Managing your story
From YouTube to search engines, the proliferation of media channels means one thing for you and your organization: More room for exposure, good and bad. We’ve come a long way from the days when a simple press release could largely set the tone of conversation about your organization — and your role in it. Now more than ever, knowing how to manage the media — and the slew of media channels through which opinion travels — is essential. But as recent public relations disasters show, many executives still have a way to go in winning the PR wars.
So, how do you manage your story, rather than your story managing you? For answers, check out William Holstein’s tips and strategies. He offers three key takeaways: Integrate communications with strategy; take control of the story; and embrace electronic communications, such as blogs, Web sites, and social networking sites. Blogs especially provide a great platform for engaging your community by getting your story out on your terms and creating the opportunity for dialogue with stakeholders. (For a timely example of this, check out Jonathan Schwartz, CEO of Sun Microsystems, and his transparent take on Sun Microsystem’s disappointing Q3 earnings.)
So, what’s your organization’s story, and what are you doing to shape it? Most critically, do you have a communications platform in place to get your message across effectively, in a way that puts you in and keeps you in the game?