Psychological Safety and Team Communication
In November 2017, I blogged about building motivation as a learned skill and applying it to the PR industry, based on Smarter Faster Better by Charles Duhigg. I have now finally finished the book and must say I truly enjoyed it. I found the information in the book interesting, and applicable to my work as […]
3 PR Lessons From Starbucks’ Public Bathroom Crisis
After two African American men were arrested in a Philadelphia Starbucks for asking to use the restroom without purchasing something, the nation wondered how the giant conglomerate would handle such a polarizing crisis. Not long after the video of the confrontation with police and hashtags to boycott the coffeeshop went viral, Starbucks rolled out an […]
5 Ideas to Make Your Pop-up Shop Instagrammable
Every brand wants customers to be their brand ambassadors on social media, and what better way to do this than creating an engaging pop-up activation that followers can visit and post about. Instagram is one of the most public channels that consumers use to discover and learn more about brands, as well as share branded […]
The New Strategic Selling: Sales (and PR) Tactics are Only as Good as the Strategy That Leads up to Them
One of my professional goals for 2018 is to hone my business-development skills, and multiple people have recommended the book, “The New Strategic Selling,” by Robert B. Miller and Stephen E. Heiman, as an excellent foundation with which to begin. As I read the book in the weeks ahead, I’ll share some of my key […]
Best Practices for Tracking News Coverage
One of the many tasks that public relations (PR) agencies perform on a regular basis is tracking editorial coverage. In most cases, we track coverage that is expected, such as a story based on a press release, or a by-lined article placement. On other occasions, we may be looking for unexpected coverage, for instance from […]
The Evolution of Facebook’s Messaging
The last few months Facebook has been the center of the media’s attention. In case you haven’t sifted through the articles, the gist of the story is this: Cambridge Analytica, a political data firm hired by President Trump’s 2016 election campaign, gained access to private information from millions of Facebook users. The backlash has been […]
Spring Cleaning PR Pro Style
Ahh, spring ‒ flowers are blooming, birds are singing, allergies are emerging, and clutter is accumulating! I’m not just talking about the junk in your closet ‒ public relations “clutter” tends to build up throughout the year and can inhibit your ability to produce effective PR results. Give the same attention to your PR strategy […]
Benefits of Offering Multiple Spokespeople in Your Pitch
As a general rule of thumb in PR, every pitch should offer a dedicated spokesperson. Without losing sight of the foundational steps of ensuring your listed spokesperson is approved to speak on behalf of the company and prepared to speak to your pitch, consider the benefits of offering multiple spokespeople. This strategy is particularly helpful […]
Influencer Marketing: What Works for Gummy Vitamins Won’t Work for Million-Dollar B2B Tech Products
As I’ve blogged previously, I’m a passionate B2B (business to business) technology geek. Give me some complicated network infrastructure or some cloud-based enterprise software to pitch to reporters, and I’m a happy PR person. What I enjoy about B2B-focused products and services is that they use a unique and specialized language to reach their target […]
Anyone Can Lead: Takeaways From Harvard’s Professional Development Training
I recently had the opportunity to go back to school and attend a professional development course at Harvard University’s Extension School. The specific course I participated in was Managing Yourself and Leading Others and entailed two full days on Harvard’s campus with a very diverse group of about 50 individuals. The course was incredibly valuable, […]