Lindsey McBride Community Communications

04/19/2012

Technology revolution has changed how small businesses operate and compete. Read about how start-ups and the tools they have brought to market are changing business.

A smartphone or tablet that uses the Apple or Android operating system is all it takes to process credit and debit cards, without the bulky machine that once was required.

04/17/2012

New article from Restaurant Hospitality details 8 tips for improving your email marketing.
Each of these is an important factor is creating, sending, targeting and delivering worthwhile email communications. The same old rules apply - content is king; more is not better; it's about your reader - not you. This is news but in an environment of too much useless information you can deliver messages worth reading. Include these 8 tips as the most basic elements of your communications strategy.

04/05/2012

You are your brand. Some brand elements to aspire to:
1. Be a thought leader
2. Be values first
3. Be social
4. Be sensory
5. Be innovative
6. Be about your audience, not yourself
7. Be about more than your business
8. Be all of this and you'll be "the best kind of brand"

Communicators and CEOs should take a cue from the Boss on how to stay relevant to your audience.

04/03/2012

From MIX magazine fun "family tree" on Portland's restaurant and food scene. Congrats to Don Kotler of Toast - one of the stars in the constellations.

03/30/2012

PR Daily posts this article about being a social media manager - key roles that social media tools impact in a business: brand reputation, customer relationships, marketing, brand representation and more.

It starts with a cup of coffee—the first of many each day—and ends with you swearing you won’t work past 7 p.m. today.

03/28/2012

PR report published by USC/Annenberg School for Journalism and Communications - PR budgets are up and the smart money is on:
1. Social Media
2. Search Engine Optimization
3. Data Measurement

03/28/2012

Is reinvention possible? Provocative question below for all of us in the galaxy of restaurant, food and hospitality:
"Can any restaurant that has passed through the heat of its adolescence - much less one born in in the days before Facebook, Twitter and the vogue of artisanal pickles - adapt enough to enjoy a prosperous adulthood in the flux of the New York dining scene, where what's seen as old and square is routinely plowed under to make way for the new and hip?"
Good question and one that applies to food obsessed Portland, Ore. What do you think?

Maloney & Porcelli, a chophouse founded in 1996, is reinventing itself for a new era. But can any restaurant past its adolescence adapt to the ever-changing New York dining scene?

03/26/2012

Pinterest is the hot new thing. Three questions from this article crystalize what you need to know:
1. Do you have, or can you create, interesting and shareable content?
2. Do you have products (or experiences) that can be presented visually?
3. Are you willing to devote the time that it takes to market on Pinterest?
All good questions. Can your business afford not to be on Pinterest?

The primary investment in social media marketing is time, not money. If you are not willing to devote the time to Pinterest, it's not right for your business.

03/14/2012

The intersection of food and social media. This is a thought-provoking article on where food - including dining, shopping, cooking, crafting and consuming collide. There is a lot more meat to this issue than presented here, but this story does raise some good questions. What happens to our food culture when our food choices are less about the senses of taste and smell and more about catchy marketing gimmicks, photos and social networks. Food for thought, right?

Increased communication via social media has changed the way Americans relate to food, including what they buy and cook, and how they plan their meals, according to a report from market research firm The Hartman Group.

03/13/2012

Here's is a good article on how to write blog posts that will get read. Here are some tips:
Use simple words.
Use the word "you."
Write how-to posts.
Write detailed posts.
Hook your readers.
Create a conversation.
Prove your points.
Show you are an authority.
Care about your readers.

From vocabulary to tone to headlines, this guide has all the tips you need to write a blog post your readers will love.

03/10/2012

Here is a truly helpful article - connects with the 3rd grader in all of us and will prove to be a handy reference for your desk (top) going forward.
Even the slightest error in your copy will prove to be a distraction to your target audience. Use these easy rules and keep your copy clean!

Share this with your friends and co-workers.

03/26/2011

"This is the age of the individual voice, liberated by the new media," says Andrew Sullivan. An interesting read as the media landscape is transformed right before our eyes. What does this mean for public relations and communications professionals?

Young bloggers have become part of the journalistic establishment in Washington, destination reading for the city’s power elite.