Don't be like XM Radio

Why would a huge company like this bill someone for a service that they didn't even want?  And then when asked by the credit card company to rescind the charge, refuse to?  Thus we have the curious case of XM radio.  It seems strange that a company, which already has quite a number of complaints with the Better Business Bureau, wouldn't realize that their telephone representatives are the first line of public relations for any company.  When a telephone representative is told of the circumstances and then tries to hard sell the service even though the customer is requesting a cancellation, this is not good PR. 

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But perhaps it's because the merger of  XM with Sirius thios past July, is causing financial difficulties. Or maybe company executives don't think honest, good customer service matters.  Good customer service is your best word of mouth PR campaign.  It's something that advertising will never give you!

Social Media

Is it really the NEW PR tool? Or is it a way for people to waste time at work? It is a good way to develop a group of friends and co-workers and you can post events there. Only time will tell if it's a good way to get people to come to your events and shows and what have you.

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However at the Mashable.com social media website, they did list 10 of the best social media sites for PR folks. Here's the link.

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or if that doesn't work, try cutting the pasting the following into your browser:
http://mashable.com/2008/10/30/best-social-media-tools-for-pr-professionals-and-journalists/

Welcome

I've decided to also blog about PR, something that I've been doing for over 15 years now, in addition to my art blog at Waiting for the Muse. I started doing PR after leaving a 10-year career in radio and print journalism. This gave me a unique background compared to most practitioners in that I had been on the receiving end of PR for many years.

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What is PR you might ask? It's simply the flow of information from a company or group to the general public via mass media and now, social networking. This can take the form of news releases, event announcements, media interviews, newsletters and blogs. I often call PR a crap shoot in getting a message to the public via mass media. Why? You might have a great, "sexy" story that you think the media will go with, only to be upstaged by a large local event like a huge fire, or a murder or a scandal involving a public figure.

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Although many think PR is more credible than advertising, the one thing you can't do really is control PR the way you can advertising. PR must be thought of as a long-term strategy that works together with your marketing and advertising plans.