StoryTeller Media & Communications
Minneapolis/St. Paul Marketing and PR agency and video production company|StoryTeller
media relations
Crisis Media Do’s and Don’ts
Paying for crisis media training is kind of like buying homeowners insurance. It’s critical that you have it, but you hate paying for it because the odds of something bad happening are pretty small. Yet, in the event the unforeseen becomes a reality, you must have it. Crisis training is similar. No business owner or leader expects to have a crisis, in fact, most operate on a day to day basis without any sort of training whatsoever. For the most part, this is seemingly a good way to go - until you have a crisis!
5 Great Ways to Make the Media Mad
Media Relations 101
Often crisis communications for organizations blow up after an unfortunate event is followed up with bad media relations. In other words, someone says or does something they should not, as it relates to the media. For some reason, people engaged in crisis forget that news reporters and producers are human beings. They are people who are trying to do their jobs. They also seem to forget that every news reporter lives for a big story. They love controversy and they will go to the end of the earth to exploit liars, cheaters and thieves. And they will defend the “little man” against the big corporate bullies.
So, if you’re goal is to really tick off the media on the heels of a crisis. Follow these 5 tips:
How Long Should Your Online Video Be?
We’re asked this question quite a bit and the answer varies depending on the audience, but by and large, we think brevity is the key when posting online content. For example, this video is a speedy 28-seconds!
Ed Heil is the owner and president of StoryTeller Media & Communications an inbound marketing and public relations agency and video production company based in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul. Ed blogs on topics related to inbound marketing, social media, media relations, news media, video production and crisis communications.
Networking For You AND Your Clients
Every so often I get emails or calls from people saying they’ve heard great things about our agency and that they’d like to get together to see if there’s a networking opportunity between our companies. More times than not I feel like I’m being fluffed up for a pitch so that I might be inclined to send that person some business when, and if, there’s an opportunity. I used to go into these get-togethers with my guard up.
Technology in the Classroom
Now that we’re in to a new year, I’ve made it a priority to start sharing more of our video work via our website. Often times, we get so busy doing the work we do that I don’t make a point to share it with those who aren’t directly involved with the project.
The video I’m sharing today is one we shot, produced and edited for the Eden Prairie School district. It’s one of several videos we did for the district in 2010. The district wanted to show prospective students and their families, as well as parents of current students, how the schools are using technology to increase learning in the classroom. Teachers are using everything from smart boards and tables to iPads and iTouches to get students interested and involved in what they’re learning. Check it out.
Tim Russert and Balanced News Reporting
I miss Tim Russert. What I liked most about “Meet the Press” in the Russert era is that I never could tell if Russert leaned to the left or right, politically. It seemed guests from both sides of the aisle equally appreciated the longtime moderator and if he ever showed his political allegiance, I never saw it. I only wish there were more journalists out there who were like him.
Are You Listening to Your Customers?
Last week, Kathy Heil posted a blog about a mishap with United Airlines on this site. She essentially pointed out what a terrific job UA did in handling the lost baggage. While inconvenienced, Kathy’s point was that the airline made a mistake, but their customer service did an exceptional job in handling the mistake. Yet, when she pointed out to them both in social media and through e-mail discussions, she received “canned” responses apologizing for their error. Huh?
Hirshfield’s Partners with Second Harvest Nov. 10-28
If you’ve got some pre-Thanksgiving painting projects to knock out this weekend, swing by Hirshfield’s and bring some food. Yes, food! Working in partnership with the Second Harvest Heartland, Hirshfield’s is taking your food donations between November 10-28 and helping to re-stock our local food shelves. When you bring in your donation, you’ll receive 20% of Hirshfield’s brand paint, which by the way, is locally manufactured so you’re also helping local business!
As you know, this is a difficult time for many families so please consider helping out Second Harvest Heartland, even if you don’t need to pick up any paint.
The Everlasting Christmas Shopping Season
I don’t watch much television these days and when I do it’s usually either a news show or a sporting event. Sorry, NBC, but “must see TV” doesn’t really get seen in our house. That said, I’ve noticed the surge of Christmas shopping advertisements on TV and frankly I find it a bit obnoxious. “Black Friday” hype wasn’t enough, now it has to be “Black Friday,” before Friday, just in case it’s red Friday instead of black! I get it, I understand and appreciate the challenges of retailers, but I wonder at times, where does it end? Will we some day start seeing “early Christmas shopping” specials in August? I can hear it now, “it’s not too early to get a jump on Christmas!”
When our kids were little we used to read to them a Sesame Street story called “Elmo Saves Christmas.”
In the story, Elmo, is granted a wish and he asks that every day be Christmas. Well, that was a great idea until the little red muppet realized that if every day is Christmas, the holiday is really not that special anymore. As I look at the growing Christmas shopping season I think about Elmo and wonder, “where does it end?” Will retailers extend the season so long that Christmas morning gets lost in the sales and deep discounts? Or have we already reached that point?
Who is Following You on Twitter?
It used to be that whenever I received a notification that someone was following me on Twitter that I would get a little excited thinking, “hey, I’m building a nice little group of followers.” However, as Twitter has grown and changed and become infiltrated by marketers and people schlepping product, I find myself asking more and more, “why does this person want to follow me?”
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- Video Production So Good You’ll Cry February 3, 2012
- 5-Video Production Tips to Avoid a Major Production January 18, 2012
- PRSA Re-Defines PR and It’s About Time January 2, 2012
- 2011 StoryTeller Highlight Video December 22, 2011
- Online Marketing Trends to Watch in 2012 December 22, 2011
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