Hartford Business Journal

www.HartfordBusiness.com • March 12, 2018 • Hartford Business Journal 21 EXPERTS CORNER Are your media impressions making any impression at all? By Jason Simms I t is, of course, a good thing to "get your name out there," but if that's why your company is doing PR, you're missing out on a ton of potential value. Media coverage has the ability to showcase in a highly memorable and shareable way what your organiza- tion stands for and provide a flavor of what it's like to do business with you. It's different from advertising in that way, yet PR campaigns are commonly measured like ad campaigns in terms of impressions. There's much less thought given to how deep of an impression is be- ing made — though this is the most important factor for generating business through media exposure. Accolades aren't differentiators Many large and well-established organizations essentially limit their interactions with the press to announcements of awards, new projects and new hires. The prob- lem is that their competitors can make similar claims. An award for excellence reveals lit- tle about the nature of your excellence. If the story you are offering is simply, "Company X Honored with Award Y," or "Company X Wins Bid for Project Z," it is unlikely to have any effect on your business. Why did you win the award or project? What does it say about how you do business? How does the work that led to this moment reflect your firm's purpose in the world? In certain rare cases, the press may be interested enough in your announce- ment to seek out the answers to these questions themselves. More often, it's up to you to bring the media something surprising or thought-provoking. An accolade can be a reason why your story is relevant now, but the story itself should be something that could only come from your organization and speaks to its essence. When you bring forward rich, detailed stories in the me- dia, it functions almost like a personal recommendation on a mass scale. Announcements vs. proof Every announcement is a challenge to prove something. Your new service offering is going to revolutionize the industry? Show why it's truly different. Include voices of those who will benefit from your service in the announce- ment. If you're responding to a trend or forces in the marketplace, provide that context in materials you send to the press. If your competitors are making similar moves, join forces for coverage that benefits your industry overall. Adding dimensions to your story beyond the simple basics of your an- nouncement invites vibrant coverage that is more likely to be acted upon by those who see it. So what? Who cares? If you have good answers to these questions, it's likely that the story you're bringing to the media is part of a larger story about your company, your community, or a concept you believe in. When answers aren't readily avail- able, don't quit — dig deeper. Not know- ing yet what the story is can be the first step to a compelling story. There's no formula for being interesting. The most fascinating stories that make potential customers excited to do business with you are unique, so the path to creating them may not be readily apparent. By working hard to find a connec- tion between your announcement and the reason your company exists, you may discover an angle that previously seemed trivial, but is in fact highly illustrative of why your organization is great. If you don't have a break- through, that's OK too — even adding a little depth to your announcements pays off over time. Go ahead and get those impressions, if you can, but keep an eye out for ways to partner with the press that allow their audience to really know you, not just know of you. Jason Simms is a public relations strategist based in Deep River. HARTFORDBUSINESS.COM POLL LAST WEEK'S POLL RESULT: NEXT WEEK'S POLL: Would lowering income taxes and boosting the sales tax improve CT's competitiveness? To vote, go online to hartfordbusiness.com BIZ BOOKS Top reasons startups fail By Jim Pawlak "The Ultimate Start- Up Guide: Marketing Lessons, War Stories and Hard-Won Advice … " by Tom Hogan and Carol Broadbent (Career Press, $16.99). The authors, who've started businesses that failed and started others that succeeded, learned easy-way and hard-way lessons from their experience and that of angel investors and venture capitalists. They start by highlighting reasons that startups fail, and rightly so — if you can avoid missteps at the beginning, you'll increase the odds of success. The top reasons startups fail: "No market need" — Just because you create something new or im- proved, it doesn't mean the market will embrace it. If you haven't done your homework on the "why it's needed," you won't be able to convince prospects to buy your product/service. "Need" deals with more than usability. Buyers have to make a business case that addresses affordability, scalability and smooth integration with existing operations. "Running out of money" — Plans never go as planned. Budgets should include the costs of slippage in design, produc- tion and delivery. Slippage can be financially disas- trous windows of opportunity that open and close quickly, especially with seasonal items. "Expanding market focus too quick- ly" — This deals with loss of focus on the initial market "whether driven by early sales feedback or engineering desire." Efforts to "improve (save?)" the product devolve into trying to be "a lot of different things to a lot of dif- ferent markets." Lack of focus creates operational and financial havoc; see "Running out of money" above. "A founder that doesn't listen" — Many founders act like dictators by refusing to listen to what employ- ees and market feedback tells them. Despite reality, they stick with their vision. The result: Employees bail and the business fails. If you can address the "failure" is- sues in the first two chapters, the "run your business" advice in the remain- ing chapters will increase the odds of long-term success. Should CT offer incentives to lure new airlines and routes out of Bradley Airport? 36.7% No 63.3% Yes READER COMMENTS: "They don't work. Either there's enough demand to justify travel, or not. Subsidizing is effective only as long as the subsidy is in place, and is therefore artificially influencing normal market demand. That's not an economic development strategy." "We could certainly use more direct non-stop flights." "Yes, we offer incentives to everyone." "I only say no given the state's financial issues. If we had our house in order and were in a strong position, I would say we should look to enhance our position." Jason Simms Jim Pawlak Book Review

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