Expert guidance for CPAs who want to become marketing savvy, improve profits, and gain satisfaction This updated Second Edition demonstrates how combining the power of trust with the power of persuasion can help CPAs sell their services more effectively. Each chapter develops a key concept of marketing or selling that's easy to follow and shows how to apply the concepts to any CPA practice. Through a step-by-step approach to developing and mastering a stronger marketing and sales presence, this book focuses on how to dramatically enhance the reader's growth potential. It presents real-world examples from top CPA rainmakers and other marketing and management gurus, including Tom Peters. This updated second edition offers interviews covering Sarbanes-Oxley and the new accounting rules. Troy Waugh, CPA (Nashville, TN), is founder, President, and CEO of The Rainmaker Academy, a comprehensive three-year leadership, client service, and practice development training program for CPAs.

The communications world is undergoing a seismic shift. The Web is colliding with the old way of doing things, shaking and rolling the marketing landscape as we know it. As the collision subsides and the market forces settle, PR is rising up to a new level of importance. Why exactly is this happening? For one, fragmentation. A new set of communication mediums ranging from blogs to podcasts to satellite radio are fragmenting the media landscape, making it harder to reach customers than ever before. Second, saturation. Advertising, which once reigned supreme in the marketing mix, is failing to have the impact it once had thanks to intense competition for consumer attention and the rising popularity of technologies like TiVo, which make it easy to block out TV ads. Third, reputation. With an overabundance of products from which to choose, consumers increasingly want to buy from companies they deem socially responsible, and they're using the Internet to learn the details. The new world order has created a new set of challenges, and PR is emerging as the marketing discipline best positioned to respond. Consider this: in a recent study by the USC Annenberg Strategic Public Relations Center, CEOs rated PR as one of the top contributors to organizational success. That's right, PR was right at the top of a list that included other major corporate functions, including human resources, legal, sales, strategic planning, information systems, and security. Just a few years ago, CEOs ranked PR near the bottom of these same corporate functions. PR has come a long way in a short amount of time. Increasingly, companies are backing their commitment to PR with their wallets. PR salaries are on the rise, and companies are adding staff to their ranks. Over the next five years, PR spending is expected to increase 11.8 percent to $4.26 billion, according to a recent Veronis Suhler Stevenson Communications Industry Forecast. But while companies are starting to see the connection between PR and organizational success, most continue to take a tactical approach to this medium, failing to harness the full power it can provide. If used strategically, PR can dramatically improve almost every facet of a business. It can expand customer base, increase revenue, boost reputation, attract first-rate talent, and enhance the perceived value of a company, to name just a few. The power of PR is astounding. Yet few companies leverage its fullest potential. In the new marketing landscape, companies that fail to treat PR strategically are putting themselves at risk. Unlike most other books on the market that focus on developing press releases and other PR tactics, Strategic Public Relations connects the dots to show you how you can more fully leverage the power of PR to achieve your most important business objectives. The initial pages of the book explain why a strategic approach to PR is critical to your success. Specifically, you'll learn what PR can do and what it can't, and why harnessing your PR program to your broader business strategy is your golden key to success. The book then provides ten guiding principles designed to help you take your PR program to the next level. Each of these principles is designed to be straightforward and simple so they can easily be applied to achieve better results. The lessons offered in this book are based on a tried-and-true approach to PR the authors have developed and perfected over the course of their careers. Over the last two decades, Jennifer Gehrt and Colleen Moffitt have worked on the inside of worldwide PR agencies such as Waggener Edstrom and within the walls of influential corporations such as Microsoft, RealNetworks, AT&T Wireless, and Tegic Communications/AOL. They have worked in the trenches with small and medium-size businesses and major corporations in a variety of industries, helping them to develop thoughtful PR programs that accr

"Did you know that every time you pick up the controller to your PlayStation or Xbox, you are entering a game world steeped in mathematics? Power-Up reveals the hidden mathematics in many of today's most popular video games and explains why mathematical learning doesn't just happen in the classroom or from books--you're doing it without even realizing it when you play games on your cell phone. In this lively and entertaining book, Matthew Lane discusses how gamers are engaging with the traveling salesman problem when they play Assassin's Creed, why it is mathematically impossible for Mario to jump through the Mushroom Kingdom in Super Mario Bros., and how The Sims teaches us the mathematical costs of maintaining relationships. He looks at mathematical pursuit problems in classic games like Missile Command and Ms. Pac-Man, and how each time you play Tetris, you're grappling with one of the most famous unsolved problems in all of mathematics and computer science. Along the way, Lane discusses why Family Feud and Pictionary make for ho-hum video games, how realism in video games (or the lack of it) influences learning, what video games can teach us about the mathematics of voting, the mathematics of designing video games, and much more. Power-Up shows how the world of video games is an unexpectedly rich medium for learning about the beautiful mathematical ideas that touch all aspects of our lives--including our virtual ones."--Dust jacket.

The digital era’s new consumer demands a new approach to PR Inbound PR is the handbook that can transform your agency’s business. Today’s customer is fundamentally different, and traditional PR strategies are falling by the wayside. Nobody wants to feel “marketed to;” we want to make our own choices based on our own research and experiences online. When problems arise, we demand answers on social media, directly engaging the company in front of a global audience. We are the most empowered, sophisticated customer base in the history of PR, and PR professionals must draw upon an enormous breadth of skills and techniques to serve their clients’ interests. Unfortunately, those efforts are becoming increasingly ephemeral and difficult to track using traditional metrics. This book merges content and measurement to give today’s PR agencies a new way to build brands, evaluate performance and track ROI. The ability to reach the new consumer, build the relationship, and quantify the ROI of PR services allows you to develop an inbound business and the internal capabilities to meet and exceed the needs of the most demanding client. In this digital age of constant contact and worldwide platforms, it’s the only way to sustainably grow your business and expand your reach while bolstering your effectiveness on any platform. This book shows you what you need to know, and gives you a clear framework for putting numbers to reputation. Build brand awareness without “marketing to” the audience Generate more, higher-quality customer or media leads Close the deal and nurture the customer or media relationship Track the ROI of each stage in the process Content is the name of the game now, and PR agencies must be able to prove their worth or risk being swept under with obsolete methods. Inbound PR provides critical guidance for PR growth in the digital era, complete with a practical framework for stimulating that growth.

Scott analyses how the internet has revolutionised communications and promotions. Told with many compelling case studies and real-world examples, this is a practical guide to the new reality of PR and marketing.

How Propaganda Became Public Relations pulls back the curtain on propaganda: how it was born, how it works, and how it has masked the bulk of its operations by rebranding itself as public relations. Cory Wimberly uses archival materials and wide variety of sources — Foucault’s work on governmentality, political economy, liberalism, mass psychology, and history — to mount a genealogical challenge to two commonplaces about propaganda. First, modern propaganda did not originate in the state and was never primarily located in the state; instead, it began and flourished as a for-profit service for businesses. Further, propaganda is not focused on public beliefs and does not operate mainly through lies and deceit; propaganda is an apparatus of government that aims to create the publics that will freely undertake the conduct its clients’ desire. Businesses have used propaganda since the early twentieth century to construct the laboring, consuming, and voting publics that they needed to secure and grow their operations. Over that time, corporations have become the most numerous and well-funded apparatuses of government in the West, operating privately and without democratic accountability. Wimberly explains why liberal strategies of resistance have failed and a new focus on creating mass subjectivity through democratic means is essential to countering propaganda. This book offers a sophisticated analysis that will be of interest to scholars and advanced students working in social and political philosophy, Continental philosophy, political communication, the history of capitalism, and the history of public relations.

The PR Knowledge Book is for everyone, irrespective of where you are in the world—whether a student starting out in this industry, self-employed, a home business, small business, start-up, charity, or any other type of organization wanting to embark on your PR journey or someone just plain curious about what it entails. This book covers everything within the world of PR from how to create a brand, how to use social media, how to be newsworthy, to how to contact the media, how to have a global mind-set, the power of networking, and more. It is written in an easy style, packed with powerful tips, proven tools, and real-life case studies from around the world. In 12 chapters you will discover how to get your brand out there so you can attract clients and new business.

The PR Paradox by Matias Rodsevich is a must-read for startups and scale-ups that are looking to establish and elevate their presence in the saturated tech market. Essentially "a public relations handbook", it is one of the best PR books and a complete guide on the creative foundation of their own PR strategy in a cost-effective and timely manner, to achieve growth-driven integrated solutions. The book offers exclusive insights into the modern PR practice, including tangible advice from renowned PR professionals, and provides real-time solutions on how to achieve significant PR results that will boost business growth in a cost and time effective manner. Unlike other PR books, The PR Paradox acts as a hands-on strategic guide for small businesses to achieve their goal implementing a practical and cost-effective PR strategy. Written for those who are interested in or just starting out in PR, the lessons and examples collected are both entertaining and informative. Readers can expect to take away from The PR Paradox key learnings that will give the initiate a leg up in the frantically paced world of PR.

A multi-author exploration of contemporary challenges in leadership, team building, and conflict, through the lens of the superhero genre. In the past decade, heroes and villains spawned from the pages of comic books have upended popular culture and revolutionized the entertainment industry. The narratives weave together a multitude of complementary and sometimes competing storylines, spun across decades, generations, and mediums, forming a complex tapestry that simultaneously captures the imagination and captivates the mind. These stories reveal our own vulnerabilities while casting an ideal to which we aspire. They pull at our deepest emotions and push us to the cusp of reality, and bring us back to Earth with a renewed hope of a better tomorrow. They are an endless source of powerful metaphors to help us learn and develop, then be the best versions of ourselves possible. Through the lens of the superhero genre, each chapter explores contemporary challenges in leadership, team building, and conflict, while emphasizing the role of humanity and human nature in our own world. Contributors: Ian Boley, Jo Brick, Mitch Brian, Max Brooks, Mike Burke, Kelsey Cipolla, Amelia Cohen-Levy, Mick Cook, Jeff Drake, Clara Engle, Candice Frost, Ronald Granieri, PhD, Heather S, Gregg, PhD, James Groves, Geoff Harkness, PhD, Theresa Hitchens, Kayla Hodges, Cory Hollon, PhD, Joshua Huminski, Erica Iverson, Alyssa Jones, Mathew Klickstein, Jonathan Klug, Matt Lancaster, Steve Leonard, Karolyn McEwen, Eric Muirhead, Jon Niccum, Kera Rolsen, Mick Ryan, Julie Still, Patrick Sullivan, Aaron Rahsaan Thomas, Dan Ward, Janeen Webb, PhD.

Public relations maverick Marian Salzman goes behind the scenes of creative powerhouse Havas PR, revealing the newest, most effective tactics for championing brands, organizations, and causes. Today’s news landscape is more crowded and varied than ever before and is only growing more diverse. From bloggers to influencers to citizen journalist to all that is coming up over the horizon, learning how to effectively build brands has become a 24/7 mission for even the most experienced PR firms, let alone the lone enterprise. So where does one even begin to take on such an endeavor? Look no further! In Agile PR, individuals and businesses seeking to build either their brand or that of a client can learn how to: Use newscrafting to help you or your client be the news Personalize pitches to reporters and bloggers Master the art of storytelling Create branded hashtags that get shared Gain exposure at SXSW, TED, and other key conferences Get bumped to the top of online searches Punctuated by case studies from the United Nations Foundation, Wyclef Jean, Sears, and other campaigns, Agile PR unlocks industry secrets to help anyone broaden their reach and increase their impact.