Who’s keeping an ‘Eye’ on you?

I’m being interviewed by Private Eye magazine today which got me thinking…

Blind normality is a road to nowhere in a world of oversupply. So if you haven’t got a winning reputation for something then you need to get yourself one. If you already have one, then you need to build on it before you get forgotten about.

Press coverage is an important part of the reputation building process. Journalists on heavy-weight national publications are without doubt key opinion formers.

If you operate in an area that’s considered by some to be contentious, like Awards Intelligence does when it comes to helping people with Queen’s honours nominations and House of Lords applications, building a winning reputation through the media can have its ups and downs.

I’ve had my fair share of whippings in the press – usually from those saying that its unfair that people with money get an unfair advantage by using us (as do people who can afford to use a driving instructor but they don’t seem to get any grief). I’ve learnt that it comes with the territory when you dare to do something different, something that no one else does and when it turns out that you are very good at it (to the annoyance of some).

I’ve developed a thick skin. To be honest, that’s partly due to the fact that I know even when we get a pasting, it raises awareness about what we do and gets the phones ringing with new business enquiries from great people! That’s because most people with a cat in hells chance of a Queen’s honour or peerage are pretty smart, see through the spin and can take a balanced view. I also know that we usually get a great piece of coverage on the BBC or Sky, for example, to balance out the public floggings so I’m pragmatic about it all.

The point here is that the challenges I face in trying to build my reputation and that of my business haven’t put me off leveraging the media. Don’t let the fear of failure put you off either. Even if you do cock it up or the journalist twists what you say or puts a negative spin on it, lots of people will see through that and get where you are coming from.

I know I keep quoting Oscar Wilde, but I can’t resist it this time: “There’s only one thing worse than being talked about and that’s not being talked about”.

I’ll let you know how it goes with Private Eye…if I get out alive!