Almost daily, there are more examples of what I’ve mentioned in these articles… Parts One and Two. With same old…same old words about email and voicemail messages seeking comment for stories going unanswered.

Not a Journalist, Really, but Then Again…(Part Two)

In Part One, I mentioned that… like a journalist, I’m going to be reaching out to people for information and insights on topics that seem interesting. I’ll explain I’m not a journalist, but I’ll mention my 290 guest articles…We’ll see if anyone gets back to me. This could be interesting.

And it is!

On Monday (April 4th), for example, I reached out to a business-focused online site, wondering about a message I’d received on the site.

An executive at a pretty large business firm had said, in the message:

I came across your profile and think you could be a fantastic match for our… (company).

I could click a tab to apply for a job.

It’s been a number of years, now, since I last worked in a decades-long PR/media relations and crisis communication career. I was a senior VP at two of the companies I’d been with over the course of my career.

For the past several years I’ve been writing guest articles and columns that have been published in media… 290 articles and columns, so far.

I guess I crossed the Rubicon, in a way, from my decades-long work in PR, to writing stuff in the media, for the fun of it… like a hobby.

Having been away from PR for some time, I kept wondering why I “could be a fantastic match for” what apparently would be a PR role with the executive’s company.

I was flattered, of course, but before clicking a tab on the business-focused online site, I was thinking a bit more information would be helpful… since the message I’d received seemed like a form letter.

Maybe I could reach out to the executive who had messaged me, via the business-focused online site?

You’re thinking, I’ll bet, why not just message-back the executive? But, unless I’ve got this wrong, I was thinking I might have to upgrade to something on the site. I might have to sign up for something I’d, perhaps, have to pay for. I prefer basic, free stuff.

Searching online, I was able to find some contact information for the executive, and proceeded to reach out to him, via email.

That was several days ago, and… I haven’t heard back.

That got me wondering more about some things. Like, for example, the message, via the business-focused online site’s messaging, that seemed, in a way, like a form letter.

So I reached out to the business-focused online site, like a journalist, since 290 of my guest articles have been in the media, to ask how effective the firm’s messaging, clicking a tab, and such, has been, “with regard to matching employers with potential candidates for job opportunities.”

I emailed the firm, initially, on Monday (April 4th).

I didn’t hear back from anyone. So I emailed again, on Wednesday (April 6th), asking if I could anticipate receiving a response from the company.

Still haven’t heard back from anyone.

Responding to phone calls and emails from reporters — and others — was baked into us, all those years I was in PR.

I baked that into colleagues, myself, when I was mentoring newcomers at the firm.

Even if they couldn’t get back to reporters, by their deadline for stories, I urged my mentees to, at least, explain why.