The PR Maven Podcast

While some say that Facebook is dying, the data proves otherwise. Facebook has nearly 3 billion monthly active users which is more than any other app in the world. Not only is the audience very large, but 200 million businesses are also on Facebook. If you aren't on Facebook yet, now is the time to create an account. In this episode, Nancy goes through the basic steps you need to know, from creating a Facebook page to making a post. She also covers a few reasons why you should join, what Facebook's audience looks like and some content ideas to get you started.

1:38 – Why you should create a Facebook page for your business.

3:48 – Facebook's demographics

4:57 – How to create a page.

5:51 – How to post.

6:40 – Content ideas to share on Facebook.

9:03 – When you should post.

9:51 – How to schedule posts and view analytics.

10:31 – How to delete a Facebook page.

Resources:

https://thesocialshepherd.com/blog/facebook-statistics#:~:text=71.43%25%20of%20the%20entire%20US,have%20an%20account%20on%20Facebook

https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/facebook-post-ideas

https://sproutsocial.com/insights/best-times-to-post-on-social-media/

https://influencermarketinghub.com/best-times-to-post-on-linkedin/

Many think that SEO is all about keywords, but it should really be about our customers. In this podcast episode, Dale Bertrand talks about SEO best practices and creating content with the customer, not just search engines, in mind. From attracting people with content, to converting them to customers, Dale explains what conversions look like for different businesses. Dale describes how AI will change SEO and the content you should be creating. Dale also gives an overview of what his keynote speech will cover.

2:50 – Dale started his career building websites, but explains how he switched to marketing.

3:54 – Dales talks about what he will be speaking about in his keynote speech.

4:35 – Nancy and Dale discuss content marketing and SEO.

9:11 – Dale defines what conversions are for different businesses.

13:09 – Dale explains how Google's shift to using AI could impact SEO.

16:26 – Dale describes what is wrong with doing SEO for rankings.

24:49 – Dale talks about how SEO is not about keywords, but about your customers.

28:39 – Dale shares how he creates valuable content for his clients' customers by first doing phone surveys.

31:56 – Dale explains how to improve search rankings.

34:00 – Dale shares some resources that have been helpful to him.

Quote

"It's those conversions at the end of the day that matter for SEO. Whether you're generating those, rather than just rankings. I work in an industry, the SEO industry, where a lot of SEO agencies are talking about rankings and traffic. They can get you to rank for some keyword your excited about and they can get people to come to your website, but that doesn't matter if it's not the right people." – Dale Bertrand, founder and president of Fire&Spark

Links:

Content Marketing World: https://www.contentmarketingworld.com/

Heroic Public Speaking: https://heroicpublicspeaking.com/

Marketing AI Institute podcast: https://www.marketingaiinstitute.com/podcast-showcase

About the guest:

Dale Bertrand has been an SEO specialist and AI consultant to Fortune 500 companies and venture-backed startups around the world for two decades. His clients include global brands such as Citizen Watch, Nestle, Raymond Weil, Exxon Mobil and Bulova. He applies his graduate school work in artificial intelligence to search engine marketing and speaks at marketing industry conferences.

Looking to connect:

Email: [email protected]

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/dalebertrand

Website: fireandspark.com

What do you do when the media calls for an interview after a crisis? From time to time, businesses are forced to engage in crisis communications — messaging to the masses during turbulent times. You may want to just say "no comment," but that's the worst thing to say after a crisis. It immediately implies guilt and will hurt your reputation in the court of public opinion.

Perhaps your business is going through a product recall, or you're dealing with an environmental issue. The 2010 BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill is just one infamous example of corporate turbulence. The parties involved likely had to rapidly develop a viable public relations plan — at a time when 4 million barrels' worth of oil was flowing into the Gulf of Mexico.

But you can't just wait until a crisis strikes to be ready to communicate. It's critical to prepare a crisis communications plan months and even years in advance, proactively mapping out how to respond if and when the ship starts rocking. The best reaction comes from planning your actions in advance and listing specific steps that you will take to respond. That's how you weather a storm — you don't just act in the middle of one, but before.

Continue reading here.

The article read in this episode originally appeared on the Forbes Agency Council CommunityVoice™ in April 2023.

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After being incarcerated at age 20, Meshell Baker realized that the people who stay out of jail work and launched her career in sales. In this episode, Meshell shares some of her tips for working in sales including the power of positive energy and placing the focus of a sales call on what the person you are trying to sell to needs, rather than what you want to sell them. Meshell also talks about her recent and upcoming speaking engagements, how PR has helped her and building her personal brand.

4:36 – Meshell talks about how her career in sales began.

11:55 – Meshell shares how positivity helps people working in sales and marketing.

14:57 – Meshell describes imposter syndrome.

19:01 – Meshell explains that in sales you want to prepare to have a call about the person you are trying to sell to and why doing this is so important.

25:14 – Meshell talks about her keynote speaking engagements, focusing on women working in male-dominated industries.

27:13 – Meshell explains how she has benefited from public relations.

28:37 – Meshell describes how she has built a strong personal brand.

31:35 – Meshell shares some resources that have helped her.

Quote

"It is on the marketer or the seller to leave that person better off because when they are ready to make the purchase or make the decision, you will come top of mind. Now, if you try to cajole and connive and convince them right there on the spot and you try to manipulate the situation... What people really don't understand about the power of positivity is that we are emotional creatures and what you evoke in that person when you are trying to manipulate, they know it. They don't understand why they don't necessarily connect with you or why there are red flags going off, but internally they have been exposed to your disingenuousness. Positivity is just the impact. I always say positivity is a direct path to profits." – Meshell Baker, Chief Confidence Igniter

Links:

Listen to Episode 235 with Kris Kelso to learn more about imposter syndrome.

Listen to Lynn Campbell's episode on The PR Maven® Podcast.

"Start with Why" by Simon Sinek: https://www.amazon.com/Start-Why-Leaders-Inspire-Everyone/dp/1591846447

UPS: https://www.ups.com/us/en/global.page

Women in Auto Care: https://www.autocare.org/networking-and-development/communities/women-in-auto-care

Any Baby Can: https://anybabycan.org/

Women in Trucking: https://www.womenintrucking.org/

"Think and Grow Rich" by Napoleon Hill: https://www.amazon.com/Think-Grow-Rich-Landmark-Bestseller/dp/1585424331

"The Four Agreements" by Don Miguel Ruiz: https://www.amazon.com/Four-Agreements-Practical-Personal-Freedom/dp/1878424319

About the guest:

Meshell Baker understands that many founders, business owners and sales leaders struggle with doubt, their inner critic and imposter syndrome. She is on a mission to ignite confident belief in as many people as possible.

Meshell Baker is a sales and confidence igniter, exhilarating keynote speaker and confident living catalyst who masterfully guides her clients to capitalize on their current conditions and leverage obstacles as opportunities, and confidently convert more conversations into raving fan clients. Meshell has phenomenal results, accolades and awards and has compiled an incredible track record of raving recommendations with clients over the past 25+ years.

Looking to connect:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/meshellrbaker

Twitter: @MeshellRBaker

Instagram: @meshellrbaker

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/meshell.baker

Website: www.meshellbaker.com

Influencer marketing is all the rage. It is a form of social media marketing that leverages endorsements and product placements from famous personalities and businesses to change hearts and minds.

Think Kylie Jenner endorsing a new face lotion on TikTok or Roger Federer tweeting about that new Rolex in his watch collection. In many ways, influencers are often trusted more by everyday consumers than brands themselves since people can form strong connections with the people they follow online (even if they never meet them). Look at it this way: Soccer superstar Cristiano Ronaldo has more Instagram followers than there are people in the United States and Russia combined, making his thoughts, feelings and endorsements massively consequential — and uniquely marketable.

Influencer marketing can be a valuable tool in your toolbox, even if you work with influencers of a lower level than famous athletes. At the very least, such marketing should be a consideration, based on your business and budget.

Continue reading here.

The article read in this episode originally appeared on the Forbes Agency Council CommunityVoice™ in March 2023.

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Do you know what imposter syndrome is? In this episode, Nancy speaks with Kris Kelso, author of "Overcoming The Impostor," about what imposter syndrome is, how to overcome it and how overcoming it can benefit your personal brand. Kris also talks about his career and his public speaking journey. Kris shares how writing his book helped him become a thought leader and how his PR plan helped spread the word about his book.

4:24 – Kris talks about his career, starting in music, software development and tech, and now as a leadership coach.

5:50 – Kris explains why he decided to enroll in Heroic Public Speaking.

9:25 – Kris gives an overview of what imposter syndrome is.

12:50 – Kris talks about mindset differences.

20:06 – Kris gives tips for how to overcome imposter syndrome.

27:09 – Kris talks about his book, "Overcoming The Impostor: Silence Your Inner Critic and Lead with Confidence."

27:38 – Kris explains how he considered using a guest writer for his book because he had imposter syndrome.

29:28 – Kris talks about how his book has helped establish him as a thought leader.

31:27 – Kris describes the PR plan he had for his book.

34:15 – Kris shares some resources that have been helpful to him.

Quote

"This really applies to digital marketing and those little bets. Whenever I try something for the first time, there are only two outcomes that I'm going to get. I'm either going to succeed or I'm going to learn. It's one of those two and either one is a net gain."– Kris Kelso, Keynote Speaker, Author and Leadership Coach

Links:

Heroic Public Speaking: https://heroicpublicspeaking.com/

Dexterity Books: https://dexteritybooks.com/

"DIY Brain" by Dr. Roger Hall: https://www.amazon.com/DIY-Brain-Mindset-Makeover-Performance/dp/161206261X#:~:text=DIY%20Brain%20will%20help%20you,thoughts%20to%20improve%20your%20life.&text=Capital%20Management%20LLC-,Dr.,monitor%20and%20manage%20their%20thinking.

About the guest:

Kris Kelso is a professional speaker, a certified leadership coach, a two-time entrepreneur, and a mentor to leaders around the world. He's the author of "Overcoming The Impostor: Silence Your Inner Critic and Lead with Confidence." Kris is a faculty instructor at the Professional Christian Coaching Institute, an advisor and instructor at the Nashville Entrepreneur Center, and is a contributing writer for Fast Company Magazine, Yahoo Finance, and The Nashville Business Journal. He has unusually specific willpower, having not eaten a single donut in the past 17 years.

Looking to connect:

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/kriskelso

Twitter: @kriskelso

Website: kriskelso.com

Website: overcomingtheimpostor.com

This episode covers what you need to know about AI in public relations and marketing. Parry Headrick, founder of Crackle PR, talks about how his agency is adapting to the age of AI and working with experts like Chris Penn, co-founder and chief data scientist at Trust Insights. Parry and Chris explain how AI will be used to streamline data and coverage reporting, content creation and other lower-level tasks. Chris also gives two helpful lists of the different types of machine learning and what agencies must do to survive the shift to AI.

3:08 – Parry explains how he started his career as a journalist but decided to transition to PR after a story he wrote was sensationalized.

6:01 – Chris talks about how he started his career in IT, the evolution of technology in marketing, working at an agency and starting his own business.

10:07 – Parry talks about the role AI will play in PR including streamlining efficiencies, monitoring and content generation.

17:06 – Parry describes how his agency is adapting to AI, such as the shift in SEO.

23:10 – Chris shares how data analytics and PR should go together.

26:45 – Chris explains the three branches of machine learning.

37:50 – Chris lists the three things that agencies must do.

39:58 – Chris talks about what Trust Insights does for its clients.

42:15 – Chris describes the origin of his podcast, Marketing Over Coffee.

Quote

"I think ultimately, the biggest disruption is going to be how the largest agencies are billing and justifying the fees they get and I think at the smaller level it's going to get a little easier to be more nimble because you haven't pinned your hopes and dreams on a model that is antiquated in the age of AI."– Parry Headrick, founder of Crackle PR

"Every person in your company who uses Microsoft Office will now have access to a language model and will be able to do things like make a 10-slide presentation out of this press release or tell me what's important in this Excel spreadsheet. Tell me what the outcome was. And the models will do that instead. So it will dramatically shorten the time it takes people to do work and everyone is going to have to get good at this because it's going to be built into Office, it's already built into your search engines and it's going to be appearing in pretty much every piece of software that's complex to use." – Chris Penn, co-founder and chief data scientist at Trust Insights

Links:

Marketing Over Coffee Podcast: https://www.marketingovercoffee.com/

DALL·E: https://openai.com/product/dall-e-2

ChatGPT: https://openai.com/blog/chatgpt

Listen to Chip Carey's episode on The PR Maven® Podcast.

Listen to The PR Maven® Podcast episode featuring students from Northeastern University.

About the guests:

Parry Headrick

Founder of Crackle PR, Parry Headrick is a 20+ year tech PR agency veteran, having grown some of the largest privately held agencies in North America. Headrick has grown an audience of more than 60,000 across social media channels by discussing the good, the bad and the ugly about the public relations industry.

Chris Penn

Christopher S. Penn is an authority on analytics, digital marketing, marketing technology, data science and machine learning. A recognized thought leader, best-selling author, and internationally renowned keynote speaker, he has shaped five key fields in the marketing industry: Google Analytics adoption, data-driven marketing and PR, modern email marketing, marketing data science, and artificial intelligence/machine learning in marketing. As co-founder and Chief Data Scientist of Trust Insights, he is responsible for the creation of products and services, creation and maintenance of all code and intellectual property, technology and marketing strategy, brand awareness, and research & development.

Mr. Penn is a 2023, six-time IBM Champion in IBM Data and AI, a Brand24 Top 100 Digital Marketer, an Onalytica Top 100 AI in Marketing influencer, and co-host of the award-winning Marketing Over Coffee marketing podcast. Prior to co-founding Trust Insights, he built the marketing for a series of startups with a 100% successful exit rate in the financial services, SaaS software, and public relations industries. His work has served brands such as Twitter, T-Mobile, Citrix Systems, GoDaddy, AAA, McDonald's and many others.

Mr. Penn is an IBM Watson Machine Learning Certified Professional, a Google Analytics Certified Professional, a Google Ads Certified Professional, a Google Digital Sales Certified Professional and a Hubspot Inbound Certified Professional. He is the author of over two dozen marketing books including bestsellers such as "AI for Marketers: A Primer and Introduction," "Marketing White Belt: Basics for the Digital Marketer," "Marketing Red Belt: Connecting With Your Creative Mind," and "Marketing Blue Belt: From Data Zero to Marketing Hero," and "Leading Innovation."

Looking to connect:

Email: [email protected]

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/parryheadrick/

Twitter: @pheadrick

Website: www.cracklepr.com

Email: [email protected]

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cspenn

Twitter: @cspenn

Website: www.trustinsights.ai

If you work in public relations, you're bound to know what "op-ed" means. Even if you don't, you've probably come across one — perhaps without even knowing it.

An op-ed column refers to a piece of written content that is traditionally "opposite the editorial page" of a newspaper. It is an article written by a subject matter expert as a form of commentary, taking a stand on a particular issue and informing readers in the process. Because it is a commentary piece with a particular slant, an op-ed is separate from a news story, which should be an objective piece of reporting (at least in theory).

People in the PR industry understand op-eds — and their value — because they work with clients to draft, pitch and place them. (By "place," I mean submit an op-ed to a news outlet that then accepts the submission, securing a placement.) Through op-eds, clients can position themselves as thought leaders, leveraging a news cycle to bring their subject matter expertise directly to readers. That thought leadership needs to be legitimate and topical, providing content to the target audience in a timely manner. We call it "newsworthy" in the PR business.

Continue reading here.

The article read in this episode originally appeared in Mainebiz in March 2023.

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This episode features nine students from Northeastern University's Experiential Network (XN) Program who have been working with The PR Maven® Podcast to create a marketing plan. The XN program aims to educate Northeastern students through educational curricula using real-life projects and problems that reflect experiences in the professional workplace. Since January, we have been working with this group of students and their professor, Carolyn Boviard, to develop two marketing plans specific to The PR Maven® Podcast's goals. Listen to this episode as they talk about what they have learned through this experience and how data can help your PR and marketing plan.

2:23 – Brooke talks about her educational background and what got her interested in marketing and PR.

4:23 – Kaixin explains how PR has opened up a new vision for her career.

6:19 – Eashwar describes how PR and research work so well together.

10:54 – Apoorva talks about how data can be used to help organizations make informed decisions.

13:10 – Eashwar shares how data can help with brand positioning.

16:35 – Eashwar gives his definition of psychographics compared to demographics.

21:43 – Aaksha explains how technology has changed PR and networking.

24:51 – Anjas describes what he thought PR was versus what he has learned that it is through this project.

28:38 – Mary explains how she got interested in marketing and what experience she has in it.

31:06 – Mehal talks about some of the challenges small businesses can face related to PR and data.

35:55 – Saurabh describes the benefits of studying PR when pursuing a career in business.

Links:

Northeastern University: https://www.northeastern.edu/

The West Wing: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_West_Wing

Hootsuite: https://www.hootsuite.com/

Listen to Chip Carey's episode on The PR Maven® Podcast

Are you looking to grow your personal brand and become an authority in your field? In this episode, Claire Mason shares how you can become a thought leader, improve your visibility and track these improvements using data. Claire describes the importance of media in your growth strategy. Claire also talks about using social media networks, such as LinkedIn, to build your personal brand online in addition to utilizing in-person tactics. Listen to find out what the lighthouse and breadcrumb strategies are and how to use them.

3:35 – Claire talks about her career and how she got into it.

7:13 – Claire defines personal branding or her preferred term, authority branding.

9:93 – Claire describes how visibility can be used in your growth strategy.

11:16 – Claire talks about media mindset insights you might not be aware of.

13:14 – Claire explains vanity metrics.

16:25 – Claire shares how you can combine online and in-person personal branding.

21:04 – Claire talks about her speaking engagements through the eight networking groups she is part of.

23:25 – Claire explains how to leverage LinkedIn, including the lighthouse strategy and the breadcrumb strategy.

26:23 – Claire describes how she has benefited from public relations.

27:36 – Claire shares the three secrets that will land you media coverage.

29:38 – Claire explains how to use media coverage to create additional content and amplify your brand.

32:35 – Claire answers the question of whether people are still reading newspapers.

35:35 – Claire explains how curation and credibility make the media unique.

37:23 – How can people get in touch with you?

Quote

"What has happened in the wake of these amazing pieces of software being invented is that we focus exclusively on lead generation and we forget that before anybody can hop into your sales funnel and purchase your software or sign up to a newsletter or sign up to your webinar, whatever the case might be, book a call with your potential business development team, they have to actually see you. And that's where the visibility piece comes in. It's very much the psychological element, the branding piece, and that is why I am a believer that the more visible you make yourself, the more your opportunity pipeline is going to be stuffed to the gills." – Claire Mason, thought leadership publicist

Links:

HubSpot: https://www.hubspot.com/

Salesforce: https://www.salesforce.com/

LinkedIn Social Selling Index: https://business.linkedin.com/sales-solutions/social-selling/the-social-selling-index-ssi

Heroic Public Speaking: https://heroicpublicspeaking.com/

Dorie Clark books: https://dorieclark.com/books/

Cindy Gallop: https://cindygallop.com/

About the guest:

Claire Mason is a Thought Leadership Publicist, who works with founders, coaches and solo entrepreneurs. She helps them earn the publicity they deserve to grow their visibility, credibility and opportunity pipelines using her proven LinkedIn and media strategies.

Claire has earned bylines from numerous publishers, including The Guardian, Marie Claire and The Sunday Times. And she has placed her clients' stories in publications like Forbes, CNBC and Wall Street Journal, among others. She is often called on by other Publicists as their secret ingredient to land media coverage for their clients.

Claire's clients regularly see increases of 40% or more in their pipelines after implementing her content strategies.

Her work has been showcased as an example of best practice by HubSpot. Claire is also a regular contributor to Business2Community (USA), Digital Doughnut (UK), Thrive Global (USA) and CoFounders Town (India), where she writes how content marketing can move the needle for B2B brands.

Looking to connect:

Email: [email protected]

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/claire-mason-thoughtleadership/

Twitter: @CMwritesalot

Website: https://www.clairemason.co/