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A proactive approach to personal branding

Tell me if this sounds familiar.

Someone you know is making an unplanned career change — perhaps due to a new business opportunity or an unexpected layoff. Suddenly, your friend is forced to polish a neglected LinkedIn profile, scramble to build a network of contacts and ask for recommendations to highlight earned skills and experience.

Sounds stressful, right? It’s tough having to navigate an unexpected job search, and it’s even worse when you’re feeling 10 steps behind from the outset.

There is an easier way. While I hope you don’t need to change careers unexpectedly, I do hope you can plan ahead and set yourself up for success should that become necessary.

The key is to be proactive instead of reactive, consistently marketing yourself (before necessity forces you to) with something called personal branding.

What is personal branding? Continue reading...

Why speaking to your customers, not at them, works.

How did you get into your line of work? Why does it matter to you? People relate well to companies that have a personal story that resonates.

To better reach your customers, have a conversation with them. Tell your story, listen to theirs.

Keep reading...

Five reasons to hire an editor for your business

Today, with the use of technology to reach customers and staff increasing by the hour, accuracy in communication has become increasingly critical. Social media, internal memos, emails to clients, staff newsletters, press releases — the written word permeates everything we do.

Find out the five reasons here...

What we're up to:

When Brit isn't working at BPRC or staging for a local realtor, she can be found on her living room floor putting together copious amounts of Legos and covered in crumbs. To be fair, they are usually her own crumbs.

Did you know that, by most definitions, there are seven temperate rainforest zones on Earth and just one in the entirety of North America? That zone is right here in the Pacific Northwest, and it just happens to be the world’s largest.

The Andersons went for a hike this past month (with grandma) to Whistle Lake in the Anacortes Community Forest Lands. Highly recommended, if you’re looking for a short excursion.

I mean … look at those trees!

Patti recently helped her mother downsize and relocate to an assisted living community. She was sorting through a box of her mom's things and came across this picture of herself as a first-grader.

The photo immediately brought back a memory of being very irritated with the homemade outfit. The ruffles kept rolling up, the shirt collar was too pointy and she didn't like the barrette in her hair, but she managed a slight smile anyway.

Maybe this will inspire you to open your own box of photos and spend some time reminiscing.

Retaining the services of a PR and communications team is an important decision. You’ll want to make the best choice possible, so it’s worth investing time upfront to understand the options, identify your needs and consider your budget. Click here for two documents (10 minutes to read both) that will help you through the process.