Happy Valentine’s Day!

I have a secret. Nothing I write today is going to outdo Shonali Burke’s Valentine’s Day blog post.

So please go over there, get it out of the way, and come back.

It’s OK. I’ll wait.

Now, wasn’t it worth it? I, for one, am pleased to finally see the movie star’s talents coming through. Enough of this PR stuff. Let her do what she was born to do!

And on to our regularly scheduled program.

I have good news!

Rumor has it Facebook is rolling out its timeline feature to business pages this month. Continue Reading »

Today’s guest post is written by Shonali Burke. 

When Gini and Lisa asked me to write about Twitter chats for Spin Sucks (ok, “tweetchats,” if you must, I’m going to stick with the former, I’m old-school, whatevs), I scratched my mane.

I’ve written so much about TCs in the past, I was worried about what I could share with you that wouldn’t be same old, same old.

But then, a friend who currently runs a popular Twitter chat DM’d me to tell me he might be shutting it down. The reason? Life has taken over, and he’s finding it tough to keep it going with the same level of verve and vigor as he did in the past.

My response? “Don’t do that. Ask <person who is well known for focusing on the discipline> if they can do it. It’s a good chat. It teaches people.” (Or words to that effect.) Continue Reading »

This first ran on Women Grow Business, a Network Solutions blog that Shonali Burke edits and manages.

One of the most untapped social media tools is LinkedIn. Facebook, Twitter, and now Google+ are the media darlings while LinkedIn, which has been around longer than any of the tools combined, continues to grow and provide value without all the celebrity.

Sparkle and shine notwithstanding, the fact remains it is the single most valuable tool when it comes to business development.

A few weeks ago, I spoke to a Vistage Chair Group about the use of LinkedIn to help them build their groups. In three hours, we got through 21 different tips. So I distilled them into the top five that were most useful to them, for you. Continue Reading »

Happy Canada Day to my Canadian friends! Boy do I wish I were in Ottawa today. I LOVE Kate Middleton!

We were recording Inside PR yesterday and Joe Thornley said the streets leading to his office (it’s near the Parliament) are all blocked. I said, “Get out there and get a picture with Kate for me!”

I don’t think he did it.

And happy long weekend to my U.S. friends. Our Independence Day is on Monday so there won’t be a guest blogger at the beginning of the week. I’ll likely do a fun new tool or book review. Haven’t decided yet.

If you’re bored this weekend or need alone time, following is Gin and Topics for your pleasure. Continue Reading »

It’s Facebook question of the week time. Woo hoo!

Today’s question comes from Jenn Whinnem. Before I tell you her question, let me tell you how you can find her.

She is a communications officer at the Connecticut Health Foundation (which will make sense when you read her question), she is a contributing author at SMB Collective, and she can be found on Twitter and LinkedIn.

Check her out. You’ll see her around here and on other blogs, as well. In fact, I’m pretty sure I first met her on Mark Schaefer’s blog, and then on Jayme Soulati’s, and then on Shonali Burke’s, and pretty soon we were stalking one another.

She’s very active online and I know you’ll like her as much as I do.

She asks:  Continue Reading »

It’s the first week of May. Spring has finally arrived (in Chicago). The flowers are blooming. My tulips are colorful. The hyacinth smell great. It’s warm enough to ride outside.

And everyone is writing gut-wrenching blog posts.

So get your Kleenex (guys, you too) and settle in for this week’s Gin and Topics.

I apologize in advance. Continue Reading »

I told you I’m obsessed! I promised Lisa Gerber I’d watch the wedding with her, so I’m DYING right now! I cheated a little bit and watched them leave the church and saw the two kisses, but no wedding yet!

And come on. Even for you haters (cough, Danny Brown), you have to admit they look completely and totally in love. And she is drop-dead gorgeous (no, John Falchetto, her sister is not more hot).

Every little girl dreams of being a princess and having a royal wedding. We just experienced a real-life one. It’s historical.

And, with that, today’s Gin and Topics focuses solely on blog posts and articles found around the web about, you guessed it, the Royal Wedding! Continue Reading »

It’s another blood boiling week for the PR industry. I realize Spin Sucks got it’s name because, well, spin sucks. But sometimes it’s exhausting having to communicate over and over and over and over and over again that publicity is not PR.

Earlier this week, Matt Royse had a fantastic guest post on the seven ways social media is changing PR. In the comments, and later on Facebook, Jon Aston challenged the story by saying, “Are there really PR pros out there who still aren’t aware of this?” Oh Jon. I wish that were the case. Which will clearly be evidenced in this week’s fourth topic, which includes four stories.

Instead, we’ll  keep fighting the fight. Continue Reading »

Last May, Roger Friedensen and I were sitting on the porch of the Grove Park Inn in Asheville, N.C. talking about how nice it would be to write a book together.

At the time I told him I had an idea and to let me get some things organized and get back to him.

Well, it was nearly a year in the making and the book includes more than the two of us – 32 people, in fact. But it’s here! It’s finally here! Continue Reading »

This first ran on Shonali Burke’s blog, Waxing Unlyrical. If you read it there, there is nothing new to see here. If you don’t know Shonali or her blog, I suggest high-tailing it over there. After you’ve read and commented on this piece first. Of course. Oh. And read the comments here. They’re new, too.

Week before last, TechCrunch took a stab at PR professional Timothy Johnson.

Actually, a stab is putting it mildly.

They called him a PR disaster and printed his emails to  Leena Rao, the “extremely sweet and mild-mannered colleague” of author  Robin Wauters.

Before you jump to a conclusion, let’s examine this from both sides: The side of reporter and writer Leena, and the side of PR pro Timothy. Continue Reading »