4 steps to find quality blogs to pitch
Jul
1
While leading a recent training session with the marketing team at Chick-fil-A, a client raised his hand and asked what seemed to be a very simple question: How do you find the best blogs? It seemed simple until I tried to answer it. Well, uh, you search for them. Right? While it’s not complicated, searching for blogs that are relevant to your business, hobbies, customers or trends requires more thought than that. Any business should ... Read more
Postcards for the hedge: Neighbor sends thanks for sidewalk flowers
Jun
22
As the sidewalk garden grows, so do the expressions of appreciation for it. You may remember the garden I wrote about in April. This week I received a postcard from a neighbor who took the time to thank me in writing even though she doesn’t (yet!) know my name. It’s still nice to hear people shout, “Thank you for growing your garden,” as they drive by in a hurry. But it’s even better to see ... Read more
Cloudy, with a Chance of Crisis
Jun
17
Image by Fibonacci Blue via Flickr As oil company executives were called to testify in front of congress, newscasters were abuzz with the laughable errors in each company’s nearly identical crisis plans. While the Gulf of Mexico is facing an unprecedented environmental disaster, at least we know the walruses would have been safe…had they been there. But while such errors seem laughable and we may smirk, perhaps it’s really nervous laughter we’re hearing. How many ... Read more
Saying goodbye to Coach Wooden
Jun
7
It is difficult to write about Coach John Wooden in the past tense. We lost him last Friday at the age of 99. His record of 10 NCAA basketball championships (seven in a row) as head coach of the UCLA Bruins will never be broken. John Wooden was not only the greatest college basketball coach of all time, he also was a sage off the court, especially about the tenets of leadership. Here are some ... Read more
Delving into the modern science of Spamthropology
Jun
2
At least twice a week I receive long emails from perfect strangers wielding arcane or illegitimate words like “append” and “optin.” They are uninvited messages encouraging me to purchase lists of other strangers who I might want my company to assault with our own brand of uninvited email. Some of these epistles start with cheer, as in “Hope you’re doing great.” Some are downright ominous, as in “Do I have your attention?” All of them ... Read more
Talk of brands always misses two of the biggest
May
19
Whenever the topic of branding comes up – and it obviously comes up a lot in the marketing communications business – big consumer brands tend to be the default topic. Let’s face it, most people outside our industry don’t understand branding that well. I’m not saying they should, I’m just pointing out that non-marketing people tend to correlate brands with logos or brand names, when brands are much more than that. That said, pretty much ... Read more
Can we rescue journalism from the smut rut?
Apr
28
Vanity Fair has decided that we need to be acquainted with Tiger’s Tattletale Women. The photo feature in the May 2010 edition looks more like Playboy eye-candy than a doctors’ office read. I don’t give a flip about Tiger Woods, although I must concede he’s a hot news commodity. I just don’t need this kind of hot staring me down from the grocery store shelf. He’s been to therapy, the Masters are over, so enough ... Read more
Leaked Toyota memo brings attention to crisis communication
Apr
9
Caroline Duffy spent part of Thursday afternoon with WSB-TV reporter Jim Strickland. Jim wanted to understand what steps a company should take during a crisis to communicate with the public. Of course, he also wanted to know if Toyota’s reputation has been damaged by the disclosure of the leaked memo. The memo regarding acceleration problems says, in part, “We are not protecting our customers by keeping this quiet .” We were honored that Jim thought ... Read more
Conversation magnets: sidewalks, poppies, puppies
Apr
7
I live on a very busy street where traffic can resemble the Autobahn or a pre-Christmas line at the post office, depending on the time of day. About a year ago, our county decided to install sidewalks, which had many of us wondering how our property values might be affected. At the end of what seemed like never-ending construction, the contractor slapped down a strip of sod in a space between the curb and the ... Read more
Baseball and business: It’s time to examine your saves
Apr
5
Well, the first pitch has been thrown. Baseball season officially has begun, which means spring is finally and mercifully here. During the 2010 season, pay close attention to the relief pitchers, craftsmen of their trade and dedicated on-the-mound problem solvers. Like the best relievers in the game, a winning service business needs to view client problems as opportunities, a chance to demonstrate why you are in the business you are in, why you feel called ... Read more
