I’ve got to hand it to Sabine Fischer and Sue McKee - the principals behind Integra Leadership Inc. We met through sure happenstance about 18 months ago, and Sue was instrumental in helping our business through a rocky time ... we just needed to find our direction - Sue really helped here.
Then I got busy and for sure so did Sue and we really have not been in touch for about six months. It was with surprise that I received an email from Sue - a newsletter --- and it was a lovely one at that. Well formatted with very meaningful content - and just the right length. Took about three minutes to read and I felt that I had learned something.
Although I will take credit for planting the idea in Sue's head about a year ago that a newsletter would be a worthwhile initiative, I have to give Sue and team far more credit than I would give myself. Why? They implemented it --- and in today's busy times, even implementing what may seem like a silly little newsletter (and this newsletter sure is not that), takes a lot of time, planning and effort.
So Sue, Sabine and team ... well done!! I raise my hat!
Thursday, November 27, 2008
Monday, November 17, 2008
Talk is (Not) Cheap
Last week I had the pleasure of attending http://talkischeap.pbwiki.com/ at Centennial College.
It was a really cool experience for a few reasons -
1. I met a bunch of hop youngsters in the final throes of the college's PR program. Each student was hip in their own way and certainly many will be a force to be reckoned with once they graduate and get jobs in the biz. I like this!
2. I met a really neat thinker - Brett McAteer (out of Ottawa). It was really a chance meeting and Brett's right wing views really interested me a lot. In an email Brett sent to me the day after ... "I’ve got it! We should be calling this potentially huge niche not press and not public and not media relations but Social Relations. That’s it. I’m going to start the world’s first SR firm, later today, after changing the oil in my car. You ready? It was a pleasure chatting with you, John.
Brett, I am ready in a big way --- hhhhmmmm --- now you got me thinking
3. Nice to sit in on the podcast with a bunch of Toronto PR associates --- very interesting. But I gotta say that I am still unconvinced about the world of podcasting. People are so busy these days, it's like who has the time. Anyway, I suppose there is a space for everything on the planet.
That's it for now. I am nearing the end of another 15 hour day. Woo Hoo!
It was a really cool experience for a few reasons -
1. I met a bunch of hop youngsters in the final throes of the college's PR program. Each student was hip in their own way and certainly many will be a force to be reckoned with once they graduate and get jobs in the biz. I like this!
2. I met a really neat thinker - Brett McAteer (out of Ottawa). It was really a chance meeting and Brett's right wing views really interested me a lot. In an email Brett sent to me the day after ... "I’ve got it! We should be calling this potentially huge niche not press and not public and not media relations but Social Relations. That’s it. I’m going to start the world’s first SR firm, later today, after changing the oil in my car. You ready? It was a pleasure chatting with you, John.
Brett, I am ready in a big way --- hhhhmmmm --- now you got me thinking
3. Nice to sit in on the podcast with a bunch of Toronto PR associates --- very interesting. But I gotta say that I am still unconvinced about the world of podcasting. People are so busy these days, it's like who has the time. Anyway, I suppose there is a space for everything on the planet.
That's it for now. I am nearing the end of another 15 hour day. Woo Hoo!
Friday, November 14, 2008
Some of us just don't get it
Wow ...
A client called today looking to have us manage their ad budget, and a fairly hefty one at that. It is a national buy - $120k (nothing to sneeze at). So, I had one of my people call up to get rates. Our experience with the Montreal Gazette was brutal.
1. It took her 6 minutes on the Gazette's site for us to track down their phone number (surely companies should make it easy to be contacted, especially when they are the one's doing the selling). Rule 101: If a buyer cannot contact you, they will go elsewhere. This is especially true in the internet age when you have three or less clicks to capture interest
2. So we called, and there was no human to speak to. I repeat ... no-one. Just a voicemail saying if you know the last name of the person to whom you want to speak, please enter it now, otherwise leave a message. This is hardly the greeting a new customer wants to hear. How would I know the last name of the person I need to speak to if I have never called before?
3. So, I left a message 6 hours ago.
And am still waiting to be called back.
Meanwhile, we have taken our business elsewhere.
A client called today looking to have us manage their ad budget, and a fairly hefty one at that. It is a national buy - $120k (nothing to sneeze at). So, I had one of my people call up to get rates. Our experience with the Montreal Gazette was brutal.
1. It took her 6 minutes on the Gazette's site for us to track down their phone number (surely companies should make it easy to be contacted, especially when they are the one's doing the selling). Rule 101: If a buyer cannot contact you, they will go elsewhere. This is especially true in the internet age when you have three or less clicks to capture interest
2. So we called, and there was no human to speak to. I repeat ... no-one. Just a voicemail saying if you know the last name of the person to whom you want to speak, please enter it now, otherwise leave a message. This is hardly the greeting a new customer wants to hear. How would I know the last name of the person I need to speak to if I have never called before?
3. So, I left a message 6 hours ago.
And am still waiting to be called back.
Meanwhile, we have taken our business elsewhere.
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