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Awards are a wonderful way to win publicity and earn goodwill from the public. Organizations that give awards look at what you have accomplished for your community, your employees and others. Awards are almost always based on real merit and strong leadership in improving the lives of others in the areas of business, community service and health care.
comment | 03/11/2010
Some people may question the ethics of using a ghostwriter, but ghostwriting is an old, respected profession. From time immemorial, secretaries have been ghostwriting letters for the CEO who hired them, and today they ghostwrite e-mails for their bosses.
2 comments | 02/25/2010
You don’t have to be a polished speaker to give an effective presentation. You only have to be yourself and know your material well. Passion helps. If you’re intense about your convictions or your topic, your audience will naturally be interested in what you have to say. And if you need to work on your speaking skills, by all means join a local Toastmasters International club.
1 comment | 02/11/2010
Generally, you exchange business cards only if you see the potential for a helpful relationship. MMI president Patty Briguglio advises, “Indiscriminately handing out business cards is not strategically effective and may make you look like an ankle-biter.”
comment | 01/28/2010
You’re never going to meet 99 percent of the world’s most well-known people face-to-face, yet you may still have a sense that you “know” them. What you know is not a real person, but a personal brand.
comment | 01/14/2010
America’s favorite sports hero, Tiger Woods, has become America’s fallen sports hero. Among PR professionals, it’s impossible to discuss the subject of personal branding these days without the philanderer’s name coming up in everyone’s mind. It often takes a personal crisis of some sort to stimulate real change and growth in a person’s life. Because a personal brand is something crafted, one can change it. Scrooge did it, right? So can Woods.
comment | 12/31/2009
To be a leader in a media-savvy world, you need to be able to get your message across quickly and clearly, plus have enough charisma that people will not only listen and believe what you say, but will also act on it. What it comes down to is storytelling skill, whether written or spoken.
comment | 12/17/2009
When it comes to being interviewed on radio, TV and podcasts, be prepared with sound bites or talking points. Let’s say you are an accountant interested in promoting yourself with small business owners. Here is a sample set of talking points about "The Five Commandments of Cash Flow."
comment | 12/03/2009
We send out news releases about our clients every day. The reason to issue a news release is to get the media to call back and interview you. But what do journalists consider newsworthy?
comment | 11/19/2009
Experts become widely known when they make original contributions to their field through ideas, discoveries, mergers and partnerships, and innovative products and services. A major breakthrough may be worth
y of announcing at a press conference.
comment | 11/05/2009
Blogging is good PR. The world’s best and most popular blogs are the product of someone’s passion. Bloggers let their obsessions show! Their blogs become successful because of their personality, knowledge, expertise and originality.
comment | 10/26/2009
Establishing yourself as a leader in your industry or profession is a long-term process. Leaders inspire others with their vision and motivate people to follow them. They are take-charge types who direct the actions of a group to achieve a common goal. There are many leadership styles—authoritarian, democratic, laissez-faire—but every leader has a plan. If you lack a plan, you cannot effectively lead others, because you don’t know where you’re going yourself.
2 comments | 10/16/2009
Publishing magazine articles or a book on your area of expertise is de rigueur for establishing yourself as a leading expert in your field. Having published work out there gives you instant credibility and can get you on radio and television shows and speaking circuits. To get yourself known in your field, you should publish articles and books, even if you have to use a ghostwriter.
comment | 10/13/2009
Judges love nominees who have mentored others, especially if they have mentored young people. Mentorship tends to be an important factor in winning awards. Your desire to mentor others will expand in relationship to the growth of your reputation as an expert in your field. People are naturally drawn to experts and want to learn from them.
comment | 09/29/2009
Photo: Courtesy of First Baptist Nashville
Publicity is an important part of public relations. If your company builds a Habitat For Humanity house every year for a family in need, that’s good public relations. If you write a news release about the fact and get it distributed and published in the local newspaper—so that the public is informed about your company’s good deeds—that’s publicity.
comment | 09/10/2009
Give some thought to your overall social media strategy. Is it your goal to increase awareness of your personal brand? Tell potential customers about your products and services? Educate yourself about the latest trends in your industry? Connect with potential employers? Get engaged with a community built around similar interests? Build a mass audience?
comment | 08/25/2009
Are you an entrepreneur? A self-employed professional with employees? A small business owner?
House Democrats are proposing a surtax ranging from 1 percent to 5.4 percent on those persons who make $280,000 or more. The Treasury Department has estimated that more than six of every 10 individuals who earn $280,000 or more are small business owners, operators, or investors. Half of all small businesses with 20 to 249 employees are likely to have their income affected by the surtax.
comment | 08/12/2009
You're pretty connected." That’s what Neil Cavuto, Fox Business Network host, said to Patty Briguglio on television today. He’s right! PR is all about real relationships and honest connections with the public. In fact, MMI’s promise to its clients is to help them start big conversations and make powerful connections.
comment | 07/17/2009
