Repeat after me: There is no such thing as a secret. Ask Fark. As usual, there is a great post/comment combo over at Many-to-Many about the complete disregard for honesty portrayed by Fark as they tried to cover up that they were taking money for editorial placements.
There is no such thing as a secret. The news always comes out. Command/control PR is dead. Rinse. Repeat.
In the same post, Clay Shirky deplores the pay-per-clip PR practice:
I really couldn’t believe it — here was a PR person writing to ask me to do a story on his company (which I have never done in ten years of writing about the net), and his email address announced that his compensation was directly tied to the number of clips he could get run on behalf of his client [name@payperclippr.com]. The unstable stance of asking a favor while broadcasting contempt left me a little disoriented.
Folks, pay-per-clip is a BAD idea. It raises it head among potential clients from time to time. Don't do it. It compromises any integrity you might have, and really backfires amongst press.
I know there are problems with measuring the value of PR, but this is not the solution. Stop the madness.
I'm confused. PR firms pitch journalists all the time. This co. may be using a "come on" as its name, but at least they're being honest. How many PR firms take a client's money and don't even get coverage? I'd rather hire a firm that I can pay based on results and not possibilities.I don't think the PR firm was broadcasting its contempt at all. Seems to me they respected you enough as a writer to call and pitch you. Just my 2 cents.
Posted by: Joan | May 05, 2005 at 01:53 AM
I think the payperclip model is fantastic. I have paid tens of thousands to PR firms for NOTHING. I found Payperclip and have had unbelievably great results. I only pay for what I get and if I don't like the resulting story, I don't pay at all. It's the best PR firm in the world.
Posted by: Sheldon Kay | November 07, 2008 at 02:35 AM