JCPR Blog

It’s a simple question, but one many companies can’t easily answer. In marketing and PR, we try to distill a company’s story down to key messages -- the points that each spokesperson uses to ensure that they are telling the [...]

Professional networking is becoming even more popular and commonplace thanks to the help of social media. There are now many ways to connect with industry peers and people who share common interests through LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter. While [...]

Forget everything you know about numbers. With social media, measuring success through figures or hard data often creates false benchmarks that do not speak to whether a brand’s message is actually resonating with its audience. All too often, [...]

Nearly every company wants to describe themselves as innovative. In a perfect world, each brand would have a unique offering that doesn’t simply improve the landscape for their industry, but rather revolutionizes it. Unfortunately, if a [...]

When is a sentence not a sentence? When it’s a fragment (such as this one), a comma splice, or a run-on sentence. This is basic stuff that we all learned in elementary school, but it’s often helpful to revisit the basics. A sentence [...]

As any artist will undoubtedly tell you, nothing is unintentional. There is a clear, defined purpose for the inclusion of a random color or a dramatic shift in a musical arrangement. And while the final result might often be a mystery to us, to the [...]

Saying that communications is a two-way street is one thing, but actually practicing it is another. A brand’s ROI is no longer about return on investment, but rather, return on influence. While media impressions were once the benchmarks of a [...]

It’s likely that by now, you’ve heard of Pinterest, a social site that allows users to create virtual pin boards and share them with their followers. It's gaining popularity mostly among the female demographic (according to ZDNet, 58% of [...]

When the Public Relations Society of America set out to redefine PR, it was an admirable endeavor that looked to modernize the definition to reflect the changing, and increasingly social, media landscape. However, since PR is an organic process, [...]

Note: There seems to be a lot of discrepancy about the 'right' way to handle personal and professional social profiles online. You may have asked yourself if you should manage two separate profiles (one for your personal life and one strictly for [...]

Completing my senior year in college was always a milestone I looked forward to reaching, but now that I’m nearing the finishline I have reflected on all the opportunities I passed up during my college years. Chances are you probably [...]

Your brand is what defines you as a company and influences how you are perceived by your stakeholders. But building a brand, similar to building a house, is an evolving process that doesn’t happen overnight. Just as an unexpected storm can [...]

We live in an increasingly viral world. Information is consumed and spread at an unprecedented rate, and the new media landscape has spread the online influence between traditional media and “citizen journalists.”  In a sense, [...]

Public relations and marketing have long been the communications channels for financial firms to connect with key stakeholders. However, the landscape, as well as the definition of “influencers” has changed, requiring companies to [...]

You’ve seen them in newspapers, magazines, in stores and online. They can be placed on business cards, on menus, even in television commercials. You know what I’m talking about: the black and white square that looks like a barcode. What [...]

We recently read a great blog post on Talent Zoo that explains the importance and benefits of using online video. The author brings up some excellent points about staying ahead of the game in a competitive business world. Online video may become an [...]

Try to remember how you last spent your free time online. Did you visit your friend’s Facebook page? Did you research homes  for sale? Maybe you watched the latest news. It is likely that no matter what  you did, you stumbled upon at [...]

In today’s fast-paced world, staying on top of the latest innovations is key. Everyone has a website, but what can you do to make sure yours stands out from the crowd? Creating unique and optimized online video content increases your chances [...]

LinkedIn. Facebook. Twitter. Though keeping up with the latest social media and social networking trends can feel like a never-ending game of catch up, financial advisors and other financial professionals who understand how their clients use [...]

When Christian Lopez caught Derek Jeter’s 3000th hit, he became the talk of the sports world. Suddenly everyone from shock jocks to cable news anchors wanted a piece of his story. As the world turned to Christian, Christian turned to JCPR for [...]

Technology has changed the media landscape. Publications that were once restricted by page counts now have the unlimited expanse of the Internet to publish articles that inform and enlighten their readers. As a result, media outlets are seeking [...]

As the director of operations at a successful, growing PR and marketing communications firm, I read a lot of resumes of professionals (from entry level to seasoned pros). I find that going through hundreds of resumes can take time, so  remember [...]

Many people in the financial services industry have considered writing books.  Having a book published can provide huge benefits for an individual or a business: they help establish credibility and create publicity, branding, and marketing [...]

Having worked in the publishing industry for over a decade, I’ve had a fair number of people tell me, “I want to write a book.”  I congratulate them on embarking on this exciting project and they inevitably ask me, [...]

I’ve learned a lot during my seven years of blogging. Online Marketing Blog has received a lot of praise recently, but more important, my experience with reviewing others’ blogs has been a learning experience. I’ve looked at [...]

When I first started learning about and researching social media and its many tools, it was difficult to find a place where I could learn everything I needed to know-- and in a way that is easy to understand. YouTube provides a lot of great tutorial [...]

Thought leadership has become such a shopworn concept in the public relations toolkit that it’s in danger of losing its edge. While there is no shortage of self-styled “experts,” developing true thought leadership is about more [...]

In reading news of the coming insider-trading trial of Galleon Group founder Raj Rajaratnam, we’re reminded of the critical importance of reputation management, particularly in the financial industry. According to The Wall Street Journal, the [...]

According to some theorists, reality is composed of information – not matter. What does this mean for businesses seeking to thrive, and communicate, in an information age? A recent book review in The Wall Street Journal (“Little Bits Go [...]

Twitter has many benefits and tools to offer businesses, like expanding your clientele, networking and promoting your company’s special offers and news.  But what are some of the “dangers” of Twitter? Recently, Chrysler, [...]

Everyone from Barack Obama to your local pizzeria has a Twitter account these days.  But what are the benefits of having a Twitter account, and how do you actually use Twitter? A little background: Twitter started as a means for an individual [...]

An Editorial What? Many print media outlets provide an editorial calendar, which outlines topics that will be covered in upcoming calendar months. Some publications will articulate special features for the month and regular columns that will appear [...]

If you are currently enrolled in public relations courses at your school, you have already taken the first step in launching a successful career in PR— and getting to know the basics is key! This applies to business/marketing, journalism [...]

Anyone who has a passing familiarity with email, blog platforms and online communities probably reads and writes more words per day than our grade school grammar teachers could have ever imagined. But with no one to mark up our run-on sentences [...]

The hardest assignments writers tackle are almost always the shortest. Brevity is not just the soul of wit – it’s essential to clear communication. Unfortunately, getting a point across concisely is not as easy as it looks.

Just like newspaper headlines and email subjects, microblogging is short, sweet and to the point. This movement often means having to fit “what’s on our mind?” in just 140 characters.

Since microblogging has become an increasingly prevalent way for both publications and clients to share information, I'd like to share this article with three new ways to get information out more efficiently and easily.

Billions of emails are sent every day. Public Relations professionals only get one chance to make a first email impression with busy reporters, so make it a good one! An April 2008 a USA Today article cited ComScore Media Metrix figures for [...]

I would like to start a discussion regarding the recent incidents that followed the Grammy’s this past Sunday night. When relatively unknown jazz artist Esperanza Spalding won the best new artist award over fan-favorite Justin Bieber, his [...]

As a society, whether we like it or not, we have reached a point where websites are a part of everyday life when it comes to smart business. Years ago a reception area and receptionist was thought of as “the face of the company”. Today [...]

Earlier this week, I participated in a webinar presented by PR News, “Facebook Essentials: Leveraging the Latest Features for PR Success”. During the hour and a half long webinar, in which we heard from three presenters with differing [...]

In an unexpected move on Super Bowl Sunday, AOL and Huffington Post have signed an agreement to merge. Announced early Monday, AOL will be acquiring Huffington Post, which was co-founded in 2005 by Arianna Huffington, and attracts nearly 25 million [...]

One of the biggest challenges that businesses can face is negative media coverage. Bad publicity is a stressful and often even emotional experience--not to mention a critical communications event. The worst, and most common, mistake that companies [...]

...the official JCPR blog! The JCPR team is pleased to share our thoughts on the PR industry and social media space with you. We would like to welcome you to share with us, too, by posting comments or reaching out to us through Twitter, Facebook, [...]

JCPR wishes the happiest of holidays to all of our friends and