How many of you go to cocktail parties and, when you say you’re in public relations, the person you’re speaking with says something along the lines of, “Oh. You’re a spin doctor.”?  And how many of you own businesses that need external PR help but have spent way too much money for nothing in return? I don’t have proof of this, but I believe, as industries ... Read More

Guest post by Steve Cody, co-founder and managing partner of Peppercom. This may sound crazy, but stand-up comedy has helped win more clients for my business. Humor is a powerful differentiator in life. Think about it. You choose your friends, business “buddies,” and significant other based upon how much you like them. So, it should come as no surprise that humor, when properly leveraged, can provide ... Read More

During the summer I fell off the InsidePR bandwagon. Not in terms of recording, but in terms of talking about it here. But I’m baaack! And this week, Martin Waxman, Joe Thornley, and I discuss preparing students and young professionals for the business world. We’ve talked here before about using the social web to find a job, but this discussion is a bit different. With school ... Read More

If you don’t know Sasha Muradali, go on over to her blog, Little Pink Book PR. That is where this post first was published and it came to life because we are both huge Mad Men fans. If you already read it there, by all means, ignore me today. If you didn’t read it on Sasha’s blog, welcome to my obsession of Mad Men. I love the storyline, ... Read More

As a former journalist and current manager of Spin Sucks, a proud outpost of branded content, many of my old colleagues would probably say that I’ve gone over to the dark side. When I was a cub reporter at a small newspaper on the central coast of California nearly a decade ago, a respected veteran reporter on staff, upon resigning from her post, left me a ... Read More

On Sunday afternoon, because of a comedy of errors that included Joe Thornley pouring himself a glass of scotch and wondering what he was getting ready for (and not remembering what it was until Monday) and my being so tired after the big ride with my dad in Oregon that I was asleep at 5:00, we had to reschedule our InsidePR recording for this afternoon. Getting ... Read More

Well, the news that Google and Verizon are conspiring against net neutrality was announced, and diffused, yesterday morning when the two companies did indeed meet with regulators, but to to enact laws preventing carriers from blocking websites or selectively delaying access to content common on the Internet today, while leaving the door open for private “specialized networks” down the line. The meeting was not about “allowing ... Read More

Guest post by Sharon Cain, managing director of Quest PR. Compared to PR pros, are journalists quicker to adapt and embrace the wealth of opportunities that our vibrant new world of social media presents? The dramatic evolution that journalism and PR have undergone since I was haring around the UK living on caffeine, adrenaline, and deadlines as an on-screen Sky TV reporter has been reinforced in ... Read More

Last week PRWeek published a guide for required reading and Sheelagh Doyle recommends Spin Sucks, among my own favorites. “Required reading – a definitive guide to PR blogs” begins with, “Everybody has an opinion. Social media provides an unrivaled avenue to share it with the world. PRWeek examines some of the individual blogs and Twitter feeds that all communications pros need to bookmark.” Check out the ... Read More

Catherine Novak over at WordSpring wrote a great post Tuesday on the merits of content versus conversation. As the word count on the comment I began to leave for her continued to grow, I realized I just might have a blog post of my own on my hands. In her post, Catherine quotes Cory Doctorow (via Clay Shirky): “Conversation is King, content is just something to ... Read More