longer wage successful P.R. campaigns without outsourcing to technology firms that specialize in artificial intelligence.
Entrepreneurs and freelancers use social media and the internet to promote themselves because it’s free or cheap. But there is a hidden cost to using social media and the internet. Invest nothing and you will get nothing in return. Invest little and you will get little in return. Here’s the kicker: you need a whole lot of money to retain firms that are experts in algorithms. (As much money as the candidates who successfully ran in the 2016 political campaigns.) And the sad reality is that most of the self-employed work force does not have enough money to be a contender on the Dark Web.
I could show you examples of memes that are generated by bots and algorithms, but if I show you these memes, they will be forever linked to my name on Google. For an example, check out this website and scroll down through its media gallery. Any time you see an image (meme) with few words spouting a message about people, politics, companies or products, it has been generated by artificial intelligence. Dark P.R. is like pornography, you know it when you see it.
There are lots of articles out there talking about how to successfully use the tools of P.R., but the tools that were used in the past do not work anymore. The absence of having a lot of money to spend on your P.R. campaign is the equivalent of mass infantry going up against machine guns. Remember World War I when troops suffered devastating casualties? The machine gun was an exponential leap in the number of bullets that could be discharged against infantry. Times have changed times ten. Now the idea of a small fry going at it alone, up against smart technology, smart bombs, and laser guided anti-tank missiles is unimaginable. Even a small fry in an armored vehicle can’t withstand an anti-tank missile. Think you’re going to use social media or the internet because its free and fast? Think again. The odds are stacked against you. It’s mathematical. It’s impossible.
Your Name Will Never Be in Lights.
What can you do to promote yourself?
Hang out your shingle. Need to get work? Who will hire you? Once you know who will hire you, then build your tribe among that group of people. For you, it’s never going to be a winner takes all. Even under the glare of the lights in the big city, you’re still a loser on the Dark Web. You can build a fiefdom, though. A tribe. You need three things: A message. Your message is so distinctive and clear that people don’t just hear it; they feel it. They get your message in their gut. Action. People need to feel that your message is so valuable that they can feel it in their gut and they know it can be delivered. Benefit. People feel that you offer practical benefit to the tribe. Grow your tribe.
You’ll read lots of blogs describing how much P.R has changed, but when you boil it down, there is only one rule of P.R that prevails no matter what changes in technology. People do business with people whom they know and trust. That doesn’t mean like and trust. You don’t have to like someone to do business. But it helps to know—at the end of the day—that you’re doing business with someone who has considered your interests as well as his own. The best business is conducted when both parties establish a mutually beneficial relationship. This might not translate well to the Dark Web, but it does work wonders when its sealed with a handshake behind closed doors. Key takeaway: Always be growing your tribe.
*According to a survey by cloud accounting software company Freshbooks, the number of self-employed Americans could triple to 42 million by 2020. That compares with 126 million Americans working full-time jobs in 2017, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Patricia Vaccarino has written award-winning film scripts, press materials, articles, speeches, web content, marketing collateral, and books. She is currently working on a sequel to YONKERS Yonkers!