Archive for Advice
Thinking about an iPad?
Posted by: | Comments
If you’re thinking about buying an iPad, here are two frank posts I’ve found from my friends Jason Baer and Francine Hardaway that spell out the pros and cons. Take a read before you buy – the feedback will either hasten or delay your purchase timing.
http://www.convinceandconvert.com/social-media-tools/the-truth-about-the-ipad/
http://blog.stealthmode.com/2010/04/ipad-answers-for-jason-calcanis/
Since I travel to Rhode Island every month for 1-2 weeks at a time, I asked Jay whether I should take an iPad or a laptop on the trips– his reply: “Linda, if you had to do real work during the trip, Macbook. If it was truly a vacation, iPad all the way.”
Want to get in the paper? Do something interesting
Posted by: | Comments
If you happen to subscribe to the Arizona Sunday edition, or visit the travel section at www.azcentral.com, you may have read about the father/daughter team, Mike Hayes and Maureen Nowland, who have hiked the complete Arizona Trail from Mexico to Utah.
That’s one way to get into the newspaper - when you or one of your clients accomplishes an unusual feat. [Side note - that's also the theme of an excellent post on Techipedia about how to get the attention of influencers - 'be epic,' says one]
It all started in April 2004 when Mike and Maureen saw an article in the travel section about a father-son team who had hiked the Arizona Trail. Growing up, Maureen and her family often went car camping for vacation. She continued this tradition with her husband Steve, and on a Labor Day camping trip with her dad in 2004, they started talking about the article. Mike threw down the gauntlet by saying, “If you’re serious, let’s put something together.” Read More→
This is not your mother’s (or your father’s) PR
Posted by: | Comments
Try to read current books on PR, like "New Rules," instead of relying on the old traditional practices
If you’re wondering where to go for the best PR counsel, my best advice is just to read as much as possible of current information, including blogs and news articles online. The reason is that the public relations advice that even societies like the Public Relations Society of America tout isn’t always keeping up with the rapid changes in social media. Two significant examples are product launches and crisis communications.
There used to be conventional approaches to how to launch a product, particularly if it’s a tech product, as well as traditional advice on how to react and what to say during a crisis. Public relations certification, known as the APR (accredited in public relations) is built on certain theories about how these events should be managed.
Not so fast. This week there were two very important posts by Robert Scoble and Katie Paine that contained significant insights into how PR is being handled these days. In Read More→
That pain in your butt and leg may be piriformis syndrome
Posted by: | Comments
In Provence, France, I smiled for the camera but I was in intense pain
I was on a plane trip to France in 2001 when it first happened – sitting there in coach, halfway over the United States, I felt pain and numbness of my entire right leg, from ankle to mid-butt. By the time we landed in Nice, I was almost in tears. Our weeklong vacation was marred by the constant, irritating pain I felt – it kept me up at night, and I couldn’t enjoy our sightseeing. I dreaded riding in the little European car we had rented. The return flight to Phoenix was no better, even with a change of planes in New York City, and it took me several days to recover from the pain.
Flash forward a few years – while working full-time in 2006 for a client here in Arizona, the pain returned. My right leg felt so numb that I kept turning to look at it closely in the mirror at home, expecting to see blue, purple or even green veins from the sensation that there was no circulation in the entire leg. But the leg looked normal. I could not find a comfortable position to sit or lie down. The pain increased over the next Read More→
Elder care for dummies – what we did right
Posted by: | Comments
I’m now 5 months into unexpected elder care. Many people have urged me to list some tips for others who might be going through this process. So here’s a candid assessment of what I think my family did right.
The background: my 85-year-old mother was still living by herself in the New England home that she and my father purchased in the early 60s. She was diagnosed with colon cancer a couple of years ago, and was undergoing biweekly chemotherapy treatments. Despite urging from her family friends and neighbors, she resisted any effort to even contemplate moving from the house into independent living, let alone take action. To make matters worse, she grew up during the Depression and hoarded everything. Read More→
Tips on pitching media
Posted by: | Comments
I sat in on a helpful media breakfast this morning, featuring three editors from Scottsdale media and put on by PRSA’s Phoenix chapter. No matter whether you’re pitching Scottsdale media or just pitching editors and reporters in general, they had useful tips – here’s a breakdown of what we learned from Peter Corbett of the Scottsdale Republic, Michelle Glicksman of So Scottsdale and Scottsdale Health magazines, and Kimberly Hundley of Scottsdale Airpark News:
- Media in general prefer local calls vs. calls coming in from NY, LA, etc – the local people have a better idea of the pulse of the community and its publications
- Reporters appreciate it when PR contacts make the information understandable. “Get to the point, break it down (no jargon).” One phrase given as an example of jargon was “business solutions” – so strike that from your press release copy!
- With smaller staffs at the publications these days, the reporters’ jobs are more challenging
- Extremely aggressive PR tactics are discouraged
- Because of the economy, editors like Michelle are stretched thin. She relies on PR people more. Downside – she can’t always be at events, since she handles so much of the publication activities, from concept to coordinator to the words on the page. Read More→
Valley PR Blog readers share money-saving tips for recession
Posted by: | Comments
So many PR pros provided tips on my Valley PR Blog post for saving money during this recession that I’ve compiled them into one comprehensive list:
- Reduce your professional memberships to only PRSA
- Be diligent about loyalty programs (MaxPerks w/ OfficeMax, Best Buy Rewards, etc)
- Read “Your Money or Your Life: 9 Steps to Transforming Your Relationship with Money and Achieving Financial Independence,” by Joe Dominguez.
- Take advantage of grocery discounts for those age 50 and older
- Cancel your TV and cable
- Eliminate wine from your purchases
- Walk to work when/if you can
- Cut back on movies and concerts
- If you LOVE movies, use the Harkins loyalty cup and popcorn T-shirt to save money
- Buy wash and wear clothes so you don’t have to dry clean
- Shop for clothes at consignment stores
- Buy used cars or better yet, pay off the amount so you have no monthly car bill
- Increase investment tactics that will generate a return, such as networking groups
- Go to the grocery store just once a week vs. several times (plan ahead) Read More→
Adding video to your blog
Posted by: | Comments
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→
Travel much?
Posted by: | CommentsTravel USED to be a lot of fun. Ever since 9/11, it has been a complete hassle. A few years ago, meeting planner expert and professional speaker Corbin Ball published this list of travel tips – amongst the best I have ever come across. Sharing the link with you today:
A Frequent Flyer’s Guide to Reduced Travel Stress
©2005 Corbin Ball Associates
Here’s one I hadn’t thought of before:
A quick guide to dealing with New Englanders
Posted by: | Comments
People in New England are different. There is NO doubt about it. Here are my tips for working with them if you have clients, PR brethren, or vendors there (and for those of you unfamiliar with which states are technically in that part of the country, it includes Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Rhode Island):
1). Speak quickly. Don’t dawdle or drawl. They HATE that.
2). Don’t make a joke unless it’s really witty.
3). Use humor as much as possible. (see above)
4). Walk around with a Dunkin Donuts cup or box.
5). Wear darker colors.
6). Let your hair just grow – for goodness’ sakes, don’t style it – you’ll immediately look out of place.
7). Learn the vernacular – “color” is coluh, “Rhode Island” is “ruh-disland,” “idea” is “idear,” “liquor” is “likka” – you get the idea.
8). Ignore their gruff exterior. They don’t even know they’re doing it. Use some wit and they warm right up.
9). Tell them you love the Red Sox. Do NOT wear ANY Yankees shirts, caps. (You might see a few Yankee logos in Connecticut, admittedly).
10). Don’t hum in public. My husband was doing that early at the gym this morning, and they all started backing away. He can’t help it – he’s from Wisconsin.
Twenty years in Arizona have definitely warmed me up, literally and figuratively. But I still get impatient if people don’t get to the point quickly or if they resort to humor I consider the “obvious, low hanging fruit on the apple tree.” Seinfeld said once in an interview with Barbara Walters that he thought comedians on the east coast had the best humor because they had to work harder to overcome life’s daily weather and traffic challenges. When you go futher west, he said, the lifestyle gets easier, so you don’t have as many hurdles, ergo less of a need to meet them with humor. That’s debatable, but I see his point.
