Happy Birthday To Me?

I stopped being 40 yesterday.

I hit the big 4-1.

To celebrate, my wife woke me up at 6 a.m.

Not intentionally, of course.

But when she's up, everybody's up.

I wasn't up for long.

I rolled over and went back to sleep until 8, which is my routine.

You see, I'm somewhat of a night owl and will finish my day around midnight.

As I got up, I realized she had eaten breakfast, logged into work, done an hour of cardio, walked the dog, showered and gotten back to work, all before I got out of bed.

Now, no one has ever called me lazy.

I'm active and dedicated and love my work and I work 12-14 hour days.

I just don't jump out of bed at 6 like she does.

However, I decided to give it a try today because of some creative math I did yesterday.

Well, not exactly creative.

I'm a journalist, always have been, and I graduated with "math appreciation" being my only math class.

But along the way, while identifying dangling modifiers and playing grammar police, I did manage to add, subtract, multiply and divide.

I broke out my Texas Instruments mainstay calculator and arrived at the following:

2 hours a day (by getting up at 6 rather than 8) x 364 days a year (sleep in on your birthday, for Heaven's sake) equals 728 hours.

Divide that by 24 hours and you get 30.33 extra days a year.

So, in essence and reality, I'm giving myself an extra month this year for my birthday present.

It's that simple.

Want more?

Over the course of 12 years, you'll have given yourself a full year.

Would that make me 42 if I had realized this stuff at 29?

I digress ...

Anyway, that was birthday present to myself: time.

My wife and I did go out and celebrate.

We were home by 7:15, which, when you turn 41, is the new midnight.

And I had trouble sleeping thinking about how much I could do with another month this year.

But I'm fading.

I think I need a nap.

BOO!

It's been way, way too long since I last blogged and there is a budding mutiny over that.

One friend says she has officially "broken up" with my blog; another says so eloquently, "What the *#$@@? ... update your blog!"

Glad I'm so popular!

Being popular would be hard to prove.

Being too crazy busy to blog?

Easy to prove.

Understand that I got into this business to run this business from the ground up, targeting up and coming companies to show them how the big companies do it, how they go from nothing to become a well-known, well-respected brand.

Two days in, I got a call from a big company, a well-known, well-respected brand.

In fact, one of America's greatest brands.

And when you get a call like that, you drop everything.

Business plan goes out the window, by choice.

Imagine getting ready to go on a diet and planning your meals, your workouts, your cardio, etc.

Then an old friend calls you up to see if you want to go on an all-expense paid cruise.

Are you kidding?

You go.

You can get on the treadmill when you get back.

You can eat right when the fun ends.

That's the analogy I have for the call I received from Friday's.

It's just an opportunity that you want to take, that you have to take, and that's what I did.

It's also an opportunity that's left me with very little time to do anything else, and that's not a complaint.

It's a choice.

So, my blog, which was intended to be a build-a-business diary has admittedly become less of a priority.

I certainly can't use it to disclose what I've done or what I'm doing for Friday's.

It's not meant as vehicle to divulge strategy.

That's OK, because I'm having the time of my life.

There was a scene in one of my favorite movies, Broadcast News, where John Hurt (?) leans over to Albert Brooks (?) and asks, something to the effect of "What do you do when your life is better than your dreams?"

The response: "You keep it to yourself."

That's not entirely my M.O. but I am having the time of my life working with Friday's and the nature of my relationship is that I keep it to myself.

When the cruise ends, and I hope it never does, I'll dust off that business plan, pick up a Business Journal or two and turn a pile of sand or two into a building.

I can assist companies.

I am hands on.

And the day will come when I'll take everything I've learned and apply it to companies who will be amazed at the ROI you can get with DFPR.

But not today.

Because today is Friday's.

And for the past 3 months, every day has been Friday's.

And the ship is still at sea.

Happy Halloween everyone!

Don't be scared.

I'll be back ...

EVIDENCE

In September 2004, while at PR Newswire, I saw a demo that changed my professional life.

Two gentlemen, one of whom looked like a mirror’s reflection of me, from a company named DVCO Technology, presented to an assembly of PRN executives.

DVCO Principals Jason Keller and Dee Rambeau got our attention quickly and kept it for over an hour, not bad considering the flock had been in strategy meetings for two days at a resort (Sundance) that begged you to do anything but meet.

Their “invention” had recently been awarded Innovation of the Year by PR Week.

When I heard that, I expected some technology that would be over my head.

It was not.

It was as simple as it was innovative, a microsite for journalists controlled by the PR person.

Brilliant!

I was seeing the future.

No more dependence on the IT staff to manipulate PR content.

I knew that day I would be working for or with Dee and Jason in some capacity on this particular service.

The problem was everyone in the room was smitten with the service. Everybody was looking for additional responsibility within the PRN organization, which is what made us a great organization.

Our SVP of Marketing owned the DVCO relationship and was bombarded with pitches by most at the convention.

Let me do it, let me do it, but in a more professional fashion.

I bided my time and waited for the SVP to excuse himself from the dinner. I caught him at the stairs and gave him a quick pitch: “I’m your guy, I believe in this service, I want to champion it.”

I was surprised and pleased by his reaction, given his exposure to some very talented people making their own pitches during dinner.

He said, “Good, you’re who I wanted to champion this in the first place.”

I had experienced some good fortune leading other initiatives internally and apparently those successes had served as auditions for this initiative.

I left Sundance and started to think of ways we could take this incredible technology disguised as a simple service to our PR contacts.

I knew it would be a hot seller and it was.

I remember writing down one word on my notes page (I had planned to take notes, but it was so easy to understand, I put down my pen after a couple of minutes, but not before I wrote down the word).

The word was EVIDENCE.

I wrote it in all caps, underlined it a couple of times, then sat back and took it all in. When I opened my notebook on the way back home to Dallas, I saw the word again.

I watched some TV that night, but was still interested in planning how to pitch this to the sales team.

My boss at the time pretty much gave me a direct line to the sales team. He knew my interest was making him look good and he trusted my judgment always.

There I was, half watching TV and half taking notes, which really meant I wasn’t doing much of either.

But I overheard something from the show (one of the CSI shows) which served as a sign.

It was also very familiar.

A senior CSI was telling a junior CSI to stop speculating and concentrate on the facts.

“There’s only one thing that never lies in this business: evidence,” he said.

Bingo!

I wrote it down again and knew that would be the message to the sales team.

The EVIDENCE message in September of 2004 that was delivered to the sales team worked.

We took the message to the street and exceeded all of our sales goals.

The PR teams loved it!

We showed them EVIDENCE that journalists do go to company web sites to generate story ideas.
We showed them EVIDENCE that journalists do not like consumer sites, heavy with flash and graphics.

We showed them EVIDENCE that journalists cannot find what they need on most corporate sites. It either isn’t there or isn’t easy to find.

We showed them EVIDENCE that a PR person could easily control PR content and that the IT folks would actually prefer to give up that responsibility.

We showed them EVIDENCE that this PR Innovation of the Year could be theirs for a fraction of what they spend internally to get the site populated, updated and become easily manipulated.

It worked.

We sold a lot of MediaRooms, secured a lot of relationships and never ever lost a client to whom we had sold MediaRoom.

Leading that charge was the highlight of my 17-year career at PR Newswire.

When I amicably parted with PR Newswire in December of 2005, I knew that I would interact with them again from the other side of the desk, as a client. I also knew it would be driven by MediaRoom.

It happened about a quarter of the way into what I had determined was going to my year off.

I was looking at the break as my personal half-time. I had worked 17 years; when I returned, I was going to work another 17 years.

So I fully expected and intended to take an entire year off.

But I received a call after three months from one of my former clients.

She had purchased MediaRooms for the two divisions of Carlson Restaurants Worldwide, T.G.I. Friday’s and Pick Up Stix.

She wanted to know if I had any interest in putting together the MediaRoom for Pick Up Stix.

Doesn’t sound like something that you’d give up your year off for, does it?

But that’s the inspiration known as MediaRoom.
I jumped at the chance and had the site completed in relatively no time.

It was MediaRoom that inspired me in 2004 and again in 2006.

Great things happen with MediaRoom.

It may have changed my professional life.

Again.

This story and that history came flooding back to me last Friday when I was given the privilege to represent one of the coolest brands in the world, T.G.I. Friday’s, as well as Pick Up Stix.

I changed the contact information on their MediaRooms to reflect DFPR as the companies’ media contact.

http://fridays.mediaroom.com/index.php?s=contacts

http://pickupstix.mediaroom.com/

It is EVIDENCE that taking the call and the opportunity were the right moves.

DFPR and Investor Relations

In my first month of business, I have been repeatedly asked if DFPR will be handling investor relations.

It could be my background.

PR Newswire continues to help the majority of public companies meet their disclosure requirements with all the companies’ material announcements, which are mandated to be disseminated to both the public and investment community by the SEC.

What is sure is that there is no doubt a company has met its disclosure requirements when it puts a press release on PR Newswire.

I saw evidence of that every day and served public companies in that capacity for almost two decades.

It could be my chosen field.

Many public relations practitioners are charged with the overall communications program for their companies, many of whom are publicly traded. The PR person becomes the IR person.

A lot of PR firms also offer IR services.

I know about material announcements, disclosure requirements, earnings, dividends, Safe Harbor, Sarbanes Oxley, selective disclosure and could probably add some more to that list if I really knew what I was doing.

Fact is I am not an investor relations expert.

Good news is I worked with over 50+ IR agencies during my time at PRN and met quite a few experts.

And while I couldn’t play favorites in my previous capacity, it’s essential that I play that way now.

When I created DFPR, I made a promise that I would only seek partnerships with those I felt were the best in their field.

You might ask, “If you aren’t an expert, how would you know when one company is better than another?”

Good question.

In choosing an IR partner, I listened to their clients and their competition.

If their competition was concerned, they looked like a winner.

If their clients were ecstatic about their service, they were a winner.

If their peers couldn’t compete and their client list was growing with zero erosion, they became my partnership target.

Dennard, Gray, Rupp and Easterly, LLC (DRG&E) was my target.

They are now a partner.

It’s known as a soft partnership, with no business through obligation.

They can work with anyone they like.

I chose to work with them.

It will most likely culminate with some general lead sharing.

Nothing fancy, exactly the type of partnership I sought.

We shared sushi and shook hands in Houston last Tuesday and I updated the services section of the DFPR web site today.

And the question as to whether DFPR has an IR component is now answered with confidence, because I chose the best in the business.

Soft Addictions

My wife has become a fan of pointing out soft addictions.

I lose my wallet twice a day, my keys 3-4 times and misplace my sunglasses almost daily.

We’ve been together for 6 years and she is very tolerant of me running around the house looking for these items for about an hour each day.

Sometimes she helps me.

Sometimes she just sits and shakes her head.

Every time she shops, she buys me something to put them near or in.

That works for a day or two and then there I go again running around the house like a gnat looking for them.

It’s me and she just tolerates it.

But the other night, we watched a 20/20 special featuring Judith Wright, an expert and perhaps the only expert on soft additions.

They profiled a woman who just could not keep her house clean. Soft Addiction.

They profiled a man who was always late. Soft Addiction.

And so on.

My wife liked the segment so much, she ordered Judith’s book, “There Must be More than This”.

Next thing you know, the phone rings. Judith Wright is on the phone with my wife.

She speaks to her for half and hour.

My life will never be the same.

Lost my keys the other day.

As I’m going up the stairs to check the home office, I hear Tracy say, “soft addiction.”

Couldn’t find my wallet last night when we were heading out to dinner.

Finally found it and joined Tracy in the car. She whispered, “soft addiction.”

Misplaced my sunglasses this morning. Tracy leans over to our dog and says, “Daddy’s got a soft addiction.”

Got my eight hours sleep last night, almost to the minute.

Must be a soft addiction.

Shaved like I do every morning.

Could be a soft addiction.

Put the shampoo in my hand and put it on my head and wondered where the lather was.

I’ve been basically bald for 15 years but I still shampoo. Sounds like a soft addiction.

Tracy just waits for me to lose something.

Waits and waits for her daily opportunity to assess my situation.

Waits and waits and waits.

I think she has a soft addiction.

A friendly reminder

Oh, we all know how easy it is to give advice.

And how hard it is to take it or follow your own.

When I advise clients on media relations, I say that sending a press release is like planting a seed.

It's a toy you have to play with.

But independent of kudzu, how many seeds can you just throw on the ground and watch grow.

How many toys play with themselves?

A brilliant practitioner reminded me this morning over coffee that press release dissemination is strictly functional.

The surface of the remaining two disciplines of PR/marketing communications (tactical and strategic) are barely scratched.

He was preaching to the choir.

But in this case, this singer (me) forgot the words to his own song.

I had issued a couple of releases in the past week.

For me and by me.

Went to the Charlotte Business Journal Friday and fully expected to see my news.

No go.

Opened the Charlotte Observer on Sunday morning fully expecting to see my news.

Nada.

Granted, the online coverage was better than expected and candidly, they weren't great stories.

I had used PR Newswire and PR Web, which together could not have possibly distributed the stories any more broadly.

Yet, I had forgotten one bit of advice I preach every day: You cannot send a press release out without following up.

Not aggressively, not pitching it unabashedly. Just professional follow-up. It cultivates relationships with the media, which is the part of the foundation of media relations.

So, I picked up the phone and called my targeted publications and spoke with the persons responsible for those respective sessions.

And I'll bet it pays off.

It works.

I am a big believer in the press release.

It's a seed, it's a toy.

But a toy never played with is not a toy at all.

Water the seed.

Family and Friends

The week that was … very pleased with the coverage of the launch. I relied completely on two companies to assist me with the announcement: PR Newswire and PR Web.

I took the family and friends approach.

PR Newswire is family.

I started my career there as an assistant editor and left as a vice president almost 18 years later to the day. So, when I crafted a press release, there should have been no doubt as to where that press release was going to land. I worked with an editorial team that worked for me at one time. They were spectacular. They caught a typo, even though I vowed to give them a perfect release. Great work, just like I remember. PR Newswire remains the best at what they do.

I also put the press release on PR Web.

I knew about them, respected their work in my previous capacity, but probably wouldn’t have thought about them for the release.

Until they hired two of my friends: Stuart Dean and J.D. Bowles.

And you know what, PR Web surprised me. They treated me like a king (which may have had something to do with my friends) and I was very impressed overall. My use of PR Web may have started with a couple friendships, but my satisfaction level with their work and their offerings made a believer out of me.

So, the family and friends approach is the one I plan to take both for the agency and our growing client list.