A whole bunch goes wrong in PR. More than most practitioners would care to admit. It’s because, as a process, PR is variable, uncertain, heavily dependent on human beings and their dumbass whims. As someone whose agency has dealt with its share of idiot clients, I want to tell the…
Where I live, many people returned to work yesterday. Some started last week, but because of the way the Holidays fell this year a lot of people decided to take extra time off. If you’re just back at it, don’t be too dismayed by the “Holiday Brain” you might be…
The media want to cover your organization and its goings-on. Problem is, they have limited resources and need YOUR help putting together compelling stories. So, in order for everyone to succeed, you need to know a few things. Here are 44 things the media wish you knew: Not everything your…
Yes, it’s that time of year. For better or worse, the Holiday juggernaut is about to bear down upon us. As co-owner of a retail business, and as a PR pro with retail/consumer product clients on the roster, I spend a fair bit of time each Fall trying to score…
Starting a PR campaign in a new industry, or new market, with media you don’t know IS damn hard. I been doing just that for some clients of late. I’ve also been doing just the opposite for others. The opposite, when you already have relationships, know who likes what, and are yourself…
Dear Journalist, I get why you’ve setup a cottage industry to bash PR people. Still, annoying things emanate from this curmudgeonly faction. A case in point involves following up on pitches and releases. You know what I mean. You’ve seen the “educational” blog posts and “helpful” videos where fourth estaters…
If you read this blog, you probably know I’m a Hip Hop fan. One of my favourite MC’s is Guru of the seminal group Gangstarr. They have a great song called “Mostly tha Voice.” Why am I telling you this? Because Guru was right, “voice” is key to storytelling. And storytelling is what…
I’ve never worked in the fashion industry. There is, however, some really amazing storytelling going on in that world by smart PR people. In the interest of learning and sharing expert opinion with you, I recorded a chat with fashion writer Vanessa Muri. She is editor at Sweetspot.ca and freelances…
During the summer, I work on events a lot. Similar to war, event PR is super fluid. You need a plan at the outset, but once battle begins you must be flexible to win the day. Knowing who and what you’re dealing with are critical to success. In the interest of…
You’ve seen this before: A pretty woman is walking on the street/sitting in a coffee shop/doing something in public where there are men. Invariably, some strange man or collection of men walk up to her and profess their love/tell her she is gorgeous/ask her on a date. None of them get…