Fine, but the jury still found him guilty.

I watched [...]]]> O.J.’s back in court. This time, his lawyers are trying to get his 4-year-old theft and kidnapping conviction overturned on what O.J. claims was bad advice from his then-lawyer. He’s claiming that the sport memorabilia he was convicted of stealing in Vegas were actually his to steal.

Fine, but the jury still found him guilty.

I watched the news this morning and saw O.J. dragged into court wearing his prison uniform, looking noticeably older and overweight. Besides wondering who the heck gains weight in jail, I had to wonder if this was another one of his PR stunts.

Which leads me to my point about PR stunts. Besides wondering how many more instances we’ll have to endure with O.J. claiming he was/is innocent, it’s become increasingly apparent to me the number of companies, organizations and individuals who look at PR stunts as a good thing.

I say they are all wrong. I like a good Barnum & Bailey show just as much as anyone, but why do cases like O.J.’s have to sully the good name of PR? All it does for my profession is delineate the time when we’re really needed to help a client with some kind of problem – and provide a practical, workable, honest solution.

PR should be about telling the truth, not seeing how many times you can get your face on Access Hollywood or even in the local business journal just for opening up a new website or contributing to a local charity. It’s all about the “story” in terms of telling a really great story about what you do and being honest with your audience – your prospects, clients and the community – about your expertise in certain areas and how you are able to provide your own set of solutions.

What would have been a better alternative for O.J.? Besides trying to tell the trust umpteen years ago when he went through his first trial, he could have had a sit-down with a reporter from a major news channel/service and admitted to his faults. He doesn’t have to reveal all of his faults, of course, but he could come clean. After all, we love a good comeback story and thrive on redemption.

Lindsay Lohan – are you listening?

Note: This post first appeared on AccountingWeb.com.

Of course I’m a bigger proponent of public relations in lieu of advertising – and there are times when you want to run a joint PR and advertising campaign – but does advertising work?

Certainly it does, [...]]]> One topic I continuously discuss with practitioners is advertising; lately, I’ve been asked a lot of questions about Google Adwords.

Of course I’m a bigger proponent of public relations in lieu of advertising – and there are times when you want to run a joint PR and advertising campaign – but does advertising work?

Certainly it does, but I advocate that you must advertise on a regular basis with the same print and online publications in the same positions in order for any advertising to be effective. It’s not unusual to pick up a city business journal and find a CPA or accountant ad. Even a small ad works if – and again, this is a BIG if – you place the ad on a regular basis.

Now to Google Adwords. Many CPAs and accountants may find Google Adwords intriguing and effective, especially in (my opinion) smaller cities where there may not be a lot of apparent competition to the average person using Google to search for your services.

Here’s what you need to know about Google Adwords:

1. Set a budget. While it’s true that you’ll only pay when people click-though to your site, you’ll still want to come up with a dollar amount you’ll want to spend on a monthly basis. Google will charge your credit card based on that cap amount. You’ll also be asked about something called “bidding and budget.” With “automatic bidding,” let Google determine how to adjust your bids to render the maximum number of clicks. You’ll spend too much time figuring this out if you do not let Google do the heavy lifting.
2. Research best practices. You’ll want to analyze what other professional service providers are doing with respect to the content in an ad and how they are displayed via a search.
3. Create Your Ads by Putting Yourself in the Searchers’ Shoes. Think about what you would put into a Google search if you were looking for a CPA or accountant. What would you search for? I find that the more generic the ad, the better off you’ll be. Be sure to put in your contact information with a phone and your website address. For example, a typical search of “Dayton Ohio Accountant” would render results if you practiced in Dayton.
4. If you Specialize, then Point that Out Too. Yes, keep your ad generic, but also write it based on any niche industry expertise.
5. Focus on Keywords. Google will want to know the keywords for your ad. This is very important and you’ll want to spend a bit of time brainstorming what they will be. After all, this is how prospects will find you.
6. Test, Test, Test. I always advocate testing your ads and changing them often if you are not getting results. The worst thing you can do is create an ad, have it run 6 months with minimal results. You may as well thrown your money out the window.

There’s lots of help online for Google Adwords – simply “Google” the topic and you’ll get what you want. In addition, search for “Google Adword Best Practices” to see what others are doing and for step-by-step guides.

Good luck!

Note: This posting originally appeared on AccountingWeb.

My Thoughts to Anyone Outsourcing Public Relations/Marketing

My natural inclination was to post something about the important role social media played during the event, but that seemed too obvious [...]]]> Ever since the bombings occurred during the Boston Marathon, I’ve been thinking about what I wanted to post to make some kind of sense of this with regard to public relations and social media.

My natural inclination was to post something about the important role social media played during the event, but that seemed too obvious to me. There’s no doubt that YouTube, Twitter, Facebook and even some of the lesser known social media channels all carried huge amounts of content from people all over the world.

So what can I add? Just this morning, I saw a posting by Steve Crescenzo on Ragan.com that focused on something known as automatic tweets. For those of you who don’t know about this, there are applications you can use to not only manage the contents of your tweets on Twitter, but the frequency with which they are tweeted. You can set up ways to post automatically based on content you either provide to post or garner from other sources.

With regard to Boston, Steve discusses how Guy Kawasaki, a social media guru known for his insight and creativity, kept up his stream of automatic tweets promoting himself and his products/services. Instead of having the foresight and compassion to stop his Twitter stream, he continued the stream. This served as a wake-up call for Steve who wrote:

He got slammed on Twitter . . . but, being the great Guy Kawasaki, the former “Apple evangelist,” and bestselling author, he didn’t stop. In fact, he doubled down, with this tweet:

“Loving how people with less than 1,500 followers are telling me how to tweet  . . .”

I urge you to read Steve’s full blog article, but what can CPAs and accountants gain from this?

• While I think a steady social media feed is fine as long as there’s good content to push out, we need to evaluate not only what we’re sending, but being very sensitive to the feelings of others – our followers and those searching for topics we’re putting up on social media.

• When something that is considered a “crisis” occurs, stop what you’re doing and think about the impact you might have on your clients and prospects. Social media is a great PR tool, but not when it could backfire on you and provide a negative image.

Let’s face it – social media is hard to keep up with, let alone keeping up with it while you’re also trying to bill more hours and grow your practice or business. Still, you wouldn’t have made a client call to someone who lives in Boston while the aftermath of the tragedy was being sorted out.

Note: This post first appeared on AccountingWeb.com.

An [...]]]> Last week, I presented a writing workshop to a group of chemists and scientists who create and test snack foods for a major manufacturer. In addition to teaching them how to develop and manage their content – specifically, present technical findings to higher-ups at the company – I took them through the sometimes-painful elevator speech.

An elevator speech is an important part of any PR program because it captures the essence of what you’re about in a very short amount of time. This is very useful to have handy the first time you meet someone new at a networking event, conference or practically anywhere else.

Most experts recommend keeping your elevator speeches to 30 seconds or so.

I recommend 140 characters.

Yes, I took this from Twitter, but if you can’t say what you do in 140 characters, then you definitely want to rethink your strategy.

Over the years, I’ve been amazed in a good way at the impact some elevator speeches have, but also have walked away totally baffled at others. A few years ago when I was a member of a local networking group, every week we went around the room, stood up and had to give our speech. I had something pretty basic, but was told by the leader that it was, in a word, boring. He suggested this:

“I can get your name in the media by working with you to discover your key differentiating factors. Trust me – your business will double in the next 6 months.”

I trusted his opinion. After all, he had been in the group far longer than me. The next meeting, I stood up and said this. Not only did I receive stares from attendees; a few people actually laughed.

You can see how ridiculous this seems now. I quickly switched my speech (thanking the leader for his input) to this:

“Hello, I’m Scott Cytron. I provide public relations, marketing and communications services to professional services’ industries. I also teach people how to write.”

I can’t say for certain that this one is the most exciting speech ever written – but it has proven effective for me.

Try the Twitter approach. Here’s a guideline – when Twitter counts characters, it also counts the spaces between words:

“This is what 140 characters looks like. It’s really not much more than a few sentences, and offers a great opportunity to be very succinct.”

I’ve taught this method to many CPAs and accountants. As you might suspect, some are great at coming up with something innovative, yet within their characters, while others don’t know how to start.

Whatever you do, simply try it – and don’t worry about sticking 100% to 140 characters. You have to do what works for you and your business.

Note: This blog post first appeared on AccountingWeb.

At this point, you’re supposed to welcome me to the meeting, but most of you are probably thinking, “has he completely lost his mind? What does opera have to do with public relations?”

To that, I say everything.

Just yesterday, I went to the Dallas Opera to see [...]]]> My name is Scott and I am an opera addict.

At this point, you’re supposed to welcome me to the meeting, but most of you are probably thinking, “has he completely lost his mind? What does opera have to do with public relations?”

To that, I say everything.

Just yesterday, I went to the Dallas Opera to see Puccini’s Turandot. I love this opera for its great score and great drama, but I also love everything Puccini wrote (most men love him the most – there have been studies). Purists turn their nose up at him as being “too commercial,” but I see the art and have always been a fan.

Yesterday, while listening to the Chinese princess lament once more about her sad life, my mind wandered. I started to think about how much of a showman Puccini was throughout his life. He wrote opera for the common man, recognizing what would resonate with the audience. Now, you could argue that Mozart did the same thing. He wrote for the court, of course, but also wrote for the every man.

Because Puccini was such a showman, he produced some really memorable operas – Madame Butterfly, Tosca and La Bohème – just to name three of them. One time when I went to see La Rondine, he summed this up perfectly: “Even second-rate Puccini brings out the masses.”

Now to the point. I think Puccini is a great example of what PR can be for any entity – company, firm, organization – if you make others aware of what you’re doing that is different than the competition and tell your story. What you’ll want to do is:

• Make a list of what you do that is unique – this could be a service specialty or industry niche.
• Consider what you’ve done to make your effort successful. What have you done that hasn’t been so successful?
• Can you sum up all of this in 1 to 2 paragraphs – something you can send to a reporter or editor to prompt the person to write a story about your efforts?

Getting the media’s attention isn’t quite this cut and dried, but if you have a great story to tell – as Puccini did with his operas – then you will get noticed and get some ink.

Remember: It’s not over until the fat lady sings.

Note: This posting first appeared on AccountingWeb.com.

A very good friend [...]]]> It’s funny to me how some PR-related topics go dormant for months at a time and then become really popular. No less than 3 times in the last several weeks have clients and colleagues asked me about the PR advantages to publishing their own eBook or, in one case, a printed book.

A very good friend of mine, Stuart Rosenfield, just published his own eBook, Kickstart Your Job Search!, a well-written guide with what he calls a 3-week proven plan. I admire Stuart not only for writing something that could seemingly help so many people find work, but also for his wisdom in sharing his own journey.

That’s what got me thinking about PR opportunities to publishing your own book. Whether you’re fortunate enough to have a publisher who wants to buy your book or whether you want to publish something yourself, here are 3 advantages to help any PR initiative for your firm or company:

1. Gain Visibility. Seems like a no-brainer, but some CPAs and accountants really don’t know how to do this. Short of standing on the street corner wearing a sandwich board, anyone in business wants others to know about their company or organization. Publishing a book helps because you will be noticed if you and/or the publisher promotes the book. Remember that on the Web, everything is searchable and search engine optimization plays a key role. Add to this the fact that Stuart’s book is available on Amazon and he just exponentially improved his odds of being found.
2. Positon Yourself as an Expert. In Stuart’s case, he’s a marketing professional who works for a large high tech. Yet, on the side, he’s spent quite a bit of volunteer time teaching others how to find work based on his own experiences in being out of work. HIs eBook strategically improves his reputation as an expert in this area. I also have no doubt that he will also land some larger speaking opportunities as a result of the eBook.
3. Improve Your Client Retention and Recruitment. Once you publish, you can provide gratis copies to clients and even send your prospects copies to incent them to consider your services. In addition to positioning yourself as an expert, you’ve now given them something visual to look at and review on their own time. This is important because it provides a frame of reference to your services and another touchpoint that demonstrates your abilities as a provider of accounting services. You may even have some prospects who won’t connect with you right away, but may months afterwards when they recall your book.

Keep in mind publishing a book takes time, talent and energy! This isn’t something that can be done overnight. Some authors of books like the one Stuart wrote tell me they’ve spent months and years on these kinds of projects. I think that’s great if that’s how you want to spend your time and pursue your passion, but also remember your goals and aspirations along the way.

Note: This posting origainlly ran on AccountingWeb.

For my first blog posting with AccountingWEB, I thought I’d start out with something accountants and other professionals ask me all the time: Isn’t PR all about smoke and mirrors?

Not so much. Perhaps for publicist focusing on a celebrity client, but certainly not for professional services. Here are my [...]]]> (Note: this posting originally appeared on AccountingWeb)

For my first blog posting with AccountingWEB, I thought I’d start out with something accountants and other professionals ask me all the time: Isn’t PR all about smoke and mirrors?

Not so much. Perhaps for publicist focusing on a celebrity client, but certainly not for professional services. Here are my thoughts on what PR is and what PR isn’t:

• PR isn’t spin. It’s about maintaining the highest degree of ethics and about complete transparency.
• PR isn’t marketing. Some argue that marketing and PR are two completely separate endeavors; I maintain that PR is, instead, a subset of marketing and supports marketing efforts.
• PR is about helping a company or firm grow – over time. Professionals who expect immediate results for any PR efforts should look elsewhere for gratification. It takes time to build a firm’s image and to communicate that image to clients and customers.
• PR isn’t costly. Not really – it can be, certainly, given any particular campaign or set of circumstances, but there are hundreds of great PR tactics that can be done on a shoestring or even free in many cases.
• PR is not a panacea. It isn’t the end-all and be-all of any firm or company’s communications efforts. Instead, it is one tool in an entire set of tools.

In future postings, I’ll explore all of this and much more. Ping me with any questions you have about PR and I’ll respond and/or explore them in future blogs.