Jeff Esposito

Why PR Should Run Your Company’s Social Media Efforts

28 Comments

Jeff Esposito mug-smA short while back, Keith Trivitt wrote a thought-provoking post entitled Are Your Clients Ready for PR 2.0? We had an interesting conversation that started in the comments and worked its way offline to an agreement that whether a company liked it or not, they needed social media. I would love to be able to say that I am omniscient, but who am I kidding? So instead, I’ll simply speak from experience.

Now that that’s out of the way, we’ll start with how social media fell into my lap and turned me into an evangelist for keeping it clean and in the hands of the company’s communications team (PR, MarComm, agencies, etc.). About two years ago, our team was pulled into a meeting and told that the search team was going to use and manage Facebook and LinkedIn, and that it fell under Web 2.0 (remember that term), so we were to leave those sites alone. Continue reading →

Nathan "PRCog" Burgess

Irony At Its Finest

15 Comments

Mans hand with crossed fingersWhen a client hires a PR pro they are relying on a number of different traits that that person (or firm) projects during the RFP or pitching process. These will vary from sector to sector but certainly include strategic thinking, writing skills, relationships with press (or influencers), etc. Perhaps chief among these are the person’s trustworthiness. The client wants to know they can inform the PR pro of upcoming notable company events or newsworthy announcements – everything from news of employee cuts to earnings reports – and be secure in the knowledge the pro will keep this information close to their chest. Continue reading →

David Teicher

Social Media:Adverting v. PR — Round 1

5 Comments

DTeicher-This is my first, and long overdue, post for PRBC. Though I’m technically not in public relations anymore, the time I spent in the field has irrevocably molded my view of social media and helped me develop the skill set with which I operate today. But I’ve since moved to advertising and I find it amazing how publicists and ad execs hold such varied perspectives of how to operate within the social space on behalf of brands. I used to advocate that PR was the industry to spearhead social media initiatives. But I was admittedly biased. In  fact, I think the key to effectively establishing a brand as a powerful social entity is to take what each industry offers to the space and somehow unify the various approaches. Continue reading →

Keith Trivitt

Know Thy Audience

3 Comments

A woman giving a speech in front of an audienceStop me if you have heard this one before from a PR/communications colleague: “Our CEO/Board of Directors (BOD) really wants this hit/newsletter/sandwich/microsite/etc.”

Yeah, we’ve all heard this phrase from some of our PR and marketing peeps, and while that approach to external communications may have worked just splendidly in 1995, heading into 2010, this notion of “we must appease our CEO/BODs first!” is a recipe for a PR/marketing plan disaster, if you ask me. This thought’s been rocking through my mind for a few days now, so I’m just going to come out and say it: Continue reading →

Michael Schechter

What Do Changes In PR Mean For The Rest Of Us?

8 Comments

Michael Schechter - Bio PhotoCuriosity finally got the best of me and I decided to ask @PRCog about the PRBC hashtag that kept popping up in my Twitter stream. He quickly got me up to date, and must have put a little something extra in his coffee as he suggested that I offer up a guest post.

There are a two things that make his offer unusual and somewhat extraordinary. The first is that I don’t know Cog all that well. Don’t get me wrong, we’ve Tweeted a few times and I even caught him with his mask off for a brief moment at #masquertweet a while back. The second (and far more relevant) reason for my confusion is that I do not currently nor have I ever worked in PR. But I am not a complete mismatch. Continue reading →

Kate Ottavio

Who, ME? Yes. You!

13 Comments

Yes. Yes, you.
I think we can all understand there is a certain element of me to social ME-dia. There is also the ME generation. Hi! Member 1,276,024 of the ME Generation reporting for duty. PR, Marketing and Ad folks have caught on and are milking this self-centeredness like nobody’s business. And I in no way claim myself an expert in this arena and am aware this sort of targeting has been happening for quite some time. But go with me here… Continue reading →

Heather Whaling

Collaborative Pitching: Pitch With Me

2 Comments

pwt-logo_transIf content is king, then it’s about time we crown collaboration the queen.

By now, we all understand the value of quality content — in terms of SEO, traffic, engagement, readability, and so on. But, only recently have PR people begun to rethink our uber-competitive nature. And, we’re discovering that working together leads to better results for our clients.

For example: How many of you have seen a HARO query, and thought “Hey, that would be a perfect fit for X.” If X is another PR person, technically they’re a competitor. I don’t know about you, but when I first started my career, I never would have shared a lead with a competing agency. But, now I don’t think twice about giving someone a heads up if I see a HARO that might be relevent to them or their clients. If nothing else, it’s good karma, right? Continue reading →

TJ Dietderich

Your Copy Sucks: In Offense of Ellipses

32 Comments

AbstractTo the chief bottle washer, Cog:

Today, we’re staging a little intervention. Cog, we’re not doing this to punish you; we’re doing this because you’re our friend and we want what’s best for you. It’s getting to the point where you can’t handle it anymore. You’ll destroy yourself if you keep using at this rate!

I speak, of course, of your rampant abuse of ellipses.

I am completely biased, but I think they’re the most wimpy punctuation mark available. Lots of people use them (or, in my view, overuse them) because they lend a sort of pause in a sentence, and we naturally pause when speaking to breathe or think. Except I believe that our writing should be better and more compelling than our speech. We have the time to set it in stone (or word processor, as the case may be); we should strive for perfection.

So let’s talk about dot. Dot. Dot.
Continue reading →

Christina Khoury

Christina’s Coffee Talk with Amy Mengel

5 Comments

AMengel-smThis week I had the opportunity to pick the brain of Amy Mengel (@amymengel). Like some of my other  guests, Amy is one of those rare breeds that doesn’t rely on coffee. Although she enjoys “fake coffee” like Frappachinos, you’ll more than likely find her sipping Diet Coke for a little caffeine fix.  It’s okay Amy, we promise to not throw any fresh produce your way ;). In the summer months you can find her commuting to work often on two wheels as she is an avid cyclist. During fall months Amy is all about college football and skis slopes in the winter months. When she has free time, this book nerd can be caught bumming at the library looking for some new favorites to dive into. Amy relies on her well managed Google Reader to help her stay on top of the PR/SM news. Some of her favorites include: The Brand Builder, Todd Defren’s PR-Squared, and Dave Fleet’s blog. She also geeks out over Marginal Revolution and Strange Maps.  And so I give you, Amy Mengel, discussing corporate communications, consulting, Facebook, and the importance of strategy/tactics.

Continue reading →

…..a chance to start the day off right.