The “Good Reads” series is dedicated to quality marketing content we’re reading throughout the week. We hope to share and inspire you to pass on the love. Enjoy.

This is Your Pitch in the Waste Basket

Fast Company expert blogger Josh Linkner offers five straightforward (and humorous) ways to avoid a pitching disaster – excellent reminders that will help you “land the job, get the girl, win the capital, and seize your full potential.” Sounds good to me!

Ladies, Shall We Revamp Our Images Already?

A few weeks ago, I read Adrianna Giuliani’s blog post “The new face of ‘PR girls,’” which discusses pop culture’s stereotypes of women in PR. On a related note, Gini Dietrich’s post examines women’s tendencies to tear each other down – both within the communications field and beyond. My takeaway: the responsibility falls on all of us to manage the reputation of our profession and ourselves. Food for thought.

Words of Wisdom for New PR Pros

Arik Hanson of ACH Communications and HAPPO dishes out some great advice for up-and-coming PR pros, though I think some of these tips are valuable for those in our profession whether you’ve been in the biz for a few months or for many years. What would you add to this list?

Read anything good this week? Tell us about it below.

Anyone who has taken a media class has undoubtedly read about George Carlin’s “Filthy Words” routine (commonly known as the “seven dirty words”) that led to the establishment of indecency regulation in American broadcasting by the FCC and the Supreme Court.

Those few words caused a lot of controversy.

Less, ahem, colorful words can cause a stir as well. An article this week by Andy Beaupre on PR Daily laid out seven reasons why the terms “pitch” and “pitching” should be retired. His thoughts on using those two words:

1. It doesn’t accurately portray the relationship between PR practitioners and media.
2. It takes our profession back to a time (either real or imagined) when authenticity and transparency weren’t the norms.
3. It makes us sound dated – “old school” and “pre-social media.”
4. It reflects a one-way communication in which we push an idea onto someone.
5. It assumes the individual you’re “pitching” is familiar with or interested in your product or story.
6. It perpetuates a negative stereotype of pushy, aggressive PR people.
7. It doesn’t help build genuine relationships in which conversation is shared.

The thought hadn’t occurred to me those words could be a detriment to our profession. One part of me wants to say, “It’s just a few words!” but, then again, we all know a few words is all it takes to get yourself in trouble. I think Mr. Beaupre makes some viable arguments; public relations practitioners are (or should be) known for staying current and evolving with the times, so it seems our terminology would do the same.

On a related note, the article hearkened back to a moment a few weeks ago when I was looking through HARO queries, when I realized some people take words a bit too lightly. A writer looking for a source started his request by specifically addressing “PR flacks.” What was confusing to me was the way he used it; he said something along the lines of, “PR flacks: If you have a client that fits, please send a short bio…” He basically used that cringe-worthy term to address an entire industry, and I’m still not entirely sure if he knew the emotion he was evoking by using it.

Coupled with the PR Daily article, this got me thinking about other terms that should be retired from our industry, whether they’re words we ourselves overuse or ones that misrepresent the work we do. Business Insider recently posted a list of “The 23 Most Overused Words in PR” – “leading,” “solution,” and “best” topped the list of buzzwords – and terms like “spin,” “spin doctor,” and “publicist” come to mind when I think about PR stereotypes.

In a profession in which we choose our words wisely, where pieces of writing are edited over and over until they are just so, does it seem like sometimes the opposite is true?

What are the words or phrases you think should be retired?

As public relations professionals, it’s our job to stay on top of the latest news and trends, both in our industry and the world at large. Pick a PR person, any PR person, and I bet you’ll find they check at least half a dozen news sources before they’re done with their morning coffee.

Newspapers, RSS feeds, Facebook, Twitter, e-blasts and so on and so forth – we’re constantly looking for media opportunities for our own clients. Part of the fun of our job is finding new and compelling ways to tell their stories and generate interest in their brands, but that can also be one of the greatest challenges. Some stories may be easier to tell than others, so we seek inspiration to deliver our message in various ways.

Beyond news outlets, there are a number of other resources that may spark professional creativity:

• Well-executed rebranding campaign (or a poorly-executed one, for that matter) might teach us about the goals, strategies and tactics that brought it success or failure.
• A panel discussion between respected industry peers could help us gain insight into best practices – some great discussions take place within professional organizations such as PRSA or Press Club.
• A news release written from a new or interesting perspective could show us an alternative to the way we’re used to writing – Ragan recently offered a few great tips for writing great releases (my favorite is #1).
• Looking at other marketing techniques from colleagues might help us become more well-rounded for our clients – I’m constantly learning new things from our advertising and creative teams.
• Perusing the blogs of smart, quick-witted pros could give us a new tip or trick (and maybe a laugh, too) – here is PRWeb’s list of the top 25 PR blogs to get you started.

Heck, there’s even an app to help get your creativity moving – Bailey Gardiner’s brainstorming app, Brain Grease.

But sometimes you need a break from your own industry to find inspiration. Looking to your pastimes and interests outside the office can clear your head and provide you with new perspectives. I personally love arts and crafts, discovering music that’s new to me and spending time outdoors, so my current list of inspiration reads a little like this:

• Design*Sponge – An awesome artsy craftsy blog with posts about furniture revamp projects submitted by readers; sneak peeks inside the houses of creative types; how to make delicious food and cocktails; and how to run a business.
• Etsy Finds – The daily e-blast from Etsy, the magical place for everything vintage, reclaimed, sewn and otherwise made by hand.
• NPR’s All Songs Considered – My standard workday playlist, All Songs Considered plays an awesome mix of mostly mellow tunes.You’ll find everything from Motown to Björk to Tupac, with great sound bites from music legends such as the Beatles. Stream it live online.

Herbs de Provence roast chicken - yum

And sometimes you don’t even need to try. Sources of creativity surround us in our everyday lives and better our careers without us even knowing it. A few of mine:

• Jam sessions with friends
• Nature
• Food

Working at a creative agency, there’s no end to the thoughtful, cool and amusing ideas bouncing around. However, writer’s block (or any position’s equivalent) is an inevitable fact sometimes.

What I want to know is this: where do you find your creative spark? Do you draw from more traditional sources, in line with your profession? How about when that’s just not doing the trick?