See & Be PR

Blogger Break Down

Advertising Vs. PR, Marketing, Media Training, Press Releases, Public Appearances, Public Relations No Responses »

Aug 292012

The demands for coming up with something creative and interesting on a regular basis has increased tremendously in recent years. The race to keep up can seem like an uphill battle sometimes, but the question remains:

Where do good ideas come from?

They don’t always come out from thin air, and they could take months or years in order to develop, but for now: look at the world around you.

Find inspiration from others and find inspiration from within yourself. Have a crazy idea? Right it down; who knows when it might come in handy later.

Good ideas become great with maturity. They need time to grow into what they were meant to become.

Do you have a good idea?

The Real Power of Social Media

Social Media No Responses »

Aug 272012

We talk about it and we do it all the time, but every now and then we get a little reminder about how powerful social media really is.

This is one happy tale; about how social media transformed a Canadian city from backwater to celebrity. On Facebook, the city has racked up thousands of likes and on YouTube the city’s videos have been viewed in the tens of thousands.

Their success is so much so that officials have been asked ‘The city has racked up those numbers in just under three years of having a social media presence. Its success has been so stunning that officials have been asked to write about their experiences in Municipal World magazine and have spoken at national conferences for city administrators.’

It all started as an experiment – one that asked if they could get more people involved…and it worked.

Isn’t social media beautiful?

Are you connecting to the right people?

linkedin No Responses »

Aug 202012

Of all the social media platforms available to us today, LinkedIn is probably the one we focus on the least, in terms of using it as a ‘marketing tool’ – mainly due to its ‘B2B’ function. However, from an individual perspective, more so than Facebook and Twitter, it’s probably the ideal way to promote yourself, whether it’s for networking purposes to build business contacts, finding a new job or simply establishing yourself as an thought leader within your industry.

But what’s the best approach when it comes to adding people? Do you accept every invite that comes your way, or should you be more selective, limiting your contacts to key existing and prospective clients, or industry peers?

David Johnson offers some pointers on how to best use the business networking site to your advantage on Social Media Today.

Are you LinkedIn?

How Public Relations Has Changed in the Past 10 Years

How to, Public Relations No Responses »

Aug 152012

So there I was on vacation in Istanbul, my first time there – beautiful city by the way, I totally recommend it. I’ve just finished a whole day of sightseeing and shopping and was walking to the closest metro station to head back to the hotel, when I get a call from my client requesting me to urgently send out a very important announcement to the media (yes, they know I’m on vacation!). Since it was approaching 9pm Dubai time I told them that I would make sure it was sent out first thing in the morning, but the urgency of the announcement wouldn’t let them wait till the next day. So there I sat, on a street bench in the Nişantaşı district of Istanbul, with my shopping bags next to me and my BlackBerry in my hand, sending out emails, text messages, chat messages and making phone calls to the media. Forty five minutes later the mission was accomplished. Feeling good about a job well done, I treated myself to some tasty Turkish ice cream and headed to the hotel. About an hour later, and while flipping through channels on TV, I see the news of the announcement I had just sent out on CNN! That’s when I thought to myself how things have changed in the last few years, and how when I first started working in PR about 10 years ago there was no way I could’ve pulled off getting news out while sitting on a street bench thousands of kilometers away from my office.

How have things changed in PR?
Continue reading »

Google Wants to Know…What do you love?

Product Launches, Social Media No Responses »

Aug 132012

What do you love?

No, I am not trying to get you to question what drives you or question what is the most important thing to you, or anything like that. ‘What do you love’, as I found out, is actually a new and very interesting website launched by no one else but Google.

In the unabashed manner in which Google now owns the terms ‘internet’ and ‘research’, making them inseparable in the minds of mortals like me, seems like Google is now going to do the same with ‘love’.
Continue reading »

Is Social Media really changing PR?

How to, Public Relations, Social Media No Responses »

Aug 082012

I’m a communication consultant – a new entrant to PR – and like most of you, I say the phrase ‘social media’ on a daily basis.

Just like you can’t go an hour without saying the word ‘yes’ or ‘no’, you can’t escape social media being brought up. This difference here is: I’d like to raise some questions and concerns. We’re all swept up with the movement, but I’d like to take a moment to just contemplate.

Is Social Media really changing PR?
Everyone on the team talks incessantly about blogging and about how the booming of social media in today’s world has nudged businesses into introducing it in their PR strategies; and how this recent trend has lead, little by little, and as a result, to the shaping of a brand new mold for PR.
Continue reading »

Are you spreading rumours and hoaxes?

Crisis Communications, Do's and Don'ts, How to, Public Relations, Social Media No Responses »

Aug 062012

One small lie can turn into one really big untruth. Without any consideration to people’s reputation, people just believe and amplify. That’s how rumours start and spread, and take on a life of their own.

With the help of the Internet and social media; rumors reach thousands of people, and the sad thing about it is that we just share. Whether it is true or not, some people won’t think twice before sharing, they don’t even Google it.
Continue reading »

London Olympic Games 2012 – “Now, THAT’S good PR!”

How to, Public Relations No Responses »

Aug 012012

9:00 P.M. GMT on Friday 27th July, 2012. The biggest event of the year kicked off, and with quite a bang at that. You’d be lying if you said that your life hadn’t been affected, in one way or another, by the London Olympic Games 2012 – I know mine certainly has.

I had clients participating in the event, friends flying out to watch a number of the competitions (Jealous? Me? Not at all!), and my Twitter and Facebook newsfeeds were ablaze with a flurry of status updates and posts about the Opening Ceremony.

And as I sat, watching a slightly trippy mishmash of Mr. Bean playing a keyboard, Her Majesty jumping out of a plane, jetpack-laden men hovering above the crowds and hundreds of Mary Poppins’ flying into the stadium, I thought to myself, “Now, THAT’S good PR!”
Continue reading »