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Tips for Writing Killer EMail Subject Lines. Before I got into PR (some would say crossed over to the dark side) I was a television reporter.  I find my news background to be very helpful because I understand how to find the unusual angle in a story that might pique the interest of a reporter/producer/blogger.   [...]

Don’t Find Yourself on the “Ridiculist” – Get Your Facts Straight. A few weeks ago, my son was working on a report for school.  He showed me what information he had gathered so far, and when I questioned one of the facts he told me, “Dad, it’s ok, I found in on the internet.”  Sure [...]

The Art of “Spinning” Stories To The Media. Often times, we PR pros are referred to as “the Spin Crowd.”  And no, I’m not talking about the reality show spin-off of Keeping Up With the Kardashians.  Unfortunately, PR is not all “Sex and the City” so to speak (as this blog post suggests, many a PR pro [...]

How I Became A Franchise PR Pro in Kindergarten. “When in doubt, go back to the basics.”  In my experience, it’s never a bad idea and, typically, returning to the basics helps give you a much needed fresh perspective. This mentality works wonders in the business world.  A lot of people get wrapped up in [...]

Client-Agency Relationships: Love is a Two Way Street. The reasons marketing agencies get fired are well chronicled, from the well-deserved (lack of effort, lack of results, poor communication, etc.) to bewildering Bermuda Triangle reasons (new marketing director cleans house 80% of the time regardless of results, CEO’s cousin or wife is a marketing expert, etc.), [...]

Franchise Marketing and Baseball. It Should Be About Performance, Not Politics. As a former college baseball player, for better or for worse, I apply the lessons I learned as an athlete to the business world.   The lesson that’s translated most directly is “playing my way” into the lineup (not sure what that means?  This description about [...]

Think Like a Cactus and Dominate The Next Franchise Conference. I’ll admit it – I have an unhealthy obsession with the late comedian Mitch Hedberg.  His slow drawl one liners comprise a large chunk of my brain’s unnecessary knowledge category.   You guys know what I’m talking about, that portion of a male’s brain that’s dominated [...]

You know what 2:30 feels like, right? Oh yes I do.   It’s when I’m sinking into my office chair about an hour after lunch – the computer screen is blurry and my mind is just as hazy as my vision.   Deadlines are fast approaching so I’ve got no time to waste.  It felt like it [...]

How To Nail Your Next TV Interview Credit: Flickr Mike Renlund Opinions are flying about an interview between Lauren Green and best-selling author Reza Aslan. For 10 minutes, news reporter Lauren Green interviewed best-selling author and noted scholar Reza Aslan with probing questions concerning his motivations for writing his book Zealot. As they spoke, she left no [...]

How We Find The Right Reporters to Pitch There may not be much glory when creating a media list, but it can be a star of a well done pitch. We use Cision to make our lists.  And while products like it help, pulling a media list can still be time-consuming and can make you go cross-eyed [...]