Comments on: Why you should fire your PR company

by: Spencer Lavery

Sun, 13 Apr 2008 12:12:25 +0000

Great article, for the most part completely agree - if you’re good enough, you don’t need PR for marketing. But as Mike Stenhouse said, PR is useful for more than just marketing.

As for the TV show - that’s awesome news! If you go ahead though, make absolutely sure you have rights over the direction of the final edit. Editors in this country are well known for ’sexing up’ documentaries and you’d be surprised at how bad they can make you look if they want to.

by: Vero Pepperrell

Fri, 11 Apr 2008 11:57:30 +0000

When companies have both a remarkable product and some great personalities in their team, I agree, there’s no need to hire a PR company. So many companies have staff who aren’t socially competent or comfortable in dealing with the media, and therefore fare better by hiring outsiders to deal with PR.

Maybe what companies need, aside from a great product, is to hire people who are PR people at heart, as well as skilled in their own field!

If you’ve got that, then stop wishing and appreciate what you’ve got, because you’ve found yourself a star team!

by: Rob Mason

Tue, 08 Apr 2008 08:14:58 +0000

Hey Ryan, when’s the interview/program going to air?

by: Francis Shephard

Wed, 19 Mar 2008 05:06:57 +0000

Creating Value is what makes companies, products &or services remarkable If you create the best value, in a way which enables good margins, then the business will succeed - management errors excluded.

Its the same reality for business success as it was 100 years ago, create value. OR at worst create the perception of value and have mounds of one time customers.

Today the noise level is so much higher, that there are hundreds of reasonably effective core marketing strategies, which take time and effort to implement. Put all of these irons into one’s marketing fire and results come. Its not mystical nor is it rocket science. Its a doggedness to keep talking longer and louder and through more channels than ever before.

Facebook - created value for two reasons - ease of use & qualification of known acquaintances & friends required - took facebook one notch up from Myspace.

MySpace - created value - because it allowed millions of dis-illusioned trailer parkers believe they had a big pool of friends, instead of a lonely life filled with despair (ok thats a stretch but you get the idea)

Using standards based markup, XHTML which verifies with http://validator.w3.org/
does not make ones company remarkable. It makes ones company - one of the pack, at the front of the pack of packs.

Time is money yet millions tout internet marketing as a “free” alternative. How much are they paying you for the TV work? or is it a vehicle for future potential exposure - which drives you to do it.

I’ve worked a four day week for the last 7 years and having a free day to just create, write, produce saved my virtual soul. Its worked well and when I originally read about your new plan for a four day week I thought, - finally another web head sick of endless toil & the productivity issues which go with it.

by: Jake

Tue, 18 Mar 2008 10:25:00 +0000

I think it also helps to have a Signature Hat (darn, I was about to go for the pork pie ;)

by: Ryan

Tue, 18 Mar 2008 06:13:12 +0000

@Steve - We’re not even sure if it’s going to happen. We’re waiting to hear back from the production company. It seems pretty likely though :) Unfortunately though, I have no idea what kind of timescale we’re looking at.

by: Blog // BenLacy.net » Blog Archive » On Being Remarkable

Tue, 18 Mar 2008 00:20:37 +0000

[…] Ryan Carson wrote a post recently about PR people, and he quoted Robert Stephens (founder of Geek Squad): “Marketing is the price you pay for being unremarkable.” […]

by: Steve Avery

Sun, 16 Mar 2008 23:58:23 +0000

An interesting article Ryan.

I have to say I’m really keen to watch the TV show. Can you give us any clues as to when it will be aired?

Keep up the great work.

by: Andrew J Scott

Sun, 16 Mar 2008 20:29:23 +0000

Personally, I think hats are on the way back in. I’ve worn one from time to time. I wore one all week at Burning Man last year (let me guess Adam, only douches go to Burning Man, right?)

I long for the time when all men wore hats - not because I’m gay btw, but because us gents accessories and variety in the wardrobe is few and far between compared to that of the good ladies. Anything that adds to my generally ability to look damn cool a sophisticated is a boon as far as I’m concerned.

And why doesn’t my bank manager where a bowler hat? God damn it if you’re twisted enough to want to be a bank manager you should surely at least embrace the trappings of parochial power…!

by: Mel Kirk

Sun, 16 Mar 2008 16:05:39 +0000

I would agree that there is more required than just being remarkable - you have to be able to tell people about the great work that you’re doing. As Gary Vaynerchuk said at FOWA - all great companies should have a communities person and I would agree…

It will be interesting in the future to see whether companies adopt more communities peeps and fewer PR firms!