How To Get Ahead

Just one post young, a new PR blog has garnered a lot of attention, both in links and in comments.

For all you PR students out there, especially the women, here's apparently the winning formula:

• "Piggyback on a big name"
• Describe your best two assets. Repeatedly.
• Mention your willingness to accommodate your clients and your boss.
• Include a saucy photo.
• Play up to the gents.
• Above all, remember that modesty doesn't get you anywhere.

Additional Info: For a broader view on this topic, see Robert French's post.

Comments

[Ike]

You left out one part of the strategy: send invitation e-mails to people you think are key influencers.

As luck would have it, I got one such e-mail from Strumpy, sent to my info[at] account instead of the e-mail I typically use.

This tells me that she really has no clue who I am, and probably turned up my website on a blanket Technorati search.

I'm so low on the pole, that if she e-mailed me, she probably e-mailed the whole A, B, and C-lists first.

[Andrea Weckerle]

Ike,

Besides B.L., do you think there was any other woman who got an e-mail invite? Or would that have gone against the strategy?

[Jeremy Pepper]

The piggybacking on a big name was done by many others, such as name dropping and making sure that they met with all such A-listers for lunch.

So, no pinging her on that one.

[Kami Huyse]

I just got and invitation to help Amanda come up ideas for another bombshell post that she is "working on." I am busy coming up with my own. I liked how you avoided the link love, classy!

[Andrea Weckerle]

Jeremy:

But not in the very first post.

[Kami Huyse]

I just got and invitation to help Amanda come up ideas for another bombshell post that she is "working on." I am busy coming up with my own. I liked how you avoided the link love, classy!

[Andrea Weckerle]

Kami:

I guess that answers the question I posed to Ike. Strumpy must consider you an ally.

[Robert J. Ricci]

For those of you who weren't fortunate enough to be included on Ms. Chapel's distribution list, here's the note she shipped off this AM:

Dear Friends and Colleagues (and B.L. Ochman, too),

Well, Strumpette got off with a bang indeed. Our server is still quivering.
Note this girl's got that telltale smirk today. Thanks.

What's next? Scott Baradell said it best, "we’re definitely looking forward to the encore." Me, too! Queue the Beatles "With a Little Help from My Friends."

A good Strumpette knows that the most pleasing position is listening. I'd love your feedback.

I am playing with a few story ideas:

The first is purely prurient. There could be a catfight brewing with Ochman. She was the only one with something truly negative to say. Jealous. The "pom-pon" girls always gave the cheerleaders that attitude. We dismissed them with a look. (Sidebar: I’ve seen your site B.L. Who picked out that outfit anyway? I mean, there’s no there there.)

Seriously...

I am thinking about a PR version of the "The Drug Pushers" in April's The Atlantic. Here the author describes the "elaborate theatrical dance" between rep and doctor:

"When an encounter between a doctor and a rep goes well, it is a delicate ritual of pretense and self-deception. Drug reps pretend that they are giving doctors impartial information. Doctors pretend that they take it seriously. Drug reps must try their best to influence doctors, while doctors must tell themselves that they are not being influenced. Drug reps must act as if they are not salespeople, while doctors must act as if they are not customers. And if, by accident, the real purpose of the exchange is revealed, the result is like an elaborate theatrical dance in which the masks and costumes suddenly drop off and the actors come face to face with one another as they really are."

Sound familiar? It’s PR that set/sets the stage for that theatre. Certainly, pharma has been a veritable feeding frenzy for our industry in the last few years. As with the "tech bubble," during irrational exuberance, PR hucksters, shysters, pickpockets and whores flourish.

So... if you will, take a moment and drop a dime. Obviously, all leads, tips, anecdotes and accusations, are in my little black book and will be kept strictly confidential.

Ciao,
Amanda

How amusing...

[Serge Cornelus]

Look out girls: there's a new babe on the blog I mean the block. She may be using all the oldest tricks in the book (inlcuding flaunting it), but you know what they say: good girls go to heaven, the other ones... Curious to see what this will do to all those other PR ladies' blogs... ;-D
(To be honest: nothing much, I hope - although a little skin always does it, of course... Sorry, just kidding!).

[Andrea Weckerle]

Robert:

Thanks for letting us all see the classy note.

[Andrea Weckerle]

Serge:

Thank goodness I've known you long enough now to recognize that you're just trying to create a little trouble. :-)

[Todd Defren]

The sooner we stop writing about her, the sooner her well dries up.

Let's take bets on how long the Strumpette blog lasts, just as she did with Rubel.

I give Strumpette until June 30, 2006. Where do I send my 5 bucks?

[Andrea Weckerle]

Todd: Good advice.

[Kami Huyse]

Andrea; ally or target? Probably the later. And Todd, you are the one who gave her link love! Oh, and on that same subject, I choose heaven!

[Susan Getgood]

I got the emails too -- and the best part was that Outlook put the first one in the Junk folder. How prescient :-)

[Andrea Weckerle]

Kami: Ok, target. Heaven -- good choice.

Susan: How funny!

[John Wagner]

If you can get past the sexual innuendo, it's easy to see where Strumpette might have a field day with the PR blogosphere. So I wouldn't be so quick to dismiss her/him/it.

There are a lot of puffed up egos out there ...

[Mack Collier]

Am I the only one that had no idea who this person/blog was until I got the same email that everyone else got?

Oh and BTW, loved how you didn't link to her blog, Andrea. I just mentioned to BL how if she didn't like her tactic of trying to boost traffic, then why was she blogging about her and giving her blog addy on WhatsNext?

I haven't checked her blog out, and I won't until I see other people talking about it because of its content, and not cause of how little clothes she's wearing.

[scott]

Get or give?

Oops -- red-faced again...

[Robert J. Ricci]

Given Ms. Chapel's alleged "experience," I took the liberty of asking a number of WS colleagues in Chicago (and across the network, in fact) about her. She purports to be a former VP in our consumer group, if you recall...

Anyway, no surprises here: no one's ever heard of her, which leads me to believe that:

(a.) she's hiding behind a bogus name, or
(b.) she's "a man, duh!"

I'm with Todd on this one: the sooner we ignore her, the sooner she'll go away.

[John Wagner]

My guess? Strumpette is a man, and probably a very visible PR blogger who is working under cover.

Just a hunch based upon the style of writing, the initial content and the e-mail promotional approach.

[Andrea Weckerle]

Mack: There's only so much love to go around, right?

Scott: You're having way too much fun with this. I can almost hear you giggling.

Robert: Strumpy is a fake, that's why. Clues, clues and more clues. He chose WS for a reason (could it be because that's where one of his good buddies works?), and he chose Steve because he actually thinks quite highly of him.

John: I agree, she's a man. I went back-and-forth about this, but I think Strumpy's someone who both know who is smart enough not to waste his time e-mailing me his Strumpy pitch.

[Mike]

I'm just glad it's not Scoble getting naked.

[Sam Smith]

I'm with Robert on this one. Definitely a fake and more than likely a man. It's a good way to ruffle a few feathers and create some hype around a new blog. Will be interesting to see how whoever is behind it intends to follow it up though. That's the problem with this tactic. Once you've created your big bang you have to sustain interest. I'd put my money on whoever is behind it all 'coming out' and trading on this stunt

[Elizabeth Albrycht]

I got 2 emails from "Amanda", but I really didn't have anything to say about it. Seemed fishy. But "she" hooked a few, didn't she? Sigh.