I’ve been bouncing mail back and forth with a tech company from the other side of the pond. They’re looking for UK/European PR representation and asked if I can make a recommendation. At times like this I hesitate. Tech PR is not over endowed with folk I’d regard as ‘bright.’ There are plenty of creative types but that’s not the same as bright.
Bright is what you get from people who listen to what you’re about, internalise it and then feed it back to you in a way that demonstrates they understand what you are about and the value you bring. Not the product. Today, product is assumed to be a given. If it’s not then you’ve got bigger problems than worrying about PR.
On this occasion I’m happy to make a recommendation. I’ve no idea if the introduction will go anywhere. But that’s not the point. It made me think about why we make certain types of connection. In this case, I knew immediately who I should be talking to. It’s not because this person has a platinum coated Rolodex. Or that we’ve not spoken for maybe 3 months. It’s because I know both parties and it struck me they’d make a good fit for each other.
I can only ever be the judge of what I think might work in a situation where I have incomplete information. I could be completely wrong. But that’s where the blog metaphor makes such a positive difference. It is impossible to hide in a blog. You get caught out sooner or later. But you can learn a great deal about people by reading what they say and then comparing that with what you hear in ‘the real world.’ Most people I know have pretty good BS detectors. They’re a standard fitting for most professionals.
In business relationships, it’s not who you know. It’s what you know about those you know that matters. In an increasingly socialised world, that is a dimension that is becoming easier to tap into.
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