Posts Tagged ‘publicity’

Companies Need to Make Sure Everyone, from the CEO on Down, Recognizes the Impact of Their Words

Wednesday, August 8th, 2018

In a highly publicized conference call, first reported by Forbes, Papa John’s founder John Schnatter used the “N-word” during a discussion between Papa John’s executives and marketing agency Laundry Service. What followed was weeks of turmoil where Schnatter first stepped down as chairman of the Papa John’s board of directors, then said his decision to step down was a mistake, and then filed a lawsuit against the company he founded for what he describes as the “heavy-handed” way he was treated. The company’s stock has (more…)

Thought Leadership Through Content Marketing for Business Professionals

Tuesday, May 22nd, 2018

Hiring marketing or content marketing talent?Most small business owners are heavily focused on their core skillset. They are bakers, event planners, lawyers – insert job – first, and accountants and marketers second. As Pamela Slim writes for Entrepreneur, “Most small business owners aren’t marketers by trade, but almost all (95 percent) do some form of marketing for themselves, and many need to master what can feel like a very steep learning curve quickly. Most entrepreneurs and small business owners (64 percent) are self-taught and less than half (46 percent) consider themselves ‘marketing savvy.’” (more…)

Why You Might NOT Want to Become a Thought Leader

Saturday, January 13th, 2018

Thought leadership is something we talk about a lot, and for good reason: it can be a great marketing vehicle—if done correctly.Because content marketing is so prevalent these days, creating and disseminating content across a wide range of channels (traditional and digital) is more cost-effective than ever before. And people are hungry for useful, relevant content.

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Your Best Bet for Establishing Yourself as a Thought Leader? Content Marketing. Here’s How!

Tuesday, December 9th, 2014

As both a consultant and someone who works with consultants to help them gain “thought leadership” status and new clients, I’ve watched the field of content marketing and content management grow exponentially over the past few years. Content marketing doesn’t show any signs of diminishing soon. Although, I do believe there will be a corresponding resurgence in the need for “gatekeepers” and “curators” to help both B2B and B2C consumers wade through the proliferation of messages that exist today. The field is becoming more and more populated by not-so-useful content, much of low quality and dubious accuracy.

Still, for myself and the clients we work with, we’re finding that a strategic combination of quality communication to key audiences, delivered across a wide range of channels (traditional and digital) can be a very cost effective way to build business. (more…)

What You May Be Doing Wrong When You’re Pitching to the Media

Tuesday, June 24th, 2014

At least once a week – maybe more often – I’ll have a prospect or client say to me:  “I can’t understand why the media won’t run a story on my…” Well, there may be a number of reasons.

Here are 5: (more…)

Media Interview Tips: How to Get the Coverage You’re Hoping For!

Thursday, June 5th, 2014

After all of your hard work to interest an appropriate media channel (one that reaches your desired target audience) in a story about you or your business pays off, the work is just beginning! It may be hard to believe, but getting the interview is often the easy part — doing a good job during your interactions with the reporter is the really tough part. It’s what determines whether or not your name and information will ever see the light of day.

When we conduct media training, here are the general tips we share: (more…)

Gaining Traction With the Media

Thursday, October 3rd, 2013
When I work with students and clients I like to tell them that there are four ways that consumers (whether B2B or B2C) learn about companies and their products and services:
  • Their own personal experiences
  • Word of mouth (WOM) from colleagues, friends and relatives
  • Media coverage/PR
  • Advertising done by these organizations

I list them in order from most impactful, to least. And, while advertising certainly plays an important role for many organizations, media exposure is more credible. Why? Because media coverage represents somebody else talking about you, versus you talking about yourself. It is not necessary to spend a lot of money on traditional advertising to get results these days. In fact, there are multiple opportunities for even the smallest of organizations to make an impact. For those seeking to boost awareness, preference and demand for their products and services without investing large amounts of money in paid advertising, the steps are: (more…)

Provocative Gone Too Far? – IDK, but it pays to know your audience

Tuesday, July 23rd, 2013

One of the things I’ve done for a number of years is freelance writing. Whether I’ve been employed in a full-time job, or now as I run my own consulting business, it’s just something that I can’t bear to give up. Because I have also worked with clients to help them find PR placement opportunities, I’ve been fortunate to experience “both sides of the fence” so to speak. The situations I encounter help me in my client work and also often serve as good examples for the PR-related classes I teach. At any rate, a recent experience really resonated with me.
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Decline of News Media Industry May Hold Opportunities For You: Here’s Why

Wednesday, March 20th, 2013

Pew’s recently released analysis of the state of the news media appears, upon first analysis, to be nothing but dismal. The report indicates that newspaper newsroom cutbacks left the industry down 30 percent since its peak in 2000–actually below 40,000 full-time employees for the first time since 1978! Instead of news as we know it, most of these “news” outlets are focused on reporting sports, weather and traffic. Even CNN’s news packages are down nearly half according to the report.

But, for businesses, business professionals and would-be thought leaders there’s a silver lining here.  (more…)