In part two of the Richard Laermer interview, we discuss books, blogs and why Laermer will not start a blog.
SPR: The word blog was recently named Merriam-Webster's “Word of the Year.” What is your take on the impact blogs are having on public relations?
I have a thing against all buzzwords nowadays. Blog is among the ones that sound like nails on a blackboard! Yes I get it – the Weblogs are here and everyone has an opinion. I am all about all of us being better informed.
But there is a huge difference between information and opinion and I’m fearful that the younger set in PR will think that the best-looking blog will be the one with the real information. Personally I like the ugly ones. No, seriously, what I like is really informed opinions, not someone who says something by putting their finger out in the wind and feeling the flow.
As for the Webster folks, yes I see them making up words every year. I only found out recently that prioritize is not really a word but more an amalgamation or coinage of two words and it’s bad English. See?
You just got a whiff of what I don’t dig about blogging – someone rants about something they just thought of. It’s the opposite of helpful. I like my information from people who do some research. Not those who sit at home and go, "Ah ha! Andrew Sullivan is not as interesting as he thinks he is and he has advertising on his blog." I, Richard Laermer, hereby announce I won’t be doing a blog.
I like the myriad of PR blogs, I admit, because they unlike toothless political ones from the last harsh election tend to be a nice news source on the hype businesses and the media itself. I tend to spend a lot of my time reading about the media and how much they love their antics. Whew, boy. It’s a party every day in that clique!
Rant over. However, since powerful and decision-making folks use blogs as a way to become informed – yes, unfortunately – I think PR folks have a whole new slew of publishing sources they can go to with their own correspondence and angles/hooks/story lines/what have you. With the slimming down of the media these days and so many news companies becoming “one,” we need more places that are popular to spread our words.
SPR Comment: Laermer may not wear the “I Blog, Therefore I Am,” t-shirt, but don’t beat the Bob Bly out of him just yet. Much in the way Bly came around to blogging, Laermer recognizes the value blogs can provide. And, with several books in print, he does sport a “Publish or Perish” lapel pin on his sport coat.
SPR: If you were doing a 2nd edition of Full Frontal PR, what would you add to it?
The second printing is out, it’s in paperback, it has a new title more about buzz than “talking,” and it’s in 11 countries now, even Bulgaria and Armenia, not to mention China and Poland and lots in between. I want to do a follow-up late in 2005 – no publisher yet – that is specifically for corporations. If you read the stuff above you know that I believe that corporate America needs to loosen up and start talking about what they’re doing.
See, the 2000 Crash was followed by Enron Year of Living Dangerously and then hardly anyone in the big companies is speaking out and I’d like to show them how and why. Oh, and the title is funny: See-Through PR! It’s a handbook for major players and their PR plus marketing folks. It uses case studies and looks at the good and the really dull (those are the peeps who will buy this crucial second book en masse).
SPR: Do you have any books in the planning stages right now?
I am doing a book on fame and why it’s so easy today for anyone to get it. It’s a self-help book that looks at the present of our fame-induced society and how to use the tools that the Hollywood folks use to get some. What’s funny is that I moved to LA 18 months ago. Yeah, it’s pretty superficial here and I love it. They don’t care about the things New Yorkers care about – and I appreciate that, truly. They care about being seen and seeing, and they make more money for themselves (even in non-LA-type jobs) and they have more time to just live. I want to outline these steps for every Little League coach and anxious executive just what they need to be doing for themselves….before someone else gets that notoriety. Can you tell I’m having fun with this?
Also, I want to have Full Frontal PR replace the boring textbooks in colleges and universities and all other schools nationwide. That’s my mission. I am offering ‘me’ to anybody who gets rid of those insipid handbooks that students basically abhor…I’ll come do a lecture for free to any classroom using it. Me, I’ll go to the opening of an envelope. Ha. Except for the ones looking to learn, I won’t charge a fee. I’m pretty good, too.
SPR Comment: Do YOU think PR textbooks are doing their job? If I did not have any internships during college, I would not be boring you on all things marketing today. So I will note that experience wins over theory, but you need a good foundation to build on. Are most communications textbooks providing a good theoretical foundation?
Chime in below or, for part one of Laermer’s interview, click here.
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