The art of a good PR story is knowing how to spin it with Disney moments
Snow White & The 7 Dwarfs Before the Disney PR Spin! Ho White.
What Would Snow White Look Like Without Her Disney Moments? She was a single girl, living with 6 miners and a Doctor! I’m just saying, without a song and a tap dance the story loses its PG rating and turns into bad Skinamax late night TV. And, no, I am not proud to have had to tart up a fairy tale to teach public relations strategy. Not proud at all…
Bill Gates was a college drop out that started a world-class multi-billion-dollar company. Jewel lived in a van down by a river and hung out with street gangs before she made it big yodeling. Kurt Cobain camped under a bridge for a while before fronting the most famous grunge band ever. Mrs. Fields was a desperate housewife before she baked a batch of cookies that changed the world and set the stage for more housewives like Martha Stewart to turn baking into a billion dollar business. And one of the greatest single mother stories of all time, JK Rowling was living in poverty on government assistance until she wrote Harry Potter! Great stories, right? Makes you feel like you too can spin hay into gold. But here’s the kicker, each and every one of these stories is PR spin – a Disneyfied version of the truth.
Let’s take Disney out of the details:
- Bill Gates’ parents were wealthy and sent him to private schools, the school he dropped out of was Harvard and the business he started was initially funded by his money bags parents.
- Jewel CHOSE to live in her van because her parents were hippies that CHOSE to live off the land in Alaska and she actually graduated from the $25K/year Interlochen Arts Academy in 1992 so somewhere along the line, her family wasn’t exactly as impoverished as she claims! (It’s more an Into the Wild story than a “I’m poor” story when you hear the details). Besides, don’t all rock stars have to live in a car or van to call themselves rock stars? Seriously, there’s even a site dedicated to this phenomenon BetterThanTheVan.com.
- Mrs. Fields’ husband was millionaire investment banker, Randy Fields, who bankrolled her and got all his millionaire friends to help market the company. (FYI- this chick might be crazy, she claims to have invented the cookie.)
- JK Rowling actually planned to quit her teaching job and go on welfare so she could write her book. Hell, she basically made welfare part of her business plan.
Now, I’m not saying these people didn’t work hard to get where they are, I’m just saying that the spin on their stories is world class and we can all learn something from each of them. If you want to be a legend, get your PR story right! Strategize it, stick to the formula and start telling it.
Popularity: 60% [?]
I deal with a lot of baby bands. Every once in a while I come across one that makes me want to share. The Enemy Lovers is exactly that sort of band. Take a listen for yourself and you will be reminded of U2, Black Crows and Kings of Leon with a hint of Dave Mathews. The lyrics are moving and deep and driven from the rich history of two brothers, Tim and Steven Scroggs. Sons of a southern preacher, each bring a depth of soul and musical talent to the band that you generally hear from more seasoned artists. Musically impressive in that Radiohead kind of way but catchy enough to want to hum along to. I love the first song, Coming Down – it has a cow bell. Come on, you can never have enough cow bell!
What’s that saying, “if you fail to plan, you plan to fail?” Well, just like any marketing strategy, social media needs planning. You cannot just jump on Twitter or Facebook and expect to make sales or generate a lead database without some planning. The fact is, most small businesses fail at Facebook and Twitter because they fail to plan strategies that convert followers and fans to leads and customers. However, when implemented properly, a customized 
Be aware that social media is not some silver bullet that will save your business. It is one element of a successful online marketing plan and realistically accounts for 8% of all online leads according to a recent 
Some people hear the word “bitch” and get offended, I on the other hand, wear that badge proudly. Why? Because, just like there are good witches and bad witches, there are good bitches and bad bitches. Are you a good bitch or a bad bitch? I want to set the record straight, so there is no misunderstanding. I am a bitch. But, I’m, a good bitch, I swear. Basically, that means that if I have an opinion, I’ll defend it, if I disagree with something, I’ll tell you. You won’t see me patting anyone’s feeling on the head in a comment if they disagree with me. You won’t see me laying a dissenter down on the couch to discuss how the word “spaz” made them feel or massaging my words so they don’t cut so deep. No, “I are who I am,” like Popeye would say. I have attitude, I hold to my beliefs and I won’t kowtow to social media etiquette. I’ll tell you the way it is whether you like it or not. But, on the flip side, I am fiercely loyal, will fight for others, and basically just go to the mats for my real friends And that, my little Pretties, is what makes me a Good Bitch.
I read an article over at Harvard Business Publishing that made me think about the dynamics of men and women in the work place and what works and what does not work. The post is actually about trans-gender employees in the workplace but touches on how some see a marked difference in how they were treated as a male as opposed to how they treated as a female. While I cannot speak to the transgenders, being 100% female factory direct, I can speak to the treatment of women in the office.
