As a PR professional, ghostwriting is a common task in my daily job. Throughout my time in PR, I’ve ghostwritten pieces including press release quotes, feature articles, blog posts and letters and I’ve learned that ghostwriting is an art. There is a lot more to it than just knowledge of AP Style and a good writing ability.
When ghostwriting, it’s so important to absorb the voice of the person you are writing the article, quote, letter or blog post on behalf of. Follow the point of view and speaking style of that person. Read things he or she has written in the past for inspiration (or other pieces that have been ghostwritten for and approved by him or her). Have a conversation to get an idea of the person’s tone and speaking style. These things will help you craft a piece that sounds like it came from that person. And, always get approval from the “author” before publishing anything.
Personally, I love ghostwriting. It’s enjoyable, it gives me the opportunity to fine tune my writing skills and it allows me to creatively write in a variety of tones, depending on the author.
Recently, I have been working on many projects that entail rigorous record keeping. Having used Microsoft Excel on a daily basis for many years now, I consider myself to be pretty advanced when it comes to spreadsheets. Some people in my office even refer to me as the Sultan of the Spreadsheet (actually, I made that up, but you get the point). But no matter how cocky I get when it comes to manipulating columns and rows, I am always finding new ways of making Excel work harder for me.
Over the next few blog posts, I will highlight some of my favorite tricks that I use to make my Excel experience more efficient and enjoyable, especially in a marketing environment.
Now, most of you are probably saying to yourselves “He’s kidding right? I hide rows and columns in my sleep.” Don’t worry; I will offer some more advanced tips as we go. Regardless, hiding rows and columns is a great way to remove unnecessary clutter on your worksheet without deleting important data. This is often the first step I take when working with a spreadsheet because it simplifies everything after that. Trust me, it may take some time up front, but it will save time in the end.
Tune in to my next two posts where I will uncover some more advanced Excel tricks that I use on a daily basis.
As some of you know, I’m a big fan of Apple products—and a proud owner of an iPhone 4 (I even got it a day before it was released). So, I was quite disappointed to learn of the iPhone 4’s reception problems that many owners are experiencing due to antenna issues. For those of you that haven’t heard about this, you can read about it here.
Apple’s bad press was plastered everywhere, from news sites to blogs to Twitter. Dissatisfied customers voiced their opinions and frustrations; Consumer Reports stated that they can’t recommend the product; Apple’s stock even fell. Although I think it’s mostly internet hype, it’s not the kind of publicity that any company wants.
However, after weeks of minimal response and PR blunders from Apple, the company announced that it would hold a press conference to discuss the issues with the phone and reveal a plan of action to deal with the problem. Speculated solutions included a recall or providing cases to customers. Many thought that a recall was unlikely, given the cost associated with it. Turns out, Apple’s fix is to provide cases to all customers—it will even be offering refunds to customers who already purchased a bumper or a case.
But, I want to know what my loyal B2B Fishbowl readers think. “What would you have done if you were Apple to resolve this issue while attempting to keep your brand name intact?”
I’ve been noticeably absent from B2B Fishbowl blog in recent months. Or, maybe no one has noticed and I have an inflated view of my self worth. But, either way, I’m back and blogging.
Side note: a big shout out to Megan and Tiffany who have kept a constant flow of public relations and social media tips for B2B marketers coming your way
But, I digress. Now that I’m not changing diapers and making bottles 24/7, I’m tasked with bringing you some fascinating insight into B2B PR. And, I’m frankly coming up a little short—apparently “baby brain” lingers for a while after pregnancy.
So, I’ve turned to my trusty brainstorming friend, Google’s Wonder Wheel, to help jumpstart my brain and get me back into the blogging state of mind. And, I thought to myself: “Self, perhaps the followers of B2B Fishbowl don’t know about Wonder Wheel. You should enlighten them.”
Here goes. Wonder Wheel is just plain wondrous, particularly for people who are visual. Wonder Wheel shows related search terms to your current search query in wheel display (see stunning visual below).
Clicking on one of the search terms will open a new wheel of relevant search terms and so on. I find it to be particularly useful when I have a blog idea and want to see what else is out there on the topic. It’s a great tool for online research and to get the neurons firing. To use Wonder Wheel follow these simple steps
Enter your keyword and perform a search.
On the left nav bar, choose “Wonder Wheel” under All Results (if you don’t see it, click on “More Search Tools”).
Now, navigate your way around the relevant keywords and phrases and find more and more and more.
Often in the creative world, we sell our “reaching-the-moon” design concepts to clients. More often than not however, budget permits us to only purchase a telescope. But it is our job as designers to find creative ways to meet and exceed our client’s vision, while working within any guidelines that come with the project.
Lee Morris with fstoppers took on the great task of producing a beautiful and professional photo shoot while limiting himself to only using an iPhone.
I think this video is proof that with a little creativity and hard work we can really stretch how far we can go with our everyday projects. Just because some budgets in the B2B market are not as large, that doesn’t mean we can’t find ways to still accomplish something great and unique.
What other ways do you save time and money without sacrificing the end result?
