November 2006

Engineer, Promote Thyself

By Robin C. Peress

Next to doing the right thing, the most important thing is to let people know you are doing the right thing.

So said industrialist John D. Rockefeller about the value of putting your name and good works where others can see them especially those who can boost your image.

Self-promotion doesnt come easily to everyone. It may even seem incompatible with the straight-arrow engineering profession. But engineers as professionals who change society for the better are entitled to speak up about their entrepreneurship, their innovations, their awards and new contracts, the impact of engineering on our everyday lives, and so much more. You can employ a few subtle, inexpensive, time-tested methods to promote yourself, and spread goodwill for the entire profession at the same time.

Two well-known channels of self-promotion are public relations (PR) and advertising. Both seek to communicate your message to a predefined target audience. With advertising, you spend money to say what you want, how, where and when you want to everything from a 10-second radio spot to a billboard. Advertising is about generating sales.

Unlike paid advertising, however, public relations is a mutually beneficial relationship with the mass media, which serves as your spokesperson for free. PR is about creating good vibes.

Public relations affords you more credibility and status because your words are reported by, and get the tacit endorsement of, the media. The payoff is not in sales per se, but in heightened awareness and a positive perception of a person, product, service, even a cause. As Marshall McLuhan once said, the medium is the message. The information you supply to the media becomes the news. And everyone wants news.

What might you send to the media? You can write a letter, article or news release and submit it to a newspaper, t.v. or radio station, even a Web site. Your letter, release or call, however, must have a news hook, i.e., some connection with a recent or unfolding event (local, national or international). If your information sparks the editors interest, the media will report it as news coverage. The idea youve hopefully planted in the readers mind is: this is someone of value. Welcome to public relations.

Another example: In a former life, this writer was assistant director of PR for Hunter College in New York City. On the morning that Senator Jim Jeffords of Vermont abruptly announced his defection from the Republican Party to become an Independent, I called WCBS-880 news radio eight minutes after Jeffords statement to say that Hunter College had an expert in Congressional matters on its faculty; would they like to talk to him? Our expert was interviewed on the air about 10 minutes later. The benefit to listeners: they learned much more about party defections. The message: Hunter College is a place where intellectual and academic excellence is always on tap. We wanted those in Albany who funded our school to know this.

So: Good timing, an understanding of the needs of a given media outlet, and the deft use of language are essential for using PR. Also essential is the need to be on the qui vive for opportunities to contact the media. But the value of third-party endorsement by the media is worth the effort. Whats more, you can further capitalize on the coverage by saving and disseminating the resulting news clips to further market your services.

If youre willing to work at shaping ideas and attitudes under the radar versus taking out an ad, public relations is a respected business tool and a creative challenge. Its not something you start and stop; PR is an ongoing pursuit. There is nothing disingenuous about it, no snake oil or spin, just honest communication thats timed and targeted to make the media work for you.

Here is a mixed bag of self-promotion and image-enhancing techniques, culled from sources in public relations, hi-tech marketing, e-business, and the engineering profession itself, that you can start using today.

Start talking on an online forum, courtesy of the IEEE. Geographical distance dissolves, as do time zones and other differences, when you interact with fellow engineers in any of the dozens of online communities sponsored by the IEEE. In 10 minutes you can begin mentoring someone on the other side of the country, swap entrepreneurial tales and advice, track down a piece of equipment, share your concerns about intellectual property rights, make a new contact, and promote yourself as an expert in your field to all those you write or who read your exchanges. Whether you choose the Entrepreneurs Village, the consultants' database, or forums on a plethora of topics from Bioinformatics to Embedded Systems to Security and Privacy, seize the chance to talk about yourself.

Take stock of your image. What do your own materials say about you? Marcia Polese, President of Polese Clancy, Inc., a Boston-based firm specializing in integrated marketing, says being consistent in your materials brochures, pitch letters, Web content, fact sheets, etc. is paramount. Are all your messages in tune with the image you are trying to project? If you say you are service oriented, for example, don't wait two weeks to get back to a prospect who requests a proposal or a meeting. In describing your own merits, Polese stressed the importance of citing sources of authoritythat support your assertions and/or reputation, including your educational achievements, awards, articles about you, commendations, or endorsements from prestigious companies or admired individuals. Nothing sells like third-party endorsements, says Polese, whose company serves clients in high technology, financial services, telecommunications and biotechnology. Dont forget to tout your durability that is, how long your company has been in business and stood the test of time. She also recommends that you write up case studies featuring the kinds of projects you want to be known for, and include a list of clients on your Web site. To observe these principles in action, see Poleses own site, www.poleseclancy.com.

Beef up your Web presence. As reported in Website 101: Put Yourself in the User's Shoes (TE Online, May 2006), appearance and usability are the top reasons why Internet users will stay to peruse your Web site, according to research by Consumer Reports. The way you present information online is virtually synonymous with who you are.

Revisit your site to make sure it offers an easy-to-read font, simple color scheme, a minimum of slow-loading graphics, consistent headings, everyday English wording and helpful links.

Polese says to be sure that your site is registered on all the key search engines and to employ search engine optimization (SEO). SEO is the art and science of using the right keywords and phrases that will turn up on key search engines when users are seeking content like yours, thus driving the right customers to your online door. One of the more understandable tutorials on search engine optimization can be found at a consultants site, www.bruceclay.com.

She suggests also that you tailor some of your site content to niche markets, the opinion leaders who can be important referrals for you. Are they architects and other engineers? Government agencies? Attorneys? Include content on your site that addresses the specific needs and interests of each of these groups, and be sure to include a button that says "e-mail this article to a friend." It's a great way to get referrals.

Write a Letter to the Editor. Pick up almost any daily newspaper or business magazine and youre bound to find an article that touches on engineering. That article could be a springboard for you to write a Letter to the Editor. Your best bet for getting your letter into print is to respond to the right article at the right time to the right editor. Your gut will tell you when to act; youll find yourself thinking, I know all about that, and something more, or My experience tells me otherwise, or Theres something wrong here; I have to speak up. Here are some guidelines:

1. Write a letter if you have a compellingly strong, unique and educated perspective regarding the articles subject. Quote a surprising statistic. Mention any books or articles youve written on the subject.
    

2. Seize the moment. Write and send your letter on the same day that the newspaper story ran. The lead time is longer for magazines; you can call the general number and find out the deadline. But dont wait more than a day or so either way, lest your ideas lose their edge.
    

3. Write a succinct letter of up to two short paragraphs, unless the story contained a serious factual error which you are setting straight. Get to the point in the first sentence. Be brief, clear, accurate and use laymens terms rather than technical ones, unless you are writing to a technical audience. Keep an eye on spelling and punctuation your engineering expertise could get deflated if there are typos or other flaws in your letter.
    

4. Make sure you send it to the right editor. Some publications have a catch-all mailbag, but some newspapers have separate Letters editors. Check first. However, dont call the editor to inquire about a letter youve already sent; no matter how articulate or respected you are, they either have the space to print your letter or they dont. Try another time, on another subject.

Become an Expert/Spokesperson for the Press. Like the Hunter College faculty expert, you have specialized technical knowledge for which there is great demand in the media. Polese says, The media needs to be able to call experts to get objective opinions about engineering topics when they arise. For example, Boston's Big Dig was recently the site of a tragedy when sections of a tunnel collapsed on an automobile, killing one of the passengersEngineers who can offer insight or at least a perspective in addressing situations like this are needed to help frame or interpret these kinds of events, even if they don't have specific answers. Reach out to the the press in your area and offer to take calls when a story needs an engineering point of view.

Robin Peress is a freelance writer in Hastings-on-Hudson, N.Y. Comments may be submitted to todaysengineer@ieee.org.