When a bestselling book about your profession is entitled “Toxic Sludge is Good for You!: Lies, Damn Lies, and The Public Relations Industry” it’s obvious that your business has a rather dodgy reputation.當一個暢銷書約你的職業是題為“有毒污泥是好的，為您服務！ ：謊言，可惡的謊言，和公共關係行業”很明顯，您的企業擁有，而不是dodgy聲譽。
But most of the suspicion that’s directed at us concerns the way we shape the truth to serve our clients.但大多數的懷疑的是針對我們所關注的方式，我們形成的真相，以服務我們的客戶。 Hey, that’s our job – we carefully construct alternate realities where our clients can rule uncontested, their strengths highlighted and any possible potential tiny little deficits carefully glossed over.嘿，這就是我們的工作-我們仔細興建替代的現實情況下我們的客戶可以無爭議的議事規則，其優勢突出和任何可能的潛在微小的赤字小心輕輕帶過。
What’s not talked about as much are the real lies that PR agencies tell clients and/or prospects.有什麼不談論多是真正的謊言PR代理商告訴客戶和/或前景。 Yes, doing any sort of business requires the spewing of some polite fallacies to lubricate the wheels of commerce.是的，做任何形式的業務需要噴湧的一些禮貌的歪理邪說，以潤滑車輪。 But there are fabrications that are particular to the PR business.但也有認為是捏造的，尤其是公關業務。 You see them lurking, again and again, in the latest cut and paste press release announcing a new client win.你看到他們的隱患，一而再，再而，在最新的剪切和粘貼新聞稿，宣布新的客戶雙贏。 You read them on agency blogs.你讀他們對機構的博客。 You hear about them from disillusioned clients.你聽到他們從幻滅的客戶。
And now here they are, neatly organized into a list that may pry open the PR version of Pandora’s Box.現在在這裡他們，整齊地組織成為一個名單，可能撬打開公關版的潘多拉的盒子。 That would be rather apt since Pandora herself was gifted with the blessings of clever speech, crafty words, and a bit of a deceitful nature.這將是相當容易，因為潘朵拉自己是天才與祝福聰明的講話，狡猾的話，有點騙人的性質。
1: “This is such a terrific product/service!” 1 ： “這是這樣一個了不起的產品/服務” ！
Part of public relations is managing clients’ expectations.一部分公共關係是管理客戶的期望。 Not all products and services are newsworthy; some will appeal only to a niche market.並非所有的產品和服務是新聞;有些人會提出上訴，只有一個利基市場。 Others are entering a market that’s already oversaturated.其他正在進入一個市場的已經oversaturated 。 But many agencies are scared of telling their clients the truth fearing they’ll lose the business.但許多機構都害怕告訴他們的顧客的真相，他們擔心將失去的業務。 Instead of functioning as a strategic advisor, they act like an over-eager suitor on a first date.而不是運作作為一項戰略顧問，他們的行為像一個過分急於求婚就第一次約會。 Has any PR person angling for your business ever told you your product/service just wasn’t all that exciting?有任何的公關人垂釣為您的企業以往任何時候都告訴你，您的產品/服務剛才是不是所有令人興奮的呢？
2: “Your account is in the best possible hands…” 2 ： “您的帳戶是在盡可能最好的手中… … ”
PR firms often bring their best, brightest and most articulate stars (the Biz Dev team) to the pitch and infer that this is the talent working on an account that bills 3-5K per month.公關公司往往把最好的，聰明的和最闡明星級（合作開發團隊） ，以草地和推斷，這是對人才工作的帳戶條例草案3 - 5 K每月。 How many times have you heard that senior staff will be pitching the media on your behalf?您有多少次聽到的高級職員將俯仰媒體代表你呢？ Meanwhile, back in the real world, a junior AE or AE with limited experience is handling your account and has no idea what she/he is doing or why.與此同時，回在現實世界中，初級愛或愛與經驗有限，是處理您的帳戶，並沒有什麼想法，她/他正在做或為什麼。
3: “Our agency has deep experience in this space.” 三： “我們的機構有深厚的經驗，在這個空間” 。
Never mind the fact that likely 90%+ of that collective experience no longer works at the agency, having long ago moved on to competing agencies or retired/passed away永遠銘記的事實，可能90 ％ +集體的經驗，不再工程，在機構，早已轉移到競爭的機構或退休/逝世
4: “We did all that we could do.” 4 ： “我們做的一切我們可以做” 。
Hire the IBM of PR firms and, if they fail to get the product noticed, corporate PR can always bow out gracefully with a “Hey, it’s not my fault.聘請IBM的公關公司，如果他們未能獲得該產品注意到，公司的PR可以隨時退出優雅與“嘿，這不是我的錯。 The agency didn’t do anything.該機構並沒有做任何事情。 And they have such a great reputation—who could have known they’d screw this up?” The agency should have done something, but so should corporate PR.和他們有這麼大的聲譽-誰可以知道他們要螺桿跟進？ “該機構應該有做了一些事，但應公司的PR 。 When none of the PR players bothers to extend themselves a bit, it’s always the client who suffers.當沒有公關球員困擾，以延長自己一點，它總是客戶端誰受害。 It doesn’t even take two agencies to play pass-the-buck, often an agency will tell a client after the agreement is signed and months into the assignment that something can’t be done because it’s beyond their scope of work.它甚至不採取兩個機構發揮傳遞-推卸責任，往往是一個機構，會告訴客戶端後，簽訂協議和個月，轉讓，有些不能這樣做，因為它的超出其工作範圍。 For example, the agency won’t pitch speaking opportunities because it’s “beyond the scope of work.” Nonsense – getting media attention for a client through any possible, valuable venue is the job, period.舉例來說，該機構將不足球場發言機會，因為它的“範圍以外的工作” 。胡說八道-獲得媒體的關注為客戶透過任何可能的，寶貴的地點是就業，期。
5: “We know Web 2.0″ 五： “我們知道的Web 2.0 ”
More and more PR firms are offering clients help with podcasts, promoting and writing blogs and writing releases carefully optimized to ride high in search engine results.越來越多的公關公司提供客戶的幫助與播客，促進和寫作的博客和書面新聞稿仔細優化坐高在搜索引擎結果。 That’s great, assuming the agency has real expertise and isn’t just along for the ride on the Web 2.0 bandwagon.說的偉大，假設該機構的專業知識和真正的不只是一直為乘坐的Web 2.0潮流。 There are plenty of blogs that were guaranteed to “ramp up your SEO” languishing unread in the backwaters of the internet, and you can podcast until you’re blue in the face without seeing any improvement in your site’s page rank.有很多博客保證“匝道您的徐” languishing未在該backwaters的互聯網，您可以播客，直到您藍色，在面對沒有看到任何改善，在您的網站的網頁排名。 Run away fast from any agency that suggests that a widget can magically solve all of your PR problems.逃跑，快速從任何機構表明，小裝置可以神奇地解決您所有的公關問題。
6: We have great relationships with (insert high profile reporters’ names here)” 6 ：我們有很大的關係（插入高調記者在這裡的名字） “
I’m dumbfounded when prospects want me to drop names of reporters I know.我目瞪口呆的前景時，要我輟學的姓名記者，我知道。 Dropping the names of reporters at key media outlets such as The New York Times , MSNBC , BusinessWeek or Forbes , to cite just a few, really means nothing for the client.下降的姓名，記者在關鍵媒體如紐約時報 ， MSNBC的 ， 商業或福布斯 ，僅舉數，真的沒有任何意義，為客戶端。 Reporters know a lot of PR people, and visa-versa. And whether a reporter likes a PR rep or not, they aren’t going to write a story that isn’t interesting to their readers. In any case, it’s far better to find the right reporters to tell an interesting story than to keep pitching a small group of elite reporters.記者知道了很多公關人，和簽證，反之亦然。 以及是否有記者喜歡的公關代表或沒有，他們不打算寫一個故事，這是不感興趣的讀者。在任何情況下，它的遠better to find the right reporters to tell an interesting story than to keep pitching a small group of elite reporters.
7: “We have affiliate offices all over the world.”
Not a lie, exactly, (assuming they aren’t counting their freelancers’ apartments as satellite offices) — the falsehood is in the implication that this matters. In reality, lots of dots on the map that’s proudly displayed on an “About Us” page doesn’t mean squat unless there is a need or purpose. How will a branch office in Barcelona or Budapest serve your business?
8: “We offer highly-targeted strategic public relations.”
When in fact they just routinely blast out press releases via e-mail with the hope that something will stick, and reporters know to automatically delete the latest gibberish from ABC agency because they never send anything useful or interesting. Here’sa tip. Ask exactly who the agency is pitching, a small well-selected list of reporters is far better than sending a release to an entire mailing list comprised of every reporter that everyone in the agency knows, has heard of, or thinks may probably exist.
9: “We do a great job taking advantage of the news cycle.”
Certainly getting your clients comments out on the topic du jour is a good thing, but it’s far more important to think outside the box and make the news. Coming up with creative pitches is more difficult than riding the news wave so many agencies convince clients that a quote embedded in a few stories about the crisis of the moment is great PR. In reality, it’sa small part of what an agency should be doing.
10: “It’s not our fault, your product/service just isn’t all that compelling.”
The biggest falsehood agencies foist upon clients is that poor PR performance is largely the client’s fault. All too often the truth is closer to this: there are many untalented PR folk, with minimal smarts and/or communications skills, who send poorly written press releases via unsolicited email blasts and inundate a lot of journalists with boring, predictable crap. If the agency didn’t tell you your product was a tough sell at the beginning of your relationship, they shouldn’t tell you that after their campaign fails.
Okay, so I fibbed. I actually have 11 Top Ten Lies:
11: “You’ll get real benefits from our relationship.”
Years ago someone, who later became a client, told me he was paying $5000 a month to a big name PR firm who had suddenly stopped speaking to him. The last two months of the relationship there was no reporting, no answered phone calls, zip. Eventually he discovered that to this big PR firm his 5K a month basically covered only the administrative fees and nothing more. Yes, he was paying them to bill him. Sadly this isn’ta one-time instance, it happens frequently at PR agencies with a corporate parent. It’s particularly sad when it happens to smaller businesses and organizations for whom that 5K a month is their entire ad/marketing budget, and they opted to take a risk and spend it all on public relations.
So there it is. The 11 lies agencies PR agencies tell clients and prospects. I want to thank Andrew Edson, Jennifer Johnson Avril , Stephen Koenigsberg, and Rebeca Shiller for their feedback with this column.
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Lest I be accused of being a Grinch if I don’t participate in the mass prognostications that the season demands, here are my predications for the public relations industry in 2008.否則我會被指控格林馳如果我不參加在地下prognostications認為，本賽季的要求，這裡有我的預測為公共關係業在2008年。 
