A little more than three years ago, we announced we are no longer a PR firm. What that means externally is, when prospects call and say they’re looking for a PR firm, if all they want is media relations, we now have a business model that doesn’t support that kind of “strategy.” But, internally, it was a huge shift. Before we formally announced it, we spent ... Read More

Well, kids are mostly back at school (though there are some lucky ones who don’t go back until after Labor Day), vacations have been had, and the entire country is beginning to cool down. I guess that means football season, tall boots and sweaters, autumn leaves, and fire pits are upon us. It also means my outdoor cycling days are numbered, which totally stinks…no matter how ... Read More

Today’s guest post is written by John Trader.  Working directly with international markets during the past few years has broadened my perspective on a number of things. It’s given me the opportunity to learn and understand the structure and nuances of many different business cultures outside of my own. And I’ve noticed something about the way some companies are built in the U.S. I realized individualism, one ... Read More

Nearly two months ago, we talked about 10 content ideas that generate comments and shares. Apparently the seventh idea in that blog post (lists) worked because it had 190 comments and a gazillion shares on all of the networks. The moral of the story? Write lists! But that’s not my point. In the comments, there were a lot of really good additional ideas and I promised ... Read More

It seems we have a trend in Chicago. Every time it has snowed this winter (this is only the fourth time), it’s on Friday. I wonder why that is? Mother Nature must be feeling generous to not make us trudge through snow all week long. Because, by Monday, it’s been gone. So here I sit, watching it snow, and hoping we get a little bit more ... Read More

It’s Friday! I was on the plane last night and realized it was Thursday, not Wednesday like I thought. Do the weeks go by faster and faster as the year progresses? Or maybe I’m just getting old. Don’t answer that! I won’t keep you from getting to Gin and Topics. There are some good ones this week. Thanks to everyone who sends me links. Keep ‘em ... Read More

Today’s guest post is written by John Trader. The race to the top of search result pages is getting more fierce as search engines drive more and more traffic and revenue to businesses. Last June, Google, Yahoo, and Bing announced a new initiative called Schema.org  to create and support a common vocabulary for structured data markup on web pages. The goal was to allow webmasters and ... Read More

We are having a contest through the month of November and it is your opportunity to win fame, fortune, and fabulous prizes. Well, a great wine opener anyway. And a seat to our December webinar; The Spin Sucks Second Trends Webinar. (More on that later.) And this lamp. (Not really a lamp; that’s a joke.) We are in search of the most horrendous, and the most ... Read More