THINKing » PR http://www.my-creativeteam.com/blog My CreativeTeam Thinks About Creativity, Marketing, PR & Social Media Wed, 08 Feb 2012 17:40:12 +0000 en hourly 1 Calling All Guest Bloggers http://www.my-creativeteam.com/blog/calling-all-guest-bloggers/ http://www.my-creativeteam.com/blog/calling-all-guest-bloggers/#comments Wed, 11 Jan 2012 20:13:34 +0000 Harry Hoover http://www.my-creativeteam.com/blog/?p=2812
Photo credit: EmmiP from morguefile.com

Here’s a shout out to all guest bloggers. This is a new year and I want new voices here on THINKing.

You may be asking, “why would you want to write for this blog?” We had about 200,000 visitors to the site last year. So, it is a decent sized audience for your writing. We covered a variety of marketing related topics, ranging from advertising, PR and social media to creativity,  branding and writing. So, you will find a receptive audience for those topics.

Convinced? Read on.

If you have an idea for a guest post, here is what I want from you. First, send me a brief outline of your idea with reasons why your post would be a fit for our blog. This should include an explanation of who you are and why you are qualified to write the piece.

Let me know if this is a single post or part of a series of up to three posts that you propose. Final posts should be no more than 750 words, so point me to examples of pieces you have written in the 350 – 750 word range.

Oh, and I don’t want commercials for your company or yourself.

That’s it. Easy, right?

Times a-wasting. Send the information to me, harry at my-creativeteam.com.

 

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]]> http://www.my-creativeteam.com/blog/calling-all-guest-bloggers/feed/ 1 Painless Giving http://www.my-creativeteam.com/blog/painless-giving/ http://www.my-creativeteam.com/blog/painless-giving/#comments Tue, 15 Nov 2011 15:56:36 +0000 Harry Hoover http://www.my-creativeteam.com/blog/?p=2651

If you’ve been with us here for a while, you know that every year we promote Holiday For Charity, which is the idea of asking friends and family to donate to charity in our name instead of giving us Christmas gifts. Charitable giving can do wonders for an organization’s reputation. We’ll talk more about Holiday For Charity in a later post, but today, I wanted to discuss some other painless ways to assist charities.

I got a note from the folks at GoodSearch that pointed out some innovative ways to give without giving:

As the economy continues to squeeze donors, a recent report conducted by Campbell Rinker showed disturbing results—that nearly 7 in 10 Americans say they will give more sparingly to charities in the coming months. As a result, people are looking for other ways to support their favorite causes this holiday giving season.   Here are five ways people can “give without giving”:

Shop online.GoodShop.com works with more than 2,500 retailers (including Amazon, Gap, Target, Staples and Macy’s) to give a percentage of almost every purchase back to the shopper’s favorite charity.  In addition, GoodShop lists more than 100,000 coupons so that shoppers can save money and do good at the same time!  GoodShop currently works with more than 102,000 charities and schools.  We can provide you with a list in your area. See how it works here!

Search the Internet:GoodSearch.com donates about a penny per search to the charity the user designates.  It’s powered by Yahoo so users get great search results!  Together with GoodShop, GoodSearch has raised more than $8 million for charity! See how it works here!

Redeem credit card points. Ask members to turn their unused credit card points into a charitable donation to your cause. Both American Express and Citi Card offer this program.

Volunteer: There are a handful of companies that match volunteer hours with funds. For example, Microsoft will match volunteer time at $17 an hour through its Volunteer Time Matching program. Boeing, Exxon, Intel, Chevron, and Bank of America have similar programs.

Dine out:GoodDining.com works with more than 10,000 restaurants across the country and each time you dine, up to 6% of what you spend is donated to your favorite charity. We can provide you a list of restaurants in your area.

Recycle your old electronics:  Send your electronics to Gazelle.com and cash generated from that will be donated to charity.

All good ideas. Are you doing anything to help charity this year?

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]]> http://www.my-creativeteam.com/blog/painless-giving/feed/ 0 Netflix’s Corporate Seppuku http://www.my-creativeteam.com/blog/netflixs-corporate-seppuku/ http://www.my-creativeteam.com/blog/netflixs-corporate-seppuku/#comments Mon, 19 Sep 2011 18:55:16 +0000 Harry Hoover http://www.my-creativeteam.com/blog/?p=2574

It’s good that Netflix has a red background on its logo. That way the blood doesn’t show from its self-inflicted wounds.

Apparently Netflix doesn’t have PR people to tell them how to communicate service changes. A while back they announced their pricing structure change, saying they knew the almost 60% price increase would lose them some customers but they were doing it anyway. The arrogance of the announcement was palpable. I immediately cancelled my account.

And now the blood is flowing again as they’ve plunged the sword in just a little deeper.

They have announced that they are renaming the DVD by mail portion of their business. The new Qwikster service was also communicated poorly. Netflix CEO Reed Hastings sent out the suicide note this morning detailing the move. Here’s how I read it: “yeah, we screwed up with the price changes and we’re doing it again with this Qwikster move. Do not, however, take this as an apology.”

To make matters worse, it turns out there is a Twitter account named Qwikster, which has a profile photo of Sesame Street’s Elmo smoking a joint. For the win!

I don’t know about you, but I’m heading over to Etrade to short some Netflix stock.

UPDATE 10/10/2011: Apparently, Netflix hired some PR people. Alas, it is too little, too late. Have you seen their latest note to customers about the whoe Qwikster debacle. If not, you can read it below. Perhaps shorting Netflix stock is again the right hting to do.

It is clear that for many of our members two websites would make things more difficult, so we are going to keep Netflix as one place to go for streaming and DVDs.

This means no change: one website, one account, one password…in other words, no Qwikster.

While the July price change was necessary, we are now done with price changes.

We’re constantly improving our streaming selection. We’ve recently added hundreds of movies from Paramount, Sony, Universal, Fox, Warner Bros., Lionsgate, MGM and Miramax. Plus, in the last couple of weeks alone, we’ve added over 3,500 TV episodes from ABC, NBC, FOX, CBS, USA, E!, Nickelodeon, Disney Channel, ABC Family, Discovery Channel, TLC, SyFy, A&E, History, and PBS.

We value you as a member, and we are committed to making Netflix the best place to get your movies & TV shows.


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]]> http://www.my-creativeteam.com/blog/netflixs-corporate-seppuku/feed/ 0 Media Continues Self Destruction http://www.my-creativeteam.com/blog/media-continues-self-destruction/ http://www.my-creativeteam.com/blog/media-continues-self-destruction/#comments Mon, 29 Aug 2011 17:07:36 +0000 Harry Hoover http://www.my-creativeteam.com/blog/?p=2528
Photo credit: Grafixar from morguefile.com

The US media aren’t trusted by Americans, and the self destruction continued this weekend with the incessant drumbeat of impending doom ahead of so-called Hurricane Irene. As Kendall Allen tells us in her piece Fools In Raincoats,

I was not at all helped along by the sensationalized, character-driven coverage on the major networks and even on the Weather Channel. In all these segments, the slapstick reporter standing IN the surf getting hammered was the story. Does that not break some journalistic principle: thou must not make oneself the story?

I saw video of one reporter excitedly talking about the wind and rain, that obviously was light. I’m sure his producer had told him to hype it up. When I was a reporter back in the 20th Century, we were told to cover the story as it was. No editorializing, no hyperbole. That day, sadly, appears to be gone.

Untrustworthy mainstream media are looking for something – anything – that will bring back their days of dominance.  This was not their finest hour. It was clear before the storm hit the NC coast, that the weakened hurricane was not on the order of 1989′s Hugo. As Irene moved up the coast, it brought a lot of rain and produced serious flooding, but she just couldn’t live up to the hype. Poor Anderson Cooper was clearly disappointed that NY was not about to be wiped out.

I am not saying that there was no responsible coverage of the storm. But the national broadcast and cable networks did not cover themselves in glory. Like the dinosaurs they are, today’s media outlets are one meteor strike away from extinction. Let’s hope some agile mammal is in the wings to take their place.

Did you see any responsible coverage? Wade in to the conversation, but watch out for that deadly hurricane-driven surf.

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]]> http://www.my-creativeteam.com/blog/media-continues-self-destruction/feed/ 0 Five Ways To Not Be A Weiner http://www.my-creativeteam.com/blog/five-ways-to-not-be-a-weiner/ http://www.my-creativeteam.com/blog/five-ways-to-not-be-a-weiner/#comments Tue, 07 Jun 2011 20:04:12 +0000 Harry Hoover http://www.my-creativeteam.com/blog/?p=2345

I’m sure you have heard about Democrat Rep. Anthony Weiner’s PR problems stemming from his inappropriate online relationships with at least six women. This cretin provides an example – albeit a bad one – from which we all can learn.

Whether you are a randy politican or a bawdy businessman, here are some things you should do after the horse is out of the barn.

Don’t lie. Ever. In the old, pre-digital days, it was easier to get away with indiscretions of this type. No one ever reported John F. Kennedy’s dalliances. The good, old boy club of media and politicians had each other’s backs. There’s a new breed of digital journalist today that won’t let these things be swept under the rug.

Tell The Truth & Tell It Fast. Reveal all the facts as fast as possible. This shortens the news cycle. If you lie, get caught, change your story and get caught in the lie again, you are prolonging the agony.

Don’t Be Combative. Dude, you’ve been caught. This is no time to get angry with members of the media because you were a dumbass. It’s no one’s fault but yours. So, man up.

Stay On Message. Prepare for your meeting with the media. Know what you are going to say and say it. Nothing more, nothing less.

Get Professional Help. Although Weiner probably needs some psychiatric counseling, I’m talking about getting some professional, ethical PR help before you are in the eye of the storm.  Although, Weiner apparently thought he had good, ethical help. He even reportedly offered PR assistance to porn star digital girlfriend Ginger Lee to help her handle media questions, or as I call it, lie to the media.

Got any other lessons learned from this debacle? Tell us.

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]]> http://www.my-creativeteam.com/blog/five-ways-to-not-be-a-weiner/feed/ 2 Bad PR Firm, Naughty PR Firm http://www.my-creativeteam.com/blog/bad-pr-firm-naughty-pr-firm/ http://www.my-creativeteam.com/blog/bad-pr-firm-naughty-pr-firm/#comments Thu, 12 May 2011 20:33:06 +0000 Harry Hoover http://www.my-creativeteam.com/blog/?p=2307

Well, here we go again. You’ll remember back in 2006 when Edelman PR was caught flogging for client Wal-Mart . It seems that we have another PR debacle. There now are stories about Facebook hiring PR firm Burson-Marstellar to discredit Google in the press.

As we say in the South: that just ain’t right. Robert Noltenmeier, Clinical Assistant Professor of Public Relations and Corporate Communications at the New York University School of Continuing and Professional Studies, agrees.

Noltenmeier claims that Google’s slogan,

“Do no evil,” certainly applies in this case—but to Facebook not Google.  Regrettably, this issue is another example of a public relations firm—and a leading one at that—behaving unethically and reinforcing the perception and stereotype that public relations is sinister and misleading. This action violates the profession’s codes of ethics, from PRSA to the Arthur Page Society to IABC. A firm like Burson-Marsteller, whose namesake, Harold Burson, PRWeek called “the century’s most influential PR figure,” certainly should apply PR ethical principles. This incident likely will damage the firm’s and the profession’s reputations because of the public’s renewed distrust of both of them.

As for Facebook, given its alleged sketchy origins as described in “The Social Network, ” its founder’s gratuitous PR efforts—the Newark, N.J., education donation timing and amount—and its frequent user-privacy issues, this incident once again raises the question of its business practices. It will likely affect Facebook’s reputation, as the Wal-Mart-Edelman false blog posts did in 2006.

According to Noltenmeier, this incident also shows how social media businesses, no matter how free, democratic and popular, fundamentally work like traditional businesses: it’s all about beating the competition, attracting and retaining customers and boosting revenue. Like traditional businesses, social media firms must follow ethical business practices—and in their case ethical privacy practices—or suffer reputational damage and business losses.

He is dead on. What do you think?

Addendum: Facebook says no smear was intended.

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]]> http://www.my-creativeteam.com/blog/bad-pr-firm-naughty-pr-firm/feed/ 0 Playing Both Sides Of The Table http://www.my-creativeteam.com/blog/playing-both-sides-of-the-table/ http://www.my-creativeteam.com/blog/playing-both-sides-of-the-table/#comments Wed, 16 Feb 2011 21:58:34 +0000 Harry Hoover http://www.my-creativeteam.com/blog/?p=2118

Editor’s Note: this is a guest article from Danny Wong, who manages Media Relations for Blank Label Group, and he helped to co-found the group’s startups Blank Label, Thread Tradition, and RE:custom. He’s also played on the other side of the table writing for outlets like the HuffingtonPost, ReadWriteWeb and TheNextWeb.

How to Become a Member of the Media & Play on Both Sides of the Table

The marketers that have adapted to the times are the ones that are empathetic to all parties when it comes to messaging, meaning the businesses and their customers, the sponsors and their audience, and especially the companies and the media. Marketers that look to leverage the media in more creative ways than the out-dated press release have decided to join the ranks of the writers and have learned to appreciate the media more, understanding how they could better handle their interactions with the media.

Marketers Become Bloggers

In marketing, one of the hotter trends is strategic content creation for the purposes of education, engagement and Search Engine Optimization (SEO). But when marketers become the content creators, they start to understand some of the basic principles of writing, which include knowing your audience and creating relevant and useful content for them. With those principles in mind, they’re more careful in how they pitch the media to try to garner stories and attention for their business, making sure, more often than not, that their pitching a writer whose audience would appreciate the reading the story.

Marketers Join the Media

After marketers establish their business’ blog with build credibility with quality content, they can be considered “thought leaders” in their space, giving them leverage, making it easier for them to then start writing for niche blogs. Then after building a writing portfolio, they can move onto write with more established websites and news outlets to further demonstrate their extensive knowledge for the industry they work in, adding more credibility for their business since external contributors are always afforded a nice little byline to plug their bio including detail about their associated companies.

It’s All About Networking

So after getting yourself established as a thought leader through your business’ blog, then writing posts with niche blogs, and then authoring stories on more established and widely read publications, you become connected with the influentials in the media who are more receptive to you because you’re “one of them.” Of course, you try to stay very professional, making sure your efforts to grow your business don’t interfere with you contributing value to the publications you write for. But you will have valuable connections that will be more willing to help you in growing your business because of the relationships you have. There will also certainly be disclosures noting your association with a publication if they decide to publish an editorial story on you, but in most cases, that’s purely just standard practice and readers enjoy the story nonetheless.

Getting Better at PR

While now you’ll have all this established credibility and a stronger network, you’ll also have improved your communication skills with the media because as a writer yourself, you’ll know how to craft better messages to get your point across and sell the better points vs. the weaker ones. As mentioned earlier, you will be more empathetic to what audiences want to hear and what writers write about, so you’ll know how to craft stories to be relevant in a pitch for a writer, and when it’s at all appropriate to pitch a story.

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]]> http://www.my-creativeteam.com/blog/playing-both-sides-of-the-table/feed/ 2 Content Focused http://www.my-creativeteam.com/blog/content-focused/ http://www.my-creativeteam.com/blog/content-focused/#comments Thu, 16 Dec 2010 18:20:14 +0000 Harry Hoover http://www.my-creativeteam.com/blog/?p=1586 Blog content

Blogging experts often tell you to hyperfocus on a topic if you want to build a following. We have been thinking a lot recently about our blog’s content. (We’d love your thoughts, as well. So, feel free to jump in.)

As you know, we write about creativity, marketing, advertising, PR, social media strategy and tactics, and throw in a little self-improvement for good measure. That’s sort of broad, don’t you think?

Until we took a close look at the Analytics, we thought so, too. But we’re beginning to think that – after five years – this approach may have staying power.

Our home page gets the most traffic, but when we drill down to top landing pages, we find something interesting.

From a categorical perspective, our top 6 landing pages are:

  1. Creativity (Self Improvement)
  2. Social Media (Blogging)
  3. Advertising
  4. Marketing (Self Improvement)
  5. Social Media (Blogging)
  6. PR (Journalists on Twitter)

What do you think? Are we too broad? Are there topics you’d like to see us give more focus in 2011? We would love to hear from you.

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]]> http://www.my-creativeteam.com/blog/content-focused/feed/ 4 Social Media Relationships: Are They Real? http://www.my-creativeteam.com/blog/social-media-relationships-are-they-real/ http://www.my-creativeteam.com/blog/social-media-relationships-are-they-real/#comments Tue, 24 Aug 2010 12:30:57 +0000 Harry Hoover http://www.my-creativeteam.com/blog/?p=1155

Just saw Suzanne Vara’s excellent piece on building social media relationships. Let’s listen to Ms. Vara for a moment:

Social media has afforded us the opportunity to meet a lot of people. We gain insight as to who they are through their profiles, blogs, with whom they associate and our interactions with them…we find an entirely new world and start building relationships. There are some people we just click with and feel like we have known them forever.  We like them and look forward to seeing them each day on their blog, on our blog and in our platform streams.

There are a number of people – those whom I call DCs or “digital colleagues” – I look forward to each day as well. But are these relationships real and actionable from a business standpoint? Most are not. But some of those online relationships – as Ms. Vara points out – may blossom into something deeper.

As we have discussed before, the value of connections in business cannot be underestimated. I’m talking primarily about tight connections that you use to help you achieve your personal and professional goals. Friend and business coach Brent Dees of Focus Four tells us that you if want a $1 million business, you should have 40 contacts (your Focus 40) each of whom can bring you $25,000 in business. Your job is to help each of these contacts achieve their goals and they, in turn, will help you reach yours. This is a spin on the method that made Andrew Carnegie a millionaire many times over.

Now, Brent says that a human can’t truly support more than 40 contacts of this nature, and I agree.

However, with the advent of social networks like LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook, you can have access to hundreds of contact to help you connect with others who may be able to help you.  Social media means your close relationships are no longer bound by geography – and that is a beautiful thing. For instance, there is Bob Taylor from Grand Rapids, Michigan who I talk with about wine, bacon, guitar playing and social media. Jay Ehret in Waco, Texas, has become someone I read and listen to via podcast. Says Jay in a piece called Welcome To Social Town,

The amazing thing is I didn’t know any of these people three years ago. This is what social media has done for my professional, and personal, life. To me, it’s not a marketing channel, it’s a community of my favorite people who don’t happen to live in the same city I do. I wish we all did live in the same place because we would have some killer happy hours! But we don’t, so we just hang out together online, in Social Town.

What do you think?

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]]> http://www.my-creativeteam.com/blog/social-media-relationships-are-they-real/feed/ 9 Top 5 PR Posts http://www.my-creativeteam.com/blog/top-5-pr-posts/ http://www.my-creativeteam.com/blog/top-5-pr-posts/#comments Fri, 09 Jul 2010 14:45:26 +0000 Harry Hoover http://www.my-creativeteam.com/blog/top-5-pr-posts/ Our PR-related posts are among the most well-read. So, I thought we’d bring to the forefront some evergreen features on PR.  Now, let’s review.

Communications Planning 101 - Developing a communications plan requires a disciplined approach. Your first order of business is reviewing your current program for impact and efficiency.

How To Be A Great Radio Guest - Radio – despite changes in media habits – still is a great way to get in front of a lot of people. As a radio talk show guest on a national program, millions could hear your message.

Pithy Pitches - Your painstakingly crafted email pitch is completely customized and ready to send to the in box of that carefully targeted reporter. There it goes! Did you hear that? That was your email pitch being deleted.

Six Tips For Perfect Email Pitches - Your media pitches can go straight over the plate. With a little forethought, and a few tips, you can throw fewer balls and more media relations strikes.

Slow Day? Create News -  Sometimes there seems to be no client news worthy of coverage. That’s when the savvy PR pro digs deep into the old bag of tricks and pulls out one of these ideas to perk things up.

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