The MediaCoach

Hi John,

Happy GDPR day. You must be as fed up as I am with all the emails either asking you to do something so that companies can stay in touch with you legally after today. Of course, I have taken advice - from one of the best experts in the business - Annabel Kaye (more about her shortly). Accordingly, I'm not asking you to do anything. Nada. Rien. Of course, should you wish to stop receiving this fact-packed missive every week, you can easily unsubscribe using the link at the bottom of this ezine. However, I hope you stay.

Back to business. The Royal Wedding was a treat, I thought. Our chums at Bad Lip reading thought so too, producing a brilliant video. There's been plenty of analysis about the event, including the sermon that ended up double the length allocated, but overall I thought it was the sort of thing that this country does rather well.

Are you "in the moment"? It's something that businesses tend to ignore, preferring to live in the world of projects and detailed plans. However, Gilda Bonanno has helped a lot of companies perform better by teaching their executives how to be more "in the moment" Hear how in the Media Coach Radio Show. There is also a great song from The Dustbowl Revival.
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The MediaMaestro is my good friend Annabel Kaye, who I mentioned with regard to GDPR. She has been doing the rounds of radio and TV studios this week, giving out common-sense advice in a way that people can understand. Far too many "experts" have no idea how to communicate their expertise, and listeners end up none the wiser. Annabel has that rare gift of being able to impart valuable information that is easily understood, and also has an element of fun and humour. If you ever need advice about any aspect of running a business, contact Annabel.

The MediaMug trophy goes to Google. They own YouTube, which is incredibly quick to pick up copyright breaches. Alas, Google is apparently not so good at respecting copyright themselves. They used material from more than half a dozen of Philip Bloom's films to make a provocative presentation about ways it could exploit users' data in the future. Mr Bloom makes a living from licensing his film material, and Google has allegedly used clips without permission or payment. Google has long faced accusations of failing to do enough to respect others' intellectual property - whether it be scanning books or presenting others' photos. Mr Bloom has signalled he intends to chase the matter up in this instance. I wish him every success.

SPEAKING LESSONS FROM THE STONES

This week, I went to see The Rolling Stones in the London Stadium. In my opinion, they've rarely played better and the sixty thousand fans there gave them a rapturous reception. They delivered exactly what we wanted, and the fact that we'd all paid handsomely to be there was completely forgotten, since they treated us to an experience none of us will ever forget. So it started me thinking what it is that has made them the best rock and roll band in the world, with their popularity higher than ever after over half a century in business. What can we learn from Mick, Keith, Ronnie and Charlie? Here's my list of five things they do so well that we can all emulate.

1) Turn Up. It's often said that one of the keys to success is turning up, and it's as true as ever. If you promise to be somewhere, be there. If you don't turn up, you'll never win the business. Mick and the band hit the stage at 8.15, and played for almost two and a half hours. They definitely turned up.
2. Start strong. This is true for first meetings, speeches and really any type of communication or relationship. You need to hold someone's interest right from the start. You may lose their attention, but if you never had it to begin with, it's always lost. The Stones kicked off with "Street Fighting Man", which went down a storm.

3) Give the fans what they want. You need to know your audience, or your customers. It's easy to find out what they want by listening to them, or even by asking them. No-one was disappointed by the 19 hits they played on Tuesday.
4) Practice. No-one reaches virtuoso standard without years of practice. There are no short-cuts. Experienced as The Stones are, they practice every song many times before a tour.

5) Be consistent. Keep doing what you do. If you change your offerings repeatedly, people won't know what you stand for, and more importantly what you can do for them. Before handing over their cash for tickets, fans knew from following The Stones for years exactly what they would get.

DON'T MAKE A SONG AND DANCE OF IT

Sometimes speaking to the media is what you have to do, rather than what you decide to do. Events outside your control may mean that you are expected to make a statement about an external matter. If you find yourself in the spotlight, remember that it is about the story, not about you. If people have been hurt, talk about them. If services have been disrupted, discuss how they might be restored and empathise with people inconvenienced. Your focus should be outward.

Of course, you may have feelings about what has occurred, and it's fine to express them. Alas, some spokespeople turn every interview into a performance, and that's not appropriate. People should remember what you say, not how you said it.

If you're asked to comment on an issue that you're not personally involved in, here are some tips:

COMMUNICATE LIKE A BAND

The music business is tough. Competition is rife, margins are squeezed and there's plenty of talent around. A bit like any business, really. But some bands and artists use social media to build a market. You can too, by copying some of their ideas -

1) Create a community Give your fans somewhere to meet and exchange ideas - a Facebook group, a Twitter list or an Instagram tag. Get involved yourself by commenting, posting pictures, video and audio. Respond to individual messages occasionally. Basically, show that you care.

2) Encourage sharing Once people start talking about you and your brand, they may want to share information, and set up their own communities and networks. Encourage them, but don't feel you have to be involved in everything. Don't be too precious about them sharing your content - as long as they attribute it to you, it's all good marketing.

3) Offer special treats Offering prizes and incentives is a great way to build a dedicated following. You might offer a prize to the thousandth like on your Facebook page, or a giveaway of your products to 25 followers. You might even offer a "meet and greet" to one or two fans.

In short, watch how bands create a market, and copy the successful ones.

My thanks to Jackie Barrie for posting a video on Facebook about outtakes from the Muppets. It prompted me to look for some more...

You know who to call.

The information in this ezine may be freely re-used in any online or offline publication, provided it is accompanied by the following credit line - "This information was written by Alan Stevens, and originally appeared in "The MediaCoach", his free weekly ezine, available at www.mediacoach.co.uk."