Alex Singleton http://www.alexsingleton.com Expert opinion on public relations Wed, 15 May 2013 05:24:00 +0000 en-US hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.5.1 How to improve diversity in PR: fix the creativity & measurement problems http://www.alexsingleton.com/want-to-improve-diversity-in-pr-then-you-need-to-solve-the-creativity-and-measurement-problems/ http://www.alexsingleton.com/want-to-improve-diversity-in-pr-then-you-need-to-solve-the-creativity-and-measurement-problems/#comments Sun, 12 May 2013 17:15:16 +0000 Alex Singleton http://www.alexsingleton.com/?p=1632 For years, the PR industry has been flagellating itself for its supposed and actual failings in hiring a diverse workforce. We tend to under-celebrate its unique personality – it is overwhelmingly female and is also welcoming to gay men. This is surely good. Yet both of these groups are allegedly “over-represented” in the sector. Meanwhile, [...]

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]]> http://www.alexsingleton.com/want-to-improve-diversity-in-pr-then-you-need-to-solve-the-creativity-and-measurement-problems/feed/ 0 Week’s Weakest Word: multifaceted http://www.alexsingleton.com/weeks-weakest-word-multifaceted/ http://www.alexsingleton.com/weeks-weakest-word-multifaceted/#comments Fri, 10 May 2013 07:02:34 +0000 Alex Singleton http://www.alexsingleton.com/?p=1608 I hate the word multifaceted. Corporate writers habitually add this piece of jargon to sentences for no clear reason – and PR people should stick well clear of it. The word is supposed to refer to something with more than one facet. But I wonder if, in business memos and corporate brochures, it has literally no [...]

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]]> http://www.alexsingleton.com/weeks-weakest-word-multifaceted/feed/ 0 How authors can use geo-redirection to point readers in to a bookshop in their country http://www.alexsingleton.com/how-authors-can-use-geo-redirection-to-point-readers-in-to-a-bookshop-in-their-country/ http://www.alexsingleton.com/how-authors-can-use-geo-redirection-to-point-readers-in-to-a-bookshop-in-their-country/#comments Tue, 07 May 2013 08:18:39 +0000 Alex Singleton http://www.alexsingleton.com/?p=1603 I worked out how to get round a technical problem that blights authors. When an author launches a new title, he wants to be able to link to a place where readers can buy it. The problem is that British authors link to Amazon.co.uk, for their benefit of their British readers. But this isn’t ideal for [...]

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]]> http://www.alexsingleton.com/how-authors-can-use-geo-redirection-to-point-readers-in-to-a-bookshop-in-their-country/feed/ 0 Those who dismiss media relations are deluded about PR http://www.alexsingleton.com/those-who-dismiss-media-relations-are-deluded-about-the-public-relations/ http://www.alexsingleton.com/those-who-dismiss-media-relations-are-deluded-about-the-public-relations/#comments Mon, 06 May 2013 07:41:49 +0000 Alex Singleton http://www.alexsingleton.com/?p=1588 According to Fraser Seitel, writing in his textbook, The Practice of Public Relations: ”Even in these days of pervasive social media, building a solid and lasting relationship with the press lies at the heart of the practice of public relations.” He’s right – and I make a similar point in The PR Masterclass, which is that for [...]

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]]> http://www.alexsingleton.com/those-who-dismiss-media-relations-are-deluded-about-the-public-relations/feed/ 0 Why the letters APR are bad for your wealth http://www.alexsingleton.com/why-the-letters-apr-are-bad-for-your-wealth/ http://www.alexsingleton.com/why-the-letters-apr-are-bad-for-your-wealth/#comments Mon, 06 May 2013 07:35:31 +0000 Alex Singleton http://www.alexsingleton.com/?p=1576 What’s the best way for American PR practitioners to get pigeon-holed as junior? By putting the letters APR after their name. These initials – standing for accredited in public relations – are widely rejected in New York, one of the two global capitals of public relations. Ambitious practitioners know that the letters do nothing for them. [...]

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]]> http://www.alexsingleton.com/why-the-letters-apr-are-bad-for-your-wealth/feed/ 0 What’s wrong with PR http://www.alexsingleton.com/whats-wrong-with-pr/ http://www.alexsingleton.com/whats-wrong-with-pr/#comments Sun, 05 May 2013 08:17:57 +0000 Alex Singleton http://www.alexsingleton.com/?p=1571 The most important skill of a PR practitioner is to be able to write well. That’s why it amazes me to find long-time practitioners writing such corporate drivel as this, which I found on the CIPR’s LinkedIn group: PR should be considered as a vanguard modern occupation that is able to lead on the development [...]

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]]> http://www.alexsingleton.com/whats-wrong-with-pr/feed/ 0 Why the government’s Aspire training programme won’t work http://www.alexsingleton.com/why-the-governments-aspire-training-programme-wont-work/ http://www.alexsingleton.com/why-the-governments-aspire-training-programme-wont-work/#comments Fri, 26 Apr 2013 20:21:54 +0000 Alex Singleton http://www.alexsingleton.com/?p=1502 Here’s a letter from me in the new issue of PRWeek: What was the government thinking when it allocated its PR staff such a woefully small training budget (“Whitehall invests in training, PRWeek”, 19 April)? It is to spend around £100,000 on 1,500 comms staff, but this is just £67 a person. In the economy [...]

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]]> http://www.alexsingleton.com/why-the-governments-aspire-training-programme-wont-work/feed/ 0 Don’t knock them: junior, young PR practitioners can be great http://www.alexsingleton.com/dont-knock-them-junior-young-pr-practitioners-can-be-great/ http://www.alexsingleton.com/dont-knock-them-junior-young-pr-practitioners-can-be-great/#comments Thu, 18 Apr 2013 06:00:06 +0000 Alex Singleton http://www.alexsingleton.com/?p=1474 I can’t remember how many times I’ve heard people complain about agencies who deploy junior people, straight out of university, to work on their clients’ accounts. The complaint normally comes from two sources. First, from older PR freelancers who would love to do the retained work that agencies secure. And, second, from clients. The second is that [...]

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]]> http://www.alexsingleton.com/dont-knock-them-junior-young-pr-practitioners-can-be-great/feed/ 0 The coffee shop rule: how to avoid pointless business meetings http://www.alexsingleton.com/the-coffee-shop-rule-how-to-avoid-pointless-business-meetings/ http://www.alexsingleton.com/the-coffee-shop-rule-how-to-avoid-pointless-business-meetings/#comments Tue, 16 Apr 2013 21:02:00 +0000 Alex Singleton http://www.alexsingleton.com/?p=1457 No one in business who is worth meeting ever wants just to “meet for coffee”. They always have something specific they want to involve you in. After all, their time is too valuable to schedule an appointment for no apparent purpose. Similarly, no credible prospect ever wants to start a business relationship by meeting in [...]

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]]> http://www.alexsingleton.com/the-coffee-shop-rule-how-to-avoid-pointless-business-meetings/feed/ 0 Measurement: the weapon that makes PR deliver better results http://www.alexsingleton.com/measurement-the-weapon-that-makes-public-relations-deliver-better-results/ http://www.alexsingleton.com/measurement-the-weapon-that-makes-public-relations-deliver-better-results/#comments Sun, 27 Jan 2013 11:51:29 +0000 Alex Singleton http://www.alexsingleton.com/?p=1411 Ninety years ago Claude Hopkins wrote “Scientific Advertising”. This showed that by measuring the sales resulting from particular advertisements, bad ads could be ditched and the best techniques learned. PR practitioners, however, are only just catching up. In his book on measurement, Mark Weiner says that the PR industry has lagged behind because of “loosely defined [...]

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