I wish I had a dollar for every client or potential client who said to me over the years “we need some public relations for our business”but couldn’t clearly articulate what they wanted to communicate and to whom.

Before a business invests in implementing a communications strategy, it needs to clarify what its messages are, to whom the messages aretargeted and what outcomes it hopes they achieve.

How? Begin with a message audit. This should answer three questions:

1.What are you current messages?

2.Are they consistent across all platforms?

3.Do they resonate with your target audience

While it may be helpful to engage a third party to conduct the audit, you can do a simplified version on your own. Here are some tips to help you:

·Review all your existing materials to determine what messages you are delivering now – website, marketing materials, RFP responses, intranet and employee communications, social media sites, etc. In other words, what are you saying now?

·Talk with senior management to see what messages they think the organization is delivering.

·Talk to key constituents to find out what messages they are receiving. This may include employees, customers (existing and potential), vendors and investors.

Then, analyze all of what you find, see where there are conflicts, where clarification is needed and what is missing. The result should be an effective message platform.

Need a third party to assist you in a message audit? If so,let’s talk. Contact Katcher Strategic Communications today.

We all make mistakes. Especially in business. The key to overcoming them is often as simple as saying I’m sorry - and then backing up the apology with action.

Sometimes that can be complicated and costly. Take Volkswagen.They have issued sincere apologies and promises to fix things – a critical first step. But to date, we haven’t seen much evidence of a concrete plan to mitigate their mistakes. And it is affecting their reputation and relationships with both customers and dealers.

On the other hand, sometimes an apology can be simple and cost nothing and keep customers happy . Let me give you an example of how not showing concern created bad-will for a company.

Recently, after I wrapped up a big project that kept me with my nose to the grindstone all summer, my husband and I escaped to Grayton Beach in Florida for a long, relaxing weekend. We contacted Rivard Rentals of South Walton, where we have rented many times. We rented a great one bedroom condo right across the street from The Red Bar, one of our favorites, with a great view of the gulf. It was lovely.

At the end of our stay, I was packing up some things on the kitchen table which was in front of the deck window. It was raining and a wind came in from the gulf and blew the window off its track. It hit me on the top of my head. I was stunned and in pain.

While I sat on the couch with an ice pack on my head, my husband called Rivard. He explained to them what happened and was surprised that the person in the office never asked if I was OK or apologized. She just said they would send someone later that day.

He asked to speak to a supervisor. Again, she never inquired about me – but rather wanted to know exactly which window it was. The maintenance man arrived before we left and quickly fixed it. And, as you may have guessed - he also didn’t ask if I was ok.

So, although we have had a good track record with this company over the many years we have visited beaches along 30A, when we left there that day we had a sour taste in our mouths and will think twice about renting from them again.

A simple, sincere, apology from the folks at the Rivard office would have been changed that.

They Did What?!

I will be talking about crisis communications twice this month at chapter meetings of the South East Business Forum (SEBF), a senior level, professional service provider networking organization. If you would like to attend either free session as my guest, please email Stew Ross and tell him Aileen Katcher invited you and let him know which session you want to attend. stew.ross@southeastbusinessforums.com

If your company hasn’t already had a “they did what?!!” moment, it will. And there is a 50% chance it will be caused by management and 30% chance an employee will cause it. Whatever the cause, crisis readiness is a bottom line issue. Having a plan and knowing how to use it can mean the difference between getting through it with minimal damage or a costly loss due to disruption of your business.

Find out why and how your business can prepare.

• SEBF TECHNOLOGY CHAPTER. Nov. 10, 7:00 – 9:00 AM at TREVECCA NAZARENE UNIVERSITY

• SEBF HEALTHCARE RESOURCES CHAPTER. Nov. 18, 7:00 – 9:00 AM at LIPSCOMB UNIVERSITY

Hope to see you at one of these meetings.

In 1927, J. Willard Marriott opened a nine-stool root beer stand in Washington, DC that grew into the HotShoppes Restaurant chain and evolved into today's Marriott International. A fact not widely known, unless like me, yougrew up in DC and hung out at Hot Shoppes after school eating MightyMo’s and milkshakes. So, I confess to being a home grown fan of Marriott, and a long time Marriott Rewards member.

Why bring this up? Because,last week I became an even bigger fan of Marriott after staying in one of theirCourtyard in West Palm Beach. Within seconds of checking in I discovered that Marriott Courtyard is the official hotel sponsor of the 50th SuperBowl this season.

How? read more

Back in the Stone Age and the hospital I worked in got its first networked computer system, I was amazed that I could send a 60 character message to Earl two buildings away using an early predecessor to instant messaging. It was sent as white letters on a blue background across the bottom of the screen. Well, we have come a long way baby!

Today, we have many business communications options (texting, direct messages, social media), but like it or not, email is one of the central forms of communication in the business world. And while it makes communication easier it can also create communications problems, and sometimes nightmares. Here are foour quick tips on how to make email work better for you.

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During my decades working on crisis planning and communications, I have heard many excuses why a company does not have, or need, a crisis plan. The bottom line is, developing a plan is not costly or time consuming and can mean the difference between success or failure for an organization when a crisis hits.

Here are the three myths I often hear from potential clients to rationalize why their organization doesn’t need a crisis plan.

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I ran into a friend at an event recently and he asked me if I was helping a lot of people with crisis these days. My response was “Yes, but it would be better for them if they let me help them plan to anticipate crisis before they happen.”

A crisis is a situation that has the potential to disrupt an organization’s operations, reputation and finances. The key word is potential.

I have a health care client that I call my poster child. I helped them write a plan, train their team and empowered them to call a meeting if any one of them anticipate a potential crisis. In the past 18 months, they have called a crisis team meeting three times. In each case, a disruption was avoided by the team’s quick response to the identified situations.

Crisis communications is not only being able to respond quickly and effectively to a crisis, but being able to identify a potential crisis before it happens, and if possibly head it off at the pass. How do you do that?

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When Nashville business people think about crises that might affect their businesses, sudden disasters like the recent ice storm, the 2010 floods and a history of tornadoes are often top of mind. But in, fact, your business is much more likely to have a crisis caused by management or an employee.

What constitutes a crisis? It is a situation with the potential to cause a significant business disruption. Crisis readiness is a bottom-line issue – just ask any company that has faced one and lost revenues, customers or their reputation as a result

So, why have a crisis communications plan? It is a small investment with a large ROI potential.

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A Message for Thought Leaders

Recently, while working with a client’s marketing team to develop a public relations and social media plan for 2015, one of the team’s insistence on establishing the company as a thought leader for its industry, reminded me of a blog post I wrote three years ago about the buzz about thought leadership.

In 2012. I found it to be jargon or a buzz word. In fact, at the time, Wikipedia defined “thought leader” as business jargon or a buzzword for an entity that isrecognized for having innovative ideas. So I checked Wikipedia today and found they have revised their definition, no longer referring to jargon or buzz word.

And, of course, we know, Wikipedia is always right.

When I “googled” Thought Leadership three years ago, I got 12.5 million hits. Today, I got 30.8 million hits. Several sites offer to give you a test to seeif you are a thought leader (and if you flunk it, promise to tell you how to get there.)

In a release I found when first writing this blog, Gartner coined the phrase Thought Leadership Marketing (TLM) and said while it often accounts “for as much as 20 percent of marketing expenditure — an organized discipline of TLM is only now emerging, allowing marketers to use this as a manageable tool to drive business.” In a few years time since that release, I think we can agree that it has more than emerged.

But does that mean it is an effective strategy for your business?

My thoughts on thought leadership? I said this in the blog I wrote in 2012 and still feel the same: thought leadership is indeed jargon. Finding ways for organizations to be recognized for their ideas is at the crux of what effective public relations is and always has been.

One website for a consulting firm that “specializes in TLM” promised clients a TLM program that will capture the attention of customers online and offline using opinion articles and columns in leading business publications, blogs on leading websites, articles for key journals, whitepapers,micro sites and websites.

Excuse me, but isn’t that what good public relations professionals do for their companies and clients every day (along with other strategies and tactics)? What about the message? Without a clear, concise message, we can’t lead any thoughts.

So my advice to those thought leader wannabees out there? Start with a good strong message and a good public relations plan to deliver that message across a variety of platforms. And use that to build relationships that lead to measurable success.

Next on my agenda – is content marketing a buzzword or a sound strategic direction (or both)?

They Did What?!! True Confessions of a Crisis Manager

One quiet, summer afternoon, our dialysis company client called and said “Go pack a bag and meet our medical director at the Tune Airport to fly to Youngstown, Ohio where 21 people got ill and were rushed to the hospital during a dialysis session.”

When I first started working with this client, I stressed how important it was to have a crisis communications plan...

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Imagine stopping by the bank to make a quick deposit during your lunch hour. A robber comes in brandishing a gun, robs the bank, shoots you, another customer and a teller and takes off with the cash. The next thing you know, you are in an ambulance on the way to the emergency room.

Horrifying to say the least... read more

As a young pr person in the 80’s, I worked for Holder Kennedy Public Relations, then the preeminent PR firm in the region. Many of our clients were business interests of entrepreneur Jack Massey (HCA and Kentucky Fried Chicken to name a few). He also owned a large Wendy’s franchise.

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That included a variety situations that were difficult to anticipate (like Johnny Cash and Waylon Jennings both having open heart surgery the same week). We could, however, plan for impending baby deliveries.

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Bombs and explosions have played a role in a number of crises I helped manage in my career. Luckily, only two were real explosions (other than the media type).

Like this one, the others were benign. In the early 90’s, while marketing director for an urban hospital, I got a call from our assistant chief of security (let’s call him Barney Fife) about a suspicious package addressed to the CEO that was discovered in the gift shop. Fearing it might be a bomb, he took the package,put it in a small waste basket and positioned it outside of a small building that housed offices – including mine – away from patients. I guess PR people are more expendable than doctors or patients.

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Last week, one of my crisis clients made me so proud, I got verklempt. Last year we created a crisis plan for the company and all senior management went through training. One of the key take-aways was if you think a crisis may be smoldering, convene the crisis management team and discuss it.

A situation in the news called attention to this client’s industry. It was being exacerbated by inaccurate media reports. The COO called me one evening before I had a chance to call him and said “we want to convene the CMT first thing in the morning. Can you be here?”

We spent an hour or so talking about the situation and how it related to them. We weighed the pros and cons of various strategies and decided to err on the side of caution and develop messaging to provide to the physicians and associates at all of their locations to address the situation if patients raised questions.

It was all taken care of in a matter of hours. So far, no problems have surfaced. And, I was so proud that the client saw the benefit in being proactive. It’s better to be safe than sorry.

This post is my first “true confession” about specific crises with which I have firsthand experience.

As the marketing director for a large urban hospital, I saw crises on a regular basis...

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I have specialized in health care public relations and marketing for decades. I worked at two large urban hospitals and have given communications counsel to dozens of health care companies, provider groups and related companies.

Luckily, I have not had many reasons to be a consumer of inpatient hospital services. Until the past few years when sick, aging parents and loved ones needed my support.

Here are my observations after spending time at six different hospitals with four elderly loved ones in the past three years (yes,these issues predate ObamaCare).

1.Registered nurses are extremely overworked. LPNs are practically non-existent in the hospital setting and there are few aids or techs. Elderly patients, especially those with dementia or physical limitations, need someone (a family member or private duty aid) to be there to ensure personal needs are met and to advocate for them around the clock.

One RN confided that if she has to choose between providing a critical health care treatment and changing wet bed linens,the patient with the wet linens understandably will have to wait.

2.Hospitalists sound great in theory, but aren't always great in practice (and apparently don’t have cell phones). When my very aware, active (for his age), 100 year old dad was taken by ambulance to a nearby hospital where his physician didn’t have privileges, he was admitted and treated entirely by hospitalists. After a couple of days in the CCU, he developed ICU psychosis, but the hospitalists assumed he was just a senile old man.

I flew to Florida to be at his side and try to convince them that the week before he had been paying his own bills. A different doctor saw him each day and there was no consistency. I could not call them to get answers (don’t they have cell phones?) and had to camp out in the ICU and wait for them to arrive on rounds. When I asked a doctor if we could arrange a conference call with my brother who had health care power of attorney, he told me he had lots of other patients and was too busy.

When my 91 year old mom was hospitalized this summer, she was admitted by her primary care doc for 30 years. However, in the midst of her eight day stay, his office called to inform me that he was retiring in three weeks and had turned the care over to the hospitalists. One day, two nurses on the unit told me the hospitalist wanted to talk to me – and were surprised that she had not called me.

I asked if I could call her and was told no (again - no cell phone?) It took two days until I finally was able to speak with her and then she was very patronizing and short with me.

3.Emergency rooms are giant triage/holding areas. My father-in-law was moved back and forth from skilled nursing to the hospital a few times during his last few months. Each time, he was admitted through the ER and in two separate cases had to spend one or two nights there until they had a room they could transfer him to. It was noisy and uncomfortable. Not very conducive to healing.

I wish I had an answer to resolve all of these issues or at least someone or something to blame. But I am afraid as my generation ages, the situation will get worse. Of course getting hospitalists cell phones might help.

You can get a logo, web design, video production,testimonials, business advice, legal advice, have someone friend you on Facebook or post 50 comments on your blog among hundreds of other services – each for $5 on Fivvr from people around the world.

There is a man in Romania who will make your wish come true for $5. He uses “ancient secret techniques” and he does not accept “bad wishes.” He has a 4.9 out of 5 star rating and more than 900 wish fulfilled customers. That comes to $4790 or 15,566.45 Romanian leu. So, I guess it's working for him.

Presumably, many of the offers are “loss leaders” to get a first order and then the cost goes up. But what if, like the client mentioned above, you don’t like what you get?

I started my first business to do professional quality work for a fair fee for businesses that can benefit from my expertise, experience and ability to provide an outside view of how best to achieve their goals. Would I benefit by offering a marketing plan for $5 or a crisis response for $5? I think I’ll stick to my original model. After all, you get what you pay for.

I recommend sticking with professionals that you know and trust if you want professional quality work, just as I have hired an attorney and accountant that I know and trust.

But I did suggest that my friend go on Fivvr and pay someone $5 to make a prank phone call to her client, just for grins.

Driving to and from meetings this week, I noticed a number of bicyclists out enjoying the beautiful spring weather, braving the Nashville roads. A few had on backpacks and looked like they might be headed to work, a few perhaps exercising. But one thing they all had in common – not aone of them had on a helmet.

I thought to myself – they are an accident waiting to happen. While Nashville is trying to bea better bike friendly city, we still have a long way to go. If a car doesn't knock them over, they might encounter a pot hole or other unanticipated obstruction that results in a fall. For less than $50, a helmet could save their life, and certainly mitigate potential medical expenses and long term side effects from a head injury. Of course, they think they are invincible and don't need protection.

Google “that is awesome” and you get nearly 2.5 billion hits. In fact, the theme song from the recently released LEGO movie is “Everything Is Awesome.” I contend that perhaps awesome is a just a bit overused.

Not too many years ago, everything was cool. And before that, it was far out and groovy (which also had its own song “Reach Out in the Darkness”).

So, I pose the question – what will be the new awesome? I went back to Merriam Webster, this time in the Thesaurus section for synonyms. Among their choices were boffo and bonny. I hope we can do better than that.

Is everything really awesome? If you agree with me that awesome is overused and needs to be retired, let me know what you think will emerge as the next cool thing. Either leave your comment below, or on the social media platform where you are reading this. Or post on twitter with #thenewawesome.

I know we will come up with something truly beyond awesome.

My first public relations firm job in Nashville was as assistant to Hal Kennedy, the head of what was then the region’s largest PR firm. I followed him around to all his meetings, selling business and serving clients. I learned many things from him including what to do and what not to do to be successful.

The running joke was that no matter what it was that the client needed, Hal’s response was always, "that's one of the things we do best." Then, when we got in his car after the meeting, he would turn to me and say, "OK Katcher, figure it out" and I would work on how to achieve what he had just promised (which trust me, wasn’t always easy).

Needless to say, I learned a lot from that experience -particularly what the things I do best are and what are not. Now, years later, it helps me keep my business focused on the things I do best - health care marketing and public relations strategy and planning that deliver cost effective results and crisis communications planning and management.

As a result, if a client comes to me with other needs, I help them figure out how to achieve them and find the resources they need to do so –but I am honest about what I do best and what I don’t. It also helps me keep my clients focused on what they do best and to target their communications and marketing efforts to support that.

So, are you focused on your strengths?

What are the things you do best?

I hope not.

Back in the olden days, before Al Gore invented the Internet, before cell phones were glued to everyone’s thumbs, before every computer or tablet had Skype or Facetime – business people had to communicate face-to-face with colleagues, clients, reporters, referral sources etc.

As I watch my 20-something son and his friends constantly texting and snapchatting, I am concerned that the art of face-to-face communications may be lost in today’s younger workforce.

Recently I was struck by this Facebook post from a successful, local PR executive, a very bright, talented young woman who is a peer of my son’s:

“Want a good way to find out how someone (a colleague, prospective client, vendor)respects your time? When they ask for a face to face meeting you may add a practice to your business that includes a phone or Skype call initially. If they insist on a face to face meeting they may not quite understand the valu eof time. Over the phone meetings allow you to pre-qualify the new opportunity as well as have a more intentional and efficient conversation when you meet.”

It reminded me of lessons I learned from two of my early PR mentors. Jean Moore, my boss at my first hospital PR job in Alabama, taught me that you don’t really know someone until you break bread with them. Food is a universal connector.

My first PR agency boss, Hal Kennedy, taught me to return every phone call. He said you never know when it might be a potential client or lead to a potential client. And, if they want to meet, do it. Even sales people may end up being referral sources. Of course,Hal always met with them over martinis, but that’s another story.

Yes, it is important that business associates respect your time and not all meetings are productive. Knowing what the agenda is will indeed help you prepare.

When I want to meet with someone, even if I request it via technology (email, social media or text) I include a brief mention of why (i.e. “want to catch up and tell you about the new direction my career has taken;” “can I introduce you to a former colleague who is interested in learning more about your industry?” “I read about your promotion and would love to buy you lunch to celebrate”)

While I agree it is helpful to ge ta sense for why someone wants your time in advance, I fear that in today’s fast-paced, techno centric, 24/7 world, we are forgetting the importance of face-to-face contact, even if it’s just to “break bread.” Every meeting can be valuable if you make it so.

When is the last time you purposely reached out to someone for a face-to-face meeting?

The Nashville Business Journal recently published a guest column by Aileen Katcher:

2014: The Year of the Message

I predict that 2014 is the year of the message.

Marshall McLuhan coined the term "the medium is the message" in 1964. I contend that in today's world, the message is the medium.

In 2013, we saw the proliferation of "content marketing." According to theContent Marketing Institute (yes, that is a real thing), the definition of content marketing is "a marketing technique of creating and distributing relevant and valuable content to attract, acquire and engage a clearly defined and understood target audience – with the objective of driving profitable customer action.

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Accusations of wrongful death or mistreatment of a patient, government and/or regulatory investigations, alleged malfeasance or cries of fraud are just a few of the things that could explode and disrupt their business operation in a matter of hours (whether they are true or not). Look at the meningitis outbreak, Medicare fraud investigations and inappropriate billing practices by senior executives that have been in the news lately.

Actually, when Nashvillians think about crises that might affect their businesses, sudden disasters such as floods and tornadoes are often top of mind.

However, according to the Institute for Crisis Management,less than a third of business crises are caused by sudden events like natural disasters or violence in the workplace. The other two-thirds are the result of smoldering crises, those that are potentially identifiable, preventable or manageable. And nearly half of all business crises are triggered by management,while a third are caused by employees.

Crisis readiness is a bottom-line issue — just ask any company executive who has faced one and lost revenues, customers or their reputation as a result. If your organization hasn't encountered one yet, just give it time.

Consider current cultural and environmental factors — the wildfire nature of the Internet, a growing litigious mentality — and it is easy to understand how smoldering problems can quickly flame to "four-alarm" status.

They don't have to. But avoiding or minimizing a crisis takes vigilance and preparedness..

A crisis communications plan needn't be long. It provides a framework to use when a crisis arises. It can mean the difference between getting through it with minimal damage and making matters worse with costly missteps.

The Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce has made it easy for you. Its Business Response Team has put together an online disaster planning resource that includes a template for crisis communications: You can find it at www.nashvillechamber.com/disasterplanning. It's a great jumping-off point. Download it and start customizing it today.

And if you need help creating a customized plan and training for your crisis management team, or a review of your existing plan, give Katcher Strategic Communications a call today.

When your crisis comes, it will pay to be ready.

But when he showed me this concept for "Katcher in their Eye," I cracked up. What a great, memorable play on words that explained what I do. “Eye catching” literally means seizing or attracting attention. Not just in a graphic context, but throughout your communications and marketing. What client doesn’t want to be seen by its target audience?

That’s exactly what I do for my clients: Help them develop or fine-tune their messages to ensure they are clear, concise, and relevant to their stakeholders. Then, make sure they are strategically and effectively delivering those messages to achieve their goals.

And, when they could or do face a situation that puts them in the public eye —in a way that might disrupt business or blemish their community reputation— my three decades of experience managing crises will help them find the eye in the storm.

Catcher in the Rye dealt with complex aspects of the human experience: identity, belonging, connection. Many scholars assert that by the novel’s end, its protagonist Holden Caufield has matured.

Well, when you’ve been communicating on behalf of complex organizational dynamics and issues for as long as I have, some might say that lends itself to a “mature” perspective on the same areas that were [in a literary sense, obviously] important to Salinger: brand identity, partner and vendor relationships, workforce talent retention, community reputation…

So, I invite you to subscribe to Katcher in Their Eye, and enjoy my musings on business, communications, marketing, and life in general.