Blog

First off, I owe the readers of this blog an apology – my last entry was too long ago and I have committed the worst blogging sin possible … NOT blogging!!! This is exactly what we tell our clients not to do…and here, I have gone and done it. Being too busy is no excuse. My apologies. It won’t happen again.

There is a great article in the April issue of Wired Magazine entitled The See-Through CEO written by Clive Thompson. In it, Mr. Thompson writes about the power of blogging – and the challenges. He also put his money where his mouth is, so to speak – and put the article idea out there on his blog before he wrote it, creating a dialogue of what the piece could and should be. This is the true value of blogging. Some of the most interesting content in this article comes from the comments from readers of his blog. This article is a great example of the dialogue that can come up from putting your ideas, thoughts and concepts out there.

A lot of articles, including this one, often put forward the idea in this new world of online transparency, of blogging and openness – that you no longer need a PR person or publicist. That we “spin doctors” don’t like the idea of putting it all out there … that with Web 2.0 and the movement to online communications, PR becomes redundant. To that, I say … HA!

Great public relations has always been about engaging in conversation, dialogue, constructive and open feedback – talking and listening. In my opinion, blogging is one of the best things to happen to companies in the past century. Great PR doesn’t spin, hide or bury information, and with the new openness online – great PR people are invaluable. There are very few CEOs who, at this moment, would feel comfortable putting it all out there in a blog – the good, the bad and the ugly. A great PR person can show that CEO the value of this. A great PR person can identify the leading bloggers – and create the schedule for the CEO to reach out and speak to these bloggers and their audience by posting to their blogs. A great PR person DOES NOT write the blog, but can work with the CEO to ensure that he or she consistently delivers the straight goods on their blog. After all, who among us doesn’t want to sugar coat bad news just a little, who doesn’t want to soften a negative story when it is about us or our company. …a great PR person maintains the integrity of the blog and the message – and challenges the CEO to step out of their comfort zone.

We’re talking major corporate culture change here. And to do this right, a visionary CEO needs a strong PR professional with integrity, who has been empowered to open the door to true communication. Like just about everything in a Web 2.0 world, a great CEO and a great PR advisor collaborate and work as a team to create accurate, honest and authentic relationships through a blog.

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Work and Life on the Sunshine Coast…it’s as good as you would think! (Maybe even better.)

When anyone learns that AHA’s head office is on B.C.’s Sunshine Coast, they either grin and give us a smart aleck remark like, ”Oh, and I’m sure you do a lot of work on the beach and the trails out there…” or they say it’s their dream to be able to live somewhere like this without sacrificing their career ambitions.

For those who grin and think we might be putting something over on the tax man, we really DO work out here – our office is 1,000 sq feet with a brainstorming area, televisions tuned into the news, a production office and four full-time staffers. (We also have some incredible contractors and strategic partners who work out of their home offices or business offices.) But – it’s also a pretty amazing place to work and live. We are surrounded by beaches (Sechelt means land between two waters) and we have a view of Porpoise Bay from our office – and access to some of the best nature trails around.

We also have an office in Vancouver, but we made a conscious decision to locate our production studio and head office on the Sunshine Coast. There are several reasons: quality of life; room for the dogs to run; and the ability to offer our clients the opportunity to get out of their office and meet here to brainstorm, media train, and for other business-related activities that need space.

We even have an “after work” fun space called The Naked Cowboy Bar & Grill named after the Naked Cowboy in New York City – who is one of the best entrepreneur PR success stories I have ever seen. The Naked Cowboy has a pool table, foosball, darts…it’s a little beach bar crossed with a Texas Honky Tonk. Clients love to go and spend an hour in there, have a cold drink and hang out after an intense afternoon of media training or messaging development.

Our office is not far from downtown Vancouver, but because we take a ferry to the city, perception is that we are far, far away. We’re not!! The ferry only takes 40 minutes – and we work on the ferry. From the Horseshoe Bay terminal, depending on traffic, we can be downtown in 20 minutes. Not a very big deal for us – and we are in Vancouver several times a week or more, depending on client needs.

With our Sunshine Coast and Vancouver offices, we have the best of all worlds. We have access to a great city with lots of culture, a large business population combined with the more rural beauty of the Sunshine Coast and the space to grow our business.

And, these days our clients are all over North America and the world so that where we are really doesn’t matter. Technology allows us constant contact – emails, Instant Messenger, telephone, online video and online conferencing allows us to feel like we are in the same room even when we are thousands of miles apart. And for those times that we need to be in the same room, we are only a drive or a plane ride away. The world is a big, wonderful, expansive place – but our ability to connect makes it seem like we are all right next door to each other.

I wonder how many others are making a choice similar to ours – molding their lifestyle and business together, instead of having one or the other. Have you? How has technology freed you to do business from where you choose? Or do you think that to be successful you need to be in the heart of a large city? Let us know what you are thinking – we’d love to hear from you. Even if you’re the taxman – because we really are working out here. Ask our clients!!

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Blogs and other social media have created an incredible opportunity to communicate. They have also opened up the curtain and let us see the little man at the controls. (If you didn’t get The Wizard of Oz reference, my apologies.)

One of my favourite blogs is the bad pitch blog by PR gurus Kevin Dugan and Richard Laermer – this blog has a long list of smart, lively and witty contributors. Here, bad news releases and pitches are put under the microscope.

This blog has great information if you want to see what mistakes can be made – before you make them. They also showcase good pitches. The good pitch badge of honour award is named the “Glinda”, (after the good witch of the East in
The Wizard of Oz).

This blog covers an important topic in PR – the pitch. It is such an important part of reaching out to the media. Check this out and find out what works and what doesn’t.

There are a lot of people contacting the media that don’t even get the reporter’s name or their beat right.

Before you contact the media, make sure you have something to say, that you are saying it to the right person and that you are putting it in front of them at the right time and in the right way.

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Our AHA blog is farily new – but I’ve seen a spike already in visitors to our site. Now, that could be because we let our business contacts know that we had updated and upgraded our website…but we’re seeing a lot of return visitors – who I hope are coming back to check out the blog, podcast and social media that we are using here.

Everyone’s talking about social media, but do you know what it is? If you don’t – you aren’t alone. We’ve all heard about blogs, podcasts, videocasts and vlogs, but how many of you are using them? And if you are using them – what are they doing for your business?

So – let me know – are you blogging? Podcasting? Vodcasting? If not, why not? And if you are – is it working?

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The rumour of our demise has been greatly exaggerated …

We’re big fans of social media – it has put the power back into the hands of people, which is where it should be (in our opinion). However, this also surprisingly has created a bit of a rumour that social media will mean the death of public relations…

Just for the record …we don’t see it that way. Social media is definitely changing the way companies communicate to their stakeholders – and that’s a good thing. Blogs, podcasts, vodcasts…it all opens up a conversation that is interactive, engaging and truthful; all things that good PR should be.

A great blog can give a voice to your business – it showcases the human factor. And – remember this is coming from a PR person – a blog shouldn’t be written by your PR or marketing department. It has to come from a person, an individual…someone who is going to give your clients, customers and stakeholders a glimpse of real life at your organization. You know what I am talking about – hit a blog written by a marketer and you feel the sales pitch coming, no matter how well written or well-intended. Now, I’m not saying that a company doesn’t need to set up boundaries and a mandate for their blog – sometimes excited bloggers might give away trade secrets. And blogs aren’t the vehicle to air your grievances with your boss, talk about the guy that sits beside you and doesn’t believe in personal hygiene, or bad mouth the IT department who are just trying to do the best they can like everyone else. If you have a problem with those people, talk directly to them.

To me, a blog is about opinions, but not about personal attacks. Dislike a new product or service, think it wasn’t done right – tell the company. Find a discussion on a topic that you are informed, knowledgeable or passionate about and post to it…engage, interact, and communicate.

There is a great video (sometimes called a vodcast or video podcast) on YouTube – that talks about the value of Web 2.0 and what it give us.

And remember that your blog is important, but it’s not the only voice out there. Check out other people’s blogs, comment on what they are talking about, engage with others in the blogosphere – that’s where the magic comes from.

Some of the blogs we subscribe to or check out regularly are
Chrisflett.com
rocketboom.com

You can also check these out on our blog roll as well.

They aren’t all about PR, but they always inspire, engage and often amuse us. Check them out and let us know what blogs you like. If you have a question about how you can use a blog to help get the word out about your company – send us an email and ask us. We will do our best to answer it. (Just for the record, we don’t answer technical or design questions about your blog – that isn’t our thing, so please don’t email us with those queries.)

This blog is going to give you tips and information on blogging, public relations and other business-related topics. It will be a how to, how come and “WTF” about some things that happen in the world that you just can’t quite figure out. Come and visit us often, we’d love to connect with you and hear what you have to say.

So you see, the death of PR is just empty talk…PR 2.0 is just the beginning!!

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