Submitted by Sheldon Rampton on
Some public relations people are in an uproar after Wired magazine editor Chris Anderson published online the email addresses of 329 PR people who have sent him unsolicited email messages. "I've had it," he wrote on his blog. "I get more than 300 e-mails a day and my problem isn't spam. ... it's P.R. people." Angry flacks responded that Anderson's behavior was "childish" and "mean-spirited." Anderson says he was "particularly amused when PR people attempted to organize a class-action lawsuit against me--in my own comments! That's in addition to publishing my home address and hacking my Wikipedia entry." Even the New York Times covered the brouhaha and interviewed CMD's own Sheldon Rampton, who pointed out that the conflict reflects a "love-hate relationship" between journalists and PR people. "We are a watchdog organization whose sole purpose is to critique objectionable P.R. practices, and even we get spammed by P.R. people," Rampton added.
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Mutternich replied on Permalink
I couldn't help noticing
how many of Anderson's commenters talked about building relationships as the basis for good PR. I did a CTRL+F on "relationship" and found it used 15 times, almost always in the context of "relationship-building," "fostering good relationships" and the like.
Seems to me, then, you have the foundation for an elite and prestigious (and lucrative) subspecialty within the PR industry, "relationship PR," pitching to real decision-makers only on a person-to-person basis within well-nurtured and established relationships.
Of course, you'll need a well-targeted mailing list to get started. It just so happens....