What My Public Relations Degree Didn’t Teach Me

By Natalie O'Grady | Nov 3, 2016

Part one of a mini-series on education and being a millennial in the world of PR, from some of our young professionals at A.wordsmith. In 2014, I graduated with my master’s degree in public communication and finally headed out into the “real world.” Since I basically went straight from my undergraduate studies to my graduate […]

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Five Key Elements of a Successful Funding Announcement

By Candice DeForest | Sep 30, 2016

Congratulations – your startup has received a mega round of funding. You have just a few weeks until the announcement date and while the planning process will be fast and furious, the strategy must be buttoned up to ensure success. Like any corporate news, a successfully executed funding announcement will take thoughtful planning, a well-designed […]

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The Misconceptions of Public Relations

By Carly Langdon | Sep 29, 2016

You may not realize it, but you are exposed to the fruits of public relations every day, in every medium. From social media outlets like Twitter and Facebook to traditional media like television, newspaper and radio, many of the pieces you enjoy are the direct result of a public relations professional doing her job. There […]

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Top 4 Takeaways from Art + Science of Storytelling across Platforms

By Savanna Frimoth | Sep 19, 2016

I recently had the opportunity to attend a PRSA webinar presented by Geoff Livingston and Andrew Gilman called the Art and Science of Storytelling across Platforms. Given that a huge portion of a PR professional’s job is crafting stories for their clients, this topic was relevant and applicable. Here are my top takeaways from the […]

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Influence Used Right: Big Brands Demand Diversity from Agency Partners

By Kelda Rericha | Sep 6, 2016

Take a look at this picture of 2014’s most senior leaders at the top 13 PR agencies by revenue, and the top two agencies by revenue growth in 2013: Zero minorities. And just four women in a field where 65-70% of the workforce is female. A lack of diversity has plagued ad and PR agencies […]

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Five Ways to Reuse Blog Content

By Candice DeForest | Sep 2, 2016

Copyblogger writers spend an average of five to seven hours developing a single blog post (including research and writing time). While this may seem like a significant amount of time to invest in one piece of content, in reality it should serve as the beginning of a longer lead campaign. Content continues to take center […]

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How to Weather the Storm: Ryan Lochte-Edition

By Carly Langdon | Aug 31, 2016

Crisis communication is a critical skillset for any PR professional. Having the knowledge to protect and defend an organization or individual who is facing a public-facing challenge can often mean the difference between life or death of a public image. Take the recent scandal between Ryan Lochte vs. the city of Rio at the 2016 […]

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How to Leverage Big Data for PR and Marketing Communications

By Gretchen Hoffman | Aug 17, 2016

Image courtesy of photoexplorer at FreeDigitalPhotos.net Big Data has become a vital tool for large and small businesses alike, with Big Data software able to help analyze the vast amounts of information to today’s organization. New, simplified tools like Amazon Mechanical Turk allow organizations and individuals to more easily collect data from around the world, […]

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What to Know About Instagram Stories

By Savanna Frimoth | Aug 11, 2016

  The Controversy Instagram’s unveiling of its “Story” feature caused some waves in the social media realm. Critics of the feature say Instagram is attempting to take over Snapchat’s specialty, a sentiment that was echoed by some Snapchat employees. Fans of the new tool believe that Instagram has improved upon Snapchat’s original story concept by […]

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What Thought Leadership is Not

By Natalie O'Grady | Aug 10, 2016

“Thought leadership” is often considered a buzzword in the marketing and PR world – little more than a spruced up advertisement for a company. However, if your content marketing pieces fit this description, then you’re not doing thought leadership. Thought leadership can be a strong, useful addition to a content marketing program and goes well beyond […]

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The Verizon-Yahoo Deal: What to Know

By Candice DeForest | Aug 5, 2016

With headlines like “Yahoo Sells To Verizon In Saddest $5 Billion Deal In Tech History,” it would be hard to ignore last week’s news of Yahoo’s sale to Verizon after months of speculation. While the ink has barely dried on the Verizon-Yahoo deal, reporters and industry experts are racing to analyze the potential impact on […]

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My PR Toolbox

By Carly Langdon | Jul 27, 2016

Every day a new tool is introduced into the world of communications. From a new social media app to a media monitoring program, it’s hard to keep them all straight. To help you on your journey to find all the right tools, here’s my top five list of PR gems. 5. Associated Press Style Guide […]

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