Reputation

Bad reviews! Ugh. The Internet. That’s how most business owners respond when a bad review lights up their computer screen. I deal with bad reviews from both sides. As a business and marketing consultant, I help my clients build their reputation and grow their social proof online (and that usually includes reviews). One of the…

3 Ways to Boost Your Marketing Awesomeness You want your business or organization to be top-of-mind, make an impact, be successful and grow. You know that better marketing is the key to take it to the next level, but aren’t sure how to go about it or who to turn to. Discovery is the first,…

I was researching social media trends the other day. The most interesting thing I read was about 24,000 people donating $541,000 to send a bullied bus monitor grandma in NY on vacation. We’ve all seen viral videos and enjoyed many of them, like the dog talking and the baby laughing. But most of those videos…

I attended the leadership assembly for the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) this week as a delegate for my local St. Louis chapter. An interesting discussion ensued among members about the difference between Public Relations and communications. Many PR professionals feel like their work is distinctly different from communications, although the general public would…

We watched an interesting documentary show on the Sundance Channel, called Iconoclasts. This particular episode focused on Sumner Redstone, who controls media empire, Viacom, and movie producer Brian Glazer. Redstone said some things that were worthy to be quoted. So I paused the Tivo and took notes. Here’s a few words of leadership wisdom from…

I’ve been devouring my “magazines to read” pile. I came across an excellent article on trust in Associations Now magazine by Michelle and Dennis Reina. It’s critical to being a good leader, which seems to be something everyone should know if they don’t. However, one little sidebar on the article really stood out to me……

We got a special invitation from Donald Trump the other day. It had gold ink, and it looks pretty fancy on the outside. On the inside, however, it was just like every other direct mail seminar pitch, except of course it included two free tickets to admit us to this special event. My husband and…

I do a lot of freelance magazine writing; while wearing my journalist’s hat, the first place I go to do research on a company is their website. Surprisingly, it often appears that the website is the last place where most companies invest their time. How do I know? On company websites of all sizes, I…

A few weeks ago I wrote on this website about a funny phone experience I had with a bank customer service rep about credit cards. I submitted it to one of my husband’s favorite personal finance blogs, GetRichSlowly.org. The editor, J.D. Roth, liked the post and offered to publish it. It went online yesterday at…

My local newspaper, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, sent me an interesting story in their news email blast. The headline read: “City threatens blind woman over unpaid 1-cent bill.” Uh-oh, I thought: PR disaster. Some auto-billing mechanism is creating a havoc. Sure enough… The city of Attleboro, Mass. sent a nastygram to a 74-year-old blind resident…

I recently attended an informative luncheon sponsored by the Community Service Public Relations Council (CSPRC). It was a roundtable format with a myriad of topics; I was able to sit in on two topics, website Redesign and public relations tips from the Post-Dispatch. Although I have a lot to say on website redesign, I’ll save…

In my previous two jobs, I have produced over 60 promotional videos, so I have a few tips to offer on how to create a great video. I’ve done it on the cheap and with a big budget. And, since I only had one video class in college, I learned from experience…and from my incredibly…

I was able to celebrate my birthday last week with the fun folks at the Public Relations Society of America – St. Louis Chapter. The monthly luncheon featured a fascinating topic by a world-renowned expert. Author and PR Exec Leslie Gaines-Ross of Weber Shandwick shared how a company’s reputation can be destroyed in seconds during…

You know that guy. He’s so in love with his iPod that he practically talks you into buying another one every time you enter his space. Or there’s that lady in the cube next to you who’s always reminding that you’ve “got to check out” that great new Google feature because its so useful. According…