ARDC Communications

If you’re not familiar with “Eats, Shoots & Leaves” by Lynne Truss, I highly recommend it. It’s “The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation.” In PR, it is our job to communicate clearly and correctly, especially when it comes to grammar. Because of this, I consider myself a grammarian and insist on the correct use of the English language, and I hate when people abuse it!

I had a win for the grammarians recently and I have to share my story.

Last night I was watching TV and saw a commercial for the Bellator Fighting Championships. The commercial opened with a quotation that incorrectly used “it’s” instead of “its” and, of course, as a grammarian, I was totally offended. So I found the company’s Web site, found a contact email address, and sent a note telling them about the typo. This morning I got a response saying they were going to fix it! See email below:

Marla –
Please see the e-mail below. I have reviewed the video and the woman is actually correct about this.
Could you let the Carr-Hughes people know about this?
Best,
EF

Ed Fanselow
Account Director
Alpaytac Marketing Communications/Public Relations

So here’s to the Bellator Fighting Championships for actually reading and responding to my e-mail. A win for the grammar nerds! Hooray!

Management Concepts provides the knowledge, skills, and resources needed for individual and organizational achievement.  Based in Northern Virginia, Management Concepts was recently honored with ISA’s Business of the Year Award.

Management Concepts is also my first client!  They have retained ARDC Communications to edit custom learning and development courses, both e-learning and intructor-led courses.  In addition, ARDC Communications is working with MC to redesign its instructor guide prototype, making sure it is comprehensive, concise and effective.

I’m excited about working with Management Concepts to ensure they produce flawless training courses that meet their clients’ strategic goals.

Many clients ask me about social media and how they can use it to their advantage.  They want a quick fix to get the word out about their product/service/company as fast as possible.  But there are two rules that I advise people on before beginning a social media campaign:

1. You must commit to being an active, long-term social media user. The only thing worse than not having a Facebook page/Twitter account, is starting a Facebook page/Twitter account, being active for 3-4 weeks, and then stopping activity altogether.  Once you’ve created an online community, it’s important to engage with your fans and followers on a regular basis.
2. You must acknowledge that social media is a two-way street.  It’s a conversation, not a monologue.  Your fans will leave positive comments and good recommendations, but you will also receive negative comments and posts about bad experiences with your product/service/company.  Rather than delete all negative comments and de-friend those users, you must address their concerns, fix them, and turn them into fans.  Social media is a great way to face – and fix – your problems head on, so don’t be afraid to do so.

Once a company has committed to both things above, then I am a huge proponent of social media.  It’s an excellent way to interact directly with your current and potential customers.  Let the social media buzz begin!