In one of my other lives, I’ve been co-hosting a podcast on Rutgers Athletics for almost four years. It’s been a blast, and we’re about to hit our 100,000th download mark. We’ve also learned a great deal, and I’ve tried to apply those lessons to conversations with clients who are interested in starting their own podcast efforts. I’ve boiled podcasting best practices down to the four P’s: planning, preparation, production and promotion. Planning One of the most fundamental podcasting best practices is planning. A lot…
Read MoreWhen Josh Dare and I started The Hodges Partnership, it’s not like we said to ourselves, “Hey let’s create one of the best workplaces in America.” But 19 years later, the email came in from Inc. Magazine congratulating us for just that. We’re proud to announce that our public relations/marketing firm of 16 Hodgers is included in this year’s list of Best Workplaces from Inc., sort of the bible of small companies, start-ups, innovators and entrepreneurs. We are one of 23 Virginia-based companies, in the…
Read MoreAs someone whose public relations business has survived and thrived in recent years by using social media platforms and their advertising capabilities, I’m more than an interested bystander on their futures in the aftermath of the Trump era. The platforms allow us to promote our clients’ content to their target audiences and drive awareness of and engagement with their thought leadership efforts. But as we’ve seen, those same advertising tools and algorithms are used to amplify political rhetoric and hate, which ultimately drove violent mobs…
Read MoreJosh Dare is always about five years ahead of the times. He is also the “kinder, gentler” of the two founders of this agency. Ok, some background. As an agency The Hodges Partnership has always had nonprofit clients on its roster. Working with nonprofits is part of our DNA not only as an agency but as volunteers and board members. Josh has always led that charge. It was about six years ago that THP expanded it capabilities into content marketing. One successful project was the creating…
Read MoreAs summer starts turning to fall, it is clear we’re heading into the long haul of the COVID-19 crisis for marketers. The summer allowed most to get used to working remotely, pivot their business models and gauge who their (new?) customers are. As we roll towards Labor Day and realize the regular touch-points (meetings, conventions, sales calls, etc.) still won’t exist for at least several months, the challenge now is how to find, gauge interest, connect and sell. Most marketers are naturally turning to “digital,”…
Read MoreIt is the end of May and I’ve changed my Zoom virtual background at least ten times. Every day is one meeting right after another because frankly it’s easy to stack meetings when you don’t have to drive to them. I’ve also achieved “video bingo” having done meetings on Zoom, Teams, Google, Skype, WebEx and RingCentral. I’m not sure if any of those “new normal” accomplishments are good or bad, but they are what life is for most of us in public relations and marketing…
Read MoreOne of the best things I’ve done in the last few years is join the Virginia Council of CEOs. VACEOS is a group that connects leaders of companies throughout the state and places them in small peer groups, called Roundtables, which meet regularly. One of the backbone rules of the Roundtable is that we agree not to give people advice but to “share experiences.” I’ve found that experience sharing approach invaluable in helping me grow both professionally and personally. So, I’m writing this post in that spirit,…
Read MoreAs the CEO of a thriving public relations/content marketing agency, I wear a lot of hats — and one of them is business development. Over the years, I’ve seen many trends in our quest to acquire “new business,” the latest being the lengthening of the new business cycle, or the amount of time from the first meeting with a potential client to the “close.” The amount of time is getting longer. In the past when we’ve experienced that, it’s mainly been because the potential client…
Read MoreSo Josh beat me to the punch on his crystal ball for 2018 and while I share most of his sentiments please allow me to take a more global view of the public relations industry as we begin 2018. The last two years has seen us drink water from a fire hose as we learned how to marry media relations, social media, content marketing, brand journalism and all their associated measurements. We have come through the other end well positioned to bring a strategic eye…
Read MoreYes, that’s a picture of two of my prized possessions — a Rutgers helmet and football signed by Greg Schiano for my 50th birthday. They are proudly displayed in my office. I have a great deal of respect for the man and what he did for my alma mater’s football program. I could write about how he got a raw deal the last few days, and how I hope he gets a shot to prove that he’s a great college head coach. But this is not…
Read MoreSo, I recently had to work with my daughter, who is working on a project, and coaching her through being on television. And, not to say that CEOs or 17-year-old girls meet somewhere, but the premise is pretty much the same. You want to start with a couple of different basic premises, either the old who, what, when, where and why, and how to communicate those things right off the top, or think about what are the three things, no matter what the reporter asks,…
Read MoreSo, the main reason that we find that content strategy fails for clients is because they didn’t take the time to plan out, not only their strategy, but what their goals and audiences are on the front end. So, if you’re seeing and not getting the results that you’re hoping for, take a step back and revisit a) did I set out goals to begin with, b) do I have audiences that we’re really writing for and c) do I have an amplification strategy that…
Read More
