No news is good news
If you’ve got nothing nice to say, don’t say anything at all. That’s the old admonishment, isn’t it, usually first heard from a parent when we are still in short trousers.
And generally speaking, it’s sound advice. Goodness knows, the world can be a cruel enough place without us all weighing in with our unsolicited criticisms.
The other thing I heard a lot as a child, this one from teachers, was “If you’ve got nothing to say, Turnbull, keep your mouth shut”.
Now that I always thought was unfair. Sometimes it’s good to chat even if you’ve got nothing of great importance to say. Maybe not from the back of the classroom during double science, but there’s nothing wrong in making your voice heard occasionally.
Conversation oils the wheels of society and not every communication has to have an obvious purpose.
Which is a round-about way of saying that as a PR, you shouldn’t be shy of checking in occasionally with relevant journalists. You don’t always have to be telling us about some new client or new product (although obviously we want to hear about those). Sometimes it’s good just to be reminded that you are still at the same agency and still looking after the same clients.
Because the more recently you’ve reminded me, the better chance I have of finding you again when I suddenly say to myself, “I wonder who looks after x and can help me with this story.”
Sometimes no news is good news, so do feel free to drop me a line when you’ve got nothing much to say. As long as you won’t be upset if you don’t get an immediate reply.