Bayou City Public Relations

Houston Public Relations Expert Gives Tough Love to New PR Grads

noemail@bayoucitypr.com — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 20:00:00 GMT

by Sharon Dotson

There is not a week that goes by that three or more college graduates (or soon-to-be college graduates) don't approach me looking for their first job in PR.

They come from almost every college in Houston and Texas – and from colleges out-of-state, too. Some have never lived in Houston before but they’re on their way because a boyfriend or girlfriend is already working here – or their spouse has found a job in Houston. More likely, the grads who contact me grew up here and are headed back home, diploma in hand. They need – yes, desperately want – to land a job in our industry.

They phone.

They email.

They snail-mail.

They voice-mail.

Occasionally they beg and plead and sometimes they even demand a job.

Bayou City Public Relations is not singled out among Houston PR firms. No doubt, these new graduates are also contacting other Houston PR firms. After all, these young men and women are ready to go to work and they’re trying not to leave any stone unturned. Yet, the truth is this: Few will be hired for the jobs they seek. Further, most will become so discouraged at the continued rejection that they will never end up working in PR.

Whew! My arm is in front of my face right now. Please, please put those rocks down! Time-out for a personal disclaimer, lest I come off as an arrogant self-satisfied, curmudgeon who doesn’t remember what it’s like to be a jobless new graduate frantically seeking a break.

Yes, I remember what it is like to graduate with no job in my future (and in my case with a two-year-old daughter).

Yes, I too, made mistakes trying to attract the attention of hiring authorities.

No, I don't recall playing it especially cool or having my act together very well when I looked for a job post-graduation.

To sum it up, Sharon Dotson made almost every mistake the young job seekers who call me today are making (and some of them I made over and over again). However, maybe, just maybe, I wouldn’t have made as many if I’d read a few of the essential truths of job hunting I am about to share with you.

So, hold on tight, new PR grads, and listen-up good. This is your future we’re talking about, your moment of truth, and this is Bayou City PR’s gift to you – free and clear, no strings attached. Here are my most important job-hunting tips, which I’ve entitled:

Five things you’ve gotta stop doing if you want that first PR job

Stop telling me you’re a team player.

Yes, I know there are a bunch of books out there that instruct you to do this very thing, but forget them. You may think it helps to let me know that you work well with others, but telling me, or anyone like me, that you are a team player is not something to brag about. Why? It’s sort of like telling me you are honest or that you believe in coming to work on time or that you bathe regularly, therefore never smell bad. Having the ability to work well with others is something I assume and so is smelling good (or not smelling bad). It is meaningless, total non- information. Everyone says it and it’s a real yawner. I can’t remember the last time anyone emailed me and said, “Don’t count on me to to develop professional working relationships with my coworkers or with you.”

What you should do – Provide solid, genuine information in your resume and cover letter. Banalities sound silly. They are boring and distracting and definitely do not help any graduate – PR or otherwise – stand out from the scores of others competing with them in the entry-level job market. Talk about facts. For instance, what kind of internship(s) have you had? What did you do? Have you been published in the college newspaper? Now, that's something I'd like to know.

Stop addressing me as “Dear Sir” or “To Whom It May Concern.”

In almost every case when you write or email, you tell me you found my firm through a Google or Yahoo search. You say you reviewed my website and noticed how your skills and education are a perfect fit in the operation of my firm. Some of you are even kind enough to compliment me on the appearance of my website, a courtesy I appreciate. But, I must ask – why-oh-why-oh-why do so many of you begin your letter with “Dear Sir” or “To Whom It May Concern?” First, I am not a Sir, but please don’t go the Madam route, either. If you looked at my website as carefully as you say you have, then you would know there is a whole page on me – it’s unashamedly all about me. It is under the heading “About Us.”

What you should do – Address me as “Dear Ms. Dotson," or "Dear Mrs. Dotson." Either works. It’s polite, yet personal and it’s absolutely professional. You can’t go wrong. It also shows me that you really did care enough to read the content on my website.

Stop telling me you have bills to pay and you have to find a job -- now!

OK, OK – this doesn’t happen often, most grads who contact me are way more savvy than this - but it does happen and it’s such a serious gaffe I think it's worth addressing. I understand, believe me, I understand. Unemployed college graduates get scared. They’ve got school loans and car payments and credit card bills to pay (some of them even have children to support). Some are petrified that they may have to succumb to that old death knell experience – moving back in with the folks. Nevertheless, telling me about your personal problems won't make things better and it sure won't persuade me to hire you. Be my next-door neighbor and tell me your problems and I will cry with you. Sit next to me on a flight to Kansas City and confide your personal crisis in me, one- stranger-to-another, and I'll listen and wish you well. Do the same when you're applying for a job and you won't even tickle my sympathy. Your problems are not my problems and my problems are not yours.

What you should do –Apply the no-excuses rule. Starting right now, say to yourself, “I will never treat a would-be employer as if she/he owes me a job and I will never (ever) poor-mouth, even if I am poor. I will calmly and strategically look at where I am in my life, at what I have and what I don’t have, and then, I will do the sensible thing. I will create an honest plan that includes some temporary compromises that in all my naïveté, I never dreamed I would have to make. I will do this because I want a good life for myself today and down the road. Further, I will not feel sorry for myself. When things get dreary, I will be grateful for the huge advantage I already have. I am (or soon will be) a college graduate."

Stop saying you can write when you really can’t.

It may be the biggest career secret you keep – the fact that you don't write well and in fact, dislike writing. If this situation applies to you, as it does to some PR graduates (even though, ironically, these same graduates were just granted degrees in PR), you have ‘issues,’ as they say. At least you would have issues with Bayou City Public Relations, because in this shop, the rule is simple: No writ-ee, no work-ee (and I guess it follows, no eat-ee).The inability to write well will bite you in the back. Hard. If you believe you can somehow fake good writing, think again. Recently, when I ask a PR graduate about his writing abilities, he answered me with confidence. “Oh, I’m not going into that side of PR," he said. "There are other people who do that. Me? I’m a people person.” My reaction? I was polite, but the conversation ended quickly. Good writing is at the core of every PR endeavor. There are no exceptions. It doesn't matter if you just graduated yesterday and everybody (of course) thinks you can write, yet you’re embarrassed to admit it's not so. I don’t care. if you believe you can bluff your way through a few dozen press releases until somehow, some way, you find your ‘voice.’ Please believe me when I tell you that you can't. Good writing is produced consistently and knowledgeably and enthusiastically. That doesn't mean good writing cannot be learned. It can. But it shouldn not be learned on the client's dollar. PR firms are not schools, although everyone knows that, with experience, we all get better and better on the job.

What you should do – Learn how to write, now. Enroll in writing courses at night while you work another job by day. There are some exceptional courses available at Houston Community College. And, HCC also has fantastic writing labs where students receive one-on-one attention. They were teaching this same material back there at the college where you recently graduated, but maybe you were too busy to learn. Or maybe, not enough people in the know bothered to tell you how important professional writing credentials really are. Now, you must learn once and for all. Easy? No. Worthwhile? You bet. You want a career in PR, don’t you?

Stop telling me you don't have the money to join Public Relations Society of America -- and that it's a waste of your time because you are a newbie.

Please, please, indulge me here. This is my sore spot, right up there with not being able to write. Plain and simple, PRSA is where the action starts in PR. If you want to be a player – I don’t care how young and green and poor your are – you need to be a part of this club. I don’t care what you do (as long as it’s legal) to get your hands on the money to join, do it. PRSA dues are a few hundred dollars and you know, if you try, that you can put the coins together. PRSA will let you pay for it on the friendly payment plan (my words). Work at McDonalds, mow lawns, babysit, if you can do no better. This is your life you’re talking about and this is the organization that can be the center of your career. Besides, PRSA has special rates for recent graduates. Another disclaimer: Nobody at PRSA asked me to say this;I just believe it.

What you should do – As I said, join. (If you are still in school, join PRSSA). Email P aula Ruth, APR, who is the administrator of the Houston chapter. She knows everything. And of course, visit the PRSA Houston website. The information is there. Once you join, attend the meetings and run, do not walk, as fast as you can to volunteer for a committee or two. Then, work hard on that committee; do more than your share. This is where you make your future in PRSA and your career--working with others. FACT: Wherever people are working together, they are also building relationships (hopefully good ones) and making connections that turn jobs into careers.

ABOUT SHARON DOTSON -- Houston public relations consultant Sharon Dotson, APR, founded award-winning Bayou City Public Relations in 2001. She is a former newspaper reporter and feature writer who drifted over in PR (and never left) when she was laid off her job as a magazine editor for a Texas lifestyle magazine. For six years, she headed the PR department at the Sam Houston Area Council Boy Scouts of America and for seven years she served as public affairs director at Houston-based Mental Health and Mental Retardation Authority of Harris County (MHMRA). She has served on the board of directors of both the Houston chapter of Public Relations Society of America (PRSA), and the Texas Public Relations Association. The Bayou City PR website is www.bayoucitypr.com. Email Sharon Dotson.

1-Sep-08 3:00 PM

How to Get Free PR . . . Just For Writing a Letter?

noemail@bayoucitypr.com — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 03:00:00 GMT

by Sharon Dotson, APR

Why is writing a letter to the editor a public relations strategy? Because it gets you and your ideas in front of thousands of readers in some of the most respected real estate in any newspaper - the editorial section. Following are two mini case studies – letters to the editor I read today in two different newspapers.

The president of an animal rescue organization writes a letter expressing her anger over a police raid where seventeen underfed, physically-abused dogs lived nose-to-nose in a small backyard. "It took too long for neighbors - who had to have known that something was amiss - to cry foul," she wrote, "This is taking the right to privacy too far," she said. How did this letter to the editor produce effective (and free) PR? Easy. For one thing, the writer mentioned the address of the nonprofit organization's website where citizens can report animal abuse. She also stressed that she and other animal rights activists could do much more for vulnerable animals if more citizens would volunteer. Then . . . her letter was over. Short and sweet. Wonder how many hits her organization's website will get over the next week or two?

The owner of a small local insurance company writes a letter to the editor about the bleak future many families face because their homes were destroyed in a recent flood. Most of the families affected are not poor, the letter writer says. They live in $250,000-plus homes, but even so, without flood insurance many are assured of financial devastation. “Why do these homeowners take such foolish risks when flood insurance costs only $300 or $400 a year?" the writer asks. "They have families and jobs and futures to protect. They have hundreds of thousands of dollars at risk and probably more," the letter writer goes on to say. Questions to ask yourself about this case: Is this good advice for readers? Yes. A heartfelt emotional plea? Yes. PR for the insurance man's business? Oh, yes.

In each of the above examples, the writers took a story reported in the newspaper and made it work for them personally -- and sincerely. Following are some tried-and-true tips for writing a letter to the editor:

Make clear reference to the newspaper article that inspired you to sit down to write the letter.
Mention the specific headline, the date the article was published and the name of the reporter.
Never forget, your letter to the editor is just that: a letter. Hone in on one message and resist the temptation to write an article of your own. You may feel better (or vindicated, somehow) after you write a three-page letter, but no one will read it because no editor will publish it.
Briefly reference your credentials without fawning. Without credentials, you are just one more reader writing in to express an opinion; there should be substance to back up your opinions.

Judy Minchew, who supervises the letters-to-the-editor column at the Houston Chronicle, has three words of advice for would-be letter writers: Keep it short! Most letters are rejected, she says, because they are too long. “Short and to the point, written succinctly on one topic is what we look for.

Letters to the editor can be your key to getting good PR. The only cost is the time it takes to sit down and write the letter.

About Sharon Dotson:

Sharon Dotson

is president of Houston public relations firm Bayou City Public Relations, LLC. (www.bayoucitypr.com).

29-Jul-08 10:00 PM

Houston Public Relations Firm Gives Top 10 Tips for Hiring a Copywriter

noemail@bayoucitypr.com — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 23:00:00 GMT

Hard-Earned Lessons from the Frontlines of PR in Houston

by Sharon Dotson

The right ad copywriter can help propel your company to dizzying heights of success -- all with the subtle turn of a phrase.

Consider the copywriter who linked two common English words and turned them into a billion-dollar ad campaign that spawned countless imitators and boasts a jaw-dropping 90% consumer awareness rate. Who would think that those words – Got Milk? – could singlehandedly pull an entire industry out of a 20-year slump?

Such is the power of a copywriter. Yet for every success story like this, there are dozens of tales of copywriters who do not deliver the goods. How well you select your copywriter can make all the difference in the success or failure of your advertising initiative.

1. Focus on Substance, Not Trends

The advertising world is littered with self-appointed guru and "rockstar" copywriters. One can hardly blame them. After all, advertising is an industry where one's worth is often determined by reputation as much as actual track record.

Try to separate illusion from reality. Research trade journals or news sites for solid information about the copywriter’s background and completed projects. Remember that inflated reputation does not necessarily mean a bad copywriter, though. You just want to make sure you are hiring a person on the basis of facts, not baseless reputation.

2. Find Copywriters with Proactive Traits

You are not hiring a poet in a garret. You are hiring a responsible businessperson who has a certain skill with words and ideas. Yet many copywriters find it difficult to accomplish simple tasks such as returning phone calls on a timely basis and meeting deadlines. Forget them. What you need is a proactive collaborator who is available on a regular basis to exchange ideas with you, and to produce results.

3. Can You Work with the Copywriter?

Ultimately, you must be able to work with this person. Copywriting is a collaborative effort between client and writer. And as a paying client, you can rightfully expect to work with a flexible person who has a cheerful manner and who values your input. That’s not too much to ask for; that’s just good business.

4. Results-Based Copy is the Only Copy that Matters

Great copy doesn’t just have to “sound good.” Great copy brings results.

Whatever your chosen metric (sales, sign-ups, leads, or so on), look for a writer who can produce statistics for similar projects, correlating copy with success.

5. Beware Guarantees of Future Results

Nobody can predict the future. Avoid any copywriter who promises that his or her copy will produce a certain result. Any such guarantee is a sales gimmick. On the other hand, it is acceptable to set up a results-based compensation plan with a copywriter.

6. Can the Copywriter Think Holistically?

A copywriter does usually not orchestrate entire advertising campaigns. Rather, the copywriter is responsible for producing one piece of the campaign. But you do want to hire a copywriter who has a realistic understanding of how his or her piece fits into the entire scope of the project. Ask: “How do you envision your copy fitting into the advertising campaign as a whole?” There really isn’t a wrong answer to this question. You just want a copywriter willing to take on larger concepts.

7. Ask for Fresh Writing Samples

Does the copywriter have old writing samples? If the samples pre-date the Reagan presidency, you can safely drop that person like a hot potato. But it’s not necessarily a bad thing for a copywriter’s website to display samples that are several months or even a year old. In fact, it might just mean that she is too gainfully employed to attend to her own site. Give her a break; simply ask for fresh samples.

8. Demand a Copywriter Who Knows Your Industry

If you want to sell medical supplies, it makes no sense to hire a copywriter who has only written for the aviation industry. There are plenty of copywriters out there who are familiar with your industry. On the other hand, steer clear of copywriters who are so embedded in a field that they cannot produce fresh angles.

9. Treat Client Information with Sensitivity?

Not every client wants their sensitive information exposed to the world. So if the copywriter refers to other clients and projects in vague generalities, there might be a perfectly good reason for this. This might mean that the copywriter is faithfully abiding by Non-Disclosure Agreements (NDAs) that he signed with his clients. After all, there will come a day when you will be on the other side of fence – hoping that your former provider keeps confidential matters confidential.

10. Quick to Provide References?

Still, you will want references. And any copywriter worth his weight makes sure that he has cleared disclosure with a number of former clients. References are the best indicator of worth you can obtain. Be sure to follow through and actually contact these references.

Houston public relations firm Bayou City Public Relations is owned by Sharon Dotson, APR. Bayou City Public Relations specializes in getting positive media coverage for successful small to mid-size niche businesses in the Houston area, and nationally.

4-Jun-08 6:00 PM

A Houston Public Relations Memory: “How Ron Stone saved my job”

noemail@bayoucitypr.com — Fri, 23 May 2008 02:00:00 GMT

by Sharon Dotson

Long-time Houston TV personality Ron Stone died of cancer last week. Like many Houstonians, I spent a good deal of time soaking up memories from his fans – some famous, some not so famous. Like me, Angela Wrigglesworth was among the latter.

Her Ron Stone story was revealing, literally. The Klein ISD teacher's story goes back when she was 5-years-old and suffering from muscular dystrophy. As the MD poster child, she was only minutes from being introduced by Stone at his annual MD telethon. Then, cold feet got in the way. In a last-minute confession, the little girl told him she was embarrassed to go on because she felt her teeth were unattractive. No worry, the TV maestro reassured, whereupon he yanked out his front teeth, grinned broadly and said: “I do it all the time! You’ll be fine.” Angela Wrigglesworth appeared, as scheduled.

Doug Johnson, the tall, genial weatherman whose career spanned 40 years on Houston television reminisced about the college-boy pranks the two friends played on each other and former anchors Jan Carson and Ron Franklin also weighed in with memories. Even news people from competing Houston stations were not shy about saying that Ron Stone was their idol, too.

The stories kept coming. Every memory had one thing in common. Ron Stone was a kind man who helped others whenever, wherever he could.

Boy Scout, Good Deed

All of this made me think of the day back in December 1989, when Ron Stone did a favor for me. The magnanimity of his good deed wouldn’t compute for most people, but anyone who practices public relations for a living will understand immediately why he attained saint status with me.

This is what happened:

I was public relations director for the Boy Scouts of America, new at my job with a lot to prove – and I knew I wasn’t proving it fast enough. I was the first PR director the Sam Houston Area Council had ever hired. The fact that I was working for an iconic male organization that hired few women was also a career challenge. Every time I turned around I felt like I was faced with the old question, “What have you done for me lately?” I was thinking about quitting.

My assignment was the annual Christmas luncheon where 300 superstar volunteers came to learn the highlights of the year. I had amassed a respectable collection of homegrown video clips filmed at various Scouting events – the kind of feel-good material dedicated Scouters love. Boys honoring their mothers at an Eagle Scout ceremony; adorable day campers running relay races; Webelos listening attentively to the Mayor at a City Council meeting. None of it was strong enough to make it on its own, but edited into a collage, these random scraps of footage had all the makings of a holiday program piece de resistance.

Eager as our luncheon committee was to produce an inspiring, skillfully executed program, we knew the operative word here was skill. Several rules applied with these kind of events.

Don’t bore the volunteers. Don’t embarrass yourself. And most of all, don’t embarrass the Scout Executive (BSA talk for the boss).

Of course, I had no budget to pull this off. I knew exactly what I would do if I did have a budget. Hire a film production company and a popular TV personality, and then get him to do a basso profundo voice-over in a first-class sound studio. Voila! Mission accomplished. In the real world, a budget was too ridiculous to consider. This didn’t start with me. Anyone who has ever worked for a nonprofit organization knows the mantra – ‘Get it donated.’

Hollywood Out of Whole Cloth

The day before the event, I submitted to my committee that we might have to settle for a slide show. Suddenly, a loud voice from the back of the room blurted out: “Hey, Sharon -- why don’t you call up Ron Stone on the phone and get him to do it? You’re the PR lady, use your connections! You can pull it off, no problem!”

Fresh out of options with nothing to lose, I closed the door and placed the call. I’ll never know why the most popular broadcaster in Houston came to the phone and listened to everything I had to say without rushing me (or hanging up), because we had never met. But he did. Before you know it, Ron Stone was instructing me to bring my video collection to the station, along with a script. “I won’t know what to say, if you don’t tell me,” he pointed out politely. “If you can have your stuff here by two this afternoon, I’ll put it together and you can pick it up by nine in the morning.”

And so it was. Our program was a success. Ron Stone made Hollywood out of whole cloth, the Scout Executive smiled, the crowd cheered and the wise guy who suggested I make the phone call in the first place took way too much credit for it. But I didn’t care. I owed him one. I ended up staying with the Scouts for six years and watched my son earn Eagle. I said it then and I’ll say it now. “God bless you, Ron Stone.”

22-May-08 9:00 PM

Free PR Tactic Pays Off

noemail@bayoucitypr.com — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 18:00:00 GMT

Sharon Dotson of Bayou City Public Relations recently contributed an article about getting PR by sending letters to the editor—Want Some Good PR?

Click to Read the Full Article

24-Mar-08 1:00 PM

Founder Considered Pioneer in New Field

noemail@bayoucitypr.com — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 18:00:00 GMT

Sharon Dotson authors a Houston Woman Magazine cover story

This article is about Bayou City Public Relations client Vickie L. Milazzo, an amazing entrepreneur who started her multi-million dollar legal nurse consulting business out of a tiny apartment in southwest Houston.

Click to Read the PDF

24-Mar-08 1:00 PM

Getting PR in Your Town: Realities to Remember

noemail@bayoucitypr.com — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 17:00:00 GMT

In business, getting effective media coverage is often crucial to success. Doesn’t matter how good you are if they don’t know you’re out there. But, there are realities to remember about the media, wherever you do business. An article by Sharon Dotson in About.Com. Click to Read the Full Article

24-Mar-08 12:00 PM

Want Some Good PR?

noemail@bayoucitypr.com — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 17:00:00 GMT

Sharon Dotson writes for About.Com

How many times have you read a newspaper article about your topic, your area of interest, the subject about which you are an undeniable authority—and felt disheartened and disgusted that you were not the person who was being quoted? An article by Sharon Dotson in About.Com. Click to Read the Full Article

24-Mar-08 12:00 PM

Everything old is new again: A Press Release By Any Other Name Might Be An Optimized Press Release

noemail@bayoucitypr.com — Sat, 15 Sep 2007 14:00:00 GMT

A new development in the world of marketing and public relations is the advent of the optimized press release. An optimized press release can make its way to the top of Google and Yahoo! News in less than 24 hours for relevant keywords. Other optimized press releases stay perched on the first page of Google for six months or longer.

For those of us who have made a living distributing these informative little documents throughout our careers, the question seems to be: Can there be anything new in the world about the venerable press release? Yes, thanks to Internet technology.

So, exactly what is an optimized press release?

Optimized press releases are a relatively little-known development in the world of search engine exposure. Optimized press releases differ from regular press releases because they are written with selectively researched keywords embedded within the copy. The keywords target a specific audience and attract search engine spiders. The use of keywords drives traffic to a company's website and attracts potential clients and customers.

For another perspective, think of a skillfully written resume that teases the hiring authority into calling you for an interview. Likewise, the optimized press release teases the reader into clicking through to a company's website - a website the reader would never have located or known anything about without first being led there by the optimized press release.

Garden variety press releases are not keyword-embedded and are written for journalists' eyes only. A press release that can reach the target audience without the filter of an editor or reporter? Who knew?

The news search engines are now major players in the dissemination of news. According to statistics captured over the course of one month in mid-2004, over 27 million Americans searched Google and Yahoo! News for information. Two years later, chances are this number has grown tremendously. Combined, Google and Yahoo news engines outpace CNN, the New York Times and Washington Post online news sources.

Another thing about optimized press releases - they live on Google for 30 days and on Yahoo News for up to two weeks, which is news in itself. How long does a press release live in a newspaper reporter's in-box? Not 30 days, probably not 30 minutes.

Some people say optimized press releases are a combination of art and science. The "science" is knowing how to research keywords and where to embed them. The "art" is the ability to write professionally and persuasively so the reader doesn't detect the adroit use of keywords placed in the copy.

The ideal result for an optimized press release is an increase in traffic to a company's website traffic that converts to sales leads and brand recognition.

Can every company benefit from optimized press releases? No. Optimized press releases do not perform miracles. If a company website is unattractive and poorly navigable; if its content is confusing and misleading; if the products and services it sells are overpriced and of low quality, and if the customer service is just plain bad - no amount of well-executed, skillfully-written and properly optimized press releases can do anything to boost revenues. Optimized press releases are only one part of the marketing mix.

However, if other elements of sound business practice are in place, an optimized press release can spread a company's message a large body of buyers in a way few people dreamed possible before.

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Sharon Dotson, APR, owns Bayou City Public Relations. Visit her company's website at www.bayoucitypr.com and the companion website, www.firstpagepressrelease.com.

15-Sep-07 9:00 AM