March Madness isn’t for “Ladies”

If you care about words and meaning, March Madness should make you crazy. One practice that continues to be repeated during the otherwise exciting basketball tournament is the unnecessary use of the term “Lady” in front of the nickname of many team names when the women play. You’ve got the […]


Good marketing is not just social, it’s personal

Social and electronic media are so important in today’s communication plans that it is easy to forget the vital role human touch still plays. Together, they are very powerful. I worked recently with Tara Alemany to promote her new publishing business, Emerald Lake Books, which focuses on helping entrepreneurs bring […]


Tom Szaky loves no-cost marketing

Tom Szaky likes to brag about his “negative cost marketing department.” Szazky is one of the group of Ivy League drop-outs who started successful companies. He is no Mark Zuckerberg – he dropped out of Princeton, not Harvard — but his business, TerraCycle, is growing, profitable and a player in […]


Public relations advice from Steven Brill

Steven Brill, the blustery founder of American Lawyer and Court TV, said something smart in an article published in Bloomberg BNA’s Big Law Business. He was talking about how to earn publicity. “The effective law firms that get a lot of good publicity have the lead partners out there talking […]


Harper Lee’s new chapter needs a rewrite

It is important to convey ideas clearly. The announcement surrounding the new Harper Lee novel is a good example of what happens when things go wrong. Muddling your information opens the door to multiple interpretations, and then a discussion ensues not on the merits of the proposal but the veracity, […]


Meteorologists don’t follow the rules of public relations

I have personally known a couple of meteorologists over the years and I can tell you that they are the same in person as they are on television: They never apologize for getting the weather forecast wrong. In the latest case, the Blizzard of ’15 that was to smother all […]


You can’t buy this kind of coverage

We have unofficially reached the limit on news about the under-inflated balls used by the New England Patriots in their game against the Indianapolis Colts. By unofficially, I mean we can’t stand hearing any more about it. The morning and evening television news shows have led with the story since […]


Details

Details make a difference in good writing

  When I teach a college writing class I ask the student to see details in their daily lives and record them.   As I read the sentences out loud in class, I am trying to teach the importance of the small things that can illuminate understanding and help readers […]