Promote Your Client’s Business with Meetup, the Antidote to Traditional Social Media

By A.wordsmith | Jan 13, 2016

A client recently asked us about using Meetup.com to expand their reach. Meetup, if you aren’t familiar, is a social network that allows users to organize real life, face-to-face events. Think of Meetup as the antidote to traditional social media. If Facebook is diluting good old-fashioned friendship and Twitter disconnects us from our neighbors, Meetup […]

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Pinterest Increases Engagement for Brands

By Christy Caplan | Jan 11, 2016

In news this week is Pinterest. Both the Content Marketing Institute (CMI) and Social Media Examiner are saying that Pinterest is the fastest growing social media platform. A CMI post says that when compared to Facebook’s 6% member growth, Pinterest increases engagement for brands and experienced a huge 57% jump in members in 2014 and […]

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Audience Analysis: What to Do During a Presentation for Effective Communication

By Gretchen Hoffman | Jan 7, 2016

A few weeks back, we wrote about effective audience analysis and the role it plays in effective communication. More specifically, we went into detail about the first phase: before you are speaking in front of an audience. In this post, we’ll delve a little deeper into what to do during the second phase – once […]

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3 Tools for Staying on Top of News & Trends

By Natalie O'Grady | Dec 18, 2015

Working in public communications means you’ll likely spend a decent amount of time each week perusing news headlines, industry publications, and social media hashtags. In order to best represent your clients and find prime opportunities for coverage, you need to be aware of the top trends and breaking news. This includes public relations news, industry talk […]

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Don't do this: the worst brand blunders of 2015

By Kelda Rericha | Dec 15, 2015

‘Tis the season for recaps of the year’s best and worst! In recent year’s past, it has been easy to blame brand blunders on social media. Fast twitch communications developed by junior-level social media staff will always be a recipe for disaster. But the worst of 2015 features a diverse blend of goof-ups, many of […]

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5 Reasons PR Pros Can Be Thankful For Social Media

By Natalie O'Grady | Nov 26, 2015

As public relations professionals better understand social media metrics and analytics, we get better at proving these platforms’ worth to clients. Everyone knows social media is an integral part of a communications campaign now; even though the platforms shift and change, the need to have our clients on them remains. But necessity doesn’t mean social […]

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Audience Analysis: Get the Right Message to the Right People

By Gretchen Hoffman | Nov 24, 2015

Not long ago, A.wordsmith manager Lisa Lavora-De Beule published a useful post outlining 5 steps to enhance your public speaking. Every effective speech, however, shares a common beginning, one that happens long before the speaker gets to the podium: audience analysis. Understanding one’s audience is one of the most important elements of effective communication. It […]

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A Day in the Life of a PR Practitioner

By Christy Caplan | Nov 23, 2015

One of our clients, iFLY, Oregon’s only Indoor Skydiving operation, opened a few weeks ago, and I had the opportunity to fly in the tunnel this past Friday for the first time. As a PR practitioner I was nervous at first but the experience was life changing. I’ve been pitching the grand opening for weeks, and […]

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How to Build a Personal Brand

By Louie Deraita | Nov 18, 2015

As a senior in college, I am beginning to embark on the most exciting and yet most nerve wracking task yet – a post college career. I have been told since day one in numerous classes to think about my “personal brand” and to start “selling myself” to future potential employers. But what does creating […]

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Selling it with serifs

By Kris Travis | Nov 5, 2015

I’ll say it over and over: font choice is so important. It impacts our feelings about a brand both consciously and unconsciously. So is there an essential font to use if you’re trying to make something come across as expensive or luxury? Apparently so. According to Sarah Hyndman, who recently studied the relationship between font choice […]

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5 Tips to Enhance Your Public Speaking

By Lisa Lavora-De Beule | Nov 3, 2015

Becoming an effective public speaker takes time and practice, yet is a great way to market yourself as an expert in your field while enhancing awareness of your business. No matter the size of your audience, below are a few simple pointers to keep in mind in public speaking. 1. Dress for Success Dress in […]

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Halloween, offensive costumes, and bad publicity

By Natalie O'Grady | Oct 29, 2015

For most retailers, the four-month long “holiday season” is rife with opportunity for public relations outreach. There’s plenty of news stories to latch on to, seasonal product launches, and holiday editions of magazines eager to feature businesses and their stories. However, the first holiday in the lineup, Halloween, seems to churn out a disproportionate amount […]

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