It’s almost ceremonious. Sitting at a meeting, I watched Dave fix his coffee. He opens and pours in a packet of sweetener. Stirs. Opens and pours in a container of hazlenut creamer. Stirs. Folds up the sweetener packet. Inserts it into the creamer container. Opens and pours in sweetener packet two. Stirs. Opens and pours…
“We’re wired for stories, individually and collectively. Since the time of Odysseus We’ve been told stories. This is how we’ve been conditioned to learn; our morals and values are taught through stories.” Gay Ducey, past president, National Storytelling Network and Oracle Award recipient for Distinguished Nation Service in Storytelling How can you use the power…
On Friday, the first day of spring!, I’ll be presenting this 20 minute social media mashup to the National Speakers Association’s Illinois Chapter. My inspiration comes from a play our family saw called “The Complete Works of William Shakespeare: Abridged.” On our family trip out west a few years back our daughter – who was…
Here’s the biggest question I get about Facebook: How do I separate my friends and my family from my business? The biggest concern? A clash of the multiple personalities that exist in one’s life. You know who you are: a mom, a sorority sister, an aunt, a book club member, a church-goes, a music fan,…
Ever go to an event, have a fantastic time and wish you could keep the experience going? When you move the experience online, the event takes on an afterlife of its own. Community PR Strategies: 9 Ways to Keep Events Alive Online – Even After They’re Over 1. Assign a twitter hashtag for the event….
Today I’m testing out a new way to communicate for speakers: a question and answer page that conveys who you are while answering the basic FAQs to save the meeting planner time. Let me know what you think . . . . and feel free to adapt this format to fit your speaker profile page…
A few days ago I spoke to a group that started programming early in the morning. Although I wasn’t on until 9:45 I decided to get there early to hear the first speaker talk about communications. Our preliminary exercise required that we introduce the person to our right. The person on my left introduced the…
“Google is every brand’s new home page.” “You might want to think less about “marketing” and more about “findability.” Two of my favorite quotes from Brink, a new new ebook that captures the best of Todd Defren’s writing at his blog, PR Squared. A principal at SHIFT Communications, Todd sets the tone for the…
“It’ll never work. It’s taken me 12 years to do what I do. You have to practice for hours to do these tricks. And, you have bail – a lot.” 16 year old skateboarder’s answer to why he won’t give skateboarding lessons It’s Monday and I’m in the mood for some motivation. What do you…
What do you tell people you do when you meet them for the first time? Are you a title, a profession, an entrepreneur or something else? On the way to a networking event, I decided to introduce myself as “The Optimizer” or someone who optimizes people, places and things. It’s fun to test out different…
While it didn’t take a press release to get interviewed in a feature about the power of press releases for small businesses on inc.com [published this week], it did take a personal connection. A connection with the writer, Marla Tabaka, a contributor to inc.com’s one person business blog series. Marla also writes for Sparkplugging. A…
Groups give speakers get all kinds of gifts: flowers, chocolate, gift certificates. One of the best “gifts” you can give a speaker is a recommendation. Although I use critique sheets for reviews, it’s not often that a get a group review like this one from West Suburban Women Entrepreneurs. What I like about this format:…
Does your website need refreshing? Are you attracting all the traffic you want? Does your intent match your results? Every website needs a review now and then. In this article by Barbara Rozgonyi, you’ll discover 20 tactics you can use to revitalize your website. Originally published in October 2007, this post suggests 20 ways to…
Here’s the latest in our reader Q&A series . . . from a college student in Toronto who asked questions in the comment box on a recent post about questioning twitter boundaries. Thanks to Cory for giving me permission to answer her questions as a blog post and to and to everyone who contributes to…
What will a year in pictures look like for you or your business? It’s not too late to start your own Project 365. For ideas on how to get going, check out Project 365, take a photo a day, from Photojojo. You can start a blog just for your project or join a 365 group…
Microsoft’s getting lots of attention [Small Businesses to PPC: Drop Dead] for its survey that finds 70% of small business owners would rather do their own taxes than manage a PPC [pay per click ad words] campaign. We don’t do our clients’ taxes, but we do manage their marketing strategies, create online PR campaigns and…
Twitter transcripts for this session follow. As always, the updates are as exactly as posted with no changes – and they are in reverse order. So, start at the bottom and read from the top. This is one in series of articles. Browse my Chicago Search Engine Strategies 2008 category for the complete collection. Visit…
Thanks to Search Engine Strategies for including me in their press corps. Here’s a transcript from the Social Media Optimization session held in Chicago on December 10. Notes captured using CoverItLive are as typed with no editing. You’ll see I figured out how to make longer entries as I went along. Still testing this technology…
It’s priceless. And it’s yours. However . . . The way people see you online is not all up to you. Your reputation is in the eye of your reader. While you have some control over where you show up and how you position yourself, [trust me on this] you really want people to have…
A recently released survey from Citigate Dewe Rogerson suggests that online PR needs to be explored further. [First spotted on DirectTrafficMedia.] Citigate Dewe Rogerson surveyed more than 100 marketing professionals in the UK and Ireland in October 2008 to come up with these findings: · Over 50% of marketing pros allocate under 5% of budgets…
Is it right to take someone down? At this moment, an online press release someone distributed about their twitter accomplishments is on Digg. The title isn’t very complimentary. And while I agree with the assessment that bragging about something isn’t the right way to market – especially if what you’re touting isn’t all that great…
When I first published this post on November 20, 2007, the world was a different place – for me and my business. Wired PR Works, at this URL, was only about eight weeks old, I wasn’t on twitter and social media was something I read about, not interacted with. Being thankful with year-round Thanksgiving PR…
Question: How can coaches, creative types, consultants and speakers avoid cutting their rates in this economy? Answer: Keeping your rates set is important for many reasons, but the biggest one is probably the most surprising: being ethical to your current clients and your own company. How fair is it to cut your rates for new…
Promoting a Chamber of Commerce is a multi-level, multi-purpose communications endeavor. A press kit is one way to present your organization to not only the media, but to business owners and local leaders. Today, I’m sharing my response on LinkedIn Answers to this question: I am putting together a press kit for a chamber of…
How do you feel about rejection? “Rejection is the absence of meaningful love.” Charles Solomon, author “Actors search for rejection. If they don’t get it they reject themselves.” Charlie Chaplin “I think all great innovations are built on rejections.” Louis Ferdinand Celine, French writer and physicist 1894-1961 “I take rejection as someone blowing a bugle…
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