media relations – Page 4

Friday Five: Fiscal year faves

Blogger’s note: I know it’s only Thursday. But like many of my fellow Americans, I plan to put away the digital devices for much of the day in order to properly celebrate our nation’s independence.

An early Happy Independence Day to those of you in the U.S. A belated Happy Canada Day to our neighbors to the north. And a belated Happy Fiscal New Year to those of you in higher ed who live your lives by the July 1-June 30 fiscal cycle.

Today’s post is a round-up of my favorite blog posts from the past fiscal year. They may not necessarily be your favorites (judging from the site analytics, more of you visited my list of the best pop and rock albums of all time than you did some of the posts below; apparently you got wind of my exquisite taste in music) but I think they were pretty darn good pieces of writing that may be worth a second look. Plus, these sorts of retrospectives are an easy way to reuse existing content, and that’s what the content marketers and brand journalism experts tell us to do, right? So let’s get with it.

1. Boring old brand-building

I wrote this post nearly a year ago, based on an observation from an old book about branding. Both the book and the observation — that “Brand building is boring work” and “What works best is absolute consistency over an extended period of time” — remain relevant today. And should for as long as brands exist.

2. 3 branding game-changers and how #highered must adapt

This one was my interpretation of a September 2013 study by brand consultancies Wolff Olins and Flamingo (The New Mainstream: Creating a new relationship between people and brands). Here, I tried to show how these three branding game-changers apply to higher education. This post was also the most popular entry for FY14 in terms of visits.

3. Adventures in meme-jacking

Wow.

Very blog.

Much analytic.

Many April.

So Fools’.

Amaze.

My attempt to describe the short-lived but very fun social media sensation that was our university’s 2014 April Fools’ Day web joke.

4. Media relations in a disintermediated world

Heavy navel-gazing about the future of media relations. This led to a presentation delivered at a regional PRSA conference last month, and to a HigherEdLive.com conversation on the topic of disintermediation in university advancement the month before. I’ll probably be discussing disintermediation again in September at the Aggregate Conference in Louisville, Kentucky.

5. 5 proven, mind-blowing ways to get people to read your blog

You won’t believe what happens next.

Bonus link: Friday Five: Marketing lessons from the Beatles

Hey. I can’t hide my love away from this post about what marketing lessons we can learn from the Fab Four. This was posted on the eve of the 50-year anniversary of the Beatles’ first Ed Sullivan Show appearance.

Friday Five: @JimLukaszewski’s personal action plan from #PRSAMDC

Jim Lukaszewski (photo via www.prsamdc.com) — Jim Lukaszewski (photo via http://www.prsamdc.com)

I’m very glad I was able to attend a portion of the Public Relations Society of America’s 2014 PRSA Midwest District Conference in Springfield, Missouri, on Thursday. I’m especially happy that I was able to hear kickoff keynote speaker Jim Lukaszewski’s terrific presentation on gaining influence. Jim is head of the Lucaszewski group and a big name in the PR and crisis communications fields. He shared a lot of knowledge and great ideas with us today. But the best takeaway of Jim’s talk, for me, was his five-step personal action plan. (And wouldn’t you know it? Those five steps fit perfectly with this blog’s Friday Five format.)

Since Jim so graciously shared his wisdom with us, I don’t think he’d mind my freely passing it along to all of you. It’s a pretty good template that I think would apply to fields outside of PR, marketing, branding and strategic communications. So even if you’re not in the PR, marketing or branding business, you might find Jim’s plan adaptable to your vocation — and/or your life outside of work.

Jim Lukaszewski’s five-step personal action plan

Broaden your interests. In the context of the PRSA conference, Jim asked us to “Broaden your interest beyond the media.” Our organizations’ leaders have broader interests. So should we.
Teach yourself to ask these five questions at the end of every day:
1. What do I know now that I didn’t know at the start of this day?
2. What is the most important thing I’ve learned or witnessed today?
3. What is the most interesting thing I’ve learned or witnessed today?
4. Who did I help today (and how)?
5. What new questions came up today that I need to find the answers to?
Teach others. Along those lines, Jim also suggests we find compliment those who learn from us. Beyond that, we should strive to find someone to compliment and write that person a personal, handwritten note. He strives to do this three times per month.
Study leadership. Read biographies or books about leaders who interest you, regardless of their field or discipline. But don’t limit your study to books. Study the leaders around you, including those in your organizations and in organizations you’re affiliated with (as a volunteer, for example).
Do and say things that matter. Jim suggests we learn to moderate the suggestions we make to those who seek our counsel. We should keep our advice “simple, sensible, positive and constructive,” and make sure it helps our leaders achieve their objectives as well as the objectives of our organizations.

A good plan — for work and for life.

Follow Jim Lukaszewski on Twitter at @JimLukaszewki.