Publicity: Is it "Right" When Facts are Wrong?
Is misinformation about you in the media better than no information?
My guess is yes.
This came to mind recently when an information marketing trade publication recently ran a profile about my business and career.
The article got the basics right: that I launched my speaking and coaching business in the interior design industry after working as a professional broadcast and print journalist.
But the four page article was filled with inaccuracies, particularly about my joint efforts with a design industry partner.
Comments that I never made showed up in the article as direct quotes. The story included inaccurate details about my business, and spelling errors throughout.
A problem? Not the way I see it.
For one thing, the article gave me visibility and credibility — and the opportunity to promote the fact that I was featured in an international publication.
I received several phone calls, emails and book orders, as a result of the article.
Then, too, I could get even more coverage in this magazine if I asked them to run corrections and clarifications — which I won’t.
Years ago, an interior designer commented that she avoided promoting her business in the media because of her fear of being misquoted.
“They never did and never will get what we do,” she remarked. “I don’t want to risk getting bad publicity.”
Short-sighted attitude, I thought.
Dennis Rodman, the outspoken teammate of Michael Jordan in the glory years of the Chicago Bulls, was dead on when he said: “The only ‘bad publicity’ is an obituary.”
Fred Berns is a coach, speaker and trainer in the interior design industry.
