Can you hear me now?

I wish I had a dollar for every client or potential client who said to me over the years “we need some public relations for our business”but couldn’t clearly articulate what they wanted to communicate and to whom.

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Keepin' It Real At Katcher In Their Eye

Imagine growing up with a name like Katcher. When we played sports, I was taunted with “catch her Katcher” or “catch her if you can.”  And then there was JD Salinger's Catcher in the Rye required reading for all students.  

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The Year Of The Message

Marshall McLuhan coined the term “the medium is the message” in 1964. I contend that in today’s world, the message is the medium.

In 2013, we saw the proliferation of “content marketing.” According to the Content Marketing Institute (yes that is a real thing), the definition of content marketing is “a marketing technique of creating and distributing relevant and valuable content to attract, acquire, and engage a clearly defined and understood target audience – with the objective of driving profitable customer action.” 

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Networking: It’s About Who Knows You (and What They Know)

I often quote a former co-worker who says networking isn’t about who you know, it’s about who knows you.  It’s also about what they know about you and about your company.  And that is never more true when you are in crisis and need to rely on your network to listen to you tell your story or help you tell it.

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Content Marketing - Strategy or Jargon?

Today, there is a lot of buzz about “content marketing.”  If you Google the term, there are 51.4 million hits.  There are sites that tell you how to do it, articles defining it, step-by-step guides and more (51 million + more). 

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Three Myths About Crisis Communications Planning

During my career working on crisis planning and communications, I have heard many excuses why a company doesn’t have, or need, a crisis plan. The bottom line is, developing a plan is not expensive or overly time consuming and can mean the difference between success or failure for an organization when a crisis hits. 

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"That's One of the Things We Do Best"

My first public relations firm job in Nashville in the 80s was assistant to Hal Kennedy, head of what was then the region’s largest PR firm, Holder Kennedy. He was a short, mustachioed, flashy Texan who wore cowboy boots, big, fancy belt buckles and gold chains around his neck. I followed him around to all his meetings, selling business and serving clients.  I learned many things from him including what to do and what not to do to be successful. 

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4 Ways To Keep Email Alive

Back in the Stone Age, the hospital I worked in got its first networked computer system. I was amazed that I could send a 60 character message to Earl in the media services department two buildings away using an early predecessor to instant messaging. It was sent as white letters on a blue background across the bottom of the screen. Well, we have come a long way baby! 

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