I worked for a small high tech PR firm for my first job out of college. The Internet was really taking off and major cities across America were trying to stake their claims as the next Silicon Valley. Chicago was Silicon Prairie and New York was Silicon Alley and startups were popping up all over the place. Then the … Read More
Mad Men: Publicity And Presentation Tips From Don Draper
Mad Men Season 7. I love the show on so many levels, but for me, the scene I watch over and over is Don’s Carousel pitch to Eastman Kodak in the Season One finale, “The Wheel.” Aside from being riveting television, Don provides some practical lessons for pitching your business or your client (what to say) and some valuable … Read More
Major League Baseball and Publicity: Home Runs vs. Hitting for Average
Baseball season starts today. I’m sure the stadiums across the nation are blasting John Fogerty’s Centerfield. For the Chicago Cubs faithful like me, hope springs eternal this year ends the curse and they bring home a coveted World Series Championship. Today also provides a good reminder on how small and medium businesses should approach publicity. Baseball and publicity go hand … Read More
Book Review – Shark Tales: How I Turned $1,000 into a Billion Dollar Business
I picked up Barbara Corcoran’s “Shark Tales: How I Turned $1,000 into a Billion Dollar Business.” I can see why it’s a national bestseller. To provide some context, Barbara was one of 10 children growing up in a three flat house in New Jersey. She made her money in New York real estate (sold her company for $66 million). … Read More
Book Review – Gary Vaynerchuk’s Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook
While I don’t handle social media for most of my clients, I do like to keep up to date with the latest and greatest. I recently picked up Gary Vaynerchuk’s Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook – How To Tell Your Story in a Noisy Social World. It’s a good read. To boil the book down to one sentence – “Content … Read More
Media Training Tips – The Spike Jonze/BBC Interview
It’s Academy Award season and that means the marketing machine for top movie contenders is in full gear. In case you missed it, here’s an interview between the BBC and Spike Jones courtesy of @LAist regarding Her. And while it’s pretty awkward, it provides some good media training lessons for businesses: Not everyone likes your product. That’s a tough pill … Read More
Repurpose Stories To Extend Shelf Life
You secured a great story in an outlet your target customer reads. Awesome! After high-fiving everyone in the office, fielding a couple calls from potential customers that read the story, you head out for celebratory drinks. A week later, it’s crickets. The glow of the story is gone. I belong to an indie PR facebook group and a fellow freelancer … Read More
500 Small Businesses Gather at Network Hack Meetup
On Monday, January 20th, I attended Pay it Forward for Business’ (PIFbiz) Networking Hacking. Six Networking Groups – the Santa Monica Chamber, New Tech Happy hour, the LAX chamber, the Swedish American chamber, Tech in Motion and PIFbiz – came together with a focus on paying it forward. I met several interesting people, but three companies in particular jumped out … Read More
PR 101 Class for LA Small Businesses Set for 2/13/14
Want to grow your business in 2014? Want to generate more awareness of your company with your customers? Want more content for your facebook and twitter feed? This Dabble class is designed to help small businesses with limited budgets learn the ins and outs of securing stories in newspapers, e-newsletters, blogs and even television. The class is scheduled from 7:00 … Read More
Stand up & media pitching: Is this mic on?
Ever send information to reporter and feel like all you’re getting back is the sound of crickets?I recently caught a friend’s stand up performance at Flappers Yoohoo room in Burbank. After the show, I recognized some similarities between stand up comedy and media relations. Getting people to laugh and getting a reporter to write your story isn’t as easy as … Read More