Avoiding Plagiarism
Earlier this week I was chatting with one of my colleagues about Time magazine’s suspension of respected writer and CNN TV host Fareed Zakaria for plagiarism. It got me thinking about the topic and I decided it might be helpful to offer a reminder of what plagiarism is as well as tips on how to […]
The Secret Sauce of Viral Videos
I hear it all too often and, to be honest, I’ve been guilty of it as well: “Let’s create a viral video to drive buzz, raise awareness, etc., etc.” Sounds like a great strategy, but the truth is you can’t really create a viral video. In reality, all you can do is create the video […]
Competency-Based Development
Who isn’t striving to get better in some area of his/her professional or personal life? If you or someone on your team has a development need or simply a desire for continuous improvement, I have a book recommendation for you. It is FYI For Your Improvement, a guide for development and coaching. In its fourth […]
Three Guidelines to Establish Your Personal Brand
As PR pros, we’re invariably asked by clients to help them establish, protect and/or enhance their brands, but how often do we pause to ensure our personal brands receive the same treatment? Personal brands can help garner new business, pique the interest of new talent for recruiting purposes and even land you a new job. […]
Four Ways Instagram Can Lead a Small Business to Success
When Instagram was first launched in the fall of 2010, nobody could have predicted its enormous success. Despite its simple concept, Instagram gained a total of 14 million users in its very short lifespan, and was sold to Facebook in April 2012 for $1 billion. The free app allows users to snap, edit and post […]
Building a Trusted Brand: Five Values From the Pros
What do Coca-Cola, Apple, FedEx, Target, Amazon and Southwest Airlines all have in common (besides being incredibly successful companies)? According to Entrepreneur magazine, they are examples of the top 10 most trusted brands in America. In its April 2012 cover story, Secrets of the 10 Most-Trusted Brands, Entrepreneur partnered with The Values Institute, a Virginia-based […]
Honda’s Pinterest Campaign Encourages Pinners to “Take a Break”
In just a matter of two years since its beta launch in March 2010, Pinterest has become one of the top ranking social networking sites today. Just last month, Experian Hitwise reported Pinterest is the third largest social network in the U.S., surpassing LinkedIn. As consumers continue to flock to the site in droves, so […]
Ground Rules for Harnessing the Power of Pinterest
Earlier this year, we wrote about the rise of Pinterest and its potential for benefitting businesses. We discussed its ability to help businesses drive traffic to their sites, provide a platform for deeper customer engagement, and showcase new products and services in unique ways. Since then, as we predicted, Pinterest has grown like wildfire. In […]
Smartsheet: A Collaboration Tool for PR Teams
As many PR professionals and marketers may agree, the ability to prioritize multiple assignments and stay on track with a myriad of projects requires strong organizational skills. Recently at Communiqué PR, we started utilizing Smartsheet.com for our project management needs and to facilitate online collaboration. Introduced by the Bellevue-based company in 2006, Smartsheet.com is an […]
Creating Blogs to Captivate Your Readers
In the world of social media, blogs have become an important medium to share your company stories beyond a traditional press release, allowing you to promote your company’s services as well as your perspective on relevant industry topics. In addition, blogs allow you to gain valuable feedback from your customers as they write comments on […]