Janette Hoefer

Disconnect your ego from the process and if necessary even from the result. And find the balance between perfectionism and pragmatism. Sometimes done IS better than perfect. Don't take everything too serious all the freaking time. Remind yourself, that today's bad piece of writing will be irrelevant next week. But burning out will have a much bigger negative impact on your life, your health and also your next piece of writing. ;)

There are 2 more things, that are crucial and can help more than some of the above: 1. Take a step back and think about whom you want to reach. What's your target group. And where else can you reach them, what else are they doing, what else are they interested in? This way, you might come up with new ideas on what to do or where to start looking further. 2. Maybe even more important: If you can't reach the public with your message, stop trying. Communications today isn't about you anymore. It is about the audience. So find a way to add value. To share content, information, entertainment etc. alongside the messages your business wants to spread. People will be much more perceptive when it is about them and when they get something out of it.

Everything of the points above is true. BUT here is missing a big piece: Defining your vision, analyzing your situation and setting your objectives will seldomly get you the desired results, if you do not ALSO position yourself crystal clear. I have seen so many startups that know what they want, but ask them for an elevator pitch in 5 sentences, or even worse 2. Most of them are not able to do this. They ramble. You need to know your business, your USP, and your target groups by heart. In more neutral PR terms words, not in Marketing or Sales phrases. Yes, these things might change. That's okay. But if you don't know these basics, you won't get as far as you could.

From a trust perspective, earned media is on top, no doubt. But shared media and owned media are getting more and more important. Paid media is a good addition to the mix. But if you rely on that too heavily, you are making it too easy for yourself, and that doesn't pay off the same way as the types of media, that are earned harder. So if trust and thought leadership are important for your business to sway your target audiences, keep that in mind. After all, we are talking about PR here, not about marketing and advertising (which also has its place but different goals).

One thing that might be more important than most others is: don't try to bullsh*t people. Don't tell them everything is fine, when it isn't. Don't dismiss the elephant in the room. Don't gaslight people that are worried. Be honest and open, acknowledge the crises WHILE taking a clear leadership position, spreading genuine confidence that things will get resolved and that there is an actual plan or that you are working on it and are confident to resolve everything. This altitude of negating a crisis or playing it down doesn't sit well with people anymore. They feel it, when someone who should take the responsibility and lead to maneuver the ship instead spreads dishonest platitudes of encouragement.

Although you'd want to avoid real conflicts with journalists, a situation like this still can create new opportunities, depending on how the conflict happened. If, for example, neither you nor your company or PR client have annoyed the journalist in direct contact, there is the possibility of contacting them and talking about their critical reporting, for example. If you are honest and reasonably transparent, perhaps a little self-critical, and don't try to sell the journalist obviously negative things as the opposite, this can earn you a lot of respect. One approach here, for example, would be to offer to shed light on the other side — because with many topics there is not just black and white and more complex issues.