![Charlotte School of Law Taps Pivot PR]()
Press Release
Charlotte School of Law (CSL), an ABA-accredited law school located in Charlotte, N.C, has hired Pivot PR to assist with media relations and content creation to build awareness regarding the benefits of its new law school model.
Charlotte School of Law was designed and developed by legal educators who have responded to the summons for change in legal education. CSL has embraced a mission of becoming the “benchmark of inclusive excellence in professional education for the 21st Century.” Toward this end, it is focusing upon graduating students who are practice-ready and serving historically underserved groups.
“Charlotte School of Law is extremely leadership conscious and that commitment and lack of fear in leading change drew us to their business,” said Drew Porcello, President & CEO of Pivot. “Because Pivot PR was largely designed to drive change, it’s rewarding to align our business with one that has such a similar mission.”
ABOUT PIVOT Pivot PR (www.pivotpublicrelations.com) is a full-service strategic public relations agency located in Charlotte, N.C. Focusing on marketing and communication services, Pivot understands the business needs of its clients and creates and implements quantifiable strategic marketing solutions.
Blog
We’ve all heard the terms, “outbound” and “inbound” marketing, but do you really understand the difference, and are you using them correctly? Outbound marketing is finding and interrupting potential customers with your message, while inbound focuses on being found and persuading customers to inquire or purchase on their own will. It’s a fine line, but one’s a push and the other’s a pull.
What’s also interesting is you can use the same content for each tactic. For example, you found this blog post because you’re probably interested in our services or you stumbled across it organically doing some research- a great example of inbound. Where as if I emailed it to distant business contacts (which I did) it was outbound to those who received it. So you see it’s not about the content, it’s the channel and the relationship.
According to Hubspot over 90 percent of marketing budgets are spent on outbound, which aligns more with traditional advertising, email spam and telemarketing. Of course these tactics can be effective, but I would challenge you to transition more of your resources to inbound marketing.
How does this relate to good ole public relations? PR is more credible because someone else is telling your story, and at the end of the day it’s generating engagement to you, not from you. What a great example of inbound marketing. Is it a part of your strategy?
Blog
Hello,
Our very own Trisha McGuire was fortunate enough to sit down with Sarah Crosland last week for a bit of a role reversal, who told her she enjoyed being on the other end of an interview for a change!
Sarah is executive editor of The Charlotte Observer‘s magazine division, which includes numerous regional lifestyle publications – SouthPark Magazine, Lake Norman Magazine and Carolina Bride – as well as special sections in The Charlotte Observer. Additionally, Sarah covers Charlotte as a Forbes Travel Guide correspondent, a Virgin Atlantic contributor, and on a freelance basis for various other national publications. Most recently, she has ventured into television, hosting weekly segments on Fox46 Carolinas highlighting Charlotte’s growing culinary scene.
Take a look at what Sarah had to say…
Q: What is your source of story ideas?
Oh, that’s a great question – there are so many places. I do receive pitches from public relations professionals and freelancers. Other sources are networking, communicating via social media, consuming other media and immersing myself in the community. I feel like, especially for regional publications like ours, it is critical to get involved in the community and actually go out and meet with the very individuals for whom I’m writing.
Q: How can communications professionals stand out and catch your attention?
There are two key things with me. (1) Understand my products because I can use the ideas; I do accept pitches and I am always looking for ideas. But, they do have to fit within the purview of my products in some way. I had several people tell me that I should do some sort of story on the local supermarket wars but I wasn’t quite sure how to fit that in the magazines. So, I reached out to another department at The Charlotte Observer and found vintage photos of the supermarkets and I was able to cover the story in that manner. That was definitely a result of someone bringing me an idea. (2) Persistence. I get so many emails. It may take more than one email for me to take note of a pitch and have it stand out in my inbox. If I’ve met someone face-to-face before, I will say that helps their email rise to the top.
Q: How are you evolving as a publication? What do you think is in store for the future?
We’re always looking for the next ‘thing’ that will attract readers, as well as new ways to present the information. For example, home design and the luxury home market rose to the top as interests that are trending with readers. While our products do offer some focus on those topics, we felt we needed a publication dedicated entirely to them. So, we decided to launch a new real estate publication in May that will appear in the Saturday paper.
Of course, digital is, and has to be, part of our long-term plan. We are continually evolving our web and social media presence. But, we don’t see print going away. Instead, we continue to develop print products that are even more user-friendly. In other words, we are doing things like decreasing the word count in many cases and offering readers more bite-sized pieces of information. And, we are more visual than we were in the past; we have found some amazing local photographers that have really taken us to the next level with their work and amped up the visual beauty of our products.
Q: How has social media impacted how you work?
It’s definitely a source of story ideas. Also, it’s great to have those contacts in the community and know what’s going on. And, we of course promote our products via social media.
Q: How do you feel like you and your team make your products stand out from the rest?
First – visually. We have evolved the products to have some beautiful photographs. Also, just having the right stories. That goes back to my belief in really being involved and connected in the community and having a pulse on what interests our readers. Lastly, having stories that really stand out as different. I’ve always believed in the saying from the journalism world that stories should ‘surprise and delight’ readers. I believe in that expression and I strive for it in all our publications.
Press Release
Sales Performance International (SPI), a global sales performance improvement firm, has hired Pivot PR to increase its brand awareness, credibility and thought leadership. For this effort, Pivot PR will develop and implement a comprehensive public relations plan, focusing heavily on media relations and content creation.
SPI is dedicated to helping the world’s leading corporations elevate their sales relationships and drive measurable, sustainable revenue growth and operational sales performance improvement.
“With my background so heavily entrenched in sales and communications, this relationship felt like a perfect fit,” said Drew Porcello, President & CEO of Pivot. “With the launch of The Collaborative Sale, SPI continues to produce compelling content that I think could be extremely helpful to sales professionals; we’re excited to be a part of the effort.”
ABOUT PIVOT Pivot PR (www.pivotpublicrelations.com) is a full-service strategic public relations agency located in Charlotte, N.C. Focusing on marketing and communication services, Pivot understands the business needs of its clients and creates and implements quantifiable strategic marketing solutions.
Press Release
The Charlotte American Marketing Association (CAMA) has appointed Drew Porcello, President and CEO of Pivot PR, its membership chair for the 2014-2015 term. In this position, Drew will be responsible for retaining its membership base and attracting new members. CAMA is one of Charlotte’s largest professional organizations focused on helping marketers connect, learn and grow.
“As a Charlotte small business owner, I want to be sure I’m always giving back to the community that so kindly supports my company,” said Porcello. “I’m honored to be a part of the premier marketing association in Charlotte; my goal is to help new, potential and existing members maximize their experiences with the organization.”
The American Marketing Association (AMA) is a professional association for individuals and organizations who are leading the practice, teaching, and development of marketing worldwide. AMA is the only organization, with 75 chapters in the US and Canada, that brings together marketers, across all specialties, to collaborate and inspire one another.
Charlotte School of Law (CSL), an ABA-accredited law school located in Charlotte, N.C, has hired Pivot PR to assist with media relations and content creation to build awareness regarding the benefits of its new law school model.
