DIY PR? It’s a risky business…
15th February 2011So what’s wrong with DIY PR…well nothing really. If you have worked out what you want to say, how you want to say it and who you want to say it to then it is a great way to promote your company and services. So why then would you need to hire a specialist?
The big issue is this. As we know DIY has a pretty awful reputation. If you describe someone’s house as being a bit DIY then you are definitely not paying them a compliment! Doing your own PR carries the same risks.
In the same way that it’s perfectly possible to hammer a nail into a wall, it is within everyone’s capabilities to write a press release or phone a journalist. However the nail may hit a water pipe and flood the house, or even worse go through a cable and kill you!
For me there are two types of DIY PR’s. The first who thinks it is all a piece of cake and very simple and then gets into a mess, and the second is the success story who decides they no longer need to listen to advice.
I am sure when Paul and Haslemary Bull set up their Christian hotel in Penzance, they never dreamt that it would result in over 8 million hits on Google, hate mail and being in the spotlight of the world’s press as a result of their policy on allowing gay couples to share a bed.
Equally, when CEO of BP Tony Hayward delivered ad hoc soundbites in the middle of the worst oil crisis of the decade where 18 people lost their lives, little did he realise that ‘I want my life back’ was the most inappropriate and heartless one to make. Both Mr Hayward’s and Mr and Mrs Bull’s businesses and reputations have been fatally damaged as a result.
The internet is now a shadow that never disappears and whereas before only journalists had access to archives, now anybody can ‘look you up’. Your reputation is like your house or home. If you do a major piece of DIY work in your house you risk the whole thing crashing down around your ears if you don’t do it properly. The same can be said of your PR.
