By Sara Staffaroni The Hoffman Agency, San Jose I entered the “SEO realm” when I joined The Hoffman Agency — almost three years ago — and I must admit, I love it. Search engine optimization (SEO) is the perfect gig for those of us who want to combine our creativity with data-driven logic. The only…
Cross-posted from Ishmael’s Corner By Lou Hoffman I am an unabashed fan of the anecdote. I’m also convinced that it’s one of the most underutilized storytelling techniques in business communications. Executives often perceive anecdotes as fluff and put the kibosh on such content before it sees the light of the day. That explains why if…
Cross-posted from Ishmael’s Corner By Lou Hoffman The Hoffman Agency, San Jose The influence of journalists remains as important today as when I started in the communications business. While the Internet has commoditized news announcements, what appears in publications still impacts a company’s brand and reputation. That’s why I was intrigued when I heard that…
Cross-posted from Ishmael’s Corner By Lou Hoffman Several years ago we interviewed 65 sales people at major computer retailers (Best Buy, Fry’s, etc.) asking the key question, “What third-party sources do you depend on for information to help you in your day-to-day job?” They could answer with as many sources as they liked. This way,…
Cross-posted from Ishmael’s Corner By Lou Hoffman Let’s explore visual storytelling. While the vast majority of PR folks struggle to bring a visual dimension to communications, there’s a design technique that plays to our strength. What I call “word visuals” come in three flavors: Clever words that stand on their own: The words, sometimes in…
