It seems everyone hates Twitter lists. Among the top complaints are that they’re just another way to make cliques and make some feel less deserving than others. This is certainly a valid point, but there’s a gold mine of a benefit it seems no one has considered (or shouted loudly enough about) — one of the major upsides may have in fact have helped save Twitter (at least in how it applies to PR/Marketing). There are, of course, some downsides besides the clique factor… Continue reading
Tag Archives: PR
In PR, Silence Isn’t Golden; Respect Your Audiences
They say silence is golden. True, if you’re looking out over the Grand Canyon during a beautiful sunrise. But in the world of high-stakes media, silence is often a man’s worst friend. Yet, coming from a sports PR background, I’ve seen countless athletes, coaches and owners/administrators try to stymie the inevitable with pure silence. And in almost every case, it comes back to haunt them . . . big time. Continue reading
One form of communication just won’t do
“Sign me up!” were the words I exclaimed back in February when I found out the gym I was checking out allowed free guest passes, anytime, any day of the week. What a huge plus!
A few weeks ago, I walked into my gym with a guest. I hadn’t been in about a week and I was ready and raring to go. I told the girl at the desk I’d like to sign my guest in.
“Oh, you can no longer have guests for free during the week. Only weekends. It’ll be a $10 charge today.”
<Squealing brakes>
“What?” Continue reading
Personal Branding in a Service Industry
Recently, the PRBC crew had the pleasure of chiming in—as an entire group via Google Documents—on a series of questions regarding the blending of public relations and social media (one of my favorite subjects to discuss) on Lauren Fernandez’s LAF blog. The first set of questions dealt with what effect we all thought social media has had on the public relations industry.
You can read all of our responses here, but a comment by our good friend Jay Keith really sparked something in me. Jay was discussing his distaste for the exponential increase in so-called “experts” who are now online. Continue reading
Content vs Relationships – It’s not a monarchy…
I’d been bouncing around a post on this topic mentally for a few weeks, but as usual things get in the way. But when a post from superstar Chris Brogan declaring not content, but rather relationships “King” and a counter-post (though not referencing Brogan’s) appeared on Chris Illuminati’s blog declaring content King it was time to, as they say, open a vein and bleed on the page.
Declaring either content or relationships as King implies that either can stand alone. After all, in a monarchy the King rules — his will is law (and in some cases religious doctrine). This is certainly the exception, not the rule. It’s a triumvirate folks. Continue reading
Guys…we’re scarce, use it to your advantage
Ok, so to address this first…maybe there is something to the whole women’s intuition thing…(touché Kate).
As many of you know, earlier this week my colleague and PRBC founding blogger Kate Ottavio posted a great article addressing the male:female ratio in our industry, noting it’s a great chance to meet a girl.
While undoubtedly true (have you seen the Male:Female ratio of the PRBC family and of our get togethers (and yes @dannybrown — it is sheer coincidence)) there is a definite chance to use this to our advantage gents. Continue reading
Guys! Want to meet a girl? Go into PR.
Are you in PR? Yes? Ok, go ahead. Take a look around your office right now. What’s the ratio of men to women?
Looking around my college classrooms as a public relations major and around my office, I was and still am surrounded by women. The percentage of women in public relations varies from 60 percent to 70 percent depending on categories and the specific type of PR they work in. In essence: Girls, we dominate this profession numbers-wise! Continue reading
Seeing Opportunities in the Face of Fear
I want to take a moment to step aside from some of my previous discussions about the technology behind what is guiding us into a new era of communications and my ruminations on why I can’t stand the term “blogger relations” to discuss something far more personal to me: fear. Specifically, how my fears shape and alter my personal and professional goals and convictions. Continue reading
As Availability Decreases, Value Can Only Rise
Clients want it. Publicists work for it. But not everyone can have it. That’s right. I said it. Not every brand can be a cover model.
It’s an ugly reality, but we all need to accept it. Particularly as print publications, even well-established icons like Gourmet, cease publication. With less publications to cover the same amount of, if not more, content, the battle for the cover, or even a column, can only become more intense. So how will this new world work? Is it possible that the day will come where clients won’t want print hits? (Even I thought that sounded a little funny as I wrote it. Can we say ‘pipe dream?’) But, seriously. How will it work? Continue reading
Coffee Talk with the Winners of #PRStudChat Challenge
On October 21st over 409 participants joined in the #PRStudChat Challenge. This challenge was organized by Deidre Breakenridge and Valerie Simon. The conversation consisted of students, professors, and PR pros with Christine Perkett as a special guest. Over 40 schools participated but the winning school, with the most contributors, was the University of Maryland. After the challenge, I got the chance to chat with Assistant Professor Brooke Fisher Liu and Lecturer Susan Whyte Simon about UMD’s communication program and how they integrate social media into their students’ education. There will also be a part two of this interview with two public relations students from UMD. Continue reading