tomoates.tv

We (ok, really it’s just me) spend a good amount effort here addressing communicating for business.

One aspect of business communicating we don’t touch much is the personal side of business communicating: when your job is to acquire a job.

Earlier this week, I attended an event sponsored by the Washington, DC chapter of IABC.  The featured speaker was Kate Perrin, CEO and founder of PRofessional Solutions, LLC, the first public relations temporary agency in the DC area.

Being the times we live in, a number of attendees were involuntary “persons of leisure”, and in search of employment.

The event host asked for those looking for jobs to informally introduce themselves to the group.  Being the times we live in, this portion of the event took a longer-than-usual amount of time.

We heard lengthy lists of previous jobs, education backgrounds, and a variety of reasons for unemployment from each communications professional.

Upon hearing all of these elevator pitches, Kate Perrin scolded the entire group.

It appears, even when talking about ourselves, many of us forget a vital rule in communicating effectively: Know Your Audience.

What does a hiring manager or potential employer want to know? It’s an easy question.

1. What do you want to do?
2. What can you do for me?

Kate gave some simple tips to help job seekers.

Tell us what you want to do. This is especially true for networking situations. Label yourself not by what you used to do, but what you want to do.  Help those potential contacts by letting them know how to view you & sell you to others.  Too many of the elevator pitches we heard at the IABC event spent all or most of their time listing previous jobs or background experience, not career goals or ideal positions the job seekers were searching for.

Link your relevant experience to the job you’re applying for. OK, this means doing a little bit of work to tailor your resume, but hopefully you are only applying for jobs you want.  Your resume has to do the talking for you; tell an employer you have the experience to do what they’re asking for.

Do some research. I don’t put much effort into reading cover letters addressed to “Sir or Madam”, “Hiring Manager”, or even “Executive Producer”.

If a prospective employee shows they’ve visited the EFX Media web site, or is familiar with our work, I’ll see they’ve done some work to find out more about the company. This tells me they want to work with us.

Desire is huge for those looking to hire; we constantly ask and attempt to evaluate things we can’t see in a resume: work ethic, personality, perseverance, the ability to be self-sufficient, and desire.  If I know someone will be ‘low-maintenance’ and highly productive, they will get consideration – even if they don’t have a great deal of experience.

The basis of each of these tips come under the idea job seekers should view their resumes, cover letters and elevator pitches not as reflections of the person writing them, but as tailored messages to the person receiving them.

Once you know what your audience responds to, you also know the most effective way to communicate to them.

When it comes to a job search: the company is your audience, you are the message.

Speak directly to your audience. Speak directly to their needs

Communications 101 audience, IABC

In a recent Pay-on-Performance blog post: New Las Vegas News Broadcast launches – forebearer of things to come?

The question was raised about 702.tv in an article from the Las Vegas Sun A new kind of local TV news show debuts.

“Is this the future of local TV news, or is what’s happening in Vegas staying in Vegas?“

My response:
The first sentence of the article tells you exactly how this show should be perceived: as an alternative.

It’s not going to replace the local news because it deals with different subject matter.
702.tv is clearly identifying itself as “info-tainment” (traditional broadcast news strays clear of embracing itself as entertainment programming, although the field does understand/battle the concept of entertainment=viewership=ratings=revenue).

Will it remain only in Las Vegas? Or can this spread nationwide?
Only a small group of television markets have the industries or environments to support programs like 702.tv: New York, LA, Miami (see WAMI from 1998-2002) have ample opportunity for shows – and 702.tv identifies itself as a ’show’ complete with a ‘cast’ not a news program.

As much news happens in Little Rock, AK or Spokane, WA, there just ain’t ’nuff going on around town worthy for “info-tainment”.

News will still be news; this hasn’t changed. People will still care about the latest accident on the 215 and what the weather will be like tomorrow.
It’s the publishers which are changing; technology opens everyone to the tools to publish and broadcast today.
This creates more content and more distribution methods; giving users more options to gather their news, pulling audiences away from traditional media.

Example: I’m currently watching the Sotomayor hearings…on-line.
I can’t count the amount of on-line venues (web sites from broadcasters, newspapers, blogs are all providing streaming links)

So the question isn’t Is 702.tv a new trend in broadcast news? It is a new program providing niche content, made possible by today’s technology and convergence of print and broadcast media.

The question is: Will 702.tv survive?
It must compete for its audience – just like every other program (or show).

With the advent of so many more content options, “traditional media” is slowly fading away. The major “mainstream” media beasts are branching their distribution (publishing) methods to reach audiences in multiple methods.

With terabytes of digital information available at my laptop, over 400 channels at my fingertips, and HD radio providing countless hours of content…isn’t every show an alternative today?

Communications 101 audience, media, pay-on-performance, television, TV News

We’re not robots.

“Simon Says” is merely a game.

So why are many marketers – and others who work in communications – surprised when their audience doesn’t react to their message?

Because their audience never had a reason to react.

The best lesson in journalism I ever received is a four-word sentence:

“Why do I care?”

This is what every audience member/viewer/reader is constantly asking themselves when receiving a message.  Understand this, and you’ll start to incorporate your audience’s perspective into what you say, write, and present.

Oh, sometimes it’s easy. Sometimes the topic naturally demands attention…especially when it pertains to a major concern of the general public

If it’s the weather…everyone cares if it’s going to rain; knowing this affects how we’ll dress.

The economy’s crumbling; most folks care if their job is in jeopardy or gas prices rise.

However, in the corporate world, attracting an audience to a niche product or service may prove difficult. Corporate communications departments, insulated with their own message and personal investment, tend to easily lose perspective to the rest of the world and a general audiences.

“Why aren’t people watching my YouTube video on hand-held automatic kilowatt meter-readers???”

Because no one’s given them a reason to care.

Now, if folks knew understanding their kilowatt output could lead to lower monthly electric bills…they may care.

Advice: Relate your message to your audience’s needs, desires, or interests…and perhaps you’ll have an audience willing to pay attention.

And I didn’t even have to say “Simon Says.”

Communications 101 audience, Corporate Communications, message

Topic posted on Pay-on-Performance PR group’s LinkedIn discussion board:

Memo to media companies – you can only cut costs so far

Here’s an interesting AP article from a couple of weeks ago about the continuing layoff saga at many prominent media outlets. One thing’s for sure – they won’t be able to cut their way to market dominance. The way they deliver relevant, interactive content, however, must if they will survive, let alone thrive.

Belt-tightening in media squeezes more workers
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090218/ap_on_bi_ge/media_cost_cutting_1
By MICHAEL LIEDTKE, AP Business Writer

SAN FRANCISCO – Thousands of workers at U.S. newspapers and broadcasters are facing more layoffs, wage freezes and pay cuts as their cost-cutting owners scramble to survive an advertising drought that has become even more dire in recent weeks…..

My Response:

Let’s also realize something. Rarely are we dealing with mere “Media Companies” anymore.

These are the media divisions of large corporations, whose roles morphed from ‘objective journalism & community service’ to ‘revenue-generating entities’.

These cuts were attempts to hold onto profit margins – all the while knowing the revenue streams were seeping well before the recession.  And what have we seen from many large corporations over the past nine months? The inability to predict or react to the current recession.

Smaller companies are trying to adapt; knowing their long-term success hinges upon flexibility and customer service (kudos to the earlier comment about reinforcing – or even growing – sales/marketing efforts).

It’s tough to turn the battleship around, but we are starting to see a shift in ‘mainstream media’. Efforts are growing by newspapers and broadcast networks to reach into the wider array of outlets consumers are moving towards. (see more: 10 Ways Newspapers are Using Social Media to Save the Industry http://tinyurl.com/blcs82)

Viewers and readers are still out there, but instead of reaching for the daily paper or the remote, the audience is now forcing the media to do the reaching.

Communications 101 audience, LinkedIn, media, pay-on-performance