PRSA Looks to the Future
The PRSA National Delegate Assembly is coming up next month, October 17 in Washington, D.C. I’ll be there representing the Silicon Valley Chapter. The assembly is a requirement of PRSA’s bylaws, and past assemblies have been mind-numbing affairs in which delegates from around the country were asked to consider and vote on administrative minutiae regarding [...]
The Real Steve Jobs Teaches a Lesson About PR to Student Journalist
Steve Jobs has always had a reputation in Silicon Valley as an asshole. A brilliant asshole, and one that I greatly admire, but an a-hole none the less. So it was almost refreshing to know that some things don’t change, when a Long Island college student shared with Gawker her exchange with Jobs about trying [...]
The Latest Email Marketing Tips
Keep it SHORT! Put two or three items in each newsletter, at most. Set a monthly schedule and stick to it. Keep your subject line to between five and eight words and 30 to 50 characters. And never forget the three-second rule. Those are some of the latest tips I gleaned from a great, free, [...]
Two New Ways to Use Texting in Media Relations
Here are two tidbit’s from yesterday’s Bulldog Reporter PR University audio conference on email/online pitching (which I moderated): Dave Satterfield of Sitrick & Co. said that he has texted reporters to answer questions and make clarifications during major announcement events, while they were all in the room together The Vatican has been send text messages [...]
Starbucks’ Free WiFi is a Big Deal – Here’s Why
News flash: I just moved to an office in downtown San Francisco — woohoo! I love The City, and now I have a chance to be here everyday again. I last worked in SF in 1997. One thing that has changed since 1997 — there are a LOT more Starbucks in downtown SF. No duh. [...]
My Spinning class is a metaphor for how to market in today’s world
I’m a new Spinning enthusiast — I’ve been taking Step Aerobics for years, but I couldn’t find enough classes to go to. And that’s where this story starts. I love step aerobics — it’s very challenging, it’s a derivative of dancing, which I love, and it’s high energy. But step is dying. Gym members don’t [...]
Clear is the New Clever
I love the title of this post: “clear is the new clever.” There — I said it again. I’m not a particularly “clever” PR person. I don’t come up with lame excuses, I don’t misdirect people to divert their attention. I like to help clients sort out their story, position themselves strongly, and then tell [...]
Tiger Woods Swings and Misses With Scripted Apology
Tiger Woods is the best golfer on Planet Earth. I am one of the worst. So unlike Tiger, I know what it’s like to swing at a golf ball and completely miss it. After his public apology on Friday, Tiger now knows what it’s like to completely swing and miss — at least metaphorically. May [...]
More! More! More ‘Question Time’ With Barack Obama!
I love love loved the Obama-Republicans debate/question time last week. That was stupendous, a brilliant way to showcase the thoughtful and thorough president trying to craft solutions and the Republicans offering platitudes and talking points. More — more! We need to see more of him using his brain and words to govern, not just to [...]
“Vitch” is the first new PR catchword of 2010
Why send a plain old written PR pitch when you can send a “vitch” — a video pitch? That’s right, the new thing is to make your pitch via video. It’s certainly simple enough to do — plan your video, shoot it with an inexpensive video camera, upload it to Youtube and spread the link. [...]