The Spin Sucks Podcast with Gini Dietrich (Gini Dietrich, Founder of Spin Sucks)

There are introverts and there are extroverts - both are necessary for the running of the world, but the world isn't really designed for the introverted among us. Today, Gini Dietrich is talking about the different things introverts bring to the table, and how to make sure they're able contribute the value they bring to the table - without making them completely miserable.

Business leaders need to change their thinking around the value of communications. There are a lot of erroneous perceptions (some of them pretty mean!) about PR, and we need to combat them! Gini Dietrich is talking about how on this episode of the Spin Sucks podcast.

Sometimes it only takes one SWOT to rule them all. When it comes to your business, product or strategy, breaking down your greatest strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats can help you to make the right decision at the right time. This week, we’ll be demonstrating the SWOT analysis and discussing its ability to give you a quick and clear picture of where you’re at.

On the 6th day of Spin Sucks Christmas, Ginie Dietrich brings you Six SEO tricks - otherwise known as best practices that you can use to help focus your content efforts, and keep your long term strategy top of mind.

Competing priorities - goals and budget, immediate results and long term sustainability, efficiency and authenticity - communications is full of them. But that friction can be the source of the best, most creative and most profitable work your company does. On this week's episode of the Spin Sucks Podcast, Gini Dietrich is talking about how to make sure your programs have enough friction for the magic to happen.

A recentWall Street Journal article talks about how to survive the pandemic by taking cues from nature. Naturally, of course.  As it turns out, wildfires, pine cones, armadillos, geckos, and mantis shrimp hold the key to out coming out of the pandemic with our heads on straight—and a new found passion for our careers.  The idea that we can innovate by observing and copying nature is a concept popularized by Janine Benyus, an American natural sciences writer, innovation consultant, and author. It applies to new products, such as adhesives inspired by the sticky feet of the gecko and underwater cameras suggested by the eyes of the mantis shrimp.  But the natural world offers so much more than simply ideas for product design. It can also offer insight into how to keep up with quickly changing markets, cooperating with peers, and fostering resilience—each which are relevant to every one of us, no matter where we are in our career growth. Many of the roughly eight million species on Earth have weathered times of intense disruption—something human beings are experiencing now. The non-human species have developed strategies to help them not just adapt to harsh conditions, but to thrive. Strategies we can learn from.  The aforementioned article looked at five ways organisms respond to periods of extreme adversity—and the insights they hold that are valuable to you. And that is what this episode of the Spin Sucks podcast is about: what you can learn from nature to pull yourself—and your career or your business—out of the pandemic. Links Mentioned In This Episode What We Can Learn from Nature Janine Benyus Marketing In the Round Spin Sucks (the book) Spin Sucks Academy Spin Sucks Community

People are always looking for the easy way forward - it's kind of human nature - but it's usually not the best choice. You will always have better results with consistent work towards longer term strategies. Gini Dietrich is talking about how and why on this week's episode of the Spin Sucks Podcast.

Let’s talk about what we don’t know — more specifically, as it relates to our communications strategy. Our internal biases and things outside our control can have a big impact on the quality and success of our communications plans, so here’s how to mitigate the damage they can cause.

What do rocks, pebbles, water and a glass have to do with communication plans? With some help from Gini Dietrich, more than you think! Tune in to this week’s episode to find out how to get your biggest rocks in a row and make time for all the pebbles and sand that tumble on to your plate every day.

The 2023 Edelman Future of Corporate Communications Study is out, and Gini Dietrich is breaking down the results and what they mean for you on this week's episode of the Spin Sucks Podcast. You can find the study right here.

You need to apply the same skills to your internal and external clients as you do to your broader audience and community. Gini Dietrich is talking about creating client personas on this week's episode of the Spin Sucks Podcast.

Working with a new client is exciting - there are so many possibilities, and opportunities to tell new stories and try new things. But to start on the right foot you need a strategic plan - and that is something that is often overlooked. That's what today's episode of the Spin Sucks Podcast is all about. Enjoy!

When you’re running out of bandwidth with your current team, or when it seems like there are plenty of opportunities just out of your grasp if you only had some additional skill sets in the office, hiring can feel like your best option. But sometimes it makes more sense to test the waters by outsourcing some or all of part of your business. That’s what we’re going to talk about on today’s version of the Spin Sucks Podcast: what you can outsource, and when you should do that versus hiring someone ful

How much can AI really do for us? There are tool and services available now that are offering some pretty impressive AI generated materials - but they're not quite ready to replace us yet. Join us on this week's episode of Spin Sucks to talk about what artifical intelligence can do for your communications program.

It used to be that the 'best practice' for companies having opinions on social issues was: don't! But that is all changing and today on the Spin Sucks Podcast, Gini Dietrich is talking about the role of communications in helping an organization speak up about it's values.

We should have multiple sources of income to protect our businesses and our personal lives. This means that we should have various revenue streams from several products or services making up our total income.  Types of Income Streams for Communications Professionals Consulting is an easy add-on if you provide done-for-you services. This is great for organizations that need someone to teach their internal teams how to deliver a certain result. Memberships and community groups are a great long-term strategy. If you build an active community, you would have an engaged audience who will give you feedback and market research, and who will be your best brand ambassadors. Books and infoproducts give you credibility so you can increase your fees. They also be additional revenue. Brainstorming Additional Streams of Income A business should have at least seven revenue streams. At Spin Sucks we have eight. If you need some ideas for additional income streams, check out what your competitors are offering outside their core business. Your clients are another great source of ideas: what other services do they buy? What problems do they mention to you that you don’t currently solve? Give them an easy way to keep you top-of-mind when they have other challenges to solve. Finally, talk to your colleagues and your team. Their diverse perspectives can be a goldmine as they may see opportunities you may not. Have Your Say What are your different revenue streams? If you don’t have enough of them, what are you going to try? Share them in the Spin Sucks community. Resources Our Coaching Services The graphic we use on our invoice

It seems that almost everyone has their own blog these days. From influencers to entrepreneurs, heck, even corporations joined the blogging scene to gain traction, and maybe even try to understand what all this, “blogging is king” hullabaloo is about (caution: the latter probably is not as dynamic as the first two, ugh). But is blogging really good for your business? In this episode, Gini talks about her blogging roots, how said roots have evolved, and how you can blog better, faster, and more effective

One hundred episodes ago, we launched the Spin Sucks podcast with trepidation, anxiety, and a sense of adding just one more thing to the weekly task list. Today, while not exactly the easiest task for me to complete each week, it’s one of the most effective. And that’s because of you, dear listener. You show up week after week after week. You listen while you walk the dog or clean the house or soak in the tub or lock yourself in the bathroom to escape the insanity that is a global pandemic. Or maybe that last one is just me. It’s been quite a ride—from a whopping 53 downloads per episode to more than a thousand today. We’ve had quite the journey together and I thought it’d be fun to celebrate 100 episodes by taking a walk down memory lane. As I thought about how to celebrate this journey with you, I asked my buddy Chris Penn what he thought. I also tried to get him to produce this episode, to no avail. But if you know Chris, you know his advice was to look at the data. Big surprise! So I did. And of the top 10 episodes, six are about the PESO Model. You love it, which makes me very happy (because I do, too).  In this celebratory episode, we go through the top 10 episodes of the last 100—according to you. And, if you missed any of the most popular episodes, the links are below! Show Links Reworking Earned Media How to Do Your Own Professional Development A Podcast About Podcasts Why Communicators Struggle To Implement the PESO Model The Newly Refreshed PESO Model Graphic and Process The Do’s and Don’ts of Holiday-Themed Content Campaigns Are You Out of Your Mind, Ernst and Young? Star Wars, the PESO Model, and a Challenge for You How to Prepare For a Down Economy  Who Can Use The PESO Model? The PESO Model Certification with Syracuse University

You never need a communications professional more than when things get really, really messy. There is a certain type of tech CEO that doesn't seem to believe they need communications counsel - and the results are going to be extremely interesting. Gini Dietrich is talking about the fall of FTX and the actions of Sam Bankman-Fried on this week's episode of the Spin Sucks Podcast.

You've probably heard this quote by Rumi at least once:, "When you are everywhere, you are nowhere. When you are somewhere, you are everywhere." As cryptic as it sounds, Rumi has a great point, especially when you apply this wisdom to social media. The thing is, you can't possibly be on all the social media channels AND still build a meaningful connection with your target audience. This week, we talk about the wonderful world of social media and how to keep your communications plan simple and effective.

Gini brings in her first-ever guests! Gini's husband joins Gini to discuss his entrepreneurial and marketing journey with his company, the National Democratic Training Committee. Tune in for a second special guest to celebrate 300 episodes!

In this cross-post from the Agency Leadership podcast, Gini Dietrich and Chip Griffin talk about offering services like social media, community building, crisis - and maintaining some semblance of work life balance while you're at it. It will help you think about setting boundaries and expectations, no matter what your role in an organization is. Enjoy!

AI is making it easier and easier for people to create cold emails offering you the moon and more. Very often, these are pay to play firms who are selling what used to be called advertorials and similar placements. Gini Dietrich is talking about the reality of paying for coverage, when it might make sense and when it doesn't on this week's episode of the Spin Sucks Podcast.

Gini Dietrich loves content. All kinds of content. But especially blogs. The door is open for absolutely everybody to tell stories in ways that area meaningful for them, and if you invest the time, over time, there are likely to be people paying attention. Today, Gini is talking about the insights found in Andy Crestodina's and the team at Orbit Media's annual Blogger Survey.

🎶On the 10th Day of PR Christmas, Spin Sucks gave to you 10 PR Metrics to Track,  9 ways to be more productive, 8 communications podcasts, 7 PR pros to follow,  6 SEO tricks,  five breakable habits, four productivity tools, three AI experts, two PR trends, and one mindset shift in a pear tree.🎶 The right metrics are those that show you how well the campaigns and strategies in your PESO model communications plan are working. They’ll tell you what you need more of and what you can let go. Here are 10 metrics that you should be monitoring actively: Paid Media Metrics Social media marketing ad conversions - You should see a correlation between clicks on your ads and purchases. Email database - Your email database should be growing, and the number of people who click the links in your emails should also be increasing. Leads and conversions - How many leads at the top of the funnel will correlate to a conversion? Earned Media Metrics Web performance - Understand your site analytics and review it frequently. Media, blogger and influencer scoring - Develop your own internal scoring metric for media and content creators so you know who you should approach for earned media opportunities. Shared Media Metrics  Rating system - Assign points to your social media updates and shares to learn which campaigns are working and which are not. Unique stuff - Use unique URLs, codes and landing pages for your social media campaigns. This way you can easily track their effectiveness. Owned Media Metrics The vanities - Pay attention to unique visitors, time spent on the site, and bounce rate. Community - Track the effectiveness of your community via sales, referrals and engagements. Sales - This is the ultimate goal of all your PR efforts. Have Your Say Check the Spin Sucks blog for the rest of the 12 Days of Christmas series. Share your insights in the Spin Sucks community.  Resources Join the 30-Day Communication Challenge 

Last week on the Spin Sucks podcast was a refresher course on how implementing the PESO Model in your business communications and marketing plan can significantly increase your authority among consumers, build brand recognition, and generate qualified leads. In today’s episode, Gini shares how you can get the best bang for your buck and harness the power of Paid Media regardless of the scale of your budget or the size of your intended audience.  

We’re at mid-year, and we have an important question for you. How are those resolutions you made in January coming along? If you’re one of the few who actually follows up on your goals, good for you! If this question made you uncomfortable, then this is the episode you need to hear. You might just be setting goals in a way that you can’t keep them, and Gini Dietrich has some solutions to help you finally get it right.

If there were ever a time to learn how to build a strategic PESO Model program, it is now. Between the pandemic and furloughed jobs, and civil unrest and social injustice, the ability to evolve quickly is more and more relevant, and that's what Gini talks about in this week's episode of the Spin Sucks Podcast.

Pop-ups may be annoying to us in the internet marketing industry, but in the real world they’re very effective.

If you're starting a corporate blog, you need it to start producing results as quickly as possible, but that's no easy feat. Blogs can be one of the most challenging projects communicators take on. Gini Dietrich knows all about it and is sharing seven ways to start seeing success out of the gate.

Perfectionism can cause problems in many different ways, and areas of your communications plan. Good and Finished is better than absolutely perfect for you, and for your team members. Gini Dietrich is talking about how perfectionism can demotivate your team and prevent you from moving forward on the Spin Sucks Podcast.

It's always important to stay up to date on the latest data! Especially when you're building and maintaining robust and comprehensive communications plans. This week on the Spin Sucks Podcast, Gini Dietrich is looking at the results from this year's Content Marketing Institute and Marketing Profs Content Marketing Benchmarks Budget and Trends Survey.

There are a lot of memes and graphics floating around that talk about how, if you don’t come out of this global pandemic with a new skill, a new invention, a new body, a new something...that you will have wasted this time you’re sheltering in place. A couple of days ago, a graphic was floating around that listed all of the companies that didn’t exist before the Great Recession, including Venmo, Uber, Snapchat, Twitter, and more. Yes...and.  The hustle mentality isn’t right for right now—and shaming people who don’t have the time (or don’t take the supposed extra time they have) to do something new the absolute wrong thing to do.  That’s what we talk about on today’s Spin Sucks podcast episode.

If you try to use an AI tool for a complex or creative task, you might be disappointed by the initial results, but as often as not, that is the fault of the prompt more than the LLM. On this week's episode of the Spin Sucks Podcast Gini Dietrich is talking about how the different AI platforms perform and how to provide enough training and context to get usable results.

The last week has been Spring Break in Chicago, so instead of a new episode, Gini Dietrich is sharing the most popular show of 2019, all about the different ways you can make money on the side of your traditional salary as an employee or income as a business owner.

It can often be difficult to stand by higher prices, negotiate higher salaries and to say no when a deal isn't in your favor, but these are critical skills that everyone - especially the next generation of women need to advance their businesses or careers. This week on the Spin Sucks Podcast, Gini Dietrich is talking about why it's so important, and how to be a mentor to newer professionals in the industry.

Google Search Generative AI is coming, whether you like it or not, and that means you've got to make some changes to what kind of content you're making and how you make it. Gini Dietrich is talking about the strategic tweaks you'll need to make to keep getting in front of the people who need your expertise.

The Spin Sucks community is the best! We’ve received a lot of really smart questions, and today, Gini is giving you some really smart answers. From analytics to revenue and contractors to demonstrating ROI, there’s sure to be something you’ll find useful and can implement today to make your business more successful. Also, make sure you listen to the very end and find out if Gini survives the lightning round!

Contributed Content is one of the unsung heroes of communications. While it isn't always the easiest to create, especially if content creation is outside your scope of worth, its a strategy that can pay huge dividends. On this week's episode of the Spin Sucks Podcast, Gini Dietrich is explaining why you should be considering contributed content, what editors are looking for, how to create it and how to measure it.

If you know what you know and what you don't know, you're doing pretty well - but do you ever think about where your knowledge and decisions are coming from, and if that information is inaccurate? That's what this week's replay episode is all about. Next week, Gini Dietrich will be back with a new episode of the Spin Sucks Podcast.

In this week's episode Gini Dietrich talks about how to measure the results of your PESO model strategy. This can be intimidating, but communicating the successes and opportunities for further improvement to leadership and the rest of your team is a critical factor in a program that provides value over the long term.

Requests for Proposals are the bane of many agency's existence, and although they're popular, they're rarely the best way to stary a new professional relationship. On this week's episode of the Spin Sucks Podcast, Gini Dietrich is talking about a better way to position yourself as an expert and get new business without the proposals.

Gini Dietrich has a vision about making the field of marketing and communications a better, more effective place with a shared understanding of how ROI is created and measured - and she's got a plan for how to make it happen. She's talking about it this week on the Spin Sucks Podcast.

Sometimes a team meeting can (and should!) stray off of business topics, and get to really vital issues - like who is the greatest villain in literature. While we all need to get our work done, sometimes a little time devoted to getting to know eachoher, and who on your team is wrong about the worst villain's in literature, can be a huge benefit for your team's culture and morale. Gini Dietrich is sharing a shortlist on today's episde of the Spin Sucks podacst - and invites you to add your own villains.

The magic of the PESO model is integration between the different media types. Often the lines are blurred between the elements and that means you're doing it exactly right. On this week's episode of the Spin Sucks Podcast, Gini Dietrich is talking about how to be omnipresent, and why you need to create an environment around each opportunity you have.

More and more of the public have trust issues with companies and media. Gini Dietrich reviews the Annual Edelman Trust Barometer Report and how you can use the PESO Model to address trust challenges in today's communication landscape.

Measuring the results of your PR efforts is far more challenging than linking to the likes and clicks you get on your social media accounts. Gini discusses measuring PR success with outcomes vs. outputs, using AI effectively in a PR campaign, and the future of PR measurement.

Negotiation is uncomfortable. Even for the most confident of us, we worry that things won’t go as intended and we’ll end up with nothing instead of something. It doesn’t have to be that way.

Welcome to another August episode of the Spin Sucks Podcast where we're sharing great episodes from the Agency Leadership Podcast that Gini co-hosts with Chip Griffin. Today you're going to hear about one of my favorite topics: non-traditional revenue streams!

The most reliable way to get people to open your emails is to make sure they recognize your name - and one of the best ways to do that is to engage meaningfully with the content they share on social media. Gini Dietrich is talking abut rediscovering the art of commenting on this week's episode of the Spin Sucks Podcast.

It's important for the stories we tell to be meaningful to ourselves as communicators, and to the audience that ultimately receives them - but we don't want to drift into creating or exaggerating drama. Gini Dietrich is talking about how to become better storytellers on this week's episode of the Spin Sucks Podcast.

This week on the Spin Sucks podcast, we’re repaying one of our earliest episodes about brand voice. Brand voice has a huge impact on everything from blog posts and videos to your email marketing, which we discussed last week. More than anything else, it’s the guideline that makes our communications consistent! Find out what goes into your brand voice, how to review and audit whether its working for you, and how often you should be revisiting it to make sure it’s still doing what you need it to.

16 years ago, Gini Dietrich and her team started the Spin Sucks Blog. Enjoy this special clip episode where Gini is talking about the history of the company and members of the Spin Sucks Community talks about what it has meant to them over the years.

Social Media is a powerful tool for connecting with your audience and community, but it's not easy when the truth is that there are people out there on social media with the sole intent of damaging your reputation: bad actors. How do you moderate social media comments in this environment? That's what Gini Dietrich is talking about today on the Spin Sucks Podcast.

Creating strong, engaged online communities is more important now than it has ever been - in this replay of an episode from early 2019, Gini talks about building online communities, the secret sauce of engagement, and the short and long term benefits of having one.

🎶On the second day of Christmas, Spin Sucks gave to you two PR trends and one mindset shift (in a pear tree).🎶   You can start the new decade on a strong footing by embracing these two trends: creative storytelling and the PESO model.   Creative storytelling allows your customers to imagine how miserable life would be without your product or service. Good stories build trust and generate engagement. They help you form relationships with prospects who will then become lifelong customers and brand ambassadors. Customers are able to relate to your business through your stories. Within your organization, stories can bridge gaps between departments, and help employees understand and get to know one another.     The second trend you should embrace is the PESO model -  that is, you should integrate paid, earned, shared, and owned media into your communication plan. Traditionally, PR falls under earned media, but in today’s world, you should also incorporate the other media types, since it’s getting more challenging to get earned media without some sort of media buy. Shared media is also going to continue to change. While shared media is still one of the best ways to engage with your audience, you should strategically integrate the other media types so you can adapt as changes happen.   Have Your Say What do you think are the PR trends for 2020 and the new decade? Share your insights in the Spin Sucks community. For the rest of the 12 Days of Christmas series, check out the Spin Sucks blog.

The changing media landscape means that it can be harder to get earned placements - but by thinking outside the box and considering different media properties and ways to contibute, you can get mentions for your company in a huge variety of places.

Gini Dietrich discusses the innovations, changes, and new opportunities in the podcasting space in this week’s Spin Sucks show. She outlines the pros and cons of micro- versus long podcasts. While most podcasts today are 10 minutes or longer, Gini points out that the length of your podcast depends on your audience’s preference, the type of content you’re creating and the amount of time you have to invest in planning, recording and post-production. Podcasts are almost all pull: listeners listen when they want to, usually while they’re doing other things. However, podcast listeners are loyal, and often have a listening schedule that you’re a part of. Podcasting is starting to attract serious investment, which indicates that it is being seen as an effective communications medium which has the potential to generate a lot of revenue. Smart businesses use podcasting as a part of their content strategy, generating value from their shows in multiple ways. In addition, podcasting can be an efficient way to generate owned media, and provide materials for shared media. You can also repurpose your podcast into many smaller pieces of content. Have Your Say What do you think about podcasting? Other than this one, what are your favorite shows? Have you thought about being a host or a guest yourself? Where do you need help? Let us know in the Spin Sucks community. Resources 2020 Communications Trends

Futurecasting is all about identifying a range of potential outcomes or events that might impact your industry and business, and planning for the different possibilities you might have to deal with. In todays episode of the Spin Sucks Podcast, Gini Dietrich is talking about how to get good at futurecasting, and how to integrate it into your strategy.

You've probably heard this quote by Rumi at least once:, "When you are everywhere, you are nowhere. When you are somewhere, you are everywhere." As cryptic as it sounds, Rumi has a great point, especially when you apply this wisdom to social media. The thing is, you can't possibly be on all the social media channels AND still build a meaningful connection with your target audience. This week, we talk about the wonderful world of social media and how to keep your communications plan simple and effective.

If 2020 taught us anything, it was that everyone has been re-examining the brands we buy from, for, invest in, work for and otherwise support. Issues of morale, engagement and culture are more important than other, and that means a new emphasis on internal communications. But mistakes are still being made - especially in communicating how we're going back to work. Find out how to make sure you're saying what you need to on this week's episode of the Spin Sucks Podcast.

Those who practice the best social media etiquette often go unnoticed - and you'll want to do the same. "But don't we want people to acknowledge how well-behaved we are online?" No, not exactly. You really only want people's attention on two things: your content and personality. Last week, Gini gave you 6 Social Media Don'ts. Today, she's back to talk about ways you can engage on social and make a great impression!

Disinformation is everywhere, and it reflects a fundamental shift in how information is shared. The challenge of maintaining truth in the public sphere is is more difficult - and more important - than ever. Gini Dietrich is talking about how to do it this week on the Spin Sucks Podcast.

Being a thought leader means having and sharing original thoughts that demonstrate your expertise. Doing this can take a lot of time or a lot of money or both, and that can sometimes be a challenge. Today on the Spin Sucks Podcast Gini Dietrich is talking about how to get thought leadership right.

Many of today's executives grew up understanding that you should never discuss money, politics or religion in polite company, but times are changing and more and more consumers are expecting companies to take a stand one way or another. Gini Dietrich is talking about how to communicate your values as a brand, and sharing some examples of massive successes and failures in doing so on this week's episode of the Spin Sucks Podcast.

It's been 12 years since the first Trends and Insights report from The Content Marketing Institute and Marketing Profs. On this week's episode of the Spin Sucks Podcast, Gini Dietrich is talking about the report, and particularly, what changes Covid has wrought. Tune in to find out what the report means for your communications work.

AI search engines, and even traditional search engines using AI are changing how people look for and find information. For communicators, this means we need to update the way we're using the PESO Model© to make sure we're getting found where people are looking. On this week's episode of the Spin Sucks Podcast, Gini Dietrich is telling you how.

You never know who you might run into - and who they might know! It's always good practice to treat other people the way you want to be treated, and that principle has potentially huge implications in your business, in your communications, and in your personal life. That's what Gini Dietrich is talking about on this week's episode of the Spin Sucks Podcast.

Everything you do shouldn’t be reliant on one lead nurturing tactic. Your PESO model program allows you to reach people at different times of the day or week, in their communication channel of choice. Look at email marketing as one small part of your PESO program.

As a business owner, an economic downturn is a pretty scary thing and can be hard to predict. However, we’re seeing the same trends today that we saw in 2007 and 2008 and this may be an indication that another downturn is on the horizon.  It’s best to be prepared. Here are some things you can expect to see in a recession, and how you can mitigate them: Clients will begin to delay payments. If you anticipate you’ll need access to cash, work with a bank to get a line of credit right away. Companies cut their marketing budget. Formulate your plan B in case you lose clients or you’re let go from your job. Companies with big marketing budgets may look at other options. If your products and services are competitive, you may win their business. Show your clients how your work contributes to their bottom line. Forbes advises that you do the following to prepare for an economic downturn: Manage your profitability; Identify and maintain your strengths and best customers; Be ready to decide what you can stop doing; Manage your liquidity like you do your profitability. If you’re an employee, you should be prepared as well. Share your expert ideas to help your company weather the storm, but you should also improve your skills and make sure your CV and LinkedIn profiles are up-to-date in case the worst happens. Have Your Say Do you think a recession is coming? How are you preparing for it? Tell us in the Spin Sucks Community.  Resources Forbes Article: 4 Ways to Prepare for the Coming Recession  How Virtual Companies Work  Scaling Virtually 

Most brand stories miss the mark becuase they're focused on the wrong thing, don't resonate with the intended audience, or lack consistency accross different channels. But there is a way to do it right, and that's exactly what Gini Dietrich is sharing this week on the Spin Sucks Podcast.

This year's Muck Rack state of PR survey is out and it's a doozy. Gini Dietrich is breaking it down and talking about some of the highlights on this week's episode of the Spin Sucks Podcast. Check out the Survey here: https://muckrack.com/blog/2022/06/02/state-of-pr-2022

In this week's episde of the Spin Sucks Podcast, Gini Dietrich is talking about how far Spin Sucks has come over the years. She looks back to the beginnings of the blog (and shares the very first blog post that appeared on it!) and talks about how things have, and continue to change for the better.

Positive feedback is critical to the moral and motivation of your team. While it's important to give constructive criticisim when it's warranted, there's no need to find it just to balance out the good things you want to say! That's what Gini Dietrich is talking about on this week's episode of the Spin Sucks Podcast.

It’s been about 9 months since we talked about digital decluttering. How are your resolutions faring? What have you accomplished? Did you slip off the wagon a time or to? Chances are, if you’re human, you haven’t done perfectly. But that’s okay – it happens to the best of us.   What is digital decluttering?   It’s when you’ve got too much stuff. When your digital environment looks like a 9-year-old’s room after a sleepover. Subscriptions you don’t remember agreeing to, your social media is a jungle, and… yeah. You get the idea. It’s time to get your digital environment looking and feeling spick-and-span.   Cleaning up your email   Email subscriptions seem to multiply like rabbits in our inboxes. You unsub from one today, and you get ten new ones tomorrow. But we have a secret weapon: Sanebox. It helps filter and organize your email inbox so you only see what’s important. What’s more, it pays attention to what you do so it LEARNS what’s important to you.   If you’re not ready to let a robot wrest control of your inbox, you still have options. Make it a habit to unsubscribe from any newsletters you don’t care about or read. Gmail has some pretty sweet options for manually taking control of the madness as well. For example, you can have Gmail move any email with an ‘Unsubscribe’ link into a folder called ‘Optional.’   Taming your social media   Before anything else, take a peek at your various profiles and make sure everything is up to date and your ‘pinned’ content is current. It doesn’t have to be any more complicated than that. Oh, and that profile photo of you from 20 years ago? You might want to make that current, too.   Data and analytics   Why is this even on the ‘digital declutter’ list? Because you need to make sure all that data is something you need, rather than something you just want. When you look at your data, as yourself two things: First, is this information you can take action on? Second, is the information helping you reach your goal?   If the answer is no to either one of those, you’d probably benefit from paring down the amount of data you have coming in, so that you can make better decisions on what to do to reach the goals you have set.   Credit cards   Okay – this might seem like another one of those off-the-wall decluttering strategies but hear us out. Sometimes your digital clutter can hide money that’s leaking out of your hands. Take a look at your last statements from each of your cards and ensure the transactions are ones you still want. You might even find you forgot to cancel a ‘free trial’ that you’ve been paying for for months. Not cool.   And now it’s your turn. I want you to brag about your decluttering - find us on Facebook, or Tweet @spinsucks with how many email subscriptions you’ve canceled, how many keywords you optimized, and how much money you’re saving after your digital declutter!

There are a few bad apples that seriously damage the reputaiton of every industry, and PR is no different. Today, Gini Dietrich is talking about how critical it is that professional communicators act with integrity.

On this week's episode of the Spin Sucks Podcast, Gini Dietrich is reviewing the PESO model for any of you listening who aren't familiar with it yet, and providing some extra tips and insights for those who are.

In the communications industry, we don't have a uniform way to measure what we do, which causes confusion about everything from what we should be measuring in the first place, to what kind of goals and objectives make the most sense to try and measure, and how to communicate it all to teams, leadership and boards. Gini talks about this industry-wide issue and shares some solutions on this week's episode of the Spin Sucks Podcast.

The latest algorithm update from Google, BERT, is out for revenge on irrelevant, spammy content—and you'd better beware if this has been your MO of late. BERT stands for Bidirectional Encoder Representations from Transformers, which means it uses deep learning to understand and respond to human language as humans use it. It also means Google now understands context, including word order, better than ever before.  This update has many implications for communicators. For one, local content will be even easier for local people to find; for another, using insider language and jargon will be useful for SEO and engagement. Naturally, this means you have to laser-focus on your specific audience. Your content has to be targeted and in-depth. And it has to be the very best content on the internet for your topic. Creators who have been writing great content for humans all along will see (or already have seen) a real jump in their search rankings.  An easy way to think about it is this: your content should be EAT-able. EAT stands for expertise, authority, and trust. When you create content that is original, informative, targeted, and engaging, you automatically check all the E-A-T boxes, and Google will reward you with high search rankings and more traffic. In addition, now that BERT understands context and nuance, you will rank highly when people search for information that’s related to your topic, even when they don’t use your exact keywords! The Ultimate Blog Checklist lists all the elements you should include in your web content to make it EAT-able. As a content developer you should always aim to create the very best piece of content on the internet for your topic. If you do that, it won’t matter what Google does—you’ll always be compliant.  Have Your SayShare your thoughts about BERT in the Spin Sucks community. ResourcesWhat BERT means for communicators Ultimate Blog Checklist AI and SEO In the Post-BERT World 

A huge number of Requests for Proposals are badly written and take tons of time and energy with no guarantee of a return — and yet, they persist. You can’t always avoid them, but there are ways to make them less of a part of your business life, and ways to protect your time when you DO have to respond.

In PR, you have to educate your clients about what is possible, but also what is going to be the most effective in terms of earned media. That's what Gini Dietrich is talking about on this week's episode of the Spin Sucks Podcast.

The JOTW Strategic Comms Strategy Survey has recently been released, which analyzes what is going on in the communications industry, and as you might suspect, there are some challenges that communicators are facing. From DE&I to internal communications, from leaders that don't get it to the lingering effects of the pandemic, from measuring efforts to cutting through the noise, Gini Dietrich talks about how to manage these challenges. Resources Included 2021 JOTW Strategic Comms Survey MuckRack Survey Ragan Survey PESO Model Certification Ned Lundquist  Frank Strong Spin Sucks Community

Paid media often brings to mind mascots, jingles and Super Bowl commercials - and while they are all important, they're not part of a PESO model strategy driven by communications and marketing! Today, Gini is talking about using paid media in search and social to help turn traffic into clients and customers.

The Spin Sucks community predicted AI would be the biggest trend in 2020. In today’s show, we look at how big AI is predicted to be, what it could do for communicators, and what we may need to be concerned about.  AI can profitably scale activities that are proven to be effective for business, such as content personalization, market research, risk assessment, and customer communication. Forbes Insights and Quantcast research found that marketers who used AI increased sales by 52% and improved customer retention by 51%. In the near future, more companies will be using artificial intelligence for: Analytics enhancement Augmented customer relationship management Customer communications Risk assessment However, AI poses several concerns, including data bias, misinformation and transparency. We discuss all of this and more in today's show. Have Your Say What do you want robots to do in the future? What are you afraid of robots doing in the future? Tell us in the Spin Sucks community.  Resources Communications Trends Lessons of 21st-Century Brands Modern Brands & AI Report  How to Put AI in PR by Martin Waxman  How to Spot Red Flags  

Having a community around your business can be a huge advantage in everything from your sales to your content marketing to your brand reputation, and in this week's episode of the Spin Sucks Podcast, Gini Dietrich is talking about why that is, and how to build and nurture one.

The CMO Survey from Deloitte is out, and as you might expect - it's a mix of good and bad news. Today on the Spin Sucks Podcast, Gini is breaking down the data, and making predictions for what you'll be running into next year. Check out the PESO Model Certification here!

You've probably heard about the Open AI drama that has been happening over the las few weeks, and you may have noticed how they broke almost every rule of communicating an executive transition. On today's episode of the Spin Sucks Podcast, Gini Dietrich is taking a look at what went wrong with Open AI's leadership turbulence, and how to make sure your transitions, when the happen, go much more smoothly.

There has never been a better time in history for communicators. On this week's episode of the Spin Sucks Podcast, Gini Dietrich discusses the research findings of the 2021 Future of Corporate Communications Study and how the communicator's role is forever changed. She breaks down her four favorite insights she found in the report, shares what that means for you, and how you can make 2022 and beyond successful.

The internet made a huge change in how PR and Communications professionals work. Then social media did the same thing. Now, AI is changing everything yet again and on this week's Spin Sucks Podcast Episode, Gini Dietrich is talking abut how AI is changing the industry, and what it means for you.

SEO has come a long, long way since the first search engines started using it to organize results, and Chat GPT is changing the game again. Today on the Spin Sucks Podcast, Gini Dietrich talks about how SEO is working now, the role of communications in it, and what we need to know to take advantage of AI to make sure the right people are finding you at the right time.

What can we learn from Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg as professionals and as human beings?

Our role has become more essential as we have helped keep organizations focused and moving forward in the past 15 months. The Ragan Communications Benchmark Report breaks down the changes in communications and what a communicator’s role will be in the next three to five years. Gini Dietrich reviews the findings of the report, including communications budgets, technology and mobile communication trends, crisis planning, and much more.

What's more common than an outright ban on social media? A shadowban. Gini Dietrich is going to be sharing what that is, and what to do if it happens to you or one of your clients on this week's episode of the Spin Sucks Podcast.

While the PR industry isn't as diverse as it should be, many agencies have made tangible commitments to do better. These commitments don't mention pay equity - which is still a problem. Learn about it on this week's episode of the Spin Sucks Podcast with Gini Dietrich.

Email isn’t dead! It’s a convenient way to connect with people who care about what you’re sharing. This week we’re talking email, specifically how to write great ones (that don’t suck).

Sometimes things happen in business that leave a sour taste in your mouth. They might not be malicious or intentional, but they can still hurt you, your clients and your brand. Join us on today’s episode of the Spin Sucks Podcast, where we talk about the mistakes in your strategy that will come back to bite you.

If you’ve ever toyed with the idea of starting your own business, this episode of the Spin Sucks Podcast is for you. Today, we’re talking about the strategies and challenges that go with being an entrepreneur and scaling a business. It’s not the easy, but if it’s right for you, you may never want to go back to being an employee again!

What does it mean for you as a professional communicator when you have to do more with less as budgets constrict? On this week's episode of the Spin Sucks Podcast, Gini Dietrich is talking about how to navigate layoffs, hiring freezes, budget cuts and more over the next year. Now is the time to focus on what you know works.

Fellow listeners, please enjoy this replay of last year's episode #28! When did we stop talking to each other like real people? In our industry, it’s getting hard to sort through all the hype. What’s the difference between a meaningless buzzword and a genuinely useful phrase? Take the term ‘Thought Leadership.’ This is what we’re getting into today, so sit tight because we’re going to be looking at how to synergize the 30,000-foot view to maximize our authenticity. Just kidding.

One of the most frustrating aspects of a communicator’s job is how little control you have over the earned media that you do. Not every interview you give is published. However, if you maintain a good relationship with the interviewer, you can repurpose those unaired interviews into your own content. This episode of Spin Sucks features an interview Gini Dietrich did with Megan Dougherty of One Stone Creative. They discuss content creation, the PESO model and the pros and cons of writing a book. Here are a few highlights of their conversation: Gini wanted to systematize her process so that her team could serve their clients as well as, or better than, she could. The PESO model represents how authority is built when all types of content work together. You have to be willing to put in the time and money to test before you start reaping rewards with content as well as with Facebook ads. Megan says that podcasting, as well, is a long game. The quality of your content matters more today than how often you publish. Gini recommends making the type of content you are most comfortable creating, whether that’s a blog, a podcast or video. Being an author makes you more credible to many business leaders. However, you don’t need to be an author to have credibility. Gini advises you to write a book only if it aligns with your goals. Updates Gini updates listeners about a few topics discussed in the interview, including Facebook ads. While they will continue to be more effective than any other social media platform, Facebook ads are going to be more expensive in the new year. Email is cheaper and can produce great results.  Have Your Say Happy New Year! Why not join us in the Spin Sucks community?