by Administrator | Jul 22, 2020 | Blog
The phrase “thought leader” is one that is thrown around a lot in public relations. And it’s understandable: For any public-facing organization or business, it’s important to have experts on hand who can speak to the public.
However, as someone involved in day-to-day media relations operations at an award-winning PR and marketing agency, I have a major gripe with thought leaders, and I wrote this blog specifically for them and their coaches. In short, my gripe is this: You need to be able to talk about something else other than your products and services. You must be able to speak about something other than your business and your brand.
If you can’t do it, you’re not a thought leader, you’re a spokesman. And there is a difference.
Meet Marc, Human Person
Let’s turn our attention to Marc Benioff, CEO of Salesforce, a cloud computing giant operating out of San Francisco.
Marc founded the company out of his apartment. It has since grown to be a publicly traded technology leader, with a soaring stock value
that has catapulted Marc onto the list of American billionaires.
As you can imagine, Marc has appeared in a number of media outlets. In fact, practically every mainstream news outlet you can think of has
interviewed him at one point or another.
Sometimes Marc is on Mad Money talking about the latest Salesforce contract. But, more often than not, Marc is sitting down to talk to the media about the issues that were always important to him: homelessness, the changing face of capitalism, the failure of technology companies to support their communities, and how CEOs have an obligation to think about how their companies impact social order.
Much of this can be summed up in an interview he conducted with CNBC early in 2020, where Marc emphasizes “stakeholder return” as being of more value to society than shareholder returns.
Considering federal law mandates all CEOs of publicly traded companies must maximize profits, this is a particularly bold statement. It’s also only one of many that Marc has made over the last decade.
“Capitalism as We Know it is Dead”
What does Marc talking about the issues above have to do with Salesforce? Nothing. But, I bet you’ll remember his name and be curious
about what his company does.
Sure, he plugs Salesforce now and then, but mostly Marc talks about his personal views. To back those up, Marc’s non-business philanthropic endeavors match the socioeconomic issues he talks about, culminating in the portrait of a genuine character – or, from a media relations perspective, a genuine thought leader.
Anyone who works in PR or content marketing (or politics for that matter) is aware of the concept of the “soft sell” – an indirect link created between an issue and a person that circles back to what’s being sold. Often this is something crafted deliberately by a media strategist or savvy marketing person.
Even if crafted by a genius, anything crafted is doomed to fail as the world changes. Instead of creating thought leaders, maybe it’s time we task PR professionals with finding them and adding a little bit of polish.
As the economic and government systems in the world evolve, we’re seeing more and more evidence that the public is done with scripted information. In other words, that old “soft sell” carries less weight in 2020 than it did even a few years ago. Sure, the soft sell allows a potential “thought leader” to avoid controversy. But, that’s the problem. You can’t avoid controversy anymore.
Speaking in platitudes and avoiding a conversation about serious issues is a product of the old political and corporate class – a class, I would argue, that is fading rapidly.
I do declare! That is unbecoming of a CEO, good sir!
No one cares. Hate to break it to you, but short of being racist, homophobic, or a closet abuser, no one is judging your lifestyle or personal opinions anymore. And if they are, they’re part of an old guard that is on the way out.
Elon Musk – one of the richest men in the world who may change transportation forever – smoked one of them jazz cigarettes on a comedian’s podcast, where he and host Joe Rogan talked about artificial intelligence conquering all human life.
Other than some fake outrage from the old guard, no one cared. Tesla’s stock is higher than ever, and Elon is still a renowned thought leader, interviewed on a wide variety of topics.
Granted, he does say extremely stupid stuff all the time, but since it’s harmless and he’s just genuinely being himself, the public mostly loves him. And so do his shareholders.
In 2020, thought leaders are people with real ideas who aren’t afraid to be themselves, kind of like Marc Benioff. I don’t know about you, but I would love to sit down with that guy, have a few beers, and talk candidly about how to fix the world’s problems.
Yes, of course Elon is invited, especially since I know how much he and I share a love for video games. It’s BYOB around here though, Elon. I’m not made of money.
Tl;DR
If you want to craft a thought leader to garner media interviews, don’t craft them at all. Instead, start just by encouraging them to be themselves.
Encourage them to talk about the issues that are important to them, even if they have absolutely nothing to do with the business they’re in. Lastly, tell them not to be afraid to let their personality shine.
If they’re smart, genuine, and have unique ideas, they’ll be a hit. The new public values people, not corporate magnates.
by Administrator | Jan 7, 2020 | News
Featured posts from Amendola Communications include those syndicated by Bulldog Reporter, a popular PR publication.
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz., Jan. 7, 2020 PR and marketing pros looking for some inspirational reading are invited to check out the top blog posts of 2019 by the team at Amendola, a nationally recognized, award-winning healthcare and health IT public relations and marketing agency. The following posts from the Amendola blog were among the most popular this past year, receiving extensive views and shares with some also picked up by industry outlets like Bulldog Reporter.
Take a look for insight into how to win national press, extend the shelf life of media placements and more.
“So You Want to Be in the Wall Street Journal” Breaking into national media is the toughest nut to crack in public relations, no way around it. But for companies willing to take the steps outlined in this post, national coverage is definitely possible for the coming year. Heads up: It calls for patience and a pitch with exceptional substance.
“Maximizing the Value of PR Placements” Congratulations on that enviable article or byline your awesome story (and publicist) just scored for you! Time to circulate it on social media, with prospects, your mom and then what? Turns out there’s quite a bit more you can do with a media placement long after its publication date.
“The Science of Marketing and Public Relations” Question for marketers: if asked to prove how your marketing campaigns are paying off, can you give tangible, impressive specifics? For too many in our profession, the answer is a sheepish “not really,” but it simply doesn’t have to be going into a new year. Regroup your team and reground your campaigns in the proven, solid fundamentals of measuring marketing and PR, all captured in one concise post.
And lastly, a Readers’ Choice, the blog’s most popular post two years running:
Going in AP Style Let’s own it with pride: the PR and marketing profession is a natural habitat for grammar geeks! And when in doubt if we’re “writing it right,” the first source we turn to is the venerable AP manual. That’s not to say we don’t occasionally find ourselves surprised by some AP guidelines and in this perennially popular post, we take a closer look at the top five that tend to trip people up the most
The above are just a small sample of the wealth of free but top notch guidance for PR and marketing professionals. Give yourself a gift and subscribe to the Amendola blog to receive weekly advice from subject matter experts in every aspect of publicizing and marketing healthcare and health IT.
About Amendola
Amendola is an award-winning national public relations, marketing communications, social media and content marketing firm. Named one of the best information technology (IT) PR firms in the nation four times by PRSourceCode, Amendola represents some of the best-known brands and groundbreaking startups in the healthcare and HIT industries. Amendola’s seasoned team of PR and marketing pros delivers strategic guidance and effective solutions to help organizations boost their reputation and drive market share. For more information about the PR industry’s “A Team,” visit www.acmarketingpr.com, and follow Amendola on Twitter and LinkedIn.
Media Contact:
Marcia Rhodes, Amendola Communications, mrhodes@acmarketingpr.com
by Administrator | Dec 18, 2019 | Blog
Building relationships with journalists takes time. Smashing them to pieces takes little time at all.
One terrible, irrelevant pitch and you could end up on a journalist’s blacklist and that isn’t where you want to be. Because as any good media relations guru will tell you, we need journalists more than they need us.
To build strong relationships and maybe fix bad ones there are some basic rules of the road anyone out there sending pitches should follow, lest you end up in the SPAM folder where email goes to die!
Know What they Write and What Who they Write for Writes
Sometimes a good tongue-twister helps you to remember a basic principle such as this one do a little research! You need to know who the person and the publication is before you pitch him/her.
This seems like a no-brainer, but it’s actually one of the biggest problems editors run into. If they won’t accept company sources for stories and prefer to limit
themselves to end-users and customers, you need to know that. And, more importantly, you need to respect that.
No, you cannot change their mind. Instead, because you failed to know who you’re dealing with and respect their rules, you’ll just end up alienating yourself.
Give publications a call before you pitch them. Or, do what I do, drop a quick email with the subject like “Quick Question” and just ask what it’ll take to get a
story covered. And then take the response as a Commandment. It’s as simple as that.
Use the Medium of their Choice
Media relations people are told all the time “you have to make the calls!” Well, that’s true sometimes. And sometimes, it’s not true at all.
The fact is if it’s a solicitation or a pitch editors prefer email almost universally. That said, a quick phone call to remind them you sent one is probably OK for most editors. Don’t, however, overstay your welcome. Keep calls brief. And if an editor tells you they prefer email, keep to that avenue.
I have been yelled at on the phone once or twice for calling someone I shouldn’t have. My advice to avoid this is to 1) check your PR software, such as Cision, and read the notes to see if a journalist explicitly states that they prefer email; and 2) try to limit your calls to work numbers.
Just because you can get a journalist’s personal cellphone doesn’t mean you should call them on the same line. Like everyone else, they use their phones primarily to like baby photos on Facebook and to swipe left on Tinder mirror selfies. They probably don’t want a call on their personal line so don’t do it.
Don’t sound like Rachel From Cardholder Services during phone calls, and don’t make your emails look like marketing blasts. Talk and write to editors as if they are real people and as if you’re a real person (I failed to develop a good tongue-twister, but I tried).
Keep it Real
Keep it real. If you’re writing an email, keep it brief and just offer a story. Don’t drone on and on about a product and how great it is no one cares. And if you’re calling an editor, don’t jump into a monologue, because no one will listen.
Just try to have a conversation, weave in the most important information, and be yourself. If you don’t fall back on your personality, you shouldn’t be in media
relations.
People skills are a huge part of the job, and good people skills shine most when those people are being themselves.
by Administrator | Jul 9, 2019 | News
2019 Top Women in Healthcare Awards
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. July 9, 2019 Amendola Communications founder and CEO Jodi Amendola has been named a finalist for the PR News Top Women in Healthcare for 2019 award. The prestigious award recognizes the most innovative women in the healthcare public relations space. Amendola was singled out for her work leading and executing high-performing global communications campaigns for leaders in healthcare information technology, biotech and beyond.
Other award finalists include executives from some of the nation’s best-known healthcare organizations, including Blue Cross NC, UnitedHealthcare, Optum, and Dignity Health.
Amendola is a recognized HIT PR veteran, who has won numerous industry awards, including PR News’ Top Women in PR for 2017, PRSourceCode’s “Top PR Pro” award (multiple years) and an elite Forty-Under-40 Business Leader by the Phoenix Business Journal.
Amendola and her team have created high-impact PR and marketing campaigns for an extensive client roster that has included Intel, McKesson, Allscripts, Health Catalyst, etc. Founded in 2004, Amendola Communications has been recognized by PRSourceCode as a “Best-of-the-Best” agency nationwide for several years, and the firm has been named a top Healthcare Agency in Ragan and PR Daily’s Ace Awards.
Amendola is an active member of the National Charity League and has served on numerous leadership boards, including AzHIMSS, the Arizona Friends of Foster Children Foundation, X2 Health Network, D.A.R.E. NJ and the Community Resource Council.
Most recently, Amendola was unanimously appointed to the board of the Help in Healing Home Foundation, a not-for-profit organization in Phoenix that offers low-cost lodging and care to patients recovering from major surgeries or awaiting transplants. Amendola Communications provides pro bono marketing and promotional PR support for the Foundation.
“I am so grateful for this honor and want to acknowledge my colleagues, clients, employees, associates and family who have supported me along the way,” said Jodi Amendola. “Being recognized by PR News is an honor that inspires me to give back. I am so proud of our agency’s mission to accelerate the market success of innovative health and healthcare technology companies, playing a vital role in improving the health of people everywhere.”
The Top Women in Healthcare Awards Luncheon will take place on July 16, 2019 at The Yale Club in New York City. The event will bring together female leaders from a wide range of healthcare organizations, all working to better the lives of patients and the broader community through their work.
Media contact:
Marcia Rhodes, Amendola Communications
mrhodes@acmarketingpr.com
480.664.8412 ext. 15
by Administrator | Sep 12, 2018 | Blog
For several years now we all have lived in luxury, enjoying free content on the Internet that’s paid for through ads and data mining, with no paywall to contend with. But, as many prominent media outlets have noted, things are beginning to change.
Back in the early days of the Internet (and in the print media era of old), we as consumers paid for the content we wanted to read and watch. With the advent of Adblock Plus not to mention a reduction in advertising budgets many news websites and online magazines are going back to subscription business models, unable to maintain profits with optional “premium” services and banner ads alone.
What does this mean for those of us in media relations? It means we’re going to have to set expectations for our clients, educating them on the state of the media. Because like it or not, it does seem more paywalls are popping up, which means public relations and marketing plans have no choice but to adapt.
On its face, things may appear dire it’s hard to share content on social media and on a personal blog when a link appears behind a paywall. But, there are some positive takeaways to the coming “subscription era” of Internet journalism that could mean more meaningful placements, better quality leads, and superior content than what we’re getting now in the “free and open” era of Internet publication.
Subscribers Read and Readers are Your Target Audience
I’m a bit of a hipster. So, I still subscribe to a few print magazines. Since I don’t like my money to go to waste, I actually read those magazines, sometimes even cover-to-cover. I also subscribe to a couple newspapers online, and I check them every day, reading the content that’s relevant to me and subscribing directly to the RSS feeds of columns and writers I like the most.
The takeaway here is this: Those who pay for content are more likely to actually read it. Studies have shown most people don’t read the content on their social media feed, often sharing links without even clicking on them. I’ll argue that this is a product of the free content era, wherein the overabundance of choice has rendered us all lost in a sea of noise. While it may be nice to get a social media share or a link click, ultimately what does that really mean in terms of educating the public on your business, thought leaders, and relevant news?
If you ask me, the answer might be “not much.” Too often our metrics for success are superficial, measured in total number of social media shares, clicks, and engagements, even if those engagements are largely the result of bots and humans users who act like bots. But, if someone subscribes to a publication, they are more likely to actually do some reading, because they have a financial stake in supporting that content. That means more meaningful social media shares and readers who actually do you guessed it some reading. This translates to real discussion and genuine interest, not just some generic comment and a quick share that’s aimed at strictly producing numbers.
If someone subscribes to an online (or print) magazine, that means they are genuinely interested in the topic. Ideally, when it comes to a media interview or byline that you want read, your target audience is interested. The subscription era means more quality readers, even if the quantity of superficial shares and clicks is reduced.
Building Meaningful Relationships
It’s an unspoken truth of media relations backs need to be scratched, and sometimes your thoughtful expert source means less than the source from a company who bought an ad. It’s not fair and, quite frankly, it reduces the quality of the content journalists produce, but that’s the reality of for-profit media. Ads are how publications stay in business, at least for now.
As advertising budgets begin to dry up across the board, the “pay-for-play” approach to journalism is harder to navigate for companies looking to get coverage, particularly for smaller startups who are still working to expand and turn a profit.
A positive outcome to a subscription business model means ads will no longer determine who gets an interview, since the primary source of revenue would ideally be subscriptions. Further, “sponsored content” will no longer be a path to regular byline publication. Like in the days of old, sources will be judged based more on merits, and journalists will begin, once again, to seek the stories that are most interesting to them and their readers.
Much as how the subscription model means an increase in quality readers, the same holds true for the content journalists produce. For those in media relations, that means we can build meaningful relationships with journalists for the mutual benefit of providing sources, who in turn get their name and message into stories that are far more genuine than those produced under the guise of advertising.
While free content will likely persist long into the future, the trend seems to be that the best publications are going to put themselves behind a paywall before too long. This will bring challenges, particularly when it comes to sharing content on company blogs and in social media feeds. In time, content producers and social media users will undoubtedly adapt to these changes and find workarounds, since sharing is the key to more exposure. I think this problem will ultimately solve itself, though admittedly things won’t be as straightforward as they are presently.
Sure, it may seem strange now to imagine an Internet where all content isn’t free, but it’s coming. And there are positive aspects to this transformation that could benefit everyone involved in the media placement chain, from thought leaders to journalists and those of us in between. One thing is for certain, it’s best to embrace this future instead of combatting it because those who are prepared will be best equipped to navigate the changing landscape and find success. One thing is for certain: Subscription models do not signal the end of journalism, which means media relations will continue to play an important role in earning placements.
