Senior people are struggling to understand and use Twitter.  Here are 7 easy Twitter training steps for senior people to get you started and be strategic.  Learn how to target potential new customers and build relationships with them – a new form of networking   This week we had a cry from one of our [...]

Mrs Moneypenny of the FT asked this weekend ‘are you an adept user of social media?’  Since most of the FT’s readers are boardroom directors, I would anticipate the answer to that question would not only be ‘no’ but more likely ‘you must be joking’. This is a major issue in the UK: senior people [...]

We’re always looking for examples of businesses that use social media well. Its immediacy can be both a blessing and a challenge in PR. One company that uses social media really well is Petplan. As a B2C pet insurance company, they have a great presence on Facebook, as they know that’s where their customers are. [...]

Paris Brown, youth police and crime commissioner – Kent Police, demonstrated why young people do not have the skills to manage social media for corporates.

I was delighted to be asked by Victoria Betton to co-author an ebook for the NHS on using social media to help mental health practitioners. Packed with examples of best practice and case studies, I have been so impressed at how professionals are using social media – from consultants and GPs to occupational therapists and [...]

Does your company have an intranet?  How useful is it? If your intranet is a useful and time-saving portal that you visit many times a day, then you’re in the minority. An effective intranet that is functional, easy to use and has been created with the buy-in of both senior managers and employees is one [...]

This was the question that a client emailed me last week and it set me thinking.  My immediate response was, it has to be in external comms.   Then I started thinking about some companies where they have outstanding HR teams and it would sit more naturally there. I posted this question on LinkedIn and Twitter [...]

The Liberal Democrats have had better months. The will they won’t they regarding the Eastleigh By-election is enough to deal with, without the reveal by Channel 4 about Lord Rennard. And of course, there is Chris Huhne’s guilty plea to add to the pile.

Or it could be seen as a good result as the internet is awash with stories, comments and blogs about the controversies surrounding them. And it is all free – you couldn’t pay for such publicity and whilst none of it is positive, it is ensuring daily coverage and encouraging a flock of commentators to come out of the woodwork and blog their two pennies worth.

The horse meat crisis has now been running for a month. How time flies.

Back in January, this blog looked at how Tesco had responded to the initial scare and what a crisis communications plan should look like.

A question from a client made me realise the blog didn’t address internal communications, which of course is as critical as dealing with the outside world.

I was recently asked to give a webinar for Worldmark’s management development programme on understanding the customer.

As always, there is nothing like teaching others to remind yourself of all the things we should be doing in our own businesses.