Business Advice
Lessons Learned from 20 Years in Business
I have a hard time believing that Pioneer Strategies is celebrating 20 years in business this August. On the one hand, it seems like I just started the firm, but on the other hand, it’s hard for me to remember doing anything else. Anyone who has been in business for more than a few weeks…
Read MoreDon’t Confuse Them with the Facts
We’ve probably all heard the saying, “don’t confuse them with the facts.” When I Googled the phrase while writing this article, I found another article entitled “My Mind Is Made Up. Don’t Confuse Me with the Facts.” In his timeless classic, How to Win Friends and Influence People, Dale Carnegie said that when you directly tell…
Read MorePaint Your Own Barn
Over the course of my career, I’ve seen far too many organizations allow a reactive mindset and slow response time to hamper their public relations efforts. One organization (we’ll call it Company One) was subjected to a barrage of criticism from other organizations that were affected by one of Company One’s decisions and chose to…
Read MoreTough Love for the Entrepreneurs Can Hack the Complacent Startup Ecosystem
The startup ecosystem is a living and growing organism that most cities are trying to add to their modern economic development strategy for job creation. The startup ecosystem is typically a very positive kumbaya environment. There are lots of smiles around town while people with rose colored glasses are selling more commercial and residential real…
Read MoreHow Changes in Purchasing Decisions Could Affect Your Business
Yesterday I was a last-minute speaker for a business group, filling in for a planned speaker who was under the weather. I had to put on my thinking cap and come up with an interesting topic with little time to spare. Given that we are now at the one-year anniversary of COVID-19’s initial impacts on…
Read MoreOwned Media: Don’t Put All of Your Eggs in a Basket Controlled by Someone Else
When I first entered the public relations profession shortly after college, we typically heard about two types of media: earned media and paid media. Thanks to technology-driven changes, social media and owned media have become increasingly prevalent communication tools in recent years. Paid media refers to tools such as traditional advertising and direct mail. While…
Read More7 Device Settings to Change this Data Privacy Day
INE Shares Specific Ways to Safeguard Your Privacy & Keep Hackers at Bay CARY, N.C., – Thursday, January 28th is Data Privacy Day, the official global initiative that aims to provoke dialogue and empower people and companies to take action. Millions of people have no idea how much of their personal information is being collected, stored &…
Read MoreIs the Written Word Becoming a Lost Art?
When I was a college student at N.C. State University in the early 1990s, communication professor after communication professor emphasized that writing was the most important skill for an aspiring public relations professional to develop. I was fortunate that writing had always been one of my strong suits, and I’ve worked to develop that skill…
Read MoreThe “R” in RPIE
During the course of my public relations training, I’ve studied a four-step process dubbed “RPIE.” The four steps are: R = Research P = Planning I = Implementation E = Evaluation. The research phase is intended to ensure that a client or organization builds its campaign based upon valid assumptions and informed insight, not guesses…
Read MoreA Refresher in Media Relations
Technology is transforming the world of public relations and strategic communication, and many now view the press release as a relic of ages past. At the start of my public relations career over two decades ago, much of my work revolved around traditional media relations. These days, more and more of our work is digital…
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