Today is a special day, not because it’s Wednesday, but because it’s February 10.
What’s on February 10 you ask?
Well, today is the birthday of this month guest on NutsPR Spotlight.
Ladies and gentlemen, please join me in wishing Gini Dietrich a VERY HAPPY BIRTHDAY!
You already know Gini, you hear me talking about her almost all the time.
What you don’t know is that she is one of the best PR professionals in the world (yes, you ready correctly), an amazing person and professional which I am honored to have as a boss, friend, and mentor.
I met Gini through her blog, Spin Sucks, and from the very beginning I’ve been amazed by her kindness, professionalism and openness.
Gini was kind enough to offer us a glimpse of her expertise and what’s cooking over to Spin Sucks, today, on her birthday. Thank you, Gini!
I am not going to ask you why Spin Sucks, but I am going to ask you this: Why keep fighting?
The vision of Spin Sucks is to change the perception people have of the PR industry. It makes me absolutely batty when a new prospect tells me they need to hire a PR firm so all of the media in the world are talking about them. That’s not all we do, people!
Part of the perception challenge we face is that the industry, as a whole, is terrible at doing it’s own PR. The other challenge is people working as PR professionals don’t define it the same. I once sat with a chief of corporate communications at a Fortune 10 company who told me she would never call herself a PR pro because she does more than media relations.
And that is where the problem lies. Even PR professionals think public relations is relegated to media relations.
All this to say, I get really worked up and passionate about serving the industry I love. It’s what gets me up at 5 a.m. every morning and what makes me stay up way too late. We can change the industry, but we have to do it together. We’ll get there!
You are relentless in your work to change the perception of the PR industry and to convince PR professionals there are ways to do their jobs that imply being truthful and correct. So why? Why not focus solely on your business as many leaders in PR do?
This is my business! I mean, sure Arment Dietrich is the core business, which is a PR firm—or digital marketing communications firm or whatever you want to call it. But Spin Sucks is also a business. It generates revenue and has huge potential.
I also believe you can’t coach clients on best practices unless you also do the work. It’s easy to talk about theory. It’s much different to apply theory to practice. We apply theory to practice every day at Arment Dietrich, which provides great blog fodder and gives us the opportunity to truly figure out if the theory works.
A piece of advice for anyone heading into the reality of PR?
Just one? If I have to choose just one, it is this: Do not let your clients or executives get by with a basic (or vanity) understanding of results. Impressions, advertising equivalencies, and number of fans and followers are not results. Push really, really hard to educate them on the metrics that really matter and prove that the work you are doing truly affects sales. Because it does…and that’s part of the perception issue we fight at Spin Sucks. We all have to do a better job at measuring results.
What would you like to change in the PR industry and think it can be accomplished this year?
Everything I’d like to change will take longer than this year. I’d like to change the perception the outside world has of the industry. I’d like to create a scientific and mathematic standard for measuring results. I’d like to see the barrier entry to the industry become higher and maybe even accredited like other service industries. I’d love to finally get the respect we’ve earned, not just from board room, but from anyone you tell what you do for a living.
It’s a long list, but I’m pretty passionate about leading the charge with the Spin Sucks Crazies.
What’s next for Spin Sucks?
Oh my gosh. We have a GIGANTIC goal for 2016. I’m both incredibly excited and scared to death (I keep hearing if you’re not scared, you’re not dreaming big enough so I’m going with that).
We launched a beta online course last year so we’re going to build on that and eventually have 16 lessons that will lead to a Spin Sucks certification. I’m opening admittance to our mastermind group in a couple of weeks. And we’re doing some fun things for new subscribers (hint, hint!). It’s a big year!
You can find Gini on Spin Sucks, of course, on , , , .
Now, go say Happy Birthday!
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Corina Manea is the Founder of NutsPR, a PR professional, social media strategist, content marketer, and blogger. She helps entrepreneurs build a community on social media and grow their personal brands online. Connect with her on Twitter: @corinamanea.