Many people *pretend* to be marketers. These people have minimal, if any, marketing training and zero or only a few years of experience. Using “pretend marketers” can significantly hurt a company and create a spaghetti of bad work to untangle later. These people can also cause missed opportunities, inefficiencies and more. [ Read More ]
Marketing Communications
Real Results Case Study: A Warehouse Robotics Company
The Client: A warehouse robotics company based in Europe. Primary Request: “Build awareness among US-based media for our company and robots to support our growth in that market.” Length of Time Covered in this Real Results Case Study: 15 months. [ Read More ]
Celebrating the 20th Anniversary of By the Sea Communications
This spring I celebrate the 20th anniversary of By the Sea Communications, LLC. Does that make me proud? Absolutely. [ Read More ]
10 Tips on How to be a Great Client
Do you know how to be a great client? I have had the honor of working with many amazing companies and people over the more than 30 years of my marketing communications career. Below are 10 tips on how to be a great client for an external marketing partner. (If you are reading this, cheers to you for your willingness to learn!) [ Read More ]
Old Work Stuff Can Be Quite Nostalgic
Old work stuff can be quite nostalgic. On a recent staycation, I went through a bunch of boxes of work stuff hidden in the basement. Here is some of what I found: Stacks and stacks of old-school media coverage books for products I led the PR on. There were thick ones for Microsoft Word, Microsoft Money, RealNetworks, Avenue A (which became aQuantive), InfoSpace and more. [ Read More ]
My Fascination with the Space Industry
I have a fascination with the space industry and want to work with more clients in that area. Over the last few years, I have been watching well-done Netflix documentaries about SpaceX missions and some entertaining fictional programs about going to Mars. I also read the enjoyable and accessible book, “The End of the Astronauts: Why Robots are the Future of Exploration,” by Donald Goldsmith and Martin Rees, which gave me a great overview of the amazing things happening in space exploration and where we are headed in the future. [ Read More ]
25 Memorable Moments in My Career
There are so many amusing and memorable moments in my career. It makes me smile to think of them. This is not a stuffy blog expounding on my “wins” although there are some in here. It’s an informal look back at some of the fun things I encountered throughout the years as well as some of the people who made a good impression on me. [ Read More ]
PR for Robotics Companies
I am fascinated by the robotics and drone space and have been working with companies developing great things in this industry for many years. Most of my work with them includes broader marketing communications as well as PR. As noted in my earlier blog on this topic, it all began in the spring of 2016 when I started working with the bright and talented team at WiBotics to get the word out about their wireless power for the robotics industry. That led to working with the smart team at Aerovel, makers of the Flexrotor long-range robotic aircraft (a high-end drone). Both became long-term clients, and we were able to accomplish a lot together for their respective companies. [ Read More ]
Maximize the ROI of Media Coverage
As you think about the allocation of your marketing budget, consider the immense ROI (return-on-investment) of a piece earned media coverage. I have been helping companies, including major global corporations, businesses headquartered abroad and countless U.S.-based companies of all sizes, earn great media coverage for more than 30 years. The ROI is tough to beat. [ Read More ]
SpaceX Wants Us to Become an Interplanetary Species
Over the weekend, I watched all five episodes of “Countdown: Inspiration4 Mission to Space” on Netflix. If you haven’t heard by now, it is a series on the recent SpaceX “Inspiration4” spaceflight which carried four non-astronaut civilians and no one else. I enjoyed the series mainly for the insights it gave me, however varnished, of SpaceX. It was also great to see 27-year-old women in high roles within the company including leading training of the civilians, mission communications with the capsule and quality control immediately prior to the flight. [ Read More ]