In the PR business, you can never gather too much information. Now, choosing what to disseminate–and when, and to whom–those are areas where you want to be more selective.
But out of quantity flows quality.
Case in point: on Monday, I spent three hours with Scott McAdam, president of McAdam Landscaping
I took still photos and shot video at about 20 locations, throughout River Forest and Oak Park, where his company has done its stellar work. It’s all part of a longer-term plan to develop more–and more compelling–ways to communicate his company’s expertise and experience.
Along the way, we discussed a wide range of topics and Scott mentioned that the cost of doing business has grown markedly this year, and a significant reason for that has been the rising cost of fuel. I tucked the information away for potential media outreach.
Then, this afternoon, I heard from Geoff Williams, a top business writer based in Cincinnati, “asking if you represent any companies (like the landscaping client you have) that involve a lot of transportation – like, a company that has cars, buses or trucks or makes deliveries. For a gas article.”
The article is for a publication with a nationwide subscription of 175,000.
Of course, the dots don’t always connect so neatly–or nearly so quickly. But gather as many dots–or pieces of information about your client, its industry, or even facts that may not seem very relevant at the moment–and you are in a stronger position to do more for your client.
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Matt,
You are a Connector (reference to Malcolm Gladwell’s book, The Tipping Point)!