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Personal Branding

How To Public Relations Advice

Peter · June 30, 2023 · Leave a Comment

 

public relations adviceYa Want Some Sweet Public Relations Advice?

I write about company and personal branding in my Kick-Ass book (link below). Public relations plays a major role in getting your brand out there.

Here is a bit of my book’s perspective that transmits the thinking from the very smart PR firm – NATA. Check out their extensive thought leadership on their blog and in their podcast. Here is a good one: “147 – Public Relations – Nobody’s Waiting for Your Press Release.” So true!!!!

OK, let’s go.

Few “inbound” marketing platforms deliver the positive awareness of having your #advertisingagency mentioned in a Campaign Magazine or ADWEEK article, or in the case of your industry expertise – the category’s trade pubs.

So how does an agency or agency leader (or frankly any company) get into the right publication with the right brand-building copy?

Public Relations — PR Advice

The PR firm NATA offers this simple path to quickly get the attention of the busy (as in inundated) press by keeping the messaging straight and to the point. A few words can deliver a big message via being on-point and clutter-free. NATA’s advice:

  • If you run a company or have a job, you almost certainly have to write emails every day. Telling your story should be just as easy as your regular discussions with clients or suppliers.
  • We’ve developed a point-by-point technique at NATA PR that helps us get straight to the point when we’re talking to journalists or influencers. The purpose of this technique is to make information easy to read and maximize the chances of a journalist talking about you.

Practice this technique using these simple questions. Answer them and then remove the questions before sending your email:

What:

• Brand Z is launching a new vitamin C serum.

Why:

  • The vitamin C doesn’t become oxidized and retains all its properties that help reduce skin pigmentation.
  • It’s a completely new patent from company Z and they are the only ones in the world that have it.

When:

• It’ll be launched on X.

Where:

• On Z’s website and in reputable pharmacies.

Contact:

• Please don’t hesitate to get in touch if you have any questions.

Getting Sweet PR Sounds Simple… Right?

An issue is that PR wanna-get types don’t follow simple rules like these from NATA. Remember that your audience are busy pr professionals. Get to that great point fast.

Want more PR and marketing agency business-building advice? Buy this new marketing book.

 

Moving To Mexico

Peter · April 29, 2023 · 35 Comments

Moving To Mexico – Perfecto

Move to MexicoA 2023 Update: The Moving To Mexico post below was written when I achieved my 2016 goal of moving from Portland, Oregon to Mexico. I’ll maintain the original post detail intact to keep Google’s indexing happy. But, here is an update.

I live in San Miguel de Allende a town Condé Nast Traveller named – get this – “Best Small City in the World” five times – not bad. SMA is in the middle of the country, (high desert), is known for its culture, old-world colonial architecture, music, art, gourmet & street food, roof bars, and wonderful people. Plus, it has two international airports each one hour away. The world-class Mexico City is less than four hours away by luxury bus.

To date, the original blog post has been read over 5,000 times. Based on this activity, I know I am not alone in thinking of moving to Mexico.

Interesting side note. My advertising agency business consultancy is based here. In the past couple of years, three of my clients have decided to either move to Mexico full-time or buy a second home. Let me know if you are interested. I’ll turn you onto the right people that can make that happen.

Why move to Mexico? Eight reasons.

  1. The cost of living is 50% of, say, Chicago.
  2. You can get a permanent visa. Not easy in most other countries.
  3. The right time zone (vs. say Bali or Portugal.)
  4. Easy flights to the USA and beyond.
  5. The weather is a wow.
  6. Remote work — works here.
  7. Your neighbor does not have a MAGA flag in their front yard.
  8. The people and culture.

Oh. Is it safe? Pleeeease. Read this from Newsweek:

According to data from the U.S. State Department, between January 2022 and June 2022, there were 115 deaths of U.S. citizens, of which 25 were homicides. The largest number of deaths in the time period was as a result of vehicle accidents, with unspecified accidents also accounting for 25.

25! Note that there were over 25,000,000 American visitors to Mexico in 2022. Do the math.

Yeah, you’ll read about crime in some Mexican states. Note that the cartel people kill each other. They are fueld by America’s drug-love. They do not want to kill foreigners. Bad for business.

Moving To Mexico Was a Good Idea

My wife and I are now seven-plus years in and live here full-time. Five years ago we built a house across from the neighborhood church in the Guadalupe neighborhood that is known for its murals (that’s our house in the picture). Well, it’s our old house – we sold it for a nice profit. We now live in a very modern house up the hill that has an amazing view. it is a ten-minute walk to Centro.

I am maintaining my global advertising agency consultancy (it helps that I can work digitally from any location), I recently finished a multi-year global photography project which I started when I arrived in Mexico. After shooting in San Miguel de Allende, I photographed communities in L.A., Selma, and worked across India. If I relaunch this project (Covid got in the way) I’ll go to Ghana (I think) to add Africa to my white sheet portrait and Widelux film camera series.

I am about to publish a new book. “How To Build A Kick-Ass Advertising Agency”.

Back to Mexico… I am convinced that I made the right move. San Miguel de Allende is endearing, culturally rich, and very visually stimulating. The people are wonderful and welcome gringos like me. As I’ve mentioned, our town has been named the best city in the world by Travel & Leisure and Conde Nast Traveller. Yes, it deserves its “best“, but one does have to wonder who paid off the magazines for us to get signaled out.

By the way, check out my two-year San Miguel de Allende photography series, La Gente. Please pass it on, especially to Americans.

Side note: People ask me all the time about why and how I moved to Mexico. No, these are not just baby boomers – incoming people come from all sizes and shapes. It seems that a lot of folks want to get to either a “next” experience or sadly, just want to get the hell out of today’s USA. The work-from-home shift has made moving and living in Mexico easier for 30 – 40-year-olds, and we are seeing more young families come down.

NOTE: We did not move for political reasons. But, hey, living somewhere where lots of people smile every day and are not addicted to FOX, MNNBC, Google News, and Twitter is a ‘good thing’. LOL, sure we have news and social media addicts here. But, at least we do not have to see red political hats when we go to the tienda to buy a mango.

Side-side note: if you are interested in moving to Mexico, give me a shout. I’ll give you my perspective. I get a few calls a year.

——————————————-

My Original 2016 Blog Post About the Why and How Moving To Mexico

Why Mexico? 

This post explains why I moved to Mexico, where, and how, and provides some details should you want to follow me.

The move has been a two-year process for my wife and me to decide to make the move and then choose where to live. We selected San Miguel de Allende (for its culture and high-altitude weather) over Puerto Vallarta (too beachy); Baja (too close to California); the Yucatan (way too humid); Oaxaca (a close second); Mexico City (too big); or Lake Chapala (boring – though near Guadalajara).

I like moving to new places and do so about every 7 years. The upside is living an adventure and having to creatively deal with unknowns. The downside is leaving friends behind. But, some visit and Zoom plus Facetime keeps everyone face-to-face.

In addition to pure wanderlust, there are other factors that seem to make me move around. Here is a new one. I recently read the Wall Street Journal article, Nature or Nurture? What Makes You an Expat? Is a lust for travel, adventure and new surroundings built into your DNA? The article covers the idea that moving and living in a foreign country might be, partially, a function of your DNA. My kids are in their twenties and they now live in Buenos Aires and Budapest. Is the Levitan DNA responsible? Who knows. But, this is an interesting concept to digest.

OK, so why am I moving to Mexico?

I grew up in New York City. Went to college in Boston and San Francisco. Then moved back to New York, to Minneapolis, to New Jersey when we had kids, to London, and back. And, 15 years ago my family split from post 9/11 New York metro to go to Bend and then Portland, Oregon. Was it genes? Wanderlust? Career building? I think all of the above.

Why Mexico?

san-miguel-de-allende-mexico_87359_990x742We love Mexico and Mexicans. And, I can run my consultancy from anywhere, so why not head south?

We are not alone. Mexico has the highest number of American expats. The actual numbers are a bit flaky but the U.S. government estimates the number at over 1.5 million. These include people working in Mexico, folks just hanging out, Mexican Americans, and a very large number of American retirees.

But, hey, this blog post is about me.

My reasons…

  • Numero uno: Adventure (life is short.) See David Bowie for inspiration. ‘”Ch-ch-ch-ch-Changes (Turn and face the strange) Turn and face the strange. Ch-ch-Changes”
  • Our new home is San Miguel de Allende a town in the middle of the country. That’s one of its most famous scenes in the picture. SMA is one of the coolest towns in the world (yes, the world.) Here is what Huffington Post says.
  • If you don’t mind skipping heat and humidity, San Miguel de Allende’s weather is perfect (high desert at over 6,000 feet.) See the map at the bottom for its location.
  • The people in San Miguel are always smiling. OK, an overstatement but kinda true.
  • It’s safe. Please stop the silly ‘gringo’ question… “Is it safe?” Get this: most of Mexico is safer than New Orleans and Detroit. And, you know that if Americans stopped doing tons of coke, meth, and fentanyl, we’d help to solve the cartel problem. The key is that you don’t go hang out where the bad guys do business because that is where the crime is.
  • Mexican culture combines indigenous and Spanish influences. There are endless street, art and music festivals, and a very vibrant art scene.
  • The cost of living is about 60% or less than living in the USA. In our first ‘test’ year, we are renting a fully furnished 4-bedroom house with 3 days of housekeeper service and a gardener for $1,500 per month (this is considered on the higher end). At over 18 pesos per dollar, the dollar is as high as it has been in years.
  • San Miguel has the second-best restaurant scene in the country. It has become a major weekend destination for people living in Mexico City.
  • Surrounding towns deliver sweet day trips to visit hot springs, local ice cream meccas, and university towns. And… truly exciting things like a Costco and the largest shopping mall in Latin America. I haven’t been there yet but will avoid a Chili’s if they have one.
  • I can easily fly nonstop to L.A., Dallas, and Houston out of two local airports and internationally from Mexico City.
  • Getting a long-term visa is easy. Try living long-term in the U.K. or France or Thailand. Not going to happen.
  • I avoid CNN and FOX and MSNBC.
  • Oh, and I can work from anywhere I have a laptop and WIFI. Plus, my town is conveniently in the central time zone.

Have you considered living in Mexico?

googleA recent research study I did testing Google Consumer Research focused on where Americans want to retire. My findings show that 13% (13%!) of Americans between 45 and 65 “have considered retiring in Mexico”. By the way, you do use easy-to-use-super fast Google Research in your business development program, right?

Who will thrive in Mexico? [Read more…] about Moving To Mexico

SmarterChild Beat ChatGPT by 22 Years

Peter · January 25, 2023 · Leave a Comment

ChatGPTAs BuzzFeed Said About SmarterChild… (way before ChatGPT)

From BuzzFeed 2013: “50 Things That Look Just Like Your Childhood” – “A chat with an online robot”

Did you play with SmarterChild? I was one of the founders and CEO. Was nice to be part of the Internet’s childhood.Who knew then that ChatGPT was coming?

Here is a start-up video … 2000… (Microsoft eventually bought us – ActiveBuddy. And, now they own a chunk of ChatGPT) Yes, that’s me.

2022 Goals – Personal & Business

Peter · January 5, 2022 · Leave a Comment

Yup, I Have 2022 Goals

2022 goalsJust a quickie here about my 2022 goals. Just for my head. Just to maybe get your juices flowing. Your goals juices – that is. Your other juices are up to you.

Some goals aqui…

  • I’ve been intellectualizing, a bit too much, with some smart photographers about who can photograph who? Can me, a white guy, photograph people not like me, as in a series on lesbians? Can I go back to Selma and continue my series in the south? Can I do that black family project in L.A.? On the left or above is a photo I took many years ago. I like it. I am going to write about this ‘who can photograph who?’ subject on PetaPixel.
  • I am going to dig in deeper about account-based marketing – ABM – just for you – right here on this blog. Well, it is called ABM but it is just plain old very smart sales techniques. Too many advertising agencies do not use ABM. Why?
  • I am joining a group in Mexico that is all about micro-lending to Mexican women so they can start their own businesses.
  • I will be in Argentina twice this year visiting my 1.5-year-old granddaughter. She is here with her parents right now. Yes, I will drink a lot of red wine.
  • I have to get my ass back to SE Asia. Been all over. The last big trip was to India in January 2020. Too long ago.
  • I will continue to get lots of incoming questions from people that want to move to Mexico. Read about it here – Quit Advertising. 

There is more, but I will spare you.

Oh, OK, One Other Thing.

I am starting the year finishing up with two agencies, as in they hired me to help them grow their agency client base. And, starting on two new assignments. Thank y’all!

Now, shouldn’t working with me be one of YOUR goals?

How I Discovered The Internet After Saatchi

Peter · September 9, 2021 · 2 Comments

I Discovered The Internet – Kinda True

This is my 800th blog post. So why not get personal? Here is my story about how I discovered the Internet and left advertising in 1995 to become an Internet start-up CEO. I think that it might be instructive to the people leaving the advertising industry today. Don’t take my word for it, people are leaving – read Avi Dan’s Forbes article, “People Are Fleeing The Ad Industry Because Of Burnout And Wanting To Work From Home.” 

By the way, that is a picture of the explorer Robert Peary.

When I Discovered The Internet and The End Of My Advertising Agency Career

After my three years working at the Saatchi & Saatchi Advertising Worldwide London office as European Director running business development and the J&J and Sara Lee Europe accounts, my family and I returned to Summit, New Jersey in the winter of 1994. Our welcome was a brutally iced in house. So iced that we had to hire some off-duty firemen to chop out the ice so we could use the front and back doors.

After leaving Charlotte Street, I now worked at the big black iconic (Darth Vader) Saatchi & Saatchi building on NYC’s Hudson Street. My large 18th-floor office had a wide-angle view and very cool furniture inherited from a recently exited executive creative director. Due to a failed New York office culture, talented colleagues were starting to exit the building.

My job was running Saatchi’s North American business development group. The job was nearly impossible as poor management had trashed Saatchi’s New York reputation and the global brand itself was in decline. The Saatchi brothers had finally overreached when they tried to buy a UK bank. These advertising guys’ “want to buy a bank” hubris was not warmly received by the public markets. Saatchi’s had gone from being the “world’s favorite” advertising agency to a company that no longer got the type of new business incoming and responses I had become accustomed to. Like, I wasn’t getting returned calls from prospective clients. This was a new experience. However, I was getting weekly calls from the trade press asking me for comments about people fleeing the New York office. Not the kind of trade media calls a business development director wants to receive.

I Discovered The Internet

While all of this office and career shit was going down, I had discovered the Internet and its insane growth curve. Yes, I discovered the Internet. Well, this happened because I returned to the USA from the Luddite UK and got the wake-up call.

I immediately fell in love with digital platforms like CD-ROMs, Netscape Navigator (the first commercial graphical browser launched in October 1994), and, of course, America Online and CompuServe. I was also seeing the exponential growth of Internet usage – as shown in the chart. How could this not be a gold rush? This was around the time that Jeff Bezos became enamored with the dramatic hockey puck growth of Internet uptake and you see where that got him. Side note, I had had my first early taste of digital when I briefly ran the Western Union Easylink email account a long time before I moved to the UK. Easylink was the first commercial email service – or as we called it, Instant Mail. Um, yes, a good idea but a bit early. Understatement.

In 1995, one did not have to be a genius to see that the digital universe would become a serious advertising platform. I tried to get Saatchi management interested but they were so consumed by the Saatchi death spiral that, like small children, I could not get them to focus on the new opportunity that was right in front of them. We could have been a contenda.

A Life Switch – “Get The Fuck Out Of Advertising”

Two things soon happened that would change my life.

First, thanks to my prescient friend Mike Donahue, who was the digital lead at the American Association of Advertising Agencies, I found out about Redgate Communications. The leading, and one of the few, digital ad agencies. [Read more…] about How I Discovered The Internet After Saatchi

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