Join Debbie Wetherhead for her online training session, “Key Message Development: Building a Foundation for Effective Communications,” on Tuesday, December 6, 2011. 

It’s not sexy; it’s not fun. But, oh, so necessary. We’re talking key message development. With repeated use, such statements serve as the foundation of your branding/marketing efforts and should be reflected in all written and spoken communications.

Not a believer? Consider what business guru Tom Peters says: “In a competitive environment, only those who have a strong, unified message, who create and sell quality and value, will survive.”

So what are key messages? You can describe them as:

Continue reading " Key Message Development: Building a Foundation for Effective Communications "

Join Ken DeSieghardt for his online training session, “Take the Mystery Out of Market Research: Learn to Better Understand Your Clients and Prospects,” on Thursday, Dec. 8, 2011. 

If you are currently sitting on a communications budget that is as big — or bigger — than the one you had five years ago, you can stop reading now. (Thank you for visiting this blog, Mr. Gates. Have a nice day.)

For the rest of us, the challenge to build and nurture relationships with those who are important to the success of our company (or our clients’ companies) continues to grow as our budgets continue to shrink. Add into the mix the ever-expanding platforms demanding the attention of your key stakeholders, and it’s enough to cause even the most seasoned public relations pro to throw up his or her hands and exclaim, “It can’t be done without more budget!”

Actually, it can. And the people who can tell you how to build and field a successful communications plan are those very stakeholders you are trying to reach.

Continue reading " Research Makes Your Communications Plan Work Smarter, Harder and More Frugally "

Join Chris Foster, Dr. Gary Puckrein, Rex Repass and Patrick Pho for their workshop, Just Five More Seconds of Mindshare? Use the Best Strategies and Tools to Reach Your Audience!, on Sunday, October 16, 2011 4:45 p.m. – 6:00 p.m. at the PRSA 2011 International Conference, Oct. 15–18 in Orlando, Fla.!

Picture this: It’s another Monday morning.  As you step out of bed, you are beginning to mentally prepare for the thirteen meetings that stagger ahead on your manic schedule. While gradually awakening, you emerge to commence your daily routine… pick up the paper, make the coffee, pop the English muffin into the toaster and turn on your computer – ready to respond to a series of instant messages and e-mails aggregated in your inbox from the time you kissed the kids goodnight at 11PM until the time the alarm clock went off at 5:45AM. You want to be in the office by 7, so you quickly rush through your calendar reminders to ensure you are on time and aware of all of your obligations. You enjoy that one last sip of coffee before jumping into your suit and you wave goodbye to you family (who are just now waking up). After shutting the car door, you immediately turn on your Bluetooth (allowing you to multitask even more!) and quickly dial-in for your weekly Monday morning staff call.  Turning on your mental auto pilot, you suddenly realize you’re 20 minutes into the call and you’ve been asked to provide your projections for the week.  What did you gather from the first half of the call?

We’ve all been in similar situations before – and it’s likely our audiences have been through the same.  Overtaxed for time, how do we retain our audiences’ undivided attention?

Continue reading " Cut Through the Clutter: Use the Best Strategies and Tools to Reach Your Audience and Measure Impact "

Fasten your seat belts. It’s going to be a bumpy panel. That’s because, along with USA Today and the Society of Professional Journalists, we’re going to discuss dirty little secrets. Here’s one for starters:

“The dirty little secret of viral marketing campaigns on social media is: It often takes a lot of TRADITIONAL MEDIA marketing to get them started.”

That’s Donna Novitsky, the CEO of BigTent, a San Francisco social media firm for groups, revealing the truth to the New York Times’ Jane L. Levere.

Continue reading " Save the PR Industry: Support Traditional Media "

With the PRSA 2010 International Conference just a month away, I thought I would reminisce about working in Washington, D.C.’s, public relations world. When I moved to the nation’s capital, I had left my company in Charleston, S.C., to my business partner — a company that we had built together — for a  new adventure in Washington, D.C., working for a national organization dedicated to ending childhood hunger in the United States. I thought I knew everything about public relations — that is until I came to D.C. There was so much I simply did not know that I have learned over the course of the years I have lived here.

Continue reading " Things I Wish I Knew When Securing a Celebrity Spokesperson "