You may have heard a thing or two about Pinterest in the last few months. The social bookmarking site that allows brides, party planners, hoarders and marketers alike to collect and share things online is now making its way into the mainstream and causing businesses to pay attention to this oh-so-addicting thing we call pinning.

I’ve read a number of blog posts within the past week contributing to my thoughts on why consumer marketers should quickly pay attention to Pinterest. Here are a few of the best reads:

Pinterest Drives More Traffic Than Google+, YouTube and LinkedIn Combined

Zoe Fox published a post on Mashable this week calling out just how quickly Pinterest has grown, beating Google+, LinkedIn and YouTube in percentage of referral traffic in the month of January according to a Shareaholic study. Fox goes on to list a number of other revealing stats about referral traffic trends.

Pinterest Becomes Top Traffic Driver for Retailers

Mashable also reveals the power of Pinterest for retailers in the form of an infographic this week.  The post goes on to describe the massive growth in unique visitors Pinterest saw from September to December 2011 - the social site saw a 429 percent increase within the four month period, and also jumped 389 percent as a top traffic referral for several apparel retailers from July to December 2011. Not too shabby.

4 types of businesses that should be on Pinterest

PR Daily goes on to list other industries that can and should take advantage of Pinterest. Implementing a solid pinning strategy can be useful for not only retail, but also cause marketing, small businesses, media and even corporate brands – so long as there is a strategy and regular content in place. Let’s use TIME Magazine as an example, the media outlet showcases not only its past covers but also staff members, gift guides, style, fashion and TIME recommendations (PR people, are you thinking what I’m thinking?).

My prediction is that we will notice an influx in “strategic pinning” in 2012. Smart marketers will utilize the platform when the time and brand is right. How are you pinning?

Brett Barash, VP at Digital Edelman, presented some interesting statistics at the recent ONE Travel Conference in Orlando, Florida. It doesn’t come as much of a surprise that 66% of US leisure travelers use the Internet to research upcoming trips. But if this doesn’t convince every business that relies in any way on tourists for revenue that a relevant and compelling presence on the Internet is important to survival, I don’t know what will.

What really caught my attention in his presentation was the life cycle of a travel seeker online. People seeking information about a destination spend an average of three months researching online. The thread woven throughout those three months? Google. Everyday I am more convinced that Google is the center of the online universe. Not your website or blog but Google. It holds the keys to your success because the majority of Internet users use Google for search and whether or not they serve up your links on page one can make or break the likelihood that a user will ever visit your site. Oh, and by the way, YouTube is the number 2 search engine in the world. And YouTube is owned by Google. See where this is headed?

The key to building positive organic search results is content. Lots of fresh, quality content. Not black hat links (we all saw what happened when JC Penney tried that trick). Not one-way promotional messages on Facebook. But genuine content that can be crawled by Google (and Yahoo and Bing) and ranked as having value. In fact, content that provides so much value that others are willing to share it. That’s the liquid gold of the Internet. When others are sharing your content through social networks, Google recognizes that and your rankings will grow.

Your destination, attraction, restaurant or hotel has a story to tell. Figure out all the many ways visually and through text that you can tell those stories. Build an editorial calendar so you stick to consistent content distribution. Outsource your content development if you don’t have the resources in house. The value the content will bring to your organic search will far outweigh the investment in time or money.

Last week I attended the ONE Travel Conference for Shopping, Dining and Cultural Tourism in Orlando. I wasn’t exactly sure what to expect, but the speaker line up looked good and I thought the conference’s focus on shopping, dining and cultural heritage made sense; it certainly hit our agency’s sweet spot in consumer marketing. The women who co-presented the conference Rosemary McCormick, President of Shop America Alliance and Sheila Armstrong, Executive Director of U.S. Cultural & Heritage Tourism Marketing Council are a formidable pair with surprising energy, a powerful network and generous spirit of sharing.

The title of the conference was Creating Coopertition and Connections. This word, coopertition, really summed up the spirit of the meeting. Lots of competitors were in the ballroom, but they recognized that they will all be more successful working together for US tourism than competing.

Here are two key takeaways from the conference:

1. Since 1997 the US has lost one third of its share of the international travel market. Roger Dow, CEO of the US Travel Association (USTA), called the ten years from 9/11 to last year the “Lost Decade,” as more than 1 million jobs were lost in the tourism sector. Now, international travel may have slowed down due to the recession in 2007-2009, but there was still lots of travel happening. It just didn’t happen here because we rolled up the welcome mat. Ouch.

The USTA is working with the Obama administration, the Department of Commerce and many travel associations and organizations around the country to bring international travel back. Part of this work is around loosening the tight net the government imposed on visas post-9/11. A public private partnership has launched a $200 million marketing campaign called Brand USA this year and most of the destination marketing managers I met are intently focused on the international market.

Top Five International Markets for the US?

• Canada
• Japan
• United Kingdom
• Mexico
• Germany

2. The marrying of shopping, dining and cultural heritage at the meeting made intuitive sense to me. Now I have confirmation because those are the top three activities in order, in terms of spend by travelers.

Top Five International Cultural Heritage Visitors to the US?

• United Kingdom
• Germany
• Japan
• France
• Brazil

If what you offer is a wonderful shopping, dining or cultural experience, piggy back on what the industry is doing and focus on these markets. Check out the links above and learn more about what’s being done. These visitors want what you have to sell. The beauty of the Internet is that you don’t need a big budget to reach those travelers. You need a smart online strategy that involves quality, shareable content; targeted media relations and social media dedication.

I recently went to the San Diego Auto Show and it was awesome!  I remember my dad dragging me along to the Los Angeles Auto Shows as a kid.  Aside from the time I got to spend with him, I never had an interest in any of the cars or what was going on. 

The San Diego Auto Show changed my mind.

My car is 9 years old now and I’m starting to think – maybe I should get a new car?  I definitely have a couple of years left on my 2003 eclipse, if I want them.  But seeing all the new cars made me seriously think about making a purchase.

As a person who has worked in media my entire life, and has worked on many car lines, I am now seeing the ads on TV as a consumer rather than a media specialist and it’s a completely different experience.  I used to look at the pods the ads were running in and what stations and programming the spots were running in.  I analyzed the categories auto ads were placed next to, and what kind of separation auto ads had from each other.  I looked to see which ads were local and which ones were national.

Since the Auto Show, I  see these ads with a different eye.  Of course, I still look at the creative and where the ads are running.  But now I’m looking for the offer. I’ll watch to see which company has zero down and zero interest for 60 months.  I’ll look at what the payments are on different car lines.  I’ll look at the luxury brands and think “perhaps some day I will buy one of those.”  I’ve even gotten out the calculator on my phone to try to figure out what I can and can not afford.  And now as a consumer, I watch the whole ad and I’ll look for every piece of information I can find.  I try to find out what the features of each car are such as the gas mileage and monthly cost.

And now, with some of the new media technologies, I don’t just have to watch an ad on TV to get the information I want on a car.  I can click my cable On Demand and search the auto section to see what cars they have featured.  Online I can visit the Hyundai (or any other car line) website, then leave their site and be served a Hyundai ad as I click around on other sites (this is retargeting).

We all know that cars, especially new ones, are big ticket items.  Now I see why Auto is usually the largest spending category.  I understand the importance of good creative in advertising and I also understand why putting in an offer is also important. As a marketer I’ve learned that when you are a consumer you want to see an offer, you want as much information as possible – I will definitely keep this in mind when I am putting together media plans moving forward.

I watch every auto ad and I don’t care if they are placed right next to each other.  I watch them differently than I did before I was considering buying a car.

I’ve heard many people say that people who go to auto shows are likely to buy a car within 6 months of their experience there.  That may be true, we’ll see what happens.  Until then, I’ll not only be watching auto ads as a media buyer/planner/supervisor,  I’ll also be watching as a consumer.

Hello 2012. The year flew by fast didn’t it? Do you feel overwhelmed with all the information out there these days? Things are changing so quickly it’s hard to keep up, even for the super techno genius. Even though technology is evolving at light speed, what we really need to pay attention to is how to use these tools to best communicate with our target audiences. As marketers we need to understand the audiences we intend to interact with and how we can best achieve a valuable interaction. Technology will continue to evolve and offer us different avenues to communicate, for commerce, for entertainment, and for business. Oh and it helps us learn in real time.

We are all almost always connected by that little tiny computer we carry around in our pockets and our purses. Let’s be real, most of us do not use our phone for just the purpose of a phone. I know you boomers are facebooking and texting, and I don’t even want to know what my little cousins are doing on their phones. It scares me because it means I’m behind and have to keep up. Stupid early adoption. I don’t know what I would do without my iPhone anymore though.   I use it for everything – phone, calendar, email, directions, recommendations, socializing, entertainment, a remote, shopping list, cooking, exercising, music – you get the point. It’s funny to think that when I was in college I didn’t even have a mobile phone, let alone a smart one. It is a revolutionary invention, and only the gateway to how we as humans interact with each other and technology.  It also gives us huge opportunities as marketers to reach our audiences throughout their day and consumption habits.

Although many things are changing and evolving, the core to how humans interact and consume what we put in front of them does not. Humans have habits, we are social, and we are contextual. As we become busier, technology will help humans to maintain these behaviors. I believe there are three core areas that will be highly influential in 2012 that will affect how we think as marketers. There will be thousands of new products and trends, but the list below will be central to how smart industry peeps think ahead of the curve.

Interactive Television

TV is going to become an even more powerful medium in 2012 as it combines with the Internet and offers a more interactive, on-demand and personalized experience. A lot still has to happen in this industry for TV to get to a truly interactive and digital medium that allows for real time measurement but steps are being made.

Content continues to develop in the on demand platform from Netflix to Apple TV to the advent of cable companies such as Cox offering TV Everywhere. I can watch TV on my iPad through my cable company’s app. I can stream my favorite shows via the internet, watch YouTube videos on my television, watch premium channels with apps such as HBO Go, watch all my favorite shows whenever I want either through on-demand, my incessant DVRing, or through new applications. It’s content when I want it. TV habits are going to change to Internet based habits and usability. Free content when and how I like it. Just wait till Apple launches its TV in late 2012.

The growth of 2nd and 3rd screens interaction with TV continues to grow.  Anytime I watch TV now I have my phone and iPad next to me. I recently saw a cool integration that Bud Light did with a Shazam tie in. The ad was aimed at the Hispanic market but had Pitbull’s song playing and as soon as the Shazam icon popped up on the TV I opened my app and it took me to an interstitial branded page allowing me to download the song and sign-up for the Bud promo. We are going to see more and more of this integration between the channels this year.   This year a third of the Super Bowl ads  you see will be backed by a Shazam integration and this trend will continue.

Nielsen reports an ever-growing increase of online video usage and cites that 57% of internet consumers use TV and internet simultaneously at home. I highly recommend you put on your campaign thinking caps and strategize about how your TV ad can tie into an interactive brand experience online through tablets, mobile phones and of course computers. Extend that thirty seconds to minutes in the digital space. Just take a look at what Heineken did with their “dual screen” mobile marketing campaign.

Mobility

Being connected all the time means big opportunities for brands and products to constantly have consumer interaction. Again integrating your campaigns across multiple channels can help activation through mobile devices.

A recent study reports that 40% of Facebook’s 800 million monthly users access the social media giant through mobile apps. Meaning they are socializing with their networks on a regular basis. In 2015 the mobile internet access will surpass wired connectivity. The number of smartphone subscribers using the internet has already grown by 45% since 2010. Businesses will start thinking mobile first and then integrating into other channels.

Shopping and payments will transform forever. I use Chase’s app to pay all my bills and deposit my checks. I also did a lot of my holiday shopping on my phone this year. Why? Because it is convenient and saves me time. And I can do it anywhere! Now that mobile advertising is establishing itself you will see more brands flood this space especially as we see the “traditional” online display ad space evolve and take even more of marketer’s budgets to the digital environment.  Check out how Coke utilized mobile and social to create engagement.

Analytics

Data will start to change the way we look at how campaigns and marketing initiatives influence, engage, and activate audiences. We aren’t just selling products, awareness and consideration any more. Relationship building with brands has become an even more integral part of all strategies now that there are so many social outlets available to consumers. Agencies that are thinking about developing a complete analytical ecosystem to help develop strategies and optimizations to their plans will be thinking ahead of the curve. It’s going to be all about synchronization of this data to allow a deep understanding of the business.

There are so many tools available to clients and agencies that analyzing data has become complex. Especially the ability to tie the data together and make a rational analysis of performance that will effectively help improve insights and strategies. We will see a big movement to data visualization that will help to communicate information clearly and effectively through graphics. Companies that understand data acquisition, analysis, governance, management and mining will be able to transform their learnings into actions. Brands need to start using their agencies to help digest data and simplify it. The digital world is starting to mature and it’s time to start synchronizing data coming from social and web interfaces with marketing strategies, promotions and offers.

Ideas will still always be king but don’t let 2012 pass you by without thinking about all the channels and information available to you as a marketer.  More opportunities for better results.

Awhile ago I watched a documentary on the creation of Helvetica.  I was glued to the TV.  The efficiency, the directness, the flexibility and the simplicity of it is fascinating.  My wife on the other hand thought my watching the documentary only added to the list of things that make me weird to her.  So be it.  It made me think how things we consume daily on the surface appear very simplistic but when you scratch below that surface there is complexity.  Helvetica is the most used typeface in the world.  The theory behind its design was about efficient communications.  No serifs to get in the way!  But companies from IBM to McDonald’s and every important warning or directional sign in the world primarily use Helvetica for that same reason.  An efficient communication of what they want people to take away from their logo, brand name or stop sign.

This led me to begin thinking about logos.  They’re everywhere we go.  I’ve worked with brands who have either created new or updated their logos, but behind the assignment of “update my logo” comes with it the beautiful blend of art and commerce and making something complex appear simple. Here are some key examples:

Target is a great example. Some have told me that it probably took about two minutes of a designer deciding “I’ll just make the logo a target”.  But in actuality it took strategists, designers and clients looking through hundreds of options.  At the end “the Target” was selected.  It is one of the most recognizable logos in the U.S.

FedEx. The consumer foisted upon them a shorthand name they felt compelled not to fight but embrace. The FedEx logo has some design magic in it though. The aligning of the back of the D with the front of the E and making them touch. Look for the arrow. It is in there. Once you see it, you can almost not see anything else.

Jack in the Box. The immediate past logo has a Jesus fish in it.  Serious.  I have insider knowledge having been behind the creation of the new logo that it was put there intentionally by the CEO when it was designed in 1987.  The new logo though tips its hat to Jack’s famous smile.  It has a three dimensional look and embraces red in two hues.  Red is so predominant in QSR (quick service restaurant) logos to walk away from the color would have seemed an obvious move.  Nope.  Jack has two red’s.  Jack doesn’t back down, he doubles down.

California Thoroughbred Racing. Bailey Gardiner recently redesigned this logo for a timeless sport that needs to attract a younger audience in order to remain viable and relevant.  Horse and rider are one in a seamless silhouette.  Four hooves off the ground in what is the cover shot on every Sports Illustrated that features one of the Triple Crown winners.  You can feel the crowd cheering with the theme line “Fun Runs Here”.

San Diego Magazine just revamped its logo on the cover of its magazine.  Clean, simple, to the point – when it comes to America’s Finest City don’t let serifs get in the way!

The truth is, you cannot really predict what will happen next week in social media, but nonetheless here are 12 predictions and thoughts we have going into 2012.

1. Content is (still) King - Over the past few years we’ve seen brands become their own publishers and content curators. The trend will continue in 2012, and brands will find more and more ways to integrate content with commerce and their communities. Brands with the most authentic, engaging, integrated, and useful content will find the most success. Those who tumbl just to tumbl will not find the digital community they hoped to build.

2. Digital Punch Cards in the form of Recommendations and Rewards -  Have you noticed when you “like” pages on Facebook now you are offered the ability to recommend that brand to all of your friends? This feature and digital recommendation trend around social media will evolve in 2012, and brands, small businesses in particular will find a way to take advantage of it. Surprise and delight your fans perhaps? The key for brands will be to thank the audience they’ve accumulated and authentically encourage them to digitally recommend them to other friends. No need to carry those buy 40 get 1 free yogurt punch cards!

3. Brands will try to take advantage of Pinterest, and many will fail. – As any pinner knows, Pinterest is amazing for finding pretty things, new recipes, new looks, and overall inspiration. And many bloggers know that Pinterest drives a ton of traffic to their blogs. Brands are paying attention to this trend, but have not yet discovered how to use Pinterest as a proactive social media channel. 2012 will be the year of Pinterest for brands, “Like” will be replaced by many with “Pin it”.

4. Tumblr will roll out metrics (hopefully). – Early brand adopters of Tumblr have since voiced their frustration with the company’s business practices and its lack of an analytics dashboard. In 2012, Tumblr will should roll out some metrics, and/or brands will continue to devote more of their efforts to Facebook with its newer Tumblr-esque visual and re-sharing properties.

I heart glitterguide.tumblr.com

5. The 2012 Elections will be Social - If the 2012 election stays on trend with the 2008 election, increasing the votes cast by a demographic of younger voters, politicians will need to socialize. A recent Pew Research Center survey found that 83% of Internet users ages 18-29 use social networking sites, and 65% of adults use social networking sites, most of whom form opinions of restaurants, styles, and even politics amongst friends. Notice, even Obama uses F-commerce (Facebook commerce).

6. Less is More. As brands and social gurus continue to refine metrics, we believe 2012 will simplify the actions of brands and their respective social communities. Instead of being spread across multiple channels and being a little bit effective in each, they will find the channel(s) that is best helping them achieve their marketing goals, and spend less time with all the other noise.

7. Your web experience will become more responsive – Everything you experience online with your iPhone, iPad and computer will be optimized for that platform more and more. As more shoppers do their research with mobile, companies will invest more dollars enhancing those handheld experiences, and allowing you to quickly share that experience with all of your friends on Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr.

8. Social will continue to integrate with all arms of marketing. – Social media will be painted on all digital and printed collateral, and more CMO’s will be asking how social media is woven into their overall objectives. Remember Dodge’s Find a Journey YouTube campaign where they hid 3 cars throughout America? The big brands are on board already, small to mid-size businesses will follow suit in 2012.

9. Twitter will be less social - Gasp I know! As Facebook, Pinterest, Tumblr and other niche communities continue to drive traffic and awareness to brands in 2012, Twitter just may become more and more what it really is. A place for quick information, news dissemination, and networking with like minds. Unless brands use Twitter as an in the moment customer service channel, or have a robust social media team, we think brands will devote less time and energy to the channel in respect to bandwidth and ROI.

10. The Olympics will be digital – In 2010, the Winter Olympics scratched the surface with fans experiencing the games through social media. Brands will roll out the red carpet for bloggers and fans to interact with them socially during the London games. Instagram will probably tell a pretty amazing story of the games.

11. Spotify will take over the world – Well maybe not the world, but it will definitely gain a serious amount of subscribers and go toe to toe with Pandora. There really is nothing like having a best friend miles away create a playlist for you and keep your tunes up to date. Not to mention your ability to see what all your friends are listening to constantly on Facebook. More companies and brands will try to find ways to follow Spotify’s lead in genuinely making their user’s experience “sharable”.

12. We can “like” Emails – This is really more of a wish of ours than a prediction. Although we do think more brands should pay attention to their email strategy and how it integrates with their social media efforts. We would LOVE if you had the ability to “like” an email instead of having to reply with “thanks”, “sounds good”, or the other. Could you imagine the time and amount of emails you could save if you just had to “like” it to send your “I got it and have read it all” message?

(source)

What do you think will happen within the realm of social media in 2012?

The topic of pitching bloggers comes up a lot in our industry. Every social media and/or blogging expert you talk to will probably give you a different answer on how to best work with bloggers. We thought we’d go straight to the source on this one to settle a few questions once and for all.

Gina the Fitnessita

I recently interviewed my friend Gina the Fitnessista, arguably the most popular and recognized fitness and lifestyle blogger in the whole blogosphere on the topic and here’s what she had to say.

Q1: How do you prefer to be approached by a brand? Email, Twitter, comments on your posts, etc?

A1: Email is great I think, just don’t start your email with “Dear Blogger,”. Twitter is fine too, it can be a little aggressive but it depends on how they approach the conversation. Sometimes I will mention a brand or product and they will instantly start sending me tons of tweets expecting more conversation or tweets. It is fine to initiate conversation authentically, but don’t look at a blogger as a means to promote your brand just because they mentioned you. And please do not leave a pitch in my comment section, you will be spammed.

Q2: What in a subject line will actually make you open an email?

A2: My name, or mentioning something about my blog that is authentic and not just a pitch. Brands always approach bloggers to re-post or retweet their branded content. The savvy bloggers avoid this to maintain the integrity of their blog.

Q3: Would you rather brands send you information on a product/event/etc. and let you decide if you want to be involved, or a full pitch telling you exactly what they’d love to see in a partnership?

A3: It depends, but mostly just send me the information, and let me decide if it’s something I’d like to work with. I will follow up with you if it is intriguing.

Q4: What should brands be looking at in terms of compensation?

A4: I don’t think a lot of companies realize that they ask too much of us. They want to send us something, and then they want specific blog posts, tweets, videos and so forth and that irks me a little bit. At the end of the day, we are driving traffic to their site and we would rather be compensated than receive free product with huge expectations. I’d rather spend $20 on my own coconut water than to pimp you out on every channel I have.

Q5: If you could tell brands one thing about approaching you to work with them what would it be?

A5: Make it personal, at least give me a hint that you’ve read my blog, don’t just look at my high traffic and reach out to me. We don’t want our blogs to be content focused from brands, if it is an authentic fit we’re more eager to work with you.

Q5: Name Three brands you’d die to work with?

A5: Women’s Health Magazine, Shape Magazine, and Clean Eating Magazine.

Q6: One of the things I love about your blog is your humbleness and authenticity. How do you maintain this, and what advice would you give other bloggers to stay true to their voice and beliefs?

A6: The biggest thing I believe is to write what you want to write about, and not write what you think people want to read about. If you write about what you love, then the audience will follow. They can tell if your passionate or faking it. Be authentic. Do you. Don’t let others dictate how you want to write for your blog, that’s what keeps.

To sum it up, be authentic as a brand AND as a blogger. Don’t just pitch a blogger because you want their traffic, pitch a blogger because what they write about and how they write truly fits with your brand. Remember, they did not get to thousands and thousands and THOUSANDS of daily pageviews simply because they know how to take a picture of their daily meals and upload them to Wordpress, they build communities. Something we as brand catalysts strive for daily, so treat them just like the experts that they are. Oh, and try out Fitnessista’s Breakfast Cookie, it is to die for.

This agency is about to hit its 17th year (holy cats, where does the time go?!) and over the years we’ve seen all sorts of trends, but during the past couple of years I’ve been seeing something that troubles me deeply. Some of this may be a sign of the times and some of it is generational, but it’s raising a lot of questions for me. The agency business needs people who value a career within the industry. It needs people with longevity who bring strategic insight and experience to its clients. But where are we headed?

Let’s see how much of this rings true to you (perspective will vary according to your age and position

1. Agencies are the best training ground out of college.

2. Agencies are a good stepping stone to that secure in-house job that’s the real prize.

3. I don’t see a career at an agency. Corporations are for careers.

Based on recent conversations with former employees and many people in and out of agencies, it appears the above list is the “new truth” for young professionals. When I ask people in their twenties to be brutally honest they acknowledge that this is indeed what they believe.

Where are they learning this? Are colleges teaching this? Has an uncertain economy resulted in the belief that a big corporation is safer? What a crock!

Let’s look a little more closely at each of these beliefs.

1. Indeed, agencies are the best training ground. Let’s look at why. Agencies believe in growing their people. Agency employees know that they  have to be at the forefront of our industry in order to educate and lead our clients, so they continually invest in getting better, learning more and being on the cutting edge of what’s happening. That isn’t a two-three year experience. It’s what an entire career in an agency is about. Growing, learning, selling and using your expertise.

I have lost count of the number of conversations I have had with former employees who went in house, only to discover that not only does no one understand what they do, they don’t highly value it, yet everyone has an opinion about it. They find themselves silo’d and often concerned about how they will grow their skills.

Do you view agencies as a good post-college choice? What about in-house? Tell me about your post-college expectations?

2. My first job out of college was with a big multi-national corporation. You couldn’t have asked for a more blue-suit, solid, I’ll never worry about my paycheck kind of place. In my first year I was sexually harassed and watched the company scramble to cover it up and get that guy out of the building. Not out of the company, just re-positioned in another state, which didn’t give me a great sense of trust or value. A year later I watched a man who had given 20 years of his life to the company be summarily fired because he didn’t get along with our general manager. Just like that. Done.

I don’t believe that large corporations care more about their employees than agencies. Often, shareholders mean more and employees are viewed as an expendable line item. If you don’t agree, just read the headlines this month. Every December hundreds and thousands of jobs are shed as corporations adjust their new year’s budget. Security indeed.

Now I’m not telling you that agency jobs are any more secure. But I will tell you that agency owners will sweat and cry and do everything they can to keep you. Layoffs, at least in smaller shops with integrity, are not done lightly.

What is it about in-house corporate jobs that make them appear more secure?

3. I am a member of PRSA’s Counselors Academy, a section comprised of senior level PR/Marcomm professionals and it has been a revelation and delight to spend time with so many seasoned pros. These are people who saw a career for themselves in an agency and loved the energy, learning and ever changing environment so much that, like me, they’ve never left. Will your career trajectory be as fast or offer as many title options? Perhaps not, but you will be part of a community where people treat each other like family. A community that values creativity, learning and creating a place that is great fun to come to every day. Agencies are filled with people who love the fact that every day is different, who get to shape their culture, where clients change and offer new opportunities and the learning never stops.

Have you had a long term career in an agency? What made you choose that over an in-house job? If you’re just getting started, what do you think? What makes one choice more appealing than another?

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.