Some PR and Marketing Tips

As much as I was excited about changing the theme of this blog I’ve had trouble with coming up with content. So I decided to go through some new PR stuff that I’m doing make some announcements about Picklehelm and talk about some projects that I’m working on.

1. Have a “schtick”
By that I mean do things that make you unique. The modern market is so crowded with products and services people are more liable to just do nothing rather than buy in.

2. Be everywhere
Its tough to do this but the way people interact with brands in the mobile 21st century you have to beon twitter, facebook, tumblr, pinterest, all of them. You never know when or how people might interact with your brand so you have to be near the people when they are reafy to interact with your brand.

3. Know who and what you are
The final thing you will want to make sure you do is clearly articulate your message to your audience. Obviously this means that you need to know who they are and what that is. I think Ive done a post on branding that tells you how to do that but I will have to refresh everyone on how to create your brand.

So now that we’re done with that a word about my projects.

Picklehelm is doing pretty well all things considered. We have our ups and downs but overall we’re movingg in a positive direction.

Denver Fashion Week is really expanding at a great rate. We are partnering with Lucire magazine, a international magazine, to help us do PR and marketing as well as helping us find new designers for our shows. The website for fashion week will be up soon.

New Culture Group is a great partner with Picklehelm and things have been tough but they are improving. I’m really ready for things to take off there.

Fashion is really coming along, I have most of my drawings done now I need my final fabrics and such. I’m also looking for fabrics and patterns for my custom mens shirt line. So fashion is slow but coming along. I recently took back over Azur Model Management so I will be getting back into the model game which is fun and a business I know how to run.

Thats all for now

Public Relations Tips

PR is getting alot harder these days. With the advent of social media reaching my customers is really easy but now I have some new concerns. One is making sure that my staff say things that help the brand and trying to managed our overall corporate brand. Back in the day, controlling your corporate message was easy because all the messaging was controlled by the advertising and marketing department. The corporate message was planned and carefully managed. In 2012 corporate messaging is done by every person that talks about your brand on facebook, twitter, tumblr, and elsewhere. Controlling your brand is alot harder. One of the things that I did was to set standards of social media use and social media etuquette. I can say that it really helped change my staff for the better. Here are a few suggestions on how to better manage your PR:

1. Manage blog comments and social media comments

2. Set a message and articulate it to your staff first and then the public

3. Set standards for social media behavior (don’t air the dirty laundry online)

4. Don’t be afraid of what people say about you (manage whats serious and let the rest go)

Hopefully this all helps.

A soldier’s letter

Here is an email letter circulating the Internet. The validity is still to be determined but the point is still clear.

This venerable and much honored WW II vet is well known in Hawaii
for his seventy-plus years of service to patriotic organizations and causes
all over the country. A humble man without a political bone in his body,
he has never spoken out before about a government official, until now.
He dictated this letter to a friend, signed it and mailed it to the president.

Dear President Obama,

My name is Harold Estes, approaching 95 on December 13 of this year. People meeting me for the first time don’t believe my age because I remain wrinkle free and pretty much mentally alert.

I enlisted in the U.S. Navy in 1934 and served proudly before, during and after WW II retiring as a Master Chief Bos’n Mate. Now I live in a “rest home” located on the western end of Pearl Harbor, allowing me to keep alive the memories of 23 years of service to my country.

One of the benefits of my age, perhaps the only one, is to speak my mind, blunt and direct even to the head man.

So here goes.

I am amazed, angry and determined not to see my country die before I do, but you seem hell bent not to grant me that wish.

I can’t figure out what country you are the president of.

You fly around the world telling our friends and enemies despicable lies like:

” We’re no longer a Christian nation”

” America is arrogant” – (Your wife even

announced to the world,”America is mean-

spirited. ” Please tell her to try preaching

that nonsense to 23 generations of our

war dead buried all over the globe who

died for no other reason than to free a

whole lot of strangers from tyranny and

hopelessness.)

I’d say shame on the both of you, but I don’t think you like America, nor do I see an ounce of gratefulness in anything you do, for the obvious gifts this country has given you. To be without shame or gratefulness is a dangerous thing for a man sitting in the White House.

After 9/11 you said,” America hasn’t lived up to her ideals.”

Which ones did you mean? Was it the notion of personal liberty that 11,000 farmers and shopkeepers died for to win independence from the British? Or maybe the ideal that no man should be a slave to another man, that 500,000 men died for in the Civil War? I hope you didn’t mean the ideal 470,000 fathers, brothers, husbands, and a lot of fellas I knew personally died for in WWII, because we felt real strongly about not letting any nation push us around, because we stand for freedom.

I don’t think you mean the ideal that says equality is better than discrimination. You know the one that a whole lot of white people understood when they helped to get you elected.

Take a little advice from a very old geezer, young man.

Shape up and start acting like an American. If you don’t, I’ll do what I can to see you get shipped out of that fancy rental on Pennsylvania Avenue. You were elected to lead not to bow, apologize and kiss the hands of murderers and corrupt leaders who still treat their people like slaves.

And just who do you think you are telling the American people not to jump to conclusions and condemn that Muslim major who killed 13 of his fellow soldiers and wounded dozens more. You mean you don’t want us to do what you did when that white cop used force to subdue that black college professor in Massachusetts, who was putting up a fight? You don’t mind offending the police calling them stupid but you don’t want us to offend Muslim fanatics by calling them what they are, terrorists.

One more thing. I realize you never served in the military and never had to defend your country with your life, but you’re the Commander-in-Chief now, son. Do your job. When your battle-hardened field General asks you for 40,000 more troops to complete the mission, give them to him. But if you’re not in this fight to win, then get out. The life of one American soldier is not worth the best political strategy you’re thinking of.

You could be our greatest president because you face the greatest challenge ever presented to any president.

You’re not going to restore American greatness by bringing back our bloated economy. That’s not our greatest threat. Losing the heart and soul of who we are as Americans is our big fight now.

And I sure as hell don’t want to think my president is the enemy in this final battle.

Sincerely,

Harold B. Estes

Obamanos

So is it just me or is the whole country tired of the Obama administration? Healthcare is dead in the water, jobs are still nowhere to be found, and the economy continues to languish. The wars are making little progress towards a pull out and due to the surge on both fronts the wars are getting worse rather than better. Across the board I give Mr. Obama an A for effort but an F for results. Although there were great expectations for this man he has failed to deliver on the largest points he was pushing for in the campaign. What is even worse is he keeps staying in front of the people and keeps trying to use his popularity and charisma to carry the day considering his results are lacking.

There were only two things I was hoping for this presidential administration and that was an economic recovery and a major draw down for the war.  Unfortunately, he has managed neither so as far as I’m concerned he is the Great Disappointment.

Its the Olympics this week and I have to extend my condolences to the family of that poor man from Georgia who died on the Luge track in Whistler. Feel free to follow all the athletes at NBC.com of course and make sure to watch as the finals draw near!

Recent Comments on the State of the Union

So Mr. Obama have a state of the Union speech. How cute. The man is actually doing something the constitution says he should do. I certainly hope he doesnt turn it into a habit…

So you noticed that I deliberately didnt bother writing a huge post about the speech. All we seem to hear from the man is speeches, very nice very well written speeches. His speech writers should be given pulitzers.

Here what I said on yahoo in response to their article about the affair:
Here is what I would like to know: when is the man actually going to do anything? I am registered republican and I voted for this man because I felt the operation was falling apart and so I decided to help get this man in charge and I helped Colorado go blue in the last election. I was hoping he would do a few things, end the war, close our prisoner camps, he would provide and environment for our economy to improve rapidly. Its January 2010 and not one of those things has happened.

The other thing I noticed the other day is that he alot of people are watching a distinct move to the center and his pandering to republicans. I find this funny because the democrats still have majorities in the Congress but one of two things is clear: either 1 they see the writing on the wall that the american people are going to “throw the bastards out” and they are trying to save their own seats in Congress in the hopes that they can save face.

Healthcare is on life Support according to the infamous Senator Dodd. I don’t mean to anger my friends who are without healthcare but considering the worthless atrocity that the bill is turning into. Its a good thing everyone…like Martha Stewart, Hot Cocoa, warm blankets and puppies.

The new year, no posts, and healthcare

Sorry about so few posts in these last few weeks, between the holidays and an explosion of new clients on the business side in the new year it has been crazy around here. So I’m finally trying to get this blog back underway. The holidays were great with the family and all and I went to Denver to watch the fireworks for New Year’s which was alot of fun with my friends. Thanks to the People’s Press Collective for featuring me. The new decade and the new year pose several challenges for we as a people and the law makers in Congress. The economy is still in the tank with unemployment on the rise and what appears to be very little recovery. Also, the Haiti crisis is the first Humanitarian disaster of the new administration and aid is arriving slowly by any means necessary and the Haitian recovery is happening very slowly as well. The U.S. spearheaded the efforts in Haiti but things are still going slowly. I find it funny about how the news media is making excuses for the Obama administration. The same difficulties that workers faced in New Orleans due to Hurricane Katrina are similar to earthquake ravaged Haiti and no one is lampooning Obama for having a lackluster response. I also laughed that President Obama invited the 42nd and 43rd presidents (Thats Clinton and Bush before you google it) to the White House to help lead the fundraising effort in a bipartisan effort.

Well the voters of Massachusetts have voted leaving Martha Coakley out in the electoral cold. Many feel that it is a referendum on President Obama and the democrats in Congress. Clearly Americans, even in ultra liberal Massachusetts are not happy with what the democrats have been up to. This is good news to my ears because it means healthcare is going to fail and that is a very good thing. This healthcare bill as it stands leaves 12 million people still uninsured and that means it is far from universal. Also, now isn’t exactly the time to be spending alot of money which also brings up the great point that President Obama requested 31 Billion dollars for education. Besides the 80 Billion dollars for Healthcare the United States is headed towards a debt crisis as the debt skyrockets towards 10 trillion dollars.

I’ll be talking more about the economy in an article for Associated-Content but in short our economy is in transition and re-education of the populace among other things is going to take some time.  I’ll be expounding on that more later. I’ll be talking about major news stories later on this week.

I also write for Bright Hub and Suite 101 now so I’ll be talking about those article as they are released.

Healthcare…..

I hope our universal healthcare doesn’t have these results and I sincerely hope that we can finally do something about these veterans. This poor man killed himself and frankly, the government has blood on its hands…

 

READ ABOUT IT HERE

WH crashers and much more

I am surprised that I am ever talking about this considering its been the talk to the internet, talk radio and a very bored CNN since tuesday. But I felt obliged to give it some blog time. So these two people who apparently are pretty high society in Virginia and they got into the white house but were not on the guest list. The went through the standard protocols but the fact that they got in when they were not supposed apparently has embarrassed the Secret Service.  They probably paid somebody. NEXT!

Wal-mart defeats the unions

A Canadian high court ruled that Walmart was within its rights to close a Quebec store after the employees unionized. Walmart contended that they the store was failing and that it was going to close the store anyway and did so just as they were trying to hammer out a collective agreement. Apparently, and I did not know this, but Walmart has unionized bakery and restaurant workers in Mexico. This is certainly a defeat for the organized labor movement. You can read the rest here.

Dubai Falls Down

The city-state has been the focus of emerging market investment and a center of excessive and extravagant growth. Money poured into this stable and conservative city state but over the weekend Dubai World announced that it will have trouble paying 60 Billion US dollars in debt. People flocked to the US dollar in currency markets and while no American banks are worried about the Dubai situation since their exposure is very slight. You can read more about that here.

Black Friday

So shopping is in full force for Christmas. I will be doing my christmas shopping late which is not my usual but the money situation dictates otherwise. I’d like to have a place to live for another month! All the same though receipts were up and retailers slashed prices in hopes of making sales and most did very well. You can read more about extravagant American materialism here.

That’s it here on the blogosphere.

Healthcare Marches On

The debate begins in the Senate on the House Healthcare bill. At 2,097 pages it is definitely volumunous at best. Republicans are making a huge point by using everything to prove how huge this bill is. I’ll keep you updated on the bill’s progress. Serious debate starts next week.

A Soldier’s Letter

Here is an email letter circulating the Internet. The validity is still to be determined but the point is still clear.

This venerable and much honored WW II vet is well known in Hawaii
for his seventy-plus years of service to patriotic organizations and causes
all over the country. A humble man without a political bone in his body,
he has never spoken out before about a government official, until now.
He dictated this letter to a friend, signed it and mailed it to the president.

Dear President Obama,

My name is Harold Estes, approaching 95 on December 13 of this year. People meeting me for the first time don’t believe my age because I remain wrinkle free and pretty much mentally alert.

I enlisted in the U.S. Navy in 1934 and served proudly before, during and after WW II retiring as a Master Chief Bos’n Mate. Now I live in a “rest home” located on the western end of Pearl Harbor, allowing me to keep alive the memories of 23 years of service to my country.

One of the benefits of my age, perhaps the only one, is to speak my mind, blunt and direct even to the head man.

So here goes.

I am amazed, angry and determined not to see my country die before I do, but you seem hell bent not to grant me that wish.

I can’t figure out what country you are the president of.

You fly around the world telling our friends and enemies despicable lies like:

” We’re no longer a Christian nation”

” America is arrogant” – (Your wife even

announced to the world,”America is mean-

spirited. ” Please tell her to try preaching

that nonsense to 23 generations of our

war dead buried all over the globe who

died for no other reason than to free a

whole lot of strangers from tyranny and

hopelessness.)

I’d say shame on the both of you, but I don’t think you like America, nor do I see an ounce of gratefulness in anything you do, for the obvious gifts this country has given you. To be without shame or gratefulness is a dangerous thing for a man sitting in the White House.

After 9/11 you said,” America hasn’t lived up to her ideals.”

Which ones did you mean? Was it the notion of personal liberty that 11,000 farmers and shopkeepers died for to win independence from the British? Or maybe the ideal that no man should be a slave to another man, that 500,000 men died for in the Civil War? I hope you didn’t mean the ideal 470,000 fathers, brothers, husbands, and a lot of fellas I knew personally died for in WWII, because we felt real strongly about not letting any nation push us around, because we stand for freedom.

I don’t think you mean the ideal that says equality is better than discrimination. You know the one that a whole lot of white people understood when they helped to get you elected.

Take a little advice from a very old geezer, young man.

Shape up and start acting like an American. If you don’t, I’ll do what I can to see you get shipped out of that fancy rental on Pennsylvania Avenue. You were elected to lead not to bow, apologize and kiss the hands of murderers and corrupt leaders who still treat their people like slaves.

And just who do you think you are telling the American people not to jump to conclusions and condemn that Muslim major who killed 13 of his fellow soldiers and wounded dozens more. You mean you don’t want us to do what you did when that white cop used force to subdue that black college professor in Massachusetts, who was putting up a fight? You don’t mind offending the police calling them stupid but you don’t want us to offend Muslim fanatics by calling them what they are, terrorists.

One more thing. I realize you never served in the military and never had to defend your country with your life, but you’re the Commander-in-Chief now, son. Do your job. When your battle-hardened field General asks you for 40,000 more troops to complete the mission, give them to him. But if you’re not in this fight to win, then get out. The life of one American soldier is not worth the best political strategy you’re thinking of.

You could be our greatest president because you face the greatest challenge ever presented to any president.

You’re not going to restore American greatness by bringing back our bloated economy. That’s not our greatest threat. Losing the heart and soul of who we are as Americans is our big fight now.

And I sure as hell don’t want to think my president is the enemy in this final battle.

Sincerely,

Harold B. Estes