That Solo Life: The Solo PR Pro Podcast

Book Club Fail and Business Development

Book Clubs start with the best of intentions, don’t they? In today’s episode, Karen and Michelle turn their book club fail into an opportunity to amp up your business development for a great Q4.

 

Transcript

Michelle Kane (00:02):

Thank you for joining us for this episode of That Solo Life, the podcast for PR pros and marketers who work for themselves, people like me, Michelle Kane with VoiceMatters  and my ever steady captain of the ship over at Solo PR Pro, Karen Swim. Hey Karen, how are you?

Karen Swim, APR (00:18):

Hello, Michelle. How are you doing? I'm doing great. It's good to see you after the Labor Day holiday and we did some pre-recording, give ourselves a little bit of a break, so it feels like I haven’t seen you in a while.

Michelle Kane (00:33):

I know, right? We're getting back into things because back to school, even though I hold firm that summer's not yet over until the autumnal equinox. And I know here those of us like me on the East coast, you are more closer to the center of our country, we're having some delightful record heat this week, so that's wonderful.

Karen Swim, APR (01:01):

The weather has really reminded me about how your experiences can shape your responses to things.

Michelle Kane (01:09):

Oh, is that not so true!

Karen Swim, APR (01:10):

It's a good thing to keep in mind with our clients. I have five, six Brazilian families on my block. I love that. And I was talking with a couple of the neighbors the other day, and it's been in the nineties and humid, so it has not been pleasant to people like me who don't do well with those temperatures, but they are thrilled to pieces and they just want to make this last. And so they were saying like, “Oh my God, isn't this great? Do you want to take a walk later?” And I'm like, “No, no, I don't, as a matter of fact, want to take a walk and this oppressive, horrible, hot as hell, heat.”

Michelle Kane (01:57):

Exactly.

Karen Swim, APR (01:58):

I just want to take my dog and go in the air conditioning. That's what I would like to do, but they're so happy. And I thought, for me, it's super uncomfortable and I feel like I can't breathe. And for them, they're just like, amazing. Let's enjoy every second of it. And I'm like,

Michelle Kane (02:17):

You enjoy for me. Okay.

Karen Swim, APR (02:20):

Yeah. So yeah, our experiences definitely shape our perceptions and as we're putting together campaigns for clients and messaging, it’s a good thing to keep in mind that what we intend is not always the way that people will receive it. And a good example of that is our Book Club Fail. Michelle and I are starting a book club where we read a book together and we were going to share with you our findings. And so we have a list of blogs that were recommended for communications professionals, and there was one that caught our attention, and the title is Surrounded by Idiots: How Ineffective Communication Causes Chaos. Now as communicators, we obviously thought this book was about client work, and this will be a fun read and a short read. Turns out,

Michelle Kane (03:20):

No, not so much. We failed our own challenge. No, it was definitely more of a DISC-ish kind of approach, and it was really about not about communicators at all. So…

Karen Swim, APR (03:37):

Yeah, it was for leaders who do not know how to communicate now. So I guess the idiots they're referring to are sometimes the people that we encounter in our work.

Michelle Kane (03:51):

That's put in such a loving way, Karen, but yes, yes. So yeah, we were so excited and so pleased with ourselves. And then, yeah, so maybe the next book we choose, but you know what, isn't this really what happens with book clubs? Does anyone really read the book? They just go for wine time and giggles. So with that, we're going to talk about other challenges because Karen has launched a cool challenge over at Solo PR Pro. Do you want to talk about that a little bit and share with our audience and invite them to come on this challenge with us?

Karen Swim, APR (04:32):

I do, I do. I do. I'm so excited about this. Ridiculously excited.

Michelle Kane (04:38):

That's good.

Karen Swim, APR (04:39):

Yes. So we launched a 21 day business development challenge, and if you have had any encounter with me, you know that I am somebody that likes to keep it pretty simple and I don't like things that are complicated. So true to form. This is super simple. The idea of this challenge is to help us all to build that business development muscle with consistency. So we're inviting you to participate by choosing a business development activity or two, not 10, not 15, one or two activities, and then just spend 20 minutes a day on that activity. That's it. Super simple. And there's a blog post that was published yesterday that outlines our thinking. But again, super, super simple. And it doesn't matter if you are in the communications industry because this really business development is for everyone. And so if you want to join in and follow along, we invite you to do that.

 

So I'm excited about it because I think that when we participate in business development and rather than just waiting around for passive referrals, it energizes our business and it gets us to thinking about how we're talking to people about what we do. It gets us to reconnect with previous prospects and previous clients, and good things always happen because you definitely reap what you sow. So when you're participating in business development activities, new business will come. It definitely will, and it helps us to stay in that positive mindset. This has been, it's been a weird year and we've been surrounded by a lot of challenging news about the economy and layoffs, and we've had to fight against that. We've had to keep ourself in our bubble of staying positive and just continuing to do the things that we know work while hearing all these messages that tell us life is not good. So I think this challenge is perfect for right now because the end of Q3. So it sets us up for Q4 and a strong start to the new year.

Michelle Kane (07:04):

Yeah. Oh, absolutely. And a lot of this is what we already know, but it's so hard. I could be speaking for myself, probably some of you out there when it's yourself, it's so hard to just do this. And really it's thinking about this. Whenever we try to engage on these challenges, I like to frame it of how is this going to make me feel if I do this, it's going to set me up to feel more confident no matter what the day brings, because I know that I am working on business development. So if God forbid, something falls off, you're not scrambling. It happens. It happens to the best of us of, oh my gosh, so-and-so just called to quits and what am I going to do?

Karen Swim, APR (07:58):

Well, on that note, I have to say personally my team, we made a decision at some point this year that we weren't going to do business development because we were tired and needed a little bit of a break to be just fully transparent. We just didn't, like, I don't have the bandwidth for this and I just need a break. So we knew that things were going to roll off and we were going to have a bit of a slow period at some point, and we did, and it was beautiful and welcomed. And then we were like, okay, we're refreshed. We're ready. Let's hit the business development gas pedal again. And we did. So I want to share with you one tip that you may or may not be doing, but again, sometimes we overlook the simple things. We try to overcomplicate this stuff.

For myself, I keep all of my leads in a separate, I have a tag set up in my email and I push all of the lead emails in there, and that allows me to go back and track who I've talked to. And then it also allows me to stay in touch. So even though I am really good at maintaining connections with people and staying in touch, and I genuinely like the people that I meet, there are some that kind of fall through the cracks. Maybe we did a proposal and they decided to go with somebody else or they changed directions. So I go back through those and I reconnect with people. So I did that after our little business development break and set up some meetings, which led to some new proposals, led to some new referrals. And so I encourage you to do that because we know that referrals are our, in the communications industry, it's our number one source of business.

The problem is we are passive about it. We don't ask for referrals. So we don't talk to our current clients on a routine basis about, “Hey, I've got some time on my calendar. Would love to work with another company like you. Do you know anybody?” We don't ask don't for more business from our current clients like, “Hey, we're doing a great job with this department. Are there other departments that we could support you on? Are there other initiatives that we could jump in on? Are there other things that we could be doing for you?” We don't open up our mouth and we don't ask. You've all seen this where you've gotten an email where people write in the signature line or their email, say, invite you to refer them business. Do you do that in the emails that you send? Do you do that in the social media posts that you are putting out on LinkedIn?

Do you invite people to refer business to you and are you clear about the type of business that you want? I would venture to say that most of us do not. If you are a blogger, are you inviting people to send you business? You have to let people know that you're open for business and tell them what kind of business that you want, and don't be shy about it because you have something valuable to offer. But yes, looking back at former clients, existing clients and the people that you've already talked to before, don't be afraid to go back. Even if you we're down to the final three of a bid and they went with somebody else, don't be afraid to reach back out and say, Hey, we chatted back. It's been a couple of years since we've chatted, and yes, I did go back years. Just wanted to catch up and see what things are happening and what new initiatives you're working on. Reach out and make that connection. And even if they have left the company, then connect with somebody else in the company and say, Hey, I last chatted with so-and-so. I know that they're no longer with you. Wondered if you would be interested in setting up an appointment to chat about what you're doing, reach out to the person if you could find them on LinkedIn at their new job and say, Hey, I saw that you changed positions and the last time we talked, you we're here. Would love to catch up on what you're doing. So don't overlook that because you already know the person. So the first step, it's not like it's a cold lead. Don't be afraid to be assertive and ask for a meeting and get caught up, and that can lead to things for you.

Michelle Kane (12:29):

I think that's so true because I think so many of us, not that we try too hard in that phony way, but we think, oh, it's got to be a program. It's got to be put together. It's got to be the best thing, and it's got to be so ready, no, just keep it simple. Not only are you spending less precious energy on it, you're just doing the basic thing of touching base and being, again, being helpful, being that potentially helpful person. And maybe it's even making connections too of saying, depending on how you met them, ”Hey, I know we met at blah, blah, blah, and you were considering whatever it was and just wanted to check and see if you found the resources you needed.” Those are great sideways ways to touch base with someone. And it's so true. You don't have, because don't ask and oh, how many of us do that? Pointing that myself, right? It's like, oh yeah.

Karen Swim, APR (13:35):

I'll tell you though that my motto and I shared this with clients is that nothing is ever wasted. And I'm like that pretty much in my life. I'm somebody that likes to ring every last drop of usefulness out of everything in my life. So I'm like a dog with a bone. If I have a pitch and it doesn't get a secured opportunity, I keep all those pitches too. I keep them in client folders. I keep them grouped and categorized. I may go back to a pitch two years later because it's relevant again and something comes up. And so I never let go until I've gotten everything that I possibly can out of it. And it is like done. It's ripped, it's done.

Michelle Kane (14:25):

It's like never, no stone left unturned.

Karen Swim, APR (14:30):

I'll never let it go. I do not give up. But honestly, when it comes to business development, I have honestly had clients that have closed more than a year after an initial discussion a year. I just didn't let it go. Talking to them, there is one client that was, oh my God, one of my favorite clients still to this point, and I do love all the people that I work with, but we talked through, we started talking when she was at one company, three companies later in the client, three whole companies.

Michelle Kane (15:14):

Well, that brings to the forefront a really important aspect of business development. It doesn't happen overnight. I mean, you might have those unicorns or someone contacts you and by the end of the week the deal is sealed, but so often it takes months, six months or a year just because of the day-to-day of the potential client. They may know they have a need, but budget's not approved, but the product's not ready or this isn't right. Everything has to align. So there's two sides of that coin, right? On the one side is if you have a significant gap in your workload that can stress you out. But on the other side, it's kind of nice to know of, okay, this, it's like I say to so many, I say, it's a slow burn. It's not going to necessarily have someone come to you today.

Karen Swim, APR (16:14):

Yeah. That's why you have to keep your pipeline filled because you're going to have people at various stages. You are going to have those people that are longer leads just with the media, but you're also going to have those short-term hits. You're going to have people that are ready to pop. And that's why consistency is really key, because you're always nurturing relationships and you're putting more in that pipeline. So there's always someone along the path of becoming a yes. And so if you're doing business development every day, you're not going to have to wait six months until you close something. You really aren't because you're active. You're putting yourself out there. And even if you say, you know what? My business development activity is going to be thought leadership via LinkedIn. If you're on LinkedIn for 21 days and you're providing information and thought leadership, and you are letting people know that you're accepting work, someone is going to reach out to you. You just have to have that attitude of openness that they are going to reach out to you or you're going to connect with somebody that you then make a step and say, Hey, I saw that you were doing this because you're in that mode of developing new business and developing new relationships, and so your efforts can put you in front of people that are ready to go. And they were like, “Hey, we were just talking about this. We're looking for a PR agency.” I mean, that's happened to all of us.

Again, that's why you need to have a mix of opportunities and consistency. So think about it. If you're going to people that you've already talked to, maybe it's somebody that you talked to a few months ago and they just weren't ready, but you go back and now they're ready. Maybe it's somebody that you worked with before, then they didn't really need ongoing pr, but now they're like, Hey, perfect timing. We wanted to do a six month project or a four month project or a three month project. That's a piece of business that would not have happened if you didn't think to reach out. So getting started and just doing it over and over and over again, and once you develop the habit of consistency, then you'll be able to carry it forward. And then you won't be in that position where you're like, uh oh.

Michelle Kane (18:40):

Like an unread book for book club.

Karen Swim, APR (18:44):

Have the safety net cushion. Let's just be real. Losing business doesn't feel good. And you're like,

Michelle Kane (18:55):

Right, right. And it's funny, and I tell myself all the time, when that day comes, it's also, it's usually, it's always, well, I'm not going to say always 99% of the time, it's nothing personal, it's just business. Even though I know in our profession we tend to get attached because we're so invested in the success of the client, it does hurt and it's going to hurt. But that's okay. That's okay too. So just roll with that. And I think even if you take one of these tidbits from today, not the don't read the book for book club, but one of these great business development tips are, heck, just read the chapter titles. You'll be fine.

But we do hope that you'll join us on this challenge. It's 21 days, and I love, Karen, that you framed it that you can start on any day, but do it this month. Do it this month so that you're not still saying, I'm going to start in November. Start when it feels right for you. So this is no pressure. We want you to be cool, calm, and consistent in your business development. So check out the blog at soloprpro.com. Check all the other goodness out there too. If you felt this was valuable to you, please share it around to your friends. Share it out on your socials. We would really appreciate that as well. And until next time, thanks for listening to That Solo Life.

Charting the Changes: Reviewing the State of the Media

The media landscape is constantly changing, making it harder on journalists. Naturally this affects how PR pros do our jobs. In this episode we talk all about it, including some points from recent survey results from Cision and MuckRack.

 

Transcript

 

Michelle Kane (00:03):

Thank you for joining us for this episode of That Solo Life, the podcast for PR pros and marketers who work for themselves, people like me, Michelle Kane, with VoiceMatters and my ever steady co-host, Karen Swim of Solo PR Pro. Hi Karen. It's another episode. Here we are.

Karen Swim, APR (00:20):

Hello Michelle. We are here. We are steady eddies. What's the female version of that? Is it steady? I don't know.

Michelle Kane (00:35):

I'm sure we can think of something

Karen Swim, APR (00:37):

For sure.

Michelle Kane (00:39):

We're creative like that.

Karen Swim, APR (00:41):

I'm so happy to be here. The older you get, the more you celebrate every single day that you are waking up and jumping out of bed.

Michelle Kane (00:52):

That's a good motivator. I will say it's true. It is true. I'm going to totally bobble this point because I forget the meme. It was something, oh, I think it was a Marcus Aurelius quote actually. Something about something to look forward to each day - for an ancient dude, he has some timely advice and I thought, yeah, I think I shared it with my thought of, yeah. “Okay. I'll tell myself this on Monday morning.”

Karen Swim, APR (01:19):

We're live, we're here and we're doing something that we love. We love this podcast. We love getting together and chatting. That's true. And just inviting a few of our friends to listen in with us.

Michelle Kane (01:32):

Yes. So we hope you are ready Today we are spurred on by a couple of reports from Cision and MuckRack talking about the state of journalism today, which as we all know, if you're listening, you may have already made a face, but hopefully we're just going to talk about this a little bit and try and bring out some of the brighter points to keep our tools sharpened.

Karen Swim, APR (02:02):

And I think as both of these reports mentioned, the more that we understand the challenges that journalists are facing, the more that we understand how to be problem solvers for them because obviously for communications professionals, journalists are definitely one of our audiences. And so it's important to learn how we can be more collaborative and more helpful. And there are a couple points that really stood out for me that are troubling.

Michelle Kane (02:32):

All right. We'll do the bad news first. Hit me with the first point.

Karen Swim, APR (02:37):

So the bad news is these studies show that there is less trust in CEOs as credible sources.

Michelle Kane (02:50):

Yeah, that one stood out for me as well.

Karen Swim, APR (02:53):

And aligned with that, this makes sense that one of the biggest challenges for that, journalists said, that they've experienced in the last 12 months, and this is from I think the Cision study, is that their challenge is maintaining credibility as a trusted news source. So you have them battling against misinformation, this label of fake news, combating those accusations and maintaining credibility and then not trusting that we are helping with that at all. So concerning,

Michelle Kane (03:37):

And I could totally see why. I mean, there are the nefarious sorts out there who are all too happy to use credible news organizations to spread their misinformation and disinformation. And that's not to say that journalists don't fact check. Of course they do. But yeah, it's a really tenuous spot, which puts us the PR pros in a really difficult situation because,

Karen Swim, APR (04:04):

And I hate to say this because I know that the majority of our audience, there are some that are coming up in the profession and emerging. The majority of our audience knows this, but I think it's always good to remind ourselves too, because in the heat of the moment when we deal with a lot of things that journalists do not realize, there is pressure from clients, there are the demands that they don't see. There are the requests that we push back on. There are things that we educate about, but I think that it is critical today to educate our clients thoroughly about the role that the media actually does play. The media is not part of your marketing team, and unfortunately, if you don't have something that can advance a story forward, that adds value, that presents something that the reporters' readers will be interested in hearing, you're going to have a harder time getting coverage in credible publications. So to be credible, don't see this as an opportunity to push forward the name of your company.

I understand the struggle is real and I have beautiful clients, wonderful clients as we all do, but we all know that sometimes it's really hard for companies to get out of their own way. You ask them a question and they immediately default to company speak and the company line, and it's hard to say, “No one cares. Talk to me about beyond your company. Talk to me about the issues that others in your industry are facing. Talk to me about the challenges your clients are facing. Give us a point of view of that. Give us some instruction, help us the way forward.” It is hard, but we've got to do the hard work because, and especially in the season, we are now in an election season and we all know the battle for what is that

Michelle Kane (06:25):

Bandwidth.

Karen Swim, APR (06:28):

The battle for the bandwidth of reporters is going to shrink, but also in the season more than ever, we've got to be part of the fight disinformation solution. So we've got to help news organizations to truly be valued again and to be seen as credible. And we can be a part of that by offering up valuable, credible information. It's rough out there,

Michelle Kane (07:00):

But one of the tools or the brighter notions of these surveys, this is from MuckRack, is one way that our clients can help that cause. And rather than just casually think, oh, the media is just here to be my mouthpiece, they said journalists as a whole plan to spend more time on YouTube, LinkedIn, and even TikTok. So as we've often said, every company has the potential to be their own media company by putting out your own information on your own owned channels, while journalists are planning on spending more time there probably to learn more about you, maybe to vet you. So keep that in mind as a means of presenting, supporting evidence or more deeper information as they consider whether to cover your story.

Karen Swim, APR (07:59):

Yeah, I mean the MuckRack survey, I love this because I feel like journalists, they can sometimes not be fair to us in the way that they view us, but they also get us, I consider them part of our people. And this was really cool. When asked about their optimism about their profession, 58% said that yes, they were optimistic about the journalism profession. That's more than half, so that's good. 42% were not, but that's okay. Things will improve and understand that they're impacted by the same things that are impacting everyone else. They're seeing shrinking ad revenues, which means shrinking resources for them, more pressure with less resources, less job certainty. Many are switching jobs, many are trying to find other ways that they can make a living at doing the thing that they love doing. So it's rough out there.

Michelle Kane (09:05):

It really is. It really is. The more that the digital and print advertising landscape changes, the harder it is for all of us as a result. Really, even those of us in the communications field, those of us who do that kind of work with media buying, you're like, okay, I might be making this decision away from a print piece, but that means I am creating my own trouble.

Karen Swim, APR (09:29):

And I know, just to give you guys some positive ways that you can sort of combat this, clients are going to be clients. Make sure that you are setting a tone consistently, because unfortunately you say things in the beginning and it flies out of people's heads. So you have to consistently set a tone that public relations is not confined to media relations. And so we also have to look for more robust ways to tell stories to connect with our audiences. We have to be innovators and not just rule followers. We should be creating new paths forward when it makes sense to work with the media, help them by having publishable content that is a game changer. When you have good meaty publishable content, don't limit the things that you pitch to just your client's point of view. Reach into their client base, reach out to adjacent experts and enrich a story with credible sources.

If you have a healthcare client and you're talking about an issue, grab a medical expert and get a publishable quote from that expert to really provide more meat to that journalist and to help them not to have to hunt down other sources. Again, it's all about credibility and quality information that's going to speak volumes. Do provide them with rich sources from your own experts. So rather than just provide a quote, I interview all of our internal experts, and I have always, for years, used Otter AI to record and transcribe those calls, provide a transcript of the questions that you ask the experts so that because the journalists may find other nuggets within there, don't be afraid to give them, feed them a lot of things that can really help them to do their jobs. And again, in this season, it's about being creative. Maybe you add in an audiogram in addition to the things that you're sending. We love audiograms as podcast.

Michelle Kane (11:49):

We do. It all comes down to what are you trying to do as what are your clients trying to do? Right? They're trying to present themselves as the solution to their target audience's problems. So rather than just blasting, here's our new thing, okay, well why does that matter? What pain points is that going to resolve? And this is true for PR and marketing. How are you going to enrich or better someone's existence, whether that's making their business more money, making their lives easier, solving a major issue in society, how are you contributing? And like Karen, like you just said, adding all those different layers, plus that helps the journalist. I mean, having something that well-formed in story form. If I'm a journalist and I'm just presented with a few pitch points, okay, now you do it, or something that's crafted and really nearly ready to go in today's landscape, which are you going to be more inclined to go for?

Karen Swim, APR (12:53):

I completely agree. And don't be afraid to help on things that have nothing to do with you.

You can help a journalist out and say, Hey, I saw that you were working on a story. I know somebody that can be of help. And it doesn't have to be a client. Jump in to help on things. Check in with the journalists that you work with often and ask what are they working on? Can you be of help? Can you be of assistance? And most importantly, let's all just always be respectful that we're all under the same pressures. Life is weird for every single one of us. Journalists are human beings who are also going through the same challenges as the rest of the world. So be kind and make the most of their time. Their inboxes are overflowing too. As someone who gets pitched a lot, I have a heightened sensitivity how annoying it is to just have your inbox clogged up by things because people had an agenda that had nothing to do with you. It's annoying and having it hit you in your email, in your social media inboxes and having to go to all these places and read through a bunch of garbage can really make you not a nice person. It's funny because Kami and Misa did a newsletter this week and she talked about showing up in people's DMs and how she, who someone did that to her on LinkedIn, and she is the sweetest, but I was laughing. I completely get it. You want to just go off on people and say, “Did you even bother to read past sentence one?”

Michelle Kane (14:43):

You're just

Karen Swim, APR (14:44):

Throwing up here like, Hey, let me sell you this. I don't want that.

Michelle Kane (14:48):

No. And the worst is when you go on trust. I think this happened moreso on Twitter back in the day. Alright, right, I'll follow you. And you'd immediately get the DM, go buy my thing. I'm like, alright, goodbye - block.

Karen Swim, APR (15:03):

Yeah, it's so again, be respectful, be kind, be judicious. And we really do have to be more thoughtful, more intentional in crafting those strategies for clients and make sure that they understand that PR does not solve every problem in the world. Make sure that you're attacking and setting expectations appropriately about what you can do and what you can't do.

Michelle Kane (15:37):

Yeah. Very true. And I have to give a little demographic shout out to Generation X actually got mentioned in the MuckRack executive summary that journalists are looking are targeting both millennials and Gen X. They're their most commonly reported target audiences. I know it's sad, but it's just nice to be remembered. Everyone seems to between you at the Silent Generation and Gen X. It's like, “Hi, we're right here.”

Karen Swim, APR (16:09):

Yeah. I don't even know what to say. It is nice to be remembered because people really seem to forget that we exist. And the really sad part is people have misconceptions and they target generations, which I think can maybe be a mistake because characteristics that are not confined to generations,

Michelle Kane (16:35):

I'll never forget it was a conference or something and one of the keynote prisoners was, I guess the Millennial Mom was the target persona of the season and all the things they were ticking off that she wants. And I just said to my friend, I said, well, Gen X wants that too. We just don't talk about it all the time. We're over here in the corner with our Billy Idol scowl just getting it done.

Karen Swim, APR (17:02):

That's something that maybe communication professionals can help open the eyes and eliminate the way that sometimes you're targeting people that are tech savvy. That's not limited to an age group.

Michelle Kane (17:16):

Goodness no. No, it's not.

Karen Swim, APR (17:19):

There are people that share those characteristics and I don't know, we seasoned solos maybe can show them what's up because we're out here showing out and living our very best professional lives and the kids cannot keep up.

Michelle Kane (17:39):

Right. Well, you know what? Right there, I mean, there's a hook. Why are personas always attached to age and station in life?

Karen Swim, APR (17:50):

We need to change that. Life is changing.

Michelle Kane (17:53):

Yeah, exactly. Just because I tick a certain bunch of numbers on your form doesn't mean that my experience matches everyone within that space.

Karen Swim, APR (18:07):

Love it, love it. Love that thought. Love it.

Michelle Kane (18:11):

I need a nap now. That was a lot.

Well, we hope that this has been a valuable time for you. It's always good to check in just to see what the landscape is out there with our friends on the journalism side, and always to be considerate of how we do our jobs in the way that we help our clients, but also that we help this ecosystem of journalism that we of course depend on to help us all thrive.

So if you did find this valuable, we would love for you to share this around. Please share our podcast. We would just really appreciate it. We would make sure that somehow chocolate magically appears in your lives and all good things. And hit us up at solopro.com. Sign up for the newsletter there. Check us out, leave questions, comments, and until next time, thank you for listening to That Solo Life.

 

The Great PR Migration

If you’re thinking of diversifying your PR practice or pivoting away from day-to-day client work, this episode is for you.

 

Transcript

Michelle Kane (00:17):

Thank you for joining us for this episode of That Solo Life, the podcast for PR pros and marketers who work for themselves, people like me, Michelle Kane, with VoiceMatters, and my wonderful co-host, Karen Swim of Solo PR Pro. Hello, Karen. How are you doing this week?

Karen Swim (00:34):

I'm doing great, Michelle. How are you doing?

Michelle Kane (00:37):

I'm doing pretty well. Yes, yes. As this episode airs, we're hitting that mid-August stride, which means change for so many. For some of us it means “Leave me alone. I am still having summer.” But for others it means going back to college, getting ready to go back to school, or just getting ready to go enter another rhythm of life. But that sort of speaks to what we're going to talk about today, where our topic is the PR migration, and just things that we're seeing amongst our colleagues and in PR in general. You know, many people are pivoting away from PR or just starting to dabble in other fields, like education or maybe even something completely different. So we thought, hey, let's talk about this and see what we might be able to encourage our listeners.

Karen Swim (01:31):

Yeah. Isn't it interesting, I'm seeing, I get a lot of the emails now from PR people that are selling services to PR people rather than doing PR. So I'm not sure what's behind the number of PR people that are still in the prime of their working years, still have lots of road ahead of them that are like, let me pivot over to something else. If it's just a genuine shift that we're seeing, because maybe it's been driven by the climate that we're in.

Michelle Kane (02:03):

It could be. And you know, it could be just a certain number of people are just feeling that need to shift. I know sometimes even within a job, right? Every few years or so, you just need a little something new, a little different challenge to keep life interesting for yourself. And I wonder how many of our listeners are having those moments of kind of putting their head up and going, huh, what else could I be doing?

Karen Swim (02:34):

That's such a great point. You're right that in a traditional job, you don't typically do the exact same job for year after year after year after year, your responsibilities shift, you get a different role, you change companies, something changes to keep you on your toes and refreshed. And so it could be that, although I have to say that given some of the challenges that we face today, I can certainly understand those people that are leading the profession because it's just become really difficult to succeed. You know, <laugh> great example, Forbes now has a policy, it does not, you know, there's different brands of Forbes, but Forbes has this policy now that if they put out a query, they do not want anyone except for the expert to respond. They will not take pitches from PR people, and they call out PR people specifically.

So they say, “PR people: do not pitch us, but ask your source to contact us directly per Forbes policy.” So that's an interesting shift, and yeah, one I hope doesn't spread to other outlets. I also almost think “Sure, good luck with that,” because journalists take for granted the amount of value that we truly do bring to that relationship. And some of what we control and avoid to make sure that they get the very best piece of information possible and that they, that communications are streamlined. I think that they are seeing us maybe as an annoyance, but

Michelle Kane (04:20):

Oh, ok Forbes.

Karen Swim (04:22):

…we know the back story on a lot of these things. So <laugh> Yeah. I mean, I could particularly see people poking their head up and going, okay, what else is out there? So I'm seeing people do things like sell everything from business development for PR people. So there are PR salespeople who want to sell you on how to sell clients on your behalf or things like tools that we use, from databases to pitch tools to all kinds of things that we utilize. Yeah, I'm seeing a lot more of that.

Michelle Kane (05:00):

Yeah. And can we just do a shout out to some of those companies solo PR pros are not really into buying at the enterprise level? We are solo shops. Yes, we would love to be your customer, but there's usually maybe 1, 2, 3, maybe five of us. So just think if you get 10 solos to buy your product at a decent price point, oh, there's your enterprise. Anyway. Ok, rant off <laugh>.

Karen Swim (05:28):

I agree. We could do an entire episode on the PR industry and the tools market. And, at the PR industry in general, it's very unfortunate that in so many instances, everything is directed to large agencies or in-house PR people. We just get overlooked quite a bit and that's very sad because we do the same job. And we deliver value just like everyone else. And a lot of times referring those very big companies, which gives us the power to make referrals and to make recommendations. So Yeah. That's too bad.

Michelle Kane (06:11):

Yeah. And I think maybe a lot of these pivots, like you said, has a lot to do with the way that pure PR has changed for many years now. It's grown to be an integrated process. So, if you're a PR pro who just really isn't interested in learning about digital marketing or any of the integrated pieces, then yeah. It definitely would be a season to say, “Hmm, you know, what, where can I transfer these skills? How can I do that? Is it time to do some teaching?” Is it time to, I don't know. I mean, we know a couple of our, our colleagues…

Karen Swim (06:53):

Yeah, we have people that are writing books, that are doing courses that are becoming coaches for PR people. Becoming consultants in some other way or, you know, going over to the media side and becoming journalists in an area of specialty. We even have a couple of solo pros that are running for office, which is really cool. So I mean, I think the great thing about communications is that it's such a fantastic skillset that really allows you to leverage that in any other position that you would choose to create for yourself, or if you're choosing to go and work a traditional job, there's so many skill sets, you know, our crisis management skills, our strategic skills, our storytelling ability. I mean, there are just so many things that we do that are so important across the board. And so I feel like in terms of our careers, we have a lot of options that are open to us.

Michelle Kane (07:55):

Yeah. I even think, and of course this partly falls under the PR umbrella, but I was thinking this morning of a situation I'm dealing with of even in the nonprofit world of dealing with sponsors, you know, how certain things that you might say yes to, how that can color your perception to others and just ways to make your systems better, your thought processes better. These are all of the bases that we cover in PR, whether it's an outright deliverable to our clients. But I mean, come on. It's who we are. We're always doing it anyway. <Laugh>,

Karen Swim (08:39):

Yes, we are.

Michelle Kane (08:40):

Troubleshooting

Karen Swim (08:41):

I'm trying to think of some of the more interesting pivots that I've seen outside of, you know, becoming a politician is definitely, but I guess, you know, really that feels adjacent in some ways as well.

Michelle Kane (08:54):

Yeah, yeah.

Karen Swim (08:55):

What would you do, Michelle?

Michelle Kane (08:57):

Oh my gosh, <laugh>. Oh my goodness. What, what do I want to be when I grow up? <Laugh>, I, I joke that I want to be a lady who lunches someday, who just does this stuff for fun. But that's a whole different, Michelle <laugh>, you know…

Karen Swim (09:15):

I think there are a lot of pros on any given day who would join you in that.

Michelle Kane (09:20):

<Laugh>. Yeah. That might be. But being realistic, you know, I don't know, maybe something in education, there's something in me that always pulls towards that world. Even counseling to a certain degree. These are all career choices that I dallied with. I knew for myself that I didn't quite have the temperament to do the whole full day in a classroom situation, you know, of that kind of teaching. Similarly, when I was younger, I shifted from being a psych major to duh, you're good at writing <laugh>. Partly because I knew I didn't have it in me at that time to be any kind of counselor <laugh>.

Karen Swim (10:03):

I love that. And so many solo PR pros do teach. We have a lot of educators, some that have moved towards doing that more than PR for clients, which, you know, I just think that there's such a value to the education industry, but yeah, we have a lot of educators. I think that that's natural. I think that most PR pros really have that ability to teach.

Michelle Kane (10:32):

Oh, yeah.

Karen Swim (10:33):

Because we do quite a bit of education in our work, and so I think that that feels like a natural fit for so many people.

Michelle Kane (10:39):

Yeah, that's so true. Well, how about you?

Karen Swim (10:41):

Outside of being something in the dog industry, I would love to do that, you know? You know, I have plans to open some kind of a cafe where owners can’t just dine with their dogs, but where it's like a combo doggy day camp / cafe where people can relax and meet friends, but their dogs can have a concierge and be taken care of.

Michelle Kane (11:07):

I love that.

Karen Swim (11:12):

I'm working on courses and stuff too. I’d love to do more content creation and again, teaching sharing, right?

Michelle Kane (11:21):

Yeah. Right.

Karen Swim (11:21):

Helping others with their careers.

Michelle Kane (11:24):

Yeah, so true. So true. Sidebar about the dog combo thing. I once told my groomer, I said, “You know what, you need to open up a day spa <laugh>, so that when my dog's getting groomed, I get like a little mini facial.”

Karen Swim (11:37):

I love that we would all have a day at the spa <laugh>, not just this guy.

Karen Swim (11:42):

There's a lot written about the dog economy as they're calling it

Michelle Kane (11:46):

Dog economy.

Karen Swim (11:48):

We're spending a lot on our fur babies, and more and more people are, you know, embracing it. Thank you, everyone who's doing that. Dogs are really, truly a part of our family. So yeah, there's big opportunities in that market.

Michelle Kane (12:03):

Absolutely. Yeah, there's, I think that's the beautiful thing about what we do, because we don't come to our desks every day and move widgets from one page to the next. Our jobs are really creative. So that lends itself to transferring that whole mindset to everything you do, you know? Yes, it really does. So, the beautiful thing about doing this line of work is you may discover some hidden talents along the way that you never realized it. Let's say you're pitching a certain story about a certain company or their new initiative, or maybe it's a nonprofit. Just think how big your world gets. So if you're not thinking about a pivot now, start thinking in that way of, okay, you know, these people that I meet, it's not just, “All right, I'll do this thing, and then next…” Follow up with that person and learn more about what they do just because it interested you.

Karen Swim (13:07):

Yeah. And we certainly have it. We've even had people as guests on our shows - Major come to mind. She has a popcorn company. She still does PR, but she has a very successful popcorn company. By the way, she's got a new flavor out, so go check her out. So the sky is really the limit. If you have something else that you're interested in, by all means you can pursue it in addition to doing PR. And some of us pursue, you know, we have our own side gigs, because for me, I think of my side gig is something that I want to pivot to in retirement. And move away from the day-to-day client work and move over into doing something a little bit different. So yeah, there's lots of interesting examples out there, and I think that we should all be thinking about that. And with this economy, it's been a wake-up call for, I think for a lot of people that it's very helpful to have multiple revenue streams, and that's always been the case, but there are ways to achieve that. You can achieve that through investing, of course, but it doesn't hurt to have like a Plan B for yourself.

Michelle Kane (14:22):

No, that's so true. It's interesting, just this last week, I have made myself be more conscious about doing more voiceover auditions just because, you know, it's to the point where the mechanisms are in place that it's not so arduous. Before I would have to print out the script and hook up my Yeti, and now it's like, oh, let me plug in my headphone here and bing bang, boom. And just say to myself, well, doh Michelle, you can do that in the first 15 minutes of your day. Now, did I do it today? No, <laugh>.

Karen Swim (14:57):

I love that though, because that's okay. You're so perfect for that.

Michelle Kane (15:00):

Aw, thanks.

Karen Swim (15:02):

And you're right, there are so many different avenues and channels right now that are looking for that, so yeah.

Michelle Kane (15:10):

Yeah.

Karen Swim (15:10):

That's so perfect. I love it. I love it. I'm so here for it.

Michelle Kane (15:15):

Oh, we'll see, we'll see. But I see too, I've seen some people, they're not PR pros per se, but they're in the comms business, just either niching down on what they do.

Karen Swim (15:26):

Yes.

Michelle Kane (15:27):

As opposed to being something for everyone, you know, they're deciding really, snd I think too, it's probably a combination of post pandemic, the economy, everything, just really determining this is what we do really well. We want to focus on this. And with that comes opportunity for collaboration to fill those gaps that it's, it's not to say, well, we only do this.

Karen Swim (15:50):

Definitely. Well, Katie Boos, great example of that.

Michelle Kane (15:53):

Yes!

Karen Swim (15:55):

She really found that she loved the thought leadership. And so she specializes in that. That's what she does. She doesn't do any of the other things anymore. She specializes in that. Helen Ne is someone that I met through lunch club. She's a PR pro, not in the us but in the UK. Yeah. She also made a pivot into thought leadership in a different way where she started out hosting these veil interviews with CEOs and enterprise leaders, and now she's turned that into a whole thing. So she has a studio, and that's all she does.

Michelle Kane (16:26):

That's fantastic.

Karen Swim (16:28):

So, yeah. We should have Helen on the program one day too, to talk about it. Yeah, that would be great. She's a solo like our audience. So yeah, there's so many creative things that we can do, we have so many talents that we can use them in so many different ways.

Michelle Kane (16:49):

Yeah, we do. We do. And I think it could be an, an instance of, okay, we've all been through a lot in these last several years, and it kind of feels like the vibe is, okay, let's stop and take a beat and take a breath and see, okay, where am I? And just check in with ourselves. And I think that's good to do periodically no matter what's happening. But I realize we're all coming out of some serious survival mode. But we just wanted to get you all thinking today. So if, hopefully this has inspired you, we say that every week because we always try to inspire you, but we really do want to hear from you. What would you want to do? If you could do anything in your next career pivot? Hit us up at soloprpro.com, share this around, talk about it with your friends. Until next time, thanks for listening to That Solo Life.

 

Talking About My Generation

From Gen Z to Millennials, Generation X to the Silent Generation, all the way to Boomers – has there ever been a time when members of so many generations shared space in the workforce? In this episode we talk about how the generations and work together and learn from each other.

 

Transcript

Talking About My Generation
That Solo Life Episode 211

Michelle Kane (00:17):

Thank you for joining us for this episode of That Solo Life, the podcast for PR pros and marketers who work for themselves like me, Michelle Kane, with VoiceMatters, and my wonderful co-host, Karen Swim of Solo PR Pro. How are you?

Karen Swim, APR (00:32):

Hey, Michelle. I'm really, really great. One day we are going to have to put together a video of our bloopers, which includes one this morning <laugh>, and put it on YouTube so that people can have a good laugh with us.

Michelle Kane (00:45):

That's right. That's right. Because, you know, as super polished, as we always sound here, <laugh>, it's not always the reality. And you know what? That's okay. Life is messy, and we're going to talk about that a little bit today. We're focusing on the generational divide and how sometimes, especially if you are in an office or if you work on a team with everyone ranging from Gen Z all the way up to Boomers, you know, sometimes work styles differ, tech appreciation differs. And  not to be ageist, because I think sometimes that flows both ways. I've encountered supremely tech savvy Boomers, and I've also encountered not so native Gen Zers, because we all have adapted and used that kind of thing. Things from the tech world in our own way and just, just really work styles. Our experiences inform what we bring to anything and sometimes in the workplace that is intensified. So, we’re going to dig in a little bit on this today.

Karen Swim, APR (01:46):

Yeah. You know, the reason that this topic is so important is because we do, we have like all of these generations in the workforce. And that's crazy, right? I don't remember when I was the age of our Gen Zers, and at the start of my career, I honestly don't remember this many generations being employed at the same time. So times have really changed. And I know that as someone who is nearing the end of my career, it's sometimes difficult to adapt your style. It does take work. It takes being open and flexible, and there are things that we know, knowledge that we have, experiences that we have that can sometimes be frustrating when it seems like we're not being heard or we're not being valued. And I imagine that honestly is true of every generation. So, we all share that. We all want to be heard, we all want to be valued in our work, but as solo PR pros, you know, we're dealing with clients. And so we're in a bit of a different position in that we're not directly managing all of these generations, but we are corralling all of these generations, and we have to communicate internally across the divide. And so, it's well worth it to understand kind of what motivates them.

Michelle Kane (03:16):

Very, very true. And I don't know, I try to look at it this way, right? Just with communicating in general, in a professional setting, I like to vibe off of, well, how are they communicating with me? Are they leading with email or do they prefer hopping on a Zoom, or are they phone call oriented, or are they text oriented? <Laugh>, which I will reserve for a precious view, <laugh>, because I know for me, having to bop around different screens makes me crazy in the head. But that's also why I have a texting app in my browser. So I guess that also speaks to how we make our own accommodations within that realm too, to work in the best way we can while bridging and meeting them where they are.

Karen Swim, APR (04:13):

And I think it's really important, obviously we want to always be client friendly, but in terms of being really inclusive when it comes to generational preferences, I think it's also important to talk about these things as part of your onboarding process and really solidify what channels you're going to communicate through. Because to your point, I end up with people that use Microsoft, Microsoft Teams, people that use Slack, and so you can have things coming in and scattered directions. And so it's important for us to say what really works for us, and to talk with clients and negotiate that right up front and explain why. Because we want to have the communication streamlined. We don't want to have to look a lot of different places. And maybe those conversations should include like, what's the best way for quick questions and messages?

And then for everything else that you need to have - history attachments, that type of thing - usually email does function better for that. So have that conversation. Don't make assumptions because a person is a certain age that they're going to have a certain preference, because while there are these big buckets for things, that's not always true. You know, I don't really line up with the generation that I was born in, in many, many things. <Laugh>, I line up with the generation that comes after me more. And I know that that's true of many people.

Michelle Kane (05:48):

Yeah, that's very true. And you know, a lot of times too, it's, I think especially as communications professionals, sometimes we bat around so many ideas in a session that we might forget. I always love to follow up somehow in writing, whether that's a Slack message or an email just to say, “Hey, here's what we talked about, blah, blah, blah, blah.” But like you say, that comes with the onboarding process and of just agreeing how we're going to work together. You know? And I don't know, I, I don't like to say that I'm blind to the generations because they definitely bring different things to the table. But I like to always adopt a person-first attitude over, oh, you're young, you'll do, you know, I'm not the person like, you young people, go set the timer on the thing. I don't understand it. <Laugh>, I try not to be “get off my lawn,” although I have had moments in the past. But to their credit, in those instances they were put in an environment that they just were unprepared for. They were unprepared for how working in an office worked and that really wasn't their fault. That's not the background they came from. And so that's a real thing that many of us may encounter along the way.

Karen Swim, APR (07:08):

I think, you know, one of the things that I find the most challenging about working with so many generations is that everyone has these perceptions about the other generation. And sometimes everybody can be negative about everybody. So yeah, you have a younger generation and I want to speak to Gen Zers, just because a person is of a certain age, please don't discount them and please don't devalue what they have to offer. Being older with more experience doesn't mean that you don't understand things and how they work now. So sometimes I feel like you're shoved to the side because of your age. We know that ageism is a very real thing. I know people that are older who have been laid off and very much are still in the prime of their working years that are not being given jobs because they are too experienced.

And we all know that that's code for being of a certain age or just flat out, you know, you interview with somebody that is 30 years younger than you and they look at you differently. So I would encourage younger workers to open up their minds and to have a more positive attitude and accept that just because someone is not your age doesn't mean that they're not with it, that they don't understand the trends, that they can't do their job, that they're going to be stuck in the mud or inflexible, that older workers have something to offer too. And by the way, older people really want to contribute to the workforce. And for many of us, again, that time in our life, because we've lived longer than you have, we've hit that point. These are our prime working years.

Michelle Kane (08:57):

And we <crosstalk>

Karen Swim, APR (08:59):

You on the other end of the spectrum. Sorry.

Michelle Kane (09:01):

No, no.

Karen Swim, APR (09:02):

On the other side of the spectrum we can sometimes have an attitude of either feeling like you have to guide the younger workers and you can discount what they don't have in your experience and not take seriously their approach or their ideas. And so I think for all of us, I would say let's start from a place of respect, mutual respect, and treat everybody as a colleague and as a professional. Hear one another out, listen, even when it may be different than the way we do something, because that's going to make work better for all of us.

Michelle Kane (09:39):

Yeah. I couldn't agree more. And leave your perceptions at the door, you know, to your point on the older quote unquote older workers. We've seen the things, you know, we've seen a lot of rodeos and sometimes, you know, we could say, okay, this is probably going to go this way. It's not presuming that, oh, you just don’t know. And I think too, I think all of us along with our perceptions have to sometimes check our attitudes. And it, it could be something that we say without realizing it, or it just comes out of our mouths. We go, oh, didn't mean to say it that way, <laugh>, but you know, at the end of the day, we're all human and stuff happens. But, I agree, it is wild to think that there are at least, goodness, what - five different generations all in the workforce at one time.

Karen Swim, APR (10:30):

Yeah.

Michelle Kane (10:31):

That is wild. It is just wild to think about. And it's kind of exciting, like, rather than look at it as, “Oh no, we're not going to get along.” It's kind of cool. Right? I mean, can you imagine really at what time do we have the opportunity to bring not only a breadth of experience, but also fresh minds and ingenuity all together? How cool is that?

Karen Swim, APR (10:58):

And I think we can look and say the things that we built, it's really exciting to see it through someone else's eyes. To do it in a new way and to see how we can keep improving and keep moving the profession forward. It can be difficult for us when we do have those clients that have the wrong attitude and view older workers as not up to the task because of our age, but then vice versa. You know, I know that younger people probably feel the same, that they are also unfairly judged sometimes by their youth. And so I think we have to work together as generations to make sure that we are not being discriminatory towards anyone because of age. That we truly are all working towards inclusivity and judging each individual their merits.

Michelle Kane (11:55):

Yeah. And so how, what are some ways that we can do this as solos? Of course, the easy one is get an intern. The Philly PR Association that I belong to, we're working really hard on this. We have a board level position that is focused on college relations. And it's not just, “Hey, kids come to our event.” It's really looking at ways to interact with these young professionals just entering the profession and creating that relationship. Because we know we all benefit from it. So however that works for you in your solo world, try and seek that out. Sometimes as a solo shop who probably works out of a home office, you may be reluctant to bring an intern on thinking, well, goodness, it's not like they're going to come and sit in my kitchen every day. But there are ways <laugh> to engage with an intern where that doesn't have to be the case. You don't have to give them a little cubicle next to the copier that doesn't exist because you're not in a traditional office.

Karen Swim, APR (13:01):

In addition to hiring an intern or bringing on somebody that's a different generation or mentoring. I think also when you're in a situation where there is someone of a different generation, make time to get to know that person and what they care about. And I say that's true of everybody. For me, that's part of my client relations is that I definitely want to understand what's important to the company, what the goals are, what they need. But on an individual level, with every contact at the clients, I really want to understand what's motivating them, what's important to them, what are the things that you're trying to accomplish in your job, because that allows you to really establish that one-to-one connection. And so I think that that is really important. Detroit PRSA is doing an event where they're combining baseball with mentoring the younger professionals that I thought that that was a very cool thing.

So maybe you want to get involved in PRSSA too, the student chapters of the PRSA, they are sitting right alongside professionals and learning things. And it's really very valuable for students that are still in college who want to go into the communications field. So yeah, I encourage older workers to, to, you seek out mentoring opportunities. I encourage younger generations to seek those out as well and to be willing to be mentored. But I encourage us all to just be kind, respectful and understand that everyone has something to contribute.

Michelle Kane (14:48):

I agree. You know what, be a good person is basically <laugh> our message today.

Karen Swim, APR (14:55):

I know Solos do that day in and day out. I think that we want to just continue to motivate you to keep doing what you're doing and spread it because while we in the communications field know and practice this, the world around us doesn't always, and so <laugh>

Michelle Kane (15:14):

Yeah. Not so much <laugh>.

Karen Swim, APR (15:17):

Let some other people in because unfortunately everybody hasn't gotten that memo.

Michelle Kane (15:25):

Yeah, yeah. So, as we do in many ways blazing the trail lead by example and you know, if enough of us start doing that or continue to do it, there will have to be some kind of ripple effect. I firmly believe that. And I also believe that you are wonderful if you're choosing to spend some time with us today and listen to us, please do share it around. That is probably the nicest thing you could do for us, is to share our content and tell a friend and check us out at soloprpro.com. And until next time, thank you for listening to That Solo Life.

 

PR Skills for Any Season

No matter where you are in your career, we hope you are always seeking to learn something new, whether it’s sharpening your existing skillset, meeting with other professionals, or taking on an entirely new challenge. Join us for this episode when we talk about honing your PR skills in any season of your professional life.

 

Transcript

Michelle Kane (00:01):

Thank you for joining us for another episode of That Solo Life, the podcast for PR pros and marketers who work for themselves like me, Michelle Kane, with VoiceMatters, and my wonderful co-host Karen Swim with Solo PR Pro. Hi, Karen. How's it going?

Karen Swim, APR (00:17):

Hi, Michelle. It's going really well. How good doing this week?

Michelle Kane (00:21):

Hey, can't complain. Can't complain. Things are moving along, so it's good. Even during the sleepy months of summer, things are popping, so I can't complain. <Laugh>,

Karen Swim, APR (00:33):

Definitely this summer has been anything but sleepy, let me tell you. <Laugh>.

Michelle Kane (00:38):

For sure. For sure. And you know, what we want to talk about today is something that sometimes you rely on those sleepy moments to catch up on, which is professional development. How as busy solos do we make the time to keep our tools sharpened? So I'm just going to touch on some points of things that we've been talking about as far as in what areas should you be seeking to learn more? Just learn more about, it may not be something that you practice on your own, but to just have knowledge of it so we can best serve our clients.

Karen Swim, APR (01:16):

Yeah. I always like to think of professional development in two buckets. One as personal satisfaction, you know, to sharpen skills that I really enjoy or that I just really have a desire to get better at. And then two, to either acquire or improve skillset where it's going to matter most to the clients that I serve. And so I think that's really important because the way that you can protect your ability to develop business and to develop higher value business is by understanding what are clients searching for? What do they need? Are there any gaps? And what types of skills are they looking for? Easy way to do that is to read job descriptions and see what people are putting out there, see what people are talking about, and that'll give you a clue as to what really is in demand.

Michelle Kane (02:09):

Yeah, that's so true. So true. And one of the things we've been thinking about as public relations becomes a more integrated practice, you know, you'll hear it the phrase “integrated marketing and PR.” I mean, that's how I present myself, that's how I came up actually. But even if you don't practice the marketing end - knowing about it, the basics, what's new out there right now, you know, what isn't so new, everything comes around again, or as I always preach to my clients, look, we went from fax blasts to email <laugh>. It's like, it's nothing necessarily new, but you should be familiar with some of the tools and just the basic principles, and there are plenty of resources out there. You don't have to kill yourself to get there.

Karen Swim, APR (03:07):

For sure. I absolutely agree. I was speaking with a PR pro last week that had a good reminder because this professional had said, with all of the social media channels that have popped up since, you know, Twitter has been going through whatever it's been going through <laugh>, there has been a fatigue among all of us, and you just are sick of it. Like you're over it. We join all these things because we're communications professionals, but they had joined Threads immediately and started to play around with it, tested and understand it, and shortly thereafter, a client had sought their counsel on Threads and they were like, I'm so glad that I had actually been there, had gotten the lay of the land and could actually give wise council. So it's things like that, it's being ahead of your clients, right?

And, you know, looking ahead to what you believe, because we're smart people. We have the ability to envision what's going to come and what trends we expect to see. Let that be a factor in what skills you decide to develop. You may decide that there are some skill sets that are worthy of taking certification courses. So maybe it's, you know, a series of workshops over the rest of the summer to get certified in something. Maybe it's something that you want to go and take a class at a, you know, local college, or maybe it's a conference that you want to go to that is going to help you to develop those skill sets, but, you know, be strategic about what you're developing, because I know that many of us love to learn things, and that's great, but we all also had a finite amount of time. So you want to be wise in developing things that are really going to enrich your personal satisfaction in your career, but also increase your value to your clients.

Michelle Kane (05:09):

Yeah, that is so true. And also because I know we've all had this happen at least one time across the span of our careers, when that new shiny thing comes out, and there's the client that's gung-ho and just wants, oh, I saw all about this. I want to be in on the shiny thing now. And

Karen Swim, APR (05:25):

Yeah.

Michelle Kane (05:26):

You know, not that it's the end of the world if you're caught off guard, but it's nice to be able to say, well, <laugh>,

Karen Swim, APR (05:32):

Absolutely. That's the best feeling in the world. Yeah. And I celebrate that particular professional because I love when that happens. But that's who we are as solo PR pros. And, let's not forget, one of the bits of our job is to be able to acquire new skill sets and move into new directions quickly. In other words, we're very agile. And when you're in a traditional type setting, you really don't have the ability to do that. You can't just go off and learn whatever you want and decide to incorporate new things into what you do because you don't have the time. And then it's not like you can go change departments on your own. You can't do that. You have to go through channels. And so I love that about us, is that we can quickly respond to market changes. We see something coming and we can hop on it and learn it. Of course, you know, we can't take about, talk about professional development today without addressing AI.

Michelle Kane (06:32):

Right. Speaking of things to keep track of. And, the essence of that is knowing how to use it, right? Finding out what prompts can serve you well, not just to help you work smarter. Because, and, and I know we've talked about this plenty of times before where it's, at first it felt like cheating, but when you realize that the quality of the output still needs you, it's a huge, huge help. So how can that help you think of new ideas help refine your proposal, help refine your, your strategies, your plants, just so you're not starting from scratch every time?

Karen Swim, APR (07:15):

Yeah. You can use AI to do any number of things, but here's where your value really begins to increase, as well as you learn to use AI for not just the simple, not just for ideation, not just for coming up with maybe some brainstorming headlines or brainstorming content. You start to understand how it works.  And then you begin to understand how to counsel your clients in incorporating AI. Then you're ahead of the game when clients are like, well, can't we just have AI write our blog posts? And then you can counsel them on the strategic way to incorporate AI and how yes, you can have AI be like a little writer's assistant in developing content. So how much of human time and how they can streamline? So put yourself in the position of really learning this tool, understanding what it can and cannot do, understanding the limitations, understanding how to counsel clients through the databases that AI is pulling from the things that they need to check for how they can you, you know, refine AI to really deliver content in their brand voice and aligned with their brand messaging.

So the better you get at it, now you're a strategic counselor in that area too, and you don't have clients coming to you saying, well, can't we just use AI to do PR? Or can't we just use AI to do this? And it's like, yes, you can absolutely use AI as a tool in all of these situations. Here's the best way to do that. And then got them through that, and then bring them into the world. If you were using AI in smart and strategic ways, they're share that with clients. Like, here's what we did. I think that transparency is really important.

Michelle Kane (09:08):

Yeah, absolutely. And you know, I totally appreciate a lot of the reticence against it, but it's here. So you definitely want to be the PR pro who knows about it and knows how to use it, even just a little bit, get your feet wet.

Karen Swim, APR (09:27):

Here is the true reality. We do talk, we have this concern about AI taking away jobs or clients prematurely believing that AI technology can replace a human being. This is not new in the history of mankind. Humanity has evolved. Humanity has developed so many things technologically. So with every new tool there came a new way to do things. Some jobs have gone away. We no longer have certain jobs. We no longer call 411 for information to get someone's phone number. We hit Google when we're looking for a number. We don't even use a phone book. So operators don't exist anymore. And if you watch old movies, you know that there used to be operators that actually had to connect actual calls. They sticking those things into the plugs and connecting one call.

We don't need that anymore. There's something that no longer exists, but with jobs going away, new jobs enter the marketplace. And so it's clear that it's up to us as PR pros to upskill ourselves. Companies need to do this with their workers and present opportunities to upskill them as well and prepare them for future work. But for us, that's our job. And so, not just learn AI a little bit, get good at it, learn ai, learn what you can do with it, push it, you know, check it, you know, you can't break it, but you can really learn a lot. And I would say become really astute. Like I am gobbling up courses, workshops, every information, every time somebody releases prompts, I'm like, okay, that's great. Let me try that. Lemme refine that because I don't want to be left behind.

Here's the other area of AI though, that doesn’t get talked about a lot. Learn about the ethical consideration so that you are able to, with confidence, guide your clients in its use. There are some things that I'm seeing that are frightening, and I feel that communicators and professionals need to advocate against those types of uses and we need to stand up for perfect example is what's happening in Hollywood now with studios wanting Yeah. The forever rights to someone's image. This hits intellectual property issues, copyright issues and just power, you know, the power of, you're taking away the power of people to earn a living. So I think there are so many things in this area that if, if this is an area of passion for you, ethics is one of my passions. Become well-versed and what's happening in this, in this area of technology. And you can, again, use this in your client work or in your personal branding work.

Michelle Kane (12:39):

That's so true. So true. It's here, so get good at it. Do yourself a favor. It's kind of fun. I know I'm weird, but whatever.

Karen Swim, APR (12:49):

I mean, here are some other things that you might not be thinking about. Maybe you are bilingual or trilingual and maybe your language skillset sets have fallen by the wayside. Practice your non-native language because

Michelle Kane (13:04):

Oh, I like it.

Karen Swim, APR (13:05):

Especially if you’re thinking about moving into different markets. And you know, one of the things that we can do when there's economic turbulence in a region is that we can just deliver business in other regions.

Michelle Kane (13:17):

Yeah, that's true.

Karen Swim, APR (13:18):

Maybe you serve a local market, but maybe now you're going out into a different demographic. Maybe you're only US. And are there opportunities that, for example, in other countries that you're missing out on. So, your language skills could be another professional development thing that you do that allows you to now open up and grow your business in a different area.

Michelle Kane (13:40):

That's a great idea. And another thing that I know we've talked about, but it doesn't come to mind right away when you think professional development, is that we are all business owners, so brushing up on our business owner skills, spend time with other entrepreneurs. I have to tell you, our local chamber recently had a forum where it was four founders, business owners, and they just shared their story. And three out of the four, I was nodding my head thining, oh my gosh, you two really, you know, like, oh, we started out and it was dodgy and well, this, that and the other. We weren't sure, but we learned and we did, and blah, blah, blah. Try and seek out those kinds of forums. I'm sure there are Ted Talks or things online, or if you want to hear this one hit up, indianvalleychamber.com, it's on their YouTube page.

It was people from totally different industries, but they all had the same experience when they were starting. And also talking about kind of like how it started, how it's going. Spend time with other business owners and learn from each other. That's where, you know, sometimes we silo ourselves in our PR and marketing worlds. And of course we have to keep up with our industry, but spending more time, you know, what's the word? Horizontally across different spheres of professions is going to help you as well.

Karen Swim, APR (15:07):

That really excites me, Michelle, because you're right, business acumen is another skill that is worth developing. You know, I, like you, I also try to put myself in the room with people that are further along that are smarter than me always about business and really looking at, you know, my financial management of my business and, you know, really seeking to improve, like really starting to look more closely at like profitability, getting better at me, you know, how I measure success and getting better at managing and being a CEO. Those are skillsets. That's professional development as well. And also the soft skills of business. You know, yes, we're all communicators, but guess what? Learning, upping your speaking game, becoming a better public speaker, becoming a better writer. These are things that I know that we do, but we are, we should always be learning. We should always be growing and developing. None of us will ever reach perfection. So there's always room to go to grow. So don't forget about the things that you might be taking for granted. I know that we're great writers. I know that we're great communicators, but it doesn't mean that we can't get better.

Michelle Kane (16:25):

Yeah. And I know for me, I have to tell myself this, you know, ask someone out to lunch. If it's someone that you know is doing something in business that you really admire or you think you might be able to learn from, everyone's got to eat. Even though, no lie, I'm usually doing the desk picnic, which isn't the best thing in the world. <Laugh>.

Karen Swim, APR (16:47):

I love just meeting with people. And you know, sometimes it's been by Zoom, but I will tell you in was that last month, I'm getting my months mixed up, but at some point I got to talk to a bunch of solo PR pros in a single month.

Michelle Kane (17:03):

Yes. I remember that.

Karen Swim, APR (17:05):

It was amazing. I was so inspired. I was also very tired because I had some other stuff going on and then I got really behind in work. But I was so inspired by everyone that I spoke with and it really gave me motivation as well. I was there to listen and to encourage, but I got as much as I gave and may and I would say even more. And so don't discount getting together even with another solo. And if you live far apart, do it over Zoom. I am going to try and organize some Zoom network meetings in the fall. I'm going to need August to recover <laugh> <laugh> have a little summer downtime. Plus we're working on some new programs for Solo. But yeah, talk to people. It's, you would be surprised at what a boost it is because I think in this post-Covid era and whatever times we're living in right now, it's easy to forget that we've hit a little bit of a comfort level and we're in a groove. And you may be going back to in-person conferences, but we're saying even on a smaller scale, just grabbing somebody and saying, you know, let's have coffee over Zoom, or Let's meet for coffee. Let's meet for lunch. Let's take a walk together and chat.

Michelle Kane (18:28):

Yeah. I think that's so important. Well, we hope we've inspired you today. Tickled your brain a little bit. Got you thinking about new and different ways that you can work on your professional development. And if you do value this, please share it around, share it on your socials. Hit us up with your comments at soloprpro.com. And until next time, thank you for listening to That Solo Life.

 

”Hi, Barbie!” A PR Pro Pop Culture Check-in

It’s a “Barbenheimer” world and in this episode we talk about the savvy and work that went into this massively successful campaign. We also touch on what’s going on with the platform formerly known as Twitter (it’s still Twitter to us).

 

Transcript

Michelle Kane (00:02):

Thank you for joining us for this episode of That Solo Life, the podcast for PR pros and marketers who work for themselves like me, Michelle Kane of VoiceMatters, and my wonderful co-host, Karen Swim of Solo PR Pro. Hey, Karen, how are you? Or should I say, “Hi, Barbie?”

Karen Swim, APR (00:19):

<Laugh>. I don't know what Barbie I am today. Hi Michelle. How are you doing today?

Michelle Kane (00:26):

I am Holding It Together Barbie today. <Laugh>,

Karen Swim, APR (00:30):

I might be, I'm, you know, I think saying Not Sure What Barbie I Am Today is probably pretty accurate for most days of the week for me lately.

Michelle Kane (00:40):

Oh, I hear you. I hear you. It's, I don't know why. I'm always surprised when I'm surprised by how days can unfold <laugh>.

Karen Swim, APR (00:48):

Yes. This summer has been particularly eventful for, for most people. I'm finding it's not just, just PR pros. In my past, in my past PR life, <laugh>, summer is always a quiet time.

Michelle Kane (01:05):

Yeah. No more

Karen Swim, APR (01:07):

I don't know. I don't know anything anymore. I don't know if it's going to hail or snow or rain in the middle of August. I don't know. I just don't know. So that's the way that I approach my days these days.

Michelle Kane (01:23):

Exactly.

Karen Swim, APR (01:24):

Optimism, knowing that anything could happen. And you know what? We used to say, when pigs fly, and now that just doesn't even seem out of the realm of possibility

Michelle Kane (01:35):

I hear that might be being worked on. Who knows? I'm sure <laugh> No, sure. <Laugh>.

Karen Swim, APR (01:40):

Elon Musk is figuring that out.

Michelle Kane (01:42):

Oh, goodness. I'm sure he is. So, as you might've guessed, today's episode, we're just going to do a pop culture PR check-in because as this is airing, this will hit right after the second weekend of Barbenheimer. So I don't know if many of you have seen either Barbie or Oppenheimer, but there's a lot to admire about the PR that's gone into it and just, there's just a lot of points to consider, especially through the PR lens. I mean, first of all, that even though I know personally and across the board it's been really challenging to get people to engage in the way they did in the before times, especially in-person events, things like that. Just because our priorities have shifted, our time, the way we spend our time has changed. Anyway, all that to say, in the midst of all that, a ton of people went back to the movie theater. To either Barbie or Oppenheimer, they’re smashing records. So it's pretty amazing. And unless you've, you know, truly been checking out this summer, and if you have good for you it's kind of hard to miss any of the promotion for either Barbie or Oppenheimer. And I have a pretty low, low bar for being annoyed by this kind of thing, and I'm not annoyed yet. So they must be doing something right, <laugh>.

Karen Swim, APR (03:12):

Yeah. I think from a PR perspective, and many PR professionals have noted this on social media, that this was really a masterclass in a great execution of a campaign. So a couple of things that stood out to me from the communication side for Barbie in particular is that number one, it just reinforces what we as PR pros know to be true. That having a strategic plan that is comprehensive and robust and the time to be able to execute that plan means everything. Because this did not come together in months. This was a plan that rolled out over a long period of time, and it was a campaign that incorporated not just that lever of earned media, it was paid, it was the PESO formula. It’s beautifully done. It also stood out to me that going into the planning of the messaging, they understood that there were people that don't like Barbie. Maybe not passionate activists against Barbie but the people that just don't like Barbie or have an issue with it. And rather than trying to navigate around that, they leaned into that and considered that their audience as well and developed messaging that embraced the detraction. And I thought, beautifully done, because sometimes we want to avoid, you know, the “antis” <laugh>. Right. And rather than doing that, they fully embraced that. And I thought that that was genius.

Michelle Kane (05:07):

Yeah. They really did. I mean, even for those who have not seen the film, I won't reveal a whole lot. But there's definitely the acknowledgement that Barbie is somewhat problematic.

Karen Swim, APR (05:20):

Yes.

Michelle Kane (05:21):

But as anything, many things are full of shades of gray. And what I thought was incredible was that even though Barbie's a Warner Brothers film, Oppenheimer, I believe is with Universal, they played well together. I mean, they're building on the whole Barbenheimer of it all. What sticks out to me, like you said, with this long game, I mean, it started with the set photos of Ryan Gosling and Margot Robbie in their full on neon roller blades, to make people take notice. And that was, gosh, easily, at least a year ago, to make us say, “Oh my, what is that? Oh, so this is how it's going to come together. Okay. I'm intrigued…” and just, then go about our lives. But even, I don't know if you saw the photos of I think it was Margot Robbie and Greta Gerwig at the movies holding their tickets for Oppenheimer. And then, everyone was kind of returning the favor of I got my tickets to Barbie of I just, that collegiality that built up, “Hey, you know, we're all in this together” and “There's enough room for everyone.” Let's, you know, as the little jingle says, let's all go to the movies <laugh>.

Karen Swim, APR (06:34):

I think the first trailer was, it was a weird one for Barbie. And they didn't realize that it would be so popular. In full disclosure, I have not seen the movie. Yet. So, my discussion about this is purely from looking at it from the comms perspective, and what I've read and what I've seen on the story behind how this all came together. I know that this was a well-executed campaign because I’m actually planning on going to see a movie that I probably never would've planned to see. Because there's something special about having this environment again, of the summer blockbuster and having everyone talking about it, because let's face it, with streaming, you know, there's a pocket of people that may talk about something, but it's not the same as when something grabs hold of the culture and people are dressing up and they're excited. And I'm here for it. I love it. I'm so glad. This makes me very happy.

Michelle Kane (07:53):

Yeah. And it shows that we can have those experiences again, where everyone is, let's say most everyone, is excited about gathering together and just really getting involved or getting caught up in the excitement of it all. So that's been encouraging and it's just been a fun ride all around just to see how this has rolled out and to see how it continues to. And it also speaks to another thing that we are hungry for - original stories. I mean, certainly, you know, Oppenheimer's a real person, Barbie's a doll, but, you know, just refreshing to see something that doesn't have a “part six” at the end of it. I think we might be at the end of those rides, but who knows? What do I know? I'm not a studio executive.

Karen Swim, APR (08:41):

You know what I love? So yes, Barbie has been problematic as a child. It wasn't necessarily problematic for me. There were issues that even I, as a small child realized playing with my Barbies, and I gravitated towards, you know, my personality  gravitated not towards Barbie and Ken, but you know, towards Skipper, who no one remembers. But over the years, obviously as I became an adult,  I really began to have issues with it. And what I kind of love about this, and this segues into something else we can't avoid talking about, is that the Barbie brand has evolved over the years. And they've evolved their brand in a way that was acceptable to their audiences and they attracted new audiences. It was exciting to me to listen to one of the teens on my street and see her bouncy, happy about wanting to go see Barbie and her knowing Barbie from the cartoons.

But they didn't, you know, they didn't run away from the problematic past. This is part of the whole story of Barbie, and they understood that Barbie's embedded in our cultural discussions, it's an icon. They didn't rebrand arbitrarily. They could have done that. Mattel could have created something else and just steered away from Barbie in the problematic era, but instead they did not do that. I'm going to say that in my opinion, that's the smarter way versus Elon Musk and Twitter running from their problematic past. And I don't know if that was the motivation and rebranding something that it has been such an important icon in our history. Twitter is Twitter. We grew up with the Twitter bird, with the Twitter sounds, the bird sounds, it's has meaning, it has cultural significance, good, bad, ugly. I'm not quite sure why this company would lean away from what has been such an important institution for people and one that's recognizable.

Can we just talk about brand recognition? It's baffling. Why would you change the name? Which to me feels like a personal, very egotistical thing in that here's a person who names his children these, so it feels like this was personal and not a brand decision, which completely disregards your audience that it's there, or at least to win back and you have an opportunity to win back new fans. You really do, because no one has replaced Twitter as of today. There are lots of other social media platforms they're not catching on in the same way. There's still something different about Twitter, although people are now not participating there, myself included, because it's a trash platform. But I just, you know, just to contrast, here's a company that did it right and owned the failures and mistakes and went through some really hard times where they were really not the beloved brand, but they didn't change their name and forget they didn't try to trick their audience. Like, Hey, we're this now <laugh>.

Michelle Kane (12:22):

Yeah. I mean, I'm seeing a couple of things. The, the first is, and forgive me, I forget the reporter's name, but he brought to light that this is not Elon's first rodeo with trying to rename something “X” apparently when in 2000, when he was leading PayPal, he wanted to do the same thing and he wanted to make it almost like in in Asia where they have the WeChat, he wants this “X” to be an all-purpose thing. And it's like, okay, well even if that's your intent, what sense does it make to completely trash the running thing you bought, decimate your staff? I mean, there's something off there that we all know, once you get into that stratosphere of being a billionaire, you're not making rational decisions. And the other disturbing trend is, I was just reading comments of a thread of people pointing out this very thing, this doesn't make sense. It's not good business. It got you in trouble before, it got you ousted before. And yet there's still the fan base of “Oh no. Secretly he is the super genius that knows what he's doing. You just wait and see.”

Karen Swim, APR (13:32):

And not to take anything away from Elon Musk, he is brilliant. Let let's just be clear on that. No one is disputing his intelligence.

Michelle Kane (13:51):

I am…<laughs>

Karen Swim, APR (13:52):

What I am contrasting is that I feel like this particular business decision is, it's just a bad decision. And it's not something from a communication standpoint that any of us in this audience would ever have said, sure, let's do that. Because there's no reasoning behind it. And again, as public relations professionals, part of our job is protecting our publics. And I feel like this really dismisses your publics and I'm totally not sure that it's going to lead to the ultimate goal of winning back advertisers or having people want to pay a premium to use this service. I think it just continues to drive away. And maybe that's the goal. Maybe it's to drive away all of the old users and turn this into a political platform that is very much focused on one political party or one political point of view, and have it be all brand new. And, and if that's the goal, then have at it, you know?

Michelle Kane (14:49):

Yeah.

Karen Swim, APR (14:50):

Go, do you, be you. But I certainly am not spending any money on this platform, and I'm barely spending time there. Pop in there. Yeah. On occasion, because it's, it's a habit that's hard to break.

Michelle Kane (15:05):

Yeah. Yeah. I mean it's, it just, it makes no sense from a real nuts and bolts, let's do real business point of view. It just doesn't, and you're right. It dismisses anything that makes sense from a communications standpoint. So I don't know. I mean, we're we're definitely not on the same page as they are, maybe not even on the same bookshelf as they are. So it's just interesting to watch. And I didn't know anything about the whole PayPal thing until I read that article.

Karen Swim, APR (15:37):

Now, let's be honest, on a smaller scale for we communicators, this has happened to us with clients. We have clients that have wanted to change the name of the company or have a brand new logo for absolutely zero reason at all. And so, I can only imagine, I don’t know if there are any comms people left at Twitter, but clearly not. And so, again, for us to do our jobs well, and if there are any non-PR people in this audience, and you are thinking of engaging with PR people for us to do our jobs well, it really requires for you to trust our strategic counsel, our expertise, and understand that if we're saying no to you, it's not because we are trying to limit your vision. It's not because we are not visionary ourselves.

It's not because we don't like you. It's because we do have our eye on the big picture. But our picture includes your publics, it includes your brand equity, it includes the reputation of your company. And so we're taking a long view and a broader view than you might be looking, and you may have a different vision, but it's worthwhile to have that discussion and not just pull the plug on something without having your comms team involved and having you guys come to a point of alignment. I mean, trust the people that you have hired and take their advice. Sometimes you're still going to go off and do what you want to do. I get that. I've dealt with this too, where companies just changed the name and you have either come in after they just did it, and you're like, “Why?”

Michelle Kane (17:32):

Mm-Hmm. <Affirmative>

Karen Swim, APR (17:34):

Or you are unable to move them off of what they want to do, and so left to their own devices, people will change the name sometimes.

Michelle Kane (17:50):

Oh yeah.

Karen Swim, APR (17:51):

I have engaged with companies where they already have a new name, and it’s a name that's so hard to SEO and so hard to monitor. Sometimes companies choose names that are simple, but they're so simple that they get confused with like a million other things. And so it fails the SEO value, or it's unique and weirdly spelled, and then it's hard for anybody to find. So, you know, these are things that we all think about.

Michelle Kane (18:16):

Yeah. We're not in here to be Debbie Downer. We are communications pros. We're not just here to blow out your messaging. We're here to consider how you are perceived and look out for you on all those points. I've had that too. And sometimes it takes, sometimes it does come around in a couple of years where if a certain aspect of something has been branded and named and I've counseled and said, you know, that's going to make your, your, your potential audience think too much. They're not exactly going to understand. It's not going to be perceived as you wish with everyone who sees it. And at the end of the day, it's going to be confusing. So sometimes, if it's not an earth shattering decision and the whole company's not going to tank as a result, let it play out. And eventually it comes around to, oh, that wasn't working. Interesting. Okay, let's try this. <Laugh>,

Karen Swim, APR (19:21):

I mean,

Michelle Kane (19:22):

Yeah,

Karen Swim, APR (19:22):

Facebook just did it, right? They became Meta,

Michelle Kane (19:27):

Yeah, <laugh>,

Karen Swim, APR (19:27):

But it's still called Facebook. It's still called Instagram by Meta. Yeah. But it just, X puts me in mind of XFiles, <laugh>

Michelle Kane (19:38):

And then there’s this little thing of Microsoft owning the, is it the patent or the trademark for “X”?

Karen Swim, APR (19:46):

Yes. And it's a black and white logo. Like Okay. The Twitter bird was iconic. Twitter was iconic. Yeah. We're not going to say whatever he wants to call tweets. It's a definite contrast to the, you know, colorful neon, fashion forward Barbie and their whole message and the Barbie brand. So good on you.

Michelle Kane (20:25):

Kudos.

Karen Swim, APR (20:26):

I mean, this is to me like what you would submit an award for, because they really did the doggone thing. And while we also know that I love this interview, and I believe it was Vanity Fair where the comms person shared that, “I've been doing this for 35 years and this level, like of success has never happened.” I love that he was transparent about that, because once again, we have people that see successes, you know, in the areas that we play in.

Michelle Kane (20:56):

Oh yeah.

Karen Swim, APR (20:57):

They want to duplicate it. So they say, “oh, well they were on TikTok, so let's go on TikTok.” And then they jump to these shiny new tools and they want to do stuff. And then they're like, “well, why isn't this working?” Or they'll, they're like, “well, wow, look, so-and-so was in the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal, and okay, let's go there.”

Michelle Kane (21:14):

Yeah.

Karen Swim, APR (21:15):

But do you have anything to say, really? Are you, do you think that that's what really got them to what you're seeing? Because there's a whole lot of things that happen in the background that you don't know about. Let's talk about those things.

Michelle Kane (21:31):

Yeah, exactly. Exactly. And, I love that they said that too, because it's true. And I'm sure that at the time when they were scoping this out, they were hopeful, but they definitely did not have certainty that it would play out the way it did.

Karen Swim, APR (21:49):

No one could have predicted when this movie came out, where we would be in our collective consciousness - that we are turned out, we're tired, we haven't had a lot of fun. Life is life and really hard. And so there was a little bit of magic and a little bit of luck, right? And we know that that's happened to even other viral campaigns that weren't on this level but were tremendously successful. Sometimes there's just a little bit of fortune that favors you. However, what's that saying? Fortune favors the prepared, they came and they brought their A game. And they did a really great job. And so yes, there was a little bit of fortune, but they were prepared for that.

Michelle Kane (22:38):

You know what's going to happen? This is my prediction. Twitter is going to be renamed Barbie <laugh> since it's popular, without regard for patents or copyrights.

Karen Swim, APR (22:52):

Because it's popular, bright and shiny, Elon Musk would immediately <laugh> put the hammer to that. It's not a mathematical formula. I'm thinking that he's going to be like, no.

Michelle Kane (23:09):

Oh, well, yeah. Right, right. Exactly. Well, the new alleged name for tweets, “xeet,” I guess X E E T. Yeah. when I saw it in print, it just made me think, being a Philly suburban girl, it made me think of our slang for “Did you eat yet?” Is “jeet” J E E T <laugh> I was like, jeet? Oh, what? Is Elon asking if I ate already. What? Oh, okay. Whatever. Next tweet.

Karen Swim, APR (23:34):

Already I'm an ex tweeter.

Michelle Kane (23:39):

I tell you, I think I'm

Karen Swim, APR (23:39):

officially an ex tweeter, so don't look for me there. <Laugh>.

Michelle Kane (23:44):

Yeah. I certainly don't spend as much time as I used to, which is, it's a bummer because it brought so much to our world. But you know, what do they say? The only thing constant is change. So there you have it.

So we hope you've enjoyed spending this little time with us, checking on some pop culture things, maybe encouraging you to get in line, buy some popcorn, and enjoy some cinema therapy, as I like to call it. But whatever you choose, we hope you value this content. And if you do, please share it around. Please follow us on all the Solo PR channels. And until next time, thanks for listening to That Solo Life.

What the Writers Strike Means for All of Us

The issues and circumstances that led to the current writers and actors strikes -- with corporations devaluing the creativity, expertise, and contribution of workers – mirrors what is going on in the larger labor market, whether you work as a traditional employee or self-employed. In this episode we talk about how this touches our solo PR world and what to do about it.

 

Transcript

Michelle Kane:

Thank you for joining us for this episode of That Solo Life, the podcast for PR pros and marketers who work for themselves, people like me, Michelle Kane, with VoiceMatters and my ever wonderful co-host, Karen Swim of Solo PR Pro. Hi Karen. How goes it today?

Karen Swim, APR:

Hello, Michelle. I'm doing good. How are you?

Michelle Kane:

Good, good. Rolling along. Can't believe we are looking at the end of July. It is wild. Ugh.

Karen Swim, APR:

Wild is a huge understatement. Yes, I am very much looking forward to getting on the other side of this and hopefully recapturing in August as a little bit of me time.

Michelle Kane:

I agree, and that's usually how it goes. I don't know why I am surprised that I'm feeling this way because just the way the work cycle goes, there are things happening, things going on, and why everyone's out and about, you know, hanging out on the beach and enjoying the boardwalk and things. And I'm just like, yeah, yeah, yeah. Later, later, later. And then by the time I'm there in August and September, they're all, back to school. I'm like, stinks to be you, <laugh>.

Karen Swim, APR:

Well, you know, it's interesting because in my industries that I work with, typically this is a quiet time. Everybody is on holiday, they're away. And summer is quiet and then it ramps up hard in September.  This year, you and I have joked and I said that I feel like my life is a grocery cart running, going downhill, and I'm chasing after it, and I just can't run fast enough or long enough to catch it. I just can’t. I've never been so far behind in stuff. There are people that have emailed me that I haven't answered. If you're listening today, sorry, it's not personal. It's just I can't catch up. And every day I go back and I do something that I'm neglected. Okay, that's one of the hundred things that's hanging out there, but yay <laugh>,

Michelle Kane:

It has been a little bit like that. Yeah. I think just the way certain projects have happened, there were a couple that I thought, oh my goodness, you know, when is this going to happen? And now it's like, Ugh, now what's happening?

Karen Swim, APR:

Now it's happening and now it's blinking on and on and on. That's another part of the story. It's like, can we just end this? Like, is this ever going to be over? Are we ever going to be done with this?

Michelle Kane:

Yeah, I know. I know. But then I also know that me personally, like, yes, I like summer, but I also like summer spaces <laugh> not during peak season. So I'm definitely a spring and fall summer girl, if that makes sense. Like catch me in May, catch me in September, then I'm ready to do Summer.

Karen Swim, APR:

<Laugh>. I'll tell you, I'll take summer whenever, however I can get it. It'll be nice to just have days where the weather is decent, it's not storming, and we can actually outside. I don’t know. That would be my ideal day.

Michelle Kane:

I think that is a big part of it, because where we both live, Canada keeps blowing smoke in our faces and that's an issue as well.

Karen Swim, APR:

Now we're stuck indoors. Any new TV shows?

Michelle Kane:

Yes. So actually our point, we did not just come here to moan about our to-do lists or the weather, but as I'm sure most, if not all, of our listeners know, there are a couple of strikes happening. Certainly the WGA, the writers have been on strike since May and now SAG/Aftra, the actors, have joined them in solidarity and they bring some very important points to the table about compensation and the value of their work so we're going to talk about that and also about how this affects some of us, because certainly a lot of comms pros work in the industry or even work in segments that intersect with the industry that a complete work stoppage is certainly affecting. But you know, the SAG/Aftra union is bringing to the fore the issue of it, basically, it's not the 2%. It's not Tom Cruise that's suffering, it's the working actors, the, I forget, what did they say? Is it 13% of their union qualifies for health insurance?

Karen Swim, APR:

Which I mean, so yeah. Let's frame this.

Michelle Kane:

Yeah.

Karen Swim, APR:

So even though these are unionized workers, I think the broader issues hit the entire labor market including people like us solos, because at the core of this is how do you value people and the creative and intellectual talent that they bring to the supply chain of their output. And there's such a huge disparity when you see - so writers have to earn $26,000 in order to qualify for healthcare. So just keep that in mind. $26,000, that seems like a very small number. So you have that, but then you have these heads of studios making 192 million. They definitely have healthcare and all of the benefits, and I'm not, this is not a rant against millionaires, but it is something that we're seeing play out across the spectrum. And when you throw automation into it, which is a part of their negotiations as well, they want to be protected from -  I would label it as the unethical and inhumane use of artificial intelligence because I'm a technology fan, I love innovation, but innovation is not a replacement for human beings. It's something that can help human beings to work more effectively. And yes, there are some jobs that will go away, but other jobs will be created. We've seen that over history. However, we PR people are also creative people. How many of us recently have had people believe that our work or expertise doesn't deserve, first of all, the amount of money that we charge, they don't see the value. And then how many of them are replacing the writing portion of our jobs? You're thinking that they can replace the writing portion with AI. So the writers are standing against this, but it's this mentality that scares me because you have things like the actors, one of the things that came up in the actors strike is that studios wanted extras to sign away the rights to their images for life forever in perpetuity.

Michelle Kane:

For $200. For $200. Yeah.

Karen Swim, APR:

And in many cases it's less than $200. So you have an extra that goes onto a set. And if you've never been an extra, it's a fascinating experience, particularly if you're trying to break into the industry. Yeah. If you want to break into the film industry being an extra yields, tremendous benefits, it's like, it's akin to internships where you get to be in this environment in which you want to work. You learn things, you learn about the different roles. You learn about how the set works for writers. This also is happening where you're taking away this environment of learning and development because with the writers, they have these things called mini rooms, which means that those writers are not even getting to interact with the rest of the show. So they're not getting to interact in a way that traditionally writers' rooms have happened. And so you're limiting their ability to see the whole picture and to learn and to grow professionally. And so,

Michelle Kane:

Yeah. And to do good work because if you have a room full of 12 writers of varying degrees of seniority, I mean that's where the good stuff happens. If you have your four core senior writers and oh, okay the others are going to come in on Thursday…

Karen Swim, APR:

Yeah. Well the mini rooms just happen within a bubble. They're not interacting with all of the people that the traditional writing rooms get to interact with. And you're not learning about the things, of how your content works on set. And so, again, this is not just about diminishing it, it is diminishing it, it's a value proposition, but it also is bumping up against fear and greed from a certain sector. And we're seeing that play across corporate America as well as people focus on dollars and cents, are they devaluing what humans bring to the table, the creativity and the intellect that we have to offer. And so, you know, I think that, that we all have to be aware of, yes, this is a union, whatever you think about unions, whatever you think about Hollywood. But these issues mirror what's going on in the larger labor market. And yeah, anything that happens in the labor market is going to affect every human being whether you work as a traditional employee or you're self-employed as we are.

Michelle Kane:

Yeah, it's true. It's true. And you know what? Those that are making these, what I would call shortsighted decisions, if they pull back and realize, okay, that might make your next couple of quarters really sing and look fantastic, but how's this going to work for you 10 years down the road, 20 years down the, down the road when people don't want your product because it's not any good? And you know, I'm sure the few at the top, they're like, well, I'll just hang out on my yacht and it'll be fine. But it's,

Karen Swim, APR:

Yeah,

Michelle Kane:

I don't know. I mean,

Karen Swim, APR:

Imagine, as a viewer you are watching a TV show and it was filmed in Hawaii and you see the extras and you know, two months later you see that same exact scene manipulated by AI and like five other things. Is that fair to viewers? I mean, I think that viewers, you're also diminishing the intelligence of the people who watch these things, who consume your content. We are not stupid. We notice those things. And you know what? Extras, even though I sort of hate that name of extras, because I think acting happens without words as well, I think that they're vital to creating and setting a mood and a tone. We look at all those things. We notice it, we appreciate the depth and breadth of the, the entire creative process. And it is meaningful. So to somehow chop that up and say, it doesn't matter, we can just AI our way into this or we can AI our script.

Michelle Kane:

Yeah.

Karen Swim, APR:

Because machines are not human beings. And they can crank out words, but they can't crank out nuances, emotions, and personal experiences. If you've ever read articles about how scripts came together, about how ideas came together, about how an actor was in the moment and created something that wasn't on script, AI cannot do that. Oftentimes people developed entire series based on personal experiences or they bring something to their life, or you're in the writer's room and somebody goes, Hey, how about this? And then that, that reality makes its way into the creative process. Can AI do that? No, because AI is not a living being who's interacting with other human beings and has that to bring to the table. So yes, it's helpful in circumstances.

Michelle Kane:

Right. Case in point. So, the new Indiana Jones movie. They used AI to create a younger version of Harrison Ford. However, it was still Harrison Ford, 80-year-old Harrison Ford doing the acting. They had the luxury of having a catalog of all of his reactions from all of his films that he had done with that same studio. So, I don’t know if you've seen him describe this, he said, they put the little dots all over his face and he still did the dialogue. But then they did the magic using him. So that's a great use of AI that came in really handy. It kept you in the story. What would not be cool is if they took that whole catalog of Harrison Ford and brought him back as Han Solo in a hundred years. And I guarantee he would probably haunt them. <Laugh>. Yeah. That's the last thing he would want. And honestly, it's just like you said, it's so cringy and unethical.

Karen Swim, APR:

Yeah. Imagine this, imagine that they did use this to create the next Indiana Jones movie and they paid him zero or they sent him a check for 4 cents. Because lots of actors and writers are receiving checks, residual checks for 4 cents. It costs more to mail the check than what you're receiving when you get something for 23 cents, 27 cents. Don't believe me. Go on social media. Follow the WGA strike hashtag and you'll get lots of information on the writers strike. So imagine as a public relations person, as communicators, we often write things. Can you imagine like somebody using you one time for something and then taking your work and profiting from it over and over and over and over and over again, rather than hiring you. Maybe they throw a bone your way and say, “Oh, we're going to send you 10 cents.” Because that's what they think it's worth.

Michelle Kane:

Yeah. I think recently Mandy Moore said that for a streamed episode of This Is Us, an incredibly popular, profitable show. Don't quote me on it. I mean, it was under a dime.

So that is literally what they're renegotiating. They just want to be paid fairly. And I get it, we're in capitalism. The CEOs are beholden to their shareholders. They're beholden to make their shareholders richer. You'll still get rich shareholders, you will still get rich. In fact, you might get richer if you fund these creatives in a way. Yeah. I mean, let's face it, I think Tom Cruise in the last two years, and he's not my favorite person but in the last two years, he has been leading the way to get people back into movie theaters to keep that business going. Why? Because he knows it's good for everybody. And if they can't realize this, that funding good, creative content is in their long-term best interest, then that's just really sad and unfortunate.

Karen Swim, APR:

Well, another unfortunate trend that we're seeing play out in the labor market, and you know, again, this hits our industry as well, is that this, this reluctance to present people with professional development opportunities and kind of easing out those entry level people. So we're seeing this with the many writers rooms and not giving people a chance to advance their career. We're seeing it with the actors and the background actors. We also are seeing this in corporate America where people new to the workforce are not receiving training on how to work. All of these things, this is the same issue, played out differently across various industries. We need people entering professions. The reality of our life right now is that there are more open jobs than there are people to fill them. The entire global workforce has aged. There's a map out there somewhere that shows how this aging population impacts the entire workforce.

We're getting older, the median age of US workers has risen. And so if we're not willing to train and we're not willing to give opportunities to people entering our professions, where does that leave us in the future? That's a little crazy. And it says to me, is this where we are right now? So we don't want to pay the people that have the experience. We want to take whatever we can from them. And then we want to, you know, use AI to like cover it up and do other things. But we also don't want to help people to do what we do. Like there's, there's a disconnect there. This is all going to come back and slap us.

Michelle Kane:

Bite us. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, and you know, at both ends of the spectrum, I think there's ageism at both ends of the spectrum. And what I'm seeing a lot is people applying for what they are told are full-time jobs and then once they're hired, they're only given part-time hours. Well, there goes their opportunity for health insurance, there goes their opportunity to make their living. I'm not saying it's all corporations, but some of the corporations who are bemoaning the fact that people don't want to work, well, they do want to work, they want to be able to provide for themselves. And I'm pretty sure even if you don't love your job, you still like the feeling of contributing to society even if you don't realize it. So if they're not provided the proper platform, like you say, with proper training, and that could be as simple as we know, Karen, everyone's talking about Gen Z, they don't know how to operate in an office. Well maybe, just maybe, you need to start a program to help that, to help nurture them, nurture their intelligence, you know, nurture the gifts that they bring to you. And if you say you're looking for full-time, hire them for full-time.

Karen Swim, APR:

The reality is I think that we need to, we as communicators also need to make sure that we're not playing into that narrative. And we don't allow companies to play that narrative because it's actually, it's erroneous. Gen Z, how do you learn to work unless people teach you to work, they don't teach you how to work in school. Education does not do that. No, education does not teach you how to live your life. Education does not teach you those subtle nuances about how to conduct meetings or how to participate in meetings or how to engage with your coworkers. Those are things that you learn on the job. And so I have seen a couple companies that are stepping up and coming up with training programs that are teaching these soft skills to younger workers. Unfortunately that's not being normalized. And it’s to all of our detriment that there's not this investment in the next generation of workers.

Because if we're not teaching them, how would they learn? They come up with their own rules that may not match what your expectations are. And then you get mad and you say, well, Gen Z's lazy. Well, they're really not. Maybe, maybe they're onto something. Maybe they're not willing because they live through the Covid years and they see how quickly our lives can shift. Maybe they're not willing to work 12 hours a day in an office. Is that being lazy or is that being smart? Maybe they've decided that, you know what? Work cannot be the number one thing in my life. It is a part of my life, but I also have this other life that I'm going to tend to. Is that being lazy or is that being balanced? So I think we're unfair to them as well. And, we hold some responsibility for that, which, you know, that whole generational thing is a topic that we'll delve into at some point on this podcast.

But today it's all about workers' rights and how this is shifting and how it really does impact us. And from a practical standpoint that everyone can find accessible. What happens when the content creators go away? Because fall TV now has officially already been disrupted. So enjoy those reality shows and reruns because that's all we're going to have for a while. And you know, if you don't have people making movies, promoting movies, entertainment is going to stink. And, and that's going to affect jobs. I mean, yeah. I have friends that work on moving construction sets. They build sets. There's no movie making happening right now. They're not working. What about the people who clean the costumes? What about the food caterers? They're not working either. What about all of these people who normally buy things that can't buy things because they are not working? This is everyone's issue. And I know sometimes people get caught up in numbers, like, actors make so much money. Yeah. They really don't.

Michelle Kane:

Oh, they don't. And I'm glad to see those that are out there stating that fact that yeah, we're the, we are the lucky few.

Karen Swim, APR:

Yeah.

Michelle Kane:

And you know, even with the AI stuff, if they're trying to pull this with us, what chance do those who aren't at this point in their careers, what chance do they have? There's definitely going to be a ripple effect. And you know, look, unions have done a lot of good, they're not perfect. But if you enjoy your five day work week, thank your union. If you enjoy weekends, thank your union. Someone's got to draw the line because if we did not have them drawing the line, trust, the rest of non-unionized corporate America would be far worse than it is.

Karen Swim, APR:

Yeah, and the math is Right. Whether those people are in the union or not, giving a voice to these issues that I think we all need to be aware of. And I think one of the key things for us as communicators is understanding and protecting our own intellectual property. And standing strong for the value that we deliver. Because I honestly do see this, this environment that we're in currently that is wholly focused on economics with a shortsighted view to the value of communicators. So you see companies that you know, and this happens in economic downturns. What are the first departments to go? Marketing and communication. And we know that's problematic. Companies don't care. They only care about how those numbers look right now and moving forward for the future. And they, I think that at some levels of the company, they realize the steps back that they will take, but it's a risk that they're willing to accept. But again, our profession is also being devalued and media is definitely going through dramatic shifts as well. And so I feel like these issues that apply to Hollywood writers also touch the journalists that we interact with.

Michelle Kane:

Yeah, absolutely. Well, we've given you a ton to chew on this week. So we hope you found this time valuable. And please, we want to hear your feedback. Visit us at soloprpro.com. Hit us up. If you found this of value to you, please share it around. We would love that too. We love spending this time with you. And so until next time, thanks for listening to That Solo Life.

 

Let’s Talk About It: Race and Inclusivity

As communications professionals and as people living and working together in a society we need to talk about the realities of race and inclusivity. And in today’s episode we do just that.

 

Transcript

Michelle Kane:

Thank you for joining us for another episode of That Solo Life, the podcast for PR pros and marketers who work for themselves, people like me, Michelle Kane, with VoiceMatters, and my wonderful co-host, Karen Swim of Solo PR Pro. Hi Karen, how are you today?

Karen Swim, APR:

Hello, Michelle. I'm doing great. So glad to be back from our little one week break. How are you doing?

Michelle Kane:

Yes, I'm well, thanks. Yes, it was, you know, even the things you love the most, it's always nice to have a little break, but yeah, I'm glad to be back at it, and talk with you today. And today we're going to talk a little bit about race because a lot of the work we do, we have to counsel our clients on how to handle situations, diversity programs, all that kind of stuff. And let's face it at the end of June, the Supremes dropped some nasty bits. So it gave us a lot to talk about. That was quite the day, June 30th. I'm working and listening to them, I'm like, oh, great. What now? Oh, wonderful. So…

Karen Swim, APR:

Well, the Supreme Court decision has certainly ignited a lot of discussion and reaction. In addition to that, without surprise, social media served up another little bit of scandal. But it has, I believe that it has also launched some very beneficial conversations. Kristen Bell, who I love as an actress had a dinner party and shared a picture of who was at the dinner party. And that has just invited a lot of criticism about the lack of diversity that was at that dinner. And so we want to unpack this and talk about, we just, you know, sometimes you have to confront this thing that we don't like to talk about. Talking about race is uncomfortable. It's not the fun topic, it's not the light topic, but as communicators and just as entrepreneurs and people in business, it's an issue that we should not be shying away from. And I believe that we have to have these discussions and we have to have an understanding, and we have to do our part if we are going to counsel clients to do the same.

Michelle Kane:

Agree, agree. And, also I think in recent weeks, and I sadly do not recall the entities, but I think there were three or four corporations who just let go their heads of diversity. I mean, really, what gives? And so, it's really disturbing. It's concerning and we definitely have to be conscious of it so that we can both help counsel clients and really just make our own mark.

Karen Swim, APR:

I heard the word that we live in post-racial America. That is the biggest lie that I've ever heard in my life. So let's clear that up. And let's talk about, again, when we talk about race and we talk about diversity, I want to remind you all of another forgotten class of people. And those are people that have visible and hidden disabilities. Yes. So we, if we're really talking about being inclusive as a society, we have to look at all of these factors and we have to make it okay for people to inhabit these spaces. What do I mean by that? Last week there's a Latino family that lives on my block. My neighborhood, my particular block is super diverse. It's really weird in Michigan to have a block that is so diverse, thank you auto companies for bringing people from other countries to live on my street because yeah, we are a little United Nations here and I love it.

So there's a little girl - a lot of the kids come down and they ride their bikes. I have kids on either side of me and the little girl has a dog that I've met and I've met her family and I know that she speaks Spanish. So we were talking about something and I said something to her in Spanish, and she answered me in English and I said something else to her in Spanish, and she answered me in English. Now, these roles are usually reversed. Because I was usually the one that can understand the Spanish fast enough, but can't always get my words out fast enough, so I'll answer in English. And she said to me that it felt weird to speak Spanish outside of the house, because when our family came here from Mexico, her parents instructed them as they were learning English, to not speak Spanish outside of the home.

That was heartbreaking to me because I know so many Spanish speaking Americans that feel that way and feel like they will be judged and treated differently. And they're not wrong because I've experienced this myself. When I’m in the park walking and speaking Spanish to my dog, and people pass me by and they are mean to me because I'm speaking in another language. So I know that this is true, this is not okay. So when you say post-racial America, when people are afraid to own their own culture, speak in a language that is other than English, by the way, you want to know how many people in the world speak Spanish? We always want to think that English is the dominant language, Spanish is spoken all over the world. There is no shame in having this as a second language. And people should not be embarrassed to speak in their first language in public. Right. That is painful.

Michelle Kane:

Yeah. Yeah. And it's a tradition that's been handed down through the centuries. You know, we did it to Germans, we did it to Japanese, we did it to all kinds of people. And it's, I don't know where this insecurity comes from. No, actually I do. It's a lot of these problems in our society come back to fear.

Karen Swim, APR:

Yes.

Michelle Kane:

Fear of, of the quote unquote other fear of, well, how's that going to affect my security? And you can't lie the societal forces around us sometimes they play into that to their favor. I was so internally angry over the weekend when I got wind that my former church is doing a culture and civility series. And I'm like, oh, here we go. Don't go there. And the current pastor said, “Okay, in Hollyweird now they have certain quotas to be considered for an Oscar.” And I know where he was going. He was going against the LGBTQ community. So I thought, you know what, let me look this up because I'm, I'm 99% sure he is dead wrong. I'm like, no, it's because of #Oscarssowhite - that's why if you weren't, if you were any bit mature and intelligent and loving as Jesus wanted you to be, you would realize that.

Karen Swim, APR:

There is this attitude that somehow being inclusive is tied into extreme woke. And we've made that an evil thing. But let me be really clear with our communicators and with our business people, diversity does not just happen. You have to be so intentional about inviting people into your spaces. So the affirmative action piece is really distressing. Not because I believe that you should be less intelligent and get accepted into these spaces, but because there again, there has to be some accountability for being intentional about bringing diversity into a space. And now, rightfully so, the legacy system is being challenged.

Michelle Kane:

Good,

Karen Swim, APR:

I find it pretty disgusting to be honest with you, that in this day and age that we're saying that just because your parents went to a place that you have a right to be in that same place. And that's what you considered when that definitely favors one class of people. And that's wealthy white people. And so you're ruling out so many people that don't fit into that, which is the majority of people. Can we be honest about that? Because wealthy white Americans are a small percentage of our overall society. So you're leaving out others and that's not okay. You're benefiting a class of people just because their parents went there. That shouldn't be a thing for education, whether it's private education or not, it just should not be a thing. People have the ability to enter a school without any of this. However, we haven't done a good job of making education equitable.

So challenge yourself, institutions, to think about what you're going to do to make these spaces more diversified. And that includes with your teaching staff, because those are overwhelmingly slanted as well. And so we need to be intentional. I know the Kristen Bell thing seems different and people are saying, well, you know, there's this group of people that are like, well, these are her friends, that's fine. However, let's remember that in this group of people, they belong to an industry. You want to know what happens when people within an industry get together? It's networking. Deals are done. This is where power is exchanged and shared. And when that power remains with a class of people, we never change. We never become diversified. This is true of Hollywood.

It's true of so many industries where deals are being made. You only have the same type of people in a room, whether it's on a golf course, at a country club, at a chamber meeting. If you don't have diversity in the room, guess what happens? You never diversify. We have to be the ones as communicators to guide our clients into not giving up on to on DEI and B, but to be very, very intentional and to hold themselves accountable for opening the door for people that are not all of the same race, gender, and ability. We have to, we have to do that. We owe it. This is something that, again, this has nothing to do with woke and this has to do with humanity. It has to do with making us better. And guess what, I could cite you statistics all day long on how all of these things actually benefit your bottom line as a corporation. Why wouldn't you want to do something that leads to employees being more engaged, more loyal to your company and making more money for your corporation? It would, if you look at it from that perspective, like, this is good business. You're stupid not to put some effort and some muscle behind diversity.

Michelle Kane:

You are so correct. And you know, we battle that in our hyperlocal chamber. It is Whitey McWhiteville around here. They are welcoming communities. It just isn't that diverse. Now, at the same time, we have a significant batch of businesses that are Hispanic owned. And it is a struggle to get these communities, you know, like how do we engage the Hispanic business leaders? You don't want to create like a, a little offshoot of it. You don't want to say, well, here's the Hispanic chapter. No. I mean, we want you to come on in. How do you do that without being too pandering or where there's no animosity. But I think too, it's just pulling back big picture, the white community, so to speak, has been, let's face it, in charge for a very, very long time, specifically white males.

And it is interesting to see how it then distills into fear of, oh, I, I might lose my footing. And I'm not saying that this is always conscious. Sometimes it is for sure. I think it's been so ingrained. And it's like, you know, really? What's the worst that can happen to you? I mean, if I'm applying to a school, I want to be, I want it to be on my merits. If I don't get it, fine. If someone else gets it great. I, who, who cares? Who? That's could just be me. For me, I want to learn, I want to know why things happen. I want to know real history that doesn't, as you know, those doing the the bastardization of the word woke would say, “That's going to make me feel better about myself.”

No, it's going to make me want to do better and realize what someone's sitting across from me, what their story is. I don't know. I mean, I am, but two or three generations away from a people that were, they were attempted to be murdered and exterminated in Ireland. So I I get it a little bit. And I really believe that that generational knowledge comes with you. So it's really concerning. It's always riled me when I see things happen that are just unfair and unjust just because of who you are, what faith you practice, what language you speak. I mean, thank God Gaelic is having a comeback just because of the cultural value of it. It's just kind of fun. But my goodness, for a while, if you were in Ireland in the 1700’s and you wanted to speak your native tongue, you’d be killed.

Karen Swim, APR:

I agree.

Michelle Kane:

Sorry, we'll bring it back to modern times.

Karen Swim, APR:

<Laugh> History will bear out that Yeah, this racial reckoning in America is nothing new. No, it really sadly is not. And there have been so many different ethnicities of people who have been oppressed and who have been made to feel shame and who have been forced to fit into this homogenous view of what it means to be an American. And I mean, that is really sad because again, going back to humanity, you, you, humankind is beautiful. I love that we're not all the same. I love that we all come from different backgrounds. I love that. I love that we have all these beautiful different traditions that we can share with one another. And we should be able to live in a world where we view people as people. We are not there yet. And so no, as communicators, I think, you know, some of the things that we can own and we can do is that we can make sure that we have messaging that is inclusive, that we make sure that even for our media relations efforts that we put together talking points that are inclusive so that the media says the right things about what our clients are doing.

Perfect example. Don't say “special needs kids,” you would say “children with disabilities” - it's people first language. You want to respect that they're not their disability. That's not what identifies them. They're a human being that has a disability. And I even hate the word disability these days because I believe that we all have different abilities. I believe that none of us is perfect. And I believe that because it's the truth. Not a single person is perfect. We all have something I need reading glasses. Some people need glasses all the time. That means that you don't have perfect eyesight. What does that mean? That means that you have to be accommodated.

That means if you're a kid in school and your vision is not good, that you may need to sit closer in class. So we need to start thinking about, again, all of these ways that we're different and learning how to open up our spaces to make room for everyone. I think it's also important in our messaging that we don't take for granted. And humor can get really tricky, by the way. Don't take for granted that everyone will share the humor or get the inside joke. Again, people who are not native English speakers often struggle with that because they miss the context. They hear the laughter, but don't quite understand how. That's funny. So if you're using humor in your messaging, you want to be mindful about who your publics are and make sure that your message will not be lost because it's targeted to a very narrow group of people.

So I, you know, these are things that we definitely can know and we can also, you know, if you do internal comms, you have an opportunity to work side by side with HR on making sure that things are inclusive internally. Now I get that we're not involved in the trainings and things that can happen, but companies definitely can be intentional. And as a communicator, you need to stand for that and insist that things are not put together. Strategies are not put together. Messaging is not developed, branding is not developed from a very narrow lens, but that you're looking at it from various perspectives to ensure that what you're trying to say is really what you're going to say.

Michelle Kane:

Yeah. And honestly, at the crux of it, at the center of it, this is how we should always look at communications. If we truly know who our audiences are, you want to be respectful of them, their backgrounds. We're certainly not saying that you should be afraid to say anything. It's just like, okay, well who's in my audience? Whether it's internal or external. Okay. How might this message land with them? Keeping in mind too, just the current temperature and tone of our society something that might have hit a little differently 10 years ago is not going to hit the same right now. So we know you're all smart, we know you get this, but it's good to talk about this. And I think too, over time, and because as a nation we've not done a great job at this, is because we really haven't had the conversations. We haven't had the hard conversations of, oh, well gosh, what was that really like for you? Because I need to learn. And that doesn't matter if you have gender, race, physical issues - until you've truly walked in someone's shoes, you can't.

Karen Swim, APR:

It's absolutely true. And yeah, I mean, we say this, we're addressing this topic because again, as communicators, it's important for us to tackle and to turn over these things and to have these discussions and make having these discussions be very normal. I think. You know, someone says to me, “Hey, you know that I struggle with this when people do this and I feel a little left out of that space,” that drives awareness for me and helps me to do my part to make things more inclusive. Because just because I am a black woman in America does not mean that I get to take a pass on intentionally driving toward diversity. I do not get that pass. I have a responsibility to be inclusive as well. And I have a responsibility, just like all of you, to our clients. But here's the thing, clearly we have work to do because we're not there yet. And so, no matter how smart you think you are and how open you think you are and how diverse you think you are, we're not there. We're just not there. That is our reality. And this again, has nothing to do with political agendas. It has nothing to do with wokeness. This is about humanity and it's about being effective at our jobs and helping our clients to be effective at what they're doing as well.

Michelle Kane:

And you know what, it's so much better to try to have the conversations and maybe step in it and move forward from there than to not have the conversations at all or not have the awareness at all.

Karen Swim, APR:

Agree. I mean, as communicators, we cannot be shy about bringing up the hard stuff. We have to address hard stuff all the time. We have to ask clients uncomfortable questions because we don't want things to come out later that harm our efforts. I've said to clients, like, this panel does not work, there's zero diversity. You have a bunch of men that are all the same race. Like, this is not okay. And so I think we have to get comfortable saying those kinds of things. We have to get comfortable saying could just stop inviting black people to only speak during Black History Month.

Michelle Kane:

Oh my gosh, right.

Karen Swim, APR:

I mean, could we not do that? Yeah. I don't know. I'm saying <laugh>

Michelle Kane:

Just, just saying <laugh>. No, it's so true. And they're difficult conversations. It can feel awkward, but I think once you start having them, it feels less so. And I think you will find that it feels good. I know that sounds weird.

Karen Swim, APR:

Yes. But, and I would say please be mindful. You know, Kristen Bell, I have empathy and so let me be clear, we didn't share this story because we want to have her bashed or to have her cancelled because I'm not a fan of cancel culture. I am a fan of reconciliation and healing. But she is someone who wrote a book about diversity.

Michelle Kane:

<Laugh>

Karen Swim, APR:

She wrote a book about diversity. She advocates for diversity and then she shares a picture that's like, really? Girl, do you not have any, were they just not invited to dinner? Are there people not at the table that are missing? Maybe all the diverse people are, you know, still swimming in the pool. I, don’t know what's happening. You really missed the mark. So, yeah.

Michelle Kane:

Yeah. Did she post it to her Instagram?

Karen Swim, APR:

Oh God. She posted it to her Instagram and poor baby. She, she like a lamb to the slaughter.

Michelle Kane:

Girl, just keep her,

Karen Swim, APR:

Where's purple? Where are the purple people in your picture? ‘Cause I'm not seeing purple. I'm not seeing any color here.

Michelle Kane:

It's also like, ooh look at all of us fabulous people, especially during a writer's strike. Like really <laugh> and I, not to say, I know they're being supportive.

Karen Swim, APR:

<Laugh>. I agree. But you know, how often have we as communicators, God bless her PR people. How often have we been in that situation where we have clients that don't make the connection between who they are as a corporation or who they represent. And things that they might share publicly. I've said to clients that even when you're doing things and you have interviews that are about your personal life and it has nothing to do with the job that you hold, please remember that that job that you hold as the CEO of a company or a founder, they're intertwined. And so you want to make sure that there's alignment and you do have to be mindful of that. It doesn't mean that you should be fake and inauthentic, but it does mean, think. You have to think about these things. You can't just do things without thought. That's just not a good move. And it'll ruin the good work that you really are trying to do.

Michelle Kane:

Agree, agree. Well, that was a lot that we brought before you today. But we hope it gets you thinking and we hope that you will continue this conversation with colleagues and others and let's just keep that door of conversation open. And we appreciate you for giving us your time. We would love it if you would share this around if you found it of value. Check us out at soloprpro.com and until next time, thanks for listening to That Solo Life.

 

Biting Our Tongues and Minding Our Business

That Solo Life: Episode #206 Biting Our Tongues and Minding Our Business

 

From unrealistic expectations to news that, well, isn’t, there are times we need to help guide our clients back from the brink and times we need to bite our tongues and mind our business. In this episode we talk about when to say, “No way!” and when to let it go.

 

 

Transcript

Michelle Kane (00:02):

Thank you for joining us for an episode of That Solo Life, the podcast for PR pros and marketers who work for themselves, people like me, Michelle Kane, with VoiceMatters, and my wonderful co-host, Karen Swim of Solo PR Pro. Hi, Karen. We're here. It's another episode. Woohoo.

Karen Swim, APR (00:20):

Hey Michelle. We made it into another week and I am grateful for that.

Michelle Kane (00:25):

Me too. It's always good to kick a day to the curb and go into the next one, <laugh>.

Karen Swim, APR (00:34):

Love it.

Michelle Kane (00:34):

And, and I think we're going to have a little fun today.

Karen Swim, APR (00:37):

Yes, we are.

Michelle Kane (00:39):

We're going to talk about when clients have unrealistic expectations. Now I know what you're thinking. That never happens. What, what could you two possibly have to talk about, right? <Laugh>?

Karen Swim, APR (00:51):

Haha.

Michelle Kane (00:55):

But you know, it's we say this a lot. A big part of our job is education. You know, helping our clients realize what exactly it is they're getting when they engage with a PR pro. And at the same time setting and managing realistic expectations for success. And sometimes that kicks in just fine. Sometimes they still have these lovely expectations.

Karen Swim, APR (01:24):

100%. Yeah. And so sometimes it's more than unrealistic expectations. Sometimes they're just downright cuckoo <laugh> , I can't think of, of a more professional term. Forgive us today. <Laugh>

Michelle Kane (01:46):

Right. That's right. I know. It's been a month already. Yeah. Like, they want the Rolls Royce for the price of a Honda. You've seen the graphics, right? With someone scribbling with their Paint app saying, you know, looking for a graphic designer, that kind of thing. Or,

Karen Swim, APR (02:05):

Or, and I think, here's one of the things that really comes in when you have clients that are just being unreasonable. There was a survey might have been a couple years ago, and the survey showed that it was offered by, I think, Bridge Global Strategies. And it was a survey about people who work in PR - in agencies, corporations, independent contractors, just all kinds of PR people.

These were people that had experience. So almost a hundred percent. It was like 94%. More than 94% had 10 or more years of experience. And then more than 67% had more than 20 years of experience. So these are seasoned professionals. And then they measured - it was all about failure. And it said that 85% of people admitted to having failed at one time or another. But here's the interesting tidbit - 57% said  when asked if the failure was tied to not setting PR goals or setting unrealistic goals at the start, 57% said yes. And I think that that's really important because that's more than half of those surveyed. Now, some of the other reasons for failure, the top reason is the budget was too small and the client wasn't paying us enough for hours to accomplish the goals. That is so common.

 

Michelle Kane

Huge.

 

Karen Swim, APR

And then, the number two reason was the client or company saw itself, or its product as really unique, but it turned out that it was not very well differentiated from competitors. And so we know that all of you are nodding your heads, this happens all the time. And it's a big part of what we have to continue to re reinforce with clients and continue to educate. I have been doing this for more than 15 years as well, nearly 20 years. And I would agree with all of those things. And as seasoned as I am and as thoughtful and meticulous as we are during the prospecting pro process and the onboarding process, we still have to remind clients of what PR really involves. Yeah. People truly do not, first of all, understand the amount of labor that goes into getting the results that we get.

And it starts when we're putting together strategic plans because we don't just go, “Hey, thanks for being a client and now we're just going to go out pitching.” There's a lot of things that have to be in place before we do that. And I don't think clients understand them. All of those things are for your benefit, dear clients. They're not because we don't know how to do our jobs, they're for your benefit. Us taking the time to put together a strategic plan helps us to have a document that aligns goals. It helps us to concur on what the challenges are in your company, in your industry. It helps us to affirm the trends that we're seeing and affirm that those are the trends that you're seeing. It helps us to make sure that we're looking at the right competitors. And it gives you a different lens by having somebody take and outside view on your business and make sure that we're attacking the right problems and coming up with the right solution.

 

So this is beneficial to you, this is work. But so often clients have in their mind that PR is just media results. Right. Period. And they don't understand what it takes to get there. You know, when we do secure a piece of coverage, then we have to do your briefing. We have to prepare you for an interview. We have to go through the interview, the interview has to be coordinated after the interview is coordinated and it happens, there's often tons of follow-up questions that we're managing. And then maybe the coverage will appear in two weeks,

Michelle Kane (06:27):

Maybe a month

Karen Swim, APR (06:29):

Could be seven months later, could be next year. We have no control over that. And God forbid that there's something in the final story that needs to be corrected. So there are a lot of things that happen in a lot of moving pieces, and I think that with clients, the unrealistic expectations start with not really a appreciating everything that we do to get to that final result.

Michelle Kane (06:56):

Right. Right. And that's, and even many times attempting to achieve that final result, because we do not have control over that. Which, like you said, is why it's wise to also have tactics beyond media relations. And they think it's simple. And again, I think psychologically it comes down to, well, we use the same tools. We type on a keyboard and we print things on paper so we can do it. And you know, I don't mean to devalue clients out there, but there's so much more to that, you know? Just a little bit more to that. And, like you said, sometimes the product, the project, even the event does not have the unique angle that they're looking for. So a lot of times, I will seek to temper those unrealistic expectations by coaching them that people want to feel compelled to act in whatever way you want them to. So it's got to have a human story. Reporters want to tell someone's story, not just say, “Hey, look at this great new thing.” And that can take time and that can take figuring out who the right targets are, all that good stuff that I know we all know.

Karen Swim, APR (08:29):

It's true. But we all face those situations where you have to make the decision, like, how far do I push this? Where do I put my stake in the ground? For me it's always, what hill do I die on and which thing do I walk away from? And I think that we routinely bite our tongues on what we really want to say sometimes to people, but it's our job to always provide confident strategic counsel. And so I think, you know, one of the things that helps me to decide when to let it go and when to forcefully fight for something is if it's going to harm the client or their publics, I'm going to fight you. Hard. I'm going to go to the death on it. And I don't mean that I'm going to argue with you, I'm going to advocate for the right thing. I'm not ever going to be a part of something that is unethical. I have had to just very plainly say that in the past, like, this is unethical. No, we can't do that. Even if it means that you resign yourself from a client, if they will not take your counsel and it's something unethical and you have to resign yourself to not be a part of it, it's well worth it to hold onto your reputation and your integrity.

Michelle Kane (10:09):

Yeah. Because at the end of the day, that's all you have is your integrity and your name. And so, please never, ever compromise the integrity of your work and your name, your company name. I know, I get it sometimes, hey, I really need this billing. I get it. But I promise you it's always the right thing to do

Karen Swim, APR (10:33):

Because we have seen, we have seen this, so we have lots of ways that people have cut corners and that they have done things. And eventually it does become a crisis because you cannot operate unethically and expect nothing to go wrong. So the client who wants to do that is not the client for you. And they're creating problems for themselves. They're taking these shortcuts to get short-term wins, but they won't last and it will harm them even more in the long run. And so those things I think for all of us, and we know this, we know that those are non-negotiable, but then there are those things like, okay, should I just let it go? So great example is, you know, a client has a new product and they want to do a press release. Clients love press release.

Michelle Kane (11:26):

Oh, they do.

Karen Swim, APR (11:27):

We just love them. But everything is not news. No. We know that. We know how to counsel through this. Sometimes you're not going to win and they are just going to want to announce their product. You let it go. However, in letting it go, there are a couple things that you can do. Number one, try to get to the root of why this is so important to them. Ask questions like, great, this is so great and I understand why the company is so excited about this product. Let's talk a little bit about what you think or hope for a press release to do for business. Sometimes they just want to put it out there. When you work in tech, you see this all the time, there are a lot of our client competitors and we point this out to them as a value add.

They do zero thought leadership. They have no POV, they have no bylined articles, they have nothing out there except for product press releases. That's all they do. Product press releases because that's the only “PR” that they know how to do. And so if they're in an industry that routinely does product announcement press releases, sometimes you have to let it go and let them have their product. Press release isn’t the end of the world. It really isn't. But you have to set the table, Hey, I understand it. And as long as you understand that you putting this out there aligns you with what your competitors do and what is normal in this industry. And it may have some SEO benefit, but this is not a news trigger. This is not something that we would go out and pitch stories around. And as long as we're aligned on those objectives, I'm happy to put this out on the wire for you.

Michelle Kane (13:15):

Right, right. You know, as long as you know it's a low hum, you might get, you know, a little tidbit and a business listing of “here's what's happening this week.” As long as you know that, fine. I call it the “so what?” factor. I'll say, “okay, that's great. But I'm going to counter with, “So what? So your company's 50. So what? Where's the ‘care’ in that? Are you going to initiate a program with a nonprofit in honor of this and we're going to affect lives? Awesome. That I can sell.” It'll get you a little blurb in the business journal if we're lucky. And that's ok too, but just know that that's all it's going to get you.

Karen Swim, APR (14:06):

And that's called honesty. Because at the end of the day, if you don't speak up and really provide counsel, and you're quiet about, eh, I don't think that's a good idea. And you're not really saying exactly what you need to say to the client. And then they don't get the results that they think in their mind they should get. Guess who's going to be held accountable? It's you. And so you need to speak up. But I also think sometimes you can redirect or come up with something that actually gets them the results that they want with a different tactic. Yes. So, maybe they bring you something and they're all gung-ho about doing it, and you ask questions. “Wow. Yeah. That, that would be a good idea. However, let's take a step back. What is it that you really, what's the importance?” Do they want to drive business leads? Are they trying to get signups for something in particular? Do they need to do a certain amount of demos? You know, what is it? Find out what's really going on because clients are not always articulating what's beneath the scenes. You know, new leadership is coming in and we need to do this because we're afraid we're going to be acquired. Because I am trying to show my boss that marketing has value. Sometimes you'll get this, sometimes your contact is the CMO and they're under fire. Find out what's really going on. Don't be afraid to ask a lot of questions and say, “Okay, look, I know that you know this, so let's be honest with one another. Let me know what's going on, and then let's figure out a better way to hit your goals.” Because often there is another way that you can do what they get what they want instead of the bad method that they've proposed.

Michelle Kane (15:59):

Yeah. And so often it's something that, you know, not for their lack of experience, but they just might not have thought of. I use two phrases all the time. I say, “Look, I don't need to know everything, but I need to know everything.” And “I'm only as good as the information that I have. So if I don't have the information, I'm no good.” So help me help you.

Karen Swim, APR (16:23):

Yes. How, how many of us in the audience, and I know that so many of you will raise your hand, have ever had clients that are so gung-ho about op-eds without, and it's because something has crossed their, their eyes that they are just fired up about. And they need to say it and it hits in their wheelhouse and they just need to say it. That's not what an op-ed is though. And we know that. We know that you can't just because you're mad about something and because it's in your space that you can't just write what a what a equates to a blog post and have the New York Times publish it. That's just not how things work.

No,<laugh>. So <laugh>, we've all been in that situation where you have to sort of talk them down and say, Hmm, I understand that. And if they really want to do an op-ed, you can recommend an op-ed writer. Maybe you're an op-ed writer who does PR, you can write the op-ed for them and explain to them what an op-ed really does. You know? Here's how you really get an op-ed published. Maybe they want to be on the Joe Rogan podcast. And you have to dial it back and explain, “Have you listened to the podcast? Do you see common threads with the guests that they have on?” And I mean, this is true of others, sometimes people want things and it's like, have you noticed that everybody they talk to is from a publicly traded company or they have written five books? I'm not saying that you're not important to a lot of people, including me, but I'm saying that they look over hidden gems like yourself. Because this is the playbook. Clients don't always get that.

Michelle Kane (18:16):

Yeah. And sometimes they don't get that. Sometimes it really does come down to serendipity.

Karen Swim, APR (18:22):

Yeah.

Michelle Kane (18:23):

You know, even if you are all those things, it still doesn't mean that you're going to get the placement. And that has so many factors, you know, timing, just so many things that can play into that. And sometimes it's tough, but that's the beauty of coming up with other ideas that end up being more useful really than just the shiny thing that they might want. You know, get me on the Today Show!

Karen Swim, APR (18:57):

That used to be the rallying cry. Now it's this article in the New York Times. Can we get that too?

Michelle Kane (19:06):

No, No.

Karen Swim, APR (19:06):

<Laugh> No, you can't. But you know, again, it's sometimes you bite your tongue when it's, listen, you let them have some things, you let them have it. You still gently guide them in what they can really expect from doing this thing that they are so hot on doing. And you let them have it. And I don't want to demean clients, but we all know that in every relationship there's negotiation, right? Mm-Hmm. Whether it's personal or professional, you negotiate with the people that you're in relationship with, with friends, with spouses, with your kids. There's negotiation that happens all the time. And sometimes we have to let people do what they are so intent on doing. And we can't always cushion the landing for them.

Michelle Kane (20:05):

<Laugh>.

Karen Swim, APR (20:06):

We can't, sometimes they just have to do it and experience what you've already told them will happen. We don't want that for our clients. But there are those times when it's, again, as we've talked about, when it's not unethical, when it's not going to harm them, it's just going to be a boneheaded thing that they do. And then just be there to continue on with the good work. I've had clients do studies and me and my colleague, we are research queens. We are the queens of research. She actually worked in research before PR, we know research, we know data. We know how to sell a study. We know how to write a study. We know how to put the questions together. We work with so many of the top research firms. We know this space. But inevitably there's a client that is seduced by some big name and they spend an incredible amount of money on a study that no one's ever going to cover and no one cares about. In those instances, sometimes you got to bite your tongue and mind your business.

Michelle Kane (21:16):

Yep. Definitely. You know, for me it's sometimes you've got to let those Oxford commas go unless they really change the meaning of the sentence <laugh>.

Karen Swim, APR (21:30):

Yes.

Michelle Kane (21:31):

And you know, the beauty actually of all these opportunities, because in our line of work, we know how to find the value, even if it's a horrific <laugh> failure. But these are learning opportunities, right? It's not like you're going to go back to your client and say, I told you so. It's okay, let's reevaluate. Where could we have done better? Perhaps this will work better next time. Let's all learn from this and we dust ourselves off and we move on to the next thing. And that is okay.

So yes, as counselors, we are here to put out that mom arm as you slam on the brakes to make sure that our clients are safe. You hope they listen. If they don't, hopefully next time they will wear their seatbelt, which is listening to us.

So we hope you've gotten something out of this and I expect you were giggling along and thinking of all the times you bit your tongue and also minded your business.

We appreciate each and every one of you. And if you did get value out of this, please share it around. And if you have any feedback, hit us up at soloprpro.com. We are on Instagram, we are on Facebook, and of course, at the mothership, the website of soloprpro.com. And until next time, thanks for listening to That Solo Life.

 

The Land of the Wounded: Mental Health and PR

We can all say we’re OK. But after the past few years, are we? As co-host Karen Swim says, so many of us are walking around held together “with spit and duct tape.” In this episode we talk about how we can work on our mental health.

 

Read about the PR News poll. 

 

Transcript

 

The Land of the Wounded: Mental Health and PR
That Solo Life Episode 205

Michelle Kane (00:02):

Thank you for joining an episode of That Solo Life, the podcast for PR pros and marketers who work for themselves, people like me, Michelle Kane, with VoiceMatters and my wonderful co-host, Karen Swim of Solo PR Pro. Hi Karen, how are you today?

Karen Swim (00:18):

I'm good, Michelle. Hello. Hello. How are you doing?

Michelle Kane (00:22):

I'm good. Yeah. You know, good

Karen Swim (00:26):

in all the weirdness of PR land

Michelle Kane (00:29):

And boy can it get weird. Yeah. That's why we thought today it would be wise to talk, just a little check in about mental health. Because even though we both just said we're good, seems like I, I love what you said earlier, Karen, before we started this episode of everyone's just kind of walking around keeping it together with spit and duct tape, .

Karen Swim (00:53):

Yeah. It's so true and so unfortunate. And, you know, we started planning ahead for this topic when this article came out in PR news. And it was a poll asked, and the question posed was, do PR employees feel comfortable discussing mental health struggles? And 68% of people said no. Now granted, this was a small poll. However, you and I have no problems believing this. And I believe that this plays into the bigger narrative of traditionally work has been that place where people expect you to have nothing wrong with you. It's why pre pandemic people would have a cold and they would come to work, they'd get the flu, and as long as they could walk, they would come to work. You would say, “Are you okay?” Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. Because that's the American way. Yeah, yeah. I'm fine. Yeah.

Michelle Kane (01:55):

Yes, exactly.

Karen Swim (01:56):

I'm fine. You know, people would die and you would work. And , we pr pros, we took that into our own businesses and we amplified it because suddenly we not only felt like it wasn't okay not to be okay, but that we had to be triple okay. Because it was our own business, so we could never take the time to tend to ourselves.

Michelle Kane (02:18):

Right. Right.

Karen Swim (02:20):

And I would love to say that the pandemic changed all of that at a corporate level, but it did not. What did change is our awareness that we're not okay. Everybody is dealing with something. And it's been, I think we all had this hope, which is why there was a part of the pandemic that was a happy time for everybody. We were breaking bread, we were listening to music, we were gathering together, and we were like, we're going to get through this because we truly believed that there would be an end and that there would be a better new normal. Right. What we experienced was continuing series of trauma. And in PR specifically, our industry has undergone massive waves of change. The media landscape is different, clients are different. And we have the economic challenges. It's just, it's a lot.

Michelle Kane (03:20):

It's a lot.

Karen Swim (03:21):

And it, it breaks my heart that we all have our stuff, we all have our days, we all have our moments where we may be experiencing anxiety, depression, and we feel like we have to present to the world and to our clients this front of I'm okay.

Michelle Kane (03:41):

Yeah.

Karen Swim (03:42):

And you know, there's a part of us that thinks nobody wants to hear that we, or if I say I'm not okay, then what? You know, I have to exude trust and confidence. And if I'm not okay, they won't trust me.

Michelle Kane (04:01):

Exactly. And, we're moreso that in our business where it's our job to keep everyone together, to keep it together, to present the perfect, not false, but to present the best front possible and really represent well. And a couple of things you touched on, now granted I've only ever lived in this country, but it just feels so American, the whole pull yourself up by your bootstraps. Never let 'em see you sweat. I mean, when you were talking about that in the workplace, my gosh. You would never show any glimmer. You’d be “Oh no, everything's fine. I've got it together,” because I am a fiercely, highly competent person who is going to give my best and my all to you, workplace. I'll just cry on the way home. It's fine. .

Karen Swim (04:51):

I mean, I have to tell you that growing up in California and moving to the Midwest, and even though my parents were Midwesterners, I didn't, they were different. Moving to the Midwest, I really have to protect myself from that Midwestern like grit. It's inspiring in some ways, but they don't do complaints in the Midwest. You just don't complain. You just get or done. It's like, well, lost my leg yesterday. I'm going to go out for a walk today. You know, I've known people that have had surgeries and they're not even supposed to be out of the house and they refuse to ask for help.

I would walk your dog. Yeah, no, they're just going to take their cane and they're walker and they're going to hobble along when they're not even supposed to be out of bed and they're going to do it. And I heard someone the other day say there was a couple and the woman was alone and we inquired after her husband and she goes, yeah, you know, he can only walk so far now. And then one of the other, one of our other friends said, well, if you can't walk, you gotta walk. And if you don't walk, you won't be able to walk. And so his solution is like, if you stop…and I feel like this is the message that we send to PR pros. Like, if you don't grit it out, if you don't bear up, if you don't brute force it through, then you're gonna be terrible.

 

Instead of saying, sometimes you can't walk. You really can’t walk. You need support to get back on your feet to walk. You can't take another step. You are incapable of doing it. Whether it is a psychological challenge or whether it's an actual physical challenge. And, I want to, we would be remiss in saying we're not experts, we are not mental health professionals. This is just PR pros inside talk. Yeah. Sometimes your issues could be some type of imbalance. It could be a nutritional deficiency, it could be a vitamin deficiency, it could be something physical, it could be a hormonal imbalance. So don't ignore it and don't brute force your way through it. Talk to somebody, talk to your doctor.

Michelle Kane (07:16):

Yeah. I think

Karen Swim (07:17):

Get to your doctor these days. .

Michelle Kane (07:20):

I know there are now, so I've got the Pennsylvania Dutch work ethic side of this. It's similar to the Midwest work ethic. You just do it. And I think it's also coupled with being two generations away from the depression era. Hearing my grandmother say, “Oh, but you can't leave that company. They've been good to you.” I'm like, that's not about them, it's about me. But I do know that there are several companies in my region large, like, feeding the eastern seaboard companies, that they have always had an EAP program, an employee assistance program where they will say, “Hey, we have an arrangement with this mental health facility if you have an issue.” Which I thought was really enlightened of them. I don't know if that stemmed from experience, I don't know. So even as you seek to work with clients, if you get a vibe that they don’t give that kind of support, then it might be an unhealthy relationship.

And just to touch on your point about our global trauma that we've been through. I don't know about you, but it's funny, it's often the little things that can trip me up. But if it's like a big crisis, like, okay, let's get to the ER and we can deal, deal, deal, deal, deal, deal. And it's not till maybe a month or two after that, after you've dealt, you're just, ugh. And I get the vibe that globally that's where we are. We got through the big, heavy, scary thing. And even though scary things are still happening, we're just like, so, you know, I know many of our peers or our clients have struggled with getting people, oh, people don't want to come to events, they don't want to do this. I'm like, we're still processing a lot of stuff and realigning ourselves, and speaking into that could be, maybe you're just not right enough yet. You know, I was sharing with you before recording and you know, maybe it's my stage in life, maybe it's a whole lot of things, but I go to things and I enjoy them, but as I'm enjoying them, I still sense a little flatness and I'm like, Hmm.

Karen Swim (09:23):

Yeah.

Michelle Kane (09:24):

Is that because I'm burdened by worrying about work? Is it just, is it all that or is this just life in this era? I don't know.

Karen Swim (09:36):

But, and I think we can't accept that right. Because, and let's face it, like even getting back to quote unquote some normalcy, normal is not normal. Nothing is like it was. And so I have learned to say, you know what, I'm not going to be so hard on myself because we, there's this constant wave of change and you're trying to find your footing and then you try to do things that you used to do, but nothing really is quite the same and no one is quite the same. Whether you can pretend that you are, but we are not, none of us not one single person on this earth. Because I, I think we also sometimes forget that Covid was not a United States pandemic. This was global. And I think, you know, of course as PR professionals, we can't vomit on our clients.

We shouldn't do that. If you're at work, you, you shouldn't be vomiting on your colleagues either. I would love to see more corporate workplaces understand that. We used to think of the workforce as this monolithic unit and basically you divorced people from every other part of themselves when they came to work. They were a worker. That's it. They were a worker. They just do their work. You didn't care about their issues. You didn't care if they had children. And people felt like they couldn't disclose things. I was, it was heartbreaking to hear that there are women some of our solo PR pro members that didn't really want to share that they were moms because they felt like that would be considered a disability and I just we're done with that world. And as PR pros, we should be advocating and we should be checking in with our clients as well to ensure that their culture is not, it is not toxic for their own employees.

I mean, we can play a role in helping them to create these healthy cultures that recognize that human beings are full human beings with full lives and sometimes they have stuff going on. And this is not necessarily copping out and giving people an excuse to not be great at work. It's creating an environment that lets people thrive. It's creating tools for people when they struggle and understanding that it's okay to struggle. It's having benefits programs that really align with their needs and really saying, “Hey, it's okay.” Making it okay to take a day off without providing a reason. I even hate that we call it a “mental health day.” Because it's nobody's business. If you're having a day and you need a break, you need a reset that should be your business and you should be able to take it. Period. No questions asked.

Michelle Kane (12:40):

And, I think there is a certain freedom in a workplace that has that level of understanding of, you know, I might be the best worker you ever have, but that does not mean I have to be that every day, every minute, all the time. I mean it's, look, it's unrealistic.

Karen Swim (13:01):

It is.

Michelle Kane (13:02):

But the attitude still pervades out there. And I think sometimes we can perhaps wield that with ourselves. I was having a conversation with a couple of colleagues and they were having trouble just kind of ramping down, having come off a super-hot urgent all hands on deck project. And then suddenly everything felt that way. And I thought, where are you going except smashing into an eventual wall. Like, not everything is urgent. You don't have to speed through all the things.

Karen Swim (13:36):

I see that from colleagues too, where it's not only the urgency, but it's the stress, the unnecessary stress. You know, the client's going to be mad because we didn't get media this week. Okay. But this is the way that it works. Now we pitch stuff and we get an answer a month later. We secure opportunities and then it takes four months to publish. We've secured opportunities that are not publishing until 2024. What does that say about the landscape to you?

Michelle Kane (14:07):

Wow. That's incredible. But, here's the essence of it. You secured opportunities, so it should be all good. But yeah, I get that. I even get that mental tape in my head sometimes of, oh my gosh, if I don't turn this in today, they're going to yell at me. And then I had to sit myself down and go, Michelle, now hopefully I didn't just jinx myself. I'm like, when has a client ever called you on the phone or texted you screaming?

Karen Swim (14:33):

And I would venture to say, some of us, especially in the past couple of years, we've experienced some toxic clients. We've all had toxic clients. But I would venture to say that our audience, because we have a very smart audience, and I believe that our members particularly, they all have integrity. They're good at their jobs and they are thoughtful and they're conscientious. And we're not saying be less conscientious, but we're saying be conscientious for your own needs as well.  There are several things that you can do. One is to realize that you're not broken. You are not an outlier. You're not the only person that may be having a season of struggle. Two is talk to some type of professional, whether it's your nutritionist, whether it your physician, telehealth appointment, mental health app, to, to make sure that you are not missing signs of something that has an underlying reason.

You don't want to do that. So you don't want to ignore, if you're feeling kind of blue and or you're feeling kind of tired or you're not sleeping, don't just chalk it up to it'll get better. Because so often these things do not resolve on them their own. Don't be afraid to get support. Whatever that support turns out to be for you, it's okay. And then I would say one of the things that one of my clients really highlighted for me that is so powerful. So I work with this group called Circles and they have this app and it's online, it's on demand support groups. And he created it out of some personal experiences based on the premise that people, there's therapeutic value when people help people who are going through the same exact thing. So, if you're somebody who's been through a divorce, your ears perk up when you talk to somebody who has been through a divorce and they know exactly what you're talking about. If you've lost a parent, somebody else who lost a parent, their words resonate so powerfully with you. There's power in that.

Well, as PR pros, no one but us really understands our job. No one understands what we're going through with clients and business development and the climate that we're in. So don't cut yourself off from your colleagues because even if you're not getting together to say, “Oh my God, I can't sleep at night, I'm having anxiety,” you can at least get together and share some of the things that are causing you agita. And with people who will not judge you, who understand. And there's such comfort in that.  So, you know, like when Michelle and I talk, I always walk away laughing and feeling better. Because we get to kvetch with one another and she gets it and I get it. And so it's therapeutic. Do not dismiss the power in tapping into people who share your values. Don't isolate yourself even though you may feel like it because you're not feeling your best. You need to reach out and talk to someone. It's one of the reasons why this month, I set up these solo sessions where I offered up, I opened up some slots in my calendar for people to just book time to just chat with me one-on-one. Just us no recordings, nothing shared outside of me and that person and open enough for them to talk about whatever they needed to talk about in that moment. It's not a lot, but it's something that so many people took advantage of because they need it that time.

Michelle Kane (18:32):

That's huge. I couch myself as an, an extroverted introvert, so right away I'm wired for solitude more or less. But it's not until you either push yourself to get out there that you realize, okay, I needed to be out with people. Yesterday I had an 8:00 AM coffee meeting. On paper that sounds horrible. But I was so rejuvenated by the end of that hour conversation, I felt so much better about starting my day. And I thought, huh, maybe I should do this every day. And I thought, ugh, . So yes, I have a little ways to go, but it can be with PR peers, and it could even be colleagues. I know I have some in-house colleagues in my region that may be the only PR person in their company or something. And if we'll just do 15-minute vents, “Hey, how you doing? Blah, blah, blah. And you're like, can you believe it? No, I don't believe it. Yeah. Okay. So, you know, I I'm glad that we've both established, neither of us sucks. We're competent.” .

Karen Swim (19:42):

Yeah. I mean, it

Michelle Kane (19:43):

Just keep rolling with it.

Karen Swim (19:45):

It’s worth it sometimes to go to a networking event or go to a workshop, an in-person workshop and learn something new because that's energizing. Learn something that's different from PR. Go take an art class, take a gardening class, invite somebody to go for a walk with you. It doesn't always have to be like, yeah, let's have dinner, let's have lunch. Those things are great too. But, you know, see if there's another colleague like, “Hey, you want to take a walk and just take advantage of the weather being nice enough to do that?” Because you will be rejuvenated. And so the isolation only makes things worse. And I think we're here today to tell you that you are not alone. You are not the only person dealing with whatever you're dealing with. Whatever it is, and however big it seems in your head, I promise you you're not alone. If Belle could talk, she would tell you stories.  She’d say, “I didn't know what to get, but I tried to get the thing that was making mommy cry. And so I barked at it, but I didn't know what I was barking at, but I was trying to help and so I just went to mommy and I'm like, mommy, tell me what to get and I'll make it better for you. But I couldn't see it.”

Michelle Kane (20:58):

Yeah. And you know what? I mean, everybody's got something.

Karen Swim (21:02):

Yeah. Everybody has something, you know, whatever, whatever. It's like.

Michelle Kane (21:07):

Yeah. And, and, and I clearly

Karen Swim (21:08):

You're not alone.

Michelle Kane (21:09):

I guarantee even the most perfectly presenting person that has it all together, they got their own stuff. They just aren't as comfortable showing it. And that could be even with themselves,

Karen Swim (21:23):

Which is why you also honestly, when I have those sensitive moments, I do not look at social media. I'll go to groups. Because, you know, again, it's protecting myself from things that are triggers. And, so I think you have to understand what your triggers are too and protect yourself from those things. The news can be a trigger, too much information sometimes is not necessarily a blessing. And I know we PR pros, we're wired to think that we have to know all of the things all of the time. You do not. Whatever those triggers are, sometimes you just need to get in your own little bubble and not go there. So it's true. Don't be afraid to do that. It's okay.

Michelle Kane (22:08):

It doesn't have to be a big fat retreat, it can just be an hour break or something. You know, indulge in something that you really want to do or what you need to do. I know for me, I like to go to the movies, but sometimes it's just, I need to sit in a dark room with nasty popcorn and be available to no one. So if that's your thing, by all means do it. Ultimately, I feel like it's silly coming out of my mouth, but I know it's not because I don't practice it as much as I should. It's okay to take care of yourself.

Karen Swim (22:47):

Oh my gosh. It really is. It's not only okay, it's good for business because if you're good then you're going to do good work and you're not going to be brute forcing your way through it. So please do. Take time off. Go get a massage. I like massages. I know everybody doesn't, whatever it is that makes you feel that joy that makes you feel restored and balanced, make time, treat yourself with care and love and respect. You should not be treating other people better than you treat yourself.

Michelle Kane (23:30):

That is so true. And I know for many of us, that is a really, really difficult lesson to learn. And, hey, real talk right now. I am so ridiculous. How ridiculous am I? Let's see, I've had, my foot's been sore for maybe a month. I finally got tired of my foot being sore and I was like, Hmm, there's nothing external. So I went to the podiatrist and I said, yeah, it's been about a month. They're like, oh, well it's this tendon, the tendon is irritated, so do these calf stretches. And I said, oh, so you mean if I had gone to my yoga class like I should have been doing for the past six months, I wouldn't be here . That, that's how ridiculous I am, and I'm sure there's many of you nodding about that. So if I had invested in taking care of myself rather than doing one more hour of work, because ooh, gotta hit those numbers. So, we're all learning.

Karen Swim (24:25):

We’re all still learning. We hope this has helped you to take a deep breath, to feel like you are not alone. We hope that you are inspired to take better care of yourself, to make time for your own needs. That's not being selfish, it's not being a terrible worker. You're not a terrible PR pro. You're a great business owner, but you have to care for yourself. And if you have suggestions or things that have worked for you, as always, we always love to hear from you. Please hit us up on any of the social media channels and use the hashtag #soloPR so that we know and we can spot those because we track that hashtag

Michelle Kane (25:10):

Yeah, we would love that. We would love that. So we definitely want to hear from you and please, if you have a friend that you think needs to hear this or if you need to listen to it a lot, because I may need to listen to this a lot, who knows. But we do, we value that you give us your valuable time. So until next time, thanks for listening to That Solo Life.