The Secret Sauce

Every PR and Marketing firm has their own secret sauce.  Their own special way of doing things.  I was recently told that part of our secret sauce is that we ask really good questions.  As part of the initial “getting to know you” process, we ask a lot of questions as we prepare to represent a company.  And while this list may look long, this isn’t exhaustive. Read more

So You Want a Job in Marketing…

We recently started looking for some additional team members.  As usual, I was simultaneously excited and appalled at the response.  I want to hire the best and brightest.  I want to feel the passion, excitement and enthusiasm rolling off the candidate in waves.

After a few hours of wading through the resumes, I often start to feel that I should focus on getting someone who takes the time to actually read the job description and respond in a semi-coherent manner.  (And, in the interest of fairness, I also got some damned AMAZING responses.  Wow, awesome, awesome responses.)  So, in the interest of getting even more good responses (and through those responses, more excellent candidates), here are some helpful hints. Read more

Winning the Coverage Lottery

You had the good fortune to win the lottery — a fantastic article about your company or product!  YEAH!  But before the team starts celebrating, what are you doing to leverage the coverage?  Here are a few ideas on keeping exposure working for you: Read more

What Does Your Landing Page Say About You

Both yesterday and today, a startup took a big, expensive (for a startup anyway) step and purchased an ad in the Help-a-reporter out (HARO) newsletter.  I like the idea of the website — a giveaway website devoted to promoting a single product every day. Like the “I wear your T-shirt” guy(s), the site would attract eyeballs, build a following and promote sponsored products out to a general audience.  Since many of the HARO readers are marketing people and small businesses, seems like a good match.  One problem… Read more

Wordcamping Above my Pay Grade

I’m spending a good part of my weekend at BU with several hundred others at WordCamp Boston – lots of developers and designers but also lots of folks like me; marketing and bloggers are not in short supply. Read more

Are You Making Marketing Hard? (Iced Tea)

With the hot weather in Boston, we’ve been drinking a lot of iced tea.   We make it in a gallon jug.  Boil the water, throw in the tea bags and then, “Bingo,” you have tea.  Refrigerate or serve over ice. Not difficult. In fact, simplicity itself. Read more

Don’t Forget the “Traditional” Media

Yesterday, I attended the latest installment of the WBZ Business Breakfast.  Billed as a way to learn how to best use social media channels to grow your business, WBZ newsman Anthony Silva and a panel of social media experts talked about social media marketing best practices, strategies and tactics.   Read more

What drives you to work? And I’m not talking about transportation…

I remember graduating from college in 1991 and walking the streets of New York City looking for a job because I was convinced New York was where I belonged.  I’d open newspaper after newspaper hoping to find anything that would pay a reasonable salary – which at that time hovered under $20,000/year.  Imagine. Living in Manhattan and making less than $20,000/year.  I sound like your grandmother, right? I didn’t last long in Manhattan – Boston beckoned me home. Read more

Rest assured email is alive and well

For years I’ve supported and encouraged inbound marketing efforts, as I’ve seen with my own eyes the benefits of community, engagement, and reciprocation of great content. Channels have opened up to allow businesses to effectively reach their target markets without slaying the marketing budget with big spends like TV and magazine ads. Read more

SIIA’s NetGain – a look at content and technology

As a marketer, content is the new black. OK, content for a marketer has always been the new black – brochures, advertisements, radio spots, billboards, flyers have all be based on messaging and information (i.e. content). But what has clearly changed over the past decade or so is the way in which content is created and disseminated. While there is still a place for whitepapers, brochures and email campaigns for some businesses, there is also a place for Facebook posts, tweets and digital video as well. Read more