The Role of Content Creation in SEO

It never fails. Every time I see a blog post with "death of SEO", I skip right over the post and jump to the comments. Because there's always a boat load of them. Scanning them tells me exactly what I need to know about the post, as the author spends time clarifying and talking overreacting SEO consultants's off the bridge. Case in point was Ken Krogue's blog post on Forbes on July 20. Titled "The Death of SEO: The Rise...

Tech Executives Question Our Device Devotion

We all know the term couch potato and most of us have been one ourselves. Well, it's a new era and there is new technology to abuse. This time it's our smart devices, which I think we can all agree that it sometimes feels like they are overtaking our lives. Who hasn't seen someone glued to their iPhone and step into a street of oncoming traffic? Apparently, executives of technology companies are now speaking out about the problem and they...

What Were They Thinking? Dept. July Doldrums Edition

I assume the summer heat and the thunderstorms are getting to people. That's the only explanation I have for this month's winners of our occasional "What Were They Thinking?" communications recognitions. The first one, our "Taking Ambulance Chasing to New Lows" award, goes to the publicity department behind the pitch sent to a friend of mine this week for an interview with author Dr. Joey Faucette entitled, "3 Strategies to Work Positively in a Tragedy." The third sentence in the...

Social Media Content and User Conferences: A Match Made in Heaven

I've heard it said that content is the fuel that keeps the social media engine humming. That's a nice simplified view of the importance of content creation. To break it down some more, content is the refined gasoline (or generated electricity if you're into green vehicles). Like the companies that provide that end-product, you have to invest in content exploration projects to get the raw material to refine into your high-octane content. A great source of content raw material: Your...

Ten Tips for PR Agency Rookies

Fresh out of college, life can be intimidating. Luckily, we have many individuals who have gone before us in the fast-paced world of public relations that are available to tap as resources. Thirty days into being at a PR agency, I have already learned an enormous amount from the team around me. Here are ten tips from a fellow PR rookie: 1) Learn to Love PR Jargon The phrases “the devil is in the details,” “let’s table that,” “vet an...

Exclusives Ave. - The Two-way Street Between Public Relations and Journalists

There was yet another in a long line of advice to us public relations people from the journalist side over the past week. This one was in the form of "commandments," which takes this to a whole new level of requirements. I'm not sure who handed down these tablets, but these were penned (cut into stone?) by Ashraf Engineer, a content media leader for an agency in India. Staying with the religious metaphor, it's the usual list of PR people's...

PR Pros, Do You Have Time to Read This Blog?

A Google search for “time management tips” yields 313,000,000 results. Time management is an essential skill to possess as a public relations professional, yet it eludes so many practitioners who may find themselves miserably watching as assignments pile up. Most swamped professionals probably don't even have time to Google “time management tips” to help break out of their rut. In a PR agency, timing is everything. Press deadlines are fixed and hours are billed. Therefore, superior time management skills translate...

Client - PR Agency Relationships: It's a Matter of Trust

It seems like everywhere you turn these days you read about another breach of trust between some commercial or goverment institution and the public. The recent revelations regarding the manipulation of the Libor rates by Barclays is just the latest in a disheartening series of cases, including Facebook's IPO mess; JP Morgan's bad derivative bets and subsequent disclosure that its traders have been hiding losses; Penn State's mishandling of the Sandusky child abuse case; and many more. It feels like...

Lakers or Celtics? -- The Importance of Setting Aside Competing Differences

When starting out at any new organization, it’s important to fit in. Not just feel like you’re meshing, but to fully and totally become a part of the team. It helps to do research on the organization -- whether you will interviewing with them, outreaching to them for new business, or pitching them on a story. When I was going through the interview process with Lois Paul and Partners, my research on my future employer and colleagues led me to...

Does Silicon Valley Have a Public Relations Problem?

Silicon Valley is facing an image problem. Facebook didn’t even leave the Valley to ring the opening bell on its tragic IPO, and that was after spending $1 Billion on Instagram. Meanwhile Zuck’s sister is shooting a “reality” show in San Francisco and calling it… well, reality. Let’s not forget the Angry Birds movie, either. The land of Apple, Google, Twitter, Facebook, Oracle, SAP, and thousands of bootstrapped and VC-backed startup admirers are facing a public relations problem in light...