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It’s no secret that efficiency and organization are crucial to the everyday success of Denver public relations professionals. Public Relations is a fast paced industry. We are expected to think on our feet and meet tight deadlines, all while monitoring media trends and staying prepared for a potential crisis. Add to that the everyday need to balance managing client accounts, attending meetings and developing media pitches. And when everything's said and done, let’s not forget taking time to enjoy our beautiful Colorado outdoors. That’s why finding tools to help us manage our time and improve our productivity is so important. Luckily, there’s an App for that. Not just one, but hundreds.

With our laptops, tablets, and smartphones at the ready, technology can help us... read more

You don’t have to be a Denver public relations pro to know that cyber security is keeping healthcare executives up at night.  Just ask the IT security experts who spoke at a recent Prime Health cyber security conference in Denver.  All agreed that the threat to healthcare organizations from data breeches, ransom ware and lawsuits is very real.  So why doesn’t everyone have a crisis communications plan? Why do so many healthcare organizations keep their heads buried in the sand?

According to the Prime Health panelists, ransom ware is a major threat.  Identity theft is a big reason for healthcare hacking because electronic medical records can be easily monetized.  We don’t monitor Medicare numbers like we do credit reports so selling Medicare numbers is... read more

We’ll always have a soft spot for traditional public relations tactics—working our media contacts to get stories placed in prominent papers or score that perfect quote from a client’s expert spokesperson. But these days, every organization should at least consider how to incorporate brand journalism into its communications efforts. Brand journalism has many definitions and many names. In essence, any organization consistently publishing and promoting content to engage its audience is practicing brand journalism. You are researching, reporting, collecting, writing, editing, and disseminating news for broad audiences, but the focus is on your industry and company.

In general, brand journalism isn’t aiming to sell your product or service directly. Its goal is to build stories and other informational content that highlights value from a... read more

How often do you find yourself absentmindedly scrolling through Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram? Better yet, as you scroll do you notice how many posts you pass until you find the one, possibly two, which genuinely capture your attention? These days, social media offers a multitude of posts varying in information and importance to our lives. According to the National Center for Biotechnology Information the average attention span is 8 seconds. That’s one second less than a goldfish. While this may seem like old news, as companies, organizations, and individuals who are trying to capture our audience's attention, this statistic impacts the ways in which we approach telling the story of our brand or our clients brand.

We are all courageous storytellers. Stories capture the public's imagination.... read more

According to the Colorado Department of Labor, the state is enjoying record employment. Colorado’s unemployment rate now stands at 3 percent, the lowest it’s been in 15 years. Anyone who wants a job in Colorado can probably find one, which is a big reason that Millennials are flocking to Denver, where they now make up about 15 percent of the population. A few years ago, employees were looking for ways to get noticed among the hundreds of resumes submitted for each job opening. Now employers have to compete for those workers by boosting salaries and benefits. So how does a Denver PR firm, or any Denver employer, get an edge on the competition? What does it take to create an attractive workplace? Are benefits and... read more

It’s our favorite time of year when we start seeing predictions and trends for 2016. Here are some of the PR and digital marketing trends we think are most exciting. The Podcast Renaissance Remember back in the early 2000s when podcasts first came on the scene, and then, well, not much happened with them. In 2016, podcasts are making a comeback. According to Edison, approximately 46 million Americans listen to podcasts monthly, and the average listener listens to six a week. Large brands like GE and Netflix have recently launched their own podcast productions, and people are actually listening!

How you can take advantage: Start slow, and create a monthly podcast on a topic relevant to your audience. Download Hubspot’s ebook How to Create a... read more

It's easy to get swept up on the holidays and busy wrapping up 2015 activities without giving much thought to next year's PR and marketing strategy. But now is the time to set some goals for the coming year. Here are four strategies for setting effective goals. 1) Align goals with business objectives. The mistake most organizations make when dreaming up public relations and marketing goals is not aligning them with specific business objectives. Sure, it would be great to increase your social media audience or get covered by the local paper, but how will that serve your company's larger goal to increase sales by 20 percent?

2) Understand the function of each channel. Every activity has its purpose. Earned media can raise brand awareness... read more

As marketing and public relations professionals, we rely on demographic information to make strategic decisions. But, for many reasons, consumers aren’t behaving like they once did. POST-DEMOGRAPHIC CONSUMERISM: People—of all ages and in all markets—are constructing their own identities more freely than ever. As a result, consumption patterns are no longer solely defined by “traditional” demographic segments such as age, gender, location, income, family status and more. Several factors are fueling the trend: The availability of information that makes it easier for consumers to discover and avail themselves of new products and services New (non-material) status symbols How social influence has changed the way people interact with brands This means the assumptions we once made based on demographics like age, education, gender and income, are no longer universally... read more

Data breaches are becoming more common with breaches this year in the healthcare, financial, and higher-education industries. With a profusion of sensitive data, healthcare organizations are a prime target for data breaches, and 2015 has seen its fair share with major players like Anthem and Blue Cross among the violated. Aside from working with your IT department to take measures to minimize your organization’s risk, you should be ready with a crisis communications plan specific to this type of situation. Step 1: Get prepared.

Knowing how your organization will react to a data breach is essential and will expedite your response. Make sure you can answer the following questions to get the ball rolling. How will the public and stakeholders be informed? What other key... read more

Social media can be a very fast and effective way to communicate with key stakeholders in the event of a crisis. However, it adds a level of complexity to crisis communication that can be overwhelming to PR practitioners. The public now expects a higher degree of transparency and speed, and organizations struggle to understand the role social media can play. Here are three ways you can use social media in a crisis. Provide resources and accessibility.

With 71 percent of online adults using Facebook and 23 percent using Twitter, social media seems like the channel to reach the masses. However, Facebook’s organic Page reach is just 2.6 percent. And only about two percent of your Twitter followers actually see your Tweets. So what’s the... read more