Casual Articles - Business

Management in the New Information Economy; Consider it
In the late 1990’s we witnessed a complete shift as computers become commonplace. Personal Computer ownership skyrockets and every small business started using email between customers, vendors, employees and locations. The information age was set and now some complain that there is too much information? But how can you have too much information.The truth is you cannot, but if you do not have some filtering system for the abundance of data, then most all of it will side track you in a diffracted management path that neither leads you to your objectives or profitability. Enter the age of Data Smog, or over kill of irrelevant information and while we are on this subject I would lik

likely PR firms. The tough part however, is evaluating the relationship between members of your company and the PR firm. Additionally, not every PR agency is listed and quantified in every directory. New ones are popping up all the time and others are merging, being acquired or just fading away. When working with a limited knowledge-base, evaluation can become problematic.

The key to any successful PR agenc

Building Your Infrastructure to Sustain Your Service Strategy
Ever wonder why so many customer service strategies are either short-lived or fail before they even get started? I mean think about it: how many companies do you patronize where you consistently (the operative word here is “consistently") receive a positive and memorable buying experience?The type of buying experience that you’ll remember and influences you to return to that company. So how many companies did you come up with?Two points I’d like to make here:1) I bet it took you awhile before a particular company came to mind. I doubt very much that a flood of companies blitzed your mind when you thought about that question, and2) I bet the number of companies that you cam

Since so much has been written about how to go about finding a PR agency, I thought it timely to examine the process from my perspective - a consultant who is also a PR headhunter.

Throughout the U.S. there are thousands of PR firms of all sizes who claim to specialize in dozens of different specialty categories.

As the person designated within your company to identify and hire a PR firm, where do you start? What do you look for? How much should you pay? What characteristics of the PR firm differentiates it from others - and are those differences important to your company? What size firm should you hire? What about account conflicts? Is the firm's location important? Who's going to work on your business? What about performance and results? What should you reasonably expect and how do you measure success?

These are only some of the questions that will undoubtedly arise in your quest to hire a firm.

From my experience, all of these questions should be asked and answered before signing on with a PR firm. However, the real issues that become important should be evaluated within the context of your company's needs and goals. Chances are the answers will fall somewhere in the proverbial gray area.

Going solo Should you decide to identify a PR firm on your own, there are many reference materials available which can help you quantify the players. However, without the tools and the inside knowledge of how PR firms work and which will work best for your company, the task can be difficult to qualify.

Many solo searchers rely on references from colleagues, industry sources and the like to help them target a group of likely PR firms. The tough part however, is evaluating the relationship between members of your company and the PR firm. Additionally, not every PR agency is listed and quantified in every directory. New ones are popping up all the time and others are merging, being acquired or just fading away. When working with a limited knowledge-base, evaluation can become problematic.

The key to any successful PR agency

Analysing Adverts for the Creative Response
The fundamental rule is: if you are going to apply for advertised jobs then only apply for the right ones. Don’t waste time by applying for the ones you’ve no chance of getting; not only is your time lost but your morale will suffer if you keep getting rejections. Analysing adverts thoughtfully saves you more than just time.When you are looking for a new job, particularly if you don’t currently have one, it’s too easy to be ‘busy’ by spending your time on the wrong things.For example one day, I observed one of my students reading a well known Daily Newspaper which on this particular Thursday had around 40 pages of display adverts. As he read through, it became clear to me that although

start? What do you look for? How much should you pay? What characteristics of the PR firm differentiates it from others - and are those differences important to your company? What size firm should you hire? What about account conflicts? Is the firm's location important? Who's going to work on your business? What about performance and results? What should you reasonably expect and how do you measure success?

These are only some of the questions that will undoubtedly arise in your quest to hire a firm.

The key to any successful PR agenc

Negotiation Skills You Need To Know
One of the most important negotiation skills you can develop is to get in the habit of finding the other side's deadline. Time is of the essence. It even says as much on most business and real estate contracts. What does this mean in negotiating? It means that whoever controls or understands the elements of time involved in a negotiation has the better position.Many years ago I was looking at a truck for sale. I asked the owner why he was selling (always a good idea). He told me that the IRS was coming after him and he needed to sell the truck by the weekend (It was Tuesday). When do you think you would be able to negotiate the best price on the truck? Maybe right now, but certainly on Friday if

These are only some of the questions that will undoubtedly arise in your quest to hire a firm.

The key to any successful PR agenc

TQM Implementation Project
This article contains a summary of implementation of TQM improvement projects in the Manufacturing and Service Sectors over the last 5 years. It highlights difficulties encountered in using specific improvement tools as well as handling of the team members.The TQM Improvement Methodology - D.A.I.CThroughout these TQM improvement projects, a common methodology was used as a systematic way to Define-Analyse-Improve-Control the opportunity or problem. 7 QC tools are widely employed within this methodologyThe DEFINE phaseIn this phase, team members are required to

Should you decide to identify a PR firm on your own, there are many reference materials available which can help you quantify the players. However, without the tools and the inside knowledge of how PR firms work and which will work best for your company, the task can be difficult to qualify.

The key to any successful PR agenc

Recycling Promotional Gifts
There was a time when being green or caring about the environment was practically frowned upon. Recycling was just a hassle not many could be bothered with and you really didn’t think twice about product manufacture or packaging. These days it’s trendy to be wearing recycled, organic, Fair trade T Shirts. Suppliers are joined green revolution and can supply organic t shirts, recycled pens, recycled pencils, recycled sticky notes, recycled pads to name a few with great success.There is a solution: Suppliers, distributors whose wide range of business gifts are all made from recycled material or are otherwise eco friendly. Being intrinsically different and interesting they keep your name in front o

The key to any successful PR agency search lies in the depth of the research expended. The greater amount of time spent researching the agency, its people, culture, working style, etc., the better chance you have of bringing home a winner. Also, it's easy to be distracted by fancy promotion and lose sight of the agency's key elements.

Sometimes the identification of a winning PR firm can be a slam-dunk. More often, it can be like nailing Jello to a tree.

Slam-dunk If your company produces a highly specialized or technical product, chances are there will only be a few PR firms that will fill the bill. Whether it's engineering, biotechnology or baby toys, your choices will be limited. Add to that the numerous other specifications that you will invariably want to see in your new PR firm.

It's a slam-dunk if your product or service touches on issues such as abortion, guns or smoking. Options will be limited if your PR budget is unusually small or restricted, or if when your PR program is narrowly focused on, say, major mentions in key business publications, or, interviews for your CEO with major network media.

It's probably a good idea to go solo when the budget is small, the PR program is limited and targeted to a highly technical audience or, when the agency's geographic location(s) is restricted. Of course, if management's view of PR is archaic or unrealistic, then the chance of a successful agency union is rather slim under any circumstances.

Not so fast In my PR agency identification experience, the two most difficult parts of evaluating an agency are costs, (both actual and projected), and team identification and evaluation. Each tend to re

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Wouldn’t it be great to have an Edison or Einstein, or Mozart at your next meeting? If you had a genius at your meeting, do you think you might come up with better results? Let me be the first to tell you that those people won’t be at your next meeting. But there are some things you can do as a facilitator - some techniques and tactics that you can use with the group that will help them work better.

If you are already in a small business and looking for another inexpensive way to market or advertise, perhaps you want to try direct marketing or direct mail? Have you already done some direct-mail marketing using those coupon packages that are sent out by various companies to certain ZIP codes in your community?

Entrepreneurs and employees think that their hard work will speak for itself. Many don't realize that talking about your accomplishments in a confident way is the best way to get ahead in your career or business. Being able to effectively toot your horn without blowing the wrong tune can only happen if you avoid these four common mistakes.

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