You don’t get it. You pick up the paper, and there’s an article on a business that you might have a passing interest in, and you think, “Why them? Why not me? My company is so much more interesting than this firm specializing in inventory management software.” You could be right, but even so, your outreach to the paper over the years has consistently had the same result as those amorous emails to Elle Macpherson so many years ago. Zippo response. Chances are, you could…
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 More“To be uncertain is to be uncomfortable, but to be certain is to be ridiculous.” Chinese Proverb Seems like every time we see Mariah Carey trying to stay warm, it’s time to not just take stock in the year behind us, but to look toward the horizon to see what may lie ahead. As I contemplate what 2018 holds for Hodges, I see a predictable mix of certainty and uncertainty – from the uncomfortable to the ridiculous. Here’s what I’m sure we can anticipate…or not….
Read MoreWhen I started in PR more than a dozen years ago, three of the most dreaded words when talking with potential clients were: The Today Show. Nothing against the show, but it’s really hard to break through their producers to actually see your client sitting down next to them for an interview. It can be just as hard for Good Morning America, CBS Sunday Morning or any of the shows on Fox, CNN or MSNBC. Hard, but not impossible. Here are a few things to…
Read MoreSecuring live, on-camera interviews has always been regarded as hitting the media relations jackpot. But for some executives, being in the spotlight on live TV pushes them outside their comfort zone. But no worries. Getting more comfortable in front of the camera just takes practice – and patience – and with a little bit of preparation, anyone can master a live interview. Here are three tips that will set yourself, and your spokesperson, up for success during your organization’s next live interview. Get your message(s)…
Read MoreOne of the biggest challenges facing anyone in PR or marketing is figuring out how to break through the noise to reach your customers. That’s why we’re all constantly keeping an eye out for the next big thing that people still find inherently interesting and different, which for the last year on social media has been video. Why the sudden increase? Two main reasons: 1.) it’s getting easier and cheaper to produce high-quality video content, and 2.) social networks like Facebook have made it easier…
Read MoreYears ago, we were responsible for helping write and edit a magazine for a Fortune 500 company that it mailed to its employees all over the country. Back then, we called it internal communications (or external communications for more outward-facing work). These days, we’re writing an online magazine to celebrate Swedish-American lifestyle. Today, we call it content or brand journalism. What’s changed – or stayed the same – over the past decade or so? One thing that hasn’t changed is developing relevant content. Whether it…
Read MoreThe rise in social media has created a new category of targets for public relations practitioners – the social influencer, or influencer for short. These are the folks who have established an online presence with a loyal following, and what they buy or eat or travel to can exert a great deal of, well, influence on particular brands. And so it was inevitable that a conference on influencer marketing would be born, and I found myself immersed in a New York City conference center for…
Read MoreIf you haven’t heard, iPhone releases its iPhone X today. I’ve been so interested in the device that MacRumors.com is now the second most visited site on my current iPhone, right under my favorite tech website TheVerge.com. In addition to new features like Face ID and an OLED screen, the updated iPhone X comes with a new public relations strategy to promote the release. Here is what’s new. The 24-hour embargo Since the iPhone 6’s release in 2014, iPhone reviews on the major tech sites…
Read MoreA recent piece in Adweek, Why Brands and Agencies Are Preparing for the Era of 6-Second Ads, is predicting that these “snackable” ads – even shorter than the time food takes to get from your mouth to your stomach – will begin to come into their own, if not by the end of this year, then by 2018. And the future may already be here. The NFL started using 6-second spots during this season’s games on Fox. The reason: the bite-sized videos are ideal for…
Read MoreEach issue of our monthly e-newsletter, The Press Box, includes the latest industry-related news and trends we’re talking about around the Hodges office. Think of this aptly named section, The Rundown, as your monthly recap of all things PR, social and content. Here is this month’s The Rundown and a sneak peak of the October Press Box. Facebook is coming to Richmond Earlier this month, Facebook announced its plans to build a $1 billion dollar data center in Richmond, according to Richmond BizSense. Custom audience targeting is…
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,…
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