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Social media consultant Arik Hanson wrote recently in a LinkedIn article that companies should consider devoting some of their LinkedIn activities -- 20 percent is the volume he suggests -- to matters of interest to employees. That's because data shows that 30 percent of a brand page's engagement comes from the company's employees. In this short mid-week episode of "For Immediate Release," Neville and Shel discuss the opportunity for communicators to reach employees on LinkedIn, along with the challenges and possible pitfalls.Continue Reading → The post FIR #304: Reaching Employees Through Social Media appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.

As we prepare to take a brief pause for the holidays – and hope you do, too! – we'll first take a moment to reflect on the challenges we faced this year: increasingly passionate employee bases; global, domestic, and online uncertainty; developing data and communication methods; and the many other factors that contributed to the year that was for internal communicators in 2022. In looking back, we're happy to continue our holiday tradition of a year-end roundup episode: one podcast with highlights from our 2022 conversations, in just a few minutes. Here are some of the top insights from this year's slate of IC experts.Continue Reading → The post EPISODE #66: OUR BEST IC EXPERT ADVICE FROM 2022 appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.

One list includes 50 potential Twitter replacements -- none of which will offer every one of Twitter's features and none of which includes everyone you're currently following on the bird site. How do you decide where to go when you conclude that maintaining your current Twitter activity is no longer feasible? Neville and Shel sort it out -- with a focus on Mastodon -- in this short mid-week episode of "For Immediate Release."Continue Reading → The post FIR #303: The Quest for a Twitter Alternative appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.

Four IABC Fellows looked back on 2022, which was a consequential year for communicators, in this final Circle of Fellows of the year. The evolution of COVID-19 from pandemic to endemic led companies to bring employees back to the office, creating a need to communicate the new hybrid work reality (or, in some cases, why employers were insisting everyone come back full-time while others retained a remote work arrangement). “Quiet Quitting” became a topic of discussion as dissatisfied employees dialed back the effort they gave to the organizations. Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion remained an important topic. And there was no shortage of crises to occupy communicators' time. The episode was live-streamed on December 15.Continue Reading → The post Circle of Fellows #87: Year-End Reflections appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.

In this episode, the co-hosts discuss Gini's recent article with 11 questions you should ask your clients so that you know how they work and how you can best engage with them.Continue Reading → The post ALP 175: Get to Know Your Clients Better appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.

New York Times columnist and Nobel economics laureate Paul Krugman wrote recently that the crypto crash is far worse than even the direst descriptions and that it is proof that blockchain was never a viable technology. At the same time, Goldman Sachs Chairman and CEO David Solomon sees value in blockchain technology, but only if companies like his control it. The truth is, blockchain is thriving outside of speculative crypto investing. Neville and Shel explore blockchain's future in this short midweek episode of "For Immediate Release."Continue Reading → The post FIR #302: Blockchain's Widely Exaggerated Demise appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.

ChatGPT is the latest buzzworthy Artificial Intelligence tool. Released just this month by OpenAI, ChatGPT has stirred up a considerable amount of conversation, much of it about experiments people have conducted, while others now seriously question how much longer writers will be employable. In this short midweek episode, Neville and Shel look at ChatGPT from the communicator's perspective.Continue Reading → The post FIR #301: A Communicator's Look at ChatGPT appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.

What is it they say about “the best laid plans?" In this episode of the EE Voice podcast, we are joined by Caleb Gardner to discuss his new book – No Point B – and how leaders must embrace change and use effective communication in the face of developing technology, social activism, and other key elements in today's tranformational world. “All leadership has to be change leadership,” Caleb told us. “Because we just have so much inbound, so much new data, so much going on in the world that we're going to have to be constantly asking our people to think differently -- and we're not prepared to ask them to have that level of mental flexibility.”Continue Reading → The post EPISODE #65: AUTHOR CALEB GARDNER – ALL LEADERSHIP IS CHANGE LEADERSHIP appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.

In New York, pay transparency is required by law. It will also be a requirement in California after January 1. There's a lot of good that can come from pay transparency, but for organizations with cultures unready for it, the consequences could be dire. Are companies enlisting their internal communicators to help lay the groundwork for this level of disclosure?Continue Reading → The post FIR #300: Communicating Pay Transparency appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.

We all have companies and entrepreneurs that we look up to, but that doesn't mean that we should aspire to be just like them.Continue Reading → The post ALP 173: Stop trying to be like other agencies appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.

Despite the forecasts of some pundits, it is still too early to predict Twitter's complete collapse. Still, it is not outside the realm of possibility. (Since we recorded this episode on Saturday, November 19, CBS has halted its activity on Twitter, blaming Elon Musk's "turbulent and potentially devastating moves following his takeover of the company," according to Variety. It is worth considering the consequences of Twitter's demise. How big a loss to society at large would it be? We can take that idea one step further. With Facebook experiencing its own declines and Gen Z demonstrating a preference for smaller social networks over broadcast-style social media, what would happen if social media completely faded into the background? Also in the November episode of The Hobson and Holtz Report: Thousands of Twitter users are migrating to Mastodon, a Twitter-like interface with some important differences, the key being that it is not owned by a single entity. Instead, it is a federation of Mastodon "instances" (including one Shel has launched for communicators). The fediverse could be awesome, one report suggests, assuming we don't screw it up -- and average users are able to figure it out. Gallup has released a study on how connected people feel to others, whether it's in person or online. It's a field of study that has gotten scant attention in the past and the results could be useful to marketers. There's some nation-building going on in the metaverse, with one Pacific island country building a digital twin to preserve its heritage as global warming raises sea levels, threatening to completely submerge it. Another country -- a physical entity not yet recognized by the global community of nations -- is working with an architectural firm to build a metaverse version that it hopes will be the primary place its citizens interact. Whether you believe it is ethical or not, there is a fair amount of ghostwriting going on in the social media space, notably with ghostwriters cranking out LinkedIn thought leadership posts for executives. But there's more than that, with one social media ghostwriter, for example, earning close to $200,000 so far this year writing mainly Twitter DMs for employees. We'll dive into this emerging cottage industry. Dan York's Tech Report is a buffet of topics this month, ranging from the fate of Twitter Spaces to Walmart's Augmented Reality effort, and from enhancements to TikTok Live to Google's "Live View in Maps." Continue Reading → The post FIR #299: From the Metaverse to the Fediverse and Back Again appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.

Is your trademark your company's brand? Your logo? Or is your brand what your customers say about you when you're not in the room? What's a brand promise and how do you develop one that everyone can buy into? How do you build the brand internally so every employee projects it externally? What's the communicator's role in protecting the brand? And what do you do when your company fails to live up to it?Continue Reading → The post Circle of Fellows #86: Brands and Branding appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.

While things are not looking good at Twitter, it is not yet time to characterize it as the social network's death spiral. Still, speculation is fun (and inevitable), and one of the prospects about which some people are speculating is the impact a Twitterless world will have on social listening activities. Neville and Shel explore the possibility -- along with some other potential fallout should Twitter shut down -- in this short midweek episode of "For Immediate Release."Continue Reading → The post FIR #298: Social Listening in a Post-Twitter World appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.

The Scottish city of Stirling is investing in the creation of Augmented Reality (AR) layers throughout the city, available on a free dedicated app, to become what they claim is "the first augmented reality city."Continue Reading → The post FIR #297: A Stirling Example of Augmented Reality appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.

What should agencies advise clients with regard to Twitter today? It has obviously been a very turbulent couple of weeks since Elon Musk took over, but what does that mean for communicators?Continue Reading → The post ALP 172: Agencies and Twitter in 2022 appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.

This episode features #ThoughtLeader and #Expert Sam Liebowitz.Continue Reading → The post #744: Allen Geller w/ Mitchell Levy on Thought Leader Life Credibility appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.

The MuckRack's 2022 State of PR survey is out and Gini Dietrich is jumping in to explore the findings. Continue Reading → The post Spin Sucks 204: Highlights from Muck Rack's 2022 State of PR Survey appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.

Twitter and Stripe both laid off employees last week. The contrast between how these layoffs were conducted is striking. One CEO went to great lengths to ensure the employees remaining post-layoff would feel the least amount of survivor's guilt and be ready to move forward. The other didn't seem to care how survivors felt. Neville and Shel examine these approaches and some of the other fallout from Elon Musk's acquisition of Twitter in this short midweek episode of "For Immediate Release."Continue Reading → The post FIR #296: What Elon Musk Can Learn From Patrick Collinson appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.

Sometimes it pays to be a little paranoid. Crisis management expert and friend of the EE Voice podcast, Andy Gilman, returns to discuss the importance of preparedness and heightened awareness when it comes to cyber-attacks, the top potential crisis for almost any organization. In our conversation, Andy illustrates the key role of communications in company-wide cybersecurity initiatives, which he calls “the ultimate cross-functional teamwork.” “Figure out what resources are out there, then get smart yourself and get your employees smarter,” he says. “You want them to be aware and spot something. Again, we don't know we're doing a good job until something bad happens, so every day we're doing it is another day where the organization can function as normal.” For helpful resources for communicators, visit the Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency. For more on Andy and CommCore Consulting Group, head to https://www.commcoreconsulting.com/.Continue Reading → The post EPISODE #64: NOT IF, BUT WHEN – CRISIS EXPERT ANDY GILMAN ON PREPARING FOR A CYBERATTACK appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.

It's great to have goals and objectives — both for your agency and for your team members. But many agency leaders don't set and implement them correctly.Continue Reading → The post ALP 171: Avoid misusing agency KPIs appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.

Neville attended NFT.London, the UK version of the NFT.NYC, which has been held since February 2019. There, he attended sessions that covered various topics, but he was particularly struck by those addressing the value-add potential of NFTs as well as their community-building characteristics. He reports from a semi-quiet corner of the conference in this short mid-week episode.Continue Reading → The post FIR #295: The Value-Add Potential of NFTs appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.

It's not exactly a news flash that Elon Musk now owns Twitter (Chief Twit, he calls himself). Does he know what he's gotten himself into? It's doubtful, according to much of the evidence we've seen so far, in addition to some stinging commentary.Continue Reading → The post FIR #294: What Hath Elon Wrought? appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.

For virtually all of its 22 years, Wikipedia has confined its technology to the wiki, which was already nearly 10 years old when the online encyclopedia was introduced. But some big changes are in store, including the use of machine learning, all in service of enticing more people to become editors.Continue Reading → The post FIR #293: Big Changes at Wikipedia appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.

To hear the media talk about it, NFTs are overpriced works of digital art on which a lot of gullible people will lose bundles of money. In fact, NFTs have utility far being investments, and savvy marketers are figuring it out, right down to local car washes. Neville and Shel share a handful of stories about such applications in this short midweek episode.Continue Reading → The post FIR #292: The Sure and Steady Evolution of NFTs appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.

As small agencies grow, individual team members usually begin to take on direct reports — often for the first time in their careers.Continue Reading → The post ALP 170: Helping your agency's new managers appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.

You have gained experience as a communicator in an organization. Now, you want to establish a consulting practice. You have questions. Do you focus on a niche or will you be a generalist? Will you remain independent or hire staff? How do you build your business? What should you charge? Four IABC Fellows with decades of experience as communication consultants shared their insights and experience in episode 85 of “Circle of Fellows,” IABC's monthly broadcast/panel discussion.Continue Reading → The post Circle of Fellows #85: So You Want To Be A Consultant appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.

AI tools that turn text prompts into images, video, and music are definitely cool, but they get a boost in utility when incorporated into a larger tool designed for a specific purpose. Omneky is one such tool, designed to improve the effectiveness of your social media ads. One element: DALL-E 2 is baked into the software, helping you create images that align with the software's assessment of your current and previous ads.Continue Reading → The post FIR #291: Adding AI to Applications appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.

The first graphic format for the web to gain widespread adoption was the GIF. Even the advent of better formats replaced it for graphical display, it gained new strength through animation; what was once called an "animated GIF" became just a GIF. But today, for multiple reasons, the end appears nigh for all but the most die-hard fans. This short midweek episode is an homage to the GIF.Continue Reading → The post FIR #290: Alas, Poor GIF, We Knew You Well appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.

Chip and Gini share some of their experiences in working internationally as an agency, including things that you should consider before you take the leap and the benefits of doing so.Continue Reading → The post ALP 169: Taking your agency global appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.

New data suggests a lot of bloggers are employing practices that are the opposite of those that deliver results. Shel and Neville dive into the data from a new blogger survey. Also in this episode: Microsoft is bringing the DALL-E 2 AI graphic generator to Office 365 via a new app called Designer, as well as a tool called Image Creator that will be deployed through Bing and Microsoft Edge; virtual influencers, already a big deal in Asia, are making inroads in the US, performing in concerts, signing record deals, and pitching products for brands; Edelman's CEO, Richard Edelman has given an interview in which he outlines his vision for the future of PR and his company; the category of meme creators is heating up but a lot of these people aren't happy with Instagram's rules; a new Danish political party is being led by an Artificial Intelligence. In his Tech Report, Dan York reports on more digital services copying others, including yet another "stories" feature, this time on Signal; Facebook is dropping support for its Instant Articles mobile format amidst a decline in its support for news in general; meanwhile, TikTok is becoming more of a news source; and a volunteer opportunity awaits those interested in working with the Information Technology Disaster Resource Center.Continue Reading → The post FIR #289: Bloggers, AI, and The Future of PR appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.

October 11, 2022, was not your typical day at the UK House of Lords, where Ai-Da, a humanoid robot artist, delivered testimony in response to questions posed by peers. The testimony came as some of Ai-Da's original artwork was displayed in a museum. In her answers, Ai-Da was candid about AI's threat to human artists but was also realistic about the role technology has always played in art. In this short mid-week episode, Neville and Shel review the testimony and explore some of the issues Ai-Da raises.Continue Reading → The post FIR #288: A Humanoid Robot Artist Gives Testimony appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.

In this episode, Chip and Gini explore the real cause of the revenue roller-coaster and what agency owners can (and should) do about it.Continue Reading → The post ALP 168: The Truth Behind Agency Feast-or-Famine appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.

Some companies were experimenting with internal podcasts -- for employees only -- before companies sent employees home to work remotely as the COVID-19 pandemic spread. Faced with reaching and engaging employees who now never interacted face-to-face with their colleagues elevated the value of a podcast, which could establish a personal connection. At the same time, podcasting had gone mainstream, making more employees receptive to listening to one from their employer. In this short midweek episode, Neville and Shel look at some of the companies that have adopted internal podcasting and how they plan to evolve them in the new post-pandemic world of work.Continue Reading → The post FIR #287: Internal Podcasts Gain Momentum appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.

We read everywhere about increased productivity resulting from the remote work the pandemic forced upon companies. In fact, that increased productivity is leading several companies to adopt remote or hybrid work as the new status quo. But research conducted by Microsoft finds that not everyone agrees with the assessment. Managers are not on board with the notion that remote work has led to greater productivity, and the gap between what managers believe and employee perspectives is considerable.Continue Reading → The post FIR #286: Managers Believe Remote Work Produces Lower Productivity appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.

If you have listened to Chip and Gini's advice in the past, you are carefully tracking your team's time to understand how much it costs you to serve your clients.Continue Reading → The post ALP 167: Charging clients for internal agency staff time appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.

You have a business initiative, an organizational change, a new value proposition. Success depends on getting employees aligned around the vision and the path to get there. Could small group conversations be the means of achieving that alignment? A new study suggests it's at least worth a shot.Continue Reading → The post FIR #285: Alignment Through Conversation appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.

Does your agency need a fractional CFO, COO, or head of HR?Continue Reading → The post ALP 165: Fractional C-level help for agencies appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.

From experimentation, ideation, and storyboarding to producing the actual images to be used in an ad, advertising agency creatives are finding Artificial Intelligence image generators like DALL-E, Midjourney, and Stable Diffusion instantly useful, saving time and money without sacrificing the end results. Does this spell the end of the graphic arts business?Continue Reading → The post FIR #284: Ad Agencies Embrace AI Art appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.

In this episode of the Agency Leadership Podcast, Chip and Gini discuss some of the more popular "single number" metrics that some advocate — and then explain why they may not be the best for your purposes.Continue Reading → The post ALP 166: The One Magic Agency Business Metric appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.

Neville and Shel were together in person to record this episode, which focuses exclusively on leadership communication. The recording happened on Neville's dining room table as Shel and his wife were on a two-week vacation in England and Ireland.Continue Reading → The post FIR #283: Communicators Helping Leaders Lead Through Communication appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.

How should you handle it when clients ignore your recommended course of action? When should you push back — and how should you do it?Continue Reading → The post ALP 154: Handling clients who disagree with your agency's advice appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.

In this episode, Chip and Gini discuss the merits of some of these arguments and explain how agency leaders can think about the right mix of contractors and employees in their own businesses.Continue Reading → The post ALP 155: Should your agency hire contractors or employees? appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.

How should you handle it when one of your agency's employees — or prospective new hires — comes to you and asks you to match another offer?Continue Reading → The post ALP 156: Bidding wars for agency talent appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.

Do you know what your clients really value from their relationship with your agency? Often we know that we are creating real value for a client, but it isn't always aligned with the value that they see.Continue Reading → The post ALP 158: What value do clients believe your agency provides? appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.

In this episode, Chip and Gini share their perspectives, including what has gone wrong for them in the past — and how you can make sure that you are communicating effectively with your team, clients, and prospects during turbulent times.Continue Reading → The post ALP 157: Agencies and the possible Recession of 2022 appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.

This episode will help you to build or improve your own framework for reporting that should lead to better results, happier clients, and improved retention.Continue Reading → The post ALP 159: Measuring (and reporting) your agency's results for clients appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.

In this second part of a two-part series, Zach Hyder explains what it has been like to transition from agency coach to president of the agency founded by Ward Hubbell.Continue Reading → The post CWC 87: Going from agency coach to agency leader (Part 2 of 2) appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.

In this episode, Chip and Gini explore how agencies should approach this question, both when developing their own strategies for clients as well as for helping to guide the client on their overall communications planning.Continue Reading → The post ALP 160: How to allocate your client's PESO budget appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.

In this episode, Hubbell Communications founder Ward Hubbell talks about the agency he founded, and how he decided to approach the transition when he no longer wanted to manage the business day-to-day.Continue Reading → The post CWC 86: Transitioning your agency to new leadership (Part 1 of 2) appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.

A recent post by a member of the Spin Sucks Community raised the topic of calculating the cost of winning new clients — and determining how to account for that expense properly.Continue Reading → The post ALP 161: Understanding the cost of agency business development appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.

Many agencies got started when their owners were laid off from their full-time jobs.Continue Reading → The post ALP 164: From laid off to you're the boss appeared first on FIR Podcast Network.