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The Cascade Effect

The news stories we're working on, the expert knowledge on marketing/PR and what matters to businesses today

Jennifer Fortney Cascade PR

Feb 3, 2020
3 min

The Best PR Goes Beyond the Headline

Starting off a new year, new decade and celebrating 19 years in business seems like a lot of excitement. After launching in January 2001, here we are in the blink of an eye it's 2020 and so many campaigns, projects and more to reflect on. I have seen a lot change in my industry, in media, in storytelling and how we do it using new technologies. To last this long, you must be flexible and constantly adapting to the new way consumers prefer and want to receive messages and enga

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Why Your PR Strategy May be “Crying Wolf”

Jennifer Fortney

Mar 8, 2018
3 min

Why Your PR Strategy May be “Crying Wolf”

(As originally written for and published on NBCChicago.com's Inc. Well) Most companies understand the power of a press release as a tool in their PR campaign toolbox to deliver news and information to media. The problem is most don’t understand how to use a press release effectively, especially today. We hear it all the time, “we’d like you to send out at least one press release per month as part of the strategy.” That’s great and happy to do it, but is there enough news to

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How to Rank High in Search: The Best Secrets for DIY SEO

Fred Brewer/Jennifer Fortney

Feb 28, 2018
4 min

How to Rank High in Search: The Best Secrets for DIY SEO

Every business is concerned with SEO. Any why shouldn’t they be? Where you rank on search engines can determine how well your business succeeds. Large companies can’t help but invest a lot of money into SEO because they can’t afford to let their competitors get an edge. However, there are a lot of small companies that don’t have this luxury and need to maximize their marketing dollar. This blog post will give you the best approach for increasing your search visibility. Many

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Cascade Communications

Feb 26, 2018
3 min

Be an Expert, Drive Media Interest

Public relations has many arms and legs beyond just a press release and pitching a story. There are a variety of strategies that fuel opportunities for ongoing, long-term public relations. The most important is expert positioning. Do you ever wonder how certain people become regular contributors on morning news? Do you see someone in your industry giving tips and advice in the media and think "I can totally do that, in fact, I have new thoughts and ideas to shares." Becoming

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Cascade Communications

Feb 23, 2018
4 min

12 Tips for DIY PR

The DIY craze has been around for years. Thanks to the cable television, the Internet and the whole "information at your finger tips" you can learn to do most anything from changing your oil to renovating your bathroom. Personally, I love it. Taking on a task normally I would pay for feels like so much of a personal accomplishment, however, my cobbler and plumber will always get my business. In recent years, the DIY movement has become even more prevalent due to the economy.

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Cascade Communications

Feb 21, 2018
3 min

What is Your Brand? Why it Can Make, Break Your Business

Starting a business can seem like a daunting task with applications and business plans, but if you don't know or understand what your brand is, you might as well throw all of that in the trash. Consumer perception is 9/10ths of the rule always, not sometimes but always, and how you present yourself to potential clients from the moment you open your doors can determine your success as a business owner. Over the years I've encountered many small businesses, entrepreneurs and ev

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Get Your Press Release Seen By Targeting Your Audience

Cascade Communications

Feb 16, 2018
3 min

Get Your Press Release Seen By Targeting Your Audience

When you're a small business owner you wear every hat from accounts receivable and manager to new business/sales and marketing. It can be a daunting task to look at that laundry list everyday. What you need to do is determine the most efficient route to accomplish it all and grow your business. Determining how to generate public relations for your business can be narrowed down to three things - what is your story, why is it meaningful to people and who is your audience. Knowi

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Integrated Marketing- Why it's Important

Cascade Communications

Feb 6, 2018
3 min

Integrated Marketing- Why it's Important

Integrated Marketing: IM is creating a marketing plan that includes a variety of Marketing Mix elements in combination with one another to create awareness and build brand. Simply put this means not putting your eggs all in one basket, but strive to combine your advertising with, say, direct mail and personal selling; diversifying your advertising, engaging both nontraditional media and traditional media; and create opportunities for PR that can be followed up with an incenti

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Cascade Communications

Feb 2, 2018
2 min

How Does PR Help Your Business?

The practice of public relations seems to be an intangible to many. Why? Because unlike advertising where you pay someone to develop and place an end product (tangible), PR is not such a sure thing. Practitioners, like myself, focus on writing press materials for your business (every business needs a press kit), generating strong story ideas and pitching to media. However, I can't predict if media are going to be 100% interested or even if they'll run the story right now. PR

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Cascade Communications

Jan 30, 2018
2 min

Formula PR is Dead

When I started in PR many, many years ago there was barely an Internet, in fact we didn't even have computers in our office for every employee. We created and implemented multi-million dollar PR campaigns based on an almost 40-year old formula. Sure it's morphed some, but most corporate PR agencies continue using it, and sadly, many who come out of those firms to start their own continue to perpetuate the formulaic approach to PR. With that said, there are many who have more

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Jennifer Fortney

Jan 26, 2018
3 min

Why You Can DIY PR for Your Business

(As originally written for and published on NBCChicago.com's Inc. Well) As an entrepreneur, the most precious commodity you have is time. There never seems to be enough of it for you to fill every role you play every day. It's enough just to be CEO, accounts receivable/payable, secretary and janitor, but throw in public relations efforts and it feels as if one ball must fall in order to keep a new one in the air. Truth is that in the beginning stages you most likely don't

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Cascade Communications

Jan 18, 2018
4 min

When is it time to hire a PR expert?

Here's a question for you: Are you interested in running your business or growing your business? When you first start your business you more than likely don't have much of a marketing budget in place. But, if you're smart you are beginning to sock some away, because you know how important marketing is to building a successful business. Here's the great, thing: It doesn't have to be a lot upfront. There are many ways to market your business or organization on your own to keep

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What Facebook Content, News Feed Transition Means for Marketers

Jennifer Fortney

Jan 16, 2018
1 min

What Facebook Content, News Feed Transition Means for Marketers

“We feel a responsibility to make sure our services aren’t just fun to use, but also good for people’s well-being,” said Zuckerberg in his online post. It's been a bit of a rough year for Facebook, however, Mark Zuckerberg was way ahead of it. Noticing that his platform was becoming a tool for spreading hateful speech, bullying and, ultimately, the end of friendships, he began putting a plan in place to return Facebook to its original magic - authentic, positive relationshi

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Want to Attract Media Attention? Define the Why

Cascade Communications

Jan 12, 2018
3 min

Want to Attract Media Attention? Define the Why

There are a number of ways a business can attract the attention of media. Some good, some bad, some really bad. For those seeking media to help launch a product or company, it is really all about your story. For example, in one of my workshops was the Founder of AutoTray. It's a simple idea - a nonslip tray you can use in the car for those on the road quick meals. As part of my workshop I invite attendees to send me their press release for review, and hers was not unlike

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Top DIY PR Tips for Every Small Business, Startup

Jennifer Fortney

Jan 9, 2018
2 min

Top DIY PR Tips for Every Small Business, Startup

By Anna Dizon on November 9, 2017 | Marketing, Press Releases Public relations has evolved from being just a sales strategy to an art form. Most small businesses may not have the means to hire a PR firm or PR specialist, but that doesn’t mean their public engagement should be lackluster. I was excited to be included in this great article helping small businesses, startups learn how to conduct successful public relations for their growing business. 19. Great Businesses Know Ho

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5 Things To Consider Before Pursuing Public Relations

Cascade Communications

Jan 8, 2018
2 min

5 Things To Consider Before Pursuing Public Relations

One of the first things I do when speaking to a potential new client is uncover what makes them unique; what is the story that consumers will be interested in. The reason? Because this is exactly what journalists are looking for when they consider including a company, product or expert in a story. Here are some things, from a journalist's point of view, that you should consider about your company or product that will help you achieve positive public relations: 1. Is there a c

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Jennifer Fortney

Jan 2, 2018
2 min

Do Startups Really Need PR?

(As originally written for and published on NBCChicago.com's Inc. Well) I am often inspired by other online content and this story is no different. It gives reasons why you shouldn't hire a PR company for your startup. Now I am pretty open about my industry and do agree with a number of the reasons on this list, but, to be honest, it's more about you understanding PR, how and why it works and finding the right long-term partner for your startup. PR is important for startups b

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