I recently proposed, designed and helped a client execute a letter writing campaign. That's right, a snail mail through the post kinda campaign that grandma would recognize. I did this despite being able to type, knowing that the internet existed, and having wasted hours reading those social media books that…
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June marks my sixth month as the owner of a Comms shop. I worked with clients for a few years before I officially launched Proper Propaganda in January, but had the safety net of a salaried job to fall back on. This business owner thing has been a ride. Here…
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Keith Trivitt, from the PRSA, wants to kill "hits." He claims referring to media placements in this manner destroys the profession's rep. This strikes me as kinda prim and mostly pointless. Though I've often referred to it, I'm real tired of the profession's preoccupation with our collective "reputation." Face it,…
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Content is where so much begins these days. The tough part is, as communicators, we've been thrown headlong into planning, creating and disseminating it for our employers, clients and other stakeholders. Let's face it, our record as content marketers is mixed at best. It's understandable. Though it doesn't always feel…
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Sara Macintyre, Communications Director for BC Premier Christy Clark, is now more famous than her boss in large tracts of Canada. Macintyre's heated exchange with the BC provincial press (if you haven't seen it, click here for the clip) has led most major outlets in BC to run stories excoriating…
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You might already have mad skills. But in our ever changing game one can always improve, right? In the interest of continuous improvement, here are 7 things you can do right now to become a better PR pro: Read some Charles Bukowski. Rather than wasting more time with yet another…
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Our industry is chock full of platitudes. The problem is, behind the easy drinkin' rhetoric, there's more to the story. Here are 6 common platitudes and what people tend NOT to tell you about them: Platitude: "Spin sucks," or "Spin is bad and ultimately hurtful" What "they" don't tell you:…
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I wrote a short blurb for PR Daily about the recent Canadian Council of Public Relations Firms survey on the factors influencing buying decisions (the press release from CCPRF is here in case you want to have a closer look). The study's interesting message is that traditional media matter more…
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In the era of blogger relations, PR firms have begun specializing in particular verticals. The logic - sound in my view - is that because building relationships with bloggers is a LONG process it is best to focus on a limited set of industries, build strong relations with media in…
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Last month's post on 44 things the media wish PR pros knew seemed to strike a chord with readers. One astutely underlined the need to flip the script and let bloggers and jounos know the other side. Here, then, are 12 things I wish the media knew: That PR is…
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