I love a good trend. (Emphasis on good, of course.) Always have. 

Currently, microdosing is all the rage, with people taking that life hacking technique in all sorts of interesting directions. There is ample evidence that microdosing psychedelics can help some folks with depression and anxiety. And you know what? If anyone has a microdosing solution for getting a newborn human on a human-style sleep schedule — that's not vodka! — please let me know.

Trigger warning: Maybe due in part to lack of sleep, this piece will be notably no-frills focussed. Right over the target, unapologetically blasting away. The point is one I've made before in the context of other articles, as some dear readers will recall, but it clearly demands an unforgivingly stark solo spotlight.

Because, at the reward of repeating myself yet again, I can assure you.

Before expanding, care to guess who is always asking me to microdose PR? New ventures with limited resources. 

Shortcut It Out, Folks

And I know they're not all just coming to Press Hook. Plenty of colleagues situated across the PR landscape are repeatedly encountering and lamenting this dismal trend. Ask determined microdosers why they are dead set on seeking only very limited, quick-hit PR engagements and the stock reply is, "Because we're a new venture with limited resources." Right.

Now, while I am not sure what nomenclature the Harvard Business Review applies, devout Chris Rock fans will recognise this phenomenon as the One Rib Rationale: We really just need this one thing publicised right away. Later, in the warm afterglow of success that will surely follow putting out this fire, we will eventually figure out how to order a proper entree-sized PR programme (though in actuality we'll probably just sheepishly return later out of the blue for another hurried quickie).

Microdose madness. 

Though again, I get it. Who doesn't love shortcuts? 

Here We Don't Again

Why this topic now? Two recent client experiences.

To the extent they're broad stroke instructive, I will elaborate. But it's important to lead with the disclaimer that none of this is specifically about me or Press Hook or certain clients or anyone else.

Ultimately, it's about all of us — from brands to publicists to journalists to readers — the entire PR / Media ecosystem.

Bad outcomes are domino-effect unhelpful. For one, enterprises or individuals that make the mistake of microdosing PR are more inclined to come away with the self-defeating misperception that PR is simply not worth it period. After all, if a little PR didn't work — wasting time and money — why go and do more?

Then there's the negative impact on media consumers. Let's imagine someone has a powerful way to disrupt, say, the pet insurance market. Or maybe they have the starter seed for some other transformative product or service that needs more sunlight and water to take root and fully bloom. They obviously lose by not capturing the notice of partners or investors with the matching elements for success, but we collectively lose out as well.

Relaying such anti-microdosing warnings to Press Hook clients, however, I run the risk of appearing self-serving. To them, I'm a PR dealer, and that dynamic inhibits me from being more emphatic.

More honest. 

Which is frustrating, because whether an enterprise works with Press Hook, works with someone else, or even manages the process entirely on their own, the advice remains the same, because reality remains the same. You can't dip in and win. For real.

Now, did I reluctantly serve those two recent clients the requested 'one rib' regardless? Yes. Yes, I did. You try to be a good lifeguard, but if grown-up professionals waive all the disclaimers and insist, sometimes I don't want to be the obstinate dealer.

Instead, the dice gets rolled and I hope they remember what I tried to explain. But looking in the mirror after, it's hard not to conclude that my best advice could probably be a whole lot better.I need to offer more honesty — better crafted.

(Clears throat.)

There's an App for That

Ruminating on the challenge — How can I make the deeper PR reality clearer? How can I make my anti-microdosing maxims more persuasive? How can I prevent avoidable misfires? — I luckily happened upon a stellar article I wish I'd written, titled Do relationships with journalists really matter? 

Great, hooky title. One of those headlines where you know the surface answer straight away but still need to devour every word. The author, Joni Sweet, is a freelance writer and PR coach. She comes across like she's meant to be my new best friend. She's that kind of writer. And reading her piece, something big-picture finally clicked for me. Relationships. Yes.  

Forget case studies, statistics, logistical parameters, publication lead times. There is a more compelling and universal framework for understanding the folly of PR microdosing.

Dating. Imagine that you're some single person, who recently arrived in a new city and doesn't know anyone — but your boss's kid's wedding is coming up, and everyone important will be there, judging you. (We're getting allegorical now. Stay with me.)

Now, as a practical matter, sure: You can create a Tinder or Bumble profile (or both), add some flattering photos and stats, write a few clever blurbs, then hurry it all out there. Might even work. But now imagine that the wedding is in September, and you decided to get cracking with all this in August. (Hey, you've been preoccupied with settling into a new town and a stressful job.) Still like those odds?

The one month subscription plan will be the cheapest option — can't deny that. And after September, there's nothing set on the calendar you need a date for. Yet. But the clock is ticking.

And bear in mind that dating being dating (read: real life, not the movies), you will likely hit a few duds along the journey to "wedding date material". Please. Even in the movies, that montage of monstrously terrible dates before the meet-cute with Prince / Princess Charming is as mandatory as the closing credits.

How many drinks or coffees or lunches or dinners is that? How many hours of scheduling? And rescheduling? Getting ghosted or catfished?

Still like those odds? With only four weeks to showtime?

You'll probably have to say it right there in your profile: I need a wedding date, on this date, at this time. This is the dress code. Please only slide into my DMs if you're cool with that. Can't wait to meet you!

Imagine that you, dear reader, in your real life, see such a profile hit your feed. Maybe this person even just DM'd you? Does that kind of "standing out" come across as a successful formula? Does it win you over?

Not a Good PR Look

As we all know and sometimes resent, looks matter. On dating apps and everywhere else. 

And I'm going to suggest that while few people would likely respond well to our allegorical dating app profile, a lot more would remember it, and not so fondly. Having said all that, could the tactic still work? Sure. Crazier things have happened. 

Who can rule out magic? I wouldn't dare. But magic in a month? Just how magical are we feeling? Are we feeling — and looking — like Dua Lipa, Ryan Gosling and David Geffen combined?

Would you stake your business plan on those odds? Your long term reputation? Because as previously noted, if you're not the instant PR Powerball winner, the best-case scenario is that the microdosing just doesn't work: No one responded to your dating app profile with its despo pleas for a wedding date, the algorithm sank it to oblivion, game over.

Otherwise, you're attracting the wrong type of attention. You're alienating the dating pool. Especially when your profile disappears in September only to abruptly reemerge next April because — voilà — your boss's other son / daughter is getting married. Or, say, you're suddenly adding a new feature to your tech-related AI product and want some quick mentions in the media to boost sales — within a month or so.

Or your sparkling beverage brand is gearing up for its Series B funding round and some media buzz would really grease the skids — within a month or so.

Capiche? 

The Surgical PR Strikeout Strategy

It's really always the same story. The heart wants what the heart wants. The client wants a surgical PR strike.

But the absence of a sustained effort and relationships leaves them waving around a hopelessly dull, plastic scalpel. It's all too transparently inauthentic, transactional and thirsty.

And naive. Public relations is a USD$100-billion dollar industry, friends. I have fun with the playful pop culture perceptions (as the article illustrations attest), but no one should get it twisted. PR is a foundational business function and investment, not just parties and photo shoots and gift bags. Like anything else that's business critical, it takes dedication to manage and focus to perfect.

Would anyone think it's sensible or responsible or sustainable — or defensible — to periodically dabble with marketing for a couple of months and then stop? With social media? With sales?

PR is every bit as critical — plus, it's critically entwined with all of those other core business elements. The adage that you only have one opportunity to make a first impression doesn't always hold true, but without a steady, responsive hand on the wheel, what kind of relations can you hope to have with the players in your lane who command the attention of the public?

Especially for new enterprises with limited resources and profile, the fallout from a misstep or missed opportunity can be exceedingly difficult to transcend. Meaningful, constructive rewarding relationships take time. As a brilliant, wise, impossibly glamorous, currently hallucinating from lack-of-sleep woman once wrote: You can't hurry love — or PR.

No amount of AI will be deporting the large mass of imperfect but striving human beings from the media community in our lifetime. Otherwise, a venture's PR profile needs to be active, responsive and present — bearing in mind that, as the hip-hop kids say, the streets is watching.

And by the way, I genuinely believe in eventual PR magic, powered by persistence and patience. In fact, I've experienced it. It's actually why I'm here. Yeah, the movie magic PR thing happened for me in real life. In fact, it's even more of a movie than all that. Maybe I'll even share that whole story in another piece.

What I will explore next, however, is a helpful look at how smart PR can be impactful IR (investor relations). We'll go deep drawing from my personal founder experiences plus actionable insights from clients, entrepreneurs, serial investors, journalists and more, replete with impactful strategies and mistakes to avoid.

Until then, party people, the final word on microdosing PR: Microdon't. 

For more information, visit www.presshook.com. You can also follow Press Hook on Facebook, LinkedIn, X, Instagram, or on TikTok. 

*Image courtesy of Facebook