FIR Podcast Network

Learn effective communication strategies so that you can continue to grow your enterprise in the midst of a crisis. This episode features #ThoughtLeader and #Expert, Bill Coletti  https://www.linkedin.com/in/billcoletti/, who is a reputation manager, crisis communications and professional development expert, keynote speaker, Wall Street Journal risk and compliance panelist and an author.

Bill helps corporations, companies and orgs deliver their messages and stories when they are facing a crisis.

If you’re an enterprise in a crisis, or even before you have a crisis, and you want to learn the risk management tips, tricks and techniques to avoid it, you’d want to reach out to Bill Coletti at https://www.linkedin.com/in/billcoletti/.

Here are a few AHA messages from this episode:

* Companies that need to explain something difficult to stakeholders and the public, which they’ve never had to explain before, should reach out to Bill Coletti at https://www.linkedin.com/in/billcoletti/. #CrisisCommunications

* We work with orgs that find themselves in the crosshairs of public expectations for their actions. We help orgs navigate and tell a story through #CrisisCommunications. https://www.linkedin.com/in/billcoletti/

* We help orgs that are in crisis to draft the messages and the story that need to be told. We do hand-to-hand combat in media relations as appropriate. #CrisisCommunications https://www.linkedin.com/in/billcoletti/

* We help corporations and orgs become more risk-aware. It’s one thing to be good at responding to a crisis but it’s even better to have fewer of them to deal with. #CrisisCommunications https://www.linkedin.com/in/billcoletti/

* We’re often brought into a company when they encounter a crisis but they don’t have anyone in their org who knows #CrisisCommunications. They need an expert with the knowledge of how the public thinks and believes. https://www.linkedin.com/in/billcoletti/

To learn more about Thought Leadership and how it can help you be successful, subscribe to the channel: http://youtube.com/user/thoughtleaderlife.

Successfully close deals with the right engagement. This episode features #ThoughtLeader and #Expert Nathan Kievman (https://www.linkedin.com/in/nathankievman), CEO of Linked Strategies. He is also a highly sought-after digital strategist, executive engagement specialist and consultant, and demand generation strategist.

Nathan conducts consulting services for executives about executive engagement. He delivers a steady stream of highly targeted and pre-qualified meetings with top executives, CEOs, and other key decision-makers who are typically hard to reach. He is focused on helping his clients create marketing initiatives with measurable and predictable outcomes by properly engaging with their target market.

If you’re an executive and aren’t sure if you’re fishing in the wrong pond and/or are having difficulty with #Engagement, consider reaching out to Nathan Kievman by visiting his website at https://linkedstrategies.com or https://www.linkedin.com/in/nathankievman.

Here are a couple of AHA messages from this episode:

* Executives who are fishing in the wrong pond should look at the work being done by Nathan Kievman. #Engagement https://linkedstrategies.com @NathanKievman

* Get executives to not just pay attention, which is what traditional #Marketing does, but to take the meeting. #Engagement https://linkedstrategies.com @NathanKievman

* Build better relationships at a higher level in a more authentic way so you can make the most powerful conversation possible, win the business, and impact the world. #Engagement https://linkedstrategies.com @NathanKievman

* Ultimately, our mission is to help accelerate the growth of conscious and transformational companies, groups, or individuals who are trying to make an effective change within their organization. #Engagement https://linkedstrategies.com @NathanKievman

* You can win 30% to 50% of your deals consistently with a better structure, a better starting point, and how you structure and propose on the front-end of the deals. #Engagement https://linkedstrategies.com @NathanKievman

To learn more about Thought Leadership and how it can help you be successful, visit: https://thoughtleaderlife.com/.

Implement and monetize your ideas by leveraging your creative intelligence. This episode features #ThoughtLeader and #Expert Laurie Seymour (https://www.linkedin.com/in/laurieseymour/), a 2x number-one international best-selling author, Executive Coach and founder/CEO of the Baca Institute. She is the host of Wisdom Talk Radio and creator of The Potentiation Process.

Laurie was honored to receive the stewardship of a special esoteric technology that accelerates the process of innovation and creation in individuals and groups. Since then, she has worked with over 1,000 people, and the technology has now reached a place where there are replicable results and a system that is approachable and elegantly suited to the modern professional.

If you are trying to get from ideation all the way to implementation and revenue but are not being successful, consider reaching out to Laurie Seymour by visiting her website,https://thebacainstitute.com, and going to https://www.linkedin.com/in/laurieseymour/.

Here are a couple of AHA messages from this episode:

* Company founders, innovators, and thought leaders who are trying to get from ideation all the way to implementation and revenue but are not being successful should reach out to Laurie Seymour. #CreativeIntelligence https://thebacainstitute.com @BacaInstitute

* When you learn how to access what is beyond what you already know, that is where quantum leaps happen. My special esoteric technology can accelerate the process of #innovation and #creation https://thebacainstitute.com @BacaInstitute

* It is possible to bypass negative patterns that can hinder your progress. You can carve out a pathway that allows your ideas to become reality with less resistance. #CreativeIntelligence https://thebacainstitute.com @BacaInstitute

* With 35 years of experience as a psychotherapist, trainer, consultant, and tech solutions engineer, I have the credibility to help you leverage your inner #CreativeIntelligence, from ideation to implementation and revenue. https://www.linkedin.com/in/laurieseymour/

* You can co-create with the #CreativeIntelligence that belongs to you. My work accelerates the time from ideation to implementation and revenue, while opening you up to new levels of confidence, peace, and satisfaction. https://thebacainstitute.com @BacaInstitute

To learn more about Thought Leadership and how it can help you be successful, visit: https://thoughtleaderlife.com/.

The April episode of “The Hobson & Holtz Report” continues the coronavirus theme from March with conversations about…

* Our experience being Zoombombed

* The role of social media during Covid-19

* How toilet paper companies are responding to online criticism over shortages

* Microsoft’s belief that coronavirus will forever change the way we work and learn

* The UK Automobile Association’s belief that coronavirus will transform UK work and travel

* Emojis in the time of coronavirus

* The big data behind Disney’s magic

* The good news people are craving and how media is accommodating them

* In his Tech Report, Dan York covers his experiments with Twitch TV; improvements to Instagram’s IGTV; Instagram Live, Instagram DM and Facebook Messenger’s arrivals on the desktop; Google’s plan to charge for reCAPTCHA; and Earth Day’s 50th anniversary.

We are hosting an FIR Communicators Coffee Break on Zoom each Thursday during the stay-at-home period at 1 p.m. ET. For credentials, contact Shel or Neville directly or request the credentials in our Facebook group or send an email to [email protected]. Spread the word to your communications community.

Special thanks to Jay Moonah for the opening and closing music.

You can find the stories from which Shel’s FIR content is selected at Shel’s Link Blog.

The next episode of For Immediate Release will be posted on Monday, May 18.

Links from This Week’s Episode

* Securing Your Zoom Meetings (PDF)

* More top companies ban Zoom following security fears

* The Giant Work-From-Home Experiment Has One Winner

* Zoom Burnout is Real

* PoliteMail’s Crisis Communications Resource Center

* PoliteMail’s Research on Email Volume Accelerating with Covid-19 Cases

* Do the Right Thing: The Role of Social in Covid-19

* We Are Social “Do the Right Thing” Slide Deck

* AdAge’s Regularly Updated List of Marketers’ Responses to the Coronavirus

* How 5 Toilet Paper Brands are Responding to Customer Complaints on Social Media

* What Everyone’s Getting Wrong About the Toilet Paper Shortage

* Microsoft thinks coronavirus will forever change the way we work and learn

* Coronavirus will transform UK work and travel, says AA

*

Organizations with high-performance leadership are better equipped to develop, maintain, and retain individuals, teams, business units, and the whole organization’s culture. These organizations are also in a better position to manage change. The characteristics of high-performing leadership range from leaders’ behaviors and beliefs to what they say and when they choose to act. The role of communication in leading change and creating a high-performance leadership environment will be the focus of the next Circle of Fellows conversation.

Participating in episode 56 were be Priya Bates, Amanda Hamilton-Attwell, Ned Lundquist, and Stacy Wilson.

About the panel

Priya Bates is a senior communication executive who provides strategic internal communication counsel in order to ensure leaders, managers, and employees understand the strategy, believe in the vision, act in accordance with the values, and contribute to business results. She is president of Inner Strength Communications in Toronto and previously served as senior director of Internal Communications at Loblaw Companies Limited.

Dr. Amanda Hamilton-Attwell, accredited by both IABC and PRSA. She is Managing Director of Business DNA, based in South Africa, which provides strategic research and consulting, including communication audits, customer service, and women’s leadership topics. She is licensed in Adobe Connect and WebEx, using these to conduct virtual professional learning and education sessions. and other focused research and training in communication skills. Her career has also included a 15-year stint as a research manager for the National Productivity Institute.

Edward “Ned” Lundquist, a retired U.S. Navy captain with 33 years of professional public affairs and strategic communications experience. He is a principal science writer at MCR Federal in McLean, Virginia, supporting government clients; and has his own company, Echo Bridge LLC, which provides outreach and advocacy support to commercial clients. He served on active duty for 24 years in the U.S. Navy as a surface warfare officer and public affairs specialist. Captain Lundquist was a Pentagon spokesman with the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs, Director of the Fleet Home Town News Center, and director of public affairs and corporate communications for the Navy Exchange Service Command. His last tour of duty was commanding the 450 men and women of the Naval Media Center. He is an accredited business communicator and award-winning communicator who served as president of IABC/Hampton Roads and IABC/Washington, director of U.S. district 3 and chair of the International Accreditation Council. He was named an IABC Fellow in 2016. Captain Lundquist is a member of the executive committee of the Surface Navy Association and chair of the SNA communications committee. He writes for numerous naval, maritime and defense publications and chairs and presents at communications, naval and maritime security conferences around the world.

Stacy L. Wilson, ABC helps clients get more ROI from their technology investment; specifically leveraging technology for collaboration and communication. She focuses on the people and process sides of intranets and digital workplace, including strategy, governance, usability, content, and adoption. She works for global, Fortune 1000 clients, particularly those with a lot of employees who don’t sit in front of computers; for example, industries such as mining, oil & gas, healthcare, utilities, manufacturing, etc. She is an international speaker and enthusiast of bluegrass music, hiking, food, and whiskey.

The fourth weekly Zoom Chat featuring listeners and FIR co-hosts Neville Hobson and Shel Holtz.

Links from this week’s chat:

* Zoom Burnout is Real

* Webcam Backdrop (recommended by Kris Gallagher)

* Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot Memes

* The Work of the Internet Society Community During the Pandemic

* Zoom backgrounds from Unsplash

Grow your retail business through competency-based and business-focused strategies. This episode features #ThoughtLeader and #Expert Kiesha King-Brown (https://www.linkedin.com/in/kieshak/), the founder of Differentiated Leadership Consulting.

Kiesha is a contract and independent consultant specializing in business and profitability, leadership development, human resources strategy, and DISC. She has over 13 years of executive leadership experience, including several years as an HR professional. Kiesha is passionate about helping leaders grow and develop their retail careers or businesses.

If you are a retail leader who is stuck in your development or career, consider reaching out to Kiesha King-Brown by visiting her website, https://www.differentiated-leadership.com, and going to https://www.linkedin.com/in/kieshak/.

Here are a couple of AHA messages from this episode:

* #Retail Leaders who are stuck in their development or career should reach out to Kiesha King-Brown. https://www.differentiated-leadership.com @KieshaKingBrown

* #Retail leaders sometimes reach a point where they seem unable to move forward with their business. The problem could be in their mindset. An entrepreneurial mindset is necessary to grow your business and people. https://www.differentiated-leadership.com @KieshaKingBrown

* If your #Retail business or career is stuck, you may need to take a look at your strategy. I can partner with you to create an individualized, competency-based, and business-focused strategy to help you move forward. https://www.differentiated-leadership.com @KieshaKingBrown

* Do you understand what drives your business profits and expenses? Good financial acumen is necessary for your #Retail business. I can work with you to develop your financial accuracy and strategy. https://www.differentiated-leadership.com @KieshaKingBrown

* Having 20 years of retail leadership experience at the multi-unit level and 1,600 employees under her leadership, @KieshaKingBrown is someone you can count on to help you grow your retail business. https://www.linkedin.com/in/kieshak/

To learn more about Thought Leadership and how it can help you be successful, visit: https://thoughtleaderlife.com/.

Increase employee engagements and lower turnover costs through an effective purpose plan. This episode features #ThoughtLeader and #Expert Brooke Erol https://www.linkedin.com/in/ozlemerol/, an author, speaker, and consultant.

Brooke helps leaders catch up with our times and grow their businesses without sacrificing the well-being of their people.

If you are a leader of an org who needs to increase your engagement rate and decrease your exit rate, you should reach out to Brooke Erol at https://www.linkedin.com/in/ozlemerol/.

Here are a few AHA messages from this episode:

* Leaders who want to increase their engagement rates and/or #LowerTurnoverCosts should reach out to Brooke Erol at https://www.linkedin.com/in/ozlemerol/.

* We definitely live in a different time, when the mindset on how to create better orgs has changed. #LowerTurnoverCosts https://www.linkedin.com/in/ozlemerol/

* I go out with my clients to understand what their situation is right now. I do assessments, engagement surveys, turnover cost analyses, and purpose brainstorming sessions. #LowerTurnoverCosts https://www.linkedin.com/in/ozlemerol/

* Unfortunately, most companies don’t do turnover cost analysis right. That is why they don’t know how much money they’re losing. #LowerTurnoverCosts https://www.linkedin.com/in/ozlemerol/

* My clients and I create a purpose plan that ties into their business strategy. This kind of purpose plan increases engagement rates and #LowerTurnoverCosts. https://www.linkedin.com/in/ozlemerol/

To learn more about Thought Leadership and how it can help you be successful, subscribe to the channel: http://youtube.com/user/thoughtleaderlife.

Create a lasting legacy through real estate investment and appreciate your financial freedom. This episode features #ThoughtLeader and #Expert Axel Meierhoefer, PhD (https://www.linkedin.com/in/ameierhoefer/), founder and managing director of AMC Consulting. He specializes in four focus areas: project management; facilitation and teaching; learning, design, and implementation; and mentoring/coaching.

Axel worked as a facilitator and lecturer for both European and U.S. universities, as well as managing projects for corporate clients in manufacturing, R&D, services, pharmaceuticals, and education. He holds a long list of certifications related to mentoring, coaching, facilitation, learning, and project management.

Recently Axel developed the concept he calls “IDEAL GROWER”. If you’re thinking about investing in real estate or are trying to put together a legacy for retirement, consider reaching out to Axel Meierhoefer by visiting his website, http://www.axelmeierhoefer.com/, and going to https://www.linkedin.com/in/ameierhoefer/.

Here are a couple of AHA messages from this episode:

* As more than 10000 baby boomers retire every day, more and more people are thinking about retirement and how to use extra cash to invest in real estate and create a legacy. To learn more reach out to Axel Meierhoefer. #RetirementLegacy https://www.linkedin.com/in/ameierhoefer/

* Are you looking to find a good way to comfortably retire? I can help make things uncomplicated through a successful strategy, with options that work for you. #RetirementLegacy http://www.axelmeierhoefer.com/ @AxelMeierhoefer

* I developed a system called the “IDEAL GROWER,” where you replicate what I’ve done along my journey. I can teach you how to do the same by having access to all my resources and connections. #RetirementLegacy https://www.linkedin.com/in/ameierhoefer/

* Do you want to reach economic and financial freedom? I will mentor and walk with you through this process applying I have learned in the last 10 years and give you access to the network I have connected with over time. #RetirementLegacy http://www.axelmeierhoefer.com/ @AxelMeierhoefer

* I have developed & supported businesses in emerging markets to support alliances & promote global connections, which gives me the credibility to help you develop your real estate investments with constructive feedback. #RetirementLegacy https://www.linkedin.com/in/ameierhoefer/

To learn more about Thought Leadership and how it can help you be successful, visit https://thoughtleaderlife.com/.

The coronavirus forces almost all organizations to work remotely, but many are new to the game and struggle to manage a remote workforce.

This is why Glenn Gaudet sat down with Clinton Bonner, VP of Marketing at Topcoder, an on-demand virtual talent platform, for this episode of AMP Up Your Digital Marketing. Topcoder has been in business for about 20 years but has been a 100% remote workforce for over 8 years. Bonner shared his tips for leading a successful remote workforce and how he operates Topcoder’s marketing strategy. In this episode, you’ll learn: 

Why it’s important to stay up to date on what productivity tools are out there. 

Collaborative tool recommendations for remote workers. 

The pros and cons of mixing tools rather than having one centralized platform.

Stay Up To Date on Productivity Tools

Almost any organization can be successful with a remote workforce, but it’s imperative that you have the right productivity tools. There are multiple factors you have to weigh before adopting a platform to know if it’s the right fit for you. Does it meet your regulation requirements? Can you afford it? Does it easily solve the problem you’re facing? Will people in your organization use it?

Sometimes these can be tough questions, but you’re the only one that can figure these things out because you know your organization the best.

Another difficult question you need to answer is, is this tool better than other products out there? The reason this question is so difficult to answer is that new platforms come out all the time.

“It is a constant progression of tooling and understanding of what’s out there to be on the edge of understanding of how to best work virtually and how to best work with remote, distributed teams,” Clinton said.

Related: How Communication Technology Fosters Employee Engagement 

The Basic Needs of a Remote Workforce

There are so many new and advanced platforms for organizations to pick from. At your most basic level, you’ll have to choose your productivity suite – G Suite and Office 365 being the most popular. Most organizations either have one or the other.

These are your first-day platform selections. Think about what that shows in terms of how fast we’re moving. These are collaborative cloud applications that a lot of people weren’t using just five years ago, and now these are your basic needs.

Then you might use a cloud storage platform such as Dropbox, Box, Google Drive, Microsoft OneDrive, or something similar. This helps you share files quickly, collaborate with colleagues, and store files security.

An important factor for any remote workforce is how you communicate with each other. There are many tools out there for messaging. Many organizations use Skype for Business, Google Hangouts, and others. In recent years, Slack has been one of the fastest-growing messaging platforms around.

Video calling has been increasingly popular too. Skype, Hangouts, and Slack all offer video chat capabilities, but you might implement Zoom instead. If you hadn’t heard of Zoom just a couple months ago, you probably know it now, as it’s the app that has probably gained the most popularity during the coronavirus pandemic, allowing users to easily have person-to-person contact.

Productivity Tools in Clinton’s Remote Workforce

Frame.io

Not everything you do at work revolves around emails, calendar invites, slideshow presentations, and word processing.

Content is incredibly important, and the most engaging type of content is video. Within the last few months, Clinton’s team started using Frame.io for a recent documentary project.