Why “no comment” is not an answer

What follows could make or break your  business. Ok, let me step back a bit and say the news media plays an integral role in our society.  It’s up to you to learn how to work with them to achieve mutually beneficial goals.

When you hear the following company names, what comes to mind?  Tylenol, Maple Leaf Foods or Sunrise Propane? Two of the three handled historically unprecedented disasters beautifully and the other basically took the ‘no comment’ route.   Whether you are a company of one or one hundred, no one is immune from potentially bad press or a tainted public persona.  This is a good rule of thumb to keep in mind for both media and public relations. Your reputation means everything when developing and maintaining relationships with your customers. Keep in mind there are several very popular ways a message – good, bad, or ugly – will get ‘out there’.   Spreading the news is no longer limited to newspapers, radio and television.     

Today, numerous environments on the web such as YouTube, Twitter, Smoking Gun and blogs, to name a few, are popular & efficient methods to spread your news.

First thing you must keep in mind, when disaster strikes:  the media is has a job to do and they are not your new b.f.f. or best friend forever.  However, it’s their job to get a story, make sure the details are accurate and hopefully, get an ‘exclusive’ and own the story.  Conversely, the media can be a good partner in spreading the positives about you, your company and charitable causes.  Here too, you must be prepared with a clear strategy, concise message(s) and of course, make sure your goals are realistic.  It might be a good idea to invest in an image consultant to help your or your spokesperson look presentable and confident in front of a video camera.

Above all, and I can’t emphasize this enough: know your stuff, be honest, and be prepared.  Remember, you worked hard to get where you are today and a poor choice of words could cause irrevocable damage to your bottom line & reputation in a matter of minutes.