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Visibility, Credibility, and Growth.

From media strategy to reputation management, we explore the trends shaping public perception and share the approaches that drive measurable results for growing brands.

Getting Unstuck: Tips for Rediscovering Your Writer’s Muse

Writer’s block – sadly, it happens to all of us. Few things are worse than hitting the proverbial wall, especially in a field like PR, where writing is a daily requirement, be it for emails, media briefings, pitch materials or content development.

When you find yourself stuck, the magic question becomes, “How can I get the creative juices flowing again?” It’s not always easy, but fortunately, there are a few tricks that may jumpstart the process. This infographic from EnchantingMarketing.com details tips every writer can use for discovering their writing genius. Here are a few helpful pointers for getting unstuck with your writing.

 

Breaks can lead to breakthroughs

We’ve all sat at our keyboards mentally trying to fight through writer’s block, and often, it doesn’t work. When this happens, try giving your mind a break to allow your brain to recover from strenuous mental activity. As the infographic points out, our brains need to relax, too. Make time to play.

“During ‘off-time’ our brains continue to process ideas,” the infographic states. “So, breaks can give us extra insights, boost creativity, and make our writing better.”

 

Stay creative – feed your muse with new and creative experiences

To create, you need creative input. Inspiration comes from many different sources. Pursue those activities that excite and inspire you. Read books, have conversations. This can help feed your “creative well.”

Additionally, allow yourself to experience growth. Challenge yourself to stray from your comfort zone and explore new horizons. This can entail adopting a new writing technique or taking on a project with a new client. Yes, there’s a reason why people avoid leaving their comfort zones – it’s unfamiliar and can be difficult and scary. However, it can also lead to growth, and ultimately, satisfaction.

“When you stay in your creative comfort zone, you risk going stale,” the infographic states.

 

Befriend your inner critic

Sometimes, the person who is hardest on you can be yourself. It can be easy to overly criticize your writing. However, having an inner critic doesn’t have to be a bad thing, so long as you can avoid being overly critical and realize that the inner critic is likely your way of trying to bring about your best work.

For a healthy balance, try befriending your inner critic. Evaluate where you see room for growth in your writing and determine what is sustainable for your situation. What’s realistic for you to achieve? This can help you work with that inner voice, focus on the project at hand and make effective progress.

 

The writing process is painful. Embrace this.

Ernest Hemingway once said, “The first draft of anything is s***.” Unfortunately, this is accurate more often than not, especially when leaving your comfort zone. No masterpiece is captured on the first try.

Again, this doesn’t have to be a bad thing – a first draft is progress toward a greater end result. The revision process can be messy, but don’t give up. This is how writers work out the cobwebs and kinks in their writing – and demonstrate growth with each writing project. Each revision will help make your writing tighter and more focused.

 

Find your writing joy

Finding joy in your writing can lead to increased productivity while eliminating distractions. The infographic shows that writing joy is associated with maintaining a keen focus on the writing process. Joy can help propel your progress.

“When you focus on the work in front of you, you get into a flow and find pleasure in creating something that didn’t exist before,” the infographic states.

When it happens, writing joy is undeniable. Your best work will come when pursuing what interests you most and your enthusiasm will shine through.

As the infographic notes, “Even when you feel empty, you still have ideas, experiences, and stories to share.” In those moments when you’re feeling mentally drained, hold on to these words of wisdom, and refer to these tips to help guide you back onto your creative path.

 

8 questions to ask yourself when dealing with writer’s block

  1. What do you need to keep your soul happy and your brain cells humming along?
  2. Which kinds of input keep you inspired?
  3. How will you tiptoe out of your comfort zone?
  4. How can you be friends with your inner critic?
  5. When do you stumble in the writing process? And how can you get unstuck?
  6. Which distractions keep you from doing your best work?
  7. Who are your creative heroes? What can you learn from them?
  8. How can you make time to follow your curiosity and do your best work?

 

To see the full infographic via EnchantingMarketing.com, click here.

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How the Letter From CDC Employees Could Signal a Break From Their Restrictive Public Affairs Policy

On Monday, July 13, 2020, NPR broke the story that more than 1,200 current employees at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention signed a letter calling for the federal agency to address “ongoing and recurring acts of racism and discrimination” against Black employees. NPR contributors Selena Simmons-Duffin and Pien Huang note, “The letter offers a rare glimpse inside a famously opaque federal agency, where career staff often work for decades and information is carefully filtered to the public through the press office.”

The internally circulated letter received signatures from 10% of the organization’s 11,000-person workforce as of July 14. In the letter, the signatories lay out seven demands to address issues of racism, such as reviewing outstanding equal employment opportunity complaints, increasing diversity among senior leadership, and most importantly declaring racism a public health crisis. This letter arrives following public outrage over the silence of the organization in publishing official data on racial disparities in COVID-19 transmissions, illnesses and deaths.

In order to maintain unified messaging on disease control and prevention for American policymakers and the public, the CDC aims to limit the release of information from its employees to put the focus on official organizational messaging. In recent years this control over the release of employee information has tightened. In September 2017, Sam Baker, a reporter at Axios, published an internal CDC email by public affairs officer Jeffrey Lancashire, which read, “Effective immediately and until further notice, any and all correspondence with any member of the news media, regardless of the nature of the inquiry, must be cleared through CDC’s Atlanta Communications Office.” This email formalized the CDC’s position on silencing the voices of individual scientists within the organization.

The CDC website currently makes clear that scientists are only available to journalists following the approval by a CDC press officer.

The anonymous release of this letter provides a unique view into the inner workings of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In recent years scientists have followed agency protocol to hold restraint in speaking with the media. However, the release of this letter could signify an increasing non-compliance with this policy. As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to rage through the United States, and Americans stand divided on how to address the mounting case numbers, disgruntled scientists may begin to take action to report their findings when the CDC refuses to do so.

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Tideworks Announces New Marine TOS Solution

Image credit: Tideworks Technology

Last month, we had the opportunity to announce an exciting milestone for our client, Tideworks Technology (Tideworks). The company announced the go-live of its new terminal operating system (TOS) solution, Mainsail 10 at the Manzanillo International Terminal (MIT) in Panama.

The go-live at MIT is the company’s first deployment of Mainsail 10. Tideworks created the new marine TOS to provide terminal operators with a terminal operating system that would allow increased flexibility and the ability to seamlessly scale services up or down to adapt to changing operational needs.

The new TOS was engineered with the evolving supply chain in mind. As the container shipping industry works to stabilize amid the global pandemic, Mainsail 10 provides rapid access to and management of real-time data to improve decision making and increase the flow of cargo through the terminal, while also reducing costs.

Mainsail 10 Billing Transaction Search Results.
Image credit: Tideworks Technology

Leading up to the go-live of Mainsail 10 at MIT, we collaborated with Tideworks to generate awareness about the new solution via the company’s Mainsail 10 video campaign. To do this, we supported Tideworks with content development and distribution of the video series on YouTube and their social media channels.

Below is a list of the articles secured from our media outreach around the announcement. We have also included links to Tideworks’ Mainsail 10 video series.

 

Mainsail 10 Announcement – Coverage Recap

 

Mainsail 10 Video Campaign

 

We are excited about Tideworks’ innovation in delivering next-gen TOS solutions to the supply chain. Like many industries, marine and intermodal shipping have been hit hard by the impacts of COVID-19. We are impressed with how Tideworks has responded and continues to help its customers invest in solutions that will provide resilience to face future obstacles and opportunities.

To learn more about Tideworks’ recent announcements check out our post: Announcement Recap: Tideworks Announces Joint Venture With Brenock Technology.

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Actor Tom Skerritt Launches New PNW-lifestyle Stream Called EVRGRN

Tom Skerritt

We are super excited to be working with Tom Skerritt on the launch of EVRGRN, a new lifestyle channel available via streaming platform, STIRR.

Most people know of Tom’s iconic acting career. His credits include Top Gun, Steel Magnolias, A River Runs Through It, Contact, and Alien, among numerous other notable TV and film appearances. What most people may not know is Tom’s passion for storytelling, the Pacific Northwest, and his support of artists. EVRGRN is a culmination of those passions.

Tom, in partnership with CEO Leslie Grandy, is delivering a curated content channel to your home (or phone/tablet) that delivers storytelling at its best. While the high-quality content is extremely varied, all have some connection to the Pacific Northwest.

An example is “Out of Nowhere,” a documentary by Andrew Lahmann that illustrates the true story of four ordinary men who aim to conquer motorcycle land speed racing world records. When Andrew was in college and working to establish his career, he met with Tom. Tom’s mentorship and counsel in those early days of Andrew’s career were formative. Now a notable filmmaker in his own right, Andrew was thrilled to license “Out of Nowhere” to the EVRGRN channel.

EVRGRN delivers stories that are inspiring showcasing the ordinary doing the extraordinary.

Having Tom curate and deliver this content through the EVRGRN channel makes it easy to find these stories with confidence and trust in the quality of storytelling. You can access the channel here: https://evrgrnchannel.com/VOD

Below is some of the coverage we have secured thus far in conjunction with the launch of EVRGRN. It has been a fun project to be a part of.

  1. Television Business International, “Tom Skerritt’s Triple Squirrels launches new lifestyle channel,” 8/6/2020
  2. The Savvy Screener, “Tom Skerritt’s EVRGRN,” 8/6/2020
  3. GeekWire, “Tom Skerritt’s new Seattle digital media startup launches PNW lifestyle streaming channel,” 8/11/2020
  4. Tomorrow Will Be Televised, “Tomorrow Will Be Televised Eco-Challenge/EVRGRN Episode,” 8/14/20
  5. The Seattle Times, “Actor Tom Skerritt’s free EVRGRN channel streams best of the Northwest, and ‘no angry stuff,’” 8/17/20
  6. KVAL, “EVRGRN interview with Leslie Grandy,” 8/17/20
  7. KOMO, KOMO STIRR EVRGRN – VOSOT in 11 a.m. news, 8/18/20
  8. KATU, KATU STIRR EVRGRN – VOSOT in the AM news & VOSOT in the 4 p.m. news, 8/18/20
  9. KEPR/KIMA, KEPR/KIMA – VOSOT in 6 a.m. news & VOSOT in 5 p.m. news, 8/18/20
  10. KBOI, KBOI – VOSOT in 11 a.m. news & VSOT in 5:30 p.m. news, 8/18/20
  11. KBOI, “STIRR launches new channel for all things Northwest,” 8/18/20
  12. Television Business International, “TBI In Conversation: ‘Top Gun’ star Tom Skerritt on his move into AVOD,” 8/21/20
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Using Twitter Lists

Scrolling through Twitter can sometimes feel disorganized and overwhelming, but Twitter Lists can give you more control over the tweets you see.

Lists help you organize your feed by allowing you to group different accounts based on why you follow them. Lists are also more convenient than your default feed because you don’t need to follow an account to add them to a List. Lists can be made public or private. Private Lists are only available to your Twitter account, but public Lists are shareable and when an account is added to a public List, they get a notification.

For example, at Communiqué PR, we’ve grouped the members of the Public Relations Network that have Twitter handles into a Public Relations Network List. This allows us to view a feed from just the firms and executives of our network in one place, making it easier to see and react to their content.

 

Finding Lists to Follow

To begin using Lists to help focus your Twitter feed, start by looking for existing public Lists in your network. To find a relevant List, identify an account that you admire or that fits within a List topic. After navigating to their profile, select the ellipses button and then “View Lists” on the drop-down menu. This page will show you any public Lists made by that account. Selecting the ellipses in the top right corner will show you the Lists that include that account, including Lists they didn’t make.

 

Creating Your Own Lists

To make your own List, choose the Lists section in the main menu of Twitter and select “Create a List” or the New List icon. A window will encourage you to create a short name for your List, add a description, and decide if you want the List to be public or private. Public Lists should have easily understood names and descriptions that make it easy to share and follow. From there, Twitter will offer suggestions of profiles to add to your list and allow you to search for more accounts. You can also add handles to a List by visiting a profile, clicking the ellipses, selecting “Add/remove from Lists,” and choosing the List that fits the account.

When creating a public List applicable to your account as well, make sure to add your handle to your List to promote your tweets in the context of your List topic. Also, check the Lists that your account has been added to and make sure that none of them cause you concern or are a bad association for your brand. To remove yourself from a List, block the creator of the List (at least temporarily).

 

List Suggestions

Here are some Twitter List ideas that might help your brand:

  • Staff Directory. Group all your staff members or people related to your team into one List. This will allow you to easily see any updates from your staff.
  • Grouping accounts for the same brand. If your company or brand has required more than one Twitter handle based on geography, language or products, use Lists to group them all. For example, Microsoft’s List Microsoft Core Brands includes @microsoft, @xbox, @windows, @bing, @skype, and 11 more of their handles.
  • Competitor’s accounts. We recommend you keep this list private. Amalgamating a list of your competitors allows you to keep tabs on their updates, monitor their tweets and observe their interactions without following them.
  • Industry thought leaders. Is there anyone in your industry that you admire? Add them to a list to look at when seeking inspiration.
  • Industry peers. Help support your peers in the industry by grouping them (and yourself!) into a List. This can act as an endorsement, help them grow their professional network, and allow you to keep track of their professional progress.
  • Event guest lists. In-person experiences may not be in the works at the moment, but whether it’s a virtual event or a meeting in the future, add the participants to a List to help people stay connected and find each other after the event.
  • ‘Notice me’ Lists. If you’re trying to attract accounts to follow or interact with yours, try creating a List with a title and description designed to intrigue and draw awareness to your account. Keep these Lists limited and focused to show the List’s purpose.
  • Resources for your clients. These resources depend on your business, but a List that includes accounts that could be good resources or tweet insightful content can be easily shared.
  • MVPs (Most Valuable Profiles). Grouping accounts that like and retweet your content into a public List allows you to recognize their interactions and engage in social listening without following those accounts.
  • Location-based Lists. Create or find a List that keeps you up to date on local topics, news and public sentiment.

 

Once you’ve found or created your Lists, share them with your followers, your organization or your clients. Work to keep your Lists up to date by adding new accounts as you find them and culling inactive profiles. Maintaining your Lists will support how you interact with the content you’re interested in and help you grow and share your network.

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Rebranding With Purpose

For many businesses and organizations, the top priority is often profitability. However, as a new generation rises during civil unrest and a pandemic, we are beginning to see the spotlight shift to a focus on purpose-driven values.

Public expectations are higher than ever, and many consumers want to see companies make a positive impact on society. Breaking through and building a reputation grounded in purpose takes time, but it creates stronger customer loyalty, increases employee engagement, and can help protect a brand’s reputation.  

In a recent PR council webinar, I had the chance to learn about why purpose is critical for a company’s success in today’s culture. With the current attention to social injustice and systemic racism, businesses have an opportunity to not only speak out about fairness and equality but create meaningful action to change our society.

We’ve seen companies step up to the plate, such as Ben & Jerry’s statement addressing white supremacy, and this is only the beginning of a collective shift to a transparent two-sided dialogue between brands and their consumers. As an ice cream company created to eliminate injustices in communities, Ben & Jerry’s has created a page dedicated to highlighting the issues they are fighting to change.

But that is not all they’re doing. For instance, one of the issues they care about is climate change. They understand that the greenhouse gas released when producing ice cream is significant, so they’ve worked hard over time to have reduced their emissions. They’ve also set climate goals across their entire value chain. This is a great example of not only talking the talk, but also walking the walk to carry out their claims.

Finding and defining purpose boils down to being authentic and seeking out opportunities to make an impact larger than simply driving revenue. Purpose should remain one of the core values of an organization and can have a far-reaching impact on the following:

Drives Customer Loyalty
Today’s customers base their purchases not just on a product, but on the background and reputation of a brand. Many consumers take the extra step to decipher how brands reflect their stated values within the community.

Enhances Engagement
Employees are much more motivated to work for companies whose values align with their own. Some 76 percent of employees state that working within a strong company culture promotes their productivity and efficiency. Performance often improves as they not only want to be apart of a successful company but to help guide the change in society they desire.

Protects a Brand’s Reputation
In a time of crisis, performance is not just evaluated by revenue, but rather how a company’s leadership team makes decisions that are equitable and addresses the interests of employees, customers and other stakeholders.

Leading with grounded and purpose-driven communication is one of the many ways to come out of a sticky situation with confidence that it was managed properly. For more on crisis communication and the importance of fairness, please check out “Understand Trust and Why It Matters.”

Today, many companies must take the first step to look inward, examine their values and make sure they align with their stakeholders.

 

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