Fire Your Inner Brat

Who runs your business -- you or your inner brat? Everyone has an inner brat. It's the part of us that's still a 2-year-old. It gets furious at the slightest inconvenience. It feels entitled to get what it wants when it wants, and it whines and complains when things don't go its way.

Chances are this describes at least one of your clients or employees. It's always easier to spot someone else's inner brat than your own. But take a moment now to reflect on yourself and answer the following questions:

* Do you frequently complain that something isn't fair?

* Do you get angry at least once a day?

* Do you hate at least one client or employee?

* Are you convinced that the government, the economy or the competition is responsible for the lack of growth in your business?

* Have you made bad decisions because you were upset?

* Are you a spreader of gossip?

* Do you frequently forget to follow through on things or return phone calls?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, then your inner brat is your close business partner, like it or not. Your inner brat not only makes you miserable, it can also undermine the success of your business.

Research has shown that while some jobs are more stressful than others, your level of satisfaction and success have more to do with your attitude than with the work itself.

For example, consider two business owners, Arthur and Betsy. They both recently left their employers and are each struggling to build their own consulting businesses. Arthur complains, "I made 20 phone calls last week, and still haven't landed an appointment to talk to anyone about how I can serve their needs. Going to work every day is like banging my head against the wall. The economy sucks. Nobody's buying."

On the other hand, Betsy, who is in a similar position with her business looks at it this way: OK, I made 20 phone calls last week, which was my goal. That's the good news. Unfortunately it hasn't materialized into any solid business yet, but Don in the purchasing department at Widgets, Inc. invited me to call him back in a month. That gives me a few weeks to do my homework on Widgets and make a more convincing presentation.

THE KEY IS CHANGING PERSPECTIVE

You can see from this example that how much you enjoy your work is a function of how you view things. It makes no difference whether you work inside or outside, at a desk or behind a counter; or whether you wear jeans or suits. If you focus on the negative you will never enjoy your business, no matter how much money you make.

Arthur in the above example has a strong inner brat. He complains and finds fault. He perceives himself as a victim. Not only will his inner brat make him irritable and gloomy; it will adversely affect his interpersonal style, making it even more difficult to negotiate contracts. This in turn will make him feel even more like a failure.

Betsy is more positive about her business, but at the same time she is also realistic. She's aware of the difficulty in getting contracts, but instead of dwelling on what's wrong with the economy or anything else, she looks for opportunities to improve her skills. This keeps her focused on solutions and helps her project a positive manner with potential clients.

No one is cheerful one hundred percent of the time. But people who don't let their inner brats whine and complain suffer less stress, have fewer physical ailments and are more optimistic about the future.

There are many things you cannot control in business. For example, you have no control over interest rates or your clients' personalities. If clients or potential clients are argumentative or resistant, maybe they have a problem with their inner brats. But you don't have to let their inner brats push your buttons and unleash your own inner brat.

HERE'S WHAT TO DO

Some aspects of running your business may be unpredictable or unpleasant. But even then, you can view them in a different way.

* Think of difficulties as a challenge rather than as a threat. Maybe you need to adopt the old sports aphorism as your personal motto: "When the going gets tough, the tough get going."

* Take advantage of slow times to write thank-you notes to potential prospects with whom you've communicated on the phone or in email.

* When things are hectic or overwhelming, look for opportunities to praise employees for pulling together as a team.

* When you have to work with difficult people pretend you're watching a movie of them, and you're the director trying to decide what to do next. This will help you stay emotionally detached from their quirks, and you'll be calmer and in control.

* Be aware of your inner brat's whining and complaining, which can undermine your success. Fire your inner brat. It has no place in your business!!

Generating Publicity For Your Business

When starting a successful business venture or launching a new product, most entrepreneurs or business owners conduct some type of marketing research to determine the extent of their prospective customer base. And when getting the word out to that customer base, many entrepreneurs may turn to the media to help generate a buzz for them. However, as detailed as their marketing research might have been, very few business owners are as meticulous at determining their proper "media market" - that is, all those media outlets whose editorial profiles are a match to a product/business profile and would be appropriate for generating media exposure and publicity.
One of my favorite things to do is educate my clients about their "media market." Consider this, in North America there are more than 75,000 media outlets and almost one million reporters, editors & producers in the entire media market. However, only a small percentage of those may be appropriate and applicable to your business/product. But which ones? Unfortunately, too many well-intentioned entrepreneurs are either uninformed or misinformed regarding what it takes to attract media attention for their business. I recently surveyed 100 business owners and entrepreneurs who contacted my business about a publicity/media exposure campaign. Here's what I found:

• 11% - "Are Admittedly Media Market Clueless"
• 19% - "Have Unrealistic Media Market Perceptions"
• 29% - "Think Local & Large Media Are The ONLY Media"
• 41% - "Have A Good Grasp On Their Potential Media Market And Its Benefits"

Here are the descriptions of these categories and the lessons I try to teach those who fall into each category:
11% - "Are Admittedly Media Market Clueless"
These are the business owners who know their product and market inside and out, BUT they have never thought about launching a publicity/media exposure campaign before now. They know very little about their potential media market or how to generate publicity therein.
The Lesson: For these types of business owners I recommend asking for help from a smaller PR agency or publicity specialist who is willing to "hand hold" to get the client educated. Research to find one who doesn't mind spending the time to educate you about what should be included in your specific media market and the pitch. Make sure the agency or publicist understands the product/business as well as you do and can in turn educate you about your media market - one that will be able to benefit your business for years to come.
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19% - "Have Unrealistic Media Perceptions"
These are the business owners who are CONVINCED that EVERY newspaper, consumer interest magazine and TV show will run a feature on their new products when they launch a publicity campaign.
The Lesson: No product or business, no matter how big or great can be assured media coverage in every outlet in a media market. But you can get coverage in a good number of them given the right media tending. Every media pitch will be weighed against the media outlet's editorial lead-time, its available editorial space, and availability of an editorial staff member to cover your pitch. It is totally up to the discretion of each media outlet as to whether your pitch makes it to the pages or on air. It can be an uphill battle if you target the wrong media with the wrong message. But you can greatly increase the chances generating those media placements with a little expertise and media market know-how.
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29% - "Think Local & Large Media Are The ONLY Media"
These are the ones who think of their media market in two simple terms: LOCAL & LARGE
LOCAL, as you might imagine, means the media outlets in their city or surrounding geographic region -- the local newspaper, a regional business magazine or two, a few shows at local radio/TV stations. LARGE, on the other hand, are media outlets like The Wall Street Journal, Newsweek, Good Morning America, Oprah or your other favorite large circulation, trade specific media outlet.
The Lesson: The reality is local and large are indeed part of your media market, but not the only ones. The best media market opportunities may well be the dozens of other smaller scale papers, magazines, newsletters or TV/radio/cable shows that may generate more customer interest and sales than a placement in the big media might. Because of a lack of media market knowledge, many business owners don't even know these smaller, more targeted media outlets exist. This is where a PR agency or publicity specialist can be integral in your publicity campaign. They know the media market very well and will be able to find those media members who will be the best for generating editorial features on your business or product. They also have great media contacts that can turn one feature into a syndicated story that runs in multiple media outlets nationwide.
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41% - "Have A Good Grasp On Their Potential Media Market And Its Benefits"
These are media-savvy entrepreneurs and business owners who are realistic and knowledgeable about how the media can benefit their business. They know that they have to narrowcast their media pitch to a select segment of the media in order to get coverage that will increase exposure for the business.
The Lesson: Don't let a PR agency or publicity specialist tell you they will send your pitch to 20,000, 30,000 or 50,000 media outlets. The reality is, of the 8,000 daily & weekly newspapers, 11,000 magazines & newsletters, 15,000 radio/TV/cable stations and 7,000 Internet news sites in North America, only about 25% of those accept press releases from outside their geographic area. They cover only LOCAL issues, businesses and products, and it is a waste of time to target them. The key is researching to discover which media outlets will be receptive to your pitch and knowing how to parlay those media contacts into positive consumer interest features that will educate and entice customers about your product or business.
Just like marketing to find the right customers, one should be equally diligent about finding and pitching the right media market. Bottom line - whether you have a general interest product that has widespread consumer appeal or a trade specific business with a very narrow customer base, knowing your appropriate media market can mean the difference between product/business publicity or product/business obscurity.

Work Just As Well As Who You Know

We all know the saying in business, "It's not what you know but who you know", right? This saying is definitely true when it comes to small business and on occasion, the same can be said in media relations. However, what you know can sometimes get you just as far - especially if you're trying to tell your story to the local press.
Some time ago, a small-business client approached me about handling public relations for her firm. She had been writing her own press releases and submitting them to the press but all of her efforts had generated no press. She asked me to critique her work to discover what she might be doing wrong. Upon reviewing her press releases, I found that her writing skills were outstanding but the problem came when I began to investigate the methods by which she was submitting her releases. The five rules below illustrate the lessons that she learned about distributing press releases to the media.
Rule #1: Do your homework on reporters. You can start with the Bacons' Media Directory, which serves as the public relations practitioner's Bible. If you don't know what it is, basically it lists the name, address, phone number, fax number, e-mail, beat (issue or specific type of story to cover), deadlines, and story preferences and angles for most every reporter and news producer anywhere in the world. There are five volumes of books: Newspapers, Magazines, TV/Cable, Radio and International. You can purchase the books or get the same information from Bacons' in CD-Rom format or through an online subscription. These books are invaluable but unfortunately are also very expensive. Here's a tip: You can access them for free usually at your local public library or a college library. Use these books to help you narrow down the reporters that you think would be helpful for launching your story. If Bacon's is completely out of your budget, just follow your favorite local newspaper to determine which reporters cover which stories.
Rule #2: Verify your sources. Just because you found information on reporters in Bacons' doesn't mean that your work is done. Most reporters are assigned a beat but those beats change from time to time and as a result, reporters tend to move around a lot. Because the Bacons' books and their competitors are only published once per year with occasional updates, it's very important that you call media outlets and verify that you can still reach the reporter you would like to talk to. More importantly, find out if the reporter still covers the beat that is important to your story. If for some reason there is a new reporter covering that beat, make note of those changes in a database or spreadsheet, and always call before sending out a new release.
Rules #3: Know where to call for information. Most people are afraid to just call up a reporter (they can be scary people) to find out this information, however if you want to avoid that aspect of the job, then simply call the News Assignment Desk - the nerve center of news operation. It is here that you can verify the reporter information and also get a sense for the types of stories that an editor might find interesting enough to assign to an individual reporter.
Rules #4: Know how a reporter likes to receive information. When it comes to distributing press releases or letters, all reporters are different. It's your job to find out how a reporter wants to receive his or her information on a potential story. For example, some reporters only read faxes while others only look at releases sent by mail. Still others will only read e-mail, and yet others will only accept a story idea over the phone. This is important because if you violate the reporter's rule for receiving information, then your release likely will never be read. It will get a one-way trip to the trashcan.
Rules #5: Adhere to a reporter's deadline. Just as you can find out the name and e-mail address of a specific reporter, you can also find out their writing deadline. This is very important because the last thing anyone wants to experience is being on the line with a reporter when he or she is on deadline. Here's another tip: Most daily newspapers are put to bed at 5pm. Call the reporter between 8am and 9am because you might catch them before they go their morning editorial meeting. When calling up a reporter directly, always asks the reporter if he or she is currently on deadline as a courtesy. They will respect you for it and this will give you an indication as to how long you have to speak with that particular reporter on the phone. If you're nervous about speaking with the reporter, then create a short script that you can state comfortably in 60 seconds.
While it's always great to know a reporter personally, few small-business owners will ever have that luxury. However, if you know what to do and whom to contact when the time comes to tell your story, your chances of coverage are just as good as anyone else's. After all when it comes to media relations, it's not just who you know but what you know - plus a little luck never hurts either.