– Why talk is not cheap

When things go wrong we tend to clam up and hope the drama passes without causing a storm.

But when you’ve invested time and money in creating a brand and relationships, dramas never go unnoticed. In fact, it is in these moments that people really start listening and looking for cues that show you for who you really are. Read more…

– Just because your story isn’t newsworthy that doesn’t mean it’s not worth telling.

People important to you may still need to hear it.

Fortuitously, there have never been so many storytelling instruments.

Abundant, readily accessible channels <insert long list here> and other ‘interactive’ modes of self-promotion and expression give everyone the opportunity to show and tell. Read more…

– Social notworking

Who doesn’t accept invitations to connect to associates on LinkedIn? No harm.

But, what next? Has anything really changed?

– The barriers to noise making have disappeared

There’s always a stage available, free of charge, to put on a performance and make some noise. But in the rush for attention, many marketers have forsaken strategy.

They see more value in performing on as many stages as possible than showing up with a good story on just the right stage  – where customers are looking to hear from them. Read more…

– What’s effective, what’s not?

I was recently asked what constitutes effective PR? It’s a fair question, but it took some answering. What example could I hold up and what might it look like? A bundle of positive news clippings? A torrent of gushing tweets? Favourable blog chatter? A voluminous leaflet drop?

Who knows, a case study of PR effectiveness might contain all these things. But it won’t answer the question. It’s easy to spotlight tactics, but how do they relate to strategy? Read more…

– Why pay a copywriter when you can buy words for $2.50 a page?

A colleague of mine (a technologist who turns knobs up and down to trick people into visiting his clients’ websites) enjoys mocking creative services. The other day he sent me a link to an Indian company selling wordsmith ‘services’ for $2.50 a page. “There you go. You’ll be out of business when this catches on,” he gleefully predicted. Read more…