tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-46112341530839788932024-03-14T09:56:42.798+00:00E=MC2 BlogE=MC2 Public Relations Ltdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03903111063223705217noreply@blogger.comBlogger46125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4611234153083978893.post-89388416240248088562018-07-03T09:02:00.001+01:002018-07-03T09:04:33.519+01:00Announcing bad news – 4 big mistakes companies make<i style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">By Liz Coyle-Camp, managing director, E=MC2 Public Relations</i><div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8013px; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: inherit; margin: 0.75em 0px; orphans: 2; padding: 0px; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; display: inline; float: none; font-family: "verdana" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.8013px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">What are the most common PR mistakes organisations make when they have to deal with bad news?</span></div>
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Aijj_jBELjY/WzstVt3DIaI/AAAAAAAAAIs/znTnAw6zRNYGFa6tUuxVPQXnOG-SUfS-gCLcBGAs/s1600/wavell-court-260417_7194-1024x683.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="683" data-original-width="1024" height="265" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Aijj_jBELjY/WzstVt3DIaI/AAAAAAAAAIs/znTnAw6zRNYGFa6tUuxVPQXnOG-SUfS-gCLcBGAs/s400/wavell-court-260417_7194-1024x683.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; display: inline; float: none; font-family: "verdana" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.8013px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"> </span>1. They delay in announcing the bad news or try to bury it by issuing a press release late on a Friday night hoping the media have gone home for the weekend. Never delay, the longer you do, the bigger and uglier you’ll become in the news when the story does break.</div>
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2. They don’t own up to their mistakes and show genuine sympathy and compassion for those affected because they’re too worried about the legal implications of saying ‘I’m sorry’. Apologising is not necessarily an admission of guilt but an expression of empathy and concern.</div>
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When bad news breaks, showing you care can go a long way in building good brand relations with the public and your customers.</div>
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3. They blame it on the lawyers because they’ve been advised to say ‘no comment’. ‘No comment speaks volumes which is why legal eagles are not media relations experts. Their job is to keep people out of prison, not out of the press. There is no such thing as no comment so don’t go there!</div>
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4. They don’t take immediate action and address the problem or situation. People want to know that you are doing everything in your power to fix the problem or at least alleviate it on day one not day five. Keep them informed about what you are doing throughout the PR crisis.</div>
E=MC2 Public Relations Ltdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03903111063223705217noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4611234153083978893.post-39815400212274816432018-03-23T16:35:00.000+00:002018-03-23T16:37:17.419+00:00Facebook’s epic PR fail – how not to handle a crisis<i style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;">By Liz Coyle-Camp, managing director, E=MC2 Public Relations</i><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Facebook’s
sudden fall from grace in the wake of the Cambridge Analytica dirty-tricks data
scandal is a lesson in how not to manage a crisis.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">The
social networking giant’s failure to apologise quickly when the story broke and
explain to its 50+million ‘violated’ customers it had messed up is proving to
be more disastrous for the company than the data breach. CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s
deafening five-day silence spoke volumes. It sent a message that Facebook had
willingly allowed a controversial ‘behavioural change’ firm to harvest its
customer base, supporting political dirty tricks campaigns that helped win the
Trump Presidency and the Brexit vote.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">CEO
Mark Zuckerberg’s long absence became a news story in itself and when he did
speak up, it was too little too late. Facebook’s customers, duped by a devious
app posing as a personality quiz, as well as advertisers, investors and
regulators wanted a heart-felt apology and assurances that this would never
happen again. What they heard instead was legalistic corporate-speak - a total
disconnect from the company that’s stated mission is “To make the world more
open and connected.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">So
how should Zuckerberg have handled the crisis? Very simply, he should have been
out there apologising, taking ownership of the problem and bravely facing the
music when the story broke. Customers, advertisers and investors wanted
to hear words of ‘remorse’ and reassurance. They wanted
Facebook’s leader to ‘lead’, not retreat. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">What
next?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">The
damage has been done. Facebook can’t win back the public trust and confidence
it had before the scandal broke. Customers have </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">become sceptics. No-one trusts Facebook or
Zuckerberg anymore. Overnight, users have become cautious and protective about
their data and rightly so. </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">Zuckerberg once said people who willingly hand over their
personal data are "dumb f----".<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">So
the fall-out has begun. The hashtag #deletefacebook is trending on Twitter and
the number of searches on variations of the term “delete Facebook” which
increased 423% in the days after the scandal broke, continue to rise. Stocks
are sliding with $60 billion wiped off Facebook’s market value in the past few
days as investors fear a fall-out of customers and advertisers from the social
network and tougher regulation. Worrying rumours that the mega corporation
listens to users' phone calls are in the social conversation. The Federal Trade
Commission is now investigating Facebook’s user-data practices and both the UK
and European parliaments are baying for Zuckerberg to give evidence… and so the
PR nightmare goes on. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br />E=MC2 Public Relations Ltdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03903111063223705217noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4611234153083978893.post-15829554541547903252017-12-22T15:10:00.000+00:002017-12-22T15:41:03.999+00:00Businesses should be optimising their websites for voice search in 2018The most important innovation you should be making to your website in 2018 is to optimise it for voice search. Last year, one in five online searches were done through voice search which uses spoken-word speech recognition rather than keyword text to search the web.
This figure is expected to rise to 50% over the next two years as more people, particularly smart phone users, opt for the faster, more efficient spoken word over typing-in keyword-based text searches. AI (artificial intelligence) personal search assistants like Siri (Apple), Cortana (Microsoft), Alexa (Amazon) and Google Now are growing in use and popularity by the day, and we can expect this trend to continue in 2018. Already in the US, 20 per cent of searches made with the Google android app are voice-based.<br />
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<b>How to make your website voice search-friendly</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
Adapting your search engine optimisation (SEO) for voice searches requires an understanding of search terms your customers and consumers are most likely to use in conversation, their intent and what they are ‘meaning’ to say. For example, voice searches more often follow a question and answer format such as: “OK Google, find me a great Indian restaurant?” AI technology is also focussed on understanding the intent of the user along with the context of their search, accounting for things such as their location and previous searches.
This all means that if you want to attract customers, you need to concentrate your efforts on long-tail keywords and full phrases, setting up your website to respond to and answer searchers questions. That said, if you want to get it right, do your own voice searches on your products and services and see what comes up.
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</v:shape><![endif]--><!--[if !vml]--><!--[endif]--></span>E=MC2 Public Relations Ltdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03903111063223705217noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4611234153083978893.post-71951574117891075102015-06-01T12:10:00.000+01:002015-06-01T12:13:55.683+01:00How to create a social media strategy for your businessSocial media doesn’t work if it’s ad hoc and undirected. Hard selling and spamming won’t work on social media either. It can however, be hugely powerful in your business marketing if it’s planned and strategic. It will also help you manage your messages in the event of a PR crisis where you need to respond to your customers quickly and effectively. <br />
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<b>Here are E=MC2 PR’s top tips on creating a great social media strategy.</b><br />
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<ul>
<li><b>Identify your customers and the media channels they listen to.</b><br />For example LinkedIn is good for B2B sales and marketing. Facebook, Twitter and Google+ are great for community. A key strategy for these three would be to find active communities that are related to your business or product and interact with them in an interesting way. The idea is to always give something to people because participation in communities is all about giving.<br /><br />Don’t forget to engage with good bloggers too who can be great influencers.<br /><br /></li>
<li><b>Target the right people with the right message: </b>one-size fits all messaging doesn’t work. Identify your customer groups, understand them and create a profile for each. Once you know who they are and what they want, you can customise your social messaging for each.<br /><br /> </li>
<li><b>Know your goals:</b> be clear on what you want to achieve and stick to one or two measurable and realistic goals which can be achieved within a set time period (e.g. raise awareness, increase sales leads, reward customers).<br /><br /></li>
<li><b>Be clear on how you want your customers / target audience to react and respond:</b> ask yourself ‘What exactly do I want my audience to do?’<br /><br /></li>
<li><b>Look and learn from your competitors: </b>find out what they are doing and learn from their successes and their mistakes.<br /> </li>
<li><b>Create a content plan that will engage your audience.</b> This should really be a mix of interesting comment, conversation, video, advice, infographics and blogs that attract attention and interest. Most importantly, keep your content fresh!</li>
</ul>
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<br />E=MC2 Public Relations Ltdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03903111063223705217noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4611234153083978893.post-10295375704644194432014-10-30T17:30:00.000+00:002014-11-05T17:35:23.195+00:00Freddie Starr ate my hamster: how to write a perfect press release<i>By Felicity Fox, E=MC2 Public Relations</i><br />
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If your press releases aren’t cutting the mustard, here are some tips to help you improve:<br />
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<b>Is it news?</b><br />
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Before you even start writing your story, ask yourself is it newsworthy and will people find it interesting? <br />
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<b>Use short, attention-grabbing headlines that tell a story</b><br />
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You have about seven seconds to hook your editor so cut to the chase. A good press release should summarise the key points of your subject in the headline and the opening sentence. Keep it concise and cover ‘who?’, ‘what?’, ‘where?’, ‘why?’ and ‘how?’ Keep in mind that editors will cut the story from the bottom up. <br />
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<b>Write in the present</b><br />
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You don’t want your story to sound like old news. That includes quoting people in the present so write ‘says Jane Smith’ rather than ‘said’.<br />
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<b>Use good ‘search’ words</b><br />
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Press releases can provide significant content to news search engines and can rank well in standard search engines like Google or Yahoo. The importance of using words that people will search the internet for can never be underestimated. With online and the internet becoming more vast and powerful than traditional media, it’s vital that your stories can be found easily.<br />
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<b>A great image is worth a 1,000 words</b><br />
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This can be a compelling photograph, computer generated image or an artist’s impression which visually tells your story. As the image is often the first thing that people see, it’s vital that it promotes a good initial impression that complements the information that is given in the text.<br />
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<b>Double check your facts and stick to them!</b><br />
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Check your facts, dates, figures and your sources and references. Check your spelling and grammar too and get another professional in your team to proof it for you. The slightest mistake undermines your professionalism, your client’s credibility and the media’s confidence in your story.<br />
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<b>Don’t forget your contact details</b><br />
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Make sure you provide your name, phone number and email details at the bottom of the release so journalists can get in touch with you.E=MC2 Public Relations Ltdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03903111063223705217noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4611234153083978893.post-38700825741647801842014-08-17T22:29:00.001+01:002014-08-18T15:14:22.952+01:0010 reasons why most press releases get binned…<br />
<i>By Liz Coyle-Camp, managing director, E=MC2 Public Relations</i><br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-PlrHjzu_NeM/U_EeqJruPLI/AAAAAAAAAGM/i7hsKzug9kA/s1600/phonr.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-PlrHjzu_NeM/U_EeqJruPLI/AAAAAAAAAGM/i7hsKzug9kA/s1600/phonr.jpg" height="239" width="320" /></a></div>
As both a PR agency and a publisher, we receive external press releases, many of which go straight into the bin because they don’t pass muster and this is why:<br />
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<ol>
<li><b>Irrelevance.</b> One size fits all press releases go in the one-size fits all bin. Shape your story for the publication you are sending it to – print, online or broadcast. What interests you may not interest your target audience so make sure your story is ‘customer-focused’ which means making it relevant to readers, interesting and helpful.<br /> </li>
<li><b>Spelling and grammatical mistakes.</b> The fastest way to lose credibility is to send out your press release without spell-checking it for spelling, punctuation and grammatical mistakes and making sure it also makes sense! Silly things like ‘to’ and ‘too’, ‘it’s’ and ‘its’ used incorrectly are an instant turn-off.<br /> </li>
<li><b>Verbosity.</b> Cut to the chase – you have just a few seconds to grab the editor’s attention. If your story isn’t in plain English in the headline and the first paragraph of your press release, it’s in the bin! Lay-off the acronyms, corporate speak and product jargon too – they will just irritate and alienate your journalist.<br /> </li>
<li><b>Pomposity.</b> References to I, we, us, or ours don’t belong in a press release unless they are quoted speech. So, if they’re not inside quotation marks, rewrite your sentence. Report the story and don’t taint it with your own subjective spin. Keep your opinions and comments in the quotes – that’s what they are there for.<br /> </li>
<li><b>Puff and fluff.</b> There is no place for self-serving sales and marketing puff and fluff in a press release. If you want this, buy an advertisement.<br /> </li>
<li><b>Factually incorrect. </b> Check that your facts are correct and quote your sources. Check your dates too – if you are inviting press to a photocall, make sure the date, time and location of the event is consistent and correct. <br /> </li>
<li><b>No media contact.</b> Make sure you provide your correct phone and email details so the media can reach you.<br /> </li>
<li><b>No boilerplate or website address.</b> This is a short description or an ‘about us’ paragraph about your organisation with your website address so the media know you are for real and can look you up.<br /> </li>
<li><b>Format.</b> Stick to a press-friendly simple presentation format: 1.5 spacing, Arial or Helvetica sans serif typeface, 11 or 12 point size. Bold your headline, don’t indent and keep your text black.<br /> </li>
<li><b>No images or poor ones.</b> Support your story with a high quality, engaging photo, graphic or artist’s impression which visually tells your story.<br /> </li>
</ol>
If you can avoid these top 10 press release-writing mistakes and follow up your story with a phone call to the journalist (to make sure they have everything they need from you) your story has a very good chance of being used.<br />
<br />
<b>Have questions for Liz? Contact her at: E=MC2 Public Relations 01747 871752</b>E=MC2 Public Relations Ltdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03903111063223705217noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4611234153083978893.post-78930595974769087202014-02-21T12:21:00.000+00:002014-02-21T12:25:46.941+00:00The art of hyphenation<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><i>by Liz Coyle-Camp</i></span><br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-iXQTGUYnyv0/UwdCZvnC4FI/AAAAAAAAAF4/RAMhObLYrsg/s1600/image001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 2em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-iXQTGUYnyv0/UwdCZvnC4FI/AAAAAAAAAF4/RAMhObLYrsg/s1600/image001.jpg" height="320" width="276" /></a>To hyphenate or not to hyphenate? This is the question so many nervous writers deliberate. How can such a little dash cause such a dither and so much angst when all it wants to do is bring a little clarity to your communique? <br />
<br />
And where would we be without the humble hyphen? We’d never tell difference between a man-eating snake and a man eating snake with possible fatal consequences!<br />
<br />
You can beat the hyphenation blues by remembering this:<br />
<br />
Hyphens connect words, prefixes, and suffixes and bring clarity to the meaning of a word.<br />
<br />
And following these simple rules….<br />
<br />
Hyphenate when:<br />
<ul>
<li>Using a two-word adjective: her decision-making skills, work-related stress </li>
<li>Creating a compound noun: added-value, get-together, an add-on </li>
<li>In prefixes: where a hyphen avoids awkward wording such as anti-inflammatory, re-enter, re-adjust, or a word has different meanings like re-formation and reformation, re-sign and resign </li>
<li>Explaining a word spelling: H-Y-P-H-E-N</li>
</ul>
<br />
<b>When to make a ‘dash’ for it</b><br />
<br />
The hyphen has two similar-looking cousins - the en dash and the em dash. This is what they do…<br />
<br />
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<b>Em dash (—)</b><br />
<ul>
<li>Use instead of brackets to indicate a separate thought or additional information: She worked out in the gym — at least that’s what she told me — every day </li>
</ul>
<b>En dash (-)</b><br />
<ul>
<li>Use to indicate values or ranges: 10-15 staff, 2004-2007, May-June </li>
<li>To contrast values or illustrate the relationship between two things </li>
</ul>
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Happy hyphenating!</div>
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<!-- Blogger automated replacement: "https://images-blogger-opensocial.googleusercontent.com/gadgets/proxy?url=http%3A%2F%2F3.bp.blogspot.com%2F-tBzejLoBmf0%2FUwdB_maslDI%2FAAAAAAAAAFw%2F7A3reCM0Hcg%2Fs1600%2Fimage002.jpg&container=blogger&gadget=a&rewriteMime=image%2F*" with "https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-tBzejLoBmf0/UwdB_maslDI/AAAAAAAAAFw/7A3reCM0Hcg/s1600/image002.jpg" -->E=MC2 Public Relations Ltdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03903111063223705217noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4611234153083978893.post-5359185572270922162013-12-31T19:03:00.000+00:002013-12-31T19:17:46.901+00:00Our 14 top PR and marketing tips for 2014<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><i>by Liz Coyle-Camp, Managing Director, E=MC2 Public Relations</i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Sell something, you make a customer; help someone, you make a customer for life!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Great marketing is all about ‘helping’ and not ‘hyping’ your customer and that’s what truly customer-centric organisations will be doing in 2014 to gain competitive advantage. The new digital marketing culture is about making yourself useful and invaluable to the customer. So in 2014, think ‘altruism’ - you should be shaping your marketing efforts around the watchwords ‘how can I help?’ - from the content and design of your website to how you listen and respond to customers on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and other communications channels.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">So what else should you be doing on the PR and marketing front to build business sales in 2014? These are our top 14 recommendations.</span><br />
<ol>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Website: long gone are the days of adding a few tags to a website and having it rank on the first page. Google continues to make search ‘think’ more like a human being and less like a machine. That means your website rankings are going to be driven by genuinely useful and well-written content, user friendly design and solid coding. You will need to be creating compelling and textually rich content that includes images, video, and audio, and that fully explores what attracts new customers and keeps them coming back. In other words, if you take care of your customers, Google will take care of you. You can out-position your competition by simply having a better, more helpful/useful website that delivers a better user experience.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Link content: cross-pollinate your content with teaser links across all media which includes linking to your Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, YouTube and other social media pages from your e-newsletter, blog and website.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Search visibility: online press releases, features and blogs – these are now essential for internet ‘visibility’ and you want your business, products and services to be found quickly and high ranking in internet searches. Google’s desire, of course, is to give search engine users great results.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Images matter! You should be using eye-catching, high resolution images on your website, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram and in other online communications. This will lead to higher engagement, more click-throughs, and better response rates to your marketing efforts.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Personalisation: will continue to grow in 2014 making relevant content and precise marketing more important than ever and not just on Facebook. We can see this trend taking hold on personalised search engines, hyper-relevant e-commerce and even traditional news feeds.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Short and sharp messaging: consumers are overloaded with digital information so you need to be making your marketing messages short and to the point (the average person’s digital attention span is four seconds!). We'll be seeing a lot more of this type of messaging in 2014.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Social listening: in the digital world, two-way dialogue mandatory so make sure your Tweeting, LinkedIn and Facebook communications aren't ‘all about you’! Listen, respond and learn from your customers and critics. It’s the only way to build long-term and meaningful relationships with your customers. In fact, you should now be listening to and learning from your customers and critics. Social listening is vital now to product innovation, sideways marketing and sales.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Leverage your YouTube channel. Add calls-to-action and email links at the end of the videos you upload to encourage people to subscribe to your newsletter and include links to your website landing pages in your videos’ text descriptions.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Social advertising: social media now accounts for the majority of time consumers spend on the internet with 60% on mobile devices. The primary format for engaging on these social networks is the news feed. Your PR and advertising needs to be highly relevant and newsworthy to the audience you’re targeting and not ‘one-size fits all’.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Think ‘local’: expect to see much more location-based marketing which uses GPS technology to enable local advertising and marketing promotions to be sent directly to a mobile phone in a specific geographic location. This again ties in with the growing ‘personalisation’ trend in marketing strategies enabling organisations to zoom in on customer needs unique to a specific area and moment in time. Already there are social apps including Ban.jo, Path, and Foursquare that provide vital consumer data.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Mobile phones: 91% of mobile phone owners now have their devices within arm's reach all the time and location-based marketing could exploit this massively. Tools such as Google Wallet are being perfected which will enable people to buy with their credit card right from their smart phone so make sure to integrate the mobile users experience into all your marketing campaigns – from responsive design to compelling images that look great on mobile screens.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">The rising importance of Google+ is something really worth watching. Although it hasn't got to the level of Facebook, it’s being embraced by more and more marketers and consumers.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Empowering employees and fans: this is about enabling (not mandating!) your best employees and fans to tell your brand story in the digital world. Providing creative content marketing and product innovation through social listening, and giving your brand advocates the means to share stories about your brand.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Don’t forget email! Last but certainly not least of our recommendations for 2014 is email which continues to be one of the biggest drivers of sales conversions for businesses. So make sure you exploit your email contact list - one of your most valuable marketing assets.</span></li>
</ol>
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Wishing you a very happy and successful 2014.</span><br />
<br />E=MC2 Public Relations Ltdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03903111063223705217noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4611234153083978893.post-86495679976146615742013-10-07T19:38:00.001+01:002013-10-09T16:31:07.294+01:00How to create marketing emails that get opened<br />
<i>By Liz Coyle-Camp </i><br />
<br />
We all enjoy and look forward to opening emails from our friends and that’s the secret of good email marketing copy – it should behave like a friend.<br />
If you want people to open your business emails, make your message feel and look personal – a corporate looking email that reads like it’s been put together by the marketing department in a ‘one size fits all’ address will – I guarantee - go straight into the ‘deleted’ folder.<br />
<br />
Here are E=MC2 PR’s top 10 tips for creating emails that get noticed and opened:<br />
<ol>
<li><strong>Make your subject headline compelling:</strong> Customers will be asking “what’s in it for me?” and your headline should tell them.</li>
<li><strong>Behave and write like a real friend: </strong>Be useful and helpful and email only when you have something important or valuable to tell them.</li>
<li><strong>Write like you speak: </strong>Don’t get caught up in corporate or marketing speak, tell your story in your own words, in your conversation style.</li>
<li><strong>Make your ‘From’ heading personal:</strong> Use your own name, to personalise who the communication is from.</li>
<li><strong>Reward your readers:</strong> Share useful information or some helpful tips or advice with them. </li>
<li><strong>Be short and to the point:</strong> Edit your text on the basis that you have 4 seconds to grab their attention. </li>
<li><strong>Create multiple </strong><strong>links</strong><strong> in your message:</strong> Multiple links to the same page will increase the chances of your readers clicking to where you want them to go.</li>
<li><strong>Have a call to action:</strong> Tell your readers what action they need to take and give them a deadline. </li>
<li><strong>Don’t forget the ‘PS’: </strong>This is a powerful way to reinforce a ‘personal’ message</li>
<li><strong>Proof your copy:</strong> Get someone to proofread your copy and correct any mistakes before you send your email.</li>
</ol>
Hope this helps! <br />
<br />
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E=MC2 Public Relations Ltdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03903111063223705217noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4611234153083978893.post-59286987187565275812013-06-03T09:07:00.000+01:002013-06-05T10:25:06.312+01:00How to write for business – five simple secrets<i>By Liz Coyle-Camp</i><br />
<br />
Good business writing takes practice and the best writers are short, sharp and to the point. I've seen many talented writers enter the corporate world and lose their ability to write and communicate clearly and intelligibly. This is because they get ‘jargonised’ and sucked into a corporate vortex of company management speak – that ‘linguistic gunge’ of uncommon and pretentious vocabulary, convoluted syntax and vague, meaningless words. <br />
<br />
Here are a few examples:<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>“We need to maximize our earnings potential and ensure high ROI with best-in-class scalability levels.” Plain English: We need to grow the business and make more money.</li>
<li>“With this collaborative agreement, our companies have a great opportunity to utilise partnering synergies.” Plain English: By working together we can make a better product.</li>
</ul>
<br />
<br />
So, the next time you’re asked to pen a memo, write a speech, scribble-off some marketing literature or submit a monthly report, here are a few tips to keep your audience engaged if not riveted!<br />
<br />
<br />
<ol>
<li>Write the way you normally speak </li>
<li>Use short words, short sentences and short paragraphs.</li>
<li>Don’t use jargon – ever! It’s pompous, alienating and irritating!</li>
<li>Don’t write more than two pages on any subject.</li>
<li>Write as if you were the reader</li>
</ol>
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E=MC2 Public Relations Ltdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03903111063223705217noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4611234153083978893.post-41972518375607761912012-10-25T15:29:00.000+01:002012-10-25T15:29:47.636+01:00Toxic leadership and the trouble with power<br />
Too often leaders, who start off with the best intentions, go bad. It’s the power trip that goes to their heads and gets them in the end. We see it happening every day. Just this month we've witnessed the corporate arrogance of the BBC in attempting to <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2012/oct/24/jimmy-savile-bbc-story-so-far?CMP=twt_fd" target="_blank">cover-up the Jimmy Savile</a> affair and the spectacular fall from grace of Tory MP and now <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2012/oct/19/andrew-mitchell-resigns-police-pleb" target="_blank">former chief whip Andrew Mitchell</a>.<br />
<br />
This is a politician who, as secretary of state for international development, got his results by being a bully. This time however, he made the fatal mistake of picking on someone a lot bigger and more powerful than him – the police (or the police federations at least) – allegedly calling them ‘plebs’ and ‘morons’. His arrogance cost him his job when an officer wouldn't let Andrew take his bike through the front gates of Number 10. No doubt the sobering experience of unemployment will be a lesson that brings him back down to earth.<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-vwtHijCUH-s/UIlLTYUmH9I/AAAAAAAAAEc/DWVa3TQBv9g/s1600/gasmask.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="228" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-vwtHijCUH-s/UIlLTYUmH9I/AAAAAAAAAEc/DWVa3TQBv9g/s320/gasmask.jpg" width="320" /></a><br /><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toxic_leader" target="_blank">Toxic Leadership</a></div>
<br />
<br />
<b>Power corrupts</b><br />
We come across power maniacs in all areas of our lives. They can be politicians, councillors, school governors, company bosses, celebrities, church officials – just about anyone in a position of power that’s unchallenged for too long. Lord Acton’s words ‘Power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely,’ are wise ones indeed. It’s when the powerful are allowed to rule unfettered – usually because people are afraid of them or can’t face the agony of formally challenging them - that they become ‘toxic’.<br />
<br />
As ‘Team Cameron’ and ‘Team Obama’ set their sights on second terms of office, let’s hope that they don’t turn toxic. <a href="http://watergate.info/" target="_blank">Richard Nixon’s</a> spectacular fall from the American presidency happened because he was arrogant enough to think that the rules which apply to us – namely right and wrong – didn't apply to him. Why? Because he believed he was acting in his party’s best interests and he was above the law. What a mistake!<br />
<br />
<b>Great leaders are great listeners</b><br />
<br />
Great leadership is, first and foremost, about listening and letting other people have their say. It’s about handling power and influence with responsibility, humility and due care. It’s also about treating people with respect and remembering that everyone is entitled to an opinion and free speech without fear of retribution.<br />
<br />
There’s an interesting study by the University of Exeter which explores how leaders fall from grace. It happens when they stop listening to the people they lead and start believing in their own self-importance and hype. The study also shows how people in leadership positions so often become intoxicated by power. When they do, the bullying and harassing behaviour starts. Why? Because they know people are afraid of them, or at least can’t be bothered with the angst involved in formally challenging them, and they can get away with it. And for a time, while their followers are willing to collude, they do.<br />
<br />
The study also shows that great leaders have common success strategies. These include being good listeners and being sensitive to other people’s views and opinions. They tend to be positive, modest and inspirational people who share success.<br />
<br />
In short, the best leaders are not driven individuals with aggressive, domineering personalities who act as control freaks. In fact, the research clearly suggests that, the more power leaders or managers get and the bigger their heads swell, the more out of touch with reality they’ll become. People in positions of authority need to keep in mind that the best and most successful politicians, businessmen and managers are good at supporting ‘all’ the people they represent.<br />
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E=MC2 Public Relations Ltdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03903111063223705217noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4611234153083978893.post-85304838904769174972012-07-27T12:55:00.000+01:002012-08-03T13:36:52.492+01:00Top 4 PR mistakes directors make when delivering bad news<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.emc2publicrelations.com/images/blog/wanted.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://www.emc2publicrelations.com/images/blog/wanted.jpg" width="228" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">it’s not difficult to see why the arrogant<br />
former RBS boss Fred ‘The Shred’ Goodwin<br />
became one of Britain’s most publicly<br />
detested bankers.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
What are the <b>most common PR mistakes</b> that company directors make when they have to deal with bad news?<br />
<br />
Here are E=MC2 Public Relations <b>top four executive PR blunders</b>:<br />
<br />
1.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>They delay in announcing the bad news or try to bury it by issuing a press release late on a Friday night hoping the media have gone home for the weekend. Never delay, the longer you do, the bigger and uglier you’ll become in the news when the story does break.<br />
<br />
2.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>They don’t own up to their mistakes and show genuine sympathy and compassion for those affected because they’re too worried about the legal implications of saying ‘I’m sorry’. Apologising is not necessarily an admission of guilt but an expression of empathy and concern. <br />
<br />
When bad news breaks, showing you care can go a long way in <b>building good brand relations</b> with the public and your customers.<br />
<br />
Just look what happened to the reputation of BP’s ‘Woe it’s me’ chief exec Tony Hayward when the Deepwater Horizon disaster broke. Not only did he wait weeks to apologise to the millions of people affected by the oil spill – he made it quite clear to the US public that he wished it would be over so he could get back to his holiday.<br />
<br />
That arrogance in the face of an environmental catastrophe of massive proportions generated the wrath of America’s President Obama, cost BP billions of dollars in compensation and Hayward ultimately, his job.<br />
<br />
3.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>They blame it on the lawyers because they’ve been advised to <b>say ‘no comment’</b>. ‘No comment speaks volumes which is why legal eagles are not media relations experts. Their job is to keep people out of prison, not out of the press. <b>There is no such thing as no comment</b> so don’t go there!<br />
<br />
4.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>They don’t take immediate action and address the problem or situation. People want to know that you are doing everything in your power to fix the problem or at least alleviate it on day one not day five. Keep them informed about what you are doing throughout the PR crisis unlike former Royal Bank of Scotland boss, Fred ‘The Shred’ Goodwin – Britain’s most vilified banker.<br />
<br />
While Captain Smith took responsibility for sinking the Titanic and went down with his ship, greedy Fred, sank the world’s biggest bank and the British economy while trying to save himself and keep his massive pay-off and multi-million pound pension. No wonder he’s wanted for ‘bank robbery, looting and criminal neglect!”<br />
<div>
<br /></div>E=MC2 Public Relations Ltdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03903111063223705217noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4611234153083978893.post-84469637258293576262012-06-29T13:22:00.000+01:002012-07-02T13:34:17.998+01:00Twitter for business - 10 tips on how to build a relevant following<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.75pt; margin-bottom: 11.25pt;">
<b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Twitter for business - 10 tips on how to build a
relevant following<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-pzumPKzRr6U/T_GU2bCX8sI/AAAAAAAAAEA/us0rDTKfr2c/s1600/twitter.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="148" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-pzumPKzRr6U/T_GU2bCX8sI/AAAAAAAAAEA/us0rDTKfr2c/s200/twitter.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/category/how-to/" target="_blank"></a>Are
you using <u><a href="http://emc2publicrelations.blogspot.co.uk/2010/10/why-use-twitter.html">Twitter for business</a></u> and is it working for you? How many
followers do you have and are they relevant to your business or simply white
noise?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.75pt; margin-bottom: 11.25pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">If
you are looking to grow your followers, remember, it’s not how many you have
but how relevant they are.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.75pt; margin-bottom: 11.25pt;">
<b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Twitter followers - quality not quantity counts<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.75pt; margin-bottom: 11.25pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">If
you have 10,000 followers who don’t engage with you, your Twitter
communications are wasted and pointless [see Arthur’s blog on </span><u><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="http://emc2publicrelations.blogspot.co.uk/2010/09/social-media-is-great-for-business-if.html"><u>Social
media is great for business if you have a strategy</u></a>]</span></u><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.75pt; margin-bottom: 11.25pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">If
you want to make an impact and build your Twitter following, you need to be
applying the following tactics:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<ol start="1" type="1">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; tab-stops: list 36.0pt;"><strong><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Start with a good profile that engages and
includes a photo or company logo and your location.<o:p></o:p></span></strong></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; tab-stops: list 36.0pt;"><strong><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Identify
and follow people who are likely to be interested in what you are saying.</span></strong><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; tab-stops: list 36.0pt;"><strong><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Tweet
content that’s helpful and interesting to your followers</span></strong><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">.<o:p></o:p></span></b></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; tab-stops: list 36.0pt;"><strong><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Talk
about others, not just yourself.</span></strong><strong><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></strong></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; tab-stops: list 36.0pt;"><strong><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Tweet
when you have something interesting and useful to say and don’t bombard
your followers with meaningless drivel.</span></strong><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; tab-stops: list 36.0pt;"><strong><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Promote
your Twitter account through other channels like </span></strong><b><span lang="EN" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Facebook, Linkedin, YouTube and Pinterest pages so
that followers can connect with you.</span></b><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; tab-stops: list 36.0pt;"><strong><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Unfollow
people who don’t follow you back.</span></strong><strong><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></strong></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; tab-stops: list 36.0pt;"><strong><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Prefix
your tweets with hashtags (#) on interesting or popular subjects you are
talking about.</span></strong><strong><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></strong></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; tab-stops: list 36.0pt;"><strong><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Look
for people who share the same interests as you and connect with them. You
can do this via a keyword search. For example, if you are interested in lemurs
of <st1:country-region w:st="on">Madagascar</st1:country-region>, you
could do a keyword internet search or a Twitter hashtag (#lemurs <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Madagascar</st1:place></st1:country-region>)
search.</span></strong><strong><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></strong></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 19.2pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; tab-stops: list 36.0pt;"><strong><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Retweet
your most popular tweets.</span></strong><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></li>
</ol>E=MC2 Public Relations Ltdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03903111063223705217noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4611234153083978893.post-55585379295870159182012-05-25T14:46:00.001+01:002012-06-15T08:07:17.770+01:00Business jargon is bad writing<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 150%;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/--xg6IjSI1no/T7-OzTQWWtI/AAAAAAAAAD0/EqXvnW64zLE/s1600/jargon.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/--xg6IjSI1no/T7-OzTQWWtI/AAAAAAAAAD0/EqXvnW64zLE/s1600/jargon.jpg" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 150%;">If you want to be understood – speak simply
and clearly. Sounds easy doesn’t it? Why then is this so difficult to do
in business communications? What happened to plain English and why do we put up
with so much meaningless corporate twaddle in the workplace? Nonsense
like:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 150%;">
<i><span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 150%;">“Integrated management options”; “functional third-generational
programming”; “joined-up organisational capability”,</span></i><span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 150%;">…what corporate claptrap will they come up
with next?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 150%;">We’re all familiar with it - corporate jargon
- that brain-numbing, business mumbo jumbo we have to suffer on rambling
corporate websites, woolly staff memos, stuffy company policies and
self-important mission statements. Pure, puffy, unadulterated verbal drivel
that’s rich in long-winded, complicated word nonsense and packed with
ridiculous and mostly American sporting metaphors. How many times have you
heard: “We need a level playing field to win this”, “As a company, we punch
above our weight,” and, “Could you give me a ball-park figure for that?” and of
course, “Let’s get our ducks in a row first.” Can we stop the rot? Buzz
words and phrases that serve no other purpose than to bamboozle and confuse
even the person delivering them. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 150%;">
<b><span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 150%;">Jargonitis<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 150%;"> Here, for example, is a classic case of
public sector ‘jargonitis’:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 150%;">
<i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 150%;">“….will demonstrate
the practicability and cost-effectiveness of integrating and provisioning
service offerings beyond institutional boundaries, either as part of a Shared
Service arrangement or through an externally hosted provision, including
cloud-based services or applications.”<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 150%;">Hmmm…..that’s clear as mud and definitely one
for this year’s <i>Campaign for Plain English Golden Bull Awards!<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 150%;">Clearly, jargon speakers and writers suffer
from one or all of the following: they’re compelled to use corporate buzzwords
as a substitute for thought, they have an inferiority complex which comes out
in a superior way; alternatively, they are trying to cover up the fact that
they don’t know what they are talking about. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 150%;">
<b><span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 150%;">Plain English is genius</span></b><span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 150%;">Great communicators from Winston Churchill to
Martin Luther King, have always been able to express their thoughts and ideas
in vivid and down-to-earth English that even a three-year-old would understand.
In truth, the most effective and powerful communications are successful because
they create an emotional connection with the listener which speaks a truth we
can all relate to and identify with. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 150%;">So, if you want your business communications
to really mean something to your audience, make them simple, meaningful and
emotive. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 150%;">
<b><span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 150%;">The E=MC2 Dejargonator<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 150%;">Here’s a list of jargon-busters to help you
on your way – our thanks to Grammar Party, Say No To Jargon and the E=MC2
Public Relations hefty jargon collection. This is an evolving list so please
feel free to send us your contributions. The Plain English Campaign is also
accepting nominations for their <i>2012 Golden Bull Awards</i> at: </span><a href="http://www.plainenglish.co.uk/news/award-nominations.html"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 150%;">http://www.plainenglish.co.uk/news/award-nominations.html</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 150%;">A<b>ctionable:
</b>Which projects are <i>actionable</i>
this year?<br />
PLAIN ENGLISH: Which projects can we <i>do</i>
this year?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 150%;">
<b><span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 150%;">Action item: </span></b><span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 150%;">This is an <i>action
item</i> for this week.<br />
PLAIN ENGLISH: This is <i>something
we need to do </i>this week.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 150%;">
<b><span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 150%;">Air out: </span></b><span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 150%;">Let’s <i>air
out</i> that issue in today’s meeting.<br />
PLAIN ENGLISH: Let’s <i>discuss</i>
that issue in today’s meeting.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 150%;">
<b><span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 150%;">At this juncture: </span></b><span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 150%;">We can’t go public <i>at this juncture</i>.<br />
PLAIN ENGLISH: We can’t go public <i>at
this time</i>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 150%;">
<b><span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 150%;">Ball-park figure: </span></b><b><span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%;">Give me a ball-park figure
for the job.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%;">PLAIN ENGLISH: Give
me an estimated cost for the job.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 150%;">
<b><span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 150%;">Blue-sky thinking: </span></b><b><span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%;">We need blue-sky thinking.</span></b><b><span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 150%;">
<b><span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%;">PLAIN ENGLISH:</span></b><b><span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 150%;"> </span></b><b><span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%;">We need to think with an
open mind.</span></b><b><span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 150%;">
<b><span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 150%;">Brain dump: </span></b><b><span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%;">We’ll need a brain dump
from you after the meeting.</span></b><b><span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 150%;">
<b><span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%;">PLAIN ENGLISH: We’d like
you to brief us after your meeting.<br /><br /><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 150%;">
<b><span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 150%;">Bring to the table: </span></b><span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 150%;">What can you <i>bring to the table</i> for this project?<br />
PLAIN ENGLISH: What can you <i>contribute</i>
to this project? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 150%;">
<b><span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 150%;">Close the loop: </span></b><b><span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%;">We’ll have to close the
loop on this conversation.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 150%;">
<b><span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%;">PLAIN ENGLISH: We need to
stop talking about this.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 150%;">
<b><span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 150%;">Core competencies: </span></b><span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 150%;">These are our company’s <i>core competencies</i>.<br />
PLAIN ENGLISH: These are what our company <i>does
best</i>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 150%;">
<b><span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 150%;">Core values:</span></b><span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 150%;"> Our core values underpin the company.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 150%;">PLAIN ENGLISH: The company has operating
principles. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 150%;">
<b><span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 150%;">Close of play:</span></b><span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 150%;"> He wants it by close of play today<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 150%;">PLAIN ENGLISH: He wants it by the end of
today.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 150%;">
<b><span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 150%;">Disconnect:</span></b><span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 150%;"> There’s a real disconnect here.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 150%;">PLAIN ENGLISH: We have a problem.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 150%;">
<b><span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 150%;">Domiciled</span></b><span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 150%;">: He’s domiciled in Spain.<b><o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 150%;">PLAIN ENGLISH: He lives in Spain.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 150%;">
<b><span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 150%;">Expeditiously</span></b><span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 150%;">: It needs to be done expeditiously.<span style="display: none;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 150%;">PLAIN ENGLISH: Do it quickly.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 150%;">
<b><span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 150%;">Face time:</span></b><span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 150%;"> We need more face time.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 150%;">PLAIN ENGLISH: We need to talk to each other
more.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 150%;">
<b><span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 150%;">For the purpose of: </span></b><span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 150%;">For the purpose of clarity…<b><o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 150%;">PLAIN ENGLISH: For clarity…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 150%;">
<b><span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 150%;">Forthwith: </span></b><span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 150%;">It needs to be done forthwith.<b><o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 150%;">PLAIN ENGLISH<b>: </b>Do it immediately.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 150%;">
<b><span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 150%;">Granularity: </span></b><span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 150%;">There’s not enough granularity in this.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 150%;">PLAIN ENGLISH: We need more detail.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 150%;">Think outside the box</span></b><span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 150%;">: We need to think outside the box.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 150%;">PLAIN ENGLISH: We need creative ideas.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">(</span><a href="http://grammarpartyblog.com/2012/01/24/business-jargon-to-avoid-so-you-dont-sound-like-a-douche/"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">http://grammarpartyblog.com/2012/01/24/business-jargon-to-avoid-so-you-dont-sound-like-a-douche/</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">)</span><span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>E=MC2 Public Relations Ltdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03903111063223705217noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4611234153083978893.post-46181312610066373942012-04-27T15:11:00.000+01:002012-04-30T16:52:17.030+01:00Tips and techniques for speeches and presentations<b>How to make a speech ‘sizzle’</b><br />
<br />
<b>1. Preparation – fail to prepare, prepare to fail!</b><br />
<ul type="disc">
<li><b>Preparation and practice: </b>research and prepare your speech well in advance and rehearse it at least five times in front of the mirror or until you feel you know it. Great speakers know their speech inside out but look as if they are delivering their words off the cuff. Knowing and being comfortable with your ‘lines’ means you can focus on eye contact, delivery and engaging with your audience.</li>
<li><b>PowerPoint and other support materials:</b> never rely on these or use them as a crutch. Your slides or audio-visual materials should support and help illustrate what you are saying but never be a substitute for you. The best way to test how reliant you are on these aids is to ask yourself what would happen if your PowerPoint broke down – would you be able to continue effectively without it? If you couldn’t, you need to kick the habit and re-think your presentation.</li>
<li><b>Tailor your material to your audience: </b>if it’s an after dinner speech, you need lots of humour. If you are speaking on an expert subject, make it informative, interesting and engaging.</li>
<li><b>Keep it short and entertaining: </b>10 minutes is enough to keep people riveted and leave them wanting more! Use the remaining time up in your question and answer session. Think about it, who ever complained about a speech being too short? </li>
<li><b>Test-drive your speech: </b>on a partner or close friend and ask them for feedback and timing.<br /><b> </b></li>
<li><b>Check your microphone and equipment</b><b> works:</b> there’s nothing like a technical hitch to put you off your game so make sure everything’s in working order and audio levels and fedback issues have been checked so that your audience can hear you. </li>
</ul>
<br />
<b>2. Speech-writing and delivery tips and techniques</b><br />
<ul type="disc">
<li><b>Use an attention-grabbing title</b>: apart from hooking and attracting people to hear you speak, a good headline grabs people’s attention, gets them curious and interested and can help build the event and the audience’s excitement.</li>
<li><b>Plain English: </b>the best speakers bring simple language to life. Don’t alienate and bamboozle your audience with jargon, management speak or pretentious and complicated technical speak. People who do this either don’t understand their subject well enough to communicate it in simple terms or have had a creative by-pass’ and are born to be boring. Here’s a great example of meaningless, alienating twaddle: <i>"Neoclassical endogenous growth theory and a symbiotic relationship between investment in people and infrastructure." – Gordon Brown, former British prime minister</i></li>
<li><b>Opening and closing lines should pack a punch: </b>metaphors, drama and using misdirection make great speech openers and ice-breakers and are a powerful way to hook your audience, link to your message and set up the key points you want to make. </li>
<li><b>Pause to create dramatic effect. </b>It will keep people listening and give your speech impact and energy. Remember, to also pause before you start speaking, it’s a great way to calm you and your audience.</li>
<li><b>Pace</b>: don’t rush your words but also don’t be afraid to change the pace of your speech to add emphasis, drama and impact to your message. It will also help to keep your audience engaged.</li>
<li><b>Pitch:</b> occasionally alter the volume and tone of your delivery. Speaking quieter or louder and being more cheerful or more serious all adds dramatic effect and keeps the attention of your audience. </li>
<li><b>Enthusiasm: </b>if you are enthusiastic about your subject, then your audience will be too. Enthusiasm gives a speech energy and strength so don’t leave home without it.</li>
<li><b>Eye-contact engages your audience. </b>Create spots in the room at the back, sides, centre and front of your audience and run your eyes regularly across them. Find three or four individuals in different parts of the room that you can direct the occasional line and hand-gesture to. </li>
<li><b>Hand movements:</b> which help you express your words and meaning are great, but make sure they look natural. We’ve seen some pretty silly-looking CEOs gesturing like manic robots because they’ve been told to do so by their PRs. It looks hilarious and turns you into a complete ‘wally’ and ‘chump’ in the eyes of your audience and the people you want to impress and influence!</li>
<li><b>Move about if you can:</b> if you have the room to move about and use the floorspace where you are speaking, do it. It’s a great way of keeping people’s attention, particularly if you’ve got a dry topic. It also allows you to make your presentation more upfront, close and personal for your listeners.</li>
</ul>
<b>3. Structure and content of a speech</b><br />
<ul type="disc">
<li><b>Start with a structure</b>: decide on what your main message is and then start breaking it down into three key points you want to make. These can be further broken down depending on how much detail you want. <br />
In short: the beginning should tell your audience what you are going to say, the middle: telling the story and the ending: telling them what you’ve said.</li>
<li><b>Tell people something new, interesting and memorable</b>. </li>
<li><b>Bring the story to life</b> <b>with examples and real-life experiences</b>: a great way to get people listening to you is to weave a relevant stories or examples of yours or other people’s experiences which bring the presentation to life for the listener.<br /> </li>
<li><b>Incorporate memorable ‘one liners’ and colourful metaphors: </b> these help to grab the readers attention, keep them interested in what you are saying and make your speech memorable. Here are some example: <i>"Fail to prepare, prepare to fail,” Speak softly and carry a big stick and you will go far.” – Theodore Roosevelt</i></li>
<li><b>Use short, sharp sentences</b> <b>for dramatic effect</b>. Examples of short sentences: <i>‘Failure is not an option’</i> and <i>‘The time is now’. </i></li>
<li><b>Apply positive adjectives and adverbs</b>. Instead of for example: <i>"We face many challenges"</i> say <i>"We face many exciting challenges"</i>; or <i>"We will work on our problems"</i> but <i>"We will work together to solve our problems"</i>. </li>
<li><b>Use alliteration to make words memorable and quotable: </b> for example: <i>‘Broadband Britain’</i>, ‘Britian’s best business bank’, <i>‘the digital divide’</i>, and <i>‘formidable, fashionable, functional</i>.’ </li>
<li><b>Make comparisons</b>: with other organisations, competitors and people’s situational experiences and highlight what can be learned from them. </li>
<li><b>Use three-part sentences to create dramatic effect. </b>This technique is called a ‘tricolon’, for example: <i>‘Government of the people, by the people, and for the people’</i> and ‘<i>We came, we saw, we conquered’</i>. </li>
<li><b>Repeat your key words for dramatic effect.</b> British wartime prime minister Winston Churchill’s famous speech is a good example<b>: <i>‘</i></b><i><i>We shall fight on the beaches</i></i><b><i>, </i></b><i><i>we shall fight</i></i><i>on the landing grounds<b>, </b></i><i><i>we shall fight</i></i><i> in the fields and in the streets…’</i></li>
<li><b>Use memorable one-liners. </b>For example:<b> </b><i>“A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.” – Sir Winston Churchill</i></li>
<li><b>Opening witticisms</b>: these are good for warming-up the audience at the start of your speech or presentation. Here are some good examples: <i>"I don't mind how much my minister’s talk, as long as they do what I say."</i> - former British prime minster Margaret Thatcher.</li>
<li><b>End with a high impact statement:</b> that reinforces your opening line. If for example, you were delivering a speech on the importance of business change, you might end with a famous quote: <i>“Progress is impossible without change, and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything.” – George Bernard Shaw, </i>and<i> "Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced." – James Baldwin.</i></li>
</ul>
<b>4. Don’t apologise for being there!</b> <br />
<ul type="disc">
<li>Your audience has great expectations of you, don’t disappoint them at the first hurdle by telling them you aren’t very good at speaking, that you don’t know why you’ve been asked to speak, that you are nervous or any other excuse. </li>
</ul>E=MC2 Public Relations Ltdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03903111063223705217noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4611234153083978893.post-44572293924110874702012-03-21T11:48:00.004+00:002012-03-21T14:02:07.347+00:00E=MC2 PR's 10 top tips on using Twitter for business<div><span><a href="http://www.emc2publicrelations.com/pr-dictionary?pr-definition=socialnetworks">Twitter</a> really is a great marketing tool for driving customers to your website. And with Google now showing tweets in its search results, you need to be making sure that you are <a href="http://www.emc2publicrelations.com/pr-dictionary?pr-definition=seo">search engine optimising</a> your <a href="http://www.emc2publicrelations.com/pr-dictionary?pr-definition=socialnetworks">Twitter</a> posts. </span></div><div><span><br /></span></div><div><span>Here are E=MC2 Public Relations’ 10 top tips on how to do this and raise your internet rankings:</span></div><div><ol><li ><span><b>Choose your <a href="http://www.emc2publicrelations.com/pr-dictionary?pr-definition=socialnetworks">Twitter</a> username carefully:</b> it should be both memorable and easy to remember as well as suggestive of your <a href="http://www.emc2publicrelations.com/pr-dictionary?pr-definition=branding">brand</a>, products or services.<br /><br /></span></li><li><span><b>Keyword:</b> your <a href="http://www.emc2publicrelations.com/pr-dictionary?pr-definition=socialnetworks">Twitter</a> company profile, username and <a href="http://www.emc2publicrelations.com/pr-dictionary?pr-definition=blog">blog</a> or website address. For example, your profile should have keywords which relate to your business or products and what you do.<br /><br /></span></li><li><span><b>Put your keywords in the first 40 characters:</b> of your <a href="http://www.emc2publicrelations.com/pr-dictionary?pr-definition=socialnetworks">Twitter</a> profile - the more keyword rich your profile is, the easier it is for Google to see it.<br /><br /></span></li><li><span><b>Prefix your tweet with a hashtag (#):</b> if you are tweeting about a specific topic or subject you want people to see, follow and engage with you on. You can do this by prefixing a word with a hash symbol, for example: #business, #publicrelations. Hashtags also make it easier for people to find your discussion topic.<br /><br /></span></li><li><span><b>Use keywords:</b> in the title of your tweets.<br /><br /></span></li><li><span><b>Retweet:</b> make your tweets interesting and easy for other <a href="http://www.emc2publicrelations.com/pr-dictionary?pr-definition=socialnetworks">Twitter</a> users to retweet you. For example leave enough room for the retweet function ‘RT@username’ at the end of your tweets. Retweets are the way to build influence in <a href="http://www.emc2publicrelations.com/pr-dictionary?pr-definition=socialnetworks">Twitter</a> and start relationships with people you want to get to know. Here are a couple of useful links on retweeting strategy:<br /></span><span><i>How to Get Retweeted</i> by Guy Kawasaki: <a href="http://www.openforum.com/idea-hub/topics/the-world/article/how-to-get-retweeted" target="_blank">http://www.openforum.com/idea-hub/topics/the-world/article/how-to-get-retweeted</a><br /></span><span><i>The Science of Retweets</i> by Dan Zarrella: <a href="http://mashable.com/2009/02/17/twitter-retweets" target="_blank">http://mashable.com/2009/02/17/twitter-retweets</a><br /><br /></span></li><li><span><b>Very long website URLs can be shortened:</b> if you are tight on space to fit your tweet. As tweets can’t be more than 140 characters, you can shorten the URL of your website by using bit.ly. If you don’t know how to do this, here’s a useful ‘how to’ link: <a href="https://bitly.com/pages/help#i_0_2" target="_blank">https://bitly.com/pages/help#i_0_2</a><br /><br /></span></li><li><span><b>Be helpful:</b> less than 10 per cent of your tweets should be ‘selling’ to people and more than 50 per cent of your tweets should be helpful and add value. For example you might respond to a question, retweet someone else’s post which you think is useful and interesting to others, make a remark, share a recommendation or contribute to an existing conversation.<br /><br /></span></li><li><span><b>Quality not quantity:</b> don’t over do it, people who tweet too much get ignored or unfollowed. Your tweets should be ‘qualitative’ so that people stop and listen to what you have to say because it’s good quality information that’s also useful.<br /><br /></span></li><li><span><b>Hand feed, not ‘force-feed’:</b> many people automate their tweets – don’t! They should be well-thought out and hand-fed to your followers. No one like’s being ‘talked at’ 24-hours a day!</span></li></ol></div><p><span><o:p></o:p></span></p>E=MC2 Public Relations Ltdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03903111063223705217noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4611234153083978893.post-45454383992898072602012-02-22T13:25:00.008+00:002012-02-24T09:29:49.264+00:008 Internet trends that will affect your business this year…<span style="font-size: 100%;">Already in 2012 we are seeing significant new trends and developments in social media with the significant growth in popularity of interest-based sites like <a href="http://twitter.com/EMC2_PR">Twitter</a> and <a href="http://www.emc2publicrelations.com/pr-dictionary?pr-definition=pinterest">Pinterest</a> . Consumer purchasing is moving towards and becoming increasingly influenced by websites and social sites that share people’s passions and interests as well as customer reviews of products and services. </span><br /><br /><br /><span><span style="font-size: 100%;">These are the new frontiers for customer-engagement which are already affecting your business and which your PR and marketing strategy needs to prepare for and embrace. </span></span><br /><ol><li><b style="font-size: 100%; ">More user reviews and ratings on websites:</b><span style="font-size: 100%; "> reviews are becoming extremely influential in consumer purchasing decisions. Groups like TripAdvisor on which no hotelier wants to get on the wrong side, already have the capacity to make or break a business. The adage, ‘you’re only as good as your last job’ reflects how companies and service providers are increasingly being seen by the public. A bad review has significant commercial implications for the organisation involved. The trend now is to gather as many ‘good reviews’, ratings and product endorsements and post them where they can be seen on your website.<br /><br /></span></li><li><b style="font-size: 100%; ">Information / social media relevance: </b><span><span style="font-size: 100%;">with access to over 98,000 tweets, 695,000 Facebook status updates, 79,364 Facebook wall posts and 600 new YouTube videos uploaded every minute of the day, not to mention the average 147 daily emails we receive in a working day, consumers are clearly suffering from ‘white noise’ and information overload. What they want now is to be given the information they are interested in immediately or they’ll look elsewhere. The ability to match your business/product information with the right people is becoming the a major driver of success.<br /><br /></span></span></li><li><b style="font-size: 100%; "><a href="http://emc2publicrelations.blogspot.com/2010/06/disaster-how-will-you-respond.html">Social reputation management</a>:</b><span><span style="font-size: 100%;"> it’s staggering how many UK organisations don’t have a tried and <a href="http://emc2publicrelations.blogspot.com/2009/08/crisis-pr-protecting-reputation-of-your.html">tested crisis communications plan</a> ready to deal with social media relations when disaster strikes. However, the recent example of the <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XYwLQDwqDCI">Costa Concordia</a> cruise disaster has woken many up to doing something about it this year. The ship’s sinking and the incompetence of the captain has been widely broadcast, embarrassing and costing the Costa and Carnival brands dearly in terms of public confidence and also, the reputation of the cruise ship industry as a whole, forcing it to re-evaluate itself.<br /><br /><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-uUT8oR4HQHU/T0dXjZ5PG5I/AAAAAAAAADg/8pfbGqACgmw/s400/image001.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5712630918100753298" /><br /><br /></span></span></li><li><b style="font-size: 100%; ">Social media - increasing influence on search results:</b><span><span style="font-size: 100%;"> it’s already happening, with search engines like Google crawling social media such as Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook. This includes <a href="http://emc2publicrelations.blogspot.com/2011/06/ruined-in-tweet-ignore-social-media-at.html">user generated reviews and ratings</a> from other social media consumer conversations.<br /><br /></span></span></li><li><span><span style="font-size: 100%;"><b><a href="http://emc2publicrelations.blogspot.com/2010/02/why-should-i-incorporate-social-media.html">Social customer relations management (SCRM)</a>:</b> truly customer-centric companies are recognising that social media platforms like Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, Google+, and social interest sites like Pinterest, are cost-effective and quick ways to ensure their customers always keep them ‘in sight’ and ‘in mind’. Social customer relations have become an integral part of their customer relationship management activities. This year however, we’re going to see more social media ‘newbies’ catching-on and reaping the rewards.<br /><br /></span></span></li><li><b style="font-size: 100%; "><a href="http://mashable.com/2010/01/12/social-media-contest">Social and website competitions</a>:</b><span><span style="font-size: 100%;"> these have become a great way to make your company stand out from the crowd and drive people to your website and product offering. The US and Canada do this very well and UK/European organisations are starting to pay attention and enjoy the benefits.<br /><br /></span></span></li><li><b style="font-size: 100%; ">Do-it-yourself TV:</b><span><span style="font-size: 100%;"> smartphones, tablets, YouTube and Skype which allow people to visually communicate and share information and experiences are starting to take-off in a big way and will need to become an integrated part of the ‘customer experience’.<br /><br /></span></span></li><li><b style="font-size: 100%; ">Real-time, geo-marketing promotions: </b><span><span style="font-size: 100%;">more retailers and high street service providers will be starting to use <a href="http://www.emc2publicrelations.com/pr-dictionary?pr-definition=geomarketing">geo-marketing</a> techniques to connect to consumers shopping or visiting their neighbourhood and offering deals and incentives directly to their mobile phones. </span></span></li></ol><br /><div align="center"><iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/XYwLQDwqDCI?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></div>E=MC2 Public Relations Ltdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03903111063223705217noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4611234153083978893.post-10551955946731138562012-01-23T09:25:00.003+00:002012-01-23T09:32:15.632+00:00Is your website still fit for purpose in 2012?Websites are today’s virtual shopfronts. They speak volumes about the organisations they represent, creating lasting impressions which will engage or disengage customers within the first four seconds of their visit.<br /><br /><div></div><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-jdfaQlK8uwo/Tx0otTHaQqI/AAAAAAAAADU/-t_wlrJj4YA/s1600/Capture.JPG"><img style="WIDTH: 362px; HEIGHT: 349px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5700757462011495074" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-jdfaQlK8uwo/Tx0otTHaQqI/AAAAAAAAADU/-t_wlrJj4YA/s400/Capture.JPG" /></a><br /><br /><div><br /><strong>Website design trends in 2012</strong><br /><br />Website design in 2012 is all about the customer experience and customers want functionality, faster online access and social interactivity. If your website still appears as a static extension of your company brochure, with very little functionality or consumer interaction, it probably is time for a major overhaul.<br /><br /><strong>Purpose-design</strong><br /><br />The best websites today are purpose-designed. They are built around the actions you want your customers to take when they visit your site or land on a particular page.<br />If you are planning on upgrading your website or rebuilding it from scratch, you should be incorporating the following elements.<br /><br /><strong>Social media integration</strong><br /><br />Social media is also set to become an integral part of website communications, customer relationship-building and retention in 2012. Corporate attitudes to social media are changing and more organisations are developing integrated strategies to support their Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn or YouTube presence. We will see more websites using their social media channels this year to talk to and learn from their customers, build relationships with them, manage complaints and provide support. Expect to see Twitter for business use really taking-off in 2012.<br /><br /><strong>Smart phone-friendliness</strong><br /><br />Smart phone searches will grow significantly this year with more than one in five internet searches expected to be via a mobile device and the trend will increase significantly over the next five years. If your website is not mobile -friendly, frustrated visitors who find it difficult to read and slow to load will go elsewhere. Content too should be compatible. Headlines and text should adjust to fit the smartphone browser so that the visitor doesn’t have to scroll over to see it.<br /><br /><strong>Forget Flash – it’s HTML5</strong><br /><br />Speed of access is what people want. Smart phones will not be installing Flash for consumers which makes using HTML5 extremely important for businesses.<br /><br /><strong>Intelligent and useful content</strong><br /><br />Reader-friendliness, quality of information and usefulness are what attract customers and search engines like Google to a website. Make sure you research your market before making improvements. It’s important to listen to the people you want to reach, understand their needs and provide content and imagery that will attract and interest them. If you can give them what they want they will engage with your site and get others to link to it.<br /><br /><strong>‘Inclusivity’</strong><br /><br />Consumers also want to find what they are looking for quickly in a language that they understand and identify with. The language style, tone and voice of your website should therefore be compatible and familiar to the people you want to reach so, again, listen and learn from your audience before you start to ‘speak’.<br /><br /><strong>Continuous ‘fresh’ content</strong><br /><br />Search engines like Google as well as consumers don’t want to see and read the same old boring stuff over and over again. They are hungry for fresh content that’s interesting, useful and engaging. You should regularly refresh your site with new information, video, photos, info graphics, slide presentations, news releases and more.<br /><br /><strong>Big interesting pictures and attention-grabbing headlines</strong><br /><br />Again, big, dynamic images, high impact headlines, interesting infographics and larger icons are all features which savvy websites are using to keep consumer returning to their websites, engaging with it and referring it to other potential customers.<br /><br /><strong>More community and environmental commitment</strong><br /><br />Last but not least, consumers expect to see real examples of community, ethical and environmental commitment with testimonials, case studies, events calendars and social media interactivity within this section of your website. </div>E=MC2 Public Relations Ltdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03903111063223705217noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4611234153083978893.post-71589417785812977032011-12-16T10:29:00.003+00:002012-01-25T16:54:24.417+00:00Should my business have a blog?<p>Think of a business <a href="http://www.emc2publicrelations.com/pr-dictionary?pr-definition=blog" target="_blank">blog</a> as part of your online marketing toolkit. <a href="http://www.emc2publicrelations.com/pr-dictionary?pr-definition=blog" target="_blank">Blogs</a> can really help you to personalise your business and build <a href="http://www.emc2publicrelations.com/pr-dictionary?pr-definition=brand-identity" target="_blank">brand awareness</a> as well as trust amongst your customers. </p><br /><p>Business <a href="http://www.emc2publicrelations.com/pr-dictionary?pr-definition=blog" target="_blank">blogs</a> are also not only extremely cost-effective but a great way to communicate with prospects, build long-term customer relationships and generally market your business. </p><br /><p><strong>Here’s what blogging can do for you:</strong><br /></p><br /><ul type="disc"><br /><li>Demonstrate your knowledge and establish you as an expert in your field </li><br /><li>Make your business services stand out </li><br /><li>Attract new business prospects and opportunities </li><br /><li>Improve brand visibility and <a href="http://www.emc2publicrelations.com/pr-dictionary?pr-definition=seo" target="_blank">search engine rankings</a></li><br /><li>Create PR and media opportunities </li><br /><li>Open communications channels with prospects / customers </li><br /><li>Generate new leads</li><br /><li>Show customers / prospects how you can solve you’re their business problems </li><br /></ul><br /><p><strong>What should I blog about?</strong></p><br /><p>Decide first what you want your <a href="http://www.emc2publicrelations.com/pr-dictionary?pr-definition=blog" target="_blank">blog</a> to achieve. Who are the people you want to reach? Be very specific about this and don’t try to be ‘all things to all people’. The more focussed you are, the more effective your <a href="http://www.emc2publicrelations.com/pr-dictionary?pr-definition=blog" target="_blank">blog</a> will be. Think about what you can you write about that is going to be valuable and interesting to your readers. Remember, a successful business <a href="http://www.emc2publicrelations.com/pr-dictionary?pr-definition=blog" target="_blank">blog</a> is always customer-focussed and never about ‘you’.</p><br /><p><strong>Quality and consistency is vital</strong></p><br /><p>If you are going to <a href="http://www.emc2publicrelations.com/pr-dictionary?pr-definition=blog" target="_blank">blog</a>, then you need to be consistent and do it regularly to build customer loyalty. Quality is also extremely important; your <a href="http://www.emc2publicrelations.com/pr-dictionary?pr-definition=blog" target="_blank">blog</a> should be ‘<a href="http://www.emc2publicrelations.com/pr-dictionary?pr-definition=branding" target="_blank">brand</a>’ - and ‘reputation-building’. That means you must have compelling, high quality content - for your readers and to boost <a href="http://www.emc2publicrelations.com/pr-dictionary?pr-definition=seo" target="_blank">search engine rankings</a> - that’s spell-checked and factually correct. The design, look and feel of your blog should also be in keeping with your corporate identity and culture. </p><br /><p><strong>Invite discussion</strong></p><br /><p>An easy way to do this is to ask your visitors for feedback by inviting them to leave comments or suggestions which keep the conversations going. And when people participate, don’t forget to thank and acknowledge them. </p><br /><p><strong>Comment on other people’s blogs and social sites</strong></p><br /><p>Get yourself known by commenting or guest blogging on other people’s <a href="http://www.emc2publicrelations.com/pr-dictionary?pr-definition=blog" target="_blank">blogs</a> and discussion forums. Try to participate in other <a href="http://www.emc2publicrelations.com/pr-dictionary?pr-definition=social-networks" target="_blank">social networking</a> channels like LinkedIn, FaceBook, Twitter, YouTube and SlideShare. </p><br /><p>By following these tips, you will be well on your way to being a successful blogger.</p>E=MC2 Public Relations Ltdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03903111063223705217noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4611234153083978893.post-80411077672522297642011-11-24T16:29:00.007+00:002012-04-20T14:51:45.479+01:00QR codes: a fantastic business marketing tool you should be using!Over the past few months we’ve been encouraging our clients to start incorporating <span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">Quick Response codes (QR codes)</span> into their marketing communications because they are an extremely cost-effective and useful way of encouraging customers to interact with a company’s products or services.<br /><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-HdNULz12nAg/Ts5z6fJuO6I/AAAAAAAAAC4/MumPfk0Pg2k/s1600/EMC2-QR-code.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 277px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 275px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5678603628792658850" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-HdNULz12nAg/Ts5z6fJuO6I/AAAAAAAAAC4/MumPfk0Pg2k/s320/EMC2-QR-code.jpg" /></a><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">What are QR codes and what should I use them for?</span><br /><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">QR codes</span> are 2-D barcodes that behave like hyperlinks and can be decoded using your smartphone with a <span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">QR code reader</span>. They can link to a new product page on your website, a Facebook, LinkedIn or Twitter profile, a Google maps reference, vouchers or special offers – just about anything you want to show and tell your customers about. You can also use QR codes to send emails and SMS messages automatically or upload people’s contact details into your smartphone’s address book. They were first designed for the auto industry to track parts.<br /><br /><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">QR codes – a huge marketing opportunity just waiting to be tapped</span><br />The great thing about QR codes is that you are not limited in terms of length, size and space. Traditional advertising works on limits. You pay for extra airtime, advertising and newspaper space. But fixing a QR code to your advertisement, you are literally limitless in the amount of information you can include in your advert. According to the latest UK survey of mobile phone users in July 2011, 45% of consumers already own a smartphone with a further 17% planning to acquire one within the year. In terms of marketing opportunities, there is an audience for QR codes that is just waiting to be tapped!<br /><br /><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">How do I get a QR code?</span><br />It’s very easy. There are several websites which will create QR codes for free like Quickqr and Qrstuff.<br /><br /><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">How do QR codes work?</span><br />The first thing you need to do is to download a <span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">QR reader</span>. Most smartphones come with readers already installed these days. You can also download one from the internet for free. After you’ve done this, enter the QR reader on your phone and <span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">take a picture of the QR code</span>. This will take you to the code’s location. For example, if you put your LinkedIn or website address into the <span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">QR code creator</span>, the QR code created will take people to that page when they take a picture of it on their smartphone.<br /><br /><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">How do you use a QR code?</span><br />You can use QR codes to promote yourself, your products and services in all sorts of ways. For example, you might have a QR code next to each product on your web site which contains product details, contact information and the web link to the page so consumers can review this information on their smart phone and share it with their friends. You could add one to your job advertisement, exhibition stand, company signage and business card so it’s easy for someone to add you to their smart phone address book.<br /><br />In short, you can add a QR code to any marketing and advertising materials from posters to TV advertisements and use them to connect consumers or customers to:<br /><br /><ul><br /><li>Product information</li><br /><li>Contact details</li><br /><li>Special offers</li><br /><li>Special events</li><br /><li>Competition details</li><br /><li>Voucher or coupon</li><br /><li>Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn</li><br /><li>Latest YouTube video </li></ul>If you are interested in using QR codes here are some useful links:<br /><br /><ul><br /><li><a href="http://www.quikqr.com/">http://www.quikqr.com/</a></li><br /><li><a href="http://www.beetagg.com/downloadreader">www.beetagg.com/downloadreader</a></li><br /><li><a href="http://www.reader.kaywa.com/getit">www.reader.kaywa.com/getit</a></li><br /><li><a href="http://www.2d-code.co.uk/qr-code-readers">www.2d-code.co.uk/qr-code-readers</a></li><br /><li><a href="http://www.qrstuff.com/">http://www.qrstuff.com/</a></li><br /><li><a href="http://www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/QR_code">www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/QR_code</a></li></ul><a href="http://www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/QR_code"><span style="Arial: "></span></a>E=MC2 Public Relations Ltdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03903111063223705217noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4611234153083978893.post-41392066793447317662011-11-01T09:00:00.002+00:002012-04-20T14:54:52.787+01:00How to write a good PR brief<p>A PR pitch and eventual communications programme are only as good as the PR brief you provide.</p><br /><p>Here are some quick tips on how to write a good PR brief.</p><br /><p><strong>Vision and objectives</strong>: state what your vision and key objectives are. What is it that you want to achieve, where, when and why? </p><br /><p><strong>Target audiences</strong>: identify who you want to reach. </p><br /><p><strong>Background</strong>: provide background information on your organisation, this could for example, be a company profile explaining what you do and your products and services. Explain what issues and challenges your organisation is facing and any key selling messages and unique selling points you have (e.g. why do people choose your organisation / products / services?). </p><br /><p><strong>The PR brief</strong>: </p><br /><ul><br /><li><strong>Identify</strong> and highlight the areas you want the PR agency to tackle and what resources, including any additional agency or in-house PR or marketing communications support. </li><br /><li><strong>Budget</strong>: be clear on how much you want to spend as your PR strategy and programme will need to be built around your budget.</li><br /><li><strong>Deadlines</strong>: state your project delivery deadlines.</li><br /><li><strong>Useful website references</strong>: include these and any other resources which will help the PR agency learn more about your organisation.</li><br /><li><strong>Provide high quality business information</strong>: PR professionals are business advisers and strategists, so a good brief will provide scope for consultants to give their perspective and insight on the issues you need to address and strategies. This will also give you an insight into the agency’s creative and strategic thinking capabilities. </li><br /><li><strong>Account management</strong>: ask the PR agency to provide details on how they will manage the account and work on a day to day basis with you, your organisation and management team.</li><br /><li><strong>Confidentiality</strong>: include a statement on confidentiality and intellectual property.</li><br /><li><strong>Submission date</strong>: advise when your submission deadline is.</li></ul><br /><p><strong>Experience / references </strong></p><br /><ul><br /><li>Ask for examples of work and project successes so the PR consultancy or agency can highlight their skills and capabilities and request references too. </li></ul>E=MC2 Public Relations Ltdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03903111063223705217noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4611234153083978893.post-58116183711738764462011-10-10T17:09:00.008+01:002012-04-20T14:55:42.929+01:00What should you put on your homepage?Your homepage is the most important landing page of your website and yet surprisingly few organisations put the right information on it.<br /><br /><strong>Four seconds to grab the visitor’s attention</strong><br /><br />The opening text of your website’s homepage should be able to tell visitors in four seconds or less what you do and what you are selling. Think of it as the opening statement of a company <strong>résumé</strong> – it should highlight the key products, services or skills you are offering.<br /><br /><strong>Some homepage do’s and don’ts… </strong><br /><ul><br /><br /><li>Don’t put a company logo, strapline, video, fancy Flash graphic and ‘click here to enter’ on your homepage, it’s a real turn-off. Visitors want to find what they are looking for instantly so cut to the chase.<br /></li><br /><br /><li>Don’t put anything to do with you company history, vision and values, mission statements, employee numbers and corporate information on your homepage – these belong in the ‘About us’ section.<br /></li><br /><br /><li>Do keep your content refreshed by running an RSS or company news feed on your homepage.<br /></li><br /><br /><li>Do - if you want to be found on Google and other search engines - ensure your homepage contains keywords and phrases that people would use to search for you on the internet. But be careful, your text must make sense and be readable, informative and intelligent to visitors and search engines. Search Engines like Google rank websites on the relevance of their content.<br /></li></ul>Last but not least, test out your homepage content on people who know nothing about what your company does or sells. Their feedback will tell you very quickly if your homepage is doing its job!E=MC2 Public Relations Ltdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03903111063223705217noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4611234153083978893.post-90018122628717616402011-08-28T09:07:00.003+01:002012-04-20T14:57:02.670+01:00How do you turn negative PR into positive on the internet?What do you do if you find your company, products or services under fire on the internet?<br /><br /><br />A very unhappy listed UK company recently asked us for <b><a href="http://emc2publicrelations.blogspot.com/2011/06/ruined-in-tweet-ignore-social-media-at.html" target="_blank">strategic PR advice</a></b> after finding negative comments from investors on the organisation’s financial performance. It wanted to know what it could do to stop the remarks on a discussion forum.<br /><br /><br /><b><a href="http://emc2publicrelations.blogspot.com/2011/06/ruined-in-tweet-ignore-social-media-at.html" target="_blank">Our top three PR tips on managing your online reputation</a></b><br />If these negative comments are highly visible on internet searches, posting a defensive reply on a popular blog, discussion board or social media channel will just ‘fuel the fire’ and make things worse.<br /><br /><br />In situations like these you need to get the basics right. Here are our top three tips:<br /><br /><ol><br /><li>Push down negative comments with a <b><a href="http://www.emc2publicrelations.com/" target="_blank">strategic PR programme</a></b> of good news product or company stories which generate positive brand messages on the front pages of Google and other engine searches. </li><br /><li>Resist the temptation of posting defensive replies </li><br /><li>Don’t order the removal of the comments just because you don’t like them!</li></ol>E=MC2 Public Relations Ltdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03903111063223705217noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4611234153083978893.post-81517565251189407882011-08-04T15:22:00.003+01:002012-04-20T14:59:26.330+01:00When a PR crisis hits, it’s too late to prepare!<p><strong><em>A PR crisis is any situation that threatens your organisation’s image and reputation. Fail to prepare for it, then prepare to fail.</em></strong><br /></p><br /><p>When a PR crisis hits an organisation the rules of the game in normal PR and media relations change dramatically. The speed of information and image delivery over the internet is often almost instantaneous. Speculation and public criticism through <u><a title="social media channels" href="http://emc2publicrelations.blogspot.com/2011/06/ruined-in-tweet-ignore-social-media-at.html" target="_blank">social media channels</a></u> like <em>Twitter, Facebook</em> and <em>YouTube</em>, can overwhelm an organisation within minutes. And if you are not prepared for this, you could find yourself in serious hot water.<br /><br />Every organisation should have a simple crisis communications procedure or as I call it, a ‘PR protection plan’ ready to go when things go wrong. It’s not just good PR practice, it could be a ‘life-saver’!<br /><br /><strong>Crisis PR requires efficient reporting systems</strong><br /><br />Whether you are dealing with a fatality, customer complaint, share price crash, or a product fail, you will need effective crisis reporting systems which alert your chief exec and senior management team to the situation in seconds. Staff and suppliers must also have a protocol for referring any <u><a title="media enquiries" href="http://emc2publicrelations.blogspot.com/2009/08/crisis-pr-protecting-reputation-of-your.html" target="_blank">media enquiries</a></u> straight to your communications team.<br /><br /><strong>Be factual, quick and truthful</strong><br /><br />When things do go wrong, tell your <u><a title="story factually, quickly and truthfully" href="http://emc2publicrelations.blogspot.com/2011/02/crisis-pr-how-to-handle-journalists-and.html" target="_blank">story factually, quickly and truthfully</a></u>. If you ignore the situation, deny or hide it, it will get worse. People usually remember what they hear first and last so view the situation from their perspective not just yours. On a final note, don’t make the common mistake of handing the crisis PR and media relations over to your lawyers. If they are not communications professionals, it could escalate the problem.</p>E=MC2 Public Relations Ltdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03903111063223705217noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4611234153083978893.post-19663225608773236082011-07-14T16:10:00.002+01:002012-04-30T16:54:47.039+01:00Five simple SEO tips for writing effective online press releasesSEO optimisation is really important if you want your online press release content crawled, indexed and ranked by internet search engines. That’s why you need to make sure that your digital press releases promote both your news and maximise your internet search visibility and rankings.<br /><br />You can improve the search visibility of your digital press release content by following <b>E=MC2 Public Relations’ five simple SEO tips for writing effective online press releases:</b><br />
<ol type="1">
<li>Research, optimise and hyperlink your top keyword phrases (no more than two</li>
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<li>Link to a landing page, so you can track interest</li>
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<li>Post in the news area of your website (newsdesk)</li>
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<li>Distribute via RSS news feeds</li>
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<li>Maximise PR distribution to relevant online press (this gets your press release on other sites with backlinks to you)</li>
</ol>
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This should help you create SEO-friendly press releases that will send more potential buyers and journalists to your website!E=MC2 Public Relations Ltdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03903111063223705217noreply@blogger.com0