5 PR Tips to Learn from James Bond

James Bond is a global icon, everyone across the globe knows of MI6 agent 007. His movies and books have been hitting theaters and shelves since 1962. His films have set many box office records and gained scores of fans.

Of course, there are more than just fancy ways of using gadgets, driving cars, and getting women from James Bond; we can also learn how to promote ourselves and our businesses. Here are 5 franchise PR lessons to learn from Mr. Bond.

Know what your pitch will be and make sure to nail it each time you deliver it.

We all know the iconic way that James Bond introduces himself, “Bond. James Bond.” I tried to do this myself but my name does not work as smoothly. While it does not make so much sense that a spy is so willing to divulge his identity, it is a memorable calling card and he delivers it perfectly every time.

What is your calling card when you are out making connections and sales? You might want to try a different way than what James Bond does but do keep it as memorable and easy to deliver.

Have the best tools and know how to use them. James Bond has the best gadgets and keeps on top of how to use them. Whether it is a car that shoots missiles, a jetpack, or a pen that doubles as a remote for an explosive, he has the latest and greatest. Just like Bond, franchise public relations professionals have to be on the edge of the latest tools, tech, and techniques; things like tablets, smartphones, connections with reporters, etc.

Unfortunately, you might not have the luxury of the taxpayer paying for things like James Bond does, which means having someone else, or yourself.

Use those gadgets and tools but have a backup plan. While Bond did always have good gadgets to his disposal, he did not always rely on them too heavily. Bond was always an agent that relied more on his own mind, skill, and those around him (even if it was another human to take the impact of a fall or bullet).

Like Bond, we know that social media has become a huge part of good PR and marketing, however, that does not mean we can only concern ourselves with the followers and fans. We still have to use the simple and traditional methods from time to time.

Dress the part. James Bond always has the best suits and looks great in them. Like him, you need to dress the part as well, even if it does not mean dropping thousands on a suit. But look and act professional.

Be social. Bond goes out to clubs and such and gambles, drinks, has shaken martinis, etc. and he gets to know people. We are not saying you should get involved in these things but do take the note that in order to gain business and connections, you have to be out there, you have to be social.

The Rise of Social Advertising Beyond Facebook

Facebook will be a major player in the social media advertising scene for a while due to its incredible potential reach and scale, everyone is on Facebook. However, due to the Facebook algorithm that dictates visibility for free brand pages, less than two percent of posts get seen anymore. This means either paying to use Facebook for more visibility or jumping focus of social media marketing to other platforms. The rise of platforms like Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, and Google+ is really eye opening in 2015.

These other platforms are rolling out features and ad products that bring brands to the forefront of consumers. More and more, content is the way to tell if your social ad will be a winner. Along with great content, image-centric content is driving engagement and conversions on social media. This used to be only true for Facebook but even with Twitter, tweets that have an image are seeing 54 percent more favorites and retweets and 84 percent more clicks.

Pinterest, created back in 2009, reaches more than 70 million users
. Pinterest now has Promoted Pins for brands who want to advertise and bring more visibility to their boards and products. Brands are given free impressions and are only charged when their pins are clicked, which then goes against the brand's weekly or monthly budget.

Other platforms like Tumblr or Google+ are also gaining traction from brands. What are your thoughts for your business regarding which social media platforms are best? Let us know in the comments! As a Chicago PR agency, we are excited about social media and how businesses use it.

How to Use Instagram for Your Business

Businesses have been moving to Instagram in droves. Instagram has even started tailoring its platform to businesses to make things easier for them.

So what can your business do to make Instagram a useful tool? Our franchise PR team can help!

1. Balance your fun images with professional images. Tell a story of your business through your images. Have the professional ones to show your business is productive and on top of its game. Blend those images with the fun images of your business. When you show those fun images, it gives clients or customers more confidence in your business, believe it or not. It shows you're not fake and it shows that you have personality. Clients and customers love to see a business with personality and is not robotic.

2. Build a following. To get more followers on Instagram, connect with your customers and clients on their professional or personal accounts. Connect your Instagram account with your company's Twitter and Facebook accounts, share your posts to those sites (cross-promotion).

Another task to do that will garner followers is using relevant, popular hashtags. Both parts of that are important. Relevant. Popular. You can use a popular hashtag about cats in your photo about your business that sells sporting goods but it won't help. You can also use a very relevant hashtag but if there are only 10 posts using it, it won't do much either.

A third task is to follow people and engage with their posts. Like them. Comment on them (appropriately). This can really help your business since not many businesses actually engage with photos, they just post their own.

3. Use videos. Now that Instagram allows videos, they are a wonderful way to create and curate content for your followers. They show more than just a static moment. They feature voices, laughter, information, and whatever your business can fit into the 15 seconds.

4. Embed the Instagram videos to your site and blog. Everybody loves seeing videos on blogs and websites, they drive traffic and engagement. You can embed them so they are flawlessly intwined. When people share your blogs and visit your site, they will be seeing those videos, sharing them, and extending your Instagram's reach.

5. Follow your followers. When someone gives your corporate Instagram a follow, follow them back. It easily builds positive franchise PR for your business and shows your followers that you like them and not just for their sales. It is surprising how many businesses do not follow their followers back, which would show your business is different, that it cares.

6. Don't post too much. But post. The speed of posting pictures on Instagram is laid back. You can go a couple days between posts and still be fine. If you have a business that creates video and image worthy posts that won't be redundant and boring with frequent posts, then post every day. Gauge your followers. Gauge the engagement and excitement of your posts. For example, a company like Nike has engaging enough content to post every day; not because they're a global company but because they cover so many sports and are highly relevant to many people.

7. Use filters and effects. Don't be afraid to use the filters on Instagram or, if you are so skilled, Photoshop. Our Chicago PR agency can help with using Photoshop for your business! Create unique images and make your pictures incredible. If you create branded images, even better.

8. Host contests on Instagram. Use a specific hashtag for participants to add to their images so they can be submitted to your contest. Have a prize that is worth winning.

9. Showcase employees. Talk about your employees to show your followers who they deal with when then engage with your business! This is another way to show the personality of your business. Employee of the month? Employee who won an office contest? Whatever you want. Make it relevant & appropriate.

10. Build a visual experience for your followers. Make your profile exciting to follow. Whether the photos and videos are "Wow!" or you can have interesting posts and are connected to engaging stories, make your profile exciting.

Instagram is a great place to build your social media following. If your business is not on Instagram, then you are missing out. Contact All Points PR, a Chicago PR agency, about your business's social media strategy!

This New App is Bad PR for the Kardashians

If you have spent any time on the internet in the last five years or so, then you know all about the Kardashians, specifically the daughters. All this publicity for the family has started to get under the skin of people. This constant stream of news about the family has prompted the invention of Kardblock; this new app blocks all things Kardashian on your internet feeds.

Do you remember the app, Unbaby.Me? The app would replace all the baby pictures in your newsfeeds with pictures of other things. That app inspired this one and so far, has been receiving some popularity despite being in beta.

The Kardashians have been receiving bad public relations for many things for a while, but this is a heavy hit. On the other hand, it is giving great PR to Chameleon.la, the creator of the app, along with James Shamsi.

Questions or comments? Contact All Points PR, a Chicago PR agency.

15 Brand Names You've Likely Been Saying Wrong

Brands exist all over the world. Depending on where we are from, we say letters and their groupings differently. This is one of the many struggles when a company goes global; your brand name might work well in your country but be mispronounced in another country.

Our Chicago PR agency, we have seen this sort of branding go wrong for some brands as they went beyond their original borders. Consider these 15 brand names that we have all been mispronouncing, thanks to Business Insider, we now know how to say these brand names with confidence!

Don't worry, even some of us at our franchise PR agency were caught off guard by a few of these.



Stuart, M., & Kakoyiannis, A. (2014, September 10). The Right Way To Say 15 Brand Names You're Mispronouncing All The Time. Retrieved March 5, 2015, from http://www.businessinsider.com/mispronounce-difficult-to-say-brands-2014-9 

Build Your Business with Listening

When you are in business, you have to be a good listener. Now that the digital age is upon us, you also have to be into "social listening". In business, you have to be a master at listening. Listening is essential to every activity we do in life, both online and offline.

Use Link Listening to Build Community
One common techniques of social listening is to "link listen" on the wonderful tool of Twitter. What is link listening? Well, is is listening for tweets that have a link for a specific site. Many franchise PR agencies that use this technique to build community, create leads, and communicate.

To link listen, simply type in the URL for a site in to the search bar on Twitter and you'll get every tweet that features that link.

Using Social Listening to Build Buyer Identities
When you link listen, you are able to discover many types of buyer and engagement identities. When you search for a link, such as your own site's, you can find the different kinds of people who use your link for varying reasons.

Our Chicago PR agency can find some great database PR pros by searching for www.allpointspr.com on Twitter.

When you discover who is in the varying personas, you can craft a plan of action and engage with them to build better community.

Does your business want better brand awareness and engagement with its audience? Then email All Points PR - a Chicago Franchise PR agency. 

These 11 Brand Names That Couldn't Survive

When starting a business, creating the name of the brand is one of the most important parts; without a good brand name. the brand can suffer and have poor marketing and public relations. The problem is that sometimes things happen that can alter the perception of a brand's name, things that have nothing to do with the actual business.

For example, the Isis candy company. The candy company has nothing to do with the group in the Middle East but when people hear "ISIS", they think of the terror group and their acts of violence, not delicious chocolate.

Not every brand has to ditch a name when they find themselves in a situation like this, there are other routes. After all, a company's branding- personality, recognition, etc.- all rest on the brand's name. It is a large step and an arduous one! As soon as you get a new brand name, you are essentially starting from square one. However, sometimes that is the only solution, such as with Isis candy, who now operates under Libeert.

Here are 11 brand names that had unfortunate situations like this:

1. Isis Chocolates. Yes, we just mentioned them but we will go into more detail. The company actually had a great name until 2013, they went by Italo Suisse. It was in 2013 when they changed their name to Isis. Too bad the execs at the company didn't know about the terror group or they wouldn't have chosen that name, according to their marketing manager. The terror group has been around for a long time but it wasn't until the summer of 2014 until the US began hearing about them, as that was when they started mass-releases of their videos. They chose Libeert since that's the last name of the owners. Good move. 
2. Ayds diet candy. There was once a candy company called Ayds. That's right, it sounded just like the disease- AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome). Even when AIDS had a mass awareness in 1981, the candy company didn't think the names would conflict. Well, in 1987, they realized they were wrong. The CEO and his team created a new name for the brand, "Diet Ayds". The new name was as bad as the old one. The brand flopped and disappeared from the world. This brand could've used some serious franchise PR. 
3. United Stationers. This was a recent change, just a month ago. United Stationers decided to change their name, the one they had since 1922, to Essendant. They believed that "stationers" sounded too much like stationary, which gave an antiquated feel, according to CEO Cody Phipps. 
4. Nokia. Nokia, the once preferred famous brand of cell phones. The phones notorious for strength (at least the ones from the 90s and 00s). And then the smartphone happened. Nokia was slow to adapt and they had to partner with Microsoft to make it happen. Microsoft bought Nokia in 2014, released the Lumia without the "Nokia" name on the phone, and the rest is recent history. 
5. Sci Fi. The Sci Fi channel changed its name to SyFy. The way it sounds is exactly the same, so this name change technically worked. This name change happened so the channel could broaden its offerings and it could be copyrighted. 
6. Hot Mama. This popular clothing brand was doing very well, however, due to its name (and branding), people thought they sold maternity clothes. They changed it to Evereve. 
7. YMCA. The famous gym brand changed their name from YMCA to The Y. Very few Americans knew what the letters stood for and it drove people crazy. The solution was simple, don't use them. The new logo and name were an easy acceptance for Americans since so many people called it "The Y" for years, anyway. 
8. Philip Morris. The largest tobacco company in the world, Philip Morris, knew that they had to change their name due to its closeness to Marlboro and other cigarette brands, which drew heat. They changed their name to Altria. 
9. AIG Chartis. The company at the center of the economic fallout of 2008, which was bailed out for $85 billion. Had changed their name to AIG Chartis in 2009. However, after ranking as the most hated brand every year between 2009 and 2013, they went back to AIG. 
10. ValuJet. You might know them by the name AirTran. When a ValuJet plane crashed in the Florida Everglades in 1996, there was some serious anger that came at the airline; they were known for low-priced airfare but many believed it was due to shoddy planes and maintenance. The brand was bought out by Southwest in 2010 and is no longer operating under AirTran name. 
11. Malaysia Airlines. You could say 2014 was not a good year for the airline, since it lost two planes within five months. One is still not found over a year later. While this brand has not done anything yet, a major rebranding is in the works, which could include a name change. 

Many of these brands changed their names due to a crisis, which can happen to any company. If your brand encounters a sticky situation, make sure to contact a crisis communications agency, such as a franchise PR firm. 

Quick Advice for PR Students

As a franchise PR student, it is great and important for you to read. Read and study journalists and PR professionals and learn what styles are out there, which ones are successful and which ones are not so successful. That is one piece of advice for students looking to join a franchise PR agency after college.

The whole point of this is to become as great of a PR professional as you can be. Of course, to be great in PR after college, that is not the only thing that is worthy advice for a student of PR. Here are several other things to know.

The college life (fun): 

• Be involved in groups, clubs, & associations. groups and associations will be great for helping to supplement your classroom learning with experience. Things like PR clubs, the school newspaper, be part of the school's radio station, or even the PRSSA (Public Relations Student Student Society of America). It helps with putting classroom knowledge into practice and it looks good on a résumé. 
• Play sports. This is not only just to have fun but it also helps you learn how to function as part of a team. Discipline, teamwork, being competitive, and mental toughness. 
• Meet & greet people. Make friends and establish connections with current professionals and people that will be good connections in the future. This will also teach you a helpful aspect for the professional world. In the franchise public relations world, you will be meeting people all the time. 

College life (learning):

• Learn. Actually pay attention in class and take assignments and projects seriously. You're paying big bucks for that degree, don't throw it away or scrape by. If you go to a smaller university where you can actually get to know the professors, do so. 
• Get at least one internship. If your school doesn't require an internship before you graduate, get one anyway. It looks good on a résumé and it can lead to opportunities, such as landing that first job; even if your first job is not with the place you intern at, you might have a connection at the agency you intern with that knows somebody. 
• Write. Have a journal, a blog, writing for the school newspaper, etc. Something that allows you to hone your writing skills; if that something can be added to your clip file, even better, which leads us to the next point… 
• Build a profile. All those assignments that were mock press releases, brochures, pitches, press conferences, other writing samples. 
• Get in public speaking. If you can find a public speaking class, great. Otherwise, find a club or the speech team. 
• Know social media. Social media is a big part of business these days so learn to love it and use it. 

Enjoy those big years of your life and let them lay a great foundation for your career. At the same time, make some memories and have fun. Email All Points PR with any questions! 

Creative Job Market Picks Up - Execs More Optimistic About Hiring Talent

Back in late 2014, The Creative Group found that business executives are much more optimistic about hiring creative talent in the first six months of 2015 than they were in the final six months of 2014.

The Creative Group surveyed US businesses and found some interesting findings. For agencies, firms, and all businesses looking to hire full-time creatives, 56 percent of those plan on maintaining and filling vacated positions so far in the first six months of 2015; 33
percent of respondents mentioned that they actually plan on expanding and adding new creative jobs, only five percent said they would freeze the creative roles.

For the last six months of 2014, 73 percent of respondents said that they were planning on maintaining and filling vacated positions; only 12 percent of companies stated an interest in expanding and adding new jobs. Three percent of companies wanted to reduce their creative positions and one percent had no idea.

57 percent of businesses surveyed said that they did not think it was challenging to find skilled creatives. 33 percent responded by saying it was a little challenging to find skilled creatives, eight percent believed it was very challenging, and one percent were not in the search.

The roles that are in highest demand are web design, social media, content marketing, media services (such as franchise PR), print design, interactive media, creative & direction, and mobile dev.

Are you looking to work in public relations? Then contact All Points PR! We are currently hiring and would love to speak with you.

PR Lessons from Winter Storm Juno

The Northeastern United States, especially areas like Boston, have been hit hard by the winter storm known as Juno. The storm was predicted to be of epic proportions and for many areas, it was (although it was a little lackluster in other areas). The storm halted public transportation, forced people to stay indoors, work and schools were closed, some people even found significant others for the storm. It altered lives for a couple days.

As a Chicago franchise PR agency, we tend to look for learning experiences in anything, even something like Juno. There are three things that we've learned from this storm and how it affected the people of the Northeast United States.

1. Be prepared. Anyone who is successful in franchise PR or marketing is someone who believes in being prepared. In order to do well in a long blizzard, you have to be proactive; this means going out and getting enough food for a day or two (if you can't leave the house), backup power sources, etc. The city has to know how to remove the snow, what to do with traffic/pedestrians (curfews?), and emergency responses. When it comes to PR, it behooves you to be prepared and prepared as much as you can be. 
2. Be proactive. Doing things before people realize they have to be done is a great example of being proactive. This sort of ties into being prepared but it takes a more actionable and confident approach (since being prepared can be a result of being
   reactive). In Boston and NYC, the mayors shut down the roads and public transit and required people to be in their homes by 11 PM, this is being proactive. 
3. Use the moment to your advantage. Of course, this is to be done tastefully and not to exploit anyone or thing. You have to assess the situation to get a good handle if it is appropriate to capitalize on the situation for your brand; if there is a natural disaster that kills hundreds or thousands, then don't. This can result in a PR crisis. 

Be safe, everyone who lives in the Northeast! 

Does your business need a way to get ahead and be noticed? Then contact All Points PR-- we are a Chicago PR agency. 

5 Tips to Help You Become a Better Blogger

It seems like anyone can have a blog these days; sites like Blogger, Wordpress, Tumblr, etc. all make it very easy to be a blogger. Blogging is a great tool and can really help with things like search engine rankings, content marketing, authority within your industry, etc.

It is not unique to be a blogger anymore, what is unique, is having a blog that is worth reading. Here are five tips to make sure your blog is worth reading.

1. Practice and practice often. Make sure you take time to write for yourself now and then; let your mind and fingers get the hang of writing good pieces of work. When you learn how to develop good content, your blog will take a huge upturn in worth; our Chicago PR agency always encourages staff to write in their free time, about anything. It might sound cliché but think about all the hours of practice that pro athletes put into their work; none of them (the truly great ones) just wake up and think, "Yeah, I'm skipping drills today" and then make the all-star team and the Hall of Fame. 
2. Have passion. Have a passion for writing, and reading, and allow that passion to fuel your drive to create and deliver content. When you are passionate about something, that is when the best work will come through; back to the athletes example, do you ever think Michael Jordan thought, "Basketball is okay, I s'pose…" No, he loved the game and that was what fueled his desire to win and be great. 
3. Make sure to post! Have the habit of posting routinely, if you post whenever you feel like it, such as once a month or every few months, then people have less of a reason to come back and read more. Post at least once a week. When people can count on your postings to be there, they will be more likely to revisit your blog. Our franchise PR agency has this blog and one on our site, both are posted to routinely, for this reason. 
4. Have a purpose. You might like to blog but your blog post topics range from candy to politics, that is no good. Have a concrete subject line that you want to run with. Maybe your blog is always going to be about politics, awesome; it does not always have to cover Republicans or Democrats, but covering things within the Federal Government arena would allow your readers to know what they can visit your blog for. 
5. Be smart. Or, a smart way of saying that would be "perspicacity". You don't want to use jargon or language that is not appropriate for your readers to sound smart; however, you want to showcase your intellect in ways that get you ahead. 

Does your business need help with blogging? Then contact All Points PR-- a Chicago franchise PR agency that has a love for writing. See how we can help your blog become great! 

5 New Year's Resolutions for PR Professionals

The end of the year is only a couple weeks away. That being said, we should be thinking about how to improve things in 2015 when ti comes to franchise PR.

1. In 2015, I will have a great PR crisis plan ready for my clients. If you do not have this done already, then you definitely need to get on this one. With so many ways things get talked about besides word-of-mouth and press releases. Today, we have all that traditional media but we also have the internet, which includes social media. If something goes wrong for a business, it gets talked about quickly; the bigger the company, the bigger the crisis. Here are 5 example of good crisis communications plans. 
2. In 2015, I will be on the lookout for new opportunities. A great way to gain exposure is to attach yourself to a larger story. This can be a great way to generate story ideas. 
3. In 2015, I will make a better effort to contact journalists. Since PR professionals outnumber journalists (roughly 4:1), then the lesson here is simple: our pitches have to stand out and be good enough to read from word one. Begin with who you are targeting, make sure your pitches end up in the right hands and do not contribute to the clutter. 
4. In 2015, I will reconsider influencer targeting. What is this? Influencer targeting the people of the internet that have mass followings and strong influential value. These people are on social media, blogs, YouTube, etc. Maybe they are not actually journalists but they still have info and can clout. 
5. In 2015, I will be open-minded about how PR influences content marketing and social media marketing! The world of franchise public relations works hand in hand with things like content marketing and social media marketing. The three of these things have to work together to get the job done correctly and efficiently. 

Maybe none of these resolutions resonate with you and you would like to submit your own. The bottom line is that we are looking ahead to the new year and planning for it. If you want your business to get noticed, you have to look ahead. 

Hire a Chicago PR agency that is always looking ahead and planning on how to adapt to the markets. This is how you will get noticed in the world. 

PR Lessons We Learn from Santa Claus

In the spirit of the holidays, we thought it'd be fun to look at the lessons we can learn from Santa when it comes to franchise public relations.

Make a list and check it… twice. What if Santa gave a bag of coal to someone who was actually on the "Nice List"? That would be really embarrassing and create a PR crisis for Santa. In the world of PR, we have to build lists all the time and can seem tedious. When building a list of contacts or tasks to get done, such as work to be done for a client, then make sure to check it over to make sure t
hat everything is correct.

Plan, prep, execute. Santa prepares for his delivery run each and every year by building toys and planning things the previous eleven months. In franchise PR, we do not always have eleven months to prepare for something. Sometimes, we do not even have eleven hours. Or minutes. However, if we have a basic plan of action for something, say crisis communications, then we should be able to deliver quickly.

Share information. Santa shares lots of things such as presents, the fame (those elves are the real heroes), and his likeness (Santa doesn't sue for others using his likeness.) In public relations, in terms of social media, it is great to share images, logos, posts, news, info, and other goodness with those that are willing to listen to us. You want to protect your brand image but you also want to share the love.

Get a big rep. Get both a big reputation (for good) as well as a big franchise PR agency. Santa is one of the most recognizable people in the whole world, everyone who sees him knows his name. Santa has had his image used by some bad people and businesses for their own gain, yet we all still love Santa.

Show people that you care. Santa is known for his generosity and spreading holiday cheer. As PR professionals, we are in a great position to spread some cheer as well; when we successfully get a client in front of the media for something great, it makes them happy. We can also have clients do some good philanthropy, as well as ourselves.

Do you want a franchise PR firm that can get you as popular as Santa? Then contact All Points PR, a Chicago PR agency with experience in many industries and the results to back it up. See how we can help your business gain success!

Shaking It Off and 3 other PR Lessons to Learn from Taylor Swift

Taylor Swift is constantly in the media, usually for good reasons. Within the last couple weeks, she has been all over magazines, talk shows, etc. discussing and promoting her latest album, 1989.

This past week, she faced off with popular music streaming site, Spotify. Spotify fired shots at T-Swift about taking her sweet time getting the new album on Spotify; in response to this jab, Taylor removed all of her music from the site.

Taylor certainly is not afraid to defend herself and be who she is. It is definitely admirable. Here are 3 things to learn from Taylor Swift that we can apply to franchise PR. 

Shake it off. The hit single from 1989 has taught us something special. You have to shake it off. You have to be you and do what you know is best for your company and your consumers. There will be those out there that disagree but the reality is that you can't and won't s
atisfy everyone. You also have to acknowledge what people are saying about your business so you can deal with it in the best way possible.

Know who your audience is. Taylor is known for her songs about heartbreak and you know what? They are always hits! Why? Because T-Swifts primary audience is between 13-26 and that is a prime age range for people to go through breakups & heartache. They can relate to her songs with words they could not come up with but Taylor did. Granted, not every person in her audience has had the fortune of dating a heartthrob celebrity but you take what you can.

Have a theme. With each album, Taylor has a theme that carries through each song, video, and image. With 1989, she has images look like Polaroids with handwritten messages. It gives a certain tweak to the messages that she sings about. When it comes to your business, have themes for franchise public relations campaigns, ad campaigns, social media, etc. Themes give a certain cohesiveness that is not achievable via random efforts.

Show your audience they are loved and appreciated. Taylor obviously cannot respond to each tweet and comment on Instagram but she does respond when she can. When Taylor is able to respond, you can see her responses are genuine and meant for that person, not like it is generated by some auto-responder. When it comes to your business, do things that show consumers that they are fully-known and fully-appreciated. It will definitely get you some PR results.

Whether you are a Taylor Swift fan or not, you can't deny her ability to be who she is and succeed at being an entertainer.

Does your business need promotional success like Taylor? Then chat with All Points PR and see how we can get you to be known!

PR Tips: Doing Public Relations in Real-Time

Did you know that athletes, firemen/policemen, pilots, stock traders, and franchise public relations professionals all have something in common? It might be hard to figure out…unless you read the title. That's right, they all have to act in real-time!

Until the last few years, when social media in business really took off, public relations was not a profession that would be included in the list where every second counts a franchise PR professional, you have to respond to breaking news within 24 hours.
nd reactions to be made instantly. When you look back at the days when the newspaper was the prime source of news for people, decisions and reactions had to be made prior to the deadline; today, as a

The concept of real-time communications is amazing. We are able to engage with our audiences instantly, without delay; part of this is accomplished via social media. We scroll through our newsfeeds and networks to understand what is going on in the world and hear/see what people are saying. This really helps with "newsjacking"-- being able to put your own spin on a breaking story to get attention from the media and generate interest and business.

News no longer takes hours or even days to break, it can take a mere minute, maybe two. Response to these stories requires great speed and agility. This is just one of many reasons why public relations in 2014 is much different than public relations of the past.

Does your business need a franchise PR agency that is able to react in real-time? Do you need a PR agency that is able to recognize a good opportunity for you the moment they see it? Then contact All Points PR, we are a Chicago PR agency. 

What George Washington Taught Us About PR

George Washington was the 1st President of the United States, as we know; however, as a man of the battle field and politics, he gained quite a bit of wisdom. Now, he didn't actually teach us things about franchise public relations but he did have quotes that are very applicable for PR.

1. "To be prepared for war is one of the most effective means of preserving peace." The idea of being ready for war is not only applicable for a nation and a military but also is great for business. Every business will have some sort of crisis, some are big & make the news, while others are never heard of. Regardless, every business will have one and therefore, it is wise to be ready for it, whatever the crisis may be. Having a crisis communications plan in place is essential for a business; if you do not have one, the time you need one will be too late. 
2. "It is better to be alone than in bad company." Being the 1st POTUS ever, George Washington had the huge task of defining the role of the office; this meant that he had a large reason to be careful in public. People were likely excited about what the President was doing at all times because he was the first. He understood that the people you keep around you will be a direct representation of the person you are. Brands in today's world recognize this too, especially when they look at their social media presence. 
3. "Truth will ultimately prevail where there is [sic] pains to bring it to light."One of the roles of franchise PR is to protect the image of a company or person. Images and reputations can be damaged by false accusations from other companies or individuals (defamation, libel, slander, etc). This can tie into a crisis communications plan as well. 
4. "Discipline is the soul of an army. It makes small numbers formidable; procures success to the weak, and esteem to all." When in the PR world, being disciplined is key; this does not necessarily mean being dull and legalistic, it means being focused and not compromising on what you believe to be true. It can be easy to fall to "shady" behaviors, especially if they are lucrative, such as bribes and such. Also, PR requires good creativity and persuasion, one must be disciplined to succeed at these. 

Look around, there are PR lessons everywhere, at least our Chicago PR agency thinks so. If your business is looking for a PR agency to help it grow and protect it, then contact All Points PR. 

NFL PR Dept Enduring Nightmares

The bad news is relentless for the NFL in the past few weeks. It all started with Ray Rice getting caught for domestic abuse and then several other NFL players, including the all-star running back, Adrian Peterson. Aside from the domestic abuse cases, some players are being charged with felony assault. Certainly, this has been quite a difficult period for the franchise public relations dept. of the NFL.

The nation's most popular league has suffered many franchise PR blows; the league has been under a lot of pressure from the public, media, and law to discipline the players who have been caught. So which players have been caught of wrongdoing?

Adrian Peterson. One of the best players in the NFL was accused of child abuse in Texas. The Minnesota Vikings player has not been suspended.

Greg Hardy. The defensive star for the Carolina Panthers has had many legal troubles. He has been convicted of misdemeanor assault charges for allegedly threatening to kill his then-girlfriend.

Jonathan Dwyer. The Arizona Cardinals running back has allegedly assaulted a woman and her child. He has been deactivated from the team.

Ray Rice. We have all likely heard about this one. The Baltimore Rav
ens RB knocked out his then-fiancee, now wife, in a NJ casino elevator. He has been released by the Ravens and indefinitely suspended by the league.

Ray McDonald. The San Fran. 49ers defensive tackle was arrested due to accusations of felony class domestic violence. The league's new rule states this results in a 6 game ban, unpaid.

Quincy Enunwa. A member of the NY Jets' practice squad was arrested for assaulting a women in a hotel.

So, as we can see, the NFL has quite the crisis communications situation in its hands at the moment. One possibly positive move they recently made was hiring a woman as the league's Chief Marketing Officer.

Certainly, the NFL did not see this coming, however, they likely had a PR plan in place. Does your company need help putting together a plan in case of a crisis? Maybe updating that plan? Contact All Points PR, a Chicago PR agency, to get your company prepared for any potential issues. A crisis will happen and you must be prepared for it. We can help.

5 Tips For How to Deal With Media as a Business

When you have a start-up company, you don't have much time for things like PR and dealing with the media. This means that when there is a complaint or something else to be resolved and the media knocks on your door, you're on your own and don't know what to do.

One of the worst things to do is say, "No comment" since this is often interpreted as a confession that you're guilty; however, you don't want to give anything away. This is a great reason to hire a franchise PR agency, however, if you insist on defending yourself, then here are five tips to help you.

1. Remain composed & factual- Don't try to be the funny man here, be professional about it. Humor can help relax tension, if you do it wrong, then it backfires. They are there to make some news so if your joke fails, then that's fuel for the fire. Don't make things up or manipulate facts and be calm while you do it. A reporter will fact check and find out when you lie and they can tell when you're nervous. Even if you have to fake confidence, that is a big help in crisis communications. 
2. What you say will be published. Don't say anything that you don't want to be published and (probably) used against you. When it comes to talking off the record, some reporters do not oblige by that rule and will publish anything you say (remember, these are not legally binding terms and there'd be no proof it was said, anyway). Any information you spill to them, they are legally allowed to publish in the story. Consult with a franchise PR firm to get tips about what to say. 
3. It's likely you're being recorded. Some states require that both parties have knowledge of the recording but up to 33 of the states do not require that; this means that only one person has to know. Often times, that one person is the reporter. 
4. Get information. If there is something going on, then you need to remember to ask questions and get information as well. If the reporter comes to you, then you'll want to have information in your back pocket as well. You can also request a day or two to respond to all the questions you were asked so you can give great responses. 
5. Squash the news. A good job of franchise public relations is to deal with the problem so well that the problem is gone, not just covered up. Sometimes this means giving something away; if you sell furniture and someone has a complaint about a chair, would it be the worst thing to give them a free chair to replace the other one? This would kill the complaint and squash any story for the reporter. 

Now, the best solution would be to hire a franchise PR firm, especially a Chicago PR agency but if you must defend yourself, then at least be equipped. If you have any questions or would like to talk to us about services, then contact All Points PR. 

9 Ways to Up Your Business Social Media Game

When you are running a business, it is pertinent that you are on social media. It is a great franchise PR tool that is pretty easy to do and can help you gain some popularity. Now, your social media may not bring in a lot of sales, if any; however, social media can help with your customer service and build brand loyalty because you can instantly converse with people in minutes.

So, you have your business listed on the major social media platforms… now what? Merely posting at random times, posting random things, doing random everything will not garner the followers you deserve nor get you anywhere good. Be intentional on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Google+, etc. Have a strategy.

Here are 9 tips for creating a good social media plan:

1. Have a voice and personality on social media that people want to be around. It's better for people to see that the brand is human and that your brand social media is not run by an automated robot. It is much more authentic and people love connecting with brands. If people can enjoy seeing your brand's social media posts and want to share them with others, that's awesome. 
2. Make your team visible. You probably don't have anyone in your company named "admin" or "Rep" so why list them as that on social media? Part of making your brand human on social media is to feature the humans behind the brand! It's good to occasionally post photos that are "behind the scenes" and say the names of your team (maybe just do first names). As a franchise PR agency, we often share photos of the team on our Facebook page and will mention the name(s) of those in the photo. 
3. Know your customers/followers. Know what makes them tick, what interests them, etc. You want to post content that they find interesting. If your followers are mostly stay-at-home moms, then posting content about plumbing or how to write a perfect expense report will probably not interest them too much. 
4. Listen. Invest in learning and listening about industry and what your followers have to say. Do that a lot. 
5. Avoid constantly promoting yourself like a press release. While promoting your business on social media is great, constantly doing so will get tiresome with your followers. Instead, try to post things that are meaningful and will tell a story, people love connecting with stories. Give information that people can use, like tips. Oh, look what we're doing! 
6. Be conversational. You don't sit down with another human and just say things randomly and don't actually engage in conversation, do you? Like sit in Starbucks and randomly say, "We're having a sale! Then they reply, "A sale for what?" *silence* 5 minutes later, "Don't forget to come to the sale!" "A sale for what???" *silence*…. No, you converse, so do that on social media too. Don't spam either. 
7. Give credit. If you find something awesome online that you know your followers will like and want to share it, awesome. Just remember to mention who created that work. 
8. Be careful with the hashtags. This is a biggie since so many social media platforms allow hashtags now. You don't want #every #single #word #to #be #hashtagged. That was annoying, right? Well, the optimal hashtag per post is 2 or 3 so don't do more than that. 
9. Look at the real metrics. You might have a lot of followers and likes but if you don't get engagement, follow-up, or lead generation, is your social media actually working? You might need to change strategy. 

Social media can be difficult if you don't know what you're doing. If you need help with that, then contact All Points PR, we are a Chicago PR agency. 

The Greatest Reason Every Company Needs Public Relations

Public relations features many aspects and we can talk about all of them; we can say how your company needs franchise public relations because you need to build up a presence in an area, create a great brand, or protect your business when it has a crisis.

However, there is one, huge, reason why your company really needs PR and that's because if no one is talking about your company, then no one is thinking about your company… that's bad.

You want people talking
Public relations is all about keeping your company in the minds of people and in a positivecrisis communications, you are still fixing the issue so people think about your company and in a positive way. Some believe that this is the reason the phrase "there is no such thing as bad publicity" came about. You are trying to get out there and get your product or service to be purchased; this means talking to people and getting them to talk about you.
way. Everything about it is aimed to promote your business and keep your business at the forefront of peoples' minds; even when you using PR for

As far as the notion that all publicity is good publicity and that there is no such thing as bad publicity; that is simply not true. If a company has a big enough crisis, then that will definitely taint the image of that company in the minds of the public. Look at Tiger Woods, people still make comments about his affairs and how it all came out. His image has not been the same since then.

Make a plan & execute it
When you hear about successful franchise PR stories, it was because the company or person had a plan and they executed it. There is rarely success from throwing things at the wall and seeing what sticks. You definitely need to have a plan and stick to it when you are dealing with a crisis. If something goes wrong and your plan to fix this issue is to wing it, then you will not like how the situation is resolved. The resolution will likely be losing the positive image, maybe some clients/customers, or worst of all, closing your doors for good.

You will also need to have a plan for any action you want to take. A new product coming to the market? Create a plan for a product launch or grand opening.