thought leadership

Celebrity PR: What Can We Learn from Oprah Winfrey?

Oprah Oprah is a queen and no one can say a bad word about her. But the story of her last year – the first year when she left network TV to start her OWN network, is instructive. 1. She lost her base. You’d think her loyal followers of 20 years would follow [...]

Celebrity PR: What Can We Learn from Oprah Winfrey?Dan Janal2016-11-28T23:38:15+00:00

Does Your Small Business Suffer from Brand Name Mis-Identification?

I saw a marvelous women’s basketball game the other night. My hometown Minnesota Lynx played the Bing Boosts. At least that’s what their jerseys said. I had no idea where they were from. Someone pointed out that they were really from Seattle and their team name was Storm. Not Bing. Not Boost. Apparently the WNBA [...]

Does Your Small Business Suffer from Brand Name Mis-Identification?Dan Janal2016-11-28T23:38:15+00:00

Free Publicity Tactic: Write with Your Gut

Last week, I wrote an irreverent tirade about bogus contests. I got a lot of positive emails. Thank you. I actually had thought about pulling that article because, well, I didn’t know if I was just ranting or if it would actually help people. I decided to print it because it might resonate with some [...]

Free Publicity Tactic: Write with Your GutDan Janal2012-06-18T23:07:30+00:00

Please Don’t Ask Me to Vote for Your Stupid Contest

Hardly a day goes by without a client, former client, or former friend of a friend of a client asking me to vote for them in a so-called “contest.” It seems they’ve been nominated for “best new website design for a company with less than $100 in revenues” or “best new book” and they need [...]

Please Don’t Ask Me to Vote for Your Stupid ContestDan Janal2016-11-28T23:38:17+00:00

Free Publicity Tactics: 10 Reasons People Aren’t Retweeting Your Tweets

Twitter is a great tool for getting free publicity for your small business. That’s because people who read your tweets can re-tweet or forward tweets to their followers. But many business owners are missing opportunities to maximize their exposure because their tweets aren’t up to snuff. Here are 10 ways to improve the re-tweetability of [...]

Free Publicity Tactics: 10 Reasons People Aren’t Retweeting Your TweetsDan Janal2016-11-28T23:38:17+00:00

Not All Publicity Is Good Publicity

Have you ever gone to Facebook to look for the ads? Have you ever clicked on an ad? I’m not sure I’ve ever clicked on an ad, but I do know that they know who I am. Nearly every ad I see is related to publicity. They know I’m a PR guy, not a dance [...]

Not All Publicity Is Good PublicityDan Janal2016-11-28T23:38:17+00:00

Book Review: “The Art of Being Unreasonable,” by Eli Broad

By all measures, Eli Broad has led an amazing life. He’s the only person to have started two Fortune 500 companies – KB Home (originally known as Kaufman and Broad), and SunAmerica. Along the way he’s become a billionaire (with a b) and a philanthropist. He continues to be a major influence in the art [...]

Book Review: “The Art of Being Unreasonable,” by Eli BroadDan Janal2016-11-28T23:38:17+00:00

Targeted Queries To Save You Time

The Easier Way To Get Publicity