leobottary

I thought I'd bring CSI out of retirement (which I may do from time to time) to make a brief announcement that Seton Hall University's Master of Arts in Strategic Communication & Leadership (MASCL) program launched a new Twitter site over the weekend which you can access @MASCL .  The purpose is to bring together professional communicators and leaders to share content about communication and leadership. Why should you care?  Well, since graduating from the program and enjoying the... Read Full Story

I started Client Service Insights (CSI) back in 2006 while at Hill & Knowlton and picked it up again independently on Blogger.  I began blogging shortly after attending a client meeting that touched on social media - a subject about which I felt uncomfortably ignorant at the time.  After taking a few months exploring the various platforms and reading posts from other prominent bloggers, I took the plunge and have since tried my best to learn how to engage in the social media space the only... Read Full Story

Back in July of 2008, I shared Shep Hyken's entertaining story of a Texas cab driver . It's one of my favorite client service related videos of all time, and I invite you to watch it again. The other day, I discovered that Shep Hyken is now following me on Twitter, and it prompted me to look at some of Hyken's work including his book The Cult of the Customer and his many videos on YouTube. Regardless of what kind of client or customer we're talking about, Hyken offers smart, practical advice... Read Full Story

Well, it's that time again! Time for my annual ClustrMaps refresh. While it's fun to watch all the red dots accumulate over the course of the year, the refresh helps make the map readable again. Otherwise, if a blog gets any kind of traffic at all and the map is never refreshed, one would be left with a big red blob which wouldn't be much help to anyone. More importantly, however, is the helpful information a blogger receives with this year-to-year snapshot. For example, I've learned that my... Read Full Story

It pains me to have to write this, but I've noticed a recent spike in posts, articles, etc. about the PR profession written by PR people. Unfortunately, they have not been productive articles; in fact, they've been the extra-whiney kind. Without naming names or linking to the articles, it's been the same fare we've all been served for years - How many different roles we play (appetizer), how under-appreciated and overworked we are (entree), how CEOs just don't understand what we do (dessert... Read Full Story

As part of my post on Organic Growth , I provided a systems model that offered a different way to look at growing and building one’s PR business. In this post, I’d like to support that model with a common scenario you may be familiar with. Consider a typical, successful PR agency start-up. The principals sign their first few clients and treat them like gold. They are often directly engaged in each client’s business and everyone is happy. Word spreads about the new firm that helps attract... Read Full Story

Earlier in the week, I suggested that there are three ways to ensure the healthy growth of your public relations firm: 1) New clients 2) Organic Growth 3) Client Retention. In my last post titled: Why Did You Lose A Client? , I offered a blame-free, open approach to exploring why some client relationships go bad. The primary objective of such an exploration is to learn - to learn how to pick clients who are a good agency fit from the start; how to identify signs of eroding trust; and how to... Read Full Story

I've always been perplexed by a PR agency's often "over-the-top" emphasis on finding new clients and keeping the new business pipeline as full as possible. Not because it's not important, but because it overshadows two other critical aspects of agency growth - client retention and organic growth. Focus on all three and you'll grow your business exponentially. Just imagine how impressed prospects might be by your agency's stellar client retention and organic growth numbers. They may conclude... Read Full Story

Chris Brogan recently offered an excellent suggestion for the Twitter practice called Follow Friday (#FF) - the weekly ritual of recognizing others on Twitter.  It's one that allows us to do a more thorough job of thanking those who provide such great value and insights and introducing these fine people to Twitterers who may not already follow them.   Since Twitter limits us to 140 characters, I have taken Chris' advice and listed many of this week's Follow Friday favorites right here on my... Read Full Story

Today's title is a reference to the line, "Beware of Greeks Bearing Gifts" which comes from the story of Troy and how the Greeks used a wooden horse to trick their way into the city. Sophocles described it as, "foes' gifts are no gifts; profit they bring none." While I don't believe everyone who writes an article that offers 5 tips for this or 10 tips for that is necessarily a geek or one's enemy, I would argue that we should read such articles with caution. They typically address symptoms... Read Full Story