Especially when something is not a product that fits well with my site. ... I'd rather sell books and sell posters than get clicks from a machine ad."

From the Twittersphere:

If you'd told me 20 years ago that websites could poach reporters from the @nytimes, I'd have replied: What's a website? @themediaisdying

— Sean L. McCarthy (@thecomicscomic) October 21, 2013

Following up on the New York Times disgraceful shuttering of its Environmental Desk comes news that a 2007 internet startup aimed at the Fantasy Football crowd has poached the Times' NBA writer Howard Beck. 

FREE BOOKS! 

As wealth becomes increasingly consolidated in the upper, slender echelons of the Ultra Wealthy crowdsourcing - a bottom-up kind of fundraising - is becoming an increasingly relevant resource for anyone with big ideas in search of investment.

The biggest and best hub in town for crowdsourcing is Kickstarter. Heard of it? I have found that while a lot of my professional colleagues have heard of it, few have explored it. I have recommended Kickstarter to just about everyone I know who needs money for something. Non profits, artists, writers, and general fledgling entrepreneurs. While traditional grant seeking, writing a business plan, and seeking out traditional funding options is key: crowdsourcing is also worth exploring no matter what your idea or project.

Some examples:

The Peachy Printer promises to deliver the first $100 3D printer. With $650,000 in hand (1,223% of their funding goal) they're closer than they were a month ago when they launched their Kickstarter 

The Texas Tribune has raised $55,000 in a bid to Livecast the 2014 Texas Race for Governor.

Rejection stings. Rejection is demoralizing. In the job search, you’re lucky to even GET a formal rejection. Many of us send weeks waiting by the phone like the ubiquitous lovestruck teenager just WAITING for that call. And I don’t know about you, but one of the perks of growing up was that I could do away with lovesick phone vigils. Don’t lose your steam. Don’t Give Up. Laugh at the process and shrug it all off: the best things are worth working for. 

In case of space invader-related emergency, break glass

My life coach is on antidepressants because she is a glorified secretary who really wants to be a childrens' book author/fitness guru. My sister is gearing up her talking points in preparation for telling our mother she is going to quit her high-stress administrative job to bartend and work on her comedy writing. I can count on both hands (plus toes) the number of people who have lamented needing to look for a new job because they hate their current one. As the old saying goes: the only thing worse than looking for a job is having one. And vice versa.

Here is the first in an occasional series of job seeker resources. 

Today's offering: How to FIND Jobs. They're out there. In fact there is an actual DEFICIT of talent out there because so many people are holed-up in jobs they're too afraid to leave. Once you're out there, though, it can feel like you're adrift in open water with nary a safe port in sight. Well, here's a map, compass, and one of those fancy thingies you chart stars with.

PRO TIP: While looking for jobs that are currently open is a good strategy, I recommend starting a list of organizations/businesses you like and visiting their websites' careers' pages. Most post current openings but also let you sign up for job notifications. Take some time to start getting on these listserves. Let the jobs come to you. Or something. Okay, on to the search sites:

1. LinkedIn: Facebook's older sibling, Linkd has been on a major charm offensive to reengage its significant user base. As social media stories go, Linkd is a puzzler. Everyone has a profile but far fewer people take the time to pay any attention to said profile, or log in to the site period. Linkd is working to change all that with more aggressive outreach designed to engage its members by endorsing each other, joining discussion groups, and utilizing the site's for-pay networking options. 

As it stands, LinkedIn has come a long way in getting back on the public's radar. It tends to have a lot of job listings that won't show up on Craigslist. Most important, your LinkedIn profile is often the first thing that will pop up if a potential job hire googles you. SO log in, update your profile with A LOT OF LOVE, and explore job postings in both your field and area. 

MediaBistro: A great resource for PR and marketing news, MediaB also posts jobs. Not a bad place to check on the regular for PR, design, an marketing jobs: http://www.mediabistro.com/joblistings/

Idealist: As the name would imply, this is a good place to start when looking for non-profit work. Want to tag bonobos in the Congo? Idealist has you covered. 

Government Jobs: Okay DON'T LAUGH. Someday our government will reopen and when it does...they may need to hire some replacements for all the disgruntled furloughed personal. Okay, I'm not selling it. But there are a lot of jobs in national parks, agency satellite offices, and such that are worth checking especially if you're job searching in an area with fewer job opportunities. 

Green Jobs Network - As name implies...

Interviews are the crown jewels of the job search process. Just getting one is a sign you're doing something right in your job search process. The in-person interview is a different beast than the phone interview - which is often the pre-interview, or screening interview, before the big, in-person show. 

As an inveterate job seeker, here are a few things I have learned about conducting a good phone interview:

Prepare with research and practice: Phone interviews can be tricky because you won't be able to reply on some of the best tricks in your arsenal. Your voice will have to represent you in a way appearance, body language, and physical rapport cannot. 

Practice saying a few key sentences ahead of time to become comfortable with the sound of your voice and to detect if there are any quirks or dead spaces where you might trip yourself.

Know your audience: As mentioned above RESEARCH YOUR MARK. Google news them, read through the annual report (if they have one), and google the name of the interviewer, search LinkedIN, and review the Facebook and Twitter feeds (if they have one).  Begin thinking about those basic, tried and true interview questions such as:

Tell us why you were interested in this job?

Describe a situation where you dealt with a conflict or source of stress at work

Give an example of a time you made something more efficient or better.

How does this job fit in with your professional career goals?

Remember that the best answers will be clear, concise, concrete, and memorable! 

Most of these interviews are preliminary screenings and the time your reviewer(s) have budgeted will be about 30 minutes or less. Your answers should have a beginning, a middle and an end and take no more than 1-3 minutes. 

What you can do:

Make a greatest hits list. What are some of the best and worst moments you remember from your professional past? What did you learn from mistakes and what did you take away from your successes? 

Run it by someone: Practice talking about yourself to someone you trust - ideally a mentor or colleague (don't have a mentor? GET ONE). In a pinch, record yourself or talk in the mirror just to get the words out and refine your choice of words and pacing of speech. *Remember what you say is as important as HOW YOU SAY IT. You want your voice to be even, your diction clear, and your pacing even so that you're not rushing through things or dragging a bunch of "ums" and "buts" and "likes" through your dialogue.

Get inspired: Cue up a TED talk on something relevant to your job field or the potential employers' job field. Read up in the news. Look at the people you admire and read some of their speeches or quotes and inspire yourself so that you go in feeling like yours is the best career field in the world and you love it with all of your heart. 

And here's the cheat sheet for some of the answers you can use... remember that the best stuff will be authentic and specific to YOU. Only you can tell YOUR story. Use these as ideas for the types of phrasing you may use or the types of examples to include on your greatest hits talking point list:

Why this job? Because reading the qualifications I saw all of the elements that I got into YOUR PROFESSION to do. I felt a strong connection and attraction to the job elements and knew I'd be a perfect match. *Bonus if you have a background in the field, ie. having worked extensively in the field of conservation public relations, the opportunity to serve in the press shop of the Environmental PR FIrm was just what I have been looking for.

How do you deal with difficult personalities or conflicts in your work: I find that one of the most important things to people is the feeling that they are being heard and that their input is valued. I strive to achieve a balanced dynamic of give and take in all of my professional relationships. I like to practice what I call "aggressive listening" to ensure that I am getting 100% of what another person is feeling and expressing.