In desperate need of a break recently, I decided to check out of my Brooklyn home office and into a Manhattan hotel for a few nights of relaxation. Putting my research skills to work, I spent over a week trying to select the perfect hotel. There were amenities to consider, a location to decide on, and of course, I wanted to find a room within a certain budget. Read More
I’m one of those strange people who doesn’t have cable or satellite television. One of the nice things about the radio I have is that I’m able to listen to a simulcast of financial news network CNBC, and an added benefit of having no picture is that I get to really concentrate on what’s being said by the interviewees. Read More
Design consistency is a must in print communications. But consistent style guides for web sites are as important as they are for an organization’s print publications and advertising materials. In addition to assuring grammatical and syntactical consistency for your web site’s text-based information, web style guides should include rules on technical aspects of the medium that affect usability and visitor satisfaction. Here are some things to consider when trying to develop a web style guide. Read More
The difference between doing public relations for a private company and a handling PR for public company is the difference between watching your kid’s little league team and then taking a major league game. Read More
PR is an intense and difficult job that can be rewarding and disappointing. It can be exciting, and mind-numbingly boring. PR, more often than not, is misunderstood by people outside of the industry. Read More
It’s almost hard to believe that a little less than a decade ago, you could actually keep up with the blogosphere. In the years between the dot-com bust and the Web 2.0 explosion, you could count the number of blogs devoted to, say, music or movies on one or two hands. A few years ago, as blogging exploded across the Internet, many companies saw an in-house blog as a cheap and easy way to promote their businesses. Read More
A friend of mine called recently, looking for a public relations firm to handle a new project. He had already interviewed a few potential firms, and he wanted to know if I would sit in with him during a second round of interviews. What we learned should provide entrepreneurs and start-up companies alike with some helpful tips when they decide it’s time to take their public relations strategy to the professional level. Read More
Event planning is a difficult process, whether you’re a layperson or a public relations pro. Schedules need to be coordinated, collateral material needs to be assembled, and presentations need to be prepared. Entertainment and catering services may need to be booked, and guests must be attended to. Securing a site for an event can prove troublesome depending on the budget, and setting an agenda can be a pain when too many people are involved in the planning process. But as I learned recently, sometimes the biggest secret to successful event planning is having a contingency plan. Read More
I’ve spent the better part of the past ten years working from the comfort of my home. I’ve had offices, and I’ve worked in a newsroom. But more often than not, my own dwelling has doubled as my office. The main reason I’ve been allowed to work from home is that, in general, my work has involved a lot of writing and a lot of phone calls. These are two things that public relations reps spend a considerable amount of time doing. That’s why I feel that companies should allow public relations staffers to telecommute. Read More
1. The Friday Afternoon Bad News Press Release
For decades, the White House has used Friday afternoon as a time to release bad news to the media. The rationale is that the media is wrapping up a busy week, Saturday newspaper circulation and readership is lower than any other day of the week, and the public is just plain tired and ready to relax. The linchpin to this strategy has been the newspaper. Times, however, have changed. Read More