Unbidden, the same description has come up for our agency’s style of public relations again and again. The editors we work with call us “pleasantly persistent.” That’s persistent as in tenacious, assertive, and maybe even dangerously close to over the top in our eagerness to sell a story or to strike a great PR deal. Our consultants aren’t obnoxious – never rude or threatening – but we’re the persistent people who are full of good ideas and who just aren’t going away.


It’s a valuable principle.


How many great stories went unpublished and great deals went unsold because someone was too hesitant to step up and ask? Or stopped asking after floating the first gentle request?


A great personal growth coach, Pamela Maier, once stated, “You’ll never know what someone might be willing to do if you don’t ask.” She was right.


Many of the greatest PR wins we’ve accomplished were won for that very reason: We were bold enough to ask. Politely, of course. There’s much more to a great PR pitch than just asking, but none of those skills will matter to a person who isn’t bold enough to step up to the plate.


This principle applies to our strongest clients as well. Here’s a great case in point: Mike Proper, CEO of DirectPointe, has led that company from its inception to its current level of growth and presence in 29 countries and all 50 states. In fact, DirectPointe has been named the top Managed Service Provider (MSP) in the world, ranking number one on the MSPMentor 100 list for 2008.


Mike wanted to meet MSPMentor’s Managing Editor, Joe Panettieri, in person at the recent CompTIA Breakaway event in Orlando. Did they connect? Indeed, they did. You can read all about it in Joe’s blog this week, Meet America’s Most Progressive MSP. Here’s what Joe had to say:


“He called me and text messaged me more than a dozen times during CompTIA Breakaway. He runs a fast-growing managed service provider. And he isn’t using traditional technologies to do so. Who is this guy, and why does he want to talk to MSPmentor?


“…I’m glad Mike tracked me down. And when I describe him as ‘aggressive,’ I mean that as a positive rather than a negative. Whether it’s his pursuit of a face-to-face meeting or a sale, the guy doesn’t quit.”


You can read Joe’s entire article on MSPmentor.


The moral of the story is clear. In PR and in business, the ability to be “pleasantly persistent” can clearly pay off.


Cheryl Snapp Conner, Managing Partner

This is a post I’ve been meaning to write for some time, and it’s slipped my mind until today, when I read an article in the local paper. The spokesperson, when asked about revenue, declined to comment on those numbers. The company is private, so they aren’t obligated to disclose the numbers. That said; all companies should be prepared to have some tangible answers for the media.


Instead of declining to comment on revenue, you can say something like, “The company’s revenue has increased XX% over the past XX years,” or “Our workforce has grown XX% over the past XX months.” Look for something tangible that will help the reporter.

To say it’s been a good year for Snapp Conner PR would be an understatement. Since our inception a little over a year ago we’ve been recognized twice (the second time just this week) by the Utah Valley Entrepreneurial Forum (UVEF) as one of the top new companies in Utah; being named to the organization’s annual Top 25 Under Five. Snapp Conner PR jumped to number 16, up from 21 last year, and was the only public relations agency recognized in the Top 25.


“The first time we received this recognition we had only been in business for one quarter,” said Cheryl Snapp Conner, Managing Partner and Founder of Snapp Conner PR. “We know we were up against stiff competition this year, and being recognized two years running is tremendous validation that our level of experience and specialization is truly helping our clients achieve greater success.”


Steve Grizzell, Chair for the Top 25 event, recognized the winners as people of vision adding that these 25 award-winning businesses are shaping the entrepreneurial future within Utah. He also noted that the combined revenues for the winning companies exceeded $225 million and more than 950 jobs had been created by these relatively young companies.


To everyone who has made this possible, thank you!

This is similar to a previous post, but there are some many applications for this simple reminder.


You know those conversations you have with a good friend or family member where they are telling a story and never quite get to the point; it’s detail over mind-numbing detail. You don’t want to be rude, but you’re dying to say, “…and your point is?”


As public relations professionals, we understand the importance of getting to the point. Working with the media, they are constantly under deadlines; they don’t have a half hour to “shoot the bull”. It doesn’t matter if you have the next biggest deal, or headline news. If you don’t get to the point, they won’t cover it.


This is important in nearly every situation when dealing with the media – press releases, interviews, pitching, etc.


So, my point is… get to the point.

Yeah, this is me wearing a Josh Grobin t-shirt. I’m not a fan, but I lost out on a bet with a client. I was going to use this photo to mock myself, but figured that there is a PR lesson in this. You see, I competed with a client in a triathlon six weeks ago and we decided to make it fun and the loser would have to wear the shirt. The fact of the matter is I made a bet I knew I had no business making and wasn’t ready for.


The PR lesson on this is simple: Unless you are 100 percent sure you can deliver on something, wait until you are ready.


Sounds simple, but the truth is, this happens and the repercussions can be devastating. Take Qtrax for example, who jumped the gun on their launch. They announced a new digital music service claiming more than 25 million free legal song downloads. Their problem was that the contracts with the music labels weren’t signed, and when the labels were asked about the announcement, they claimed they were only in talks with Qtrax.


In National Treasure 2, Jon Voight’s character says, after his son says maybe they can stop a man from exposing their grandfather as an American conspirator, that it is too late, it’s on the Internet.
Qtrax is living that nightmare because the proof of their botched launch will live on the Internet forever or at least until the Mayan calendar ends — and so will this picture.

During Game 4 of the Jazz and Lakers series, I came across a great Pizza Hut ad (below) that I thought was extremely well done.


As you’ll see, this was down with real people and hidden cameras.





Pizza Hut nailed this one, because, and this is my opinion, this ad will probably net them some ink. Not all ad campaigns create such a creative result that the media ends up following it. I haven’t checked to see if this has been written about yet, but the ad team definitely provided the PR team with some great pitching fodder.


Locally, Nationwide Auto Insurance’s unique ad campaign by putting their logo on parking stall lines netted some ink in a local paper here (sorry I can’t find the story).


As a PR guy, I tend to think PR rules the world (stole that line from Cheryl) but if you are going to do an ad, try and make it creative enough the notice will take notice of it so it has a longer shelf life.

One of the most satisfying experiences working in the PR industry comes when you secure an opportunity for a client to tell their story in front of a captive national audience. This week, after multiple phone calls, emails, and meetings, our colleague Don Osmond finalized an appointment for Footnote.com to showcase their site on the Glenn Beck Show, a true testament to the importance of networking.


Footnote.com will be talking about their most recent project, The Interactive Vietnam Veteran’s Memorial Wall, as we prepare for the Memorial Day Weekend. The interview will detail the inspiration behind the project, the logistics of building the site, as well as share some of the wonderful and touching stories that people have posted on the site.


You can watch the Footnote.com interview Friday, May 23 on the Glenn Beck show on CNN Headline News at 5 p.m. ET (rebroadcast at 7 p.m. and midnight, check local listings), or listen for the radio interview with Glenn Beck on Premiere Radio Networks Friday at 11:30 a.m. ET (check local listings). Also available on www.glennbeck.com. Glenn can also be heard on XM satellite radio on channel 165.

Cheryl Snapp Conner has just been featured on this week’s MSPMentor Podcast discussing some of the key PR issues that channel focused companies, and MSPs in particular, should be aware of when engaging Web 2.0. She provides insight in effectively using social networking, corporate blogging, and the best tactics for issuing news.


Take a listen:

I have literally hundreds of business cards in my desk that I’ve accumulated throughout the years from trade shows, new business meetings, etc.

They range from editors to CEOs and contain nearly every bit of contact information that you can imagine: address, phone, fax, e-mail. Nearly ever way to contact someone; some even include Skype info for editors.

While all that information is valuable to the recipient, for a CEO it can be detrimental. That’s why we recommend a CEO have a stash of business cards that don’t include their cell or direct phone numbers that they can give to the press. Whyzat?

A few years ago on a press tour, a VP walked into a meeting with an editor to talk about his company’s channel strategy. Unbeknownst to the VP, however, his CEO had met with the same editor a year earlier to discuss the same thing. The editor wanted to follow up on a statement the CEO had made previously, but the VP’s message had changed.

After the VP left, the editor called the CEO on his cell phone, which he had obtained previously from the CEO’s business card he had saved. The editor couldn’t reach the CEO and ran a less than positive story accusing the vendor of changing its channel strategy and concluding with the statement, “Calls to the CEO were not returned.”

Here’s the problem: The CEO was on a plane when the editor called and didn’t get the message until after the story was published. Should the editor have called the PR agency? Yes. But many situations like this can be circumvented by ensuring that you give the reporter your PR agency’s number, or at least an alternate card.

Most typically, PR consultants operate in the background, heard but not necessarily seen. Today, however, we can't resist putting the following photo of our Senior Consultant Clay Blackham in lights. Notice the stunning mustache? Until the hour before his mother's wedding, Clay declared his intention to wear this manly addition to his persona all the way to the end. At the final minute, however, he relented and shaved the offending bristles once full shock value had been achieved.


In honor of the occasion, however, our partner in podcast Brad Baldwin has immortalized Clay's macho appearance in film. With all due respect and apologies to the original source files, today we share the true and typically hidden personality of Clay. Enjoy.