Communication Strategy That Works

In today's business world, the ability to anticipate and respond to disruptive challenges - both internal and external - is essential. A comprehensive business continuity and resiliency plan can help you anticipate and manage these challenges, ensuring that your business can weather any storm. And when disruptions do occur, a robust public relations program can help you protect and defend your com...

How do you make an impact when you don't have time to create content or run a campaign? There's a simple action you can take which won't take long at all but will keep you top of mind on – repurposing your resources. Today I cover how repurposing can save you time, money and effort, and help you win big in the longer term! Let's dive in! Liked Listening today? What to do next: Get my FREE roadmap...

It was the 100th episode of the podcast recently. To say that the 100th episode of the podcast is special would be an understatement. I've poured my heart and soul into it, so I'm so proud of what I've accomplished. In honour of this milestone, I've decided to take a look back at the past 100 episodes in this "101" episode. The first episode was released on 3rd December 2020. I will cover; why I s...

Culture and PR have many links, but communication is arguably the most important one. Culture shapes how people communicate, and effective communication is essential to successful PR. There are many ways to define culture, but I use the definition of shared values, beliefs, and norms that shape how people think, feel and behave. In this context, PR manages the spread of information between an indi...

In times of economic downturns, it's essential to ensure your communication and marketing plans are recession-proof. However, the latest research from Linkedin suggests brands will keep on building and not hold back, despite the economic picture. You can do a few things to ensure your spending remains conservative while still reaching your goals in times of challenging external influences.  But th...

How to use PR to build trust in your product One of the many ways PR can help the sales process along is through the 'know, like, trust' aspect of the customer journey with you. The more someone hears about your business and the better informed they are, the warmer they are as a potential lead. In plain terms, this means your customer is closer to working with you than they were when they first he...

You've a new CEO and you're tasked with creating a public relations programme for her. She's been working hard to improve the company's image, and you want to ensure that the public is aware of the changes. You've been thinking about this for a while, and you've come up with a few ideas, but you're not sure which one is the best? The first 100 days have long been a marker for success for a new CEO...

WorkLife Week is the 10-14 October in the UK and is celebrated by the Working Families Charity. So I wanted to again this year raise some awareness of this topic for communications people and share my thoughts and experiences on this topic spurred on by this charity's work.  A recent study by the charity showed that, of the UK parents currently in work, 3 in 10 are in jobs below their skill level...

Have you got a plan to build trust with your audience or just a communication plan? Good Public Relations (PR) is about creating trust in your brand. It's a strategic communication process that builds mutually beneficial relationships between organisations and their public or audiences. Ethical public relations practices seek the truth and provide accurate and balanced information. However, this i...

Do you wish more people were telling their friends about your company? When people are looking for recommendations on LinkedIn, you wish your name was being tagged.  When someone at an industry event is asking for examples of people in your niche, you want your brand to come up in the conversation. What about when things do not go to plan? A network of trusted people can also help test your respon...

It's been an odd time. It's been a time to reflect and review recent events in a few areas of my life and work. I've some new business opportunities I am working on and rethinking how I work and when. Sometimes you just need to change it up, but it's also good to reflect on how I spend my time at work and home to see if being more thoughtful about approaching this could improve anything. I also ha...

Firstly, I wanted to note the sad passing of Her Royal Majesty Queen Elizabeth II recently, which has been felt worldwide, not just in the UK. She always captured the hearts and minds of her audience when she undertook her Queen's Speech and at other times in our history.  It was national Roal Dahl story week this week in the UK, and I was thinking about how this topic is increasingly important fo...

We need to be inspired to feel creative and fulfilled because, without inspiration, we may not be able to produce the best work possible. If we don't have the drive to do our best, then what is the point? This inspiration can come from many different sources, but one of the most important is our own personal experiences. We can gain inspiration from our own life experiences, other people we know,...

Some of the most important skills for a public relations professional are lifelong ones. You can't learn all the knowledge you'll need in a few months of school or a few years of experience.  Instead, we need to keep our skills up to date. This not only helps us learn new things, but it also keeps us competitive in our specialised field of work. But how do you know what skills you need or where to...

Welcome to the 2022 summer hacks series Part Two! These are really short 'food for thought', bite-sized episodes, so you can dive in when you have a moment.   I decided to focus on planning tips over the summer.  Why? Because when people think about comms planning, they often focus on what they are going to say. You have a great product or service and you want to tell people about it. Focusing on...

Welcome to the 2022 summer hacks series Part Two! These are really short 'food for thought', bite-sized episodes, so you can dive in when you have a moment.   I decided to focus on planning tips over the summer.  Why? Because when people think about comms planning, they often focus on what they are going to say - you have a great product or service and you want to tell people about it. Focusing on...

Welcome to the 2022 summer hacks series Part Two! These are really short 'food for thought', bite-sized episodes, so you can dive in when you have a moment.   I decided to focus on planning tips over the summer.  Why? Because when people think about comms planning, they often focus on what they are going to say. You have a great product or service and you want to tell people about it. Focusing on...

Welcome to the 2022 summer hacks series! These are really short 'food for thought'  bite-sized episodes so you can dive in when you have a moment.   I decided to focus on planning tips over the summer.  Why? Because when people think about comms planning, they often focus on what they are going to say. You have a great product or service and you want to tell people about it. Focusing on the messag...

Welcome to the 2022 summer hacks series! These are really short 'food for thought'  bite-sized episodes so you can dive in when you have a moment.   I decided to focus on planning tips over the summer.  Why? Because when people think about comms planning, they often focus on what they are going to say. You have a great product or service and you want to tell people about it. Focusing on the messag...

Welcome to the 2022 summer hacks series! These are really short 'food for thought', bite-sized episodes, so you can dive in when you have a moment.   I decided to focus on planning tips over the summer.  Why? Because when people think about comms planning, they often focus on what they are going to say. You have a great product or service and you want to tell people about it. Focusing on the messa...

As social media has evolved, so have our expectations of what it can offer us. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn and other platforms were once used mostly to keep up with friends and share news with the world. However, social media is used today to build brands, grow businesses, and even find jobs. But is all this time spent on social media worth it? Maybe your employees are glued to their ph...

Networking and expanding your networks is a great way to bring in new business if you're in B2B. Whether you're a freelancer or working for another business, introducing your company and connecting with like-minded people can bring in opportunities.   I am always surprised at the number of events people go to where they spend most of the time with people they know. There are several reasons why th...

One of the top three things people ask me is how you measure the effectiveness of your communication activity. My answer is that, without knowing what your current marketing and communications activities are, and how they are performing, it's impossible to know where to focus your energy and resources. Lots of people trip up on this first step. Many growing businesses struggle to generate enough r...

Today, I share a case study on how a startup used a white paper to build trust in a new product. This is a new format I am trying; sharing case studies.  These will sometimes be from me, like today, and sometimes be from guests as well, hopefully.  I'd love to know what you think? Today's case study is all about when you are new to the market and you need to convince people to buy from you, even t...

Using owned content, such as blogging, is a powerful tool for generating awareness about your business. It's also an effective way to build a brand, generate traffic, and position yourself as an industry expert.  In addition, as you think about how you want to build your brand, you should also consider how you want to build your audience, and whilst there are a number of different ways to reach po...