Public and media relations can be tricky business. As Willow’s PR coordinator, I have outlined the basic steps from the beginning to end. Buckle up. Here we go. IN THE BEGINNING. When discussing a new topic or product, the VERY first thing to do is ask yourself these two questions: Is this newsworthy? – Is this an industry hot topic? – Is it relevant to our company’s message/marketing goals? Will anyone [besides me] care? – Will our targeted audience care? – Will our targeted media contacts care? If the answer is ‘NO!’ to any of the above questions – the >>

Thomas Jefferson famously said “The advertisement is the most truthful part of a newspaper.” But I’m not here to talk about advertising nor newspapers, rather I start there because an ad from my childhood comes to mind almost daily when meeting with prospective clients and customers. “You never get a second chance to make a first impression” is one of those perfectly simple phrases that can become so axiomatic that its impact is lost. I think it’s time we perform a little CPR on that phrase, while hopefully leaving the permed hair in the past. First let me just point >>

I say this several times a day. As a nonprofit CEO, I am presented with numerous opportunities for free goods and services to support our mission. We couldn’t survive without the generous in-kind donations we receive. It makes a huge impact on the bottom line in nearly every line item of our budget. Every area except marketing that is. When it comes to nonprofit marketing, you have to spend money to make money. I said this to a colleague the other day. She responded that she didn’t have any money for marketing. She also runs a nonprofit no one has >>

The goal of the Traffic Department, whether in an agency, in-house marketing department, design or PR firm, is to increase workflow efficiency and create an environment conducive to the production of outstanding creative work. This must be accomplished with consideration given to budget, time constraints and personnel. Effective traffic management is part art and part science, requiring an empowered facilitator – the traffic manager – and a project management system to shepherd a project through the agency each step of the way. And, to help make the right decisions based on the information and resources available. Traffic managers (project managers >>

In a recent blog post, Seth Godin equated most of the online marketing tactics small businesses feel are must haves to “throwing a thousand bottles into the ocean and waiting to see who gets your message.” His point wasn’t to denigrate the value of Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest and the like as useful weapons in your arsenal, but to point out two primary issues: It’s difficult to move a conversation or sale forward, and Data often changes between interactions. Woven within these issues and one we’re well acquainted with at Homesense Heating | Cooling, is that these tactics can often give >>