Dan Janal | Publicity and PR Leads Blog

Pop quiz:

Question: What do Oprah and Martha Stewart have in common?

Answer: Nothing.

When faced with the attention of the nation, one chose to tell the truth and admit her faults; the other chose to lie and hide the facts.

One faced months in prison, millions of dollars in legal fees and millions of dollars of lost value to her company.

The other faces public adoration and an even more deserved reputation as the most admired person is America (at least in my book).

I’m sure you have no trouble telling which is which.

I have nothing against Martha. She just made a bad decision and now must face years of rebuilding to reclaim trust. She was thrown in jail not for insider trading, but for lying about it! Oprah followed the Golden Rule of Crisis Communications: tell the truth.

It is pretty easy to see which option is the best.

Dan Janal
Your Fearless PR LEADER
PR LEADS Expert Resource Network
www.prleads.com

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Bad Publicity By Association

Whoever said “Any publicity is good publicity,” probably had anti-war protester Cindy Sheehan as a willing pupil.

If you missed today’s newspapers, you would have missed Cindy posing with Venezuela’s president, as she pledged to continue her protests in Bush’s backyard.

Say what you will about your position about the war, but posing with a dictator is not a good PR move, in my opinion.

Cindy runs the extreme risk of being painted as the next Jane Fonda, whose protests against the Viet Nam war by posing with North Viet Namese have hounded her for decades.

One fact of publicity is that the people you associate with can come back to help you or haunt you. That’s why speakers so frequently say they share the stage with President Ford, or Joe Namath or Zig Ziglar. They want the positive associations to rub off on them.

That’s why I interview celebrities in the publishing and speaking world for my teleseminars. I want the good will of a Vickie Sullivan or Linda Hollander or Dan Poynter or Sam Horn to rub off on me.

The implication (in a good way) is that if I know these people who stand on high ground, then I must be an insider as well.

The strategy works.

Just be sure you pick the good guys and not the bad guys, Cindy.

Dan Janal
Your Fearless PR LEADER
PR LEADS Expert Resource Network
www.prleads.com

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Here’s a tip I just love. I call it “Analogy your way to a new business.”

Okay, so maybe it doesn’t roll off the tongue, but I think you’ll Iike it anyway.

Everyone loves eBay.

Everyone knows what eBay does: sells stuff via auction via the Internet.

Everything from baseball cards, to Boxsters.

You’re probably wondering, “There’s no way I can compete with eBay.”

And you’d be right.

Amazon tried.

Yahoo tried.

Other companies you’ve never heard of have tried (and probably died.)

Now, I get an email today from a company called LabX.

What do they do?

“LabX is an online auction and classified ad marketplace for scientific and hi-tech equipment. Think eBay for scientists and engineers (business to business),” according to General Manager Ken Piech.

In other words, LabX took a very successful business model. But instead of battling head to head in the wonderful world of Madonna memorabilia, they found a niche and found success.

This is a great formula for success that you can use to your benefit. Let me know when you do!

Dan Janal
Your Fearless PR LEADER
PR LEADS Expert Resource Network
www.prleads.com
952-380-1554

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