Something Different

In PR, we measure our work and successes against goals set. Whether it’s five quality articles in top tier business media for a campaign, three positive product reviews for a new product launch or a 15 percent increase in Facebook likes in a month, success is defined based on the results. While we’re PR professionals by day, we are fortunate to collaborate with a team and clients whose interests and goals extend beyond their everyday work. As we kick off the New Year, it’s important to set fresh goals that will lead to successes on a personal, local and global level. Here are a few goals and projects B+G is working on:

• 100 Push-ups: When the clock strikes 4pm, you will find the B+G team hittin’ the floor for our daily push-ups. No really – I’m serious! Not only are we getting svelte arms just in time for spring, but we’re also supporting each other through each grueling rep. It’s a personal and team accomplishment with great results to show for it already! Our goal is to do 100 push-ups in a row – think you can handle it?

  

• Make an Impact: SlideRocket, the leading online presentation platform and a long time B+G client, has just kicked off a fantastic contest that challenges nonprofits across the country to ‘Make an Impact.’ By simply creating a SlideRocket presentation showcasing how an organization is making an impact at the local, national or global level, the nonprofit will be in the running to win a piece of the $30,000 grand prize! Do you volunteer at an organization that fits the bill? If so, create a SlideRocket presentation and enter!
   
• Protect Freedom of Speech: As part of our daily life in PR, we track and monitor many blogs and websites throughout the course of our days, however many websites around the world are shut down everyday due to content that is deemed “illegal” by oppressive governments and organizations. CloudFlare, a service aimed at enhancing website’s performance, speed and security, partnered with Committee to Protect Journalists to protect journalists’ freedom of speech around the world by protecting them from hackers and service attacks. B+G is proud to work with a partner like CloudFlare that extends their technology to help others around the world.

What are your goals and resolutions for 2012? Step outside the 9-5 box and check new successes off your list!

- By Perrin Dent

Recently, I found myself delayed at Boston’s Logan Airport and I decided it was as good a time as any to start blogging away. After several minutes of typing, I looked up from my Mac, and realized that I was surrounded by replicas of myself. Travelers having littered their tables with smartphones, tablets and iPods, as laptops shined a subtle glow on their faces.  Though working on the go is not a new concept, the extent to what we can accomplish is.

Our agency, for the most part, is completely cloud-based. Business applications for our document storage, accounting, time tracking, and more, allow our agency to function anywhere.  These applications and tools are logged and accessed countless times all day.

It struck me as I packed my bag for this trip, that I had no papers or folders to bring.  And when I made the last look around my desk, I noticed that I barely had any documents scattered around. At my previous healthcare job that was not the case. Surprised? I was always surrounded by folders, booklets and marketing materials; and mind you that was only two years ago. In such a short time, we’ve seen businesses, in particular small businesses, migrate to the cloud. While this statement is thrown around left and right, it still holds true.

One of our clients, AppDirect, operates in the cloud brokerage space, creating customized business application marketplaces for companies, ranging from telecom enterprises to small businesses. Over the past year, AppDirect is growing 30 percent month after month and seemingly the sky’s the limit. AppDirect isn’t the only one seeing success in this area. According to Gartner, the small business cloud market will exceed $13 billion by 2014.

So what does this mean? It means that for the more than 27.5 million* small and medium businesses in the US (B+G included) there is a proliferation of business apps at our disposal. No longer does owning a company require heavy inventory investment. With nothing more than a computer and a few fundamental business apps (perhaps courtesy of AppDirect), one can pursue their passion and goals, whatever they might be.

So as I took another look around the airport restaurant, I didn’t just see other travelers waiting for their flight. I saw entrepreneurs, CEOs, community managers, and of course PR professionals, all working away towards their next project, goal, dream.

* Source: Office of Advocacy estimates based on data from the U.S. Dept. of Commerce, Census Bureau, and trends from the U.S. Dept. of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Business Employment Dynamics.

- By Kristen Jentzen

What do you get when you cross an aviation enthusiast, amateur photographer/videographer, consummate technology connoisseur, Apple aficionado, and Burner?   All these traits make up the kaleidoscopic personality belonging to Daniel Terdiman, journalist and popular columnist for CNET’s aptly titled “Geek Gestalt” blog. 

Daniel Terdiman is a bit of a jack of all trades tech writer. Eschewing the pigeonholing of one single beat, Terdiman’s purview is more on technical culture creation. In addition to “Geek Gestalt,” he also pens the annual CNET Road Trip column. Since 2006, Terdiman has traversed the US and Europe covering local tech hot spots, distinctive regional industries and whatever else catches his eye along the way. Recently, Daniel created a column called “Day on the Job” where he visits start-up enterprises shadowing a specific employee and providing a birds-eye view into a day of their work life.

I had the privilege of speaking with Daniel a couple of weeks ago (on his birthday no less!). We talked about Apple, Burning Man and what in the tech world has piqued his interest.

Q. What do you feel were the most covered stories in the 2011 tech press?

A. Probably has to do with Apple products. The media goes a little crazy over Apple. I’m guilty as everyone else, but it would be nice to see someone in the tech industry press be a bit more circumspect over things when it comes to Apple. That being said, they do deliver on more than most tech companies, but it would be nice to see the media pepper it a bit.

Q. What are the trends and topics you’re watching for 2012?

A. I’m watching print do-it-yourself enabling technologies, taking a digital model and making a physical product of it. Use the tools, create the model and ship the model. (See his “Geek Gestalt” blog post on My Robot Nation amongst others on 3-D modeling). I think we’ll see more and more interesting things as time goes by and the tools become more sophisticated. Open source hardware means that things that used to be produced by large companies can now be done by individuals.

Q. What makes you a fan of Burning Man?

A. Personally, Burning Man is a big part of my life, but I also moderated a panel about Burning Man and video games as they have a lot in common in terms of user generated content. At Burning Man everything is built by the users. A lot of people involved in the creation of the Internet, the World Wide Web and the Silicon Valley are all people who went to Burning Man. There is a huge crossover between Burning Man and modern tech.

Q. Where will your next CNET Road Trip take you?

A. It’s not clear yet, but I’m thinking possibly the western US. I’ve traveled to the Southeast, Northeast, Pacific Northwest and Europe, but I’ve never done California! So thinking about filling in the holes on the west coast.

Q. Tell me a little about your new column “Day on the Job.” What sparked the idea?

A. I’ve been trying to do behind-the-scenes stories for a long time. I’ve done a few versions, but always wanted to do more as I feel like readers are interested in process stories. I thought ‘Day on the Job’ would be a good way to look through the eyes of one person for one day. And an hour is not a enough. I follow start-ups – some software, some hardware – across the board. It’s not just CEOs, but people lower down on the org charge and those people provide not just a picture, but a body of work providing a view that most people don’t get to see.

And now it’s time for the Lightening Round:

1. What startup buzzword or phrase makes you cringe?
    Pivot

2. If you couldn’t be a reporter, what other profession would you try?
    Entrepreneur

3. What job could you never, ever do?
     Sales

4. If heaven is run by an editor-in-chief, what do you hope she will say to you when you arrive at the Pearly Gates?
     Nice anecdotes

– By Kristin Farrell

With the Thanksgiving season upon us, I’d like to take a moment to talk about the value of thanks and appreciation in business.  If you ask me, these two simple words “thank you” are grossly underutilized in general. 

In PR or any business, saying thank you to your customers, employees, partners and peers is vital. While the holiday season helps to remind us to express our gratitude, in day to day business settings, it’s often easy to forget. Yet, keep in mind that it’s a simple ritual that can have a huge and positive effect on your business.

Gary Vaynerchuk is a passionate and persuasive advocate on the power of saying thank you in business. His book “The Thank You Economy” discusses the importance of prioritizing customers and using technology, particularly social media tools, to better understand your customers and deliver a personalized experience. As Gary so passionately states, “Valuing every single customer is mandatory in the Thank You Economy.” Gary cites an example of how social media now provides a platform so that every customer has an active voice.  If you think the introverted young man living in Iowa is less important to your business than a wealthy Upper East Sider, you are wrong.  Customers who say nice things or negative things to the public graph can significantly impact your business – good and bad. Make sure you are personally thanking the customers who are sharing positive messages. 

We see this with our clients every day.  For example, Elance shows appreciation to its community though social media channels by personal follow up with people who post something nice about them on Twitter or Facebook. They will send a “Thank You” and retweet the post or click “Like it.” It’s a great place to start a conversation and strengthen relationships with customers. Elance also does a really nice job of thanking its community when the company crosses a major milestone.  See example: https://www.elance.com/p/blog/2011/07/passing-400-million-thanks-to-you.html

Personally, I’m a big believer in the power of thank you and have seen its results first-hand. One of the most under-thanked groups that we work with is the media. I can’t tell you how many times I have had reporters personally tell me that they rarely get a thank you or any feedback from a PR rep or story source after a story is published – unless there is an inaccuracy or error.  A good reminder for PR pros is to thank the media when they take the time to meet with us or write about our clients.  And even if they choose not to cover the story or run specific commentary, I think it’s important to still show appreciation, particularly to maintain a long-standing relationship.

Why should we say thanks? Out of appreciation, to boost performance / confidence and to ensure repeated positive behavior.

Does it really matter in business? To me (and I hope others), absolutely yes. I remember verbal or written thanks when it is sincere. And I have to think that “thanks” matters to all of us as well. I see thank you/appreciation notes posted on bulletin boards, saved in email, and printed on desks when I visit my colleagues and clients. And truth be told, I am very grateful when my clients send me thank you notes.  

However, as important as thank you is today in business, I believe that it’s equally important to say, “You’re welcome.”

 – By Carolyn Adams

President Obama said it best:

“Steve was among the greatest of American innovators — brave enough to think differently, bold enough to believe he could change the world, and talented enough to do it.”

I recently attended my first networking event as a PR professional, a launch party for the professional organization, Leading Women in Technology (LWT), in Palo Alto.  The keynote speaker was Adriane Brown, Chief Operating Officer of Intellectual Ventures. Intellectual Ventures is the self-described global leader in the business of invention and owner of one of the world’s largest and fastest-growing patent portfolios.  The company creates an active market for invention that connects patent buyers, sellers and inventors.

Brown is a highly accomplished executive.  Before joining Intellectual Ventures, she served as President and CEO of Honeywell Transportation Systems and, previously, as VP & General Manager of Corning’s Environmental Products Division.  She has garnered numerous professional accolades, including listings in Fortune Magazine’s Women to Watch and Black Enterprise Magazine’s 100 Most Powerful Executives in Corporate America.  At the LWT launch party, Brown demonstrated that these accolades are due as much to her ability to inspire as to her obvious business acumen.

Speaking entirely without notes, Brown began her address by asking the audience what appeared to be a simple question: “Are you comfortable?”  When met with murmurs of “yes,” she elaborated on her query.  Brown explained that it is discomfort- not domain mastery- that drives success.  In other words, to accomplish great things, both personally and professionally, you must step outside your comfort zone.   As she put it, when you are too comfortable, you don’t crack any eggshells.

Brown provided a personal example to prove her point, namely, her defiance of her podiatrist’s pronouncement that she would never again wear high-heeled shoes, as evidenced by the stylish four-inch heels she wore to the event.  More importantly, she offered three illustrations, drawn from her own professional experience, of the merits of choosing the less comfortable path.  The first was her decision to work as a floor supervisor at Corning.  By choosing this path rather than a safer, more traditional job, Brown learned operations from the ground up and established the foundation for a successful management career.  Brown then described having taken herself out of her comfort zone each time she changed career course -taking on new roles in unfamiliar industries, each time with stellar business results and tremendous personal satisfaction.  She encouraged her audience never to let comfort trump entrepreneurial instinct or the thirst for challenging work.

As someone who recently embarked on a career change, Brown’s message certainly resonated with me.    I have no doubt the sound of her four- inch heels will reverberate at least as loudly for B+G’s clients, who have embarked on the road less comfortable and, as a result, launched the innovative, rising companies we have the privilege to promote.

- Rachel Urman

Pitching is not a mutually exclusive practice and the process is different depending on the client, pitch, and reporter. I remember my first time pitching; it was scary and exciting at the same time. Then, eventually, I got my first hit in PC Magazine!

Before: What am I doing?

It was a great feeling, and so far- that feeling has yet to go away. While the ‘art of pitching’ depends on a lot of variables, I wanted to learn as much as I could, so I reached out to my fellow B+Gers.  What advice did the Borders + Gratehouse team have to give? Well, here are some of their answers:

• Always review the reporter’s articles before pitching – especially to see what they’ve written most recently.
• Be thoughtful; always ask reporters if they have time to talk.
• Be timely and concise.
• Do your research; know their current beat.
• Don’t stalk reporters!
• Don’t read a script.
• You should NEVER push a reporter if they say they’re not interested—it’s ok to ask what else they’re working on but ONLY push back if they have covered similar stories and you have proof points.
• Keeping a good relationship with media is key, don’t do something that they’ve asked you not to do- it is an easy way to get blacklisted.
  

  After: Yay, I got my first hit!

Whether you’ve been pitching for two weeks or two years, these are great tips to use as a crash-course or even just a refresher!

- Lola Catero

As the media industry evolves to reflect an entirely digital landscape, publishers are scrambling to determine the value of their online audiences—every impression on every visitor. Our client, Bizo, is helping these publishers effectively engage with their audiences by ensuring that only the most relevant and quality content is delivered each and every time.

Bizo’s not just helping publishers monetize their online audiences, however, they’re also helping media professionals engage with theirs. Bizo Switchboard is a revolutionary platform that allows users to shorten URL links and gain unprecedented business demographic “bizographic” insight into every clicker. For the first time, media professionals have the ability to see exactly who is engaging with their content at the most precise level—not just where they are, but who they are (industry, company size, job function, seniority). It seems as though people got the message because B+G secured coverage of the Switchboard launch in leading b2b marketing publications such as BtoB Magazine, ADOTAS and CMSWire.

As a PR professional, I know the importance of providing my media contacts with the most relevant content for their readers, and I know how important a role social media plays in determining which types of content they are already sharing. Bizo adds a new dimension to this story by allowing users to decipher who is engaged and who isn’t.

Regardless of how social media continues to evolve within the publishing and media industry, technologies like those provided by Bizo will no doubt continue to fuel the quality content that readers and media professionals so desperately seek.

– David Racusin

TechWeek Chicago was a whirlwind last week! As someone who promotes tech companies every day, it was very inspiring to hear local Chicago entrepreneurs share their success stories with their peers and individuals working to launch the next big start-up. 

A number of local Chicago business leaders led discussions about the growing technology community in the Midwest, including J.B. Pritzker, Founder of New World Ventures and Matt Maloney, Co-Founder and CEO of GrubHub.

One of my favorite sessions had seasoned business owners* give advice to budding entrepreneurs on how to navigate through the phase of being a start-up. Here are some of the key takeaways for start-ups to keep in mind:

• Figure out who you are and how you communicate who you are. 
• Determine what your differentiator is and stick to it.
• Create a logical work structure, but maintain your culture.
• Bring in and breed top talent. It’s your key to growth. 
• Push the envelope farther than anyone else to stay ahead of your competition. 
• It’s all about focus. Do a few things really really well.
• Stay focused on your customers and take good care of them.

TechWeek Chicago certainly proved its point. The tech community in the Midwest is here to stay!

*Thank you to the following business owners for sharing their irreplaceable advice.

• Godard Abel, Co-Founder & CEO of BigMachines, Inc.
• Adam Caplan, Co-Founder & CEO of Model Metrics
• Glenn Trout, President & CEO of MSDSonline, Inc.
• Michael Alter, President of SurePayroll

– Eileen Garrity

Public relations always seemed interesting to me, so when I was given the chance to be an intern at B+G, I jumped at it!  Their success, the people and the location of the office were all quite appealing to me.  It was the perfect opportunity to learn about the profession.  I couldn’t have been more excited!

I was on five accounts: RightScale, MBO Partners, Campaigner, eFax, and eVoice. A typical day for me started off by checking emails to make sure I was up to date with everything happening on my accounts.  Depending on what day it was, I would then move on to beginning weekly reports, participating in meetings or researching everything from competitor coverage to the latest trends relating to my clients.  There was never a dull moment and I truly enjoyed that!

As time went on I was given more responsibility.  I started to pitch and write press releases, which was great!  Although a little scary at first, I found pitching to be actually fun once I got used to it. It seems as if almost everyone at B+G had a funny story to tell about a reporter’s reaction to a pitch!  However, my favorite task was writing press releases.  I wrote a few personnel announcements for MBO Partners and I enjoyed the process.  It was fun to research the executives I wrote about and to tell their story for the world to read!  It was even more exciting to see the results of my hard work when publications like the Washington Post and Washington Business Journal picked up the release.  I felt a great sense of accomplishment and was happy to share it with my team!

Furthermore, any B+Ger will tell you that the Union Square office location is great!  I enjoyed my daily walk to work and my afternoon breaks exploring the neighborhood.  I loved working the city and working in Union Square made that experience even more rewarding.

All in all, B+G has been a great place to work.  Not only have I learned about PR from the best in the business, but I also feel that I’ve grown as a person working at B+G.  Pitching successfully has given me confidence; drafting releases has made me a well-rounded writer; and working with hardworking professionals has taught me how to be a valuable teammate.  My time here has been truly an experience to remember!

– Mae Dougherty