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	<title>Pure Performance Communications</title>
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		<title>What I wish I would&#8217;ve known&#8230;</title>
		<link>http://www.pureperformancecomm.com/news/what-i-wish-i-wouldve-known/</link>
		<comments>http://www.pureperformancecomm.com/news/what-i-wish-i-wouldve-known/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 09 May 2013 00:02:40 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Drew Slater</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[News]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.pureperformancecomm.com/?p=831</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[<p>&#160; One question I always asked when I was interviewing for jobs was, “What do you wish you knew back when you started, that you know now?” (Feel free to use that, by the way, if you want.) Now, after a few years of experience, I realize there are a few things I wished I&#160;<a href="http://www.pureperformancecomm.com/news/what-i-wish-i-wouldve-known/" class="read-more">Continue Reading</a></p><p>The post <a href="http://www.pureperformancecomm.com/news/what-i-wish-i-wouldve-known/">What I wish I would&#8217;ve known&#8230;</a> appeared first on <a href="http://www.pureperformancecomm.com">Pure Performance Communications</a>.</p>]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>One question I always asked when I was interviewing for jobs was, “What do you wish you knew back when you started, that you know now?” (Feel free to use that, by the way, if you want.)</p>
<p>Now, after a few years of experience, I realize there are a few things I wished I knew before starting my job and I’ve decided to share them.</p>
<p><strong>It is best to listen twice (maybe three times) and speak once</strong> – This one is huge. This isn’t school. You don’t need to be the first one to answer and you don’t need to try to get a laugh. Sure. There is a time and place for everything, but trying to get a laugh every time can give people the wrong perception of you and you might lose credibility. Think quality over quantity when speaking up. When you’re new, just realize people are still forming their opinion of you, so there is nothing wrong with speaking up, but just make sure you don’t ask a stupid question. And yes…there such things as stupid questions.</p>
<p><b>Don’t expect praise/promotion for doing your job – </b>Don’t assume you doing your job will earn you a promotion or praise – they pay you to do the job.<b> </b>If you are new and learning, ask for feedback every once in a while, but if keep the mentality that no news is good news. If you do want praise and a promotion, let’s be honest we all do, then do more. Stay late. Improve something. Everyone around is working hard, you have to separate yourself by not only doing what is expected of you well, but doing what isn’t expected of you well.</p>
<p><b>Never stop learning </b>– This one seems pretty straight forward. Our industry is always changing and always developing. You not only need to know what’s coming, but you need to try to guess what’s coming next. If your client hears about something that you haven’t heard of, no matter how silly or small scale it is, you will lose some credibility. If you are able to go back to school to get a graduate degree, I would recommend it because it shows work ethic and your desire to grow.</p>
<p><b>Saying “no” is a no-no</b> – Your boss, your colleagues all want to know how much you can handle. If someone asks you if you can help them out or if you can take on another project – say yes. Everyone was in your shoes once in their life and they know how hard is for the first few months. They wouldn’t ask you if they didn’t think you could do it or if they didn’t think you were ready. Show them what you can do and show them they made a smart decision by hiring you.</p>
<p>These are just a few things I wish I knew coming out of school and into my career. You should feel proud about all of the hard work you put in to get where you are, but the hard work doesn’t stop there. As Peter Campbell once said, “Stable is that step backwards between successful and failure.”</p>
<p>The post <a href="http://www.pureperformancecomm.com/news/what-i-wish-i-wouldve-known/">What I wish I would&#8217;ve known&#8230;</a> appeared first on <a href="http://www.pureperformancecomm.com">Pure Performance Communications</a>.</p>]]></content:encoded>
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		<title>Tips for acing your interview.</title>
		<link>http://www.pureperformancecomm.com/news/tips-for-acing-your-interview/</link>
		<comments>http://www.pureperformancecomm.com/news/tips-for-acing-your-interview/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 15 Apr 2013 23:07:16 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Drew Slater</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[News]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.pureperformancecomm.com/?p=823</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[<p>&#160; Mazel Tov. You’ve done it. You landed an interview at the company you’ve been stalking for months! As exciting as getting an interview is, you need to realize that there is still a lot of work to do before you land your dream job. There are other candidates who are just as excited and&#160;<a href="http://www.pureperformancecomm.com/news/tips-for-acing-your-interview/" class="read-more">Continue Reading</a></p><p>The post <a href="http://www.pureperformancecomm.com/news/tips-for-acing-your-interview/">Tips for acing your interview.</a> appeared first on <a href="http://www.pureperformancecomm.com">Pure Performance Communications</a>.</p>]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>Mazel Tov. You’ve done it. You landed an interview at the company you’ve been stalking for months!</p>
<p>As exciting as getting an interview is, you need to realize that there is still a lot of work to do before you land your dream job. There are other candidates who are just as excited and eager to get started as you are. So what can you do to differentiate yourself? Plenty.</p>
<p><b>Stay Calm – </b>Easier said than done, right?<b> </b>Think of it like this…you wouldn’t have gotten the interview if they didn’t think you were qualified. Interviewers are expecting some nerves, but try to make it as conversational as possible. The truth is, they brought you in to get a sense of your personality and make sure you aren’t a weirdo. Culture and environment are very important to companies and sometimes are <b>the </b>most important part.</p>
<p><b>Do your research – </b>What has the company been up too lately? Have they been in the news? Has the agency won any recent awards or gained any new accounts? What is it about the company that really excites you? It’s good to write down a few reasons why the company attracts you and know them. It’s great if you can show the person interviewing that you are really trying to sink your teeth into the company.</p>
<p><b>Dress to Impress – </b>This goes without saying. Right? You only get one first impression. One. People say it isn’t a big deal, but don’t listen to them. We are programmed to judge people and make assumptions. If you show up looking sloppy or a little to provocative, that will be your impression going up against someone in a suit and looking professional. Studies show that shoes are major factor. Guys, remember to shine your shoes and ladies, no open toes – not for your interview.</p>
<p><b> Ask questions – </b>This isn’t a one way interview. Sure, you are technically the candidate, but remember, you’re awesome…you don’t have to take every single job offer. There will be another out there.           You need to make sure this place is for you. Are there growth opportunities? What’s the culture like? A good question to ask is, “What piece of information do you wish you knew when you started that you know now?” Try to ask questions that go along with the conversation. Ask what you can expect a typical day to be like. I use to write a few questions down before the interview, so I knew I had some incase I needed them.</p>
<p><b>Follow Up – </b>So you think you nailed the interview. Now what do you do? In school I was always told to send two follow up messages. You send an email to the person that night thanking him or her for taking time out of their day. The next day you drop a thank you card in the mail. Yeah, you read that. Snail mail. Whether people will admit it or not, we love receiving physical mail. With my job, I sent everyone I met with, a nice Papyrus card. A few months after being hired, we were interviewing someone for an open position and I brought up my cards. I asked if they ever got them and one of my colleagues told me to hold on and began rummaging through her draw. She then pulled out my Papyrus card and said, “When we got these, we were like ‘Who the hell sends Papyrus thank you cards?’” I looked at her and said, “the guy who got the job,” with a smile on my face.</p>
<p>These are some of the tips I found most useful when preparing for interviews and I hope you find them useful as well. Just be relaxed, do your research, dress well, ask questions and send a follow up. Oh yeah…one more thing…don’t forget to breathe.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>The post <a href="http://www.pureperformancecomm.com/news/tips-for-acing-your-interview/">Tips for acing your interview.</a> appeared first on <a href="http://www.pureperformancecomm.com">Pure Performance Communications</a>.</p>]]></content:encoded>
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		<title>College is over. What&#8217;s next?</title>
		<link>http://www.pureperformancecomm.com/news/college-is-over-whats-next/</link>
		<comments>http://www.pureperformancecomm.com/news/college-is-over-whats-next/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 01 Apr 2013 00:25:17 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Drew Slater</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[News]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.pureperformancecomm.com/?p=818</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[<p>&#160; It might be just the end of March for you and me, but to thousands of graduating college seniors, it is a very nervous time. It’s time for college seniors to assess their options and make a decision about where they want to start their careers. Not-for-profit? Agency? Corporate? Freelance? Which one is the&#160;<a href="http://www.pureperformancecomm.com/news/college-is-over-whats-next/" class="read-more">Continue Reading</a></p><p>The post <a href="http://www.pureperformancecomm.com/news/college-is-over-whats-next/">College is over. What&#8217;s next?</a> appeared first on <a href="http://www.pureperformancecomm.com">Pure Performance Communications</a>.</p>]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>It might be just the end of March for you and me, but to thousands of graduating college seniors, it is a very nervous time. It’s time for college seniors to assess their options and make a decision about where they want to start their careers.</p>
<p>Not-for-profit? Agency? Corporate? Freelance?</p>
<p>Which one is the best option? Unfortunately, there is no simple answer. There are benefits of and cons of each and something that is good for one person may not be good for someone else. Below is an overview of the different options.</p>
<p>Not-for-profit: In a not-for-profit role, you need to be ready to wear multiple hats because your team and resources will be small. As much as this is a drawback, it can also be viewed as an advantage because you have to figure out how to do everything. Media relations. Public relations. Social media. Marketing strategy. Promotions. You’ll learn how to do it all. So, with extremely tight budgets, little resources and even smaller pay, why would anyone work not-for-profit? Two main reasons, 1) you get a ton of experience because you’ll wear many hats and usually get into a situation or two that is above your head, but there is no one else to do it and 2) you are working for a cause. Working for a cause is normally the biggest reason why people enjoy working not-for-profit.</p>
<p>Agency: Enter Sterling Cooper Draper Price. Who wouldn’t want to work in an agency after watching <i>Mad Men</i>? Coming out of school, I definitely wanted the hot shot agency job. It’s kind of like the sexy job opportunity in our field. The fun, creative, edgy feel you get when you think about the big ones out there, Edelman, Ogily, 360i etc. The truth is, they can be fun, creative and edgy, but normally not for the entry-level kid coming out of college. You’ll need to do the grunt work, which you will learn a TON, but I just don’t want you thinking you are walking and on day one you are Don Draper. In most agencies, if you work hard, you can move up fast. However, on the flip side, you move up fast sometimes because there is heavy turnover at agencies, with people jumping from agency to agency to get more money and a higher title. Also, keep in mind that if you are on a team for a specific client and that client leaves, you might be out a job.</p>
<p>Corporate: Coming out of college this was probably the least attractive option in my head, but I actually ended up in a growing Fortune 1000 company and could not be happier. I think the idea of corporate America is what put such a bad taste in my mouth about corporate coming out of college, but there are advantages. One of them is job security. If you work with a well-established company, they are investing a lot into you and expect you to be in it for the long haul. There are normally really nice benefits including tuition reimbursement. You also get really immersed into a culture and brand, which is nice because you feel like you are part of the brand. The flip side is that with a big company comes bureaucracy and you might feel like just another cog in the machine. I ended up being really lucky in the fact that my company’s marketing department is run the same way as an ad agency. Meaning of the story, definitely check out corporate situations because you just never know!</p>
<p>Freelance: This is the tricky one because it is solely up to your drive and who you know. You can do this as much or as little as you want. You are your own boss. Work the hours you want and do the projects you want too. On the flip side, simply put, you might got any work or simply be cut unexpectedly. I wouldn’t recommend doing this as your main gig out of college. Do it on the side or while you are looking for the full-time job, but to come out of school thinking you are only going to freelance is a tough call.</p>
<p>I hope the brief insights above help you make your decision after college or even mid-career a little easier. Please let me know post any questions or comments you have below, we’d love to hear and answer them.</p>
<p>The post <a href="http://www.pureperformancecomm.com/news/college-is-over-whats-next/">College is over. What&#8217;s next?</a> appeared first on <a href="http://www.pureperformancecomm.com">Pure Performance Communications</a>.</p>]]></content:encoded>
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		<title>Want to move up the ladder?</title>
		<link>http://www.pureperformancecomm.com/news/want-to-move-up-the-ladder/</link>
		<comments>http://www.pureperformancecomm.com/news/want-to-move-up-the-ladder/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 06 Mar 2013 23:58:39 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Drew Slater</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[News]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.pureperformancecomm.com/?p=811</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[<p>&#160; Ever think about what’s next? Not for the industry, but for you? Have you thought about where you want to be in a year? In five? Ten? Even if you have asked yourself that question, have you thought about how you are going to get there? If not, you need too. Remember how in&#160;<a href="http://www.pureperformancecomm.com/news/want-to-move-up-the-ladder/" class="read-more">Continue Reading</a></p><p>The post <a href="http://www.pureperformancecomm.com/news/want-to-move-up-the-ladder/">Want to move up the ladder?</a> appeared first on <a href="http://www.pureperformancecomm.com">Pure Performance Communications</a>.</p>]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>Ever think about what’s next? Not for the industry, but for you?</p>
<p>Have you thought about where you want to be in a year? In five? Ten? Even if you have asked yourself that question, have you thought about how you are going to get there? If not, you need too.</p>
<p>Remember how in school you would be able to look around, see who is working hard and who isn’t? This normally correlated with who moved on to be successful and who stayed where he or she was, right? Nowadays, you look around work and see everyone working hard wonder to myself, “how the heck am I going to separate myself?”</p>
<p>Sure, you want to be promoted once or twice over the next few years and you probably imagine yourself making a lot more money in the future, but here’s the thing you need to realize…so does the guy and girl next to you. So do the guy and girl in the company next door.</p>
<p>Once you start your career there should be no one more interested in your career development than yourself. You need to take the initiative, take your career by the horns and steer it in the direction you want it to go. You will have mentors along the way, but even they can only give advice and opinion; whether you do what they recommend is entirely up to you.</p>
<p>Good companies expect a lot out of their employees; therefore, you need to work extra hard to get noticed and move up. On top of your maxed out workload, here are a four things to help you get ahead.</p>
<p>- <b>Education</b> – Going back to school speaks volumes about a person’s drive. However, don’t think because you get a master’s degree you have a straight shot of being promoted. It’s not so much the degree in your boss’s eye, but the motivation and worth ethic to get it.</p>
<p>- <b>Improve Your Job</b> – Sometimes it’s not about you; it’s about your company. This may not come as a surprise to you, but your company enjoys saving/earning money. Take a hard look at not only how your company is operating, but also what our company is offering. Find what process you can make more efficient or what product you can create. You will not only be doing your job, but help benefit the company.</p>
<p>- <b>Say Yes </b>– When someone on your team or your boss needs help – offer to help. Even if you don’t think you can. As cheesy as it sounds, “don’t limit your challenges, challenge your limits.” You’ll be amazed at what you can do. I promise.</p>
<p>- <b>Smile</b> – Never let your boss see you upset. Even if you get slammed with work and you can’t see the light at the end of the tunnel. Keep smiling and keep moving because even if your boss doesn’t say it, he or she has been there too. He or she knows that feeling and if they see you smiling and not getting discouraged, he or she will take notice.</p>
<p>I can’t assure you’ll get a promotion if you do the above, but I can tell you they will give you an edge. They will help you make it to the next level. You can’t simply assume you deserve a promotion because you’ve been somewhere a specific number of years. You have to earn it.</p>
<p>Have you moved up and gotten a promotion? What did you do that you think made a difference?</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
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		<title>Who? Where? Or How Much?</title>
		<link>http://www.pureperformancecomm.com/news/who-where-how-much/</link>
		<comments>http://www.pureperformancecomm.com/news/who-where-how-much/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 06 Feb 2013 00:20:31 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Drew Slater</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[News]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.pureperformancecomm.com/?p=801</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[<p>&#160; The question below doesn’t have a right or wrong answer, yet sometime in your career you will need to not only ask yourself it, but answer it. What’s most important to you? Where you work? How much you make? Or, who you work with? Everyone strives to work for a company they love, with&#160;<a href="http://www.pureperformancecomm.com/news/who-where-how-much/" class="read-more">Continue Reading</a></p><p>The post <a href="http://www.pureperformancecomm.com/news/who-where-how-much/">Who? Where? Or How Much?</a> appeared first on <a href="http://www.pureperformancecomm.com">Pure Performance Communications</a>.</p>]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>The question below doesn’t have a right or wrong answer, yet sometime in your career you will need to not only ask yourself it, but answer it.</p>
<p>What’s most important to you? Where you work? How much you make? Or, who you work with?</p>
<p>Everyone strives to work for a company they love, with people they love even more and for a salary they are in love with, but in reality, most people fall short in one if not two aspects.</p>
<p>Do you think it matters? Does one outweigh the others?</p>
<p>In my opinion, the people who you work with outweigh where you work or how much you make any day.</p>
<p>I worked at a restaurant in high school and held numerous retail jobs during college before starting my career. Looking back at all of them, the jobs I enjoyed the most were the ones with amazing people – hands down. The people are who will determine if you enjoy or if you despise going to work day in and day out. These are the people you are going to be with and depend on for 40+ hours a week; you should like them. I find if you like the people you work with and can bounce ideas off of you will do better work than if you were by yourself.</p>
<p>Companies which are known for their work environment such as Zappos, Google, Southwest and Costco are some of the biggest and successful companies today. All of the companies create a work environment, which their employees love to go to work in and therefore thrive. They each have their own way of finding the right people to hire because they know the value of all their workers getting along enjoying the people they work with. Zappos has everyone, no matter title or position, go through the same 4 week training period. At the end of the 2<sup>nd</sup> week they offer the trainees until the end of training to take $2,000 to quit if they want too. They do this to make sure the right people stay within the company. How many people take Zappos up on that offer? Less than 1%.</p>
<p>If you go to work every day and remind yourself you are there only because of how nice your paycheck looks every two weeks, you’ll eventually realize there’s more to a job than money. Likewise, if you work for a company that is a big name, yet hate the people and the pay, you’ll realize not everything is in a name.</p>
<p>What makes a company a great place are the people who create the identity and the culture of the company. Whether you are a manager or not, if you make and sustain a work environment where people get a long and are friends, you create a thriving working environment, which people will want to go to work in.</p>
<p>In theory, if you work for a place where you love the people, you’ll do great work and not only will the pay come, but your company will be known as a top place to work.</p>
<p>If you are a business owner or hiring manager, make sure you create a conducive work environment where people get along and you will lay a strong foundation for your company years to come.</p>
<p>**We would love to know your thoughts, please leave a response below to keep the conversation going**</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
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		<title>Lance Armstrong: The Next Chapter</title>
		<link>http://www.pureperformancecomm.com/news/lance-armstrong-the-next-chapter/</link>
		<comments>http://www.pureperformancecomm.com/news/lance-armstrong-the-next-chapter/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 14 Jan 2013 01:19:57 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Drew Slater</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[News]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[doping]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Lance]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Lance Armstrong]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Livestrong]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Oprah]]></category>

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		<description><![CDATA[<p>&#160; Lance Armstrong. No matter if you are love cycling or not, you know the name. You know the foundation. You know the controversy. Is Lance Armstrong a fraud? Did he win seven Tour de France races only because he was cheating the whole time? Armstrong and his PR team have continually denied the allegations&#160;<a href="http://www.pureperformancecomm.com/news/lance-armstrong-the-next-chapter/" class="read-more">Continue Reading</a></p><p>The post <a href="http://www.pureperformancecomm.com/news/lance-armstrong-the-next-chapter/">Lance Armstrong: The Next Chapter</a> appeared first on <a href="http://www.pureperformancecomm.com">Pure Performance Communications</a>.</p>]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>Lance Armstrong. No matter if you are love cycling or not, you know the name.</p>
<p>You know the foundation.</p>
<p>You know the controversy.</p>
<p>Is Lance Armstrong a fraud? Did he win seven Tour de France races only because he was cheating the whole time? Armstrong and his PR team have continually denied the allegations for years now even when it has seemed pointless. He has stuck to his guns when it seemed it would’ve been easier to give up and admit to it. However, that could all change on Thursday, January 17<sup>th</sup>.</p>
<p>On Thursday, Armstrong will sit down with Oprah for a one-on-one interview about all of the doping allegations against him. Everyone is speculating he will finally admit to doping during his career and put the acquisitions to rest. What do you think? Do you think Armstrong will confess to Oprah? Would you advise him too if you were his PR team?</p>
<p>Lance Armstrong has been an icon for the last several years. If cycling was more popular in the United States people would realize how big winning seven Tour de France races really is. It puts him up there with legends like Michael Jordan and Muhammad Ali. Could you imagine either one of those two coming out and saying their whole career was a sham? It takes guts, but I think no matter what, whether Armstrong did it or not, he needs to confess. Yeah, you read that. Even if he didn’t do it, he needs to confess he did. The only way he should stick to his story is IF he has a lot of hard evidence to prove his claim.</p>
<p>At this point, he has absolutely nothing to lose. He’s lost his trophies. He’s lost Nike. He’s lost Livestrong.  He’s been banned for life from the sport he’s loved his whole life. Armstrong is as low as he can possibly go. Why wouldn’t you take the opportunity to change the way things are going and slowly rebuild? The biggest hurdle Armstrong faces is the fact of how long he has denied his use of doping. Oprah will certainly ask him why he took so long and he better have a good answer. Millions of people, through cycling and his foundation looked up to him as an inspiration and role model and a lot of those people feel deceived. However, contrary to the common belief, people are forgiving. As a society, we realize celebrities are humans, therefore make mistakes, but society asks for one thing – honesty.</p>
<p>This goes deeper than just cycling. Armstrong has not only raised hundreds of millions of dollars for cancer, but he has raised the hope of millions who have been affected by cancer. He showed them that cancer doesn’t have to be the end and you can not only battle the disease, but conquer it.</p>
<p>It’s not going to be an easy climb, but the only way Armstrong will be able to start his ascent back to the top is by coming clean. I hope he and his team take this Oprah interview as a great opportunity to get on the right track.</p>
<p>What would you do if you were Lance Armstrong?</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>The post <a href="http://www.pureperformancecomm.com/news/lance-armstrong-the-next-chapter/">Lance Armstrong: The Next Chapter</a> appeared first on <a href="http://www.pureperformancecomm.com">Pure Performance Communications</a>.</p>]]></content:encoded>
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		<title>Instagram did what?</title>
		<link>http://www.pureperformancecomm.com/social-media/instagram-did-what/</link>
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		<pubDate>Thu, 27 Dec 2012 01:12:36 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Drew Slater</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Social Media]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Deirdre Breakenridge]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Drew Slater]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Instagram]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[instagram policy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[instagram policy change]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Marketing]]></category>

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		<description><![CDATA[<p>&#160; Last week, Instagram released its new privacy policy, which had people tweeting and posting in frenzy because they were outraged that Instagram changed their policy to share the rights of customer pictures and comments with businesses, which partner with Instagram. What does this mean exactly? When Facebook bought Instagram for a cool billion dollars&#160;<a href="http://www.pureperformancecomm.com/social-media/instagram-did-what/" class="read-more">Continue Reading</a></p><p>The post <a href="http://www.pureperformancecomm.com/social-media/instagram-did-what/">Instagram did what?</a> appeared first on <a href="http://www.pureperformancecomm.com">Pure Performance Communications</a>.</p>]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>Last week, Instagram released its new privacy policy, which had people tweeting and posting in frenzy because they were outraged that Instagram changed their policy to share the rights of customer pictures and comments with businesses, which partner with Instagram.</p>
<p>What does this mean exactly?</p>
<p>When Facebook bought Instagram for a cool billion dollars we a wondered when and how the two would integrate and that day is getting closer and closer. Now we know, come January 16<sup>th</sup>, (when the new privacy policy takes effect) Instagram and Facebook will be sharing information of their users, including photos, device information and cookies to name a few.</p>
<p>Why would they do this? To make Facebook money…Duh. Facebook is looking for more and more ways to generate money to convince shareholders the company is profitable. This will allow them to learn more about their users, which in return will give advertisers better insight on what users want.</p>
<p>People are firing back at Instagram because people don’t want Instagram to be able to sell someone’s photo to a business and not give the photographer any royalties. Umm…do people not realize this gets done every day? When was the last time you did a Google Image search and then copied and pasted an image you liked into a project, email or blog post? Did you give credit to the photographer or artist? Doubtful.</p>
<p>The difference is that Instagram is telling you they MIGHT take your photos. You know…the photographs you took for fun and weren’t paid to take compared to the professional photographs thousands of people steal without the photographer every knowing. Personally, I would be flattered if someone wanted to use my picture for their business or for their product; however, people these days are always thinking of how they can make money and don’t appreciate the “coolness” of situations.</p>
<p>While Instagram promises to release another privacy policy with updated language to make their intentions clearer, people need to relax. This is simply a move for Instagram and Facebook to legally provide each other with information to create more/better advertising opportunities. In theory this will help the 13-year-old boy get his advertisements for the latest video game instead of an advertisement for the hottest toy for a 5-year-old little girl. Isn’t that what we want? We wish not to see advertisements if we could, but since we do see advertisements, wouldn’t you want advertisements that matter you? So just relax because let’s be honest…you are still going to use Instagram and you are still going to use Facebook.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>The post <a href="http://www.pureperformancecomm.com/social-media/instagram-did-what/">Instagram did what?</a> appeared first on <a href="http://www.pureperformancecomm.com">Pure Performance Communications</a>.</p>]]></content:encoded>
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		<title>What we&#8217;ve learned from 2012</title>
		<link>http://www.pureperformancecomm.com/news/what-have-you-learned-from-2012/</link>
		<comments>http://www.pureperformancecomm.com/news/what-have-you-learned-from-2012/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 17 Dec 2012 00:46:17 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Drew Slater</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[News]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.pureperformancecomm.com/?p=783</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[<p>&#160; “Life moves pretty fast. If you don&#8217;t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.” – Ferris Bueller 2012. What happened? Where did it go? The first professor I considered a mentor preached to always reflect when possible. He said it was something our generation didn’t do enough of and&#160;<a href="http://www.pureperformancecomm.com/news/what-have-you-learned-from-2012/" class="read-more">Continue Reading</a></p><p>The post <a href="http://www.pureperformancecomm.com/news/what-have-you-learned-from-2012/">What we&#8217;ve learned from 2012</a> appeared first on <a href="http://www.pureperformancecomm.com">Pure Performance Communications</a>.</p>]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p><strong>“Life moves pretty fast. If you don&#8217;t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.” – Ferris Bueller</strong></p>
<p>2012. What happened? Where did it go?</p>
<p>The first professor I considered a mentor preached to always reflect when possible. He said it was something our generation didn’t do enough of and those of us, who do make time to reflect, will go further. So what better time to reflect on this year than right before the end of the year? Nowadays, things change instantly and it doesn’t look like it will get slower anytime soon.</p>
<p>2012 was the year of visual eye candy – Pinterest and Infographics each took the industry by storm. Both are different, yet share similarities. Each one uses visuals to share information in a way which is attractive and easy to understand for any consumer. I don’t even know how many times I was at a party or luncheon and I heard the question “Is that from Pinterest?”  People love Pinterest because you can share/find great ideas at the ease of “pinning” something. Infographics makes paragraphs and paragraphs of data obsolete because they allow you to tell all your findings with cool images and graphs that flow. Why would you ever want to read a boring, report again? Your mother lied to you…looks do matter.</p>
<p>Zuckerberg couldn’t resist anymore and made Facebook public. According to <em>The Social Network</em>, Zuckerberg sold out. Ever since Facebook went live it is becoming more and more about making money. Facebook already has around a billion members, and it doesn’t need to make the members happy anymore; it needs to make shareholders happy. Promoting your posts for minimal money can have a strong impact. Unless you Oreo or Justin Bieber, promoting posts is the only real way to start garnering some traction with Facebook these days.</p>
<p>Thanks to Instagram, everyone and their cousin turned into a part-time professional photographer. This year Instagram really took off, especially since they developed the Android version. No one takes a “normal” picture anymore. People complained for years about how they want better cameras in their phones and now that they got them, what do they do? Make them blurry!</p>
<p>While social media is proving more and more to be a great news source, Twitter specifically demonstrated why you don’t need to be by a TV anymore to know what is going on. Whether it’s the Super Bowl, death of a celebrity, a presidential election or a natural disaster, Twitter can keep you up to date instantly. Slowly, more and more people are turning to social media for their news source and news stations who want to stay around need to adapt.</p>
<p>Memes also made a huge splash into the social media world this year. How many times have you seen Willy Wonka with that smirk on his face like he really doesn’t care? How many professions created a montage of the different perceptions of what they did?  Or how many funny e-cards have you seen or shared? I honestly don’t think I can go a day on Facebook without seeing a handful of them.</p>
<p>When you reflect on this past year you realize a lot has happened; however, reflecting has no value if you don’t think critically about how you can improve. Does your company or clients use Pinterest or Instagram? Do you use Infographics for presentations? How can you leverage current news to engage with customers? Can you create a meme for your client that people will share? And have you tested out promoting your posts in Facebook to garner a larger audience? You won’t be able to use all of these for your business or clients, but you need to consider it. Everything besides the post promoting is free and can have a very strong impact for a brand. Go ahead and repin something on Pinterest from a follower or have a contest for users to upload their Instagram photos to your site. If you don’t think about these things now, before you know it, new things will be out and you’ll already be behind the ball and trust me…no one, not your boss or your clients, will like that.</p>
<p>The post <a href="http://www.pureperformancecomm.com/news/what-have-you-learned-from-2012/">What we&#8217;ve learned from 2012</a> appeared first on <a href="http://www.pureperformancecomm.com">Pure Performance Communications</a>.</p>]]></content:encoded>
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		<title>Social media is altering news stations and you should be capitalizing</title>
		<link>http://www.pureperformancecomm.com/news/social-media-is-altering-news-stations-and-how-you-should-be-capitalizing/</link>
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		<pubDate>Fri, 30 Nov 2012 02:47:40 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Drew Slater</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[News]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Deirdre Breakenridge]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Drew Slater]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Marketing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[news]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[pure performance communications]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Social Media]]></category>

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		<description><![CDATA[<p>&#160; Try to remember the last big news story. Whether it be the General Patraeus scandal, the past election, the destruction of Hurricane Sandy or even last week’s score of the big game – it doesn’t matter. Now, think about you heard about the news first. A couple years ago, you would either say from&#160;<a href="http://www.pureperformancecomm.com/news/social-media-is-altering-news-stations-and-how-you-should-be-capitalizing/" class="read-more">Continue Reading</a></p><p>The post <a href="http://www.pureperformancecomm.com/news/social-media-is-altering-news-stations-and-how-you-should-be-capitalizing/">Social media is altering news stations and you should be capitalizing</a> appeared first on <a href="http://www.pureperformancecomm.com">Pure Performance Communications</a>.</p>]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>Try to remember the last big news story. Whether it be the General Patraeus scandal, the past election, the destruction of Hurricane Sandy or even last week’s score of the big game – it doesn’t matter.</p>
<p>Now, think about you heard about the news first. A couple years ago, you would either say from the 5 o’clock news or the morning paper, but in today’s world people are more and more getting their news from social media. A Pew Research Center <a href="http://www.people-press.org/2012/09/27/in-changing-news-landscape-even-television-is-vulnerable/">survey</a> shows that 33% adults less than 30 years old find out their news through social media and to be honest I thought it would be higher.</p>
<p>Personally, I grew up in Miami with still a lot of friends down there and I couldn’t tell you the last weekend since football started that I don’t know how the Hurricanes or Dolphins did before even going to ESPN or Yahoo! Sports. Don’t even get me started on this past election! I don’t have cable so I couldn’t watch the debates, but it didn’t even matter because both my feeds, Facebook and Twitter, kept me up to date the whole time. To be honest, I think it was more entertaining because I got to see commentaries from both sides instantly.</p>
<p>What about Hurricane Sandy? I didn’t realize the severity of the storm, being from Miami we are kind of cynics about hurricanes, until I saw friends posting pictures and updates. (And I’m not talking about the fake photos that are a scene out of Independence Day)Seeing how high the water was and the destruction the winds caused was surreal and made me really empathize what was going on over 1,000 miles away.</p>
<p>Rewind a little more than a year ago and I remember the only reason I knew Obama was making an unexpected speech about the assassination of Osama bin Laden was because I saw it on Twitter. As soon as I saw it on my feed, I turned on the TV and stayed glued until Obama was done. No one called me. There weren’t any smoke signals. There was social media.</p>
<p>You’ll notice the news stations which want to survive are the ones which are evolving. Instead of simply having their anchors read from the teleprompter, more and more are involving their audience. For example, have you heard of <a href="http://ireport.cnn.com/">CNN’s iReport</a>? CNN has a website exclusively for the average Joe to upload photos and video of what is happening around them. CNN also uses this site to let their listener’s voices be heard. If you click on the link above and scroll down, you’ll see some images with “New Assignment,” which is where CNN writes a synopsis of what they are looking for and encourages visitors to post their own story on the topic. Talk about engagement! CNN isn’t just telling people news, CNN is asking people to tell them the news.</p>
<p>So what’s the point I’m trying to make here? There are two actually.</p>
<p>1)      That print news isn’t the only medium in danger; TV news is as well. Social media is truly letting “normal people” become journalists. And the huge difference is, I know John Smith from kindergarten and his photos of the destruction of the storm mean more to me than a random street where a reporter is. You know how much money a news station would save by hiring a social media person to report breaking news instead of multiple TV reporters? The news station would even be able to interact directly with their local community. Now, I don’t think TV news is going away tomorrow because simply, I don’t think my parents or grandparents would ever go on Twitter to get their news. But who knows?</p>
<p>2)      People crave news and as marketers or business owners, you should capitalize on that. This is a great way to humanize your brand and/or company. Social media is a two way street and is about engaging your customer. I’ve blogged before about thinking about social media as a networking event and how no one wants to talk to the person only boasting about themselves. People want to get to know you. Customers know your products and what you sell; they’ll always be around for that. It’s no shocker what Apple or Gap sells. They want to get to know your brand. They want to know you care about what’s going on in the world. That you about what’s going on in their community.</p>
<p>The post <a href="http://www.pureperformancecomm.com/news/social-media-is-altering-news-stations-and-how-you-should-be-capitalizing/">Social media is altering news stations and you should be capitalizing</a> appeared first on <a href="http://www.pureperformancecomm.com">Pure Performance Communications</a>.</p>]]></content:encoded>
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		<title>Why social media is the future of politics</title>
		<link>http://www.pureperformancecomm.com/social-media/why-social-media-is-the-future-of-politics/</link>
		<comments>http://www.pureperformancecomm.com/social-media/why-social-media-is-the-future-of-politics/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 05 Nov 2012 01:09:53 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Drew Slater</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Social Media]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Deirdre Breakenridge]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Drew Slater]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[election]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Marketing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[obama]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[pure performance communications]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[romney]]></category>

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		<description><![CDATA[<p>&#160; With all the success Obama had in 2008 using social media in his campaign for presidency, it doesn’t surprise me how much Romney and Obama are leveraging the medium during this election race.  Social media has grown to be a powerful way to interact with consumers, so it makes perfect sense that politicians are&#160;<a href="http://www.pureperformancecomm.com/social-media/why-social-media-is-the-future-of-politics/" class="read-more">Continue Reading</a></p><p>The post <a href="http://www.pureperformancecomm.com/social-media/why-social-media-is-the-future-of-politics/">Why social media is the future of politics</a> appeared first on <a href="http://www.pureperformancecomm.com">Pure Performance Communications</a>.</p>]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>With all the success Obama had in 2008 using social media in his campaign for presidency, it doesn’t surprise me how much Romney and Obama are leveraging the medium during this election race.  Social media has grown to be a powerful way to interact with consumers, so it makes perfect sense that politicians are targeting potential voters to get their vote come Election Day.</p>
<p>From day one, Obama and the Republican candidates have worked on gaining Likes on Facebook and followers on Twitter to engage with the voters. As of today, President Obama has just over 31.5 million likes and Romney has just over 11.3 million likes on Facebook. Granted Obama naturally would  have a larger following considering he is the current president and has been active in the social media world since the beginning. Here’s the crazy thing though…Romney has about 20 million less “likes” than Obama, yet he has slightly over 200,000 more people talking about him than Obama does. Does that mean Romney is going to win? Who knows? This is the first time that both candidates have been focused on using social media to this degree.</p>
<p>Social media has changed the political game forever and politicians better learn how to play the game. Romney has already found out that if you say slightly the wrong thing, social media will cruelly remind you by creating a viral meme. Romney’s  47% comment, big bird comment and his comment about the binder of women each lived longer than normal because of social media and people getting laughs from them.  However, it looked like Romney did the best thing you could do…just keep pushing through.</p>
<p>Social media is also an amazing way for the candidates to learn what their potential voters really care about. You can <a href="http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2411297,00.asp">click here</a> to see a great Infographic, which breaks down the election by subject and how potential voters were talking about it. It shows you the 3 most discussed topics online during the 4 elections (3 presidential and 1 vice presidential). Do you know how valuable this information would be to candidates? They can take this and change their message and campaigns directly to what the voters are interested. If you scroll down to the bottom you’ll see according to this infographic, the three key issues voters care most about are jobs, taxes and oil.</p>
<p>Who has liked on Facebook and followed on Twitter at least one of the candidates? Both? (you should follow both, but that could just be me) You’ll see how each candidates make images or graphs about their policies and views. Do they dumb it down? Of course. But the fact they are getting their plan and views in front of millions of eyes is a fantastic thing! As sad as it is, most people do not know what is going on and will simply go to the polls and blindly vote for one party or the other. Don’t believe me? Check out this <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EohGmG-QUhA">Jimmy Kimmel video</a> asking people on the street, who won the First Lady Debate (There is no such thing) and it might worry you about who is voting for our future.</p>
<p>President Obama proved  how powerful social media can be in politics back in 2008 and I think this just the tip of the iceberg moving forward. Gosh…who knows what social media mediums we’ll have in another 4 years? Could you imagine if presidents of the past had access to the power of social media? It use to take days, maybe weeks for the local paper to write about a presidential debate and now people can talk about it instantly! If future candidates want to have an edge when running for presidency – he or she needs to not only incorporate social media, but do it well!</p>
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