by Emma King (@EmmainSA) The previous year was a big one for me. I made the jump and started my own business — and, of course, with such a massive change, came massive learnings. So, without being deadly serious, here are some of the things that I learnt in 2014
Category archives: Dissident Spin Doctor – Emma King
Dissident Spin Doctor: Why the small details matter
by Emma King (@EmmainSA) Attention to detail makes the difference between an average and a good business. And it’s not just in customer service that attention to detail matters.
Dissident Spin Doctor: Demystifing PR jargon
by Emma King (@EmmainSA) I have little patience for PR agencies and consultants who bamboozle their clients into paying for complex services and offerings by confusing the hell out of them. Your PR agency should be a partner — and what is a partnership, if not a meeting of mutual respect and understanding?
Dissident Spin Doctor: Do we have to be bullies to succeed?
by Emma King (@EmmainSA) I don’t think bullying is uncommon, and I believe it crosses the spectrum — of all sexes, all ages, and all levels within businesses. So how should you deal with being bullied?
Dissident Spin Doctor: When to listen — and when to push back
by Emma King (@EmmainSA) I firmly believe that, as agencies, we should not be simpering sycophants and, as with most relationships, a client/agency relationship works well when the respect is reciprocated and there’s a mutual ability for both sides to speak frankly and openly to one another.
Dissident Spin Doctor: Measuring the success of PR
by Emma King (@EmmainSA) Just when we think that we have moved on from being deemed a success purely against a bunch of newspaper clippings, I find myself coming time and time again against scenarios that make little sense. And these bore me to death and make my heart sink a little.
Dissident Spin Doctor: Navigating the industry as a woman
by Emma King (@EmmainSA) Personally, I have never felt as if I’ve have been held back in my career because of being a woman. But, bar PR agencies (which have a higher than average women/men ratio, for reasons we won’t go into here), we would be hard-pressed to name more than a handful of MDs, CEOs or ECDs of major local creative companies who are women. Why is that?
Dissident Spin Doctor: Dear brands, (please stop) the dumb things you do
by Emma King (@EmmainSA) It’s interesting to look at what our partners — the brands we work with — should not do, or should stop doing. Here are some of the things that bug me the most.
The Dissident Spin Doctor: Business mistakes that hold us back from being great
by Emma King (@EmmainSA) One of the key things Jim Collin discovered is that “…great companies did not focus principally on what to do to become great; they focused equally on what not to do and what to stop doing”. So what are we, as PR and communications agencies, doing that perhaps we shouldn’t?
The Dissident Spin Doctor: Are you making your employees rich, famous and happy?
by Emma King (@EmmainSA) We know what a turmoil it is to train and upskill people, and we know how insecure clients feel when they constantly have to deal with new people, not to mention the financial (and emotional) burden of ongoing recruitment processes. So why aren’t we placing more focus on retaining good people?