"Earned #Media" And Why You Should Seek It [Stephen Abbott's blog]

I was discussing earned media with a local business owner today and thought I'd share what I shared with him.

Businesses tend to know about paid advertising. They buy an ad, people see it, and then they come and do business with them. But that is a greatly simplified explanation, and doesn't tell the full story about what advertising is, what it can do, what it often CANNOT do, and what can help supplement its shortcomings.

Ads are paid for, by their very nature. Even if those who see them don't consciously think it, they know it's been paid for, and that the buyer (you) has an agenda: that you want them to see it and feel good about your business or the product being advertised.

Unsurprisingly, this tends to undercut the message you're trying to convey. Sure, your product might be good, but the fact that you paid to tell them this fact actually decreases its effectiveness.

Earned media can help solve this problem. Exposure for your brand, business or products can be "earned" from newspapers, magazines and online media sources without the costs associated with paying for an ad.

This is usually accomplished through news releases - documents prepared by public relations professionals who understand how to write about news-worthy items that will attract the attention of the media, and be placed where readers see them usually without changes. Sometimes, the news release sparks the interest of  reporters to do a more in-depth story about your business, product or cause.

And while paid media - advertising - is blatantly paid for, earned media carries with it the credibility of being freely chosen by the owner of the media source. Again, almost subconsciously, the fact that the paper or magazine is doing a "news story" on your product or business is seen as far more credible than if you had paid for it.

THE BOTTOM LINE:
Paid media makes sense when you want 100% control of your message - and a PR pro can make sure that your advertising is consistent with all your other messages. But seeking earned media makes sense when you have something new, unique, and interesting that sets you apart from competitors or other similar businesses, and want greater credibility by getting news coverage to promote them.

Contact Abbott Media Group if we can help create compelling messages!

By Stephen Abbott, Principal of Abbott Public Relations, a division of Abbott Media Group, which creates written messages which inspire, inform, educate and engage, in mass media, publishing and public relations. On twitter and Facebook.

Political Affiliations Of US Religious Groups (Pew Chart) [Stephen Abbott's blog]

A chart released by the Pew Research Center shows religious leanings of most major US religious denominations and groups. Most of them aren't at all surprising.

Mormons lean most heavily Republican, with 70% identifying with America's conservative-leaning political party, which includes former Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, with only 19% identifying as Democratic or leaning towards the traditionally Left-leaning party, which includes Mormon Sen. Harry Reid.

Abortion opposing Southern Baptist Convention unsurprisingly leans Republican (64%) while the more moderate American Baptist Churches USA are evenly split 41% Republican and 42% Democrat.

Perhaps one of the surprises of the chart is the liberal mainline Presbyterian Church (USA) showing a 44% preference for Republicans, with just 47% identifying as Democrat or leaning towards the more liberal party.

Catholics are just about evenly split, with just 37% Republican and 44% Democrat, exactly mirroring the American electorate. 

A mere 14% of Atheists say they're Republicans, while 17% of Muslims identify with the GOP, and with Donald Trump's advocacy of a blanket ban on Muslims entering the US, it would be a safe bet that many more Muslims will be headed towards the Democrat side in future years.

(Click here for the full article and larger chart.)

Hands Tired From Typing? Try An Alternative Keyboard Layout! [Stephen Abbott's blog]

Is it time for a new keyboard layout for our devices?

There are many ways to type. One is to use the keyboard we've all inherited, the so-called "QWERTY" design, named for  the first six keys on the top row of the keyboard. It was created in the 1870s in order to avoid keystrokes from jamming up on early typewriting equipment. And that's only one story. Of course there are several others.

The fact is, we're still using this old 19th Century system, long after any legitimate mechanical reason to do so, simply out of habit, since we now type on devices undreamed of by our ancestors. That's to say, MOST people are still using it. Some have begun to move on.

Some folks have adapted their keyboards to using alternate keyboard layouts that lessen the keystrokes necessary to punch out words on today's modern machines. One such layout is the Dvorak Keyboard, developed in the 1930s.

The Dvorak keyboard was patented in 1936 by August Dvorak, a professor of education. Unlike the traditional QWERTY keyboard, the Dvorak keyboard is designed so that the middle row of keys includes the most common letters. In addition, common letter combinations are positioned in such a way that they can be typed more quickly.

It's been estimated that in an average eight-hour day, a typist's hands travel 16 miles on a QWERTY keyboard, but only 1 mile on a Dvorak keyboard. (Webopedia)

Most operating systems, including Apple and Microsoft PCs, allow users to change over to this keyboard relatively easily. And on Androids and other devices, one can chose from quite a few new input methods, such as Swype. So are we stuck with QWERTY forever? It would seem not.

The good news is that innovation is not standing still. There are many, many other alternatives that have attempted to either improve on the Dvorak by adapting it or tossing it aside for another layout altogether.

The Colemak keyboard layout

For example, the Colemaak keyboard - designed in 2005 by Shai Coleman (who added an "-ak" to the first part of his name, to emulate Dvorak!) - more resembles the QWERTY layout, with only 17 keys changed from the QWERTY layout. It, too, tries to limit the distance one's fingers must travel while typing.

The QWPR ("quipper") layout, designed by a Harvard student, Jameson Quinn, in 2010, further alters the QWERTY, but with only 11 keys are changed, making it even easier to switch over.

Other recent efforts are the Workman keyboard (2010), and (for the really different) the Maltron ergonomic keyboard. There are also several variations of the Dvorak and even the Colemak keyboard layouts. On the other side, the Minimak keyboard (2012) changes just 4 keys - T, D, K and E. It puts the heavily-used E and T letters on the home row, and as designed to make it incredibly easy to switch over.

And of course, switching over is the hard part. QWERTY is so ingrained in our culture - and even most European-adapted keyboards are adaptations of this 19th Century model - that it's likely that it would be extremely hard to gain wide acceptance of other systems. That said, Dvorak is gaining in popularity, with Colemak the #3 preferred keyboard layout.

Taking a Stab At Keyboard Layout Design

Being a revolutionary myself, I had to attempt to create a new keyboard layout. Because, why not?

It's actually amazingly easy to do, and with a bit of careful consideration and forethought - such as placing keys where the fingers on ONE hand won't be over-strained by having all the popular letters - I desiged what I call the ASDOTH-Abbott Layout (or ASDOTH-NILE, which spells out the entire "home" keyboard, which on the QWERTY is, of course, ASDF-GH-JKL and, oddly, the semicolon.)

The first step was to determine the frequency of letters in the English alphabet, which are (in order):

e t a o i n s r h l d c u   m f p g w y b v k x j q z

Clearly, the first 13 of the 26 deserve primacy on the home row, to avoid stretching the fingers as much as possible. Splitting them up from left and right, while also  trying to keep as many keys in familiar locations to ease the transition, was a good goal. It wasn't difficult to arrive at the following layout:

The ASDOTH-NILE keyboard layout (2016).

Without previously looking at the QWPR keyboard, I'd in fact designed something very similar, with my design being only 11 letters different from the QWERTY (and four keys different from QWPR) yet allowing for 10 of the 13 letters most frequently used in English to be placed on the home row. The R, C and U, round out the first 13, remain in their current QWERTY locations.

The Microsoft Keyboard Layout Creator (a free download) or SIL Ukelele for the Apple OS, allows literally ANYONE to create their own keyboard layouts and place them onto their laptops and desktops.

By putting this power in the hands of the people - actually, at their fingertips - and with the internet allowing them to put their designs out into the world, as I've done here, QWERTY may be in its final decades of dominance!

By Stephen Abbott, Principal of Abbott Public Relations, a division of Abbott Media Group, which creates written messages which inspire, inform, educate and engage, in mass media, publishing and public relations. On twitter and Facebook.

7 Common Pitfalls of First-Time Political Candidates [Abbott PR]

As first-time candidates throughout the U.S. begin to prepare for primary elections, it's a good time to take a look at some pitfalls these candidates often encounter.

1. Trying to self-manage a campaign. If you serve as your own campaign manager, you're being managed by a fool. Why? Because you cannot objectively make decisions affecting yourself. For example, you cannot objectively tell yourself that your wardrobe is inappropriate, that you must tone down your favorite diatribe, or that you're speaking too long. This is true for your spouse and other close family members, too. They cannot be totally objective. To run a winning campaign, it takes an outsider's clear view of the campaign to make these kinds of decisions - objectively. Sometimes it's hard to hear that you're approaching a campaign from the wrong direction, and you may even be upset, but better you hear it from someone who WANTS you to win, rather than from voters on election day. (Note: For some races for smaller offices with smaller budgets, a strong campaign adviser - or a communications consultant - may be fine as a substitute for a full-fledged, full-time manager. But the advice holds - get outside help.)

2. Failing to raise and spend the right amount of money. Speaking of money, if you don't have the cash, you must raise it. First-time candidates often delude themselves into thinking money doesn't matter. It does. Without money, there isn't a campaign. And it must be not only raised, but spent, wisely. Even if you think you only need a small amount of money, media and voters will be watching to see if you have the ability to raise more than you need. The truth is, candidates need professionals to help them to raise money - or force them to, if necessary.

3. Focusing on the wrong issues. You have 40 issues that you want to tackle in your campaign: abortion, the IRS, Federal defense spending, foreign aid, social security, etc., etc. But wait a minute, you're running for a seat in the state legislature! Much of this will be irrelevant to the office you're seeking (granted, the effects of Federal decisions surely will be felt at that level.) Spending time on issues you would have no control over if you're elected is a waste of time, and can unnecessarily give voters reasons to vote against you. A campaign must focus on a select few, relevant local issues, and not deviate from them.

4. Talking about the wrong issues ... to the wrong people. You should never lie or change your views to chase poll results in order to get votes. Voters can sniff out a phony. But it simply makes sense to speak to groups and individuals about things they care about. Making wildly irrelevant speeches to influential groups is a sure way of looking foolish - and irrelevant. Relying on speech writers, your manager and/or your communications consultant to direct your campaign's focus on issues is a wise move. It will likely keep you from looking completely out of touch, and will give your campaign a polished look and feel, without compromising your principles.

5. Steering out of the Mainstream. Okay, so you believe in UFOs and aliens, you  think flying cars can solve traffic jams, and that JFK was shot five times by CIA operatives, Castro and the Mob working together. Keep it to yourself. While some of this may seem "folksy" coming from long-time politicians, remember this: nuts don't often get elected. And if they do slip in, they frequently don't stay elected. Say something off-the-wall and it by very well be the only thing voters remember about you, and the only thing the media will focus on, and can easily destroy your chances of victory. In short, keep irrelevant views to yourself. A speechwriter will be able to "filter out" items that you may not notice in a first draft, and keep you from saying things that will "ALIENate" voters.

6. Running to lose. Sometimes, the better part of valor is not running at all. If you don't have the financial resources, if you don't have the support of colleagues and family members, or if you don't have the willpower, health, time or effort to run an effective campaign, don't do it. (And if you can't keep your head above water in one of these areas at any point in the campaign, consider dropping out.) If you do run, however, you must run to win, not to make a point. People don't vote to make a point, they vote for winners. And voters sense when you're just riding a hobby horse, and don't really care about winning.

6. Being Unprofessional. Failing to present your campaign as professional is a sure sign you haven't hired professionals to design your campaign. For example, you had better use professional design and printing, because if you don't, you may be viewed as not credible as a candidate. Independent candidates often get carried away with their message, filling a sign, website, or brochure with trite slogans and LOADS of text, resulting in unreadable nonsense no one will actually read. This is the sure sign of an amateur candidate - one who will not be  taken seriously. Keep it brief and keep it professional, and the best way to do this is to have it written by a professional.

A professional campaign consultant will help you to avoid these pitfalls, and many more, in the course of your campaign. Abbott Public Relations offers a wide array of reputation building and campaign consulting services for right-of-center candidates and future candidates in Florida and throughout the US.

Contact Abbott Public Relations at Abbott Media Group for more information.

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The Sad Saga Of Televangelist Jim Bakker Continues

The other day, I saw disgraced Televangelist Jim Bakker on TV as I was flipping through the channels one afternoon. Bakker, of course, is the preacher who, along with his wife Tammy Faye, built "PTL" - a "Praise the Lord" TV show that spawned a theme park - which went belly-up after several scandals. Bakker later spent time in prison.

But he's been out for years, and he's back on the air with a new TV show and a new "church."

On the show, Bakker was standing on a set which resembled the Home Shopping Network, telling viewers that if the USA was ever hit with several "EMP events" (an electro-magnetic pulse, created by the burst of a nuclear weapon over an area) it could leave 90% of Americans dead within 5 years. 

This may be scientifically true, but the reason why he was bringing it up was clear. He was on a set filled with "prepper" materials urging people to prepare for such an event, like having 90-days of powered food and a solar-powered generator (not horribly powerful, I'm guessing.) Of course, he was hawking them all through his 'ministry' by scaring his flock in the audience and on TV.

Bakker even went so far to say that the solar generator "will be your best friend, besides Jesus." How pathetic.

For Bakker or any other 'minister' to scare people about the future - using scary video footage of nuclear weapons or even using the false teaching of a bloody and violent "Tribulation" period in the future after a "return" of Jesus Christ is unconscionable. 

What a waste of time, effort and energy to spend time talking about this rather than the ACTUAL Gospel/good news that Jesus wants us to love and serve one another just as we would love ourselves, and to love God.

But I guess those "teachings of Jesus" aren't as sexy as a nuclear holocaust.

Just a note here. I met the late Tammy Faye Bakker Messner in the early 1990s, after she divorced Jim Bakker. She seemed like a lovely woman and I'm sure she meant well. Maybe Jim Bakker meant well, too. She was mercilessly teased for her over-use of makeup, which was cruel. The fact that she and her husband believed in a grotesque and false religion absent of moral teaching, based on fear, a hatred of good works, and grounded in greed, fueled by too much cash flowing in from their followers is what was truly shameful.