Are you telling your target market how to suck eggs? Worse, are you communicating the messages as your competitors? For example, many companies within, say, finance, will write blogs, do podcasts and send newsletters about interest rates. Everybody does it, so, like any commodity, you’re not adding value. Good content marketing and PR is to […]
How to make your messaging interesting and persuasive Read More »
At first glance, table salt is table salt – right? Not really. Regular table salt is ‘processed’ and has added anticoagulants, compared to Himalayan and Celtic salt, which are unrefined, better tasting, and contain more trace elements. The difference between processed salt and organic salts can be seen as a metaphor for describing the difference
Quality over quantity – why organic marketing is worth its salt Read More »
If you want your business or brand to stand out, stand for something – so long as it is congruent with your business and your brand values. Standing for something makes for very powerful public relations, content and other marketing activities – it achieves great cut-through, high audience engagement and can even lead to market
How you can dominate your market by ‘taking a stand’ Read More »
In a polarised world, reputation can be made, or destroyed, in moments… the thought of which sends most sensibly minded people running for cover. It’s better to say nothing than risk your neck (say some). Unfortunately, in today’s hyper-connected world, invisibility is a liability–if you want to get anywhere, you will have to clear your
To be without a reputation is to be irrelevant Read More »
AUCKLAND: New Zealand – It is not unusual for Iron Road public relations clients to want to amend press releases to include promotional messages like ‘lowest prices,’ ‘affordable,’ ‘discount’, ‘guarantee’, etc. Unfortunately, promotional content stands a snowball’s chance in hell of media pickup because, as they would rightfully say, it’s advertising, not editorial. Journalists act
What good is public relations if you can’t sell? Read More »
AUCKLAND, New Zealand: When an organisation (or individual) stands for something, they demonstrate a unique purpose that takes them beyond ‘just another business’ and into the realm of purpose-driven business–it shows that you care. To stand for something goes beyond corporate social responsibility and into an area that, in some ways, can help define your
Get better PR when you stand for something Read More »
PUBLIC RELATIONS, Auckland, New Zealand: When issuing a press release, the temptation is to talk about yourself, your products or services or value. After all, the goal is to increase exposure for your business brand. Unfortunately, almost all journalists will tell you to take an advertisement because editorial is not self-promotion. To get genuine, authentic
If you want media coverage (PR), don’t advertise Read More »
AUCKLAND, New Zealand—As a writer (copywriting, public relations and fiction), I am excited by the advent of AI as a tool, but I am also scared. Will I and other writers be surplus to needs in four or five years? Is this the end? The Writer’s Guild of America thinks so, as evidenced by ongoing
ChatGPT vs. human copywriters: Who wins in the end? Read More »
Let’s call him John. For more than a decade, John had cultivated a successful profile and business as a sales educator. He was widely travelled, a keynote speaker and a bestselling author with a decent following. One day, he was offered a job as a marketing director for an international cryptocurrency investment company. He saw
How content marketing can help you ‘clear’ your reputation on Google Read More »
There’s a song by 80’s popstar Shakin’ Stevens called ‘This Old House’, and it goes, “Ain’t got time to fix the shingles, nor to mend no windowpanes’—a shabby house is not a good look. Neither is it a good look when the blogs on your website date back months or even years. It says something
Why your out-of-date blogs are bad for business Read More »