Words For Hire

Small Business Saturday

Join the small business community on November 26 to celebrate the 2^nd annual Small Business Saturday®. The day, sponsored nationally by American Express, is designed to support small businesses during the busiest shopping season of the year.

According to the 2011 Small Business Saturday Consumer Spend Survey, 89 million people said they plan to shop “small” Saturday.

According to industry experts there are approximately 27.9 million small businesses in the United States. Many of these businesses are solo businesses with no employees. Shopping small this Saturday is a great way to support your local and online small business communities. When you support small local businesses a greater percentage of the money remains in your local economy.

Shopping small benefits everyone. Shop your local mom and pop business this weekend, support an indie or small business online or take your family out for a meal at a local non-chain restaurant. Your support will go a long way with a small business.

Wondering how you can shop small for big results with Words For Hire this weekend? If you are employed and considering a career change in 2012, take advantage of the Small Business Saturday Special over on my career site or get your business ready for 2012 with a marketing assessment, social media readiness analysis and training, public relations strategy or content management plan. Just fill out the Shop Small contact form at the top right of this page and I will follow up within 24 business hours.

Enjoy Black Friday and Cyber Monday, but I hope that you will also pledge to support at least one small business this weekend. Your small support can make a big difference!

How much do you really know about small business?

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The Wicked Truth about Secrets in Public Relations

I am a fan of the TV show, The Good Wife, and even more so now that the talented Alan Cumming is a regular. Cumming plays Political PR maverick, Eli Gold.

Image by dimitrij via Flickr

In last night’s episode, Gold’s ex-wife came to him seeking help for a planned run for the Senate. As he does before agreeing to represent any political candidate, Gold had the firm’s investigator do a thorough investigation on his ex-wife. Uncovering information of a one-night affair with a relative of Bin Laden, Gold advised his ex-wife not to pursue a run for office.

In the US we have seen the impact that long buried secrets can have on political campaigns. From Watergate to Weinergate we have learned that the truth is not only out there, but these days can be tweeted and bookmarked!

Secrets are not the sole worry of politicians; skeletons in the closet can haunt any business or brand. Gold’s vetting practice is more than made-for-TV drama but a necessary part of Public Relations. Full disclosure is required in order to proactively assess and plan for anything that could damage your brand or hinder your PR efforts. The PR confessional is a sacred place where you can tell all and have an advocate that will work with you to minimize your risk.

Image by Rickydavid via Flickr

In the case of PR what we don’t know can truly hurt you. Costumes that hide your identity or skeletons that fall out of the closet are not only bad for your business but affect the job a PR pro can do for you.

So this Halloween as you plan your 2012 campaigns pick a pro that you can trust and make sure that you take off the mask and deal with them honestly.

Have you ever had to deal with a scandal or potential scandal? What lessons did you learn?

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PR Tips for Small Business

I talk to many small business owners who are not familiar with how PR can work for their business. Some believe that PR is only for large corporations or those who want media attention. Earlier this year I gave a presentation that provides an overview of PR and tips for using it in your business. As we head into the end of 2011, now is a great time to prepare to add PR to your 2012 toolkit. (Note: If the presentation does not load on the page for you click here to view.)

Do your 2012 plans include PR? Why or why not?

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