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To: Scott Kleinhans who wrote (16331)	5/6/1999 10:06:00 PM
From: RockyBalboa	Respond to of 27722

Which of those applies to..... Secrets of Spin sidebar: Are You a PR Firm's Worst Nightmare? Just as a startup company's founders should be on the watch for signs that indicate potential problems with a public relations firm, the better spin doctors are on the watch for problem clients. Upside has compiled a list of danger signs that red-flag clients who should be politely rejected or, if taken on, will require serious damage control. "We're not really a startup" --This company spends money as though it were Microsoft Corp. Ed Niehaus, co-founder and president of Niehaus Ryan Wong Inc., puts the legendary flameout PowerAgent, a Web and e-mail alert service, in this category. "They spent $18 million and never shipped a product. They had consultants who were hiring consultants. We never launched [the product] because they never lived that long." [Not really] The Trend Chaser --The CEO reads the Harvard Business Review, spots a new category and repositions the company accordingly. Advises Niehaus, "Figure out what [customers] want, describe it and use PR to refine it." [Linux...???] "We don't need your advice" --These entrepreneurs completely tune out their PR advisers. Paul Franson, who ran his own PR service before becoming an Upside contributing writer, pulled the following quotes from his archives: "I can handle Mike Wallace, much less a reporter from Electronic Buyers' News," boasted one cocky CEO. Another overconfident senior executive informed a journalist, "We're a big advertiser in your magazine, you know." And then there was the CEO who insisted, "Everyone knows about ASICs [application-specific integrated circuits]. We don't need to explain what they are." [Atleast they make no use of any advice] The Big Fish Syndrome --This arrogant, egotistical entrepreneur has usually jumped from a large company into the startup pond. Explains Maura FitzGerald, founder, president and CEO of FitzGerald Communications Inc., "This founder thinks that because he or she is associated with the company, the company's success is guaranteed." [Old guys =/= BigFish] Founders in Denial --When a client wouldn't let Barbara Kline, founder of San Jose-based Breakthru Communications, talk with customers or business partners, she smelled trouble. But after the founders assured her that these essential product endorsers would talk with reporters, she organized a press tour. Once the tour was under way, the entrepreneurs confessed that they'd failed to line up customer endorsements and still hadn't closed deals with crucial business partners. "[Founders in denial] don't tell the truth to themselves," observes Kline. "But when the rubber hits the road, the truth becomes clear." [It is up and running... isn't it?] The Quick Exit --These founders are more interested in chasing IPO wealth than in hitting a high-tech home run. "You'd be surprised how many people talk about their entry strategy in the same paragraph with their exit strategy," complains Niehaus. "Sandwiched in between is, 'We want to use PR to build a brand over the next quarter and then we plan to [go public]. Could you help us make a lot of noise before the quiet period?'" Niehaus advises these entrepre-neurs that such a greed-driven strategy will most likely backfire with seasoned journalists who "don't want to be the butt of their joke."--Tia O'Brien [But hey, that's what we want, no?] Dazed and Confused, IS.com