The MoPR Blog

The chatter among public relations and investor relations practitioners this week is about pending (read that word again for emphasis, please) new guidelines from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) regarding the notorious Reg-FD – the set of SEC rules guiding fair disclosure of material information to the public. On Wednesday this week, the SEC commissioners voted unanimously to “provide new guidance to public companies about how to comply with the securities laws while developing their Web sites to serve as an effective means for disseminating important information to investors.”

While those of us with Reg-FD and Sarbanes Oxley publicity regulations battle scars are waiting to see the official guidelines, some people are couching this vote as the final nail in the press release coffin. Let’s not be too hasty.

Fundamentally, Reg-FD protects investors and prospective investors by making disclosure of material non-public information simultaneous and widespread. In other words, a company needs to broadcast the disclosure of material information – information that will affect a stock price once made public – so that all investors can have access to it at the same time. Traditionally, this has meant using a newswire for such disclosure so that the information can be seen far and wide, and be easily discoverable on the Internet.

The SEC’s vote will (may?) amend this practice to allow Reg-FD disclosure on company websites in, what one IR website refers to as “certain circumstances.” Some people have interpreted this decision to mean that blogs can now be used to disclose earnings information to investors and therefore the press release is dead.

That’s probably too overstated and certainly premature. The SEC guidelines are not yet public information. What is public, as of today, is the 120 page (excluding the appendix) “Final Report of the Advisory Committee on Improvements to Financial Reporting to the United States Securities and Exchange Commission,” which on page 108 states:

The SEC has issued a series of interpretive releases and rules addressing the use of electronic media to deliver or transmit information under the federal securities laws. The SEC issued its last comprehensive interpretive release on the use of electronic media, including corporate websites, in 2000. Since 2000, significant technological advances have increased both the market’s demand for more timely corporate disclosure and the ability of investors to capture, process, and disseminate this information. Recognizing this, the SEC has adopted a large number of rules that mandate, permit, or require disclosure of the use of corporate websites to provide important corporate information and developments. The SEC has voted to publish an interpretative release to provide guidance regarding the use of company websites under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and the antifraud provisions of the federal securities laws.

Nowhere in the 120 pages of the report or the 60 or so pages of appendix will you find the words “blog” or “social media.”

That’s not to say blogs, forums or social networks won’t be impacted. In fact, in the press release issued by the SEC, Chairman Christopher Cox says, “The last time the SEC issued guidance in this area, the idea of ’social networks’ hadn’t yet been developed, and creating a social network where shareholders could meet and exchange views was barely imaginable. Ongoing developments in technology have increased both the markets’ and investors’ demand for more timely company disclosure on the Web, and in turn, raised new securities law issues for public companies to consider.”

Cox’s tenure as chairman of the SEC has been regarded by many as leading the SEC to live in the modern world. No question there is more consumable, and therefore more valuable, information available on the web than in the lengthy tables and text contained in a form 10K – the legally required content of an annual report – for example. That’s really cool, and great news for investors. It may even be great news for web design firms and companies like Wordpress. Likely this does not spell disaster for Business Wire, PR Newswire or Marketwire, nor for the press releases they issue.

No one knows yet for sure, because as mentioned before, the “interpretive release” from the SEC is not yet available. TheMoPRBlog asked Business Wire, PR Newswire and Marketwire for their reaction to this news, and all three had no comment to make because there is in fact nothing official yet about which a comment can be made. Once the SEC issues its guidance, these newswires will issue their own.

What may be of more concern to the PR profession is the notion of “under certain circumstances” as raised in the first sentence of the IR Web Report’s article. By way of analogy, think of how another government institution uses this same notion: stuff you pay for is tax deductible… under certain circumstances.

Guidelines are better when the issues are both easily understood and the outcome is binary; you either can do something, or you can’t. Tax laws aren’t binary, and therefore a great many people are forced to rely on outside help when preparing their tax returns, whether that help comes from a tax accountant or from software. The implications of adding a swath of gray to what is now black and white is troubling. Not only does it mean confusion and the possibilities of making mistakes (mistakes made by public companies can result in fines or even jail time for CEOs), it also creates an environment for potential abuse.

When discussing this issue with a corporate counsel friend of mine, he said “adding a subjective element to this process will open the door for mischief.”

Those like Brian Solis, of whom we’re big fans, who think this is the death knell for the press release are focused on form and not substance. Maybe the social media press release will replace the old text-only press releases of years past. The wire services themselves now offer social media wires and XHTML-based content, and our agency has invested in the in-house development of our own social media newswire to issue these social media enhanced news releases, so it’s fair to say that the traditional release will evolve. But changes to the SEC guidelines are probably not going to eliminate the need to cast a wide net so that material non-public information can be made simultaneously available to all investors, nor should they. Not all investors use social media, despite Jonathan Schwartz’s – and quite frankly, Mobility PR’s – desire to make social media ubiquitous.

Instead of waiting for the SEC to catch up to technology advances, social media and blogging companies may want to drive technology advances to catch up with the appropriate need for fair disclosure. TheMoPRBlog guesses that the forthcoming guidelines from the SEC will create the environment where such advances will be both compelling and profitable.

We invite your comments.

If you’re in the PR profession you may have seen the wiki recently created by Lifehacker’s Gina Trapani where she calls out and blacklists PR agencies that have “spammed” her.

Her wiki lists some big names in PR she says have continually sent pitches to her personal email address to which she specifically requested that no pitches be sent.

Like the list made last year by Wired editor, Chris Anderson, Trapani has added repeat offenders to an email blacklist that gets delivered directly to a spam folder.

And once again, the entire PR industry is being painted with broad brush strokes and labeled as “spammers” intent on making editors and bloggers lives miserable.

Happily, MoPR is absent from both Trapani’s and Anderson’s blacklists. We like to think it’s because we have tremendous regard for bloggers, whether they are journalists by profession, corporate CEOs or anyone else with enthusiasm and a brain who takes the time to write something meaningful.

We’re bloggers ourselves and have also been pitched by PR practitioners, and as such we’ve learned that working with bloggers takes some extra care and feeding that is a bit different than more traditional, news-oriented media.

As more businesses and PR agencies recognize the importance of social media and blogs in reaching their audiences, we are likewise noticing online anti-PR chatter getting louder while more blacklists keep cropping up. While it may be true that many PR pros need to sharpen their skills when dealing with bloggers, we also want to urge some practical thinking for these frustrated bloggers.

Believe it or not, bloggers, PR people play a vital role in the information value chain. Virtually everything being reported today in mainstream press, trade press or blogs – particularly in the tech world – was handled first by someone in public relations. Even though they may be biased toward the clients they represent, responsible PR people are deeply entrenched in the markets, technology and trends affecting their clients. Once you decide to work with the people in PR, you’ll quickly understand how valuable a resource they can be for you. And no, I’m not kidding.

Most bloggers are not Chris Anderson, who has assistants, a staff of researchers and another staff of writers who can provide him the information he needs, when he needs it, so he can write on the topic he wants to cover.

Most bloggers we work with are individuals (or small teams) who do everything on their own and are passionate about what they write. It’s simply not possible for the individual blogger to know everything about a market, a trend, a technology or anything else. PR people are devoted to providing that information to people who will write about their clients.

If you need a market stat, an interview, an analyst reference, a customer, a picture, a copy of a white paper, who better to turn to than someone in PR? Good PR people will know that providing market and trend information on background, even when their clients aren’t mentioned, is also good practice.

Many bloggers are experts in the subject they cover. Likewise, PR people need to be experts in the subjects they represent. And, chances are if you have been pitched by MoPR, then we’re reading your blog. Not just to ensure you’re a good fit, but to learn from it for our own education. It’s a two-way street.

On that note, we’d like to offer some tips to bloggers on getting the most from their interactions with people in PR. Here are some ideas to get a conversation going:

Include an “about us” page.
A quick paragraph describing what your blog’s mission is and what your content is about can help you in preventing needless pitches that waste your time. Experienced PR pros won’t take the “about us” at as a standalone descriptor of the blog, but will also read posts before pitching to ensure that whatever information we have to share is in fact a good fit. But not all pitches come from experienced PR pros, so the more information you can provide in your “about us” page, the better your interaction will be from the outset.

Let us know how you want to be pitched.
Hate press releases? We won’t send them. Would you rather be contacted with a 140-character Tweet? We can do that. Prefer getting news through an online submission form? Tell us. We don’t want to send you useless information any more then you want to receive it. Coming right out and sharing your preferences with us makes your job easier as well as ours.

Make it easy to contact you and list your name.
When we want to send a note to a blogger we always prefer to address them by their real name verses, “admin” or “editor.” But unless we are already a close friend of yours, we probably aren’t going to know your name unless you tell us. We want to build a mutually beneficial relationship with you, and sending that first introduction email to admin@ or editor@ isn’t a good start for either of us.

Fellow Oregonian, Marshall Kirkpatrick on ReadWriteWeb had a great post last week examining the “Five Tools Everyone Working Online Should Have.” His No. 5 is “A Blog With Your Name and Contact Info.” In support of his opinion that everyone working online should have a blog of some sort attached to their name along with contact info, Kirkpatrick writes:

I put my phone number on my personal blog, and I write for the 11th most linked to blog on the web. I get maybe three unwanted phone calls a week as a result. That means that just about anyone else should be able to put their phone number and IM on their blogs as well. It’s so convenient to be able to get a hold of people in a hurry. When an opportunity arises, do you want to be easy to reach or do you want that opportunity to be taken by someone else who is? Undoubtedly this is a calculation that’s clearer for people less subject to harassment based on gender or race, but except in complicating circumstances your personal contact info should be available online if at all possible. Bad things are unlikely to happen.

We couldn’t agree more.

Want us to stop pitching you? Tell us. Go ahead. We can take it.
The last thing we want to do is waste our time and yours. Good PR practitioners are tenacious, and silence merely invites us to try and contact you again. A simple “no thanks” works wonders. But you know what works even better? Dialog, which leads to the next idea:

Start a dialog with PR people.
Even when you aren’t interested in what a PR agency is offering at the moment, it can often net you some other content that will be of interest. If we send you something that isn’t your cup of tea, consider taking a moment to let us know what would make it relevant to you. Sound far too time consuming? Well, we ask that you consider that PR agencies represent many clients and thus have new news on a pretty regular basis. If you take just a few moments to let us know why something isn’t a fit for you, or to tell us what you would be interested in hearing about or story ideas that are top of mind, we can rally to support your requests. Remember, we want to help you. From our personal experience blogging we’ve had a lot of success redirecting off-target pitches to get information we did find of interest.

Put all this information in one post or create a specific page for it. Many print publications have specific pages with instructions on how to send press materials. Once we read a blog to see if there’s a fit, it would work wonders if all this information, even a checklist, was in place to follow. Again, this might take some upfront time on your part, but will end-up protecting you from the “spam” and misguided pitches, and hopefully result in more on-target, relevant info, delivered according to your personal preferences.

You will always get pitched.
If you are getting pitched, it’s because your blog is easily found and has content that’s worth reading. Take it for the complement it is. Unfortunately, you will continue to get pitches not related to your core audience and topic. The better agencies and the PR people who understand your blog and your interests will rise to the top. Build relationships with them and they will offer value for a long time to come.

In her latest update on the prspammer wiki, Gina Trapani says:

I’m very happy to see this conversation happening. Thanks to everyone who has written about this issue. I look forward to the conversation effecting change.

So do we, Gina.

We’ve been telling our clients for years that they need to be blogging, have a strong online presence and use online tools to spread the word about their product, strengthen their brand, and achieve the corporate transparency that is expected by customers and partners in today’s business climate.

A new report from Universal McCann proves the very message we’ve been shouting from the mountaintops: If you don’t have some sort of social media strategy, your brand and message will get lost.

Need some proof? A compelling paragraph from the report says:

Contributing to the internet has never been as accessible and less technical. Innovations in web development, computing technology and the proliferation of broadband have come together to drive monumental consumer take up. This is why the phenomenon of social media is important now – it has the potential to impact on all our media consumption therefore shifting the emphasis from professional content producers to the consumer.

So, I’m guessing half of the readers of this post are thinking to themselves, “Great, then we’re covered. We have a blog and we understand the value of online communities.”

The other half? Read on.

The report, “Power to the people: Social Media Tracker” has some compelling stats and lays it out on just how much people [e.g., YOUR customers and potential customers] are using social media to find information:

• 57% have joined a social network, making it the number one platform for creating and sharing content
• 55% of users have uploaded photos
• 22% of users have uploaded videos

Also according to the report, the role for advertisers and brands has never had so much potential – branded applications, content and services all offer huge promise for grand results and return on investment in social media.

And what about blogs - the red-headed stepchildren of traditional mainstream media (MSM)? The report claims blogs are a “mainstream media world-wide and as a collective rival any traditional media.”

Wow.

That’s why most traditional print publications – many struggling to stay alive with sagging circulation numbers and a slumping economy – are finally offering complementary and exclusive online content.

And television is included in this mix, too.

Smarter networks with television shows such as Lost and American Idol have poured money into building and maintaining active online communities; offering sneak peaks and exclusive features for online viewers along with various opportunities to interact within the community with like mined fans.

The report also proves why the PR community takes bloggers more seriously. We plan entire programs to ensure we are communicating effectively with them. We read their work and engage in interactive exchanges with them. We pitch them exclusive content and offer them breaking news on a level playing field with the industry and business publications. And at the end of the day, it’s why we consider a client mention in a blog post often times just as valuable as a mention in a traditional mainstream media outlet.

Sure, getting a client on the cover of Time is still a fantastic win. But at the same time consistent, accurate coverage in a blog that has a pure, core readership made up of the same audience our client is trying to reach should also be considered a homerun.

If that’s not enough to convince you to jump into the social media fray, here’s one last stat:

Social media impacts your brand’s reputation – and so does NOT having conversations with your customers, partners and employees.

• 34% post opinions about products and brands on their blog
• 36% think more positively about companies that have blogs

So, you DO have a blog right? Your CEO or executive team is blogging about new products, issues and trends in your industry, and making themselves available to an audience that expects to have a two-way conversation.

They’re not?

Then we need to talk. Give us a call or drop us an email. We can help you.