The 6 Secrets to Winning Any Local Election – and Navigating Elected Office Once You Win!

A Step-by-Step Guide to Campaigning and Serving in Public Office

Hon. Kenneth "Ken" Reid, Hon. Kenneth "Ken" Reid

• Publisher: Page Publishing, Inc.
• Year: 2019
• Print ISBN: 9781646281145
• eBook ISBN: 9781646281152
• Topic: Política y relaciones internacionales
• Subtopic: Seguridad nacional

"Most-complete source for campaigning and serving in local elected office. It's a book and course all in one!"Before you spend one dime on yard signs or bumper stickers, learn the "Six Secrets of Winning Any Local Election" from a four-time-elected, undefeated winner from a "purple" district.In this step-by-step guide to campaigning and serving in public office, you will learn how to:

• Raise money and budget your funds properly
• Mobilize and motivate volunteers
• Leverage media to convey your message
• Make successful voter contact
• Get out the vote in your favor!

Plus, Part II – "Navigating Local Elected Office Once You Win" -- the BEST guidance on how to be successful as a local office holder.And, there's more!

• FREE downloadable artwork for yard signs, fundraisers, direct mail, phone and canvassing scripts, etc.
• FREE consultation or campaign analysis with the author
• An "election timeline" to customize for your campaign.

Save time, money and hassles with this book AND course in ONE!To learn more about this author, please visit www.KenReid.org https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LKLbyuyEe7k

Chapter 9

Marketing (Media)

Marketing builds the case for people to vote for you. This chapter is designed to guide you on properly spending your time and money on marketing efforts that work to elect candidates, including earned media, advertising, direct mail (including the all-important palm card), social media, and various campaign paraphernalia, like lawn signs.

Communications/Marketing Plan

Having a well-thought-out communications plan based on the messages you wish to convey will go a long way to ensure you spend money wisely and in a targeted way.

Communications and marketing plans are standard in small and large companies. They include a budget for what they are going to spend money on and what techniques in marketing and income growth they wish to use or avoid.

In the case of a political campaign, it’s all about getting votes, so how you decide to spend your money to convey your message is critical.

Each community is different. For example, some communities have no daily newspaper and no weekly that covers the area. As a result, newspaper advertising is not an option.

If you have a large audience that listens to a certain radio station, then it might behoove you to use radio.

And of course, social media—particularly Facebook—is so ubiquitous and Facebook’s targeting approaches are so detailed that I doubt you can do without a social media presence.

But assuming you do have at least one weekly paper that covers your community, we will start this chapter off with how to use the press to your advantage and how to deal with the press.

This is also my favorite topic having been a trained journalist since the late 1970s and having been a reporter covering campaigns and local government, as well as being on the “other side” as a politician.

Earned Media: Getting Free Publicity for Your Campaign and Yourself

“Earned media” is a term to describe getting free media attention (e.g., a letter to the editor on your behalf and news articles or broadcasts about yourself). It is essentially “free” publicity versus the kind you purchase (advertising, direct mail) or generate off the internet (website, Facebook, YouTube, etc.).

In other words, it’s “getting into print,” as we used to say when newspapers were the main source of news on the local level.

I am a journalist by training and did public relations work for community groups prior to running for office in 2006. So I was getting earned media before I ran.

For a candidate not accustomed to getting press coverage, this chapter is for you.

But this chapter is not an exhaustive teaching of how to work with and use the press. One can take courses and read specific books on the subject. This will give a cursory overview of the most-salient things a candidate or public office holder should understand about the media.

First, ask yourself if you have ever done the following:

1. Have you had your name or picture in local media (print or broadcast)?
2. Have you addressed a meeting of the governing body you wish to join?
3. Have you addressed or participated in a news briefing on a local matter (press conference)?
4. Have you written a letter to the editor or to your representative?
5. Have you posted something you wrote on Facebook, including a video of you speaking?
6. Have you “shared” or “boosted” your posts on social media, and what were the results?
7. Do you shy away from this kind of attention?

If you answered “no” to most of these questions, and yes to question 7, then you will surely need some help or handholding to run for office or serve in office.

Despite the fact that newspapers and some broadcast outlets are struggling, meaning they do not cover local elections or local government very closely, the reality is that being able to speak to the media and use the media is critical in politics.

Being able to “get your message out” to a large or even targeted audience, especially not paying for it, can surely help in a campaign and will train you to work with and deal with the media, bloggers, etc. once you are in office.

This means you have to get over your misgivings about the mass media or hire someone or get a volunteer to help you with it, a volunteer who knows what to do (i.e., someone with a public relations or journalism background).

In this era of instantaneous news coverage, where almost everyone has a smartphone with a great still and video camera, any human action can be posted on social media and thus accessible to the mainstream press at any time. It also is your job as a candidate to always think about good photo opportunities!

You may not like the fact a number of politicians are “press hounds” and seem to stop at nothing to get on TV, radio, or in print. However, this helps with name recognition and gaining “goodwill” with the voters and your future constituents.

Blogs and political media

Blogs have taken over much of the local reporting in some communities due to the general decline in newspapers and local media staffing.

Blogs are not accurate journalism but opinion journalism, yet they often do break stories.

If you do have an influential blog in your area—and by influential, I mean a blog that gets a lot of page views and comments and are relied on by lay press reporters—it may behoove you to meet the blogger or his or her major contributors and get on their side. I find a little sugar works best even with reporters for lay media.

Candidates and their staff should avoid posting on blogs and the news media website comment sections either with your own name or anonymously.

Bloggers and the newspapers can track your IP address. If you happen to devise an alias and then post something under your own name using your computer and WiFi, it’s almost like a fingerprint for a crime.

I was using an alias on a liberal Republican blog for a few years. When I announced for county supervisor, a few commenters made some nasty remarks about me, and I decided to respond using my own name.

The blog owner saw the IP address was the same as my alias and exposed me. I was lucky as anything that this did not derail my campaign in the cradle, but it almost did.

And as a result, I use my real name if I post on a blog or newspaper comment section.

So you may be tempted to respond to bloggers and nasty comments on the media pages, but I would not do it. I would advise not even reading the comments on these news stories, if you can help it.

However, you can get friends to post and respond for you but would advise caution again. You would be surprised how insiders and reporters can figure out who is posting based on your writing style and the words you use. Resist the temptation to respond to anonymous comments.

Finally, a number of websites are political in nature but have reporters who cover stories...

Table of contents

• The Six Secrets To Winning Any Local Election
• Acknowledgments
• Prologue
• Preparing to Run for Local Office
• Forming a Campaign: The Local Election Landscape
• The “Six Ms” of Winning Local Campaigns
• Messaging
• Management
• List Management
• Money
• Manpower
• Marketing (Media)
• Candidate Debates and Forums
• Momentum: The Final Stretch to Election Day
• Epilogue
• NAVIGATING ELECTED OFFICE ONCE YOU WIN!
• Prologue
• Victory and Getting Started
• Getting in the Know
• What Kind of Office Holder Do You Wish to Be?
• The Structure of Your Local Government
• Rules and Legalities
• FOIA, Conflict of Interest, Disclosures, and Privilege
• Getting Things Done
• What Constituents Are Generally Concerned About
• Dealing with Stakeholders
• How to Respond to Constituent E-mails, Letters, and Phone Calls
• Voting, Decision-Making, and Outcomes
• Personalities and Handling Curveballs
• Working with Other Elected Bodies and Governmental Authorities
• The Fun Stuff: Ribbon Cuttings, Groundbreakings, Meals, and Perks
• Balancing Your Personal and Public Life
• Reelection Mode
• Epilogue
• Resource Guide