One thing that has bugged me for years is what I call the “PR Rolodex Myth.” This myth posits that a PR person or agency’s relationships with reporters– their Rolodex– means that they automatically get better coverage for their clients.

• The Rolodex gets your phone call answered and your email read. That’s it: When I first made the move to PR a former radio colleague, Rex Crum, was the tech reporter at the Boston Business Journal. We shared messages, congratulated each other on our new jobs, and I pitched him on a new client– then silence. I was just getting my feet wet and my pitch was probably pretty clumsy, but it wasn’t until the client actually had some news that he actually called me back to do a profile on the client. In the end, I got the placement but it had very little to do with our relationship.

• Bad pitches will crumble your relationship quickly: If you think I am going to give an example here, keep thinking. However, even now at a time when I feel I have some of those “Rolodex” relationships, the majority of my time is spent pitching reporters, editors and bloggers that I barely know or don’t know at all. I use a relevant story, well told, crafted in a way to get attention. It’s all about the Good Pitch (horn-toot alert). This is also why we have a Bad Pitch Blog along with constant tales of reporters grumbling about clueless PR people. This has nothing to do with who you know.

• Still, there’s nothing wrong with relationships: If you do have those relationships, use them in they they can help: bounce ideas off the journalists and bloggers you know, get an idea of their editorial planning calendars first-hand, and maybe get the occasional inside scoop. Maybe there is a chance for favoritism in coverage, but never to the extent that a company ought to hire an agency based on its “Rolodex.”

There are a number of Twitterers living in Las Vegas or heading there for CTIA next week. Therefore I’m suggesting a Tweetup for Wednesday at 6pm at Quark’s Bar in The Star Trek Experience at the Las Vegas Hilton. If it’s too nutty at Quark’s, we’ll Tweet a new location, probably still in the Hilton.

If you’re planning to go to the show, be sure to follow Topazers @susank and me (@vanhoosear)–I’ll be coordinating the Tweetup. Also, follow @ctia for regular updates from the show (thanks @tlimongello). If you follow @hashtags (and you should), be sure to use the #ctia hashtag when you’re talking about the show.

Welcome to the PRobecast, Episode 57 of Topaz Partners’ weekly
PR-related podcast.

Doug Haslam, Adam Zand and Tim Allik discuss:

1. CNET lays off 10% of workforce …

2. …leading into a discussion of the state of the newspaper business

3. The New York Times’ David Pogue talks social media

4. “Tips of the Trade” - what, and how much, of our expertise should we give for free? Included, discussions of SEO at Social Media Club and Shel Holtz and Ragan Communications

5. What to do this weekend: more NCAA hoops, baseball opens and CTIA next week!

Comment: email bmoc@topazpartners.com, call 781-404-2419
MP3 File

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* Opening Music: “Junk In A” by Pat Zelenka, available on the Podsafe Music Network and closing music is by Topazer Rob Capra

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