Bond, Tim Bond

Ah, Mr Bond. It would be a lie to say that I’ve been expecting you. I still consider myself to be a novice when it comes to blogging. So I was amazed to see Bad PR has a follower. His picture is over there on the right of the screen, just underneath the Good PR Venn diagram.

Just the one mind, but it’s quality over quantity. Remember, Jesus started with just the one follower and look what happened to him. He died over 2000 years ago and book sales are still good. Not that I wish to compare Bad PR with Christ.

Tim has demonstrated wise PR. I will try not to wobble over into the sentimentality pit. But by massaging the grumpy tech hack’s fragile ego, he’s already got a foot in the door.

This runs counter to a particularly foolhardy trait exhibited by some less smart PR types. The pitch delivered with a plea when the PR opens with something like: “I don’t suppose you’d be interested in this story…” Or “I doubt this is really up your street, but…” Is Bad PR pure and simple.

We do understand how difficult it is. It’s not easy to feign enthusiasm. And only weird people get enthusiastic about the stuff you see in most tech press releases. Thankfully, they form companies that make stuff and hire PR firms because they know that they’re just too freaky and unsettling to promote their own products.

But the apologetic opener – which is surprisingly common – isn’t even making the effort. It’s like trying to seduce someone by going for sympathy. You should never try and stimulate a journalist’s pity. As most people know, the only kind of pity journalists understand is self-pity.