300 Stories – A New Year, A New Milestone

des moines communications agency

Today, I hit 300 stories… This is a special milestone for me and SPOKE Communications. Not only from a content marketing and P.R. aspect, but because from the day I started this career I wanted to do nothing but help people tell their stories. Whatever the application – graphic design, photography, videography, copywriting, illustration, public relations, education and training, I live to tell stories. Today, I hit 300 stories (for one client).

Can I help you tell your story?

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Strategy Sparks Joy and So Much More

strategic communications

Sometimes I get so laser-focused on the “day-to-day” that I forget the joy in what I do. Outside graphic design, outside web development and maintenance, outside content writing, outside video, outside all of the “tasks,” I love (pronounced “luuuuuuuv”) strategy. As Marie Kondo says, “It sparks Joy.” I love the why. I especially love the how. There’s little more exciting to me than a blank slate laid out in front of me with a goal on one end and a deadline on the other. So, Andy, how do we make the two connect? Today I set aside the “day-to-day” and

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Businesses Stand Out Through Strategic Communications

strategig marketing communications

Well, thank you, Captain Obvious. Who would think otherwise? But did you catch the “Strategic” part? While the headline seems overly apparent, we’ve witnessed time and time again businesses from solo entrepreneurs to mega-conglomerate Fortune 500s miss the mark when truly strategic communications would have helped. Whether they miss an opportunity to speak up on a business-relevant event or their news feed is so full the brand focus and target of the message is lost, businesses need to make sure communications strategies are in place at all times. Much of this falls under Brand Communications and Public Relations Strategies. What

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Content Marketing Drives More Than Your Blog

content marketing drives more than your blog

Content Marketing? Blogging? Digital PR? Journaling? E-News? We’ve heard a number of terms for it, but whatever you call it, it’s important. Content Marketing (what we call it here at SPOKE) is a strategy that should be present in every aspect of your marketing plan. It builds brand narrative and reinforces market knowledge and authority all while being infinitely packageable and a valuable source of sales support. Bring Clients Closer By Building Your Brand Narrative: Brands need to communicate. It should be core to their nature. By telling stories (Content Marketing) Brands increase the ability to connect to their target audience

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10.5 Tips: Social Media Etiquette

Blogs, microblogs, social networks like Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter, Snapchat, Instagram, LinkedIn are popping up daily.  Their availability to the masses is exciting and fun, even educational and inspirational.  Never before has it been easier to share knowledge, express creativity, build personal and business brands, and connect with others in your industry and around the globe. Because these social media channels are still fairly new to most, guidance and best practices are often shorted – to the detriment to the users as well as those within their network. So as a “Public Service” of sorts, I’ve put together a quick, 10.5

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Occasionally, The King Needs Good Damage Control

Yes. For those of you that might have been hiding under a rock on Monday, there was a HUGE disturbance in the force. It was like the voices of millions of websites cried out and were suddenly silenced all at once. Our King, our Mohamed atop the mountain was … down. For hours on Monday the King of all web domains, GoDaddy, was nowhere to be found, on the web or anywhere else for that matter. Well, at least it seemed like it. With that, millions of websites and interactive outposts such as email accounts, e-commerce sites and blogs were

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We Cured Writer’s Block!

Some days I sit back in my chair and wonder, “Why the heck isn’t anyone posting?” It’s not for a lack of information.  It’s not for a lack of inspiration.  It just falls on that blank page!  It’s too intimidating.  It’s too…  blank; so your mind goes blank. In attempts to alleviate that, I’ve coached my clients to keep a journal, either digitally in EverNote, or the “Old fashioned way” in a notebook, of ideas, snippets, quips or even a doodle that would later inspire a blog post (and I’ve changed “blog post” to “article” for most clients – that’s

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