3 lessons a bad telemarketer taught me about communications

Posted by Ruth Atherley of AHA Creative Strategies on February 14th, 2012

For some reason, we are experiencing an increase in those time-wasting, frustrating, painful calls from telemarketers that try to sell you something that you don’t want and you don’t need. We’re also getting companies that want us to send business their way because “we’re good” and “your clients would be happy using our services.” (Really? Is that why I get up in the morning? To introduce you, someone I don’t know, to the clients we have built strong relationships with over many years???)

So for any of you reading this that recognize yourself in the paragraph above—STOP CALLING! (I doubt…

What it’s really like at AHA

Posted by Paul Holman of AHA Creative Strategies on February 10th, 2012

In today’s AHA Fast Take Friday Ruth talks about what’s important to know before getting into a career in PR.

Reputation management and social media

Posted by Ruth Atherley of AHA Creative Strategies on February 09th, 2012

I’ve written about this before and will write about it again… Be careful what you put on social networking sites—professionally and personally. If you wouldn’t want to see it on the front page of your local newspaper, don’t put it up.

The people on my Facebook page represent a range of relationships to me. Some are close friends, other acquaintances, others are former colleagues and some I have only met either briefly in person or not at all. It’s a bit like a neighbourhood coffee shop where there are a lot of different people hanging out.

With the recent changes…

It’s about relationships, people!!!

Posted by Paul Holman of AHA Creative Strategies on February 01st, 2012

My friend, mentor and former boss, Della Smith of Q Workshops, is a smart cookie. She may, in fact, be the smartest person I have ever met. (And I have met a lot of really, really smart people!)

Now, I am not sure I would put Della up against Jeopardy genius Ken Jennings—that’s just a different kind of smart (and one that I believe has more to do with memory than anything else). But I have seen Della in a wide range of scenarios—from dealing with an organization facing a huge crisis to sipping a cold…

Going the distance with your PR campaigns

Posted by Paul Holman of AHA Creative Strategies on January 27th, 2012

In today’s AHA Fast Take Friday, Ruth uses her training for the Vancouver Sun Run as an analogy for a communications outreach.

The art and science of telling a great (corporate) story

Posted by Ruth Atherley of AHA Creative Strategies on January 19th, 2012

Telling your organization’s story isn’t as easy as some would think, but it certainly isn’t hard. It does take some time and effort, but the results provide excellent return on investment.

The fact is, stories are being told about your organization all the time. Whether the stories are good or bad, they are being told by clients or customers, by service providers, employees and contractors (and their families and friends), by competitors, your board members, government officials and by the media.

When we start working with a client, we often do a little bit of research and find some of…

Crisis communications – the prequel

Posted by Ruth Atherley of AHA Creative Strategies on January 17th, 2012

This blog post isn’t about what to do should your organization be faced with an issue or a crisis. It is about what you can do today, proactively, even if there isn’t the slightest evidence that there might be a challenge in your future. (A word of warning: A small mistake by someone in your organization could get a lot of interest online and turn into a huge crisis. Don’t think a crisis would never happen to you. It can. And at some point, it likely will.)

Back to today’s post…

We are often asked to develop issues and crisis…

Image release form

Posted by Ruth Atherley of AHA Creative Strategies on November 14th, 2011

I am on location at a video shoot for a client today and as I took the early ferry into Vancouver (a short 40-minute commute from my home on the Sunshine Coast), I heard a report on News 1130, a local radio station, that grabbed my attention.

It seems that a local politician used the images of two children in campaign brochures without getting permission from their parents. As a communicator, when I see issues like this, I wonder how it happened. In this day and age, taking photos of children without the written consent of their parent(s) or legal…

How to work with your agency

Posted by Ruth Atherley of AHA Creative Strategies on November 10th, 2011

At AHA, we feel fortunate that we get to work with our clients. We have great clients and many of the people that we work with have been with AHA for a long time. Several have changed organizations and brought AHA to work with them in their new role.

At AHA, we are consistently focused on finding the best ways to work with our clients. What makes a client stand out is that they focus on finding the best way to work with us. Working in partnership means that we build a mutually beneficial, respectful relationship. We have a commitment…

Content matters

Posted by Ruth Atherley of AHA Creative Strategies on November 03rd, 2011

At AHA, we spend a great deal of time working with clients to create interesting, informative and engaging content. It isn’t about what the client organization wants to say as much as it is about what their community or stakeholder group is interested in hearing, discussing, and learning.

For some organizations, this is a big paradigm shift. It can, in fact, be culture shifting. There is a perception with the fast-paced, 24/7 cycle of user-generated content online, that organizations have lost control of their “message.” When in fact, the social media era (in my humble opinion) should be seen as…