🎶On the 10th Day of PR Christmas, Spin Sucks gave to you 10 PR Metrics to Track, 9 ways to be more productive, 8 communications podcasts, 7 PR pros to follow, 6 SEO tricks, five breakable habits, four productivity tools, three AI experts, two PR trends, and one mindset shift in a pear tree.🎶 The right metrics are those that show you how well the campaigns and strategies in your PESO model communications plan are working. They’ll tell you what you need more of and what you can let go. Here are ...
Dec 17, 2019•12 min•Ep. 81
🎶On the sixth day of Christmas, Spin Sucks gave to you…six SEO tricks, five breakable habits, four productivity tools, three AI experts, two PR trends, and one mindset shift in a pear tree.🎶 Search Engine Optimization, SEO, may seem like magic but it’s an easy skill set to master. Here are six SEO best practices you should incorporate into your communications planning: Use one priority keyword every month in your content and master it before you move on. This includes pitching the media with a...
Dec 10, 2019•15 min•Ep. 80
🎶On the second day of Christmas, Spin Sucks gave to you two PR trends and one mindset shift (in a pear tree).🎶 You can start the new decade on a strong footing by embracing these two trends: creative storytelling and the PESO model. Creative storytelling allows your customers to imagine how miserable life would be without your product or service. Good stories build trust and generate engagement. They help you form relationships with prospects who will then become lifelong customers and brand a...
Dec 03, 2019•13 min•Ep. 79
We should have multiple sources of income to protect our businesses and our personal lives. This means that we should have various revenue streams from several products or services making up our total income. Types of Income Streams for Communications Professionals Consulting is an easy add-on if you provide done-for-you services. This is great for organizations that need someone to teach their internal teams how to deliver a certain result. Memberships and community groups are a great long-term...
Nov 26, 2019•14 min•Ep. 78
As a business owner, an economic downturn is a pretty scary thing and can be hard to predict. However, we’re seeing the same trends today that we saw in 2007 and 2008 and this may be an indication that another downturn is on the horizon. It’s best to be prepared. Here are some things you can expect to see in a recession, and how you can mitigate them: Clients will begin to delay payments. If you anticipate you’ll need access to cash, work with a bank to get a line of credit right away. Companies...
Nov 19, 2019•17 min•Ep. 77
Most large organizations have professional development budgets. The same isn’t true for smaller companies or solopreneurs, so you have to get creative in how you’ll stay up-to-date on the latest trends and industry development, and improve your skills. Your professional development ultimately benefits your clients in many ways. You’ll be able to think in original and creative ways to meet their needs. While it can be time-consuming and expensive, the cost of not doing professional development is...
Nov 12, 2019•17 min•Ep. 76
Women get a lot of advice about how to succeed at work. Much of it conflicting. More of it extraordinarily offensive. On this week's episode of the Spin Sucks Podcast, Gini talks about workplace diversity, why it matters, and what you can do to make sure your workplace is inclusive. She talks about: A brutally terrible "empowerment" training provided by Ernst & Young. Representation of women, and pay disparity at industry events. Improving diversity in politics. How to make changes as an own...
Nov 05, 2019•13 min•Ep. 75
The holidays are fun and not just for kids. Communicators can have fun with the holidays, too. Done well, holiday-themed campaigns can connect you with your audience, generate a lot of engagement and be a good time for everyone. Done poorly, they’re cringe-worthy. Here are some dos and don’ts for creating holiday-themed content campaigns. Do’s Get your community, customers, or audience involved; Make your instructions clear and simple to follow; You and your team should also be involved; Plan we...
Oct 29, 2019•10 min•Ep. 74
Negotiation is uncomfortable. Even for the most confident of us, we worry that things won’t go as intended and we’ll end up with nothing instead of something. It doesn’t have to be that way.
Oct 22, 2019•12 min
Essentially, an app is a piece of software on your mobile device that allows you to perform specific functions. It’s not a full program, but a tool designed to let you to certain things in certain ways.
Oct 15, 2019•14 min
Everything you do shouldn’t be reliant on one lead nurturing tactic. Your PESO model program allows you to reach people at different times of the day or week, in their communication channel of choice. Look at email marketing as one small part of your PESO program.
Oct 08, 2019•7 min
Pop-ups may be annoying to us in the internet marketing industry, but in the real world they’re very effective.
Oct 01, 2019•10 min
It’s been about 9 months since we talked about digital decluttering. How are your resolutions faring? What have you accomplished? Did you slip off the wagon a time or to? Chances are, if you’re human, you haven’t done perfectly. But that’s okay – it happens to the best of us. What is digital decluttering? It’s when you’ve got too much stuff. When your digital environment looks like a 9-year-old’s room after a sleepover. Subscriptions you don’t remember agreeing to, your social media is a jungle,...
Sep 24, 2019•8 min
Dealing with customer complaints has always been a concern for businesses, and more so now with the internet and social media. You want them to come to you to solve their problems, but when they are angry they want the world to know it. Therefore, you should have a policy about how to deal with customer complaints: your customers should know how to contact you if they have a problem, and your customer-facing team members should know what your procedures are and how to apply them.
Sep 17, 2019•14 min•Ep. 68
Everything we read or hear tells us that entrepreneurs should love every moment of their work. Not just love it, but be passionate about it. That’s just not true. Many entrepreneurs spend every waking hour of their day in their business believing that they have to sacrifice everything to be successful and create an environment that employees are successful and happy in. Inevitably, the result is burnout.
Sep 10, 2019•13 min•Ep. 67
Taking a vacation is important for your mental health and work-life balance. It helps you refuel your productivity and creativity. Our brains are not meant to work 24/7: we can't perform at our best when our brains are tired. Taking time off lets your brain rest, plus you come back recharged and ready to solve any challenge.
Sep 03, 2019•10 min
This week on the Spin Sucks podcast, we’re repaying one of our earliest episodes about brand voice. Brand voice has a huge impact on everything from blog posts and videos to your email marketing, which we discussed last week. More than anything else, it’s the guideline that makes our communications consistent! Find out what goes into your brand voice, how to review and audit whether its working for you, and how often you should be revisiting it to make sure it’s still doing what you need it to.
Aug 27, 2019•14 min•Ep. 65
Email isn’t dead! It’s a convenient way to connect with people who care about what you’re sharing. This week we’re talking email, specifically how to write great ones (that don’t suck).
Aug 20, 2019•12 min•Ep. 64
There are days when ideas come faster than you can handle, and then there are the days when every idea you come up with sucks. In today's show we are going to talk about four places you can get content ideas.
Aug 13, 2019•9 min•Ep. 63
Instagram is a powerhouse of a social media platform, and you should take a good long look at using it for your business. Today on the Spin Sucks Podcast, your host, Gini Dietrich talks about why it matters for businesses and the different strategies you can use to engage your audience, teach and inspire your community, showcase your culture and promote your products and services. Instagram can be a strong component of your communications plan, so listen to the episode and tell us what you think...
Aug 06, 2019•11 min•Ep. 62
When you’re running out of bandwidth with your current team, or when it seems like there are plenty of opportunities just out of your grasp if you only had some additional skill sets in the office, hiring can feel like your best option. But sometimes it makes more sense to test the waters by outsourcing some or all of part of your business. That’s what we’re going to talk about on today’s version of the Spin Sucks Podcast: what you can outsource, and when you should do that versus hiring someone...
Jul 30, 2019•9 min•Ep. 61
After a deal is signed, it’s time for onboarding: onboarding is what you do for new clients after they begin services with you. It’s a stage of the relationship it’s important to get right because we’ve all had that experience where you sign the contract, pay the invoice and… nothing happens. It’s disorienting, uncomfortable, and makes you doubt the company you’re dealing with. On today's episode of Spin Sucks, Gini is going to take you through the elements of really excellent onboarding.
Jul 23, 2019•11 min•Ep. 60
This week on the Spin Sucks Podcast, Gini talks about how to integrate your owned and earned media and get the most out of both. Each element of the PESO model works well - but you get more mileage if you integrate them as a comprehensive strategy. This episode covers developing content campaigns that use both earned and owned media, and how to promote them using syndication, social media, content repurposing - and how it can even improve your relationship with other bloggers, journalists and pu...
Jul 16, 2019•9 min•Ep. 59
This week on the Spin Sucks Podcast, Gini talks about those special introductions, often considered the Golden Goose of running a services business. Referrals. They come directly to you. Often highly qualified and already ready to buy. The best way to get referrals is to ask for them - but that can make some business owners uncomfortable. This episode explores how to make asking for and giving referrals fun for everyone. Check it out! And if you like what you hear, don't forget to subscribe and ...
Jul 09, 2019•10 min•Ep. 58
In this episode of the Spin Sucks Podcast, Gini talks about the work involved in providing consistently good customer service over the long haul. It starts with tieing your customer service to the big picture of your company. She covers the importance of setting boundaries, consistently clear communication, ensuring your whole team is on board and being proactive in how and when you reach out to your clients - If you’re a communications pro who works with clients - you’ll want to check out this ...
Jul 02, 2019•12 min•Ep. 57
When you’re the expert, clients, colleagues, friends, and family expect you to know what’s going on in your industry. And you should, but communications is changing so fast, on top of the industries in which we work. So how do you stay updated? Gini shares 5 strategies for keeping up with your industry - without having to spend every waking moment doing it. Technology combined with clever use of curation and talking to people, are methods that will help you stay on top on things.
Jun 25, 2019•7 min•Ep. 56
Fellow listeners, please enjoy this replay of last year's episode #28! When did we stop talking to each other like real people? In our industry, it’s getting hard to sort through all the hype. What’s the difference between a meaningless buzzword and a genuinely useful phrase? Take the term ‘Thought Leadership.’ This is what we’re getting into today, so sit tight because we’re going to be looking at how to synergize the 30,000-foot view to maximize our authenticity. Just kidding.
Jun 18, 2019•11 min•Ep. 55
We’ve been feeling a bit nostalgic since our one-year anniversary episode of the podcast. Which was a great episode, by the way. Our listeners weighed in with some of the amazing things they’ve learned! But back to this week. Coming up in September, we’ll celebrate 13 years of the Spin Sucks blog. Can you believe it? We can’t! Today, we’re time traveling back to the beginning and taking a look at how far we’ve come.
Jun 11, 2019•10 min•Ep. 54
At the end of every year, you can expect every content creator on earth to talk about trends for the coming year. And, at the end of 2018, they all said the same thing (and nothing has changed six months into the year): video. It’s all about video. For everyone. So how do you create video marketing that is timeless in a constantly changing world?
Jun 04, 2019•8 min•Ep. 53
Can you believe it’s already been a year? We’ve had 52 episodes and 52 chances for our listeners to add crucial knowledge to their arsenal, from using content to being productive, and from PESO to SWOT. In today’s episode, we reached out to you, our listeners, and asked what you learned in the past year.
May 28, 2019•12 min•Ep. 52
