As an executive of an organization, who do you believe your key stakeholders are? Who would be number one on that list? In any organization, employees should be the number one audience. The most successful organizations are those with engaged employees who are involved in frequent two-way dialogue with leadership throughout the organization and giv…

Organizations spend a lot of money each year to develop their image, brand reputation and messaging for their key audiences. But there comes a point when leadership wonders if what they are communicating is actually being received as intended by their audiences. Achieving success by re-enforcing your brand begins with research. We often conduct qua…

As public relations professionals, a lot of what we do involves managing an organization’s reputation. For the most part, the more media attention your organization receives, the more your stakeholders will recognize you. But visibility isn’t enough. It’s the content of news stories that determines whether your audiences will have a favorable impre…

Communicating with employees and building a culture with the right balance of employee satisfaction and strong work ethic isn’t easy. And there’s no single formula or trick for this. But there is one strategy that continues to be preached and implemented successfully: include your employees in conversations about your business. This doesn’t mean te…

Lots of people in many organizations across the world try to find some connection between their organization and a holiday in order to get news coverage for their company, products or services. The problem is, most of those people don’t dig deep to figure out a very specific, unique, interesting, valuable and – most of all – newsworthy angle for th…

I’d rather miss the opportunity to say something because I took too long to speak up, than regret saying something before thinking about it. A lesson I’ve learned the hard way. Over and over again. Less frequently as I continue to practice this important discipline, but it still happens – to all of us. We live in a society that moves so quickly, th…

I attend a lot of events for our public relations clients. Sure, I attend when necessary to perform specific tasks related to my work on their behalf, such as for press events and media coverage. But I also try to attend our client’s annual celebrations, and events where they are recognized. Clients have always verbalized their appreciation when I …

As a small, local business it’s important to build relationships within the local community. But as a small, local business there isn’t always time to build and nurture individual relationships. Sending mass emails to the news media, government agencies and community leaders has become the norm – yet it’s the one of the least effective ways to actu…

One of the great freedoms when you create or run your own company is that you don’t have to report to anyone. But in reality, we all work for someone. The best leaders view their customers, employees, business partners, and community organizations as the key audiences they serve. And they also have a small group of trusted advisors who provide guid…

Key checklists are needed by successful business leaders. They help keep us on track and focused. Without them, a successful year in business is really just dumb luck. In this edition of the Strategic Minute, Michael Meath discusses how this “checklist” approach to plans for strategy, budgets, marketing and operations will enable you to think ahead…