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Hiring a content writer vs doing it in-house
The people inside a business are the ones who know what makes it tick. But are they best placed to promote everything that business has to offer? Not necessarily. If your business is blessed with someone who knows what makes [...]
Heartened and humbled by lockdown response
It’s been a pleasure over the last couple of months to discover more about how communities have rallied to help those most in need. From the Cumbrian coast to the Pennine hills and from the border to the South Lakes [...]
Business comms in the time of coronavirus
Many businesses are understandably unsure about how best to communicate in these uncertain times. The impacts of Covid-19 are being felt the world over. Virtually every sector of business is hit. And no one wants to come across as [...]
Trio launch workshop to improve presentation skills
A new workshop for those wanting to improve their public speaking and presentation skills has been launched by a trio of Cumbria-based communicators. BBC trainer and journalist Tom Speight, Give A Day to the City founder Andy Fearon and media [...]
Save an hour a day in your business
What would you do with an extra hour every day in your business? And what if you could save an hour every day in your business - for you and all your colleagues - without extending the working day or [...]
Great advice for writing – 75 years on
George Orwell makes a regular appearance in one of my training courses. It may be almost 75 years since the author’s, Politics and the English Language, was published. But, like most good advice, it’s stood the test of time. The [...]
Securing media coverage for your business
You’re convinced your company has an amazing story to tell. All you need do is fire off your press release and, hey-presto, guaranteed media coverage? Not quite so fast, and not quite so simple. Newsrooms and journalists are inundated every [...]
Smile – you’re on camera!
We’ve recently added a new element to our presentation training – and it’s a game changer. There’s great value and learning to be had from a mix of theory and practise. But the latest addition significantly ups the performance and [...]
Using multi-media PR to catch a wide audience
Using a full range of media is vital when you're trying to catch the attention of a wide variety of businesses and individuals. The five local authority partners in the recent Borderlands Conference wanted to appeal to as large a [...]
Why press releases should be part of marketing your business
In this day and age even the smallest of businesses has a website and access to its own social media channels. This allows them to promote their products and services directly – good, bad or indifferently – to potential customers. [...]
Businesses can learn from Australian cricket about crisis communications
There’s much businesses can learn about handling crisis communications from the recent ball-tampering scandal that has engulfed Australian cricket. The incident has reverberated right through the sport and around the world and had far-reaching consequences. Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull [...]
7 reasons business should engage with mainstream media
Who would look to mainstream media for business promotion in this day and age? Newspapers? Dinosaurs. Living on past glories with plunging circulations. An irrelevance. TV? Unless it’s on Netflix or YouTube, I’m not watching. Radio? Who listens to that? [...]
Crisis communications and your business
“Ok, let me explain how things work. There’s no such thing as the ‘lunchtime news’ any more…what it is now, ok, is basically one long avalanche of s#@! happening in real time…with 24-hour live shovelling.” A comedic but recognisable assessment [...]
Social media policy, The New York Times and you
How’s your company’s social media policy standing up in the ever-developing online world? It’s doing a good job, no issues… Think it’s ok but maybe someone should have a look to see if people are still using it… What social [...]
Media writing: Never use a long word where a short one will do
“Never use a metaphor, simile, or other figure of speech which you are used to seeing in print. Never use a long word where a short one will do. If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut [...]
Getting ahead of the crisis
One of the aspects of crisis management hardest for businesses to get their heads round is being the one to break bad news to customers. Some businesses would prefer to front up only when necessary. They want to ride it [...]
How was your holiday?
If you've been lucky enough to have a holiday this summer hopefully it's left you refreshed and raring to go again. Most of us need to take that opportunity to wind down and recharge our batteries. However impossible the mounting [...]
This is how you do community advertising
I know the focus and precision of targeted advertising on social media. I love some of the high impact, big graphic, quality audio of broadcast ads. And as someone who spent many a year fighting to keep advertisers in newspapers [...]
Things I learned this week
While it takes talent, determination and guts to become an Olympic champion, achieving that goal and reaping the plaudits doesn't have to stop you being a grounded individual. Pleasure to meet gold medal-winning hockey player Sam Quek, using her fame [...]
Hey media, notice me!
You’ve expanded your range, are now offering a better service or have just hired a whizz-kid who’s going to help transform your business. All good. But unless you tell people about the new you, how will they know about all [...]
Election 2017: Campaign of the gaffe
They may have just spent the last seven weeks persuading us to keep them in work, but seriously, who’d be a politician? Ok, the pay’s not bad and there’s a certain kudos to it, but having to be constantly on [...]
Political wraps on newspapers, what’s all the fuss?
Local newspapers up and down the country have recently run political wraparounds of their publications - and some people are getting very hot under the collar about it. Those titles who’ve accepted the ads - owned by a range of [...]
Just like George? That first day in the editor’s chair
It’s true I didn’t have to negotiate a crowd of photographers blocking the way to my opening day in charge of the first newspaper I edited. Neither as I stepped into the newsroom was I potentially preoccupied with the problems [...]