Is Bad Publicity Killing Your Organic Company?

Do You Have Good Representation?

Operating a business that sells organics, environmentally friendly products, or even the latest how to book on organic gardening, etc, can be tough but it can be even tougher if you have poor or no publicity.  As it is, the organic industry has to combat the big conventional companies that have deeper pockets and bigger marketing teams. So, does this mean that you have to hire a top PR firm? Not necessarily. You DO need to have someone at the helm who understands the value of good public relations. This includes organic engagement (ie: not outsourced or automated) on social media which is critical to the success of any new company in today’s viral world.

PR Director at Unemployed, Inc.

Evidently, this guy never answered his calls from his clients but luckily is head of his own PR Firm.

A public relations professional should be doing everything possible to promote your company and get the word out.  There should never be complaints about the amount of work required or how much effort needs to be made to in order to get the job done. Having happy clients to promote  certainly beats unemployment!

Chaos Is What Killed The Dinosaurs…

Unfortunately, PR firms are only as good as the efforts made by the public relations account manager that happens to be assigned to your company. Retaining a PR firm does not guarantee that the publicist will do a stellar job and get the word out about how great your company really is. In my vast experience, I have found that there is a great deal of disorder, lack of a proper media kit, no establishment or knowledge of social media which creates a recipe for failure. However, there are many wonderful professionals who are properly trained, write well and know how to communicate effectively. The right person can make the world of difference as far as how you connect with your customer!

Is your PR representative working hard for your money?

Good PR should increase your bottom line.

The Good Publicist

The good publicist or marketing person in your company will have all of the pertinent information about the company in a proper media kit. This will include:

  • the mission statement
  • the corporate bio of the CEO/President
  • all social media information
  • and any other additional information readily available.
Good publicist

A good publicist is trained to get the job done!

The good publicist will seek out any opportunity that will help put the spotlight on the company or members of the executive team. The good publicist will also make sure that any opportunity for the company to shine will be completely taken advantage of. The communication should be clear and concise, not a scavenger hunt for the media outlet requesting the information. All information requested should be furnished within 24-48 hour maximum. This not only shows appreciation for the opportunity but also demonstrates that the company is professional.

The Bad Publicist

The bad publicist is disorganized and does not communicate well, especially within the organic community. It would make sense to possess knowledge about the industry as well as the latest trends.  To boot, when an opportunity arises, there is minimal or no effort made to secure the opportunity for the publicity being offered. The bad publicist tends to simply send a link to the company’s website and consider the job done. This is not only unprofessional but is basically demonstrating that the publicist is not trained to represent the company properly. The bad publicist does not follow up and deliver all of the pertinent information in order to insure that the opportunity will be successful. So, what do you do with this person? Take a hint from The Donald…fire them!

you are fired

Good publicity is clearly hard to find!

“Success is dependent upon effort”-Sophocles

If you want to succeed, always reach for the stars! When you have the right team in place, anything is possible!

reach for the stars

Always Reach For The Stars!

16 thoughts on “Is Bad Publicity Killing Your Organic Company?

  1. A GOOD publicist is hard to find just like finding a good lawyer or any professional. Most of them suck and what sucks more is that the conventional companies are able to keep their market share thanks to laziness. What a shame! I highly suggest anyone out there seek someone from the trade organizations that are out there.

  2. Interesting post. You would never know that this goes on. Here I always thought that marketers were always scheming when it appears that most are out to lunch all the time!

  3. Small businesses especially need to take their marketing seriously. If a start up doesn’t, regardless of how good the product is, no one is going to know about it. I think what you wrote really makes sense. Publicists need to take their job more seriously.

  4. Ugh, no thanks to the above commenter/spammer! Backlinks blah! Anyway, I hear you on the disorganized publicist. Mine keeps promising all kinds of stuff and not delivering. I got what I paid for though, which was nothing! Time to actually find someone who cares enough about my biz that I want to pay them to do a great job!

  5. Hey June,
    Wow! i must say you’re correct and you’ve brought out some really amazing points. There’s a reason why Organic Companies are not getting good publicity and exposure, a reason why so many people don’t know about them, nor they are able to get a good market standing.
    A good PR manager for an Organic Company must have the Love & Enthusiasm for Organic products that drives him, so as to work for the best of Company.

    Indeed an amazing post and Thank you so much for sharing it with us :).

    With Regards.
    M. Faizan

  6. Sometimes bad PR is good PR. I think the saying goes something like “all publicity is good publicity”. If you have a compelling product and the people like it and it’s marketed well it can sell. The negative aspect and selling is a major major negative. It’s all about how it’s positioned in the market.

    • The point is when you do NOTHING, it is not a smart move, especially in an industry that is fighting so hard for the little bit of market share that they get. That is not bad PR it is NO PR. Sometimes, it helps if you take the time to read the article instead of just making a generic comment.

  7. Too much is being made about social media. Many people(esp. the over 55 crowd) still do not go on twitter, facebook etc. They do not have time or interest. Good publicity people sometimes forget about community promotions, local media and some old school promotion programs. Our phone is answered 24/7.
    Thanks for the great information you provide!
    Cary at WMG Promotions

  8. You have some very valid points! One thing that came to mind as I read your article was, are companies forcing one person to wear too many hats? If they are asking a person who has assumed the responsibility of PR for that company are they guiding them? Are they giving them sufficient time to produce quality PR work? If on the other hand it is the sole responsibility for that person to be a company PR person then they should have all of the information needed on hand, not newly created that can be submitted for a press release instantly! There is no excuse for someone to not have this information ready and if additional information is needed they should be able to get that together quick. I see a poor PR person doing a HUGE disservice to the company that they are representing by failing to get the information out on time and as needed. There are a lot of people looking for jobs right now and I bet they would bend over backwards to get what is needed out before the due date. My question to companies reading this is: How does your PR person perform and represent you? Are you aware of what they are doing? You should be, it’s your company and your reputation because they are representing you!

    • Jean, thank you for taking the time to actually read it. This is exactly the point I was trying to make. If the marketing is the sole responsibility, then they should have it all together. I did it and know what it takes. Marketing is not a hard job to do if you are a trained professional and know what you are doing. It just requires effort and attention to detail.

  9. People need to take their job more seriously, especially with this economy. I don’t know how business owners can tolerate this unless they are just out of touch.

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