PR masters discuss the art of promotion, and shhhh, spinning.

Why HP’s Crisis Response Missed the Mark Cyrus Afzali 08/16/10 While the company certainly hoped Hurd's departure would make the issue disappear and allow the firm to return to normal, in some ways, it's been anything but that.

BP Spill Likely to Serve as Template for Bad Crisis PR Cyrus Afzali 07/19/10 We all know that this disaster will rank as the worst environmental catastrophe in our country's history. At this point, I'd say the public relations response will also rank as one of the worst as well.

Don't Be Fooled: PR Is Not All About Relationships Cyrus Afzali 06/21/10 Ever since the PR industry stood by while this reputation of PR pros as being little more than people who “smile and dial” took hold, there's been a notion that if you aren't friends with someone, they won't take your call and won't run your story.

No Matter How PR Evolves, Message Remains King Cyrus Afzali 05/24/10 Rather than continually debating what the future of PR will be like and how the status quo can be maintained, I urge everyone getting into the business, and even those practicing now, to think more about what you're saying than ever before.

Thought Leadership, the Next Public Relations Frontier Len Stein 04/26/10 Converging forces are at work to revolutionize public relations as practiced in today’s social media landscape. Business now finds itself compelled to open new channels of communications in its quest to influence the public and to establish a position of “thought leadership.” Thought leadership is rapidly emerging as the key to enhancing company and entrepreneurial, credibility and to influence decision-makers in every field of endeavor.

Defending Your PR Expertise in the Digital Age Cyrus Afzali 04/19/10 One of the things that few PR pros ever mention is that the biggest component to whether a product or service makes it in the market is whether or not it's actually unique and/or serves a need that enough people have. While there's a conspiracy theory among many entrepreneurs that anytime a PR program doesn't secure a ton of ink, it's the firm or consultant's fault, in reality it's most often because the product or service just isn't that appealing. This is further illustrated by the fact that few products actually succeed on the market.

Social Media: Easy as Driving a Car Nancy Bistritz 04/02/10 The rules of engagement have changed, and the majority of marketers are still trying to figure out the best way to connect with consumers. It’s a new environment where lead time is now real time, and the moment you have one new trend or technology mastered, another comes blazing. If you’re like me, sometimes a visual and a life comparison can simplify a complicated task. As I sat here thinking about what I would write and how it could relay to emerging media and digital public relations, I couldn’t help but think about learning to drive.

A Smaller List of Targets Can Equal a Greater Audience Cyrus Afzali 03/25/10 Ironically, one of the toughest things about being a public relations counselor is getting clients to actually take our counsel. Perhaps nothing illustrates this better than the process of determining media targets. Long, long ago it seems, PR pros let themselves get pigeonholed into a “yes" mentality when it comes to any request from a client.

Can Catching the Eye of Just One Maven Affect Your Bottom Line? Nancy Bistritz 03/18/10 Many organizations are still in the embryonic stage of social media -- the listening stage, the “getting-your-feet-wet” stage -- where you are still listening to your consumers and clients and what they have to say to their “friends” on Facebook and “followers” on Twitter. My hope is this listening will give way to some organizations going back to the drawing board -- either to improve a product or better their service.

What Brand Strategists Can Learn From Celebrities Dr. Bob Deutsch 03/04/10 We live in a performance-based culture where celebrities are our kings and queens. It can be instructive for marketers to understand the dynamics of mind that cause us to idolize and occasionally turn away abruptly from those we once extolled.

Spin to Win Talent Ari B. Adler 02/25/10 Public relations practitioners spin for a living. There, I said it. I dared to utter the “S” word. Now get over it and listen to why the profession’s revulsion to the word is just misplaced and counterproductive aggression.

What Do They Mean By Social Anyway? Joel Postman 02/04/10 Many of us take for granted the meaning of the word “social” when we think of social media and social networking. But what does it really mean?

Six Social Media Predictions for 2010 Joel Postman 12/14/09 Given that many visitors to Talent Zoo are here either to find a new job/career, or keep up-to-date on the latest trends, I thought I would share my thoughts on how social media is affecting the job market and the search for jobs and talent.

Customer Service - ­ It’s Imperative! Jocelyn Brandeis 12/10/09 Customer service is often the first line of defense a company has when a customer calls in with a problem. If you’ve had to deal with customer service over the past decade, I’m sure you’ve found, like I have, that it’s on the wane.

Debunking Five Social Media Myths Joel Postman 11/12/09 Social media, particularly its use in business communications, is still in its early days, and like anything new and different, there’s plenty of mythology surrounding it. The problem posed by certain of these myths is that they mislead those trying to adopt social media...

The Big “O” No! Jocelyn Brandeis 10/22/09 Don’t get me wrong, I think an endorsement by “O” herself is great, if you can (legitimately) get it (and I have), and “The Oprah Effect” has been incredibly powerful.

In Social Media, You’re Always ‘On’ Michael Driehorst 10/01/09 In traditional media relations and public relations, we’re supposed to be invisible... But, in social media marketing, much of our efforts force us to come out from behind the curtain.

Using Facebook Fan Pages Effectively Joel Postman 09/23/09 There’s a big difference between a real fan (short for fanatic) of your company, and someone who decides to “Become a Fan,” which takes the single click of a mouse.

A Salute to 20th Century News Anchors Jocelyn Brandeis 09/10/09 It’s hard to imagine getting the TV news without some of these iconic figures there to tell us “how it is.” These people are reporter's reporters they're objective, fair, sincere, credible, thought-provoking, and accurate truth-seekers who have been non-partisan yet equal opportunity offenders.

What Goes Around Comes Around Erin Allsman 08/20/09 Is measurement of new PR tactics really any different? With this in mind, here are a few helpful hints to accurately measure a non-traditional public relations campaign.

The Mourning of a (Technology-Driven) Nation - And a Few Predictions Jocelyn Brandeis 08/06/09 Facebook, Twitter and many other social networks now give users the ability to commune with the world in real time. From a sociological perspective, it’s amazing that we can share almost anything as a group of one. From a psychological perspective, we’re not alone.

Famous Dead People Weigh In On Social Media Joel Postman 07/30/09 In an effort to better understand the social media phenomenon, it often helps to turn to experts in the field. But I’m not talking about social media gurus or mavens, or people with 20,000 followers on Twitter.

Traditional and Social Media: The Same, yet Very Different Michael Driehorst 07/09/09 There are a lot of tactics that fall under the public relations umbrella, but media relations more often than not first comes to mind when you talk PR. Similarly, when you talk social media marketing, blogs are one of the first things that come to mind -- though social media marketing is so very much more.

Doctor, Do I Have Social Networking Fatigue Syndrome? Jocelyn Brandeis 06/25/09 I’m not here to bash any of these social networking services; this is not a love-hate relationship. It’s a need-don’t need relationship. In fact, I think social networking can be of great use in many ways. But there is also a need to know when to pull back and give yourself a break from all of this chatter.

Job Hunting with LinkedIn Joel Postman 06/04/09 LinkedIn is generally thought of as a social network for career and professional development. If you’re actively looking for a new job, whether you’re employed or not, LinkedIn is a wonderful tool for doing so.

Research is Always the Best Place to Start Michael Driehorst 05/28/09 Public relations, essentially all forms of marketing communications, is truly about relationships. However, PR is much so because you often have to rely on others to be successful.How can you sell something – a product, an idea, a cause, action, etc. – if you don’t know much about your audience?

UH-OH! Same Subject – Conflicting Stories Jocelyn Brandeis 05/14/09 In the age of 24/7 news cycles and faster-than-light social media reports, it’s important to remind ourselves that being the first to report something isn’t always the best position to be in. What matters is the truth ­ getting the news story correct with your target audience.

Why Johnny Can’t Tweet Joel Postman 04/16/09 Should Social Media Be Taught In Primary School? Interesting news comes out of the UK about a possible change in primary school educational priorities, shifting attention and resources from subjects like history and math in favor of what might be called Web 2.0 1.0.

Crisis Communications Part 2 Jocelyn Brandeis 03/30/09 We all know the old adage when it comes to the news, “If it bleeds, it leads.” Tragedy, crisis, or whatever terrible thing it may be, the news media will be all over it. In Part I, we learned to define a crisis and how to plan for it. Now, we’re going to talk about how to handle a crisis.

If It’s Online, It’s In the Public Eye Michael Driehorst 03/25/09 If it is online -- text, pictures, video, audio, etc. -- it is public, or it will be soon. If you don’t want the world to know, keep it to yourself. For some time, I’ve been a firm believer that self-censorship is a very under-appreciated, personal quality.

Social Media Noobs and Gurus Joel Postman 03/09/09 Some social media “experts” and veterans look down on social media “noobs,” aka newbies, or newcomers. This behavior can manifest itself in several ways, such as the snub at someone who dares to say something as naïve as ‘Wow, have you tried Friendfeed? It’s pretty cool!” The social media putdown artist can respond, “Come on, everyone knows about Friendfeed.”

Mea Culpa, I'm Sorry...Now What?! Jocelyn Brandeis 02/26/09 In the past few weeks, a lot of people have been publicly saying "I'm sorry" for the dumb things they've done: Christian Bale’s on-set tirade, Michael Phelp's bong incident, Governor Rod Blagojevich's alleged sale of a Senator's seat (and his subsequent media tour proclaiming his innocence), etc. This is a trend we’ve seen for quite some time...

Indirect Competitors are the New Direct Competitors Brian Solis 02/12/09 And you thought you were special. OK, you are. But, let's take a look at the horizon so that we can work together to help you keep and actively demonstrate your edge, value, and differentiation.

Web 2.0 Will Play a Big Role in the Obama Administration, But Don’t Expect to Chat With the President on Twitter Joel Postman 02/05/09 There is no doubt that President Barack Obama is the most connected, most web savvy president in history. His campaign launched one after another Web 2.0 initiative to set a standard for social campaigning that will still be talked about in 20 years.

Crisis Communications – Part I Jocelyn Brandeis 01/22/09 A crisis, by professional standards, is a situation that impedes the ability to do business in a normal manner. Because a crisis often confuses, alarms, or angers customers, the result of a crisis, if not handled properly, can cause the loss of business, and ultimately, the loss of reputation.

Listeners Make the Best Conversationalists Brian Solis 01/15/09 Tools and networks will come and go. Popularity will shift across existing, up and coming, and not yet introduced services. If you're not everywhere, then you're only addressing a small portion...

Social Media News Distribution Comes of Age Joel Postman 01/08/09 For almost two years, I have been helping clients evaluate and implement social media news distribution. The use of Web 2.0 technologies for news distribution has really grown, and has reached the point...

Who Will Provide the Most Attention to Get The Job Done? Jocelyn Brandeis 12/18/08 Earlier this week, I spoke with a potential professional services client about her current PR strategy. Once she found out I was a PR person, she opened up and began to discuss all of her fears and concerns with her current (not-to-be-named) “celebrity”-owned, large-sized PR agency.

Social Media. Neither Social Nor Media. Discuss. Joel Postman 11/28/08 One of the problems with social media, and there are many, is that it is neither all social nor all media. As its name implies, it is the collision between its social attributes, its ability to bring people together online...

Contracts and Getting Paid For Your Work Jocelyn Brandeis 11/20/08 We all know that written contracts are signed and agreed upon by clients and consultants to protect them legally and to spell out what is and isn¹t expected from both parties...

Being Human vs. Humanizing Your Story Brian Solis 11/13/08 It takes so much more than an understanding of the tools and popular networks in order to inspire change and build long-term, meaningful relationships. We must not forget that we need to fuse what works today with...

LinkedIn: It’s All About the Platform, Baby Joel Postman 10/31/08 Professional/career social network LinkedIn continues to feel the pressure from other social networks, particularly Facebook, when it comes to offering users a more lively...

Social Media is One Component of Broader Communications Strategy Brian Solis 10/23/08 Many have drawn the conclusion that Social Media marketers or Social Media consultants are to the new Web, what Webmasters were to Web 1.0. There’s a rush of excitement and enthusiasm...

Dealing With a Death of a Client Jocelyn Brandeis 10/16/08 I was going to write on another topic this week, but I feel compelled to write on the subject above, since my client and dear friend recently passed away.

The State of Social Media 2008 Brian Solis 10/13/08 I’ve been on a recent whirlwind speaking tour recently, sharing and learning all things related to the socialization of marketing and service as well as how to measure these new strategies and tactics...

Tear Down that Firewall Mr. Corporate IT Joel Postman 10/02/08 For some companies, the only thing more worrisome than having sensitive information get out is allowing it to get in. Each successive generation of Internet applications seems to bring with it something for corporate gatekeepers (generally, but not always, IT) to be afraid of.

Managing Expectations Jocelyn Brandeis 09/18/08 Whether you’re in-house dealing with the head of your department or C-level executives, or at an agency dealing with clients, you always have to manage expectations.

My Almost Free Twitter-Based Corporate Social Media Strategy Joel Postman 09/04/08 What if you could reach a few million people, improve customer support, tap into an incredible wealth of customer satisfaction data, protect and enhance your brand, and obtain some positive coverage, all for under $500?

The Social Revolution is Our Industrial Revolution, pt 2 Brian Solis 08/28/08 Last week I talked about how social media has changed media and the evolution of media. It is what I referred to as our Industrial revolution. This is a continuation of the article.

The Social Revolution is Our Industrial Revolution Brian Solis 08/21/08 Broadcast and print media and the services that support the creation and distribution of information are not dead...

How Do You Write a PR Proposal? Jocelyn Brandeis 08/13/08 I often get asked from younger and freelance PR professionals how to write PR proposals for potential clients.

My Social Media Love Manifesto Joel Postman 07/31/08 Quick, what single word that comes to mind when you try to describe social media?

The Art of Conversation - It's About Listening Not Marketing Brian Solis 07/17/08 Discussions and debates on the viability, necessity, and effectiveness of conversational aka social media marketing continue to roar across the Social Web.

Let's Talk About Press Kits Jocelyn Brandeis 07/10/08 I’ve been answering the question “What is a press kit and what goes into it?” over and over again for both PR professionals and business-owners during the past few months.

15 Tweets of Fame Joel Postman 06/26/08 Fake celebrity bloggers and Twitterers. They’re the cubic zirconiums of social media. They aren’t real, but in some ways, they shine brighter than the genuine object, and they can’t help but catch our eye.

PR 2.0: Putting the Public Back in Public Relations Brian Solis 06/19/08 Have you ever met someone so energetic, positive and incredibly smart - someone who exudes passion and someone who "gets it" in an inspirational way?

Getting to Know Potential Clients Jocelyn Brandeis 06/12/08 When evaluating potential or new clients there are several questions you should ask to gain information about them. These questions can help you delve a bit deeper into their business without revealing proprietary information.

Mommy Bloggers, More Than Cloth vs. Disposable Joel Postman 05/29/08 I’ve always thought I knew what a mommy blogger was. I’ve heard the term, I know a couple of mommy bloggers, and I read all kinds of blogs, so I am familiar with mommy blogging in general.

Cultural Voyeurism and Social Media Brian Solis 05/22/08 Many purported Social Media experts are merely engaging in cultural voyeurism at best. They look from afar and roam the perimeters of online societies without ever becoming a true member of any society.

Working With Smaller Clients Jocelyn Brandeis 05/15/08 While we all need to pay our bills, here are some things to consider before working with clients who are smaller or who pay a bit less than your normal fee.

Unpleasant Outings Joel Postman 05/01/08 A recent trend that should concern the profession is the “outing” by high profile bloggers of PR and communications people for “lame” online behavior.

Should PR Agencies Blog? Brian Solis 04/24/08 Contrary to popular belief, sometimes being open can hurt your brand. It's just a simple reflection and reminder that we are all open to public interpretation and response.

Use Your Vocabulary Jocelyn Brandeis 04/17/08 We’re all fighting for journalists’ attention, so why not use whatever you have to present your client in the best light. Your first line of positioning is your words.

Social Networking: Quality vs. Quantity Joel Postman 04/03/08 The value of your social networks is largely based on the quality, and to some extent quantity, of people in them. When developing your strategy for adding people, you’ll want to consider who you are and why you’re on the network.

PR 2.0 = The Evolution of PR, Nothing Less, Nothing More Brian Solis 03/27/08 Somewhere along the way, PR lost its way and created a new “sub” standard for what should have been one of the most respected positions within business marketing.

Deadly Words From Clients Jocelyn Brandeis 03/20/08 Memo to Self: Tactfully remind clients why they’re hiring you…then run the other way when they say these words

Social Media Ethics: Not That Hard, Really Joel Postman 03/06/08 How do you avoid the ethical pitfalls presented by emerging communications channels? Behave ethically.

Customer Service is the New, New Marketing Brian Solis 02/28/08 Transforming people into a surrogate sales force is the dream of any service organization. The difference today is that good customer service is no longer the minimum ante to play the game.

The Ever-Changing Face of PR Jocelyn Brandeis 02/21/08 As PR professionals, we need to be on top of every social network, every new blog and podcast and every possible opportunity to get our clients’ names in the news

Zen and the Art of Slide Design Joel Postman 02/07/08 Effective communications and slide presentations may seem like mutually exclusive ideas, but slides are an inescapable part of agency and corporate life.

18 PR Tips for Startups Brian Solis 01/31/08

Let's Talk About Community Jocelyn Brandeis 01/24/08 Hello fellow PR practitioners: I wanted to write about a different topic for my first article, but I also wanted to stay positive. So I’m writing about something else – community

Tweeting Yourself to a Better Career Joel Postman 01/09/08 The convergence of PR and social media is inevitable, and the ways in which those of us in the industry use social media continue to expand.