Live Chat
06.21.2012
20
answers
GASTROGNOME Olga Katsnelson
Founder
Postcard Communications & Consulting
Location San Francisco, CA
Website www.postcardcomm.com
About Olga Katsnelson founded Postcard Communications in 2005 with the goal of creating a PR company where clients, colleagues, and journalists could engage in an intelligent, productive, respectful, and hopefully humorous dialogue about the food and beverage industries. 
chat ended at 13:00 pm EDT
...but check out a recap below!
  • Q:
  • Thank you so much for sharing so much great advice and inspiration!
  • A:
  • Its really been fun to engage in this dialogue. Thanks to everyone for their thought-provoking questions and thanks to Good Food Jobs for this opportunity to chat.
  • Q:
  • As someone who has lived in both cities, which wins the battle for better food: San Fran or NYC?
  • A:
  • I'm saved by the bell! Its almost 10 AM and I [sadly] have to run without addressing your very incendiary question. I'm kidding of course. I will say only this: the Bay Area has unbelievable produce... NYC has amazing restaurant design [from the music to the decor to the vibe]. Both cities have deep pools of incredible culinary talent.
  • Q:
  • My business is relatively new and I only have a small amount of money to invest in PR (or do it myself)...how would you recommend making the most of what I have to spend?
  • A:
  • Identify a handful of PR companies whose client lists, websites, and overall achievements are appealing to you. Ask to meet with someone at each, and let them know what your budget is and what your company does. Some PR companies take on small, emerging companies at special rates. The payoff for you is that even if a few key journalists are alerted about you, and if just a handful of those write you up, you have the beginning of a press campaign. That may be enough to launch you/your product. And you then have a few journalists with whom you may then start to foster the relationship. THat may be one way to go. If you're doing the PR yourself, be sure to get good advice on how to do this. Talk to friends in the industry, read up on the how-to's, or really, just find one or two local journalists in your town, and start by contacting them and telling them about what you do - their interest may be a good test of whether or not to embark on a campaign. Also, and I tell many small companies this, be sure *other* aspects of your business are fully in place -- your website, your graphic design and branding -- those really need to be fully realized before you invest in PR.
  • Q:
  • Are you looking to expand your team (perhaps in an effort to promote the company)?
  • A:
  • I am not expanding the team, as we currently have a good group in place; rather I'm expanding our client base a bit. However, I'm always happy to review resumes and get cold calls from people who are looking for work. Often, I can give advice or offer names of companies that may be hiring.
  • Q:
  • Is there a way that you recommend meeting people in food media? I understand the value of personal relationships and want to be strategic about how to meet folks in the field and learn from what they are looking for so that I can tailor it accordingly.
  • A:
  • Start by identifying the articles, writers, stories that really move you. Then do basic Google searches on the authors if the stories are in print, or producers if the stories are on TV (say on 60 Minutes, etc). You will often find that journalists have websites with "contact me" pages, and you can send notes there. Before you contact anyone, do get a sense of what they've covered, what they like/don't like, etc... read their articles, find Q&A's that they've done, follow their Twitter and Tumblr feeds. Then contact them and ask if you may meet them for 15 mins at their offices or wherever is convenient. BUT do know, journalists are crazy busy, as the publishing industry is contracting somewhat so many of them are doing the jobs previously held by 2 or more people. If you're going to get 15 minutes with someone, be frank about what you want or are offering: is it a get-to-know you, is it a pitch meeting, etc... you want to manage expectations and then deliver on whatever the journalist may be expecting.
  • Q:
  • I'm a jounalist with a passion for food and thinking this might be something I could transition to. Do you have any advice on how to get started or what the first step would be?
  • A:
  • I think journalists can make great publicists because you understand how the press we pitch daily work. You can understand how a story goes from pitch to print... this is something a lot of publicists (including me) don't have first-hand experience with. My advice is to make sure your website is updated as that will speak louder than your resume. Then, ask the journalists who work w/ food publicists who they like working with, and that will give you a short list of companies you may want to reach out to. After that, start politely cold calling.... good luck!
  • Q:
  • For someone considering entering food communications: what do you think are the most important soft skills and what kind of professional training is required to succeed?
  • A:
  • To work in food communications, you really should have a curiosity about food, food systems, the industry as a whole. Its ok if you don't eat meat or you don't like spicy food, etc... What's key is that you are enthralled by farmers, restaurateurs, bartenders, chefs, butchers, etc... and by the journalists and news outlets who cover this industry from all angles, whether in a trade magazine a glossy or on TV. I say enthralled because that's the secret sauce to putting up with the long hours, the tight deadlines, the quirky personalities... that sort of "enchantment" will carry you and help you learn, research, think analytically as a publicist. You do also need to be a good writer, good talker, and be truly able to be sympathetic to the needs of your clients. I consider myself an advocate for my clients, and work hard to ensure that they feel heard and understood by me and my team.
  • Q:
  • Do you have any idols / businesses that you are dying to represent?
  • A:
  • You know, I've worked with some of the most incredible people in the industry, and I'm often awe-struck by the names I see in my speed dial (I remind myself of how cool this all is when I'm buried under deadlines at my office at 10 at night and feeling grouchy). So, I truly feel like I've already worked with/currently rep some of the people that I admire so much, whether for their intelligence, work ethic or creativity. I would like to bring on more clients who are working to address various types of injustice, to people or animals, preferably on the food landscape as that's where I have most ability to help them.
  • Q:
  • How do you handle PR for your own company (Postcard Communications)? And how do you use it to target / attract new clients?
  • A:
  • Ah, in my case the cobbler has no shoes. I do very little to publicize our company, other than attend lots of industry events, and encourage my team to do the same. I'm honestly not great about promoting our company, so its been a goal to be more proactive about that. One of the things I do is consider Postcard Comm to be a client, and allocate time for it, as I would for any of my other "real" clients, and during that time I work on mostly maintenance of the business systems but also little promo things like updating my bio etc...
  • Q:
  • How did you first break into the PR field ( first job out of school?), and consequently, find your niche in the food and beverage PR industry?
  • A:
  • My first job was actually in social work with refugees from the Former Soviet Union. When I came to a point of choosing an MSW or a new career path, I chose the latter. I moved to NY from San Francisco, and started doing a ton of informational interviews. My college, Smith, published names of alumni who were willing to talk to grads about finding work, and Julia Child's name came up, with her home phone and all. I was too shy to actually call her, but that lit up something in my brain that signalled how much I wanted to work in the food biz. I didn't even know restaurant pr existed, but I had an informational interview with Karine Bakhoum, who ran KB Network news, and that informational interview turned into a job interview. I was excited by our dialogue and by the "vibe" of an office busy with restaurant/chef PR, so I accepted the job. That was my start.
  • Q:
  • For the small business person who has limited time and resources, could you offer some guidelines on how to prioritize social media in order to come up with a workable plan? It seem so complex, with so many different demands and benefits.
  • A:
  • Find out who your audience is, what are they reading/responding to, then choose one social media outlet to start, and use that. The demographics for Twitter vs FB vs Tumblr etc... are widely published so do some research and then try it. You may also want to use Google Analytics for your company's website, and see where your greatest upticks in visitors come from, and then develop those channels further. I think also the social media outlets that are the most "fun" for you to engage in because that's where your industry migrates, will also prove to be those that are the best for engagement.
  • Q:
  • For a small business managing their own PR (for the moment), are there any serious faux pas when contacting the media?
  • A:
  • Yes! I could go on about these, but I'd say being underinformed about what the news outlet has covered and pitching them a story that ran in their last issue would be a bad thing; contacting the wrong editor about an item that's not part of their beat; not asking a journalist that you've phoned if they are on deadline or have time to talk with you; those are off the top of my head. Sign up for something like the brilliant PR Daily Newsfeed where there is ample advice for the PR-Journalist relationship.
  • Q:
  • You must be perusing food publications all of the time with your job. Which ones do you think are putting out the best content these days?
  • A:
  • Indeed, we subscribe to about 50 periodicals and read endless online content as well. I do this work because I honestly enjoy reading all of this stuff. Each outlet that we read has good content each month or each day... there's always some article I'm glad I found. So I'm going to dodge your question a little. But, one of my great joys is finding food articles by non-food writers, a classic example being David Foster Wallace's "Consider the Lobster" which ran in Gourmet.
  • Q:
  • What advice to you have for recent college graduates who are aspiring to enter the restaurant industry from a business angle?
  • A:
  • My advice to any recent grads is to talk to as many people as possible who are currently in the industry you're trying to break through in. Research those businesses whose practices you admire, find out who's in charge, research those people, and politely ask for informational interviews.
  • Q:
  • Hi Olga, what would you say has been your most successful PR campaign? Why?
  • A:
  • I always think my first campaign that I did when I launched the company in 2006 was my best, though really I think I have an emotional attachment to it because it proved to me that I could indeed do this work while running my own small firm. My first client was Chris Cosentino. We met when I had dinner at his restaurant, Incanto, and I was really thrilled about his cooking, his philosophy, and the fire he had in his belly. When we started working together, he had one article written about him, and he wanted much, much broader exposure. WHen we wrapped, he had local exposure, national magazine coverage, and a TV show on the Food Network. Most importantly, his ethos about whole-animal cooking and eating was no longer an oddity but was something being discussed widely in lifestyle media.
  • Q:
  • At what point in a small business’ life is it best to invest in PR?
  • A:
  • You want to invest in PR when it feels like what you do organically, and the way that you broadcast your message through your own grassroots channels is no longer "loud" enough to relate your message to the audience you're needing to reach. Perhaps the scope of your services now extends beyond your local community, for example, your home-made caramels are now available online as opposed to just at a local store... you might want to hire a pr firm to get the word out about that, and in the process, help you to start thinking about what it means that your company now has national reach.
  • Q:
  • I’m wondering about press releases. To whom should I send them? Is it worth it to use paid services like PR Newswire?
  • A:
  • Press releases... you should send them to the media that need to know about whatever is your news. The size and scope of the audience will depend of whether or not you need to use a format like PR Newswire. Overall, in my experience running a boutique pr firm, I've found we get the best results by sending releases to a small, well-curated list of press. Thus I have to confess we rarely use the wire services. The wire services can be a great tool because often what they put out gets picked up by larger news outlets. Sending releases, as we do, to a small list works for us because so much of our work is based on the relationships we've built w/ the press we are reaching out to.
  • Q:
  • What has your experience been like managing employees/coworkers, and do you have advice for folks who want to own a business but don't feel that management is their strength?
  • A:
  • One of the reasons I started my own company was because I wanted to create a place where a team of publicists could work together in a setting where everyone's input was welcome, where there was a real sense of support and teamwork, and where there were opportunities to grow. As I started running the company I realized that those lofty goals sometimes took a backseat to immediate problems and crises arising from the day to day demands of pr. However, I very much believe that I'm a better publicist because of the ideas, challenges, enthusiasm, personality traits and multiple skills that my team brings. Thus, I've worked hard to clear my plate of other demands during those times I know I need to focus on the needs of my team. And the things they need from me (like consistency, leadership, patience) have tapped into parts of my personality that were underdeveloped or dormant, thus, hopefully, making me a better boss. But its a constant learning curve and evolution for me. My advice to folks who don't feel that management is their strong suit is to either invest in a person who can help with that to allow them to then focus on their strengths, but if that's not possible, to admit that they are weak in this area, and be really present to feedback on their management styles. I've long been meaning to start conducting 2-way employee evaluations where my staffers would be required to also come to me with at least one critique or other "thing" that I need to work on or improve as well as a mention of what, in my management style, is working for them.
  • Q:
  • As a small business owner, what is the biggest challenge that comes with working for yourself?
  • A:
  • The biggest challenge (and also I'd say the greatest reward) is wearing multiple hats all the time. Its my job to grow and market the company, keep my team motivated, keep the clients happy and engaged, and grow and maintain relationships with the media, basically all at once. On a given day I may want to write a pitch to a magazine, but first I have to write a proposal, edit a staffer's bio on a client, and fix the printer.
  • Q:
  • Can you define 'PR' for folks who aren't familiar with this field, especially in the context of today's highly technology-based culture?
  • A:
  • PR, or public relations, is basically an arm of a company's overall marketing campaign. As a marketing campaign aims to reach your customers, it can have various types of outreach, like advertising, direct marketing or public relations. For me public relations is the management of how the *media* talk about you or your company to your customer or target customer. Your publicist is the person who is basically a liaison between you and the press. My job is to take whatever talents, skills, news, projects, etc... my client has, and bring those to the media in a way that is compelling to them. Often, what we first do with clients is help them figure out what exactly their message is, make sure that the message they want to communicate is being articulated in a way that their audience will understand (and be excited by), and then help them take that message to the press.

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