There’s a great story my friend and colleague Ellen tells me. A supercomputer breaks. They hire an expert. He draws an ‘x’ on the supercomputer. He gets out a hammer and hits the computer. The supercomputer works. He sends an invoice for $10,001. They dispute it. He says: “I charged you a dollar for using the hammer. I charged you $10,000 for knowing where to draw the ‘x’.”
I love the sound of that guy!
Knowing where to draw the ‘x’, in my work, is what I describe as “strategic communications insight.” It’s the special sauce one learns over years in the business. I spent a decade in newsrooms ignoring bad press releases. I’ve spent another working in and outside causes learning what works and what doesn’t. If you want to engage a broader audience in your work, I’m keen to hear from you. Especially if you’ve tried it yourself, first, and are coming up against some hurdles.
Agencies sometimes gin up their staff’s credentials in the “special sauce” stakes. But freelancers like me can’t get away with it. There’s nowhere for me to hide. I better know what I’m talking about, or my clients will go elsewhere.
The image in the header is from a design office in Europe. It gets to a similar point, albeit in a cheeky way. Designers suffer more than many of us from the client’s illusions that they can do the job themselves. If a client wants to do all the work, the designer ends up charging more. The same is true, though, for what I do for a living. The best clients tell an expert, “I trust you.”
But it might surprise you to hear something. Often the clients with the deepest pockets will hire strategic communications experts for $$$$. Then they’ll pay them over the odds to ignore their advice. It’s one of the reasons I most enjoy working with grassroots nonprofits. People are often overwhelmed and recognize that they could use a hand. On that basis they’re prepared to say, “we’re out of our depth, here, can you help?”
They don’t have such deep pockets. But the relationships tend to be more mutually satisfying, and they’re more rewarding for both sides. The higher you go up the food chain, in my experience, the less often you’ll hear that kind of humility. The Greek philosopher Socrates used to say “the wisest person knows they know nothing.” And it takes most of us years to get to the point where we can ask the obvious question.
What if you’ve tried a few public relations and communications tactics and they’re not working, and you’re determined to continue on your own? Well. The answer is that you’ve tried a few tactics. But the chances are, you’ve not done the deeper work to articulate what your goals are. Who are your key audiences? And what do they need to hear to move your work towards your goals? Such communications strategies are a lot like Santa Claus. We all talk about them. But many fewer of us can actually point to one that exists. With the holidays looming I encourage people to unplug if possible. And see what comes up. If you’ve realized it might be time to hit that supercomputer with a hammer, then feel free to drop me a line in January.
Take it easy this week. I hope you had a good Thanksgiving and that you haven’t returned to too many demands without an overarching strategy attached.
