Interview by Geoff Livingston

Near-fame comes to Common Sense PR!

Geoff Livingston interviewed me for his blog The Buzz Bin. Check out the interview. I regularly bump into Geoff online on Facebook, Pownce, Twitter, MyRagan.com, and other locales. We sometimes agree, sometimes disagree, and always enjoy the exchange.

Here’s a snippet from the interview:

BB: "Common sense is often uncommon. How does this paradox apply to PR?"

EE: "Most corporate cultures require a certain amount of buy-in to the team mentality. Naysayers can be seen to be holding things back with their negative attitude.

"It’s important for the communications person in the room to apply some healthy skepticism to whatever flavor of the week has the attention of the management group, or the board. You have to be willing to challenge assumptions, or you’re not doing your job. The trick is to not be perceived as the Eeyore of your organization, just because you want to know why people who don’t read books would want a bookmark with your company slogan on it.

"Common sense is all about revisiting the question, “What outcome do we want to achieve?”, and seeing if you can reasonably arrive at that outcome by following a particular course of action. It’s surprising how far projects can get before they are asked to answer that question.

"Common sense also dictates that you not ignore unexpected positive outcomes. If your brand of beverage becomes the hot new item among 14-year-olds, you don’t ignore that because you were targeting working mothers."

I actually sound like I know what I’m talking about. Thanks for the chance to expound on public relations and blogging, Geoff!

Tags: business, blogging, interview, eric eggertson, geoff livingston, public relations, communications, buzz