Analyze this
Analyzing issues or campaigns is the first big step in truly understanding any communications success or failure. With busy schedules and/or tight client budgets, more often than not, media analysis isn't always carried out. A big investment is being made on gathering the media content, but not on measuring and analyzing the trends, successes, and areas for improvement. Stories are often filed away immediately or distributed to a limited group, never to be looked at again or analyzed at all.

If you're already conducting ongoing media analysis half the battle is won. But if not, you can bet your client or director will demand it soon. New analysis technologies combined with increased expectations to determine communications ROI (Return on Investment) are making analysis a must, not a should.

Once you've determined the need or importance of analysis, what's next? This is where the confusion can set in. As can be expected, everyone has their own definition of how media content should be analyzed based on their own experiences. And usually the issue of PR standards and formulas arise…and that is when things often can come to a stand-still.

But before you get into how you are going to analyze, you must first determine what you're interested in analyzing. Here are a few considerations:

• Track success in key publications and mediums based on demographic suitability
• Evaluate key message penetration in media stories
• Track quality - not just quantity - of coverage
• Determine success vs. competitors
• Success of spokesperson pick-up
• Determine campaign ROI
• Measure advertising equivalency (if you must!)
• Monitor regional penetration comparisons
• Tabulate media impressions/audience numbers
• Compare key i
  Job Search: Age-Proofing Your Resume
  Older job hunters fear interviews where their age cannot be concealed and where an initial response of dismay on an interviewer's face, quickly hidden, confirms their anticipation of discrimination. The mature job seeker often prefers the anonymity of mailed resumes, e-mailed inquiries, internet applications, and telephone contacts.Interviews, however, are the goal of everyone who wants to work. There is so much pre-selection and screening before an interview is granted that simply getting that far in the process provides at least some expectation of an offer being m
  nding any communications success or failure. With busy schedules and/or tight client budgets, more often than not, media analysis isn't always carried out. A big investment is being made on gathering the media content, but not on measuring and analyzing the trends, successes, and areas for improvement. Stories are often filed away immediately or distributed to a limited group, never to be looked at again or analyzed at all.

  If you're already conducting ongoing media analysis half the battle is won. But if not, you can bet your client or director will demand it soon. New analysis technologies combined with increased expectations to determine communications ROI (Return on Investment) are making analysis a must, not a should.

  Once you've determined the need or importance of analysis, what's next? This is where the confusion can set in. As can be expected, everyone has their own definition of how media content should be analyzed based on their own experiences. And usually the issue of PR standards and formulas arise…and that is when things often can come to a stand-still.

  But before you get into how you are going to analyze, you must first determine what you're interested in analyzing. Here are a few considerations:

  • Track success in key publications and mediums based on demographic suitability
  • Evaluate key message penetration in media stories
  • Track quality - not just quantity - of coverage
  • Determine success vs. competitors
  • Success of spokesperson pick-up
  • Determine campaign ROI
  • Measure advertising equivalency (if you must!)
  • Monitor regional penetration comparisons
  • Tabulate media impressions/audience numbers
  • Compare key i
    The Do's and Don'ts of Giving Feedback
    Being able to give effective feedback is not just a good skill to possess in business, it is a great life skill to have. Because when you are masterful at giving feedback, not only can you help your employees to sustain continuously improving performance, you can also improve the performance of the baseball team you coach, the cleaning lady at home, or the performance of your own children on completing their chores. Any person’s performance in any activity can be positively impacted by effective feedback. Isn’t that a powerful skill to have? Wouldn’t you want to be a ma
    y conducting ongoing media analysis half the battle is won. But if not, you can bet your client or director will demand it soon. New analysis technologies combined with increased expectations to determine communications ROI (Return on Investment) are making analysis a must, not a should.

    Once you've determined the need or importance of analysis, what's next? This is where the confusion can set in. As can be expected, everyone has their own definition of how media content should be analyzed based on their own experiences. And usually the issue of PR standards and formulas arise…and that is when things often can come to a stand-still.

    But before you get into how you are going to analyze, you must first determine what you're interested in analyzing. Here are a few considerations:

    • Track success in key publications and mediums based on demographic suitability
    • Evaluate key message penetration in media stories
    • Track quality - not just quantity - of coverage
    • Determine success vs. competitors
    • Success of spokesperson pick-up
    • Determine campaign ROI
    • Measure advertising equivalency (if you must!)
    • Monitor regional penetration comparisons
    • Tabulate media impressions/audience numbers
    • Compare key i
      To Do Or Not To Do, Is Cold Calling a Waster of Time?
      Many would say that cold calling is a waste of time in today’s society. That may be driven from a rather narrow perspective. Cold calling takes a lot of different forms.Years ago it was the young potential entrepreneur wandering the neighborhoods trying to set up appointments for their sales staff. There was some physical danger to this as you never knew what you might encounter at 5 pm in the afternoon. Sometimes the knock on the door could result in lovers running to the door in disheveled clothing, who with a very angry look, learn they been disturbed only to
      inition of how media content should be analyzed based on their own experiences. And usually the issue of PR standards and formulas arise…and that is when things often can come to a stand-still.

      But before you get into how you are going to analyze, you must first determine what you're interested in analyzing. Here are a few considerations:

      • Track success in key publications and mediums based on demographic suitability
      • Evaluate key message penetration in media stories
      • Track quality - not just quantity - of coverage
      • Determine success vs. competitors
      • Success of spokesperson pick-up
      • Determine campaign ROI
      • Measure advertising equivalency (if you must!)
      • Monitor regional penetration comparisons
      • Tabulate media impressions/audience numbers
      • Compare key i
        Paychecks
        An employee’s paycheck ought to be issued on payday. Paychecks are normally made available every two weeks because there are two paydays per month – the 10th and the 25th. If payday happens to fall on a Saturday or any other holiday, then employees get paid on Friday or the previous day, respectively. If payday falls on a Sunday, on the other hand, then payment will be made the Monday after. If that Monday happens to be a holiday, then paychecks are delivered the previous Friday.Paychecks are distributed by the payroll or personnel departments. Paychecks will not b
        >

      • Evaluate key message penetration in media stories
      • Track quality - not just quantity - of coverage
      • Determine success vs. competitors
      • Success of spokesperson pick-up
      • Determine campaign ROI
      • Measure advertising equivalency (if you must!)
      • Monitor regional penetration comparisons
      • Tabulate media impressions/audience numbers
      • Compare key issues and/or product penetration
      • Resulting editorial or other media commentary/letters to the editor

      There are endless ways of analyzing and cross-referencing the information. But you should note that you can accomplish all of the above considerations without getting into confusing PR multipliers or complex formulas. The key is to determine what you're interested in evaluating and create benchmarks for future comparisons. And if you still want to add in PR multipliers you can, as long as you consistently keep to the same formula. So whether you're multiplying by a factor of 3, 5, or 10, the coverage is always being evaluated in a consistent fashion and can therefore be viewed as an unbiased and accurate portrayal.

      Go Electronic, Go Real-Time
      Reviewing the success of a new product launch, the impact of a crisis on your organization, or a monthly comparison after-the-fact can provide valuable insight for future planning. But imagine the change you could make if you have real-time data available to you at your fingertips in an instant. Using real-time data you could monitor:

      • What regions are having the most success and which need attention
      • Misinformation being published so you can correct it
      • Which publications need another follow-up call
      • Which issues are getting the most attention
      • The quality and tone of the coverage
      • The impact on your organization
      • What tactics are working and which aren't
      • How you can piggy-back on recent media trends or competitors' tactics or success

      The benefits of real-time analysis are endless and important. Knowing that you can have a timely affect on the final outcome of a new