Industry Insights: The Importance Of Building And Maintaining Mutual Communication And Respect In Media Relationships

Happy Saturday!

I wasn't sure what I was going to write about today, and then I was inspired by a recent experience I had at my local nail salon.

I have a standing Saturday morning at 9:30 am appointment every four weeks (I use dip powder on my nails so that they can be as low maintenance as possible). That particular morning, I arrived a few minutes before 9:30, and they had me sit and wait -- it was close to 11 by the time they actually took me.

Now, I must preface this conversation by saying that this seldom happens at this salon, and I continue to love them because they are affordable, do an excellent job, and (most importantly) - my nails last a good 4 weeks every time I go.

These are all very important factors -- however, so is maintaining and respecting a relationship.

In this case, by making me (someone with an appointment and a long standing relationship with them) wait, and in the meantime, taking a bunch of walk ins off the street...it made me feel like our relationship wasn't to them what it was to me.

Now, OBVIOUSLY this a highly dramatic way of getting into what I want to chat about today: The importance of maintaining our media relationships  -- respecting them, honoring them, and nurturing them.

This is why I do my Zoom events for subscribers, and it's why I take the time to make this space a casual and friendly one above all other things. People first, everything else comes next.

But in a media (and PR, if we're being honest) landscape where things are constantly changing -- where people are moving around, changing their beats, getting new gigs, and leaving old ones...how does everyone keep up? And, why is it so important that we all do?

Keeping up with the people we're working with -- on both the PR and media side of the aisle -- is essential to us all doing our jobs, but also, just being kinder, more considerate people.  We've chatted in previous newsletters about why that's why it's so important to edit and update your contact list and write targeted pitches. But there's more we can do.