Nov. 8, 2007

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Is There A Trend Toward Thanklessness?


While it's America's month of Thanksgiving, my head and heart have centered on Turkeys. All I see are clucking, clacking, gobbling, gabbling, red-necked turkeys. And I'm not talking turkeys of the bird variety. I'm talking the turkeys on U.S. 75, LBJ, the George Bush tollway, in the malls of DFW; in the meeting rooms of many companies. And in the mirror.

It seems the trend toward thanklessness is growing. Why do we complain, castigate, grumble, mumble, then crumble under the weight of circumstance and situation? I find myself striving toward Thankfulness and appreciating what Is, what I have, what will come, what will be.

There are miracles within every moment. Believe. Achieve. Succeed. Be thankful. And appreciate The Dash.

The Dash poem provided courtesy of Elise Power, VistaCare




Finding the Big Buck
 
buck Ssshh. We're reporting live from a camouflaged deer stand, just yards from a well-fed field of grains, corn and such. We've splattered ourselves with deer urine and haven't crawled out for a restroom break for more than four hours, despite drinking three bottles of water, two colas and one Corona. OK, two Coronas.

Church pews have been deserted. Vacation time has been extended, and global warming will soon reach a crescendo as men everywhere gird their shoulders, squint their eyes and squeeze off that perfect shot, all in the name of countless venison burgers and some multi-horned calcium deposits hanging in their living rooms. Yes, friends, deer season is here.

Find out about Finding The Big Buck




Google Checkout: Pay for Your PR Services Online!
2google RGM Communications is the first PR agency in the universe to use Google Checkout as a way to pay for PR services. OK, the hyperbole is hitting the ceiling here, but I wonder, "Are there other PR agencies allowing customers to visit their Web sites, go to a 'Pay Online' tab and select the appropriate monthly fee?"

RGM Communications has added the payment menu for its existing clients. This courtesy move is designed to simplify payment, and to give late-paying clients a way to pay, today. See, we figure if a client can't cut a check on time, surely it can pull a credit card out of its wallet, in just seconds, right? So, is this a good idea or bad idea?

What about moving to the next level to offer menu-based PR services, with this quick-pay option? For example, we offer a menu of PR Services, define each menu item of PR deliverables, and then have them pay to initiate the program? Drive-in PR. Interesting concept.

Google Checkout is a wonderful tool for small businesses, and is competitively priced to typical merchant processors. In fact, for a short time, it's FREE.

Let us know what YOU think.




The CommsCoach: Q&A


roy avatar
QUESTION: The PR agency I'm using writes press releases for our company, and they are always lowercasing the titles of our executives. It drives our executives crazy so I've always capitalized them. Who's right?

ANSWER: It's a common expectation by executives to see their title as Title Case. I mean, it's on their business cards that way, right? Well, when it comes to a press release, your PR agency is doing the right thing by being a Standard Bearer. Most PR professionals are journalists, or wanted to be, so they learned to write according to the rules and regulations of the Associated Press Stylebook. Almost every newspaper or publication writes and edits according to AP Style. Lowercasing a title following the name of an executive is correct AP Style. Also correct? AP Style says a title can be capitalized if it precedes a name, i.e., "RGM Communications President Roy G. Miller."



Great Holiday Shopping Sites

 
Start your Christmas shopping now. Check out these Web sites:

Woot!

Become.com

Overstock.com

Smartbargains.com

PriceGrabber.com

Chocolates

Cigars

Cool stuff



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(c) Copyright 2007 Roy G. Miller


Roy G. Miller
RGM Communications

phone: 903-422-5117
fax: 972-692-7190
web: http://www.rgmcomms.com