Waxing UnLyrical
FEBRUARY 20, 2013
Terri Johnson tipped me off to a fascinating story yesterday. It’s an exposé of China’s “black PR industry.” I had no idea such a thing existed, but here is how Charlie Custer , who summarized it for Tech in Asia , explains it: “Black PR firms provide client companies with both post deletion services to help them escape negative news stories, and some also provide placement for soft ads and hit pieces attacking competitors.
Bad Pitch Blog
FEBRUARY 21, 2013
'Ken Wheaton is Advertising Age ''s managing editor. He''s also an author. Since I pitch Ad Age , his email caught my attention when it landed in my LinkedIn inbox. His subject line, " Bacon and Egg Man, My Second Novel, On Sale Now ," made me assume he sent me a bad pitch. But I''m outing him, with his permission, because it''s the exact opposite. Ken''s bio on the Age Age site notes "short, to-the-point e-mail queries are appreciated.
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Journalistics
FEBRUARY 25, 2013
You want more publicity, don’t you? Whether it’s for yourself, your organization or the clients you represent, more publicity is a good thing. For many of us, it’s what attracted us to media relations in the first place. It was pure magic the first time I read an article in print that was the result of a story I pitched. In this post, I’ll share what I believe to be the two most effective media relations tactics for 2013 (hint: it’s all about inbound and real-time).
Waxing UnLyrical
FEBRUARY 6, 2013
Yesterday Mark Schaefer published a terrific post on how to pluck up the courage to blog with confidence. As I commented on the post, I recalled how I felt every one of the emotions he described (I’m too scared!, how much time will it take?, who will read it?, etc.) and then some, before I got my started on my blogging journey. And I also recalled how I might never have actually started that journey had it not been for Kami Huyse asking me to guest blog for her back in 2008.
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Waxing UnLyrical
FEBRUARY 26, 2013
Have you ever wondered what compels people to share content on their social networks? Two social accounts cross in the night , and a re-tweet or Like is born – why is that? Facebook insists it has the answer: write better content. Be succinct, use photos, on and on down the list of cliched suggestions that have peppered many a blog post. But if I ask my audience a question and hear crickets, why didn’t anyone engage or share my post?
Public Relations Today brings together the best content for PR professionals from the widest variety of industry thought leaders.
Waxing UnLyrical
FEBRUARY 14, 2013
I know, I know. . You’re tired of posts telling you to use Valentine’s Day that show you “Five Ways to Show Your Clients Some Valentine’s Day Love,” or “How Not to be a Bloody Valentine,” or “A Valentine From My Business to Yours.” You’re not? Oh, ok. Then I might file away some of those headlines for future posts.
Waxing UnLyrical
FEBRUARY 28, 2013
I’ve discovered that talking to people who have lived through and fought in a war can be a very awkward experience. I simply have no idea how to react to people I work with every day while I’m in Libya as they tell me about the things they’ve seen and done. Experiences which will surely scar them for life. The street where I live in Tripoli looks pretty much the same as it always did, but knowing that at least four men were shot dead outside one morning back in August 2011 as the city was libera
Waxing UnLyrical
FEBRUARY 15, 2013
Caffeine. There is no way I can start my day without a cup of coffee. (I’m sure most of you reading this post have an addiction to either coffee or tea.). For all the coffee lovers in Delhi, Starbucks comes to India ! I’m glad that at last I’ll get to drink the “Starbucks” coffee. The sinful coffee that I’ve heard so about from my friends and family, but haven’t had a chance to taste.
Waxing UnLyrical
FEBRUARY 19, 2013
If you decide to jump ship and start your own business (as I detailed in Part I of this post ), here are some balancing acts you will have to consider. 1. Niche vs. breadth. I had some entrepreneurs tell me that starting a business is like starting a band: Take EVERY gig. Play EVERY show. Extend as far as you can. Get a portfolio. Others told me to focus.
Journalists receive an overwhelming number of press releases daily, making it hard for your news to stand out. While some news is valuable, most is not.
Waxing UnLyrical
FEBRUARY 5, 2013
Despite its uncertainty in the stock market, Facebook continues to be an excellent way to connect with your client base and potential customers. As a result, businesses continue to desperately find new ways to reach their fans and build their online reputation on this leading social media platform. Image: goiabarea via Flickr, CC 2.0. This struggle is even more difficult for business-to-business (B2B) marketers, who feel so lost trying effectively target business professionals on Facebook that t
Waxing UnLyrical
FEBRUARY 7, 2013
I always feel a great paradox at the beginning of the year. On one hand, the year is ending. We get the distinct feeling of being out of town. Things lull into a sleepy haze with the onset of the holidays. People declare to quit smoking or overeating, then go out for fine dining and drunken midnight bar hopping. Things will have to change, but give off the appearance of staying inevitably the same.
Waxing UnLyrical
FEBRUARY 22, 2013
When I decided to hire a virtual assistant, I had no idea how much I’d learn from the process. Here’s the story: As you know, I’ve relaunched my business (new website coming soon, I’m so excited to share it with you!) and have very specific areas I want to grow it in. I’ll tell you more about those later, but there were a couple of things I realized when I made the decision to dust off my entrepreneurial shoes: 1.
Waxing UnLyrical
FEBRUARY 12, 2013
Guest post by Nick Kellet . Innovation often comes from combining or subtracting or inverting existing ideas or processes. This process is well articulated in Thinkertoys by Michael Michalko. Image Credit: Nicholas_T via Flickr, CC 2.0. There’s lots of great examples, but here are four: Combine: gas engine + battery power = hybrid car. Subtract: remove the keyboard from a Blackberry and you get an iPhone.
Speaker: Michelle Garrett, PR Consultant, Author, Speaker
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Waxing UnLyrical
FEBRUARY 8, 2013
My usual MO when I go to bed is to read for a while before the Zs actually kick in. Either I read, or I play a game (or several) on my iPad, or I surf Facebook to see what I missed during the day. On Wednesday night, I saw a video a friend had shared from a Page she had liked. Typically, even if I have a look at those videos or photos (often it’s a snarky someecard … yes, I have a lot of snarky friends), I don’t actually comment or like it myself, because then I get caught up i
Waxing UnLyrical
FEBRUARY 21, 2013
It’s February, and besides fixating on when I’ll be able to venture out in the morning for work without being swathed in multi-layered warmth, I allow myself a moment to get all romantic, buy my wife roses, and celebrate that wonderfully-contrived concept called “ Valentine’s Day.”. Image: George Eastman House via Flickr, CC 2.0. A great percentage of the world’s romantically-inclined seem to have wholeheartedly embraced the notion that it’s important one day a year to show someone how much h
Waxing UnLyrical
FEBRUARY 1, 2013
Last week Ryan Derousseau was kind enough to publish a Q&A with me on what businesses should take into consideration when hiring a PR firm. He asked some very thoughtful questions, and I did my best to answer as thoughtfully. Image: janetmck via Flickr, C C 2.0. Here are a couple of excerpts: First, what can a company thinking of hiring an agency, expect in terms of service that they have been missing by running PR in-house?
Waxing UnLyrical
FEBRUARY 25, 2013
We had a terrific #measurePR chat last week. Richard Bagnall , one of the founders of Metrica, which is now part of the Gorkana Group, was our special guest. I’ve known Richard for – oh, seven years now, I think – wow, seven! – and he is just one of the smartest and nicest people in the world, let alone our field. Plus he has that jollye olde British accent, don’t you know, and it sometimes even comes across in tweets.
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Waxing UnLyrical
FEBRUARY 4, 2013
While it’s technically not my first speaking engagement for 2013 (though it is the first public one), I am anticipating xPotomac (Feb. 25 in DC) rather eagerly. With some trepidation as well, but definitely anticipation too. Disclosures: In addition to speaking, I’m also working with Geoff Livingston and Patrick Ashamalla on promoting the event, which means I have a vested interest in getting people there.
Waxing UnLyrical
FEBRUARY 18, 2013
Many Americans have the day off today (not me, didn’t you know, entrepreneurs never get holidays), because it’s President’s Day. I didn’t know about President’s Day before I moved to the U.S. I remember how shocked I was when I found out that the typical American gets only 10 holidays a year. ( Wikipedia lists 11 federal holidays , but includes Inauguration Day which comes only once every four years.).
Waxing UnLyrical
FEBRUARY 11, 2013
This year, Chinese New Year celebrations started yesterday. In some parts of the world, today is an official holiday as well. So Gong Xi Fa Cai to you and yours in this Year of the Snake. If you have heard of, or are familiar with, the practice of “finding hooks” for your public relations efforts, then you’ll know that trying to play off holidays and popular celebrations is one such hook (when appropriate).
Waxing UnLyrical
FEBRUARY 13, 2013
Last week, my friend Geoff Livingston joined us for the bi-weekly #measurePR Twitter chat. And, as usual, he kept the conversation going with some very interesting views on the future of PR (you know I’m helping him and Patrick Ashamalla put on xPotomac , right?), what good and bad measurement looks like, and what PR pros must learn to do from the measurement point of view.
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Journalistics
FEBRUARY 4, 2013
Time for some reminiscing. Think back (for some of you, think way, way back). What led you to PR or journalism? Did you know you wanted to work in PR or journalism before college, or did you discover the field later in life? If the latter, what did you do before? If I’m asking you to share your story, it’s only fair I share mine. I wrote for my high school newspaper and loved it.
Bad Pitch Blog
FEBRUARY 24, 2013
'At the #solopr conference , I encouraged attendees to send us good pitches. It''s a standing order for our readers as well. Send us your successful pitch and a link to the ink for our consideration. Rachel Sutherland sent me this one during the conference. And I''m glad it''s for a non-profit. I’ve always wondered if people assume getting coverage for a good cause is easy.
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