The internet has made it so you and I can’t handle a bunch of things. Chief among these are large blocks of text.

On the web, we want pictures, videos, anything that is quick, easy and can be digested without a taxing amount of focus. You’d think a medium that prioritizes this kind of content would be the last place we’d go for substantive knowledge, but it is, for most of us most of the time, the first.

Our intolerance for fat chunks of words has been a boon for infographics, photo slideshows and listicles. It’s about the latter that I want to talk today.

Here, in listicle format, are 9 things you should know about listicles:

1. Science has shown that listicles are the literary equivalent of a $20 bag of crack rock.
2. The top 3 posts on this site are listicles.
3. The first known listicle was first created in the Philistine Pentapolis circa 1100 BC. It was titled 25 Reasons to Hate Reading.
4. This relic now sits in the editor’s office at Cosmo.
5. The word listicle is a portmanteau of list and article. Saying the word portmanTOE at a party may impress (but it also may get you punched in the face).
6. Listicles are an excellent way to write if you’re not good at writing.
7. There have been more listicles written regarding tips for PR/marketing than on any other subject in the history of humanity.
8. Most PR and marketing still sucks.
9. In Sentinelese, the language of the most isolated tribe on Earth, the word “listicle” means “candy ass.”

Happy listicle writing my friends!

Cinco de Mayo has roots in a  Little Guy (Mexico) saying “screw you” to a bunch of Big Guys (Spain, England and France over debt, and then whupping the French on the battlefield.

Everyone loves an unlikely victory, especially at Proper Propaganda.

Happy Cinco de Mayo and here’s to Little Guys with gumption and cojones.

Lots of client work thus far in 2013.

It has me thinking that many PR pros (including me) are slightly deluded. This is because as a profession, at an aggregate level, we have a weak grasp of business fundamentals, and are beholden to silly metrics re the impact of our labours.

In short, collectively, we talk a lot of shit. Our clients know what they want. Often, however, there’s a disconnect between their wishes, and what we want them to want.

Here are 6 things your clients probably want from you:

1. To be told what to say. They already kinda know, but they want a second opinion and to learn how to spit it clearly.
2. To get media coverage. Some in our biz are “so beyond media relations” but really, face it, most firms still pay the rent via generating media coverage.
3. To know what you are up to. Our little agency has spent more time sharing process details with clients this year. The result has been FAR smoother operations.
4. To deal with fallout if it happens. When the shit hits, you need to guide the client through the cleanup and mea culpa. They may not listen, but you better know how to do it.
5. To increase their bottom line. Maybe they want FB followers, retweets and shares, however mostly they want cash. More cash back than they are paying for your brain. Much more.
6. Coherent statements re impact. This one’s where most of us go wrong. We aren’t cheap though, so….

What do you think?

The title of this post is pretty self explanatory so I won’t waste time on some flowery introduction.

Here are 5 annoying trends that need to die – and quick!

1. Apple worship. I love Apple products. You probably do, too. But let’s face it, if the company were a person you might not want to invite it over for dinner or help it move a couch. Lest we forget, Apple’s corporate culture was forged by a guy who was equal parts genius and prick.
2. Proclamations of “death”. Try to guess which one of the following is true:  The web browser is dead. Print media is dead. Radio is dead. My grandmother is dead. Did you get it right?
3. Disrespect for old media. I read fewer blogs than ever before – especially blogs about PR and social media. It boils down to two things. One, I think many of them sound the same. Two, the people who write them have this annoying disdain for traditional media. The New York Times, the CBC, the BBC, etc, are bastions of real journalism and have primary reporting built into their DNA. We need these institutions much more than we need the zillions of crappy blogs out there that just happen to get mad page views.
4. The deification of bacon. Advocates of salted pig tend to have a deep love for it. But for God’s sake can we stop exalting bacon to hipster heaven?!? Besides, eating it with any sort of frequency will cause your ass to inflate to the size of a hot air balloon.
5. Exclamation points everywhere. The fact that you’ve received the expense report for my latest business trip to Cedar Rapids does not require an exclamation point! I’m also so very pleased we had a great middle management meeting, but does it really require three exclamation points!!! This most abused form of punctuation needs a break in the form of a return to sanity. How effing perky do we need to be?

You must have thoughts to add. Can you do so in the comments, please?

Organizations should be forgiven for struggling with the question of whether to blog or not. Face it, not every company needs a blog as, done wrong, regular blogging can be a low ROI pain in the butt.

However, current students of PR are making a serious mistake if they’re not blogging. Bold statement, I know. Let me support my firm contention by outlining 5 reasons every PR student should blog:

1. Blogs are superb proof points. Anytime I’m looking to hire someone to help at my consultancy the first thing I check out is their blog. It allows me to see what a prospective hire thinks about the craft. Whether I agree with their opinions or not is usually irrelevant. That they have opinions based on logical reasoning is always VERY relevant. A blog allows an employer to discern far more about a person than a resume ever could.
2. Blogs take work and discipline. Blogs require upkeep which takes effort. Maintaining a blog tells me that a prospective hire is willing to take invest the effort required to research subjects and produce content. It says they care about getting better at PR and possess some self discipline. As an employer, those are exactly the traits I want to see in young people.
3. Blogging teaches you to think like a publisher. In 2013, every organization – every client – is a media outlet. Guiding clients (and getting them to pay for things like content marketing services) means PR pros have to be able to think like publishers. Nothing gets you thinking like a publisher more than publishing. Simple, right?
4. Regular publishing hones key PR skills. Most blogs are still text based. That’s good, because in PR writing well is a must. I guarantee, writing regular blog posts will make you better with words. If video’s your thing, then video blog. Again, it’s a fail safe way to improve your skills as a content creator.
5. Blogging exposes you to new ideas. Another benefit of regular blogging is that it tends to make you consume more content. Why? Because  inspiration requires exposure to other ideas. This is why writers are readers. I want to hire readers. People who are up on industry trends – regardless of their age – will make my business better.

I spent a bunch of time in school, and know that students have full plates. However, if you’re currently studying PR, blogging is an investment in your future; one that will payoff when you need to get a job. If you only have time to post once a week, or every ten days, that’s fine. The key is to be out there and learn by doing.

Anything to add? Please do so in the comments.

Where I live, many people returned to work yesterday. Some started last week, but because of the way the Holidays fell this year a lot of people decided to take extra time off.

If you’re just back at it, don’t be too dismayed by the “Holiday Brain” you might be experiencing. I started working last week and it was darn hard. I was totally unmotivated, couldn’t focus and was generally dumber than I already am. It gets easier (as we all know).

Those just back it might be thinking about how to deploy marketing resources this year. It’s an important question, one that has a lot to do with your business’ eventual bottom line.

They say when you have a hammer everything tends to look like a nail. So, being a PR guy who loves content marketing and the social web, maybe I’m biased about the power of earned media. However, with mucho conviction, I want to tell you that earned media should be the key cornerstone of your marketing communications program in the coming year.

Here are 4 ways earned media can help build your biz in 2013:

1. Trust building. The explosion in the amount of messages we’re exposed to each day has thrust earned media to the forefront of marketing. You still may need to consider buying that billboard or those radio spots but, increasingly, reputable data suggests that people place trust in third party endorsements more than media your biz can purchase . Whether it is the opinion of a close friend, or a review in a newspaper, modern humans love and seek third party validation.
2. Reaching new customers. You might have a monster blog and a large audience that hangs on your every word. Alas, the chances of this are not that strong. Earned media coverage – particularly in those boring ass “traditional” media outlets the social media ninjas often decry – will expose you to people who don’t know about you. It’s a numbers game.
3. Energizing your biggest fans. The social web has allowed content to get further than was ever possible. That hit in the New York Time you scored, has legs today. Post it to Facebook, send it to your email list and watch those who love you go ape. It’s very cool. Nowadays, you can take snapshots of when your fans go nuts over a big earned media hit and turn them into sponsored posts or tweets to get even more value and reach.
4. Syndication means more returns from earned media.  Todd Defren, one of the smartest people in PR, has talked about this a lot recently in the context of convergence. There now exist a variety of services that will take content you earned (or created) and syndicate it to audiences who care via sites that matter. As Defren has suggested, this is a watershed for the craft of PR; one that only increases the power and importance of earned media.

So, whether you hire an agency or take a course, putting resources into PR and earned media is a good idea in 2013.

Before Christmas, I met with a few of the fine people who teach courses in McGill University’s PR certificate program.

We talked about a variety of things, including me making a few guest appearances in some of their classes. Very exciting stuff, as I love speaking and will, I am sure, learn a lot from the students and the experience.

The group I met with stressed the need for practicality in PR schooling, and acknowledged that elements of the craft are really only learned on the job (hence McGill’s focus on getting students into internships).

The conversation got me thinking about what skills give today’s PR students an edge.

Certain abilities will always be needed to carry out successful PR. For instance, writing and managing relationships will always remain integral. If empathy is the ability to put oneself in another’s shoes, I submit that this is – for now and the foreseeable future – the most important skill for any PR pro (or marketer).

However, new realities mean that aptitudes once dubbed relevant for “others” now give budding PR pros a leg up.

Here are 3 such skills:

1. Writing code. I confess I haven’t ever written a line of code. It would be handy to know how! The incredible explosion of mobile has some saying HTML5 will be an essential skill PR pros. Time will tell. However, there are now many great courses on coding available online. Taking one will give you a knowledge base that will impress the older flacks who seek to hire new web savvy blood.
2. Shooting and editing video (well). A few years ago the Flip Cam took PR by storm. My bet is the GoPro camera will be the next rage. Cameras will come and go but the need for quickly produced, well edited video is only going to increase. If you’re young and coming up you NEED to know how to shoot and cut up footage. If you get an interview and are good, I’d suggest showing a prospective employer samples of your video work.
3. The ability to turn off and focus. Feels kinda funny to write that. However, if you’re a millenial, know that older people (even people my age – I’m 36) probably assume you have no attention span. You grew up with the web, you’ve had a mobile device in your hand for all of your adult life, and as a generation you’ve got a collective rep of having the attention span of a gnat. Regardless of perceptions, being able to turn off the phone, ply yourself away from IM and social media is important. Turning off has become a skill in the digital age; like any skill it requires honing.

That’s it for me. Perhaps you have things to add?

Editor’s note: the above was the headline of a press release I really wanted to send out over the web. Alas, the good folks at PRWeb would not let me on the grounds that it was nonsense. I get their position but I had fun writing it, and there’s merit to using lighter releases in any DIY PR program. I like (and highly recommend) PRWeb, but I kinda wish they’d have allowed for lighter stuff. I could have written some boring ass, corporate sounding release about a limited time discount on the course (BTW – there is no discount as this release never went out). However, I tried to make it a little different.

Anyway, the content of the release is below. And no, for you AP/CP style Nazis, I have not bothered to maintain style guidelines here (it is my blog, after all).

The image was drawn for me by the talented Laura Sirois.

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Limited time discount on online DIY PR course for startups and small businesses provokes air assault by reindeer and buildup of elfin army

(Montreal, Quebec) –  Reindeer rained wave after wave of sugar plum bombs on MakePR’s offices, as Santa’s elite Elfin Guard continued to gather at a nearby Metro Station for what looks like an inevitable ground assault on the company’s headquarters.

Santa’s rare display of bellicosity stems from anger about being shown up by the online PR course provider.

“I’m the gift guy, goddamit!” said Santa Claus from his North Pole redoubt. “Now this upstart, MakePR, is making me look bad. Their online course for startups and small businesses is chock full of value, cannot be built by elves in a sweatshop, and is too reasonably priced for me to compete.”

For years, Santa was the leading provider of Christmas presents to startup founders and small business owners. Alas, he’s fallen on hard times since the November launch of MakePR. The 8 part integrated program of study has given startups and small businesses the power to generate earned media coverage on their own, without the help (or cost) of PR pros. No part of the program was created by Santa or his elves (though many thought leaders from the worlds of PR and journalism make appearances).

“All we wanted to do was empower startups and small businesses with the techniques PR pros charge an arm and a leg for. Who knew Santa would get crazy and command his reindeer and elves to attacks our offices. Seems the fat guy is not all that jolly after all.” said a visibly shaken Jackson Wightman, creator of MakePR, from a hastily built sugar plum shelter.

Taking a page out of NATO’s bombing of Kosovo in the 1990s, Santa’s attack on MakePR began with a surgical air assault on December 10th. The preemptive airstrike coincided with rumours about MakePR’s decision to offer a Holiday discount for its online PR course.

“What the hell can I do?” said Wightman during a respite from the bombing runs.

“MakePR’s not a state, so the UN has told me to go to hell. The Canadian Army and Montreal police force have also said they’re loathe to repel an attack by Santa because he’s a global icon and kids love him. I get it! I’m in PR!”

Wightman promised to keep fighting the good fight on behalf of small businesses and startups who need alternatives to costly PR pros.

“We won’t be deterred by Santa, his much hyped elf army, or the fact that our office is buried under sugar plums. Similar to the Viet Kong, blows by a stronger opponent only harden our resolve. To this end, we’re offering a limited time promo code that is valid until December 15th. Startups and small businesses should go to www.makepr.net/register and enter the promo code ATTACKOFSANTA to save $100 bucks on the cost of the course,” said a defiant Wightman.

While there is no telling when MakePR’s offices will cave in under the weight of sugar plums, there is total certainty regarding the expiration of the significant discount on MakePR’s program for startups and small businesses. That happens December 15th.

For more information or to conduct an interview with MakePR’s founder Jackson Wightman please call (514) 605 9255. Hopefully he won’t have been cut down by elves.

Media Contact:

Jackson Wightman
Founder
(514) 605 9255
info@makepr.net

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MakePR is a Montreal based company that teaches small businesses how to get media coverage without the help of high priced Public Relations professionals. Founded by Jackson Wightman, owner of Communications agency Proper Propaganda, MakePR endeavors to help small businesses save money and increase their revenues. Registration in MakePR’s 8 lesson, integrated program regularly costs $498, a fraction of the fees PR pros charge for just a month’s worth of work.

I know some of you are PR pros. Some aren’t. In either case, I am proud to say that MakePR, the online course I created to help startups and small businesses do their own PR is now ready to go.

If you’re a small biz owner and have been thinking about the things favourable media coverage can do for your business or whether DIY PR is realistic, this is the time to act. If you’re a PR pro and know of organizations that can’t afford you but would benefit from learning how to generate earned media, please let them know about the course.

MakePR, is now on sale for $398. As of December 1 the price is going up to $498. In other words, there are just two days left to save $100 and give a small business an early Xmas gift. Just click here to register and save, right now.

If you’ve wondered about the power of earned media you might want to check out the video below. Entrepreneurs from various sectors chat about how PR stacks up as a marketing channel. If you cannot see this video, click here.

Again, folks can register for MakePR by going here. But do it now, because the price goes up by $100 as of December 1.

DIY PR is possible, and any startup or small business will benefit from this course. I promise!

If you’re a startup or small business that’s decided to go the DIY route with your PR, you need to understand the realities of today’s media universe.

While there’s some truth in oft-heard platitudes like “The media world is undergoing massive change,” there’s a bit more to it.

Here are 7 things any startup or small biz undertaking DIY PR should know about the media:

1) More media than ever. Though some North American cities don’t have a daily newspaper anymore, the volume of media has exploded in recent years. By the end of 2011 there were over 181 million blogs(up from only 36 million 5 years earlier), according to Nielsen. As of April 2012, Tumblr alone hosts over 50 million blogs and houses over 20 billion blog posts.

2) Less resources for everyone. Traditional media don’t have the resources they used to, and the “new” media – who are often armies of one or a few – will NEVER have the resources once possessed by their “old media” counterparts.

This means that as a startup or small business owner you need to make it easy for media to cover you. It begins by understanding what is newsworthy, having a compelling story, being available to media and having ready to go assets they can use.

3) The beast is hungry. All media have become markedly more “content hungry” as a result of the social web. There’s real pressure to feed the beast, and keep content fresh. It’s no easy feat in light of the media resource crunch currently going on.

There’s a silver lining here for startups and small businesses: if you understand media and know how to do PR you’re in a great position to score coverage. This is especially true if you can approach media with content that they can repackage or republish easily.

4) Errors happen. The media – like the rest of us – are prone to making mistakes. However, the media’s propensity to make mistakes is not going to decline in a content hungry world where both “old” and “new” outlets lack resources.

As a business owner, you need to try and give media succinct and clear information that mitigates errors. You also must be forgiving and understand that minor mistakes in a piece are not the end of the world. If you’re startup lands a piece in the local paper and the reporter spells your CEO’s name wrong, cut him some slack – the article in the paper is still going to do lots of good for you.

5) Old media still matter. PR – specifically media coverage – is a great way to build credibility. And while there’s no doubt that web based outlets like TechCrunch or Vitamin Daily are viewed as credible, old school media brands like the Toronto Star or CBC have built their reputations over the years and have serious cachet.

Old media coverage tends to impress when shared on the social web and usually exposes a business to a wider audience swath than a blog or speciality website (yes, there are exceptions, so take this as a general rule).

6) The differences between journalists and bloggers. There’s a lot of confusion around the words “journalist” and “blogger.” Want an easy way to tell the difference? A journalist answers to an editor and gets paid to produce content, whereas a blogger answers to their audience and may or may not get paid for their work. Note also, journalists are often bound by specific codes of ethics while bloggers are not (though many claim to be).

7) Most journalists go into journalism because it’s a calling. Ninety-nine percent of professional journalists don’t take home Anderson Cooper-esque paycheques. Journalism involves long hours for low pay – a situation that’s not going to change with radio, newspaper and TV outlets experiencing declining revenues. Most journalists are drawn to their work because they view it as a higher calling and/or essential to society. Practically speaking, this means you mustn’t craft pitches to media that sound like ads for your company or product. Those go straight to the trash folder.

In sum, remember that you CAN get media coverage for your business. Just be aware of the world media work in and craft your offerings accordingly.