Archive for December, 2009
Resolution for 2010: more blinking
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There’s a great line in Malcolm Gladwell’s book, Blink: “We live in a world that assumes that the quality of a decision is directly related to the time and effort that went into making it.” Yet as he points out, some of our best decisions are made in the blink of any eye, without much forethought. They are gut reactions, way down at the base level.
My resolution for 2010 is to do more “blink”ing – and see where it takes me.
I’ll share my successes and failures with you – we’ll see how powerful (or not) this kind of “thinking without thinking” really is…
A conversation with author Alan Korwin: self publishing and book promotion
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Author Alan Korwin
Book publicity is a talent that a lot of authors don’t possess. However you feel about the controversial topic of gun laws, (and I’m squarely in the middle), you have to admire someone like Alan Korwin. Through hard work and a natural promotional ability, he has taken his Arizona Gun Owner’s Guide through 24 successful self-published editions.
1). How did you first get the idea for your book, The Arizona Gun Owner’s Guide?
Moved here from NYC, where guns in the hands of the public are virtually unknown, and found Arizonans sold guns and ammo in supermarkets. When I asked, ”What are the rules?”, the guy at the counter asked me what I meant by rules. I figured there was room in the market for a book on it. I certainly wanted to know. People started making me offers for copies before I had it written. Read More→
Arizona Book Awards – publicity for your books
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The Arizona Book Publishing Association is calling for entries for the 2010 Arizona Book Awards. Submissions must be postmarked by Saturday, January 30th, 2010.
The goal of the annual awards is to promote and support quality work created by Arizona authors, produced by Arizona publishers, or written about Arizona and are meant to recognize excellence in craft and creation in the Arizona book industry.
My book, “Press Releases are not a PR Strategy,” won in 2008 in the business/career category. Think of the state lottery – you can’t win if you don’t play.
Entries have to have been published between January 1, 2009 and December 31, 2009. For information about judging criteria, application form, and fees click here. You’ll also see the list of 2009 winners.
Don’t be intimidated by “social media experts”
Posted by: | CommentsHappy today to feature guest blogger Chris Hewitt, an Internet marketing professional with more than 12 years of experience in Internet strategy and web marketing. Currently the senior director of marketing operations for Lumension, he has leveraged this experience to successfully create and execute eCommerce, SEO and social media strategies in large, medium and small enterprises. He is a graduate of Arizona State University with a bachelor’s and MBA degree in marketing. You can check out his blog here.
Chris Hewitt
Over the past several months, I have spent a lot of time with small business professionals presenting and discussing Social Media. There is an exciting energy around social media and these professionals are eager to understand how they can leverage Social Media in their businesses. Interestingly enough, that energy is equally matched by an awkward, nervous fear that they just cannot, and will not be able to, figure out Social Media.
Keeping Social Media At Arms Length
We [Internet Marketing Professionals] have been slowly and unknowingly (in some cases purposefully) making Social Media inaccessible to those those outside our profession. Read More→
What are you wistful about?
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Wyeth's "Christina's World"
January 1, 2010 is now just a few weeks away. One more year gone. What are you wistful about? What do you want to accomplish?
The most tormented I’ve ever felt was when I worked as a secretary at an ad agency in Providence in the early 80s. The son of the owner would come in every now and then, and he was working towards his law degree. The kid had the brain of an avocado, but I knew that soon he’d be outearning me by a ridiculous amount. It made me wistful.
I decided to go for a master’s degree in communications. It felt right. I applied for some very obscure scholarships, and was successful. With my new degree, I went from $5.00/hour to $26K a year.
What are you longing for?
Six essential qualifications of a “social media manager”
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Laura Kinoshita
Today’s guest post is by Laura Kinoshita, a senior communications consultant overseeing healthcare campaigns with Hafner Creative Communications. Laura moved to Hawaii in 2001 to work with astronomers at the W. M. Keck Observatory on Mauna Kea. Before that, she was managing supervisor at Fleishman-Hilliard. Laura is a member of PRSA and the International Social Media Association. Follow Laura on Twitter at @lkinoshita.
Six Essential Qualifications of a Social Media Manager
According to the job boards, you’ll soon be working with a ‘social media manager.’ Harrah’s Entertainment, Hewlett-Packard, Kodak, Starbucks and even SAP are all recruiting for social media managers. Read More→
Adding video to your blog
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Dave Barnhart
Today’s guest post is by Dave Barnhart of Business Blogging Pros. A social media strategy consultant, Dave has been neck-deep in the Internet since the days when the post powerful search tools were gopher and veronica — long before the World Wide Web existed. Dave’s passion is helping his fellow Boomer-generation business owners master social media and successfully use it to grow their companies.
Adding Video to your Blog
Video – not text – is the most compelling online component. Nothing humanizes you like video. People get to see that you are a real live human being. Your passion comes through far more easily in video than in text. Plus, Google loves video.
Yet few people are incorporating video into their blogs. The reasons vary, but one that always comes up is the technological barrier – Most people simply don’t know how to get video onto their blog.
First a disclaimer: I am not an expert in the field of shooting or editing video. The focus of this post is Read More→
Holiday gifts – buy books, and buy local!
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You don’t need to go out of Arizona to find great books. Here’s a list of some of the local authors I’ve read and like, in no particular order:
- Dine Out Phoenix – Where to Eat from Chic to Unique – by Pamela Swartz
- Life as a Mother-in-Law – Roles, Challenges Solutions – by Olivia Slaughter, Ph.D. and Jean Kubelun, Ph.D.
- The Art of the Fresh Start – How to Make and Keep Your New Year’s Resolutions for a Lifetime – by Glenna Salsbury
- Arizona Gun Owners Guide – by Alan Korwin
- The Braces Cookbook – by Pamela Waterman
- Women Who RV – and Their Kindred Spirits – by Marion Orem
- Laid Off? Don’t Stress! How to Get from Mad to Glad – by Kitty Wiemelt
- Twilight - by Stephenie Meyer
- Steering by Starlight – by Martha Beck
- Escape from Cubicle Nation – by Pamela Slim
I believe these are all available on Amazon, so one-stop shopping and your holiday gift-giving is done.
Tiger Woods, Frankenstein, and Monty Python
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"Young Frankenstein" 1974
The PR blogs are abuzz with differing opinions on how Tiger should have handled his 2:30 a.m. car fiasco. Fraser Seitel, a crisis management expert and author of “Practice of Public Relations,” wrote an open letter to Tiger on Nov. 30th listing 5 critical PR moves Tiger should make right away. Seitel represents one side of the PR debate, one with which I agree: Go public, do it yourself, do it Tuesday, get it out, learn from your mistake.
Another view, represented by elite PR specialists such as Brian Solis, feels that Tiger should take time to compose his response before going to the media, and has a right as a private citizen to do so. Read More→
