When I learned Steve Jobs had a liver transplant two months ago, my first thought was, “Wow! If I were on his PR team, I’d quit.” Talk about no transparency or honesty. So I decided to look into the reasons behind Apple not disclosing his health issues before jumping to conclusions. Turns out I still feel the same way I did initially…and following is why. * ... Read More

I love Fridays…not just because it means the weekend is upon, but also because I get to blog about how much I love my Twitter friends. Following is today’s list of people you should follow and the reasons why I love them. @JonathanManske I met Jonathan in Denver before I started following him. It was February and he was raising money for cancer research…with the ultimate ... Read More

Some of you know that we have a fan of the week of our Facebook page. I know that you know because yesterday I received several direct messages on Twitter asking me how YOU can be fan of the week. If you don’t already know about this, read on because you, too, can be fan of the week! First things first. If you’re not already a ... Read More

Last week, I chatted with Sara Wilson, who writes for AllBusiness.com. We talked about how social media is changing the face of franchising, which she then turned into a story. See it here. But social media isn’t changing just the face of franchising. It’s changing the way we do business. All of us. Every business. It doesn’t matter if you sell to consumers or if you ... Read More

I was interested to read a June 1 article in PRWeek that was a debate between Steve Cody, the founder of Peppercom (and someone I got to cycle with in Palm Springs a couple of weeks ago) and Sean Cassidy, president of DKC (someone I’ve never met) about fixed retainer versus hourly rates. When I started Arment Dietrich four years ago, a business coach told me ... Read More

I have two PR groups I want to recognize today: My staff and PR firm leaders I’ve built relationships with through Counselors Academy. First, the Arment Dietrich team: @dblazek Diane is our business developer extraordinare. Never have I worked with someone so laid back, easy-going, and not resistant to change in the least. She is always willing to try new things, beats herself up appropriately when ... Read More

So you want to start a business? Well, here are a few things no one tells you, but you should know! 1. We all think we want to manage people. It has the perception of hitting the pinnacle of your career when you FINALLY get to manage people. It sucks. No one tells you that. It’s not fun at all. It’s way more fun to have ... Read More

Yes, it’s true. We instituted an internal email ban at Arment Dietrich. Well, it started as an email ban and now it also includes instant messaging. It all started when my colleague, Christine Heim, blogged about an internal email boycott by a single woman in an effort to communicate better at work (see it here). We discussed during our weekly meeting, but I wasn’t convinced. I ... Read More

Last week’s blog post “WTH is FollowFriday” was very popular because people now have a reason to follow others on Twitter. Therefore, I’m making it a Friday tradition. If you’re not on Twitter, get there and follow these people! If you are on Twitter, following are my recommendations for today. @wiskup I met Mark when he spoke to my Vistage group three years ago. He’s one ... Read More

Yes, this headline is a question because I’m not sure I know the answer.  I know the right answer for me personally but I’m not sure there is a right answer that applies to everyone or everything... Read More