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May 26, 2015
in Blog, Interesting Things, Events, Business Marketing Association
by George Rafeedie

Top 10 Takeaways from BMA15 Chapter Leader Day

[caption id="attachment_3162" align="aligncenter" width="500"] #BMA15 kicked off today with the Chapter Leader pre-session[/caption] No long blog posts here this week! The 2015 edition of the National Business Marketing Association National Conference, BMA15 / Be More, kicked off today with a pre-session of Chapter Leaders. Chapter Leaders are those who serve in leadership positions at the 20+ local chapters that make up the BMA.   As promised, no long blog posts from Tell Your Story this week. So here are my take-aways from today. Watch for our other lists from my colleagues at the end of each day.   10. Chapter Leaders are passionate. We have all built great communities. That needs to continue – local B2B community building.   9. The merger with the Association of National Advertisers (ANA) could potentially be a good thing in terms of promoting the profession of B2B Marketing, but the beauty of BMA is that we are not too corporate. ANA is...

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October 28, 2014
in Blog, Brand Communications, Interesting Things, Events
by George Rafeedie

“The story is everything.”

Without a doubt, one of the high points of Content Marketing World 2014 was Kevin Spacey's closing keynote. Storytelling was at the heart of his address, and he challenged all content marketers to tell better stories. During his presentation, he talked about the three important elements of storytelling: conflict, authenticity and audience. Watch this video of keynote highlights for more words of wisdom from Kevin Spacey:     https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NJnP2wsgnoA&feature=youtu.be...

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September 12, 2014
in Blog, Events
by George Rafeedie

Let’s Just Call It Marketing: Content Marketing World ’14 Recap

Watch Our Video Recap of Content Marketing World 2014 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gro1xK66wIE Read Our Recap of Content Marketing World 2014: For various reasons, some people hate the phrase “content marketing.” To me, after attending the 4th annual Content Marketing World, it is clear that content marketing is just marketing.  And always has been.  So let’s drop the word content and call it Marketing World.  What do you think? Anyway, the name aside and with the spotlight shining on what we love to do as communicators, there is a golden opportunity to get back to concentrating on the fun and impactful side of marketing – developing and telling great stories.  The themes that resonated with me the most were around developing stories that are emotional, inspirational and aspirational.  We heard about developing an editorial mentality, and to think like TV producers and film directors.  We were challenged to think about the elements of a great story. And although one...

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May 29, 2014
in Blog, Events, Business Marketing Association, Career Thoughts
by George Rafeedie

Tripling Down at #BMA14

Dispatches from BMA14: Series of Short Reports from the Tell Your Story Team at #BMA14 in Chicago    [caption id="attachment_1998" align="alignright" width="168"] Gary Vaynerchuk[/caption] Gary Vaynerchuk is a crazy F@&K.  But he speaks the truth. If you’ve seen him speak, you know what I mean.   I love one of his messages about tripling down on your strengths. Don’t waste time doing things you are not good at or not passionate about. If you concentrate on your strengths and passions, you will be fulfilled and probably be successful.   I guess I’ve tripled down on a few things, but listening to Gary made me think that I could do a whole lot more and will be.  In between all of his insults and F-Bombs, Gary’s message really hit home with me. Thanks. I will be tripling down more often now, starting tonight at our #bma14 happy hour.    ...

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May 28, 2014
in Blog, Events, Business Marketing Association
by George Rafeedie

You Should Be Proud of Your BMA Chapter Leaders

Dispatches from BMA14: Series of Short Reports from the Tell Your Story Team at #BMA14 in Chicago     On the eve of #BMA14, we had the opportunity to attend BMA Chapter Leader Day in Chicago as a pre-conference event. There must have been nearly 75 chapter leaders in attendance from cities across North America. Some were there to figure out how to start a BMA chapter in their city. Others were there to share their knowledge on what has worked and what hasn’t. Everyone was there to learn to make their chapter better and more valuable for their members.   Bottom line is that we should all be proud of our chapter leaders. Long time national board members Elton Mayfield (Kansas City) and Greg Olson (Colorado) stressed time and time again throughout the day (and at previous chapter leader days) that the chapter is the heart beat of BMA. Without strong chapters, the national...

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March 25, 2014
in Interesting Things, Career Thoughts, Tell Your Story News
by George Rafeedie

Visiting Professional for the Week

    [caption id="attachment_1843" align="aligncenter" width="225"] Jerry Sloan & George Rafeedie[/caption]   This week I am the Jerry Sloan Visiting Professional of Public Relations at the E.W. Scripps School of Journalism at Ohio University. What an honor – and incredibly surreal. He was my advisor and professor when I attended OU in the early 1990s. I've loved keeping in touch with him since and am proud to serve in a teaching capacity this week in his name. Not only is Jerry Sloan a mentor to me professionally, but personally, since the day I met him, he has been a role model. He cares about his students, alum, his former colleagues and especially his family in a way that has been inspiring to me.   Also inspiring, even to this day, are memories of lectures that made vivid imprints on our brains that helped us visualize what we could achieve in this great world of public relations and marketing...

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January 31, 2014
in Blog, Brand Communications, Social PR News
by George Rafeedie

Integrate Your Content Marketing with SEO / SEM

This great article states that "nearly half (45%) of all companies say content is ‘highly integrated’ with their SEO efforts, compared to just 24% for paid search marketing and 16% for mobile marketing. Organizations are more likely to integrate content marketing with their SEO strategy than they are with any other digital marketing discipline."   The phrase integrated marketing is one of those overused terms, as is content marketing. However, this study shows that more and more, integration of owned media and paid media is crucial. At Tell Your Story, we integrate earned PR media, too.   We are not sure why the SEM integration percentage isn't the same as SEO. Perhaps budget, but we have found that content, SEO, SEM and earned PR go hand-in-hand when thinking about and executing marketing plans to tell your clients' great stories.   Read the source article at Econsultancy...

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January 21, 2014
in Blog, Events, Career Thoughts, Tell Your Story News
by George Rafeedie

Stories Shared With a Mentor

Stories Shared With a Mentor   A Rick Segal tribute video from George Rafeedie. Read blog post here: I visited with old colleagues this past weekend and spoke at a tribute dinner honoring my former boss, mentor and friend, Rick Segal.   Rick is one of the founders of HSR Business to Business, which now goes by the name of gyro. He is leaving the agency business to a higher calling of teaching at Bethlehem College & Seminary.   Rick gave me two life-changing opportunities that helped shape me and guide me toward what I am today -- fulfilled.   After nearly 20 years of knowing someone and 8 years reporting to them, a lot of stories emerge.   There was the story of the stolen sausage.   And of the Irishman and the turkey.   And who can forget the quote from the cleaning crew that helped guide our work ethic philosophy?   Of course, I couldn't leave out Boutros Boutros Ghali or Frank Bettger.   And dancing....

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