I’m just going to come out and say it. Christmas 🎄🎅🏼✨ I’m sorry, it’s June, we’ve had one day of sunshine and you’re more focused on rose and what you’re going to do with the kids over the very long summer holidays (or is that just me?!) But in PR land, we need to start prepping now for Christmas. Long lead mags start planning their Xmas issues in July and if you want to be featured you need to start getting prepped. (I’ve already seen some journos asking for Christmas bits!) Join me on Weds 19th June at 12 Noon for a Free Workshop - How To DIY Your Christmas PR (and get results that work) to learn how you can maximise your Christmas PR without a big budget or little black book of contacts. I’ll be showing you all the different routes to get Christmas PR for your business (it’s not just about the gift guides!), how to get ready, they key rules for Christmas PR and that your business can feature in glossy magazines, newspaper and more. Link to sign up below...

Happy #FACSfamFriday, everyone! If you ever wanted to know what it was like to be invited to Tommy Lee & Heather Locklear's Christmas party, then I would like to recommend talking to Pete T.! Pete is one of the Business Development Managers for FACS, and he is out of the Sacramento office. Check out Pete's responses to our questions. Below are a few photos of Pete with his children, Jacob and Hannah. Do you have any questions for Pete or other FACS employees you'd like to see answered in the next #FACSfamFriday? Let us know by commenting on this post. What's your favorite thing about working at FACS?  My favorite thing about FACS is the people, hands down. Since I have started a short time ago, there has never been a time when I needed help or clarification from an expert and they didn't have time. The team mindset is a fantastic thing to experience day in and day out. What is one thing we don't know about you (non-work-related)?  I was invited to Tommy Lee & Heather Locklear's Christmas party in the 90's What is one thing that you geek out about?  I enjoy beauty night with my daughter. I get a clay mask, pore strips, eyebrows shaped- the works. You don't get this time back with your kids. What is your favorite store to shop at in-person or virtually?  Amazon - What else do you need? What is your favorite book to read?  It's a tie between Stephen King - IT or Dean Koontz - Watchers What is your favorite random fact?  You can't Hum if you pinch your nose closed......you just tried it.

“We need a little Christmas….” #thursdaythoughts In July? The above referenced lyrics and song come from the musical Mame: In this particular scene, Mame wants to lift her spirits, so she starts handing out Christmas presents to everyone. Agnes then blurts out, "The paper says there are 16 shopping days left!" Basically saying, "Hey, it's way too early for Christmas cheer!" So July is REALLY too early! Right? The origin of "Christmas in July" is not entirely clear, but it is generally believed to have started as a marketing gimmick. One widely cited instance is a 1933 summer camp event at Keystone Camp in Brevard, North Carolina, where the camp held a "Christmas in July" celebration complete with a tree, gifts, and Santa Claus. The concept gained further popularity in the 1940s and 1950s, partly due to promotions by retailers looking to boost summer sales. The idea was to give people a taste of the Christmas spirit and encourage early holiday shopping. The retail and consumer factions have definitely claimed “Christmas in July” commercially, but the “Christmas Cheer” concept is still up for grabs… …and it’s free. Rough transitions, difficult quarters, slow development, job changes, high quotas, limited budgets… This month isn’t necessarily different than many months lately— It has been a tough few years in our industry and others. So this July, let’s claim the cheer how we can: Encourage each other, celebrate wins (even small ones), share knowledge and insight, be kind. We need a little of that right this very minute. #throwbackthursday #multifamily #motivation #bekind

WE ASKED OUR CUSTOMERS!! Celebrating holidays in creative ways helps connect both in-person and remote teams. We asked our customers how they’re planning to celebrate Halloween, and here are a few of their favorite ideas: 🎃 Virtual pumpkin carving: Grab a pumpkin and hop on a Zoom call for a spooky carving session! 👗 Costume contest: Use Motivosity to vote on the best costume and reward the winner with something special. 🍬 In-office trick-or-treat: Open the office doors to family members for some festive fun—bring the kids along to trick-or-treat! Comment below with your company’s favorite ways to celebrate Halloween, and check out the link in the comments for 11 more ideas from our customers!

Last week (Feb 1) marked my third full year at Morning Brew. 3 lessons from 3 years: 1. Commit to the bit — During the interview process for my first role (community manager), I created an entire Notion page on how I would onboard the community, community principles, merch roll-out, onboarding form, a welcome video, etc... It wasn't asked for, but I wanted to try and stand out & I loved the work so it actually was a lot of fun. At the risk of being overzealous, I wanted to make it clear I really wanted this specific role at this specific company. Sometimes this strategy doesn't work out, but I'd rather do everything in my power to demonstrate who I am and let the company determine if it's a good fit or not than to wait and pray. 2. Cold & thoughtful DMs are a game changer — We booked a ton of amazing guests for all of our events. You'd be amazed at how receptive experts or biz leaders are when you craft a thoughtful DM or email and actually demonstrate you've engaged with their work. One of my favorite's was Claire Hughes Johnson. I read her book Scaling People and was blown away; so I emailed her all the things I wanted to talk about & she agreed to do an interview IRL in the Morning Brew studio. It was a career highlight! The internet has made reaching basically anyone possible. You're one well crafted message away from a great connection. 3. Context & fit is everything — Over the last 3 years, I've interacted with thousands of professionals. It's been a real unique insight into a lot of different job titles, functions, and people. This has only solidified my belief that people who are wildly successful have found great fit; and those that aren't, just haven't found fit yet. If you're able to really articulate what makes you unique, then you will be successful if you can identify contexts or environments where that uniqueness is a super power. It's easier said than done; but I think it gets you out of black and white thinking (I'm a great worker OR I'm not a great worker) and helps you recover from setbacks faster (it's not that you're bad, the situation is just not the right fit for you). Here's to the next 3 years!

Here are some icebreakers to try out this week! Holiday and party edition 🎉 : 1. What’s your favorite holiday? 2. What’s the best party theme you’ve seen? 3. Do you like celebrating your birthday or do you like to keep it quiet? 4. Do you like to spend New Years sleeping or watching the countdown? 5. Did you ever celebrate Pi day (3.14) in math class? If you love a good icebreaker, you might want to hear about my card game for consultants, Let's Circle Back! It's coming this summer, and you can sign up to know when it launches. P.S. I'm also figuring out how to set up a grand opening sale, because who doesn't like a deal? :) https://lnkd.in/etqZNJEX

We went to a St. Patrick's parade today in Dallas. Why was it on a Saturday and a day before St. Patrick's Day? No idea. Perhaps, operationally, that was the most rational outcome. I had no expectations and no prior experience of watching such parades. I also don't drink (which might be shunned upon on such a day 🤷🏼♂️). So, it was an interesting experience to say the least. As all celebrations go, people enjoyed themselves - and this is great to see. I love seeing people come together and share joy and laughter. As businesses go, they didn't pass on the opportunity to advertise. Most of the actual parade were various different companies with big banners and much of green color. I saw businesses from local pizzeria and a small lawyer firm to gyms to larger corporations and banks. A long line of trucks and other huge vehicles with plenty of people on top dancing and throwing various green and gold colored freebies towards gathered onlookers. So a few lessons I took away with me: 1. Parades and celebrations can be huge and a great opportunity to advertise and get a new market share. Next big thing? I'd imagine a solar eclipse in April. 2. It's always great to get out and celebrate together, whatever the occasion might be. I wasn't particularly in the mood this morning, but this outing made me feel better. 3. With so many people gathered together in the same area, it's a good place to gather data and push petitions. There were several groups of people gathering signatures for ongoing petitions (mostly about decriminalizing certain behaviors). But what a smart move - a lot of slightly inebriated people having much fun and not listening much to what exactly they are signing (without intention of sounding ominous). All in all, don't forget to get out and celebrate different occasions! Happy St. Patrick's Day! #stpatricksday #advertising #marketing #petition #takeaway

You can be working on your personal brand even when going on vacation👇 I love kicking off the new year with some thoughtfully considered challenges (business and otherwise). ✅ What are my financial goals? ✅ Where do I want to take my business? ✅ How can I build on my brand to make it even more expressive of who I am? ✅ How can Audrey Hipburn and I be ready to walk a 5K event by the end of the year? We’re off to San Diego for an only-a-few-days-late holiday celebration with my son’s family. And nothing is more personally on-brand for me than a Broadway-themed carry-on bag full of baked goods. My biggest challenge of the morning: getting all of those cookies into one bag 🤣 👉 👉 👉 What challenges are you looking forward to this year? May all your challenges today (this week, this month, this year…) be solved -- or caused -- by an abundance of cookies 🍪 #BestAdvice #WhatInspiresMe #GettingThingsDone

Looking for proven strategies to increase conversions this season? Klaviyo shares powerful email and SMS campaign examples that can inspire and boost your Halloween sales. Check it out ⤵️ 👻

Jumping on the back of the Halloween bandwagon, Kamilah McDonald and I are focusing on how to avoid being 'ghosted' this month. There’s nothing worse than working on a great lead and then being ignored or fobbed off with a rubbish excuse. There are a few reasons this is happening, but the good news is that you can do loads to stop being ghosted and even more to close the sale. With a combination of marketing strategy and sales techniques you can ensure you’re not just making sales but building lifetime value with your audience. So... the PenPals are hosting an in-person Sales vs Marketing workshop on Friday 8th November 10-12pm The Residence Coworking Bishops Stortford. In fact we are running a whole series of activities to help you bridge the gap between your marketing and sales strategies. There's a webinar, workshop and drop-in session - so you have plenty of opportunities to avoid being ghosted this Autumn. We will be looking at ·      Simple sales techniques that actually work. ·      How to build a marketing plan that supports your sales efforts. ·      Ensuring sales and marketing are aligned throughout your customer journey so they stay with you, refer you, love you. Dates for your diary Webinar – Sales versus Marketing - Thursday 17th October 10am Workshop - Sales versus Marketing - Friday 8th November 10-12pm, The Residence Coworking Bishops Stortford Drop-in marketing session - Friday 22nd November 10-12pm, venue TBC Link to the workshop in the first comment.