Social Media has become more powerful than anyone could have predicted ten years ago, and it is only growing stronger. Waiting too long to rise with this tide will result in you getting crushed beneath the waves of social media apathy. Fortunately, there are a few easy steps you can take to build an effective social media presence. 1. Be Responsive People like to form relationships online. An official account sharing or replying to a fan’s social media posts shows an engageme

Branding creates a lasting connection with your consumers and employees Every successful business has a brand. There are no exceptions. The strongest brands elicit passionate feelings among consumers. The name “Apple” has come to mean something special to the millions of people who use their phones, tablets, and computers. Disney has a self-described “magic” that draws audiences to theaters and tourists to theme parks around the world. Wal-Mart has grown huge by becoming syno

Most companies and organizations understand that they need to have a presence on the internet, but not enough understand how to make that presence work for them instead of against them. The fact of the matter is that a poorly designed website can hurt just as much if not more than not even having one. Here are three common mistakes people make when creating their websites: 1. Updating Infrequently Your website is up. It looks good! Pristine, even! You wouldn’t dare toy with p

Backwards planning is your best friend when deadlines are involved! I hope you have begun gathering the deadlines for editorial submissions or advertisements. Once you have these you can begin creating your backwards calendar. Let’s do a simple example. First, mark your chart with your publication’s distribution dates. We will use a weekly newspaper as an example. You are planning an event for Friday, January 31. The weekly paper is distributed to homes and newsstands on

First things first. Make a list of all the media outlets you would like to see your business spotlighted in. Have you included those where you see your competitors? Get the editorial and advertising calendars so you don't miss important deadlines. Make them into a chart. Remember to include online media and traditional media. Make a chart of relevant conferences as news regarding an industry tends to appear around major industry conferences or events - especially if new produ