I’m writing this post at the tail end of a very busy, but incredibly inspiring weekend for me, so I’ll make it pretty short and to the point. My thought for this week is: EXPLORE. Always. In PR and marketing—and particularly in a service industry—it is imperative that we constantly keep our minds engaged and exploring new ideas, opportunities and thoughts. Even the most simple of concepts that come to us at seemingly the most random time (“Hey, a weather-map like visual feature of what is hot and cold could be really cool for client XYZ!”) may not be something you implement today, but those little random ideas have a way of stewing together over time and becoming your next big idea. Read the rest of this entry

I’m not sure if anyone has noticed television commercials recently, but they have become the most unrealistic and stupid commercials that just make me annoyed while watching making me change the channel. Commercials used to be fun. What happened? Why can’t commercials these days be like the Coco Ouffs commercials from the 90s? You know, the one with the coo-coo bird who goes coo-coo over cocoa puffs? Unfortunately, we have lost the creativity and are now all victims to see the abominations that ad agencies come up with. Below are two examples of the nonsense we endure every night. Read the rest of this entry

In recent months I’ve noticed an uptick in what I consider recycled advertisements – those television spots that were new within the past year or two, but disappeared for quite some time. After an absence, these ads are back. While I can understand that ad budgets have shrunk within the past year, I think companies are overlooking the message that this strategy is sending to consumers.  Read the rest of this entry

Any job/career can cause stress. My dad, for example, is an engineer. He builds buildings. He loves his job and does it well, but it’s demanding. He’s one of the most HIGH STRUNG people I know I will ever meet in my life and is always a little on the stressed side. Coming from his lovely gene-pool, I am also high-strung, Type A, etc., etc., which translates oh-so-conveniently into the fast-paced, multitasking world of PR. And I have to say it has only worked to my advantage in this field. Ask me 20 years from now…it might be a different story. Read the rest of this entry

How often do you talk to your closest friends? Once a day? On the phone or via text? For me, I talk to my closest friend probably every other day. Now think about how often you converse with your Twitter community. I talk to PRBreakfastClub and #prbc on a daily basis. The great connections I’ve made from Twitter have moved on to other platforms like e-mail and G-chat.

It is amazing the bonds that are built without ever meeting someone in real life. I bet you may not have known that PRBreakfastClub was started with some members having never met each other in real life. Last week was the first time we could say we’ve all finally met in person.  However, I do want to reinforce the importance of face-to-face communication and how to take these connections we’ve made online into “real life.” Read the rest of this entry

Each morning when I wake up, read an interesting article and want to share it with my social community I begin to hyperventilate (not actually … yet … but I think its coming). The countless options I currently have to participate in the social world are beginning to create an anxiety problem. Should I Tweet or Facebook or Buzz … and enter paper bag.  It made me wonder – with a new social networking site popping up each month and workloads increased thanks to the rough economy, will brands and their key executives take a step back from social media in fear they will not be able to communicate effectively? Maybe not just yet but we are on that path. Read the rest of this entry

Imagine you are an editor of a newspaper.  You’ve got limited resources.  Not enough staff, out-of-date computers, maybe even labor problems, too.  You check your e-mail one deadline morning and see a ready-made article about Product SuperAwesome prewritten from your favorite PR pro (wink wink)!  With your publisher breathing down your neck, 30 minutes until the final edition goes to print and a gaping space in your publication, you slap the article about Product SuperAwesome’s industry into your paper and everyone is happy. Read the rest of this entry

Unless you grew up being too cool for school, you’ll remember the Superman comics where Supes stumbles into Bizarro World, where everything is backwards. Or at least really weird.

Bizarro World can occur at any moment in real life too, and it’s an affliction that especially affects flacks and their clients. Here’s what happens when a flack enters Bizarro World: every single news story, every possible current event starts to look like an angle for you and your pitch. It doesn’t matter how illogical or tenuous; you see your assigned product everywhere, important to everything, and necessary for everybody.

Don’t get me wrong; it’s great to love your client. But pitching in Bizarro World isn’t about being passionate or creative. More often than not, it’s a sign of desperation. And it inevitably leads to failure because a flack who’s been Bizarroed isn’t capable of making informed decisions about angles, pitches, and appropriate targets. Read the rest of this entry

For those of you looking for some fun reading, or scrambling to catchup with this week’s fantastic PRBC posts — this week’s top articles (by pageview), in no particular order….

• 35 tips in 30 minutes (text edition)
• Christina’s Coffee Talk: Rob Guerrera
• The Fate of John Mayer’s Image
• HR’s Grasp on Social Media
• Storytelling Is At the Heart of Effective PR

Enjoy, see ya bright & early Monday.

Did you know that there are more than a dozen inudstry “Twitter chats” that focus on PR, social media, marketing and blogging? You may participate in one or two of these conversations, but it’s impossible to find time to chime in on all of them, right?

Until now.

You’re invited to join us for the ultimate chat mixer, taking place this Tuesday, March 9, starting at 8 p.m. EST. Justin Goldsborough, Valerie Simon and I are hosting this party to help people interested in PR and social media forge new connections and build their network. Read the rest of this entry