Category: Communications

What Do People Want to Read?

Where Do Their Interests Lie?

By Mitchell Slepian

We all know we are swamped by too much copy. Whether it be news, fiction, non-fiction, or social media posts. We can agree that social media falls between fiction and non-fiction. We all know people who swear by it and believe everything that’s posted.

Some of you know, for many years, I have been working on a graphic novel. It is taking too long. I need an illustrator. For those of you following, Marc, Alana, Anat, and the rest of the bunch, I thank you. There will be more soon enough. 

The questions on my mind are: What are people interested in reading, and how can I get them to read it? As a PR professional, I was taught that when pitching a journalist, I need to explain why a story is newsworthy and why readers will care. I remember creating the American Institute of CPA’s (AICPA) Economic Outlook Survey Index. The AICPA had an economic outlook survey. No one cared about it. Duke University and CFO Magazine partnered on one.  Several other universities had a survey I wanted ours to reach new heights.  At the time, we did it with North Carolina State University. I spoke to trusted reporters at Bloomberg, Dow Jones Newswires, and a few other media outlets. The journalists told me to create one index. I got approval and did it. I offered embargoed data to Bloomberg, Dow Jones, and The New York Times. All of them ran it. That was in 2011. The survey continues to run and gets top-tier media coverage. I have long left the AICPA. But now I was able to create something that people wanted to read.

I have been writing blogs on many topics, including but not limited to AI and how it is shaping our future, Coney Island, how people try to sit anywhere at shows and games at Madison Square Garden, Yankee Stadium, and other venues, the Staten Island Ferry, etc.

The Drop on the Cyclone, Luna Park, Brooklyn, NY

My blog about Coney Island and the Ferry got many clicks. The AI blog got several comments on LinkedIn. But one person read it. Weird.  I wrote about LinkedIn. People did read it. Did it reach the numbers of Coney Island and the ferry? Not even close. I know from my PR work that certain industry trades carry a lot of weight. Their circulation numbers are not high. But consistent placement in those outlets leads to top-tier media, such as The Wall Street Journal. 

The Ferry Sailing By the Verrazzano–Narrows Bridge

I know my blog posts are not at the level of the top trades and media. But I have a small but growing following. My AI post would have opened up new areas. Maybe we haven’t gotten there with AI yet. Or we are over exposed, and people are taking a break from reading about it. 

The Stadium

The question remains: are people more interested in things that are changing and reshaping our world? Or, would they rather read about the things they grew up with and are closest to?

Is LinkedIn Worth It?

Has It Helped You?

By Mitchell Slepian

LinkedIn officially launched on May 5, 2003. I remember joining it shortly after. I worked at Vonage. I was at my desk when someone called to do business with us. The caller mentioned she found me because she saw I was connected to a colleague of hers on LinkedIn. That was part of the platform’s original purpose – to provide connections. I really didn’t know the person she mentioned, whom she connected me with. But my eyes opened.

I began connecting with more and more people. I am careful with who I connect with. Many people probe your profile and try to scam you for money. They say they are recruiters and resume writers, and that they hold various professional credentials. They impersonate legitimate employees at companies such as Cisco, Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer, and many others. Those companies often post notifications on their websites to alert users to these fraudsters. They tell how they will write your corporation’s content and provide a fake copy as an example. They always ask for your credit card. I have never fallen prey to these shenanigans. Yeah, Facebook, Instagram, and X have scammers. But in my experience, LinkedIn attracts more.

I know many people who are obsessed with making new connections and are posting routinely. I do both. I always hope it’ll lead to bigger things. We all want that. Has it? Not yet. I hope.

Companies post. Of course, those who do it right build their business. It can be great for that. For the last year or two, I have had a Premium membership. I did that a few years ago and canceled. I decided to try it again. It gives you first dibs on its job board, InMail, and other good things, but only in limited ways.

But the question raised is, is it worth it? My views have increased. I post my blogs and corporate content, and I’m a top poster on the Nikon Z users’ page. For the most part, the same people like and comment. The bigger question is, do people read what you post? Meaning, I add links to things. I can pretty much see who is clicking on them. For the most part, the LinkedIn audience does not. I do better with emails, Facebook, and Instagram. 

People write about how to do better on LinkedIn. People talk about it all the time. Have I gotten any interviews by applying to roles on its job boards? Yes. Has it helped me land a job? No. Other job boards have worked better. Much better.

Bottom line, it is important to use LinkedIn. But one must not rely on it as much as some do. The key things are to use many of its competitors and be careful who you connect with on LinkedIn. The same goes for other sites.  Will I renew Premium? Probably. It does offer some pluses. Is it the best platform? No.

But I am sure I will see ‘ya on LinkedIn and the other sites.

How Much Harder Is It to Communicate in Today’s World?

By Mitchell Slepian

In today’s world, we have so many tools to communicate with each other. Does it make life easier? Yes. Does it make life tougher? Yes. Let’s sit back and think for a minute. We now communicate in person, by phone, text, chat, social media, and other ways. It’s not unusual to be sitting at your desk, whether it is in your kitchen or an office somewhere in the city, focusing on your assignment, as emails fly across your screen, your phone buzzes with countless texts, and people are contacting you on Facebook’s and LinkedIn’s messaging services. Does it make it easier? It can. Does it make it rougher? It can.

Many people get jittery as they enter the final stages of a project. As you’re launching it on your website, social media feeds, and to the media, you want it to be perfect. Once it’s been decided that the documents, graphics, etc., are final, the push begins. As you’re uploading to your project management software to start the distribution process, it’s often when it can get chaotic.

I like to remain focused, sit at my laptop, plug away, and be zoned in only on the project at hand.  Too many times, it’s at that time when everyone decides to weigh in once again. My Outlook account is full of emails. Thanks to today’s technology, you can see them jumping out at you. My phone goes crazy with countless texts. Then there are the people who decide to message you on LinkedIn or Facebook. Or use Slack or Snap. Does this help you? Yes and No. But in many cases, that’s what creates confusion and leads to mistakes. I have been telling people at the final stages of the project, let’s use one stage of communication. I prefer email. I make sure to tell people to remember to hit reply all. Most of the time, this works. It keeps people focused.

What’s the Best Way to Communicate: email, social media or texting?

By Mitchell Slepian

Email has been mainstream in business since the 1990s. As we know, we now have too many other ways to communicate, including but not limited to social media and texting. Remember faxing? Or snail mail? Both are still in play. 

As a chair of a community organization and a volunteer in a few others, we generally communicate our business via email. Several of us who are friends often have our own discussions via chat. But all official business is done via email. 

We have members who do not have email. They do not have computers. Some are senior citizens. But before we toss in the age factor, I have worked with people in their early 90s to create PowerPoints and run podcasts. They had no issues. Yes, I worked with people much younger who had no clue how to use email or other communication methods. So, age is just a number.

About two weeks ago, it snowed in New York City. It hampered some events. One started at 7:30 a.m.  ET. The other was supposed to begin at 9 a.m. ET. We wound up combining our groups. This recent storm was not the first time we have had to take that course of action. It will not be the last. We early birds sat around, and the folks from the later-starting group wandered in. Both groups have their latecomers. Snow delayed some of them even further. A day or two later, I suggested that when we know the weather will not be good, we send an email and make a robocall to let people know we are combining. Several people blasted this idea, saying some people don’t have email, and others don’t want to be bothered by a robocall. I made the case that email has been in play for a long time and that the call was coming from a number we all know. It should not register as a potential spam call, as carriers like to say.

I know people who text to landlines. I still have one. The texts usually arrive in gibberish. As chair of my group, generally start meetings (which are traditionally on Zoom, that’s another issue), reminding people you need to text their cell phones. Some folks love Facebook Messenger. Unfortunately, they do not realize Messenger works on Facebook. Many don’t know that you cannot email Gmail or send SMS messages from Messenger. Don’t get me started on WhatsApp. I think it works great and has its place.

Before I was chair, I was corresponding secretary. I created a form for people to send me via email when they donate. I can take their contact information off it and generate thank-you notes to distribute via email and traditional mail. It is still lovely to receive a personal, warm thank-you note in the mail. One of my chairs used to mail me handwritten notes with donor information. Sometimes he would wait weeks, and I’d get an envelope with 30 or 40 scraps of paper with contact information. This issue severely hampered our program.

The question has always lingered in my mind: What to do? I continue to use email and will call people. But the question will always linger on how to reach everyone.

The Annoying Things PR Pros Get Stuck With

Think Them Through and Realize How Important They Are

By Mitchell Slepian

Every job has its exciting stuff. Every job has its why am I stuck with this? Sometimes, the latter is what grows your metrics and ultimately your organization’s revenue or reputation. I am sure Hall of Famers like Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera found specific training or other drills annoying. But they did it, and they have five rings to show for it. I wish they had more.

Back to the real world. We all love it when we score a hit on Dow Jones Newswires, a key industry trade, or when your Instagram and LinkedIn posts are hitting record views and have positive comments. Then there is managing the communication team’s email box. We all know that’s the overloaded inbox with requests from reporters, analysts, and event producers who want your CEO and CFO to speak at a leading industry event. We jump on those. Then there are the customer emails complaining. In your mind, you wonder, why didn’t they contact customer care? Maybe they did. Perhaps they never heard back or weren’t pleased with the service.

We get emails from people asking you to buy batteries, hamburger patties, insurance, or to see if they are related to you, and wonder what discounts you can give them. I am sure you’ve received the queries from people whose parents or grandparents worked for or were involved with your organization. Maybe they contributed money for fundraising campaigns or held leadership roles.

When I was in the internet telephony world, people emailed the PR Team’s mailbox every day. Rarely was it a reporter. They knew how to find us. One guy called me and tried to get me to buy his battery backup system. He said that if our network went down, his company would save us, and he was the only one who could. I directed him to our website, which explained our procedures for network outages. They had to be on our site. People purchasing our service needed to know the system worked. He said he never checked our site. I remember saying something along the lines that you probably should research the company you’re asking to spend six figures on before cold calling. He hung up.

I often get emails or calls from people whose now-deceased grandparents made donations to the organizations I volunteer for or work for. They want to know whether the plaques with their names are still hanging or whether the rooms dedicated in their honor are still in use. Often, they tell their children about the nice things their family did. 

Many of us do not consider this public relations. But it is. When you take the time to listen to these people or work with those at your company or volunteer organization to get them the answers they need, it goes a long way.  They are happy and will write positive comments on your social media feeds, buy more of your products, make donations, and come to events. Sometimes the annoying things are what help you grow.