5 ways PR pros can perfect their pitches

This article was originally published on PR Daily in March 2016. 

Reporters can be unpredictable.

A hot-button issue one day can be old news the next. Given these changing preferences, it can be difficult to latch on to what’s trending at any given time.

Yet, this is what PR professionals do on a daily basis to grab media coverage for their clients. Knowing what’s currently in the news and understanding media relations tactics are imperative to winning with journalists.

Here are five ways to perfect your pitches—and make your press releases and stories more newsworthy:

1. Read the news.

Don’t only read the news—read articles written by reporters to whom you want to pitch.

You will get a sense for what kind of topics reporters cover, their writing style and the kinds of things they print. You can then easily tailor a pitch or press release to a specific reporter or publication.

The more relevant it is to the reporter, the more likely your piece will make it to print.

2. Don’t spam journalists.

You want your press releases to be targeted. If you are arbitrarily sending story pitches blindly to an email list, you will get ignored.

Worse yet, any future press release you send to a journalist that you spammed before may end up seeing the same fate—whether you tailored it to the publication or not.

At Amplify Relations, we use Cision PR, which allows users to search for journalists by location, publication type, job title and beat. This way, I can easily narrow down those to whom I want to pitch a press release or news story.

I can even set up automatic emails with stories by reporters from specific publications or stories that contain certain keywords.

3. Add quotes.

Quotes will humanize a press release and give credibility to your story. It’s also one less source that reporters will have to seek out themselves to create their story.

Offer pertinent quotes with good information and substance, and your reporter will likely publish at least fragments of your original press release.

4. Include the five “Ws.”

Within the first paragraph, the reporter who received your press release should be able to answer the five Ws: Who? What? When? Where? Why?

RELATED: Innovate or disappear. Sharpen your PR prowess with pros from CNN Digital, The New York Times and more.

Review your press release and ask yourself these questions. There’s no news angle if they can’t be answered.

5. Recognize deadlines.

We all work off of deadlines, but the most important deadline to keep in mind is the journalist’s.

If your release is timely, you give plenty of lead time for a reporter to cover it. Don’t send timely or breaking news and give no wiggle room for reporters to fit it into their print schedules. This is how your once newsy press release will become old news.

Remember that journalists scan across dozens—sometimes even hundreds–of news pitches and press releases each day.

To avoid instant deletion, pitch something worth reading. Find your angle and go with it—but make sure that it’s interesting to more than you and your client. Appeal to your target audience, journalists and your reporters’ readers.

Alli Williams is a PR Coordinator at Amplify Relations, a full service public relations, government affairs, and advertising agency. Connect with the agency on Facebook and Twitter. A version of this article originally appeared on the agency’s blog.

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The 5 most popular stories on PR Daily this week

Revestor and Defensibility

I came across an article titled This Real Estate Startup Is Exploiting Zillow And Airbnb’s Blind Spot on Forbes yesterday.

It’s about Revestor.

First, let’s get the obvious out of the way.

The headline is misleading; they are not exploiting a blindspot.

Revestor is a B2B play, targeted at real estate investors.

Zillow and AirBnB are consumer brands.

B2B and B2C are two very different beasts.

The reality is Zillow could literally wipe Revestor’s business out in one day (they have all the data & better algorithms), though I’m not sure why they’d want to. It wouldn’t surprise me at all to see Zillow Group make a play in the investing space down the line, serving real estate investors with a specialized offering will always be a small opportunity compared to the consumer opportunity they are chasing — serving as the defacto marketplace of services when buying, selling, or remodeling.

When evaluating businesses — I’m always curious about a businesses moat. What is defensible about this model? What couldn’t be cloned in a few weeks/months by someone with more money?

What do you see as the keys to establishing a competitive advantage in the changing real estate market?

Bill Lyons: The riches are in the niches. Everyone has their niche, and Revestor’s niche is that 25% of the business is investors. We make money by connecting realtors with investors. I have my eye on all the trends right now. I own three companies inside the real estate space, and I’m on the advisory board of a startup. Griffin Funding, a mortgage lender that operates in multiple states; Lyons Realty, a San Diego based boutique real estate firm; and Revestor, a digital platform that provides data to help find and evaluate investment properties. As an advisor, I’m working with a startup called Approved, which is a digital mortgage platform. I just acquired a new technology that we will use for all the companies in the portfolio. It is a total game-changer when it comes to providing hot leads to Realtors. It is the same technology that politicians used recently to win in their districts. We will soon be offering it up to all our realtor partners. They will be able to simply upload their list of physical addresses inside their ‘farm area ‘ and we will match it to the IP addresses in their farm. We then help them run ads on all the computers in their farm. The new product is called ‘Sniper Farming’ and we are super excited to begin offering it to our customers.

Investors buy and sell properties constantly. I’m not convinced there is much money to be made connecting investors with real estate agents — since most investors probably know no fewer than 10 agents.

As for the “sniper farming”, where are they eyeballs coming from? Targeting IP addresses can be done, sure, but is useless if you can’t attract the individual people who have those IP addresses. Doesn’t the concept seem a little creepy? Couldn’t Google do this more efficiently, given their massive massive reach?

Maybe I’m missing something here? What do you think of Revestor?

The post Revestor and Defensibility appeared first on GeekEstate Blog.

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Google eclipses Apple as most valuable brand of 2017

Brand Finance has released its list of the 100 most valuable American brands, and there’s a new No. 1.

Google has taken the top spot from Apple. It’s now considered not only the country’s most valuable brand, but the world’s, as well. The company held the top spot previously in 2011. Its brand value is pegged at $109 billion.

Brands are assed on a variety of factors, including “what proportion of a business’s revenue is contributed by the brand.”

Part of Google’s rise to the top is the stagnation of Apple’s technological innovation and branding efforts. Brand Finance explains in a press release:

2017 has already delivered one major shock to the branding world: Apple has seen nearly $40 billion wiped off its brand value. Apple has over-exploited the goodwill of its customers by failing to maintain its technological advantage and delivering tweaks to existing products rather than genuine innovation. Brand value has fallen 27% since early 2016 to $107 billion, meaning that for the first time in over five years, America (and the world) has a new most valuable brand.

Other brands have been hit with negative public perception as consumers turn toward healthier eating choices, and reject fast food, soda and sugar.

Brand Finance says:

Coca-Cola’s brand value was $43.1bn in 2007, making it the most valuable brand in America and the wider world. Today, however, its brand value now stands at just $31.8bn, putting it 16^th in the US and 27 ^th internationally. Increasing concerns over the links between carbonated drinks and obesity have begun to undermine what the Coca-Cola brand has represented for over one hundred years. Pepsi is similarly suffering, falling 4% to $18.3 billion.

The same trend is evident in the fast food industry. The brand values of McDonald’s, KFC, Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, Subway and Domino’s have all fallen due to heavy competition in an increasingly fragmented market, with healthier challenger brands offering greater choice for consumers.

[RELATED: Attend the PR and Media Relations Summit in NYC and find what it takes to produce better brand journalism.]

Microsoft, Wells Fargo, Facebook and more join Google and Apple on the list of the most valuable brands. Here are the top 10:

1. Google

2. Apple

3. Amazon.com

4. AT&T

5. Microsoft

6. Verizon

7. Walmart

8. Facebook

9. Wells Fargo

10. McDonald's

For the full list of the top 100 most valuable brands, check out the BrandFinance list here.

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6 great ways to make videos engaging

It’s not easy to create engaging videos.

That’s why many corporate YouTube channels are video graveyards of talking-head interviews, boring product demos and leftover B-roll.

With the appetite for video exploding, here are six easy ways to add new life to your video program with more entertaining and share-worthy clips:

1. Don’t skip the script. “A common mistake is just hitting ‘record’ in the hope that you’ll capture something ‘authentic,’” says Brian Malone, founder of Chicago-based Malone Media, “but the truth is you must draft your narrative before you ever call your first shot if you want to hit emotional hot buttons.”

Videos that evoke interest, surprise, happiness, delight, pleasure, joy, hope, affection and excitement are the most likely to be viewed and shared, according to a study by digital marketing agency Frac.tl.

Infuse your script with these hot buttons, but don’t overthink it. “Just write something down,” says Guy Bauer, another Chicago-based videographer. “Don’t wait for the perfect idea before you start writing. Let your brain dump the worst stuff ever onto the page. Then go back and revise later.”

Register for PR Daily’s April 13 “Modern Video Workflow ” webinar for more tips from video production expert Brian Malone, whose clients include Facebook.

2. Eschew funny. “We often find that people are laughing about just being on camera or making a video,” says Malone. “Don’t get lost in the in-joke.”

Ask yourself if a stranger would find your sense of humor as funny or interesting as you do. “Be honest with yourself,” he says. “If the answer is no, then rethink your video effort.”

3. Spotlight personalities. “Cast some ‘characters,’” Malone says. “I don’t mean wookies or minions. I mean, find that person in your office who has that effervescent charisma. Don’t just pick the person who looks best on screen.”

If you’re working with CEOs or even CFOs, “Talk to them about their pets and families,” he says. “Discover their real personalities and use that to construct your narrative. It’s your duty to make your subject a star—even if it’s for a quarterly earnings video.”

Bauer issues a caveat. “Don’t make people act,” he says. “Having an exec read a teleprompter leads to very low-quality video, because it kills their personality.”

4. Let there be light. “Get some inexpensive LED lights, and light up your subject,” Malone advises. “I’ve seen countless videos where people skip this simple step, and they look horrible. Remember that it’s ‘Lights, Camera and Action.’ Lights come first for a reason.”

LED lighting kits can be purchased for $200. Be sure to test the lights before you buy them, as low-cost knockoffs can result in flickering and even color casting.

5. Don’t skimp on sound. “Think that onboard microphone on your smartphone or camera will do the job? Of course you don’t!” says Malone.

He warns that built-in mics will pick up all surrounding audio—including someone gulping water, the AC turning on or Bob sneezing down the hall. “Get a lavalier handheld or desk mic to make your production professional quality,” he says.

Bauer recommends the RodeLink Wireless Filmmaker Kit, which includes a transceiver, receiver and lavalier mic. “It runs about $393 at B&H,” he says. “This will get you nice and clean audio without having to learn a bunch of tech.”

6. Dare to be personal. “Video- and moviemaking is an intimate conversation with another individual,” says Malone. “Know your audience, and create something that matters to them, not you.”

Brian Pittman is a Ragan Communications consultant and webinar manager for PR Daily’s PR University. Brian Malone the founder of Malone Media, a video production company whose clients include Facebook. He will share more video insights in PR University’s April 13 webinar, “Modern Video Workflow: Shoot, Edit and Distribute Video with Little or No Budget.”

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Twitter tweaks replies, giving users more characters

PR and marketing pros now have more room to express themselves on Twitter.

On Thursday, Twitter announced that it had changed the ways users reply to one another on Twitter: Instead of counting the “@username” in a tweet’s character limit, replies now accommodate 140 characters’ worth of text, with usernames embedded above the tweet in a thread.

The platform tweeted the change:

We're changing replies so that you have all 140 characters to express yourself.

Learn more: https://t.co/PNWGilbmVd http://pic.twitter.com/cxBJohZc2Q

— Twitter (@Twitter) March 30, 2017

In a blog post, Twitter also explained the elements of the new layout:

With this change, we’ve simplified conversations in a few ways:

· Who you are replying to will appear above the Tweet text rather than within the Tweet text itself, so you have more characters to have conversations.

· You can tap on “Replying to…” to easily see and control who’s part of your conversation.

· When reading a conversation, you’ll actually see what people are saying, rather than seeing lots of @usernames at the start of a Tweet.

It’s now easier to follow a conversation, so you can focus on what a discussion is about, and who is having it. Also, with all 140 characters for your replies, you have more room to participate in group conversations.

The announcement is another stage in Twitter’s attempt to entice more users to use the platform.

[RELATED: Attend the Big 5 Social Media Boot Camp and learn to use Facebook, LinkedIn, Snapchat and Instagram to get huge results.]

Recode reported:

The move is part of a broader effort at Twitter to go “beyond 140” characters and give people more room to tweet without dramatically altering the company’s signature 140-character limit. For a while in late 2015 and early 2016, the company considered expanding the character limit to 10,000 characters. But that plan fell through.

In October 2015, Twitter announced it was looking for ways to do away with its 140-character limit , and in May 2016, the company announced a plan to implement it , which included deleting “@username” replies. Twitter has already made it so media elements—including pictures and GIFs—don’t count toward a tweet’s character limit.

Many regular Twitter users weren’t pleased with the change, but Slate’s Will Oremus reported that in order to survive, the platform must change to become more user-friendly to others:

It’s well-established that Twitter power-users hate change. It’s equally well-established, among those who follow the ever-struggling company closely, that it must evolve in order to survive. A new format for replies isn’t going to singlehandedly save Twitter, of course. (Deeper problems include harassment and the struggles of its advertising business.) But modernizing and simplifying its interface is essential to make the service more intuitive to new users, who tend to find the network confusing and overwhelming.

Though many worry that the change will encourage spammy behavior (you might not want to add 40 people to a thread about your new product or blog post), brand managers can use the move to better respond to consumers with questions or concerns.

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Canadian Issuers Need To Tighten Up Their Social Media Say Regulators

Earlier this month, the Canadian Securities Administrators (comprised of Alberta, Ontario and Québec securities commissions) released Staff Notice 51-348 Staff’s Review of Social Media Used by Reporting Issuers. This notice publishes the results of the CSA’s analysis of “social media disclosure” by 111 reporting issuers on websites such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn and Instagram, as well as the issuer’s own websites, message boards and blogs.

The analysis’ goal was to understand if the issuers’ disclosures were consistent with National Policy 51-201, Disclosure Standards and National Instrument 51-102 Continuous Disclosure Obligations. Well… not so much. 

From The Globe and Mail: 

The Canadian Securities Administrators, an umbrella group for provincial securities commissions, issued new guidelines Thursday for social media usage, telling companies they must continue to report material information with traditional press releases but can use social media to further disseminate the news. 

The guidance steers Canada in a different direction from the United States, where the Securities and Exchange Commission allows companies to report key information first through social media outlets as long as they alert investors which platform will be used.

Sonny Randhawa, OSC deputy director of corporate finance, said regulators believe it is still important that companies disclose information with a press release because it must be filed with regulators on the public SEDAR website, and all investors can see it at the same time.

“One of the beauties of social media, of course, is that entities can post something on social media and also remove it at their own will. And, from a selective disclosure securities regulatory issue, that does create some concerns on our end if unbalanced or misleading disclosure is put out there and then momentarily taken down,” Mr. Randhawa said. “We don’t have the same concerns with press releases which go on SEDAR and remain as part of the permanent record.”

Details:

25% of the corporate issuers studied had to take corrective action and filed clarifying disclosure on SEDAR, delete inappropriate social media disclosure as well as committed to improving their disclosure and governance practices.

77% of issuers had not developed a specific policy for their disclosure practices on social media websites. The CSA Notice emphasizes that issuers should be providing factual and balanced disclosure across all platforms of shareholder communications… including social media.

The CSA identified areas of concern where issuers need to improve their disclosure practices:

• Selective or early disclosure when some investors receive material information through social media that other investors do not receive because it is not generally disclosed.
  • Issuers (and any person or company in a special relationship with a reporting issuer) are prohibited from informing, other than in the necessary course of business, anyone of material non-public information before that material information has been generally disclosed
  • Information has been generally disclosed if it has been disseminated in a manner calculated to effectively reach the marketplace, and if investors have been given a reasonable amount of time to analyze the information
  • Posting material information on an issuer’s website is not acceptable as the sole means of satisfying the requirement to “generally disclose” information

• Misleading and unbalanced social media disclosure where information is not sufficient to provide a complete picture or is inconsistent with information already disclosed by issuers on the SEDAR.
  • Do not make a statement that is misleading or untrue, or which does not state a fact that is necessary to make the statement not misleading and would be expected to have a significant effect on the market price of a security
  • Announcements of material changes should be factual and balanced
  • Unfavourable news must be disclosed just as promptly and completely as favourable news
  • An issuer’s press release should contain enough detail to enable the media and investors to understand the substance and importance of the change it is disclosing
  • Issuers should avoid including unnecessary details, exaggerated reports or promotional commentary

• Forward-looking information.
  • An issuer that discloses material forward-looking information must identify it as such and state the material factors or assumptions used to develop the forward-looking information
  • Issuers should discuss in their MD&A events and circumstances that occurred in the period that are reasonably likely to cause actual results to differ materially from material forward-looking information which has been previously disclosed, for a period that is not yet complete
  • Issuers should disclose in their MD&A any differences between actual results and previously disclosed forward-looking information for the period

• Insufficient social media governance policies in place to support social media activity.
  • Who can post information about the issuer on social media
  • What type of sites (including personal social media accounts vs corporate) can be used
  • What type of information about the issuer (financial, legal, operational, marketing, etc.) can be
  • posted on social media
  • What, if any, approvals are required before information can be posted
  • Who is responsible for monitoring the issuer’s social media accounts, including third party postings about the issuer
  • What other guidelines and best practices are followed (for example, if an employee posts about the issuer on a personal social media site they should identify themselves as an employee of the issuer)
  • Third party posts on social media which is inconsistent with the issuer’s own disclosure.

Action items: 

Issuers are advised to create solid governance guidelines around their social media usage, including:

• Establish a social media policy. The policy should clearly define delineate who can post, what type of information they can post, where it can be posted and whether approvals are required.
• Establish a firm “tone from the top” social media practice. Senior management and directors should be attentive of the company’s social media engagement with its investors and be well versed with the company’s social media policy.
• Certify employees that are involved with a company’s social media initiatives are familiar with the disclosure obligations under National Instrument 51-102 Continuous Disclosure Obligationsand National Policy 51-201 Disclosure Standards.
• Avoid superfluous details, inflated reports and overtly promotional commentary. Establish a balance between being “sound” and being “salesy.”
• Safeguard that social media disclosure is derived from previously disclosed information. If new statements are made on social media, but sure the information is not material to the company.

Lastly, and this may be an USA perspective, don’t share (retweet) analyst reports or other third party optimistic-biased articles. I suspect that many of the companies – especially micro and small-cap – were dinged for their working with “marketing firms” that crossed over into stock promotion. This is not a judgement, but an educated guess.

DOWNLOAD: IR calendar for Canadian (SEDAR) companies. CLICK HERE.

Author Bradley H. Smith is Director of Marketing, Investor Relations  and Shareholder Communications at PR Newswire / Cision.

 

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How millennials can accelerate their communications careers

If you’re a millennial and you feel like you haven’t found your place in the corporate world yet, you’re probably asking yourself what you can do to set yourself apart from the pack. Ragan’s Modern Methods for the Millennial Career Path event is aimed at answering that question.

Join us on April 12 at 6 p.m. at Joy District in River North for a discussion about the advantages and pressures of being a millennial in the communications, marketing and creative industries. You’ll learn from four Chicago-based millennials who have circumvented traditional career paths to find success on their own terms.

Our panelists’ career paths have led them to success as association board leaders, social media influencers, entrepreneurs, media relations professionals and bloggers. Enjoy food, cocktails and networking sessions with panelists and attendees.

Register to attend for free here!

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Snapchat vs. Instagram Stories: Which is best for your organization?

Have you ever wondered what the difference is between Snapchat and Instagram Stories?

Both allow you to post photos or videos that disappear, as well as doctor them up with filters and text. There are, however, some major differences between the two, and understanding them will help you make an informed decision.

This infographic from One Productions offers a side-by-side comparison so you can decide which is worthy of inclusion in your social media strategy. The biggest takeaways are:

• Snapchat provides better filters and more customization.

• Instagram Stories has a wider reach and, with Facebook as its parent company, access to more resources.

[RELATED: Join digital expert Shel Holtz for the Big 5 Social Media Boot Camp in New York City.]

Check out the infographic below to draw your own conclusions:

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30 jobs in the PR and marketing world

They say a picture is worth a thousand words—and a video might be worth a million.

In an industry where visuals reign supreme, many organizations are looking for savvy communicators to run their social media efforts. Use your expertise to further your career with this week’s featured listing: Instagram is looking for a community manager in Tokyo.

The Facebook-owned platform has more than 600 million users, and the position involves finding phenomenal visual storytellers in the app’s Japanese community, and then writing and editing feature stories about them in both English and Japanese.

Candidates should be fluent in both languages and be able to identify Instagram users posting unique and creative photos and videos on the platform. Your writing skills should be topnotch, too, along with your ability to tell stories visually and network with Instagram’s partners.

As the job requires researching ways to promote content, the right candidate should also be up to date on social media marketing trends, as well as current events.

[RELATED: Join digital expert Shel Holtz for the Big 5 Social Media Boot Camp in New York City.]

If Japan is too far away for your next job, but you’re still looking for a community manager position, there are several options available. Match.com is looking for its next head of social media in Texas, Transamerica is seeking a social media manager in Denver, and Communitech has an opening for a social media manager in Canada.

Not the job for you? See what else we have in this week’s professional pickings:

Managing account supervisor—Ketchum (Illinois)

PR/communications assistant—Charity Advertising and Marketing Partners(Texas)

Marketing writer—The Urban Institute (Washington, D.C.)

Entry-level marketing and PR specialist—Allure Marketing Group (NewYork)

Marking and PR assistant—MarketStorm Global (Florida)

Digital marketing manager—Kirkwood’s (Tennessee)

Marketing communications manager—EducationSuperHighway (California)

Public relations assistant—Prospect Solutions (Ohio)

Editor/writer—Streetwise Media (North Carolina)

Communications officer—University of Toronto (Canada)

PR assistant—LaRue PR (New Jersey)

Senior marketing editor—United Airlines (Illinois)

Marketing director—Paladin (Pennsylvania)

Public relations account executive—Stone Ward (Arkansas)

Social media manager—Influenster (New York)

Communications specialist—Walgreens (Illinois)

Creative manager of social media—Vitamin T (Oklahoma)

Sales and marketing coordinator—Ashgrove Marketing Agency (Michigan)

PR manager—Oribe Hair Care (New York)

Staff writer—Soda.com (Washington)

Marketing and PR assistant—CMX Austin (Texas)

Junior marketing coordinator—New Acquisitions (Georgia)

PR manager—52 Limited (Oregon)

Associate writer producer—HBO (New York)

Account director—Grisko (Illinois)

Communications manager—Hydrogen Group (United Kingdom)

Do you have a job you’d like to see featured in our weekly jobs list? Please email me or tweet me a link to the position: @bekiweki.

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Carl’s Jr. scraps ‘sexy’ commercials due to flagging sales

Carl’s Jr. is growing up—at least, in its commercials.

Fast-service burger joint Carl’s Jr. will no longer use scantily clad women to help sell its wares.

The company famously linked up with the likes of Paris Hilton, Charlotte McKinney and Kate Upton for commercials in which they scarfed the chain’s sandwiches while striking sexually suggestive poses.

Though some might hope that a crisis of conscience led the company’s marketers to make the change and move away from objectification-as-marketing, but why does any organization change a once-successful market strategy? Flagging sales.

The company teamed up with the agency 72andSunny for a more grownup campaign.

“They’ve never really gotten credit for their quality, and we want that message to land with consumers,” Jason Norcross, executive creative director and partner at 72andSunny, told Adweek. “We want to reclaim their bona fides. It was time to evolve.”

[RELATED: Attend the Corporate Communicators Conference and receive practical training for internal communications, PR and writing.]

At least they’re having a bit of fun with the new campaign, which features the return of “Carl Hardee Sr.” in a 3-minute video:

The racy ads briefly entered a national political discussion earlier this year when CKE Restaurant’s chief excecutive, Andrew Puzder—who has defended his company’s ads in the past—was briefly considered for U.S. labor secretary.

Puzder eventually withdrew his name from the running, and will retire in April.

The campaign is part of a total rebranding, and comes alongside a new color scheme, packaging and focus on food quality. There’s also a new slogan: "Pioneers of the Great American Burger.”

However, it’s not clear whether the company will change its ingredients or recipes.

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Trestle – A Q&A with Kevin Greene

I listened to Greg’s recent podcast with Kevin Greene at CoreLogic about Trestle. Even after writing about it, I had a few questions about Trestle. Instead of wonder, I decided to reach out to Kevin and see if he’d be willing to answer a few questions.

He obliged. Without further ado…

How is interest in Trestle’s offering playing out between brokerages, technology providers, and multiple listing organizations?

Great! For each one it is solving different pain points. For a Broker it is being able to have easy access to multiple MLS they are a part of in one easy to use feed. For a Technology Provider it is the same as an Broker being able to get that aggregated feed, but also being able to manage the contracts and fees associated with the MLS and having visibility into the process. For an MLS it will help them be able to manage the workflow of data requests, easily help them with billing and contract management as well as delivering a RESO compliant feed all while using their own existing contracts or our default agreement.

What’s proving to be the driving adoption factor among clients who have come onboard?

The first phase we have focused on the MLS getting their data feeds enabled and initially it is to be able to provide a RESO compliant feed. However, the Technology Providers have been very excited about having access to a unified feed or one call for an API.

Please provide further details on your pricing model. For instance, how much would it cost a brokerage covering Washington, Oregon, and California? What about a technology provider covering all of Florida and Georgia?

Hard for me to answer without knowing how many MLS’s that Broker or MLS or Technology Provider are receiving data. But let’s use the example of a Broker is in CRMLS, they wouldn’t pay anything. If they joined Sandicor, they still wouldn’t pay anything. However, when they joined MLSListings (their 3rd data feed, they would begin paying $75 a data feed going forward). For a Technology Provider they would pay $75 per data feed. So for the above scenario they would pay $75 each for CRMLS, Sandicor and MLSListings for a total of $225.

It seems compliance/data abuse in the elephant in the room. Please make the case why you feel technology is really the problem. How will a unified feed ease the compliance/approval issues many brokers and technology vendors are facing today?

Moving to an API will help should help ease the process for approval for a Broker or TP. Trestle is designed to help streamline the process as well.

If a broker/vendor needs to cover one MLS that’s not in the system — it negates the entire purpose of not having to standardize feeds. How does Trestle approach a situation where you don’t cover an MLS a client needs?

Well we hope that Broker or Technology provider will let them know they would prefer a Trestle data feed!

What’s next for the Trestle platform?

This is only the beginning! We will soon be adding CoreLogic data products like off market property data, AVM’s, flood zones, school data and more! We will also be providing a syndication platform for MLS and Brokers to use. We are only just getting started.

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How to to begin a difficult conversation

Despite having read “Crucial Conversations” (McGraw-Hill) more than once and attending countless presentations on delivering bad news and managing conflict, I’ve never been very skilled in this area. I dread these types of personal interactions, and I’m ashamed to admit that I do what I can to get out of them—at home and at work.

But recently I was in a situation where I could no longer avoid a difficult conversation. So I did what many other writers, PR pros and corporate communicators would do: I treated the conversation as a writing assignment. What started out as a blog post about everything that I wanted to cover turned into a script where I could role-play the entire conversation.

What I discovered was that the act of writing a script helped clarify my thoughts and find the right words for the conversation. It was truly an “Aha!” moment when the solution to this long-standing problem suddenly became clear and obvious.

The most difficult part of my scripting exercise was figuring out how to start the conversation. (Which should come as no surprise, considering that most writers struggle with leads and opening lines) So I came up with several starters for my conversation, along with starters that might apply to other difficult discussions:

1. “Can we talk about something that I think will help us work better together?”

2. “If I understand you correctly, you’re trying to accomplish x, y and z. I’m wondering if there’s a different way to approach this. Perhaps we can …”

3. “I’m a little confused about what occurred and why it occurred. I want to discuss it with you to see how we can move this forward.”

4. “I understand that XXXXX happened.”

5. “I’d like to see if we might reach a better understanding about XXXXX. I really want to hear your thoughts and share my perspective as well.”

6. “It’s a little bit awkward for me to approach you about this, but …”

7. “I like having you on the team because you raise important issues and feel strongly about them. I’d like to talk you about whether you’re having the impact you want to have.”

8. “I’d like to give you some feedback about XXXXX.”

9. “I want to understand what we’re trying to accomplish with this project. Can you go back and explain the reasoning behind it?”

10. “We’ve worked together pretty well for a long time. I don’t know how to talk about what went wrong in yesterday’s meeting when your view of what happened is so different from mine.”

11. "I think we have different perceptions about XXXXX. I’d like to hear your thinking on this.”

How about you, PR Daily readers? Do you have any conversation starters to add to this list?

Laura Hale Brockway is a regular contributor to PR Daily . Read more of her posts on writing, editing and corporate life at impertinentremarks.com.

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Do Millennials Need Their Own Portal?

Another portal, targeted at millennials? Will that get adopted? It seems we’re about to find out with Zillow Group’s upcoming launch of RealEstate.com.

The post Do Millennials Need Their Own Portal? appeared first on GeekEstate Blog.

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How to shoot terrific video on your mobile device

These days, most of us walk around with an HD video camera in our pocket.

Thanks to people's growing appetite for mobile and video, the technology in our phones, tablets and other mobile devices gets better and better.

Marketers and other content creators are turning to mobile devices to capture behind-the-scenes glimpses of their office, industry events and trade shows, and spur-of-the-moment videos for social media.

Although mobile devices make video storytelling easier, executing a high-quality video is not as simple as whipping out your smartphone, pointing it and shooting.

So, don't press that record button so fast. Consider these tips to create polished video content on the go:

1. Orient yourself.

Although vertical video is becoming more widely accepted (given the popularity of video messaging app, Snapchat), content that lives elsewhere will most likely have to conform to a widescreen player and horizontal orientation.

Before you start shooting your video, decide where and how you'll use it, and then orient your video recording device accordingly.

2. Hold your shots.

As a rule, you should hold each shot for at least 10 seconds. Then, when you reach the cutting room, you'll have enough video to play with to create a scene. You can always trim the clip, but you can't add what you didn't shoot.

Be careful of panning and zooming too much, as it could become jarring. Think about the way your eyes naturally view the world. You might scan a crowd, but generally your sights land on one image at a time, whether you roll your eyes or turn your head.

Finally, steady your shots. Use a tripod whenever possible. Otherwise, find another way to lock down your camera and hold it in place.

[RELATED: Join digital expert Shel Holtz for the Big 5 Social Media Boot Camp in NYC.]

3. Shoot in sequence.

Just as you write a story sequentially, make sure you shoot video in sequential order.

Let's imagine you're shooting video of a dog on a treadmill (because even pets have summer weight loss resolutions).

Start with a wide shot to set the scene. Without adjusting your angle (we'll get there, just not yet), move in a little closer to get a medium shot, cropping out most of the treadmill and focusing on the dog's body in motion.

Shy away from using the zoom feature, because that can lead to shaky video. Instead, let your feet do the walking.

Finally, get a close-up shot, perhaps filling the screen with the dog's panting face.

You just shot one sequence. Now it's time to adjust your angle and shoot a similar sequence. You can shoot from above, from below, from another side or from behind. Have fun with it.

4. Set the stage for interviews.

Avoid conducting interviews in front of a generic background that adds little to your overall messaging and story.

Instead, put your interview subject in a relevant environment. For example, if the interview is about the benefits of bicycling and offers safety tips, let's see the person with a row of bicycles behind them, or suit them up in gear and put them on a bike trail. You get the picture.

Shooting interviews on a mobile device is often challenging because of the audio quality. So, get close to your interview subject. If you have another phone handy, use one to record video and the spare to capture sound in an audio file.

Before you start the interview, clap your hands together once in view of the camera. This will create a mark that you can eventually use in the edit to sync the video with the audio.

Make sure your shot is framed up nicely. The last thing you want to see is some pole or a plant growing out of someone's head. Provide head room, and leave enough talking space for your interview subject. This is known as the "rule of thirds."

Horizontally, one-third of the frame should appear above the person's eye line. Another third should cover the person's face and shoulder area. Leave the bottom third for the person's upper body.

When shooting an interview with the person looking off screen, leave enough room (about a third of the screen) in front of the person (favoring the direction he or she is looking) to create talking space.

5. Insist on quiet on the set.

Noise—particularly irrelevant sound from the crew—can pollute an otherwise terrific shot. Although audio is often overlooked, it can really enhance and drive the video's story.

You want to capture the cleanest possible audio, especially when it's vital to the shot. It's arguably never more important than when you're conducting an interview.

Bottom line: When the camera's rolling, hold your tongue. The camera picks up virtually everything on its microphone, and you can't edit it out.

To connect with your audience and convert them into customers, follow the guidelines above to create high-quality, visually engaging content.

Wes Benter is a senior online community services specialist at ProfNet. A version of this article originally appeared on Beyond PR.

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Boost your health care practice’s SEO

Ever Googled medical practices in your city and wondered why some rank higher than others?

It’s not luck. Clinics that rank better invest in content marketing and search engine optimization (SEO) to drive more traffic to their websites.

Here are five ways to show up above your competitors in the search engines:

1. Make use of both paid and organic traffic

With more web traffic comes higher visibility and more booked appointments; but do you know how that traffic finds you? Traffic drivers typically fall into two categories:

• Organic traffic finds your website without the help of paid advertising. It results from an investment in building credibility and trust with search engines, social platforms and other websites. Common traffic drivers include:

· Search engine optimization

· Referrals from other sites

· Social media shares

· Blogging and thought leadership

• Paid traffic finds your website through purchased advertisements and sponsored placements. The results are almost instantaneous. Paid traffic drivers include:

· Pay-per-click ads (e.g. Google Adwords)

· Banner ads on other websites

· Social media ads

· Sponsored/promoted content

A best practice for many organizations may be to use both organic and paid traffic drivers.

2. Optimize your website

Your website is both the public face of your organization and arguably its best salesperson, but you won’t win any new patients if no one can find it. Optimize content for both the search engines and for prospective clients. Keep in mind that Google is now incorporating user experience as a ranking factor.

The best websites have:

• Relevant keywords. This includes content, URL structure, meta-descriptions, title tags, image descriptions and more.
• Responsive designs. Fast load times and a friendly user interface are essential. Your website should be easily navigable and offer clear calls to action on every page that instruct visitors what to do next (e.g., “Book a Free Consultation” or “Learn More.”)
• Mobile optimization. Mobile searches have exceeded desktop searches in volume. This means your website should be responsive across all platforms.

• Local optimization. Local SEO makes it easier for local users to find you. You’ll need to make sure search engines know where you are and what areas you serve.
• Multi-location optimization. If your clinic has multiple branches in different locations, it’s important that each of those is locally optimized. Each location should have its own unique page optimized for driving directions, nearby landmarks, etc.
• NAP Consistency. “NAP” stands for Name, Address, and Phone Number. It’s crucial to have these elements correctly coded on your website and consistent across the internet.

3. Focus on content

Quality content is the backbone of a successful website. It’s what draws new visitors in, earns you attention from your community and keeps satisfied patients coming back for more. The only way your website will rank well on search engines is with a foundation of high-value content.

Your content should roughly align to three principles:

1. Content should be driven by research. Take into account what content your audience wants, then use a tool (like Google’s Keyword Planner) to compile and refine a list of keywords that you can build your content around.

2. Content should address your patients’ concerns. FAQs make great material for blog posts and e-books. You can also come up with topic ideas by reviewing the questions people are asking on websites like Quora.

3. Content should fill a gap. If you serve a niche that others don’t, you’ll uncover more backlink opportunities and face less competition for your keyword rankings.

4. Build quality backlinks

There are lots of ways to build links. Once you’ve conquered things like high-quality directories and physician profile websites, you’ll need to work on more resource-intensive tactics to separate yourself from the competition.

Guest blogging and contributing educational content to credible websites are great ways to win some backlinks for your website. You can pitch stories to editors or offer yourself up as an industry expert for quotes and advice.

Make sure that the websites you reach out to are trusted and share topical relevance to your own content. Doing this exposes you to their existing readership, further establishes your credibility and builds trust in your own services by association.

5. Measure what’s working

Don’t base your marketing decisions on gut feelings. Look at the numbers—the right numbers—to understand which marketing channels are working and which ones are dead ends.

Monitor which keywords people use to find your website with Keyword Rank Checking apps. Using tools that track local and non-local terms or those that let you narrow your search down to specific map listings or zip codes will give you a better sense of your local and regional performance.

The only way to withstand the test of time is to make sure that you’re offering the best link-worthy content and make it easy to share.

Shareef Defrawi is president and founder of Bonafide. The original version of this article appeared on his blog.

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Get executive communications expertise from a presidential speechwriter

When it comes to executive communications, few have as much experience as Sarah Hurwitz.

As a senior speechwriter for President Barack Obama and chief speechwriter for First Lady Michelle Obama, she’s crafted executive branch messaging for years—and navigated plenty of major challenges.

Here are just a few things you might not know about this influential communicator:

1. Before her time at the White House, she wrote speeches for both Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton’s 2008 presidential campaigns.

2. She was responsible for crafting Michelle Obama’s widely acclaimed 2016 Democratic National Convention address.

3. She’ll be sharing her expertise at the 2017 Leadership and Executive Communications Conference on Sept. 18–19 in Washington D.C.

That’s right—speechwriters and executive communicators from all industries can tap into her wide array of experiences.

Let her and other communicators show you how to improve your storytelling, build trust among modern audiences and respond quickly to breaking events that threaten your organization.

Don’t delay—register now before this event is sold out!

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Ashbury and Oak – Polygon

Introducing Ashbury + Oak by Polygon –  Choose from  three and four bedroom townhomes in Langley’s Willoughby neighbourhood. This family community offers everything you need with retail shopping, restaurants,  recreation centres nearby.

 

Features

• Queen Anne-inspired architecture, with dramatic pitched roof lines and bay windows
• Convenient main floor powder rooms
• A side-by-side two car garage in every home
• Decks or raised yards for outdoor entertaining
• Contemporary interior design with open-plan layouts
• Kitchens with family-sized kitchen islands, engineered stone countertops, a built-in recycling station and stainless steel appliances
• Spa-style ensuites feature a luxurious spa-style shower with showerhead with wand and integrated bench seating
• Warm laminate wood flooring throughout the main floor living areas
• Nine foot ceilings on the main floor, eight-foot on upper and lower floors
• Central Green & play areas connected with well-lit pathways
• Access to Kinfolk House – the residents’ only resort-style clubhouse featuring a swimming pool, great room, fully-equipped fitness centre, indoor playground + much more

 

The post Ashbury and Oak – Polygon appeared first on Vancouver New Condos.

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The demographics of the most popular social networks

Do you ever feel that the internet is drowning in statistics?

There are countless reports and data floating around out there, and navigating through all the numbers can be overwhelming.

Though it's exciting that we have so much data at our fingertips, communicators are busy. You don't have time to sift through statistics. You want to know, right now, where those in your audience spend their time online so you can start communicating with them.

That's where this infographic from Tracx comes in. It clearly lists what types of people are spending time on the most popular social media sites—and that's it. You don't have to weed through rankings of the most popular emojis or the most-followed celebrities in Twitter.

Get the lowdown on your audience, and then get on with your job.

[RELATED: Attend the Big 5 Social Media Boot Camp, and learn how to use Facebook, LinkedIn, Snapchat and Instagram to get huge results.]

Check it out:

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Rolex, Amazon and Sony top list of brands with outstanding reputations

An organization’s reputation is crucial—and sometimes, it’s all brand managers have.

You hope for more, but a strong reputation can help brand managers weather a minor PR crisis. The inverse is also possible: A brand’s negative reputation can make even the tiniest negative story appear much worse.

Reputation Institute would know. The company has been putting out its annual US RepTrak 100 rankings for more than 20 years. 2017’s list of just came out, and there’s a new most-reputable company in America: Rolex displaced Amazon this year for the top spot.

Check out the top 10 below:

1. Rolex
2. Amazon.com
3. Sony
4. LEGO Group
5. Hallmark
6. Netflix
7. Kimberly-Clark
8. Hershey
9. Fruit of the Loom
10. Barnes & Noble

Organizations are judged based on products and services, innovation, workplace, governance, citizenship, leadership and performance.

[RELATED: Announcing the PR and Media Relations Summit, featuring speakersfrom Time, Huffington Post, the FBI, PwC and more.]

To get an idea of how much an extremely negative story can affect a brand’s reputation, look no further than Samsung. The company, which suffered what was arguably 2016’s most damaging PR disaster when its Galaxy Note 7 phone wouldn’t stop combusting, dropped from No. 3 to No. 63 on RepTrak’s list.

Brad Hecht, Reputation Institute’s vice president and chief research officer, said in a statement:

The most successful firms have a proactive, 360-degree focus on reputation, engaging its leadership to drive and actively communicate both product and corporate reputation initiatives.

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Drones & Real Estate: Taking Marketing to the Skies?

Positioning a home on the real estate market so that it sells quickly relies on a range of carefully selected advertising and marketing tactics. Real estate agents seek out all the latest tools, resources, and strategies to draw more interested buyers to open houses and to call the listed number to schedule showings. Some of the more powerful tools for capturing a buyer’s interest are photographs and videos.

Incredible photography and videos provide a visual reference for buyers. Reading through a listing of features can’t always help them to imagine what the home actually looks like. Yet with stunning photographs and video tours, a person can see the actual rooms and amenities which could make the buyer rush to see the home for themselves.

While many real estate agents simply use their own smartphones and digital cameras to take photos, some agents are using a unique piece of equipment to obtain an aerial view of the home and surrounding neighborhood. Drones are taking to the skies and providing amazing visual views to prospective buyers.

How Drones Are Changing the Marketing Playing Field

Drones can be mounted with high resolution cameras to provide an aerial view of a property. These unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), can focus in on exterior architectural details that can attract buyers looking for specific home styles. The drones can also show the size of the property and provide views of the surrounding neighborhood.

An interested buyer can go on a virtual tour right on their computers as they can see what stores are near the house, check out how close the property is to traffic and recreational hotspots, and get a better idea of the neighborhood setup. With stunning photography, it can have a positive influence on buyer opinions and give that extra push to pursue the home as an option.

But, is there data to back any of this up? How does a drone used by a real estate agent influence their advertising and marketing strategies when it comes to home selling? MLS statistics claim that 68 percent of homes sold faster when there was aerial photography while the National Association of Realtors posted that 73 percent of homeowners said that they were more likely to work with real estate agents who used videos in their marketing tactics, according to RISMedia.

What Agents Need to Know

If you are a real estate agent who is interested in using drones, there are a few things to be aware of before you run out and purchase a drone. You don’t need to have a Federal Aviation Association (FAA) pilot license to operate a drone. Yet you will need to get an FAA remote pilot certificate which will need to be renewed every two years. You should also consider getting liability insurance just in case a malfunction occurs with the drone and it causes property damage.

You will also have to abide by the list of FAA regulations when flying drones in residential and commercial air spaces. There are some things which you cannot do. You cannot operate a drone while in a moving vehicle, fly it over no-drone zones such as sporting arenas or near airports, fly it at night, or fly it anywhere in the District of Columbia. You should also practice good etiquette techniques when using drones. Always ask permission from homeowners and neighbors to fly over private properties, avoid flying it over large crowds, and don’t allow kids to chase after drones.

Getting the Perfect Photography and Videos from Drones

Like any video and photography equipment, piloting a drone will require you to practice operating the machine and flying it with the correct movements. Take some time to get used to flying the drone without taking any aerial photos until you feel confident that you can effectively control the UAS. Then take practice photo shots and video until they come out to your, and your client’s, liking.

If you don’t have the inclination to buying and piloting the drone yourself, you can hire a company to do the task. There are a wide range of drone companies on the market who will take the photography and videos for you as well as edit the video. Before hiring a company, you should check out their portfolios of photos and videos that they have previously taken for other clients. You should also ensure the company has an FAA remote pilot airmen certificate.

When it comes to marketing homes, you don’t exactly want to be behind the times. Drones may be able to give you an advantage by providing amazing aerial photography and videos which can be placed on your website. While it may not be the norm to go this route yet, it may be a trend to keep an eye on.

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Why organizational values are crucial to branding efforts

Brand managers today face big challenges when it comes to social issues.

Often they must give an opinion about a matter trending in the media; that’s a tough spot.

You want your CEO or company spokespeople out there driving positive PR, but in the blink of an eye, things can go south. A boycott hashtag with your brand’s name attached appears on social media, and the news goes viral.

When asked to provide a perspective about something happening in the world, it seems there are no right answers. You must pick a side. That might seem unfair, but this is the world we live in, and all brand reps should beware.

[RELATED: Join us in Arizona, and learn how to build and maintain a great company culture through growth and change.]

We are seeing this more than ever in our polarizing political climate. Millions of social media users have their itchy typing fingers at the ready. They want to react with passionate opinions and jump aboard the latest boycott. Just ask the slew of brand managers who have been forced into crisis response mode by having a stance blow up, thrusting them into the amplified news cycle.

Crisis response planning

Such preparation is essential in today’s hypersensitive and sensationalized digital landscape. Managers of brands large and small, national and local, should be preparing for an unanticipated backlash surrounding a controversial social issue.

How? For starters, they must clearly define their brand values, stay consistent and maintain ethical standards.

There is a fine line when addressing social issues on behalf of a company, because usually there are two distinct positions on a given topic. However, a crisis resulting from expressing a position on a social issue can be viewed as an opportunity to reiterate your brand’s values.

When such a crisis occurs, it’s a chance to reinforce your values by responding to the situation in a pure, ethical manner.

By establishing clear values for your brand, true stakeholders will maintain their loyalty through the crisis. Additionally, consumers with opposite views will have a better understanding and increased respect for the brand’s honest perspectives.

Will you lose customers? Maybe, but they were most likely not your primary audience anyway. The true stakeholders will stick by you and become a vital component of moving your brand past the negativity.

A case study

Consider Chick-fil-A’s response to negativity surrounding its views on same-sex marriage.

S. Truett Cathy founded the chain in 1946 and implemented policies such as closing stores on Sunday to observe the Christian sabbath and setting up a private foundation to support faith-based organizations. Aligning with its religious values, Chick-fil-A opposed same-sex marriages.

In 2012, Chick-fil-A faced a blaze of disapproval for that position in media reports and on Facebook and Twitter. The company sought to develop a crisis response to maintain credibility with its stakeholders while appeasing consumers who supported same-sex marriage.

The negativity on social media and in traditional media was building, and government officials began making demands on Chick-fil-A. The fast-food chain responded to the negative posts and news coverage. Its ongoing responses asserted that it respects all people regardless of their views, referencing its biblical values, including its stand on same-sex marriage.

Virtue ethics

Virtue ethics can clarify the role that organizational values can play during a crisis.

In “ Effective Crisis Communication, Moving From Crisis to Opportunity,” authors Robert Ulmer, Timothy Sellnow and Matthew Seegar explain virtue ethics.

They note that people tend to act in predictable ways, following established patterns of conduct. An example the authors use is that a manager who has developed a habit of being honest tends to be honest in the future. Honesty, in this case, is a virtue of this manager.

In the case of Chick-fil-A, its religious beliefs underpin its core values. Because the brand demonstrates honesty and is upfront about its values, it can move through crises caused by social issues.

For the foreseeable future, it does not appear that the current media landscape and the sensitivities surrounding social issues are going to change. Brand managers should think about brand values, define them and stick with them.

They could be your most valuable tool when you’re up against the next boycott hashtag.

Chris Daley is director of brand and business development for Maroon PR and an adjunct professor in the business communication program at Stevenson University. A version of this article originally appeared on Muck Rack, a service that enables you to find journalists to pitch, build media lists, get press alerts and create coverage reports with social media data.

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Uber releases disappointing diversity report, strives for ‘transparency’

Uber is still struggling to repair its reputation.

On Tuesday, Uber released its first diversity report—and many are criticizing, not applauding, the move.

The organization’s report starts off strong with a section on the initiatives it funds and its goals, including bringing more women and minorities into its fold:

We’re dedicating $3 million over the next three years to support organizations working to bring more women and underrepresented people into tech. This year, our recruiting team is also embarking on a college tour to recruit talented students at colleges across the country, including a number of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSIs). Our employee resource groups play a huge role in all our recruiting events that are focused on hiring women and people of color at Uber.

Then, however, the report quickly dissolves into a string of disappointing diversity statistics and puns.

[RELATED: Engage employees though culture and communications.]

Many people lashed out at the names for Uber’s employee groups on Twitter and Facebook. The monikers included “Jewbers” and “Shalom” for Jewish staffers, “UberHUE” for black employees and “Los Ubers” for Hispanic team members.

USA Today reported:

Some comments echoed a general disbelief that Uber, which is facing a raft of problems from a sexist culture to a Waymo lawsuit, didn't steer staffers toward terminology that was guaranteed not to offend. Word choices have gotten Uber in hot water before. In a 2014 Esquire interview, CEO Travis Kalanick answered a question about whether the company's success had helped his social life with the quip, "We call that Boob-er."

Only 36.1 percent of women make up Uber’s overall employee base, and the number drops to 15.4 percent when looking at tech positions. In terms of ethnicity, 49.8 percent of the organization’s staff is white, and 30.9 are Asian—only 8.8 percent are black. In terms of tech positions, only 1 percent are black employees, and only 2.1 percent are Hispanic.

For leadership roles, the numbers are even worse.

Only 22 percent of women hold leadership positions, which drops to 11.3 percent when looking at those positions in the tech sector. Black and Hispanic employees hold 2.3 percent and .08 percent of leadership roles in the organization, respectively—and none of those are in tech.

Liane Hornsey, Uber’s senior vice president and chief human resources officer, and Travis Kalanick, the organization’s chief executive, said transparency was the push behind publishing the numbers—even though there’s much work left to do.

The New York Times reported:

“We have to build more trust with our employees, and transparency will build that trust,” Ms. Hornsey said of the report.

In the past, Mr. Kalanick has resisted publishing a diversity report, current and former employees have said. In a statement on Tuesday, Mr. Kalanick said, “I know that we have been too slow in publishing our numbers—and that the best way to demonstrate our commitment to change is through transparency. And to make progress, it’s important we measure what matters.”

There’s a silver lining in solidarity: Uber’s numbers mirror the staff makeup of most tech organizations.

The New York Times reported:

According to Google’s most recent diversity report, for example, just 31 percent of its work force are women. Google also said 81 percent of its technical jobs were held by men, while 1 percent of its employees in the United States were black and 3 percent were Hispanic. Many of the numbers stack up roughly along the same lines at Apple and Facebook.

What do you think, PR Daily readers? Is the release of Uber’s numbers a move to make the organization more accountable—or a misstep in a string of bad branding choices?

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Why you should target potential clients at a Ragan event

Ragan conferences attract nearly 2,500 attendees each year to the headquarters of top organizations such as Microsoft, Facebook, Disney, Coca-Cola, Con Edison and many others.

But why do vendors, agencies and consultants want to be there?

1. The Ragan event audience is a targeted market. Sponsors meet managers, directors, VPs and department heads in corporate communications, public affairs, HR communications, digital marketing, employee communications, public relations, marketing, social media and many other fields. Our attendees come from a variety of industries and organizations including aerospace, Fortune 1000 companies, nonprofit, finance, retail, government, hospitality, education and more.

2. Ragan gets creative to get people connected. Ragan offers a mix of traditional and inventive sponsorship opportunities, such as speaking as an industry innovator in a session or keynote, hosting a bonus breakfast or lunch session with demonstrations, wooing a niche group of attendees at a dine-around, displaying top work or demos at an exhibitor booth or presenting a TED-style talk to inspire new business.

3. Ragan makes it easy—and fun! Traveling, setting up big displays, preparing a presentation and networking all take time and energy. Ragan’s staff works hard to simplify the process and to put sponsors and sales teams at ease so they can focus more on building business and less on the details.

Check out the Ragan event lineup, and let us know you’re interested.

1. Health Care Communicators Conference

May 1-3, 2017 – Baltimore, MD – Hosted by Johns Hopkins

2. Engage Employees Through Culture & Communications

May 9-10, 2017 – Tempe & Scottsdale, AZ – Hosted by GoDaddy

3. Corporate Communicators Conference

June 14-15, 2017 – Chicago – Hosted by DePaul University

4. 2017 Leadership & Executive Communications Conference

Sept. 18-19, 2017 – Washington D.C.

Email or call Kristin Farmer, kristinf@ragan.com or 312-960-4405, for a full list of open opportunities and a custom quote.

Click here for more information on sponsorship on our site

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Set your social content apart from your competitors

 

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How Spirit Airlines’ CEO turned defeat into victory

I often get emails from readers asking something like: “I know you post a lot of media disasters. Do you have a good example of a spokesperson doing things right?”

We’ve posted many good interviews through the years—but since there’s such interest in the topic, I wanted to post one of my favorites, a May 2013 interview with Spirit Airlines CEO Ben Baldanza.

At the time, his airline had been ranked last in customer satisfaction by Consumer Reports. Few executives want to go on television to defend such a dismal ranking—but Baldanza appeared energized by the challenge.

Here’s the clip, followed by five things Baldanza did well.

He was on message

According to the old saying, the three most important things in real estate are location, location and location. Baldanza was equally clear in his messaging regarding what matters to his customers: price, price and price. It’s clear that he knows his target audience—travelers who are willing to put up with the indignities of travel in exchange for saving money.

Just check out his first three answers, in which he mentions price (or fares) seven times:

Charlie Rose, CBS “This Morning” anchor: So when you know that you’re at the bottom of the list, do you simply say to them, “I don’t care, my planes are full?”

Ben Baldanza, Spirit Airlines CEO: Well, what we say is that we care about what our customers care about, which is price, and one of the things that Consumer Reports survey didn’t ask is where do you get the lowest fare? And so they asked about legroom, and they asked about check-in, and they asked about bag fees, and things like that. But the total price that customers pay on Spirit Airlines is less than they pay on anyone else, and that’s why they love us.

Rose : But does that mean that you can’t have customer service and low price?

Baldanza : We do have great customer service because we give them the lowest price possible.

Rose : Well, obviously not in terms of what they say in this survey.

Baldanza : Well again, if you’re measuring the physical distance between you and the seat in front of you, our seats are tighter than the other guy. But customers care about price, and we allow customers to travel for a lower price than they can otherwise travel.

He was a happy warrior

Many CEOs whose organizations earned a dismal ranking would have carried themselves like Winnie-the-Pooh’s ever-defeated Eeyore. Instead, everything about Baldanza’s demeanor conveyed the opposite—a palpable sense of joy and an eagerness to talk to any comer about the airline he so clearly believes in. His warm humor also helped create a bit of cognitive dissonance for viewers: “Wait, he was ranked the worst, but he seems totally relaxed. Maybe they’re better than I’ve heard!”

[RELATED: Attend the PR and Media Relations Summit, featuring speakers from Time, Huffington Post, the FBI, PwC and more.]

He conceded the obvious

When co-host Gayle King asked him why he couldn’t offer more amenities to travelers, Baldanza was humorously dismissive. Rather than offering a business-speak answer loaded with details of Spirit’s pricing model, he reverted to plain talk—and, once again, returned to message:

Gayle King, CBS “This Morning” anchor: But because you’re rated so low, does it make you think, “Maybe we can give people some peanuts. Maybe we can give them a bottle of water.” Do you think about that?

Baldanza : Do you think a bag of peanuts or a bottle of water is going to make you feel better about sitting in a tighter seat?

King : No.

Baldanza: What makes people come to the Spirit Airlines is that our average fare in the first quarter was $75.

He delivered a credible message

Baldanza owned the ranking but reset its context within a winning frame. That’s no easy feat—but as the quote below shows, his airline’s success in multiple metrics is difficult to argue against:

Baldanza: Let’s talk about the lists that are important. You’re saying bottom of the list. But we’re number one in margin performance for our investors. We’re growing faster than any other airline in the U.S., so we’re employing more people. We’re the lowest fare in the industry, so we’re number one in the things that matter most to our employees, our customers, and our shareholders.

He showed up

Finally, Baldanza got credit just for showing up. As Gayle King noted, “Ben, I got to hand it to you for being here. Because most CEOs in your position, if they had been rated bottom of the list, they wouldn’t say, ‘Let’s go on CBS This Morning.’ Most of them would say, ‘I have a pedicure.’”

Put your personal feelings aside…

I’ve shown this clip during several media trainings, and have learned that many people have strong feelings (mostly negative) about Spirit Airlines. That can make it difficult for the points made above to resonate—our trainees are so focused on a bad travel experience that they have a tough time giving Baldanza credit for his interview skills.

But with the business model working—and a strong focus on maintaining his status as the low-cost (but no-frills) airline—I’m not sure Baldanza could have done much better. In fact, I’d say he stole victory from the jaws of defeat.

A version of this post first appeared on Mr. Media Training.

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Cambie Gardens Vancouver by Onni

Coming soon to the Cambie corridor is a new development called Cambie Gardens by Onni. This stunning development is going to consist of 2,160 residential homes spread out over a 25.4 acre site. Also, included in this amazing project will be retail and commercial space, health centre, YMCA club and pool, a 2.5 acre park and the new Canada line transit station.

Floor Plans for Cambie Gardens

Floor plans have yet to be finalized but we can expect a wide range of unit options.

Pricing for Cambie Gardens

Please register and join our VIP list for early access and be the first to receive information on plans and pricing.

 

The post Cambie Gardens Vancouver by Onni appeared first on Vancouver New Condos.

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How data can help earned media coverage shine

This article was originally published on PR Daily in March 2016. 

For years, chief marketing officers have been responsible for presenting a slew of results to the boardroom each month—ad dollars spent, marketing leads generated and sales quotas met (or unmet).

These facets of marketing have been the keys to communicating marketing success to execs and other stakeholders, but there’s a dark horse with the potential to lead positive returns for Fortune 500 companies.

That horse is earned media coverage.

Media coverage hasn’t been given the credibility, tools and recognition it deserves. Current PR reporting proves that PR teams have been busy with listing every mention, article or byline placed—which demonstrates activity, but lacks value.

Leaders want to know how earned media helps drive business in terms of lead generation, customer acquisition and retention and Web traffic that boosts the bottom line.

PR pros have lacked an accurate and quantifiable measurement of earned media’s business impact—but that’s changing.

Media coverage's tepid pace—and PR pro’s call to action

Taking a step back to understand why media coverage has been slow to change gives a greater meaning to the importance of its role in the boardroom.

Traditionally, securing a front page spot with a colored photograph in a daily newspaper or magazine was the Academy Award for PR pros. Slapping the media coverage in front of your CEO could keep him or her satisfied for quite awhile.

Ad dollars reign when it comes to old-guard PR metrics. Many PR agencies and brand managers still use hand-drawn formulas to convert a piece of news coverage into an ad dollar and label it a measure of success. Interns and entry-level employees spend hours laboring over these formulas and clips—valuable time that could otherwise be spent learning public relations strategies and tactics for executing them.

It’s time to enter 2016 and realize that these reports lack a substantial method of aggregating value from media coverage.

PR pros must leverage the technology that’s available at your fingertips and fuse it with a mentality focused on correlating earned media with social conversion and engagement, website traffic that leads to tangible results and other modern marketing metrics. When this happens, the ways in which we communicate the extrinsic value of earned media will drastically change.

Publishers and publicists alike thought the technology takeover was the worst thing to happen to news coverage—in contrast, it’s become the best thing for the PR industry.

Data and media coverage's microphone

Data that comes from advanced analytic technologies such as natural language processing, machine learning and clustering algorithms changes what we once thought was impossible to something that is now inevitable.

Today, it is possible to analyze every publication, blog and social media conversation—as well as the journalists and influential social media users who create them—almost as they happen.

Technology can take an article and scrutinize it against all others—categorizing, drawing meaning and assessing the impact on brand, demand and revenue through metrics like direct readership, social media engagement, geolocation and sentiment analysis.

These judgments and insights can then be organized and compared. Is the thought leadership strategy creating or swaying an industry trend? Was this product launch better than the last, or better than competitors’ efforts? What’s the best piece of work or strategy in the industry?

The future of media coverage

The fresh face of earned media coverage infuses a new wave of creative strategizing and bold, innovative thinking.

Bloggers, active social media users and niche publications will rise to the top. Conversations with journalists will become more meaningful and accurate. Crisis management will be controllable and measurable and the true value of media coverage—not just what it means in terms of ad equivalency—will come to light.

RELATED: Learn the best new strategies for improving PR results, influence and value.

Accurate, meaningful data that draws direct links between media coverage and results-driven marketing metrics gives PR pros the power to be the most important players on communications teams.

Long gone are the days of earned media measurement without a quantifying its value. Earned media’s transformation paves the way for PR pros to excel in their roles more than ever, as more value is instilled into their craft.

Erik Huddleston is the CEO of TrendKite.

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567 Clarke + Como by Marcon – Availability, Plans, Prices

At a Glance

• Coquitlam’s tallest building
• 364 market condominiums
• 2 commercial units
• 20,000 sq ft of amenity space
• 530 underground parking spaces
• public plaza
• adjacent to Evergreen Line transit station
• near Simon Fraser University
• close to Lougheed Town Centre shopping

The Intersection of Life + Style
Marcon Developments presents 567 Clarke + Como, a striking transit-oriented landmark that brings urban convenience to relaxed suburban living. Coquitlam’s tallest building offers an attractive mix of one- to three-bedroom homes with enough density to give residents an outstanding selection of amenities, in addition to nearby golf, lakes, and trails.

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With the Evergreen Line’s Burquitlam Station just steps away, you’ll reach the West Coast Express commuter train in only one stop. Coquitlam Centre and Lougheed Town Centre are also on the line, making it a breeze to meet all of your shopping needs without the hassles of traffic and parking, doubly so if you want to meet friends at Port Moody’s booming Brewers Row when the work week is done. Given the vibrant community development we’ve seen around other transit nodes, like Marine Gateway and Brentwood, expect the selection of amenities, services, and leisure activities in the surrounding neighbourhood to only get better.

Pricing for 567 Clarke + Como
Marcon have not yet released final pricing details. Nevertheless, sign up to our VIP list to ensure you keep up-to-date on this remarkable opportunity to buy.

Floor Plans for 567 Clarke + Como
Plans call for 364 homes with a mix of 122 x 1-bedroom, 217 x 2-bedroom, and 25 x 3-bedroom condominiums. Contact me to discuss availability of plans suited to your particular living needs.

Amenities at 567 Clarke + Como
Residents will enjoy an exceptional selection of amenities that include a 7,600 sq ft landscaped podium rooftop with basketball court, sandbox, artificial grass for dogs, and an outdoor kitchen with barbecue area. The entire 29th floor will be a 6,650-sq ft amenity room, while the top floor Sky Lounge with outdoor rooftop patio offers a relaxing space to marvel at the stunning panoramic views. Utilize the services of the building concierge for when you aren’t available to take deliveries or greet guests.

Parking and Storage
567 Clarke + Como will include 449 resident and 81 visitor & commercial underground parking spaces.

Maintenance Fees at 567 Clarke + Como
As yet to be determined.

Developer Team for 567 Clarke + Como
Beginning life as a construction company has given Marcon Developments the experience to deliver homes not only of high standards, but also of high value. Homes built with extra attention to detail – where the fit and finish is just that much better. Marcon has developed some notable residences over the years, such as the first high-rise in Canada to achieve LEED certification. Building to these standards helps to future-proof your home, as well as allowing you to breathe easy from the first day you move in.

GBL Architects is a cohesive and progressive Vancouver based firm of 38 architects, project managers and technicians with a 25-year reputation of providing a full range of architectural services to the private and public sector. The firm has built its reputation on high-quality design, tight project management, technical proficiency, financial responsibility and keen administrative skills.

Trepp Design delivers carefully-contemplated, distinctive solutions customized to meet unique interior design needs for residential, multi-family, and commercial projects. TDI expresses individual preferences in inventive ways, leaving an iconic imprint on each environment. The team creates inspired designs with a timeless look and future-focused feel for local, national and international clients.

Expected Completion for 567 Clarke + Como
To be announced.

Are you interested in learning more about other homes in Brentwood, Lougheed, or Metrotown?

Check out these great Brentwood Presales!

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