Keep Your Profiles Updated

I had a significant change in my life on December 31, 2009, as that was the day my family and I sold off our ownership positions in SOAR Communications to my former business partner.

Interestingly, it didn’t hit me until two days ago that I needed to make changes to all of my various public Internet-based profiles (and biographies) to accurately reflect my new reality. Which leads to the point of this blog post:

When was the last time you reviewed and/or updated your public profiles (and/or bios)?

For me, it had been WAY TOO LONG.

In taking a personal accounting, I realized I’ve got profiles on

• Facebook,
• LinkedIn,
• Plaxo,
• Google,
• Flickr,
• Twitter, and (of course)

on two blogs/Websites:

• Politis Communications, and
• The Betty Factor.

So I’ve now started that process (as shown in the photo above), and I plan to spend this morning reviewing and updating ALL of my public profiles/biographies.

And if you haven’t done so lately, I recommend you do the same:

Review and update each of your public profiles and biographies today.

I’m going to add this as a once-a-quarter task to my calendar to make sure I stay on top of this task in the future. I hope you do so too.

iPad Name Equals Apple PR Blunder

Early indications are that Apple made a mistake using the term iPad to name its newest product (an eBook-reader).

The Apple iPad (photo courtesy of iLounge)

Within minutes of the official disclosure of the iPad name, the first negative missives began to hit the Internet, equating the term “pad” within iPad to a feminine hygiene napkin.

Soon the term iTampon began appearing on Twitter, with many tweets chastising Apple’s public relations and marketing department for not contemplating that at least some women might be offended with the iPad name. Other tweets provided indecorous comparisons between a feminine pad, the iPad and a tampon — hence, the emergence of the mocking, farcical term: iTampon.

In fact, by 4:30 p.m. (PST), iTampon had supplanted iPad in microblog posts on Twitter and had become the No. 2 “Currently Trending” term on Twitter (according to Tweetstats).

Look, it’s bad enough that my wife makes me buy feminine hygiene products for her and our girls at the grocery store. But iPad?!?! Are you kidding me?

I’m surprised someone inside of Apple’s distortion reality field didn’t stand up and say,

“Steve, ya know, half of the potential customers for this product might think of a sanitary napkin when they hear the name iPad.”

But maybe that’s just me. Am I off base here or not?

I think not. I’m convinced Apple made a major PR faux pas with the iPad name, a real marketing blunder.

That’s why I’m giving Apple a “Sad Betty Award” for launching this new product as the iPad.

Last thought. Expect the late night hosts to start joking about the iPad as early as tonight, but no later than tomorrow for sure!

Becoming a Better Writer

What makes a good writer? What is it about a blog post, story, letter or column that makes it engaging, that makes someone want to continue reading? How can I become a better writer?

If you’re in the public relations, marketing, investor relations and/or strategic communications world, perhaps you’ve already asked yourself these or similar questions. I know I have.

The snap answer, of course,  is to write. I’ve heard and read that answer more than 100 times — “If you want to be a better writer then you have to write.”

Okay, duh! But in my experience writing alone is not enough, especially if you’re not a particularly good writer to begin with.

I believe that the most important part of improving your skills as a writer, to becoming a better writer, is to have a good editor (or a good teacher, as the case may be).

In other words, I want someone who is better than me looking over my metaphorical shoulder prompting, prodding and pointing out specific examples of how and where I can improve my writing.

This point was brought back home to me this morning when a long-time friend asked me to review something he had written, and for the record, he told me I could “let him have it from every angle.” So here, in part, is what I wrote to my friend.

•  
  • new,
  • unexpected,
  • controversial,
  • insightful,
  • thought-provoking or
  • out-of-the-ordinary.

Are the items I mention above hard and fast rules? Of course not.

But I know they helped me to become a better writer - that and having a good editor.

Betty Benton Mann, the “Betty” Behind the Betty Factor, Died Friday Morning

Betty Mann (of "The Betty Factor" fame)

Betty Benton Mann, my 83-year-old mother-in-law and the inspiration behind The Betty Factor, died in her sleep early Friday morning, December 4, 2009 of health matters incident to old age and having her gall bladder removed earlier in the week.

Here is a copy of her obituary.

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After 83 wonderful years on earth, Betty Benton Mann returned home to her Father-in-Heaven, the Savior, Jesus Christ, many loving family members and friends, and her beloved husband, Ray, on December 4, 2009, nearly two years to the day after Ray’s passing.

Born July 3, 1926 in Boise, Idaho to Mamie Thompson and Otto G. Benton, Betty was the fifth of nine children. She was raised in Boise, Twin Falls, Idaho and Redondo Beach, California.

From the day she first walked herself to services as a young child, Betty was a devout member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS). As a teenager, she was president of her ward Golden Gleaner organization and helped plan and run the first ever LDS Youth Conference in southern California.

After graduating from Redondo Union High School, she moved to North Salt Lake to help her oldest sister, Wanda, care for her children, and it was there that she met her future husband, Ray Elwood Mann.

Betty and Ray were married in the Salt Lake Temple of the LDS church on May 4, 1948. They settled in Bountiful, Utah where they raised three daughters and two sons, while she also worked as a dental assistant for many years. Betty was active in the PTA in Bountiful where she ran the Halloween Carnival for three years and served as PTA president for two year.

After their youngest children graduated from high school in 1975, Betty and Ray spent an adventurous year in 1976 in West Germany for Ray’s employer, Chicago Bridge & Iron. The next year, Ray was transferred to world headquarters in Chicago where they lived until 1984. During their time in Naperville, Illinois, Betty filled an eight-year volunteer assignment with LDS Social Services working with out-of-wedlock mothers, including service as a counselor to birth mothers and transporting newborns to adoptive parents. She also served for a time as a member of the Relief Society presidency in the Glenbard Ward in Illinois.

Betty and Ray moved to Sandy, Utah in 1984 where they made their home for the rest of their lives. In Sandy, Betty served for 18 years in the LDS church’s Data Entry Program in the Canyon View Stake. She and Ray also served a one-year LDS Service Mission in 1994 near Bakersfield, California for the Home Management Department.

Betty was preceded in death by her parents, five siblings, her husband, and one son, Clyde. She is survived by four children, Linda, Pam (Harold) Egginton, Todd, and Allisha (David) Politis; 18 grandchildren (evenly divided between boys and girls); and 14 great-grandchildren.

A viewing will be held at Mountain View Mortuary at 3115 East 7800 South in Cottonwood Heights, Utah from 6 to 8 p.m. on Tues., Dec. 8, 2009. The funeral will be held at the same location at 11 a.m. on Wed., Dec. 9, preceded by an additional viewing from 9:45 a.m. to 10:45 a.m. Interment, on site, will follow immediately after the funeral.

The family extends its heartfelt thanks and admiration for all of the fantastic doctors and medical providers who worked with Betty in addressing her health concerns during the past few years. In addition, Betty (and Ray) loved living at South Towne Ranch in Sandy, Utah where they made many wonderful friends.

Betty had a sharp mind and wit her entire life, and she loved studying the gospel of Jesus Christ and learning about LDS church history. She was a devoted and loving wife, mother, grandmother, great-grandmother and friend, and although she will be missed, we are happy she has “graduated” from this life to be reunited with her husband and best friend, Ray.

Goodbye for now, Betty.

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Although we had some initial son-in-law / mother-in-law challenges early in the 28 years of our relationship, we both grew to love and respect each other over time, and I’m grateful Allisha and I were able to have both Betty and Ray live so close by as we raised our five children.

She was a good person and taught me much, not the least of which was to always remember to work and work and work to make sure what I wrote could be easily understood by anyone, even my mother-in law.

To that end, I will always use the phrase “The Betty Factor” as a shorthand reminder of that lesson. I will also keep this blog alive in her honor and as a way of continuing to teach about the importance of keeping all marketing messages simple and on-point.

Thank you, Betty, and for now, goodbye. 

Marketing Lessons Learned by Running

Fifty-one beats per minute (51bpm). As of this week, that’s my resting heart rate low, and in fact, it’s my lowest heart rate since I was in college more years ago than I want to admit.

Although I’ve always been a pretty active guy for most of my life, I finally decided about a month ago to stop fighting reality — the reality that I have a runner’s body, a runner’s physique. Heck, when I got married nearly 28 years ago, I was 5′10″ and weighed 125 lbs. Seriously! Looking at my old pictures, I now see that I was almost as skinny/emaciated as a Kenyan marathon runner. And back in 1981 when I got married, I was training to run in the Deseret News Marathon, so guess what? Yup. I looked like a marathoner!

Today, I average about 175 lbs., but I now acknowledge I’m not a weight lifter, I’m never gonna be a mixed martial artist or hold a black belt, and although I like cycling, I’m really not a cycling enthusiast per sé.

No, when it comes to getting and staying in shape, my best bet is running. And for as long as I can lace up the shoes and put one foot in front of the other without my knees giving out, I’ve decided that I’m gonna run.

So . . . four weeks ago I started on this new journey. My initial goal? Four to six days a week (depending upon what’s going on in my life), morning runs preferred, starting at 20 minutes per outing Week 1 when I walked for five minutes then jogged for five minutes, walked for five, ran for five.

I’m now running 30 minutes at a time, and I’ve already run four times this week. And although I’m slow as molasses (let’s just say I have yet to break a 10-minute mile on this go-round), I am getting faster and my overall fitness level is improving. How do I know?

Well, 51bpm is part of that answer. During my runs I find that I’m in the range of 160 beats per minute, sometimes a little higher, sometimes a little lower. But five minutes after running my heart rate drops down to the 110bpm range, and within 15 to 20 minutes after running, I’m down in the 80bpm to 70bpm range.

I’m also seeing improvements in general muscle tone, as well as on the bathroom scales, as I’m noticing my weight creaping down closer and closer to the 170 lb. range.

My Running Background

My first experience with running came when I was in high school and got my arm twisted by a neighbor to join the wrestling team. He was good at wrestling; I never was.

But since wrestling involved up to three rounds per match and potentially 9 straight minutes of non-stop grappling, our coach felt that one of the best ways to build aerobic endurance was running. Unfortunately, San Carlos High School was perched halfway up the coastal mountain range bordering San Carlos, so we ran cross country-like routes all over the place, both on streets and on trails, typically 3-4 miles at a pop, five days a week. Soon, I hated running.

My next real experience with running was while attending Brigham Young University when I decided in early 1981 that it would be fun to run a marathon. Yeah, 26.2 miles.

Truth of the matter was I got to the point that I actually enjoyed running. At the height of my training, I was running six days a week and alternating between running six to eight miles per day. And somewhere around mile four to mile five, the endorphins kicked in and I felt like I could just run and run. That was cool!

About five days before July 24th(race day, a state holiday here in Utah known as Pioneer Day), I ran an 18-mile carbohydrate depletion run during the middle of the day with no problems on one of the hottest days of the year. I even attended a Preference Dance that evening with my soon-to-be wife, Allisha. Again, no problems.

However, I did not appreciate how bowed the roads were leading up to and back down from Little Mountain in Salt Lake City, and during the race I ran on the right edge of the road heading up the Little Mountain road, which meant my right foot/ankle were constantly rolling from left to right under growing pressure. About six miles into the marathon I began to develop serious pain in my right foot, pain that only grew the further I ran. After 16 miles I could barely walk and dropped out of the race, only to ingloriously throw-up near the finish line. How embarrassing!

The only redeeming point after the fact was having a doctor examine my x-rays and state authoritatively that I had suffered a stress fracture and to stop running for at least a month. Unfortunately, I did and I haven’t been a consistent runner ever since.

Running and Marketing Comparisons

So what does all of this have to do with marketing, let alone The Betty Factor? Let’s see if I can draw some parallels.

1.     You have to start.

The only way to gain the benefits of running is to actually start running, placing one foot in front of the other. The same is true of marketing (whatever aspect of the marketing mix you’re considering). If you never begin a marketing campaign, you can NEVER gain the benefits of a marketing campaign. Sounds simple, and it is, but it’s still true.

2.     Start with simple goals.

My first short-term goal was being able to run 20 minutes without stopping (or having a heart attack). This was a very specific and measurable goal, and I’ve now achieved this goal. I also wanted to lower my resting heart rate. That meant starting out knowing what my resting heart rate was before I started running (it was about 70bpm). Today, my first thing in the morning best resting bpm is 51 beats per minute. In marketing, you also need to set goals/objectives. I recommend little goals to start with, then advancing from there.

3.     Monitor/analyze your progress.

Improvement in running is IMPOSSIBLE unless you are taking and monitoring key measurements: heart rate while running, resting heart rate, time per mile, etc. The same is true in marketing. It is impossible to know if you are improving or reaching your goals/objectives if you to NOT measure and analyze your progress.

4.     Some progress is still progress.

Sometimes when running, improvements take time, sometimes more time than we expected or want. That’s okay: some progress is better than none. Besides, some progress is still progress. The same is also true in marketing — it’s often hard to see immediate progress or the progress may not match expected outcomes. If this is the case,

• give your marketing time to work,
• be patient, and
• evaluate what you’re doing and the results you’re achieving, and if necessary, modify your marketing regimen.

5.     Modifying your efforts can improve results.

As alluded to in #4 above, sometimes you may find that you’ve hit a plateau when running or exercising. The same might also be true in your marketing efforts. If this is the case, try modifying your efforts to help you break through to the next level of results. For example, if you find that you’ve hit a wall and can’t run any faster, try some speed work.

For example, run the same distance or same length of time, but twice a week, run normal speed for a set distance or time, then run at a faster rate for the same distance or time, and alternate this effort throughout your workout. Done consistently, this farklet (or “speed play”) training will help boost your overall ability to process oxygen or maximum aerobic capacity (aka VO2 Max). Playing around with your marketing mix, always testing new variables to see if a higher result can be generated is a great way to maximize marketing outputs.

6.     Extend/expand your goals as you achieve success.

As mentioned above, I’m now at 30 minutes per run. But my new goal is 45 minutes per run. And once I achieve that goal, I’ll set a new running goal altogether. Newer goals that expand the reach/potential of a marketing program are critical for success.

7.     Go public with your efforts.

As a social media maven, I’ve been quite public about my efforts at running. I’ve also found great support from within my networks for my efforts to get back into running. I’ve also entered my first race in nearly 30 years, the 2009 BYU Homecoming Cougar Run, a 5K (five-kilometer race), something that I’m also being public about, both here and in other forums. The point is this: Telling other people, including competitors what it is you’re doing is a good thing as it publicly forces you to acknowledge your goals/objectives/efforts. It also gives you a venue for disclosing why you’re doing what you’re doing.  

Conclusion

Naturally there are other comparisons that can be drawn between running and marketing, but I suspect these will suffice for now.

My final thought on the subject is this: If you’re not exercising today, start immediately, even if it’s only taking a walk around the block once a week (for starters). Twenty minutes per day for three days a week is a great starter program.

Ergo, consider a similar approach when it comes to marketing and the marketing communications mix.

Getting Back to Writing

This weekend, I took my wife, Allisha, to go see the new movie, Julie & Julia.

This fun, funny, heart-warming and life-reaffirming film covers the yearlong journey of discovery young wife Julie Powell takes as she sets out to produce in 365 days the 536 recipes found in Julia Child’s cooking tome: Mastering the Art of French Cooking.

For the record, it was a completely delightful movie (yeah, not necessarily a very manly adjective to use to describe a film, but apropos nonetheless), and I highly recommend this movie to everyone.

What I especially liked about Julie & Julia was that I walked out of the theatre feeling energized and hopeful about life and convinced more than ever that I made a wonderful decision nearly 28 years ago in choosing to marry the young lady who has since become my best friend.

Julie & Julia also reminded me once again of the importance of the career-choosing message I learned from Mormon educator and philosopher, Truman Madsen, when he delivered a brown bag luncheon presentation in the Wilkinson Center at Brigham Young University many, many years ago:

1. Choose something you’re good at.
2. Choose something you enjoy.
3. Choose a career you can support your family with while making a difference in the world.

Turns out my best grades as a directionless sophomore/junior were in Mass Communications, which also happened to be the classes I enjoyed the most. And now, close to 30 years later, I am deep into a career that spans more than 25 years and regularly finds me helping clients of all types successfully

• deploy public relations campaigns,
• unleash social media programs,
• support stock valuations, and
• sell more goods and services.

As it turns out, I ab-so-lute-ly love what I do! And I am blessed beyond measure by the good Lord above with several gifts that make me quite good at this career.

Which brings me to the point of today’s blog post.

It’s hard to imagine, but it’s now been more than four months (April 11, 2009) since I’ve written anything new on The Betty Factor. Four months! UGH!

Naturally, April 11 is just about the same time that Politis Communications lost two clients and saw a third client cut its PR budget by two-thirds. Yes, it was awful. Although we had been holding on through the toughest economic downturn that this country has seen since the Great Depression, it’s been a hard couple of months, culminating with the tough decision to let three employees at the end of June (2 full-time and 1 part-time).

As a result, I’ve focused almost all of my professional efforts of late on pursuing prospective new clients. And I’m grateful to say that we’ve been fortunate to land a couple of new projects recently and appear to be on the verge of landing several contracts as well, which is great!

Nevertheless, to circle back to Julie & Julia for a moment, watching that movie also reminded me how much I love writing. It’s been in my blood ever since I was in the 3rd Grade and wrote a take-off on Creature from the Black Lagoon, that campy 1954 SciFi/Horror flick I first watched in the early 60s.

I’ve also been reminded recently how much I enjoy getting down in the trenches to work with clients, craft strategic plans, roll out campaigns, pitch story ideas to journalists, and see concepts become reality.

That said, I feel re-energized and I am recommitting to write regularly here within the four digital walls of TheBettyFactor.com.

I don’t plan to write every day, and I suspect I will mostly be writing after hours or on the weekends, but I am going to write. And I’m going to do so about my professional passions, especially as it relates to the premise of The Betty Factor — identifying and writing about the best and worst examples I can find from all areas of marketing and marketing communications.

That’s it. Thanks for reading.

And if you haven’t seen it yet, I do recommend Julie & Julia.

David

P.S.  Anyone out there looking for great PR, IR and/or marketing communications consulting and/or services, feel free to contact me at dpolitis@politis.com, 801-523-3730 xt. 11, or 801-556-8184(cell). I’d love to visit. 

Marketers: It’s Time to Come out of the New Media Cave

I have been on Twitter for a year or more now. I like the tool, it allows me to interact with and get to know the media and some of my key audiences, mentors and peers. That said, is it the end all solution for PR and marketing campaigns? Well, that depends on who the audience is.

This morning, I saw some interesting stats on Twitter and other services like Facebook and MySpace. Make no mistake, these new online services are growing like wildfire, but is that enough of an indicator to make these the silver bullet that saves PR or becomes the new default means of communication with audiences?

Personally, I don’t think so.

I think being in the tech industry causes me to forget there is a world of non-techies out there, services like Twitter and so forth become a sort of echo chamber, or, as Plato might put it, the “cave.” (My dad is one of these non-techies, for years he had an Instamatic camera that he never used, and recently I suggested he use an RSS reader to get news from his favorite car blogs, his response, “not right now, maybe later.”) So it should come as no surprise when research indicates that while Twitter is growing like wildfire, it is still not being adopted on a massive consumer scale.

Which leads me to my point, I think, when planning a campaign, what should we focus on? Do we want to wow our client with the newest, latest and greatest technologies, or do we want to use the tried and true methods tools that have gotten the job done for years. I think there are advantages both ways. As PR peeps, should we be agents of change, forcing the market to adapt to us by adopting Twitter and other new fandangled online tools, or should we go to where the audiences are? How do we measure our audiences? Is it quantity or quality?

These are all good questions, that good PR people should be asking themselves as they play their next PR campaigns.

I think these tools are great and have helped me land coverage in some good publications for my clients. I have also learned a lot, been informed of world events and what some of my fellow twitterers are doing at all hours of the day. But, and this is a big but, let’s keep this in perspective. Twitter is a tactic, heck!, most of these new tools on the Internet are tactics, and part of a bigger online strategy, and as with most everything in our lives, as part of our campaigns, these tools should be balanced (moderation ring a bell to anyone?).

So, be wise, be prudent, be realistic, and for our clients’ sake, let’s come out of the cave and look around, I think we’ll be surprised.

Can PR Campaigns Boost Credibility vs. Ad Campaigns? Yes, by as much as 76 Percent, Nielsen IAG Study Suggests

The headline from a recent news release from The Nielsen Company says

“Advertising Builds Confidence for Financial Brands in Crisis, Nielsen IAG Study Finds.”

In a nutshell, 55 percent of the study respondents said they had “complete confidence in the financial health and soundness” of  their banks, insurance companies and investment firms IF “they had seen more advertising for their financial institution” during the previous six months.

This is a very exciting finding! I especially think it’s cool news for those in the advertising and marketing fields, especially since one of the main advantages of advertising is that you can completely control the content, delivery and timing of your messages in an advertising campaign. This is NOT the case with a PR campaign!

In addition, I also found what I consider to be an interesting nugget of information mentioned near the end of the release. Here’s the paragraph in question:

“When asked what factors would increase confidence in the safety and soundness of their financial institution, respondents cited:

• Seeing regular advertising for that institution (25%)
• Receiving regular mail or email offers from that institution (25%)
• Regularly seeing internet offers/advertising from that institution (21%)
• Reading positive stories in the press about that institution (44%)”

Note the last bullet point : 44 percent of the respondents said that “reading positive stories in the press about that institution” would (to quote from the opening sentence) “increase (their) confidence in the safety and soundness of their financial institution.

I’m not a math whiz by any means, but I know that 44 percent is greater than 25 percent. How much greater you ask? Seventy-six percent (76%) greater. [The difference is even greater vs. Internet ads/offers (109% greater), but I'll stick with the advertising comparison for this blog post.]

To me this seems pretty straightforward: PR changes attitudes and perceptions for more people.

Please understand – I am NOT advocating that companies stop advertising. As stated in the third paragraph above,

“. . . one of the main advantages of advertising is that you can completely control the content, delivery and timing of your messages in an advertising campaign.”

Unfortunately, when it comes to public relations (specifically media relations or publicity efforts), companies do NOT have such control — at least not in societies where a free and unfettered press is the norm.

In other words, once you

• get off the phone with a reporter,
• leave a journalist’s office,
• send out a news release,
• deliver a product for a review/evaluation,
• push “send” on your email to an editor,
• etc.

you have absolutely no control whatsoever that any story is going to be published about you, your company, product, service, issue or what-have-you, let alone whether said story will be positive.

You also have zero control over whether or not a story is going to be published at all. Or when or where said story might be published. Or its size/length. Or if it’s going to include artwork. Or anything at all — you have NO CONTROL!

However,

• if/when said story runs, and
• if it’s a positive story,

I believe that such media coverage generates significantly greater credibility than what you can produce through advertising.

How much so? Well . . . the Nielsen IAG study suggests that the difference could be as high as 76 percent greater.

[NOTE: There is no guarantee that the data from this research study can be extrapolated across industries other than the financial world.]

Nevertheless, if your goal is to boost credibility, public relations may be the way to go.

That said, please recognize that PR is not the right discipline for achieving every marketing and/or sales objective. That would be like recommending that the only tool you needed in your garage or toolshed is a hammer.

That’s why we always recommend examining all potential vehicles in the marketing communications mix and choosing the best mixture for the goals and objectives at hand.

Part of what’s got me so psyched about finding this Nielsen IAG study, however, is that I’ve been telling people for years that PR has a higher “credibility factor” than advertising (with a counterbalanced lower “control factor” than advertising). And for the first time, I now have some independent data that appears to support my claims.

Should anyone reading this blog post know of other studies/articles that similarly support such an idea, I’d love to know about them. Thanks.

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DISCLOSURE: SOAR Communications is the PR agency of record for three Nielsen properties: Outdoor Retailer, Interbike, and Health+Fitness Business Expo.

Hispanics and Marketing

Hispanics make 15.1% of the U.S. population, and it’s projected that by 2050 the Hispanic population in the U.S. will grow to 24%. With such numbers, I believe Hispanic marketing and PR could become an even more profitable way of doing business in the near future.

I’m originally from Chile (South American country), thus my opinion might sound a little biased, but during my six years in the U.S. I have come to realize the important role that Hispanics play in the marketplace, as well as the social and political U.S. arena.

Though Hispanics are considered the largest ethnic minority in the U.S., I think there are two main problems when attempting to interact with them: lack of marketing exclusively towards Hispanics, and a lack of marketing from Hispanics.

While living in the U.S. I have noticed that a number of large companies could be doing a better job with Hispanics. Some companies try so hard going after “the one,” they forget about some of other potential publics.

Though the problem mentioned above is a fact, I think the greatest problem lays in marketing and PR being generated from Hispanics.

While walking around town I have seen so many Hispanic restaurants and stores go out of business after two or three months in business, that I wanted to find out more behind this tragedy.

Not too long ago I decided to go to a new Mexican (owned by a Mexican) restaurant in Provo. As some of you may know, Provo is a college town (home of Brigham Young University) thus the whole town is full of college students. While eating and having a good time there, I noticed the owner was close by so I decided to talk to him.

After introducing myself and talking for a while, I asked him how the business was doing so far. After looking at me for a second he went on to confess they were doing fine, but they weren’t getting many new customers. I then went on and asked him if he was trying to target college students or younger publics besides Hispanic families. The owner told me he had tried to but wasn’t willing to spend much money on it. I asked if he had tried social media, I added that it was free, reached a lot of the younger generation, and that his message could be heard by a lot of people in short period of time.

After discussing a couple of good strategies to start with, and some other ideas to generate more customers through Twitter and Facebook, the owner was sitting in our table, exchanging phone numbers, and thanking me for that simple advice. I’m sure that restaurant is not going to generate millions of dollars in revenues because of my advice, but I think the owner has learned a great lesson on how to interact with his publics in a better way.

I sure hope that restaurant does better in the near future, in the meantime I will keep my eyes open for more opportunities and if I’m lucky I might get a free taco out of the whole experience!

Do You Speak Engineer? We Can Help!

I was recently introduced to one of those silly flash sites where i chose a two-digit number, subtracted the first, then second digit from my number, and with the result my virtual magician showed me a page of gift ideas, and then she would magically guess my gift.

I’ll be honest I was amazed, and a little weirded out at first as it seemed every time I guessed a number, went through the formula, she guessed it right — and mind you it changed every time! Now, a little disclaimer here, I am a PR guy. I always tell my friends that my degree is a BA, not a science degree, so math is in no way my forte — much less when it involves more than just basic addition, subtraction, division and multiplication.

So I shared my new found online magic trick with my friends through Facebook and mentioned I didn’t know how it worked, sure enough, my friend, an engineering student and possibly one of the most brilliant people I know, answered with the exact formula.

Here’s what he sent me:

A two digit number could be considered a sum of two integers, x and y. We’ll let x represent the tens digit and y be the ones digit. Thus, x can only have values 1 through 9, since if x is zero, it would be a one digit number. On the other hand, y can be any digit 0 through 9.

Thus, a two digit number can be written algebraically as 10x + y

For example, on the website, she uses the example of 25. So x is 2 and y is 5.

Now subtract the digits.

10x + y - x - y.

Do a little clean up here.

(10x - x) + (y - y) = 9x + 0

Thus the y’s go away and your left with 9x.

Thus it ends up as any multiple of nine.

Now, like I said, math isn’t my thing, when it starts moving away from numbers and including letters it’s Greek to me!

But it provided me a valuable lesson. In the ongoing debate of “what does PR really offer?” herein lies one of the answers (and, I might add, one of our strengths at Politis Communications): while we understand engineering speak and technology, we can translate it into non-geek speak.

To illustrate, here’s my version of how the little math trick works:

Take any two-digit number, let’s use 31. Now, subtract the two digits in that number, so 31-3=28 then 28-1=27, or a multiple of nine. The secret to this trick is that every time you follow this formula you will end up with a multiple of 9.

Make sense? It’s always easy to make it more complicated, but when it comes to communicating, especially in technology and the sciences, we have to remember that not everyone will have a degree in quantum physics. If you need help communicating your highly complex concept, give us a call or shoot us an email.

Don’t give up, there IS help available ;o)