“Why don’t my news releases get picked up?” Just about every PR consultant has heard this lament at one time or another – often, from a prospective client who’s been trying to handle his own PR with little success. Yet even veteran communications pros have experienced the frustration of sending out a press release that […]
I’ve been doing PR for nearly two decades. DECADES. That’s a long time to be in an industry that’s somewhat young. And boy has it changed since I started out. My first job out of college was in London (long story), working for a tech PR firm during the early days of the dotcom boom. […]
With all of the time and energy you’re spending on creating and promoting great content, it’s easy to forget that your online presence isn’t meant to be a soapbox. It’s a two-way connection. Street cred and social proof aren’t built on self-promotional blog posts and tweets alone. So how can you go beyond your product […]
It’s one of the most talked about TV commercials. Old Spice’s “Smellcome to Manhood” commercial features a series of mournful mothers spying on their teenaged sons and lamenting that “Old Spice sprayed a man on my son, now he’s kissing all the women and his chores aren’t done.” Some found the spot hilarious; others found […]
Conferences can be a great place to network and get up to speed on best practices within your industry, but getting the most out of attending a conference or event is about more than just showing up. Once you’ve registered for the conference, what can you do to prepare? Look at the conference agenda and […]
Editorial boards are an age-old tradition at newspapers. Back when traditional media wielded more influence, these groups held enormous power, dictating the tone and direction of a publication’s editorial policy and its stand on various community issues and political races. In today’s digital world, with fractured media and citizen journalism, editorial boards aren’t quite as […]
US Airways tweeted a pornographic photograph today in response to a customer complaint. If that’s not shocking enough, try this: it took a full hour for the tweet to be discovered and removed. Thanks to US Airways, companies around the world are sure to be reviewing or developing social media monitoring policies. It’s not the […]
When my book publisher told me I had to get on Twitter four years ago to “build my platform,” I thought he was crazy. I didn’t have time to sit around reading people’s tweets about what they had for lunch, and no one I knew was even on Twitter to follow me. How was tweeting […]
Last week I had the pleasure of attending the Legal Marketing Association’s national conference in Orlando. Kicking off the conference was keynote speaker Kat Cole, the president of Cinnabon. If you’ve never heard of Cole, you can read about her in Forbes (From Hooters To Hot Buns: How Kat Cole Turned Cinnabon Into A $1 […]
There’s a common misconception that business-to-business communications have to look and sound a certain way… the opposite of good. Do you check your personality at the door upon entering your office building? Neither does your reader. Remember we’re all humans (of varying degrees) and want to be approached in our native language. To ensure sure […]