Posts by: Amanda Hoffman

Happy Birthday, Twitter! 7 Ways Twitter Has Changed PR…

On March 22, 2013 By

Yesterday marked the 7th anniversary of the first tweet. For a service that was initially met with much skepticism (why does the world care that I’m eating a sandwich?), Twitter has steadily become a necessary PR tool, taking its place alongside (or in some industries, ahead of) the traditional [...]

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2013 Predictions

On January 16, 2013 By

Last week, the Washington Technology Industry Association (WTIA), a Sterling client, hosted their annual “Predictions” event – bringing together some of the brightest minds in the Seattle tech industry to get their take on what trends and events defined the previous year — and what will be big in the coming [...]

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2012′s Most Notorious Events

On January 3, 2013 By

Happy New Year! As we head into what will inevitably be an exciting 2013, it’s interesting to sit back and reflect on some of the most notorious events of 2012 that caught our attention, and the lessons we’ve learned from each…

In January, just in time for Martin Luther King Day, many visitors to the [...]

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Will Redbox streaming spell the end for Netflix?

On December 12, 2012 By

We’ve written about Netflix a few times on this blog. Beginning in July 2011 with their poor execution in communicating a major pricing structure change, it seems this former media darling has been on a downward spiral in the news ever since. And their stock performance [...]

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The Silence of the Cougars

On November 1, 2012 By

Last week, Washington State University football coach Mike Leach publicly banned his players from using Twitter. When asked what prompted the decision, the notoriously blunt coach’s reply was, “Because I decided to, that’s what prompted that.”

Now, as a WSU alumna and die-hard Cougar football fan, far be it [...]

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Google Algorithms and Online Reputation Management

On September 28, 2012 By

Google’s autocomplete feature has long been a source of convenience – and sometimes shock and amusement. On the practical side, it’s so easy to just type in a couple words or even a few letters and select the result that matches your query. After all, if you’re looking for an answer to [...]

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10 On-Camera Interviewing Tips

On September 11, 2012 By

On-camera interviews can be nerve-wracking for even the most seasoned spokesperson. In addition to speaking to your audience and staying on message (which Sterling’s Dave Gifford addressed in his last blog post), on-camera interviewees must also be mindful of nonverbal communication, appearance and posture among other things. Following are 10 tips [...]

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What is Integrated Marketing?

On June 29, 2012 By

As if there weren’t already enough ambiguity in our line of work (seriously, how many times have friends or family members asked you, “so, what do you do, exactly?”), PR has evolved so much over recent years that PR professionals themselves are hotly debating what exactly defines this profession nowadays.

While our job [...]

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Hunting the Creative

On April 11, 2012 By

Here at Sterling Communications, we’re always discussing creative communications, be it advertisements, PR campaigns, media responses and the like. And, since we’ve recently joined the social media phenomenon that is Pinterest, we figured, what better place to share the creative campaigns we come across? Add a little friendly competition to [...]

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Pinterest: the Next Social Media Frontier

On March 1, 2012 By

By now most brands have (or at least attempted) a presence on Facebook and Twitter. And many companies have added sites such as Delicious, YouTube, Flickr and LinkedIn to their social media repertoire. But what new social medium has risen so [...]

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A Misquote Etched in Stone

On January 18, 2012 By

As PR professionals, we’re all too familiar with misquotes and quotes taken out of context. Whether it’s a statement we delivered ourselves, or something a client said during an interview, it’s tough to see a quote appear in print in a manner that wasn’t how you intended.

Typically, the course of action is to contact [...]

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Small Business is Big

On December 12, 2011 By

Big brands are having no trouble luring shoppers in with low prices and extravagant advertising campaigns this holiday season, with Black Friday and Cyber Monday leading the way. Meanwhile, small, local businesses must find other ways to get an edge. Naturally, most small businesses don’t have the cash flow for pricey [...]

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It takes a community…

On November 10, 2011 By

Have you ever just had to check out a product or website because it seems everyone was talking about it, and you wanted to see what the big deal was? (For me, that was Pinterest, and it’s safe to say I am now a shameless Pinterest addict and evangelist.)

At last week’s [...]

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PR for the PR Industry, Part II: Social Media

On October 13, 2011 By

Recently, my colleague Scott Smith blogged about how the PR industry itself could sometimes use a little PR. Today’s topic focuses on a related issue: social media for the PR industry.

As PR professionals, social media is becoming an increasingly larger part of our job, especially since nearly everyone is [...]

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From She-Devil to Free Woman: How PR Influenced the Amanda Knox Verdict

On October 4, 2011 By

The Amanda Knox verdict has captured international attention, and here in Knox’s hometown of Seattle, the buzz is almost palpable, as the community anxiously awaits her return. Whether you believe she is innocent, guilty, or somewhere in between, one thing is clear: a large part of the trial has centered around her image – and [...]

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Sterling’s New Seattle Digs

On September 27, 2011 By

You’ve probably noticed that the Sterling Communications website and blog have a new look and feel. What you might not know is that our physical Seattle office does as well. After six years in our downtown location, the Seattle team has officially settled into our new digs in Seattle’s [...]

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If it Ain’t Broke…

On July 19, 2011 By

Revealed yesterday by the New York Post, as part of DC Comics’ “relaunching” of its entire line of superhero characters in September, Superman himself is going to be a little more casual than most of us are used to. The man of steel is set to nix his trademark [...]

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The Science of Social Media

On June 7, 2011 By

As PR practitioners, most of us would describe our craft as more art than science. That's because every company, every brand is different, and there's no such thing as a formulaic "one size fits all" approach. That said, many influencers in the social media world have attempted to do just that – with claims that [...]

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Client Relationships: Working in Harmony

On May 3, 2011 By

With a professional history that includes both agency and in-house communications positions, I’ve come to appreciate both perspectives, including the unique challenges each position faces, and what it takes to make a client-agency relationship work.

As an in-house communications professional, I’ve managed a variety of external PR agencies: large, small and with [...]

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“Car Goes Falls,” or Why Proofreading is Important

On April 26, 2011 By

Today the San Francisco Chronicle ran an online AP story about a fatal accident in Los Angeles. A car plunged off the third story of a parking garage and landed upside down, killing the driver. Within a couple hours, the story had more than 40 comments on it… not one of them [...]

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