By Mark Fidelman Too often these days, I see PR that screams of automation. News releases that are blasted out to everyone in the known universe in the hopes someone – anyone – will listen. It lacks heart, and it lacks the foundation of what PR truly should be about: Building relationships. But there’s a savior on the horizon, and its name is influencer marketing. By [&hellip... Read More

By Martin Waxman It’s December. A time to celebrate, wind down, and reflect on the past 12 months – and, of course, read all the looking-forward-and-back, new year/new you and ‘resolutionary’ posts. Just before Thanksgiving, I wrote about my six social media lessons from 2013 and encouraged the Spin Sucks community to chime in with a few suggestions of your own so I could make it [&hellip... Read More

By Lee Polevoi When it comes to sales, can we agree on two things? First, no one likes to be sold to. People want to be persuaded or given the illusion they’re making their minds up for themselves. Second, we tend to do business with people (and businesses) we like and trust. So how can we write sales copy that reflects these timeless truths? Start By [&hellip... Read More

By Gini Dietrich A new study conducted by the CMO Network on Forbes asks nearly 2,000 chief marketers a bunch of questions, including the best ad agency of the year, how important is integrated marketing communication, and how they feel about measurement, the agency model, the pitch, and more. The chief marketers mostly commented on the relationships they have with the large agencies, particularly those under holding [&hellip... Read More

by Katie Burke We’ve all been there. Your company has big news to announce, and you want to share it with the world. The news is significant for your business, but it’s not likely to make front page news on its own. You could beg and plead with a reporter who has covered you before or write a traditional news release and pray to the PR [&hellip... Read More

By Gini Dietrich Dear Mark Cuban, I respect the heck out of you. I normally agree with most things you say and do. But this time? This time, you’re wrong. Much love, Gini Never Hire a PR Firm He recently wrote, “Mark Cuban’s 12 Rules for Startups” for Entrepreneur, and I agree with nearly everything he said. Things such as, “Keep your organizational chart flat,” “sales cure [&hellip... Read More

By Gini Dietrich Well, Thanksgiving came and went in about .03 seconds and now we have just a little more than two weeks until Christmas. My sister-in-law was giving me a hard time yesterday because I haven’t started shopping yet. She said, “This is so unlike you!” Yes, it is. But days are going by so quickly! I must be getting old. (She’s also stressed because [&hellip... Read More

By Liz Reusswig My friend Rebecca Todd recently wrote that emoticons don’t mesh with her learning style. In her post, Learning Styles: What Emoticons Can Teach Us, she made a compelling case that emoticons may be confusing and incongruous additions for those who don’t respond to visual learning. I seriously laughed out loud…not at the content of her post, which was enlightening, but because I had [&hellip... Read More