Crisis Manager: First Winner of VIZible Value Award for Excellence in eNewsletters
Not just a marketing slick, this newsletter has become an industry journal
by Meryl K. Evans, Editor - eNewsletter Journal
Crisis Manager’s meets its own stated goal as “devoted to the public relations specialty of Crisis Management. It is written for those who are Crisis Managers, whether they want to be or not.” When reviewing the newsletter, we frequently referred back to that goal, in addition to our three criteria. We focused on the January 15 issue, referring to the archives of other issues as needed.
The Quick Peak
The Worth Noting section of Crisis Manager’s January 15 issue says, “Corporate scandals are sparking a revolution in governance,” and describes a way to take action for readers, a workshop to prepare the next generation of corporate directors. This tidbit is valuable in light of recent crises by companies such as Enron, WorldCom, and NASA faced, not to mention the horrible disaster many companies are still reeling from on September 11, 2001.
In the midst of these types of crises, companies need to instantly respond. Crisis Manager helps those responsible do their job more efficiently. Each issue provides readers with valuable information about crisis management including tips for crisis prevention and management, a case history, and a reader-participation question and answer section. Although, crisis management is a serious subject, readers will notice that publisher and editor Jonathan Bernstein is a “tongue-in-cheek observer of life who considers humor to be an essential element of surviving crises, professional or personal.”
Most issues have sections with simple and creative names. Some are accompanied with a brief summary of the topic for that section, such as the following from the issue we reviewed:
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Just a Thought: About Gossip
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An Ounce of Prevention: The Dos and Don'ts of Successful Media Interviews
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Crisis Manager Business Announcements: (Blatant Self-promotion)
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!Manage This!: The Core of Crisis Communication Is Character
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Crisis Manager on the Spot: Getting into Crisis Management
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Worth Noting
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Plain English Disclosure
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About the Staff
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Allied Services: Media Training Worldwide, Media Insider, The Publicity Hound
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Other Important Stuff: Contact, Subscription, Reproduction, etc.
In the online/HTML version of the ezine, each section listing contains a direct link to an article. This makes it easier for the reader to scan and go right to the information of interest. Humorous phrases, such as “Blatant self-promotion,” help further categorize the section and add personality, to boot.
Crisis Manager offers succinct, yet relevant information throughout each section. It's easy to read and understand, even for a group not involved with crisis management, which is important to note, because employees who get thrown into crisis management may have no background or experience in it.
The sampling below gives an overview of the types of information found in a typical issue. While Crisis Manager is initially distributed as plain-text email, it is then posted on the Web within 24 hours, allowing readers the option of reading an HTML version. Many people like to see the colors and organization of HTML text, but others prefer the download speed of a text newsletter that can be read on a PDA, cell phone, or other non-graphical e-mail viewer. In both versions, the following sections are equally effective.
Just a Thought gives a “thought for the day” in the form of a brief quote. In this issue, Oscar Wilde is quoted, “It is perfectly monstrous the way people go about, nowadays, saying things behind one's back that are absolutely and entirely true.’” How appropriate for a newsletter of this type. Finding a thought or quote related to a project is a difficult task that Bernstein makes look easy.
An Ounce of Prevention is typically an article or book review focusing on being proactive on the premise: Too many organizations do not think far enough ahead to plan for various crises. Instead, they’re reacting to each situation with spur-of-the-moment salves which only address the symptoms and can lead to more problems than solutions.
Crisis Manager Business Announcements are brief paragraphs with a quick lowdown of the editor’s business. One promotes a new book he authored and another announces the expansion of the companion bookstore. These blurbs are straight facts, not dripping-with-compliments style advertising.
!Manage This! is the core of the newsletter, since it provides advice relevant to the readers’ roles as crisis managers. One archive issue’s article is titled, “Regaining the Public Trust,” a current hot button in crisis management. Another is “Core of Crisis Communication Is Character,” something the readers may not have thought about, but is no doubt important in the world of crisis management.
Crisis Manager on the Spot gives readers the chance to ask questions and receive expert advice. Involving the reader is vital to e-newsletter success.
The rest of the newsletter sections contain basic administration information. Putting this at the end of the newsletter is smart, since readers won’t need to read the information in every issue; yet it’s always there for when they need it.
In addition, Bernstein’s newsletter does not include the same sections every issue, which is wise. Our team believes, “If you don’t have anything to report, please refrain from babbling about nothing!”
The Factor Lowdown
All e-newsletters that receive VIZible Value Awards are judged on the following three criteria:
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Value: How valuable is the newsletters to its readers? Each newsletter is reviewed on how it saves its readers time by distilling practical industry information from many sources into one place. Incorporating these relevant, high-quality articles on advances, trends, tips, and real-world best practices, should help the readers of this newsletter solve problems in their daily business lives.
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Trust: Does the newsletter deepen the level of trust between the readers? Trust can be increased by: knowing your audience (researching, listening, and responding to them), positioning your company as a credible source, and speaking from integrity (being honest and respecting your customers’ boundaries). We look to see how well the newsletter develops trust in these regards.
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Stability: Does the newsletter create customer loyalty? One way to develop loyalty is by delivering accurate and timely information vital to the readers’ success at regular intervals. If the newsletter is published in regular increments over time with consistent content, it creates customer loyalty and stands out in our review process.
Below we describe how Crisis Manager took the criteria cake.
Value
The team rates the newsletter’s relevancy to its readers as: Outstanding! The articles on handling crisis management, focusing on prevention, other tips and advice, and book suggestions handle many topics that can solve the readers’ day-to-day business problems.
The ratio of “solutions” versus “selling” in this publication is also good. Self-promotion only occurs once in the middle of the newsletter, and it’s brief without sounding like marketing-speak. The rest of the selling-type information is at the end of the newsletter out of the way.
This first-rate newsletter saves much time for its readers. Since 2000, the newsletter has been delivering business-critical info and the archives are easy to scan. In doing research on the Web, this e-newsletter appears frequently as a qualified source with specific, relevant data. If the reader uses nothing else but this newsletter and its archives for research, the information should be sufficient for most needs without wasting hours of searching for the right information and tools.
Trust
It took little time for the reviewers to believe this newsletter, including the staff behind it, is a trusting and credible source on the topic of crisis management. Reading the “intro” of the newsletter alone indicates the staff knows its customers and stays on target.
Much of the content helps develop trust. For example, promotion we referred to, “Crisis Manager Business Announcements: (Blatant self-promotion)” is a true representation of speaking from integrity. The staff isn’t out to pull the wool over its readers’ eyes. They tell it like it is.
In addition, the question and answer section helps build community. You don’t have to search far to find how to contact the staff (who is readily available for answering questions and providing assistance), or find the newsletter’s contents and archives. This accessibility to the archives gives potential subscribers the chance to review the newsletter before making the “buy” to sign up for it. Too many newsletters don’t give potential readers a taste of their contents prior to subscribing.
Stability
Since its first publication, the newsletter has consistently published twice a month on the first and fifteenth day, an amazing feat! In the case of an upcoming issue not going to be published on schedule, the staff lets readers know in the current issue.
Throughout Crisis Manager, the voice is clear and personable. While the subject matter is not a “fun” topic (no one wants to deal with a crisis!), the writers avoid technical jargon and ego-filled verbiage. When reading the content, it sounds like you’re getting advice from an intelligent friend trying to help you. Finally it has a regular look and feel to the sections. Regular readers know what where to find their favorite topics.
The Final Rave
One of the judges admits that when she briefly looked only at the title of the newsletter, she ranted, “I know nothing about this subject; this review might be boring.” Newsletters written for niche audiences, without priority in most people’s business agenda, may seem uninteresting to the general public. However, in this case, this reviewer found the e-newsletter an enjoyable read and the entire team would subscribe to it if we didn’t have millions (slight exaggeration) of other e-newsletters to read, write, design, and publish. Crisis Manager gives its subscribers a public forum to discuss problems as large as the Enron scandal or as small as an employee whom speaks poorly of his own company’s products to a client. Especially in the current business climate with threat of war, prevalence of computer viruses and scams in the virtual workforce, this kind of forum with critical information for crises management is much needed.
Once again we applaud Jonathan Bernstein and the team behind Crisis Manager for an exceptional newsletter that offers value, trust, and stability – thereby earning the first eNewsletter Journal-sponsored VIZible Value Award. Bravo!
