by Betsy Henry | Feb 19, 2025 | Public Relations
Disclaimer:This article was originally written and published by Patch Staff on February 19, 2025, on Patch.com. It is shared here for informational purposes only. All rights and credit remain with the original publisher.
Click here to read the original article.
The Public Relations Society of America Counselors Academy (CAPRSA) announces its 2025 Executive Committee, comprised of distinguished leaders dedicated to advancing the public relations industry. In addition, the group also welcomes two new members to its Executive Committee, further strengthening the organization’s expertise and vision.
This year’s appointments reflect CAPRSA’s continued commitment to fostering innovation, collaboration, and leadership among public relations agency owners and senior executives.
The 2025 officers for Counselors Academy are:
● Chair: Natalie Ghidotti, APR, founder and CEO of Ghidotti Communications in Little Rock, Ark.
● Chair-Elect: LaTricia Woods, APR, president of Mahogany Xan Communications in Chandler, Ariz.
● Secretary/Treasurer: Ben Finzel, president of RENEWPR in Washington, D.C.
● Immediate Past Chair: John Walker, managing partner at Chirp in Atlanta, Ga.
“Counselors Academy provides a unique and invaluable space for public relations agency owners and leaders to connect, share insights and grow their businesses,” Ghidotti said. “It’s an honor to collaborate with such a talented and dedicated team as we work to build on CAPRSA’s rich legacy. Together, we will champion innovative ideas, foster meaningful professional relationships, and empower our members to navigate the ever-evolving public relations landscape with confidence and creativity. I’m excited to support our members in turning challenges into opportunities and driving the industry forward.”
CAPRSA Executive Committee’s new members include Emily Hartzog, president of Chartwell Agency in Rockford, Ill., and Ann Smith, president and founder of A.wordsmith in Portland, Ore.
Serving as Members-at-Large on the 2025 Executive Committee for Counselors Academy are:
● Dan Farkas, founder of Dan Farkas Interactive in Powell, Ohio
● Emily Hartzog, president of Chartwell Agency in Rockford, Ill.
● Ann Smith, president and founder of A.wordsmith in Portland, Ore.
● Sarah Erkmann Ward, APR, president and CEO of Blueprint Alaska in Anchorage, Alaska
● Hinda Mitchell, founder and president of Inspire PR Group in Columbus, Ohio
● Sharon Wright, owner of Loud and Clear Marketing LLC in Leesburg, Va.
● Kelly Brockman, partner at McNeely Brockman Public Relations in Nashville, Tenn.
● Kristelle Siarza, APR, owner and CEO of Siarza in Albuquerque, N.M.
● Missy Hurley, APR, CEO of B2 Communications in Saint Petersburg, Fla.
● Nicole Morgan, APR, CEO of Resolute PR in Tulsa, Okla.
● Tammy Belton-Davis, founder and president of Athena Communications LLC in Milwaukee, Wis.
CAPRSA offers a variety of programming and resources for its members, including webinars, a private Facebook group and an annual three-day conference of learning for agency owners and leaders. This year’s conference will be held March 31 – April 2 at the Francis Marion Hotel in Charleston, S.C. To learn more and register for the conference, visit https://www.prsa.org/home/get-involved/professional-interest-sections/co….
PRSA Counselors Academy was founded in 1960 and is dedicated to helping public relations agency owners and leaders succeed through access to collaborative peer relationships, meaningful professional development and education programs. Counselors Academy focuses on the business of agency PR. Its entrepreneurial members are owners or senior managers of leading independent firms in the U.S. and Canada. Counselors Academy’s programs foster networking, mentoring and learning, and the Executive Committee consists of 15 agency owners and leaders from across the U.S. and Canada. For more information, please visit https://www.prsa.org/home/get-involved/professional-interest-sections/co…, or follow on X at @caprsa or Instagram at @counselorsacademy.
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About the Public Relations Society of America
PRSA is the nation’s largest professional organization serving the communications community. The organization’s mission is to make communications professionals smarter, better prepared and more connected through all stages of their career. PRSA achieves this by offering its members thought leadership and innovative lifelong learning opportunities to help them develop new skills, enhance their credibility and connect with a strong network of professionals. The organization sets the standards of professional excellence and ethical conduct for the public relations industry. PRSA collectively represents more than 30,000 members consisting of communications professionals spanning every industry sector nationwide and college and university students who encompass the Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA). Learn more at https://www.prsa.org.
by Josh Trepiccione | Nov 21, 2024 | Public Relations
Disclaimer:The following article was written by the Times-Mirror Staff Report and originally published by the Loudoun Times-Mirror on November 21, 2024. It is shared here for informational purposes only. All rights and credit belong to the original publisher.
Read the original article here.
Ashburn-based Loud & Clear Marketing, together with the Virginia Housing and Community Development Officials, received an Innovation Award at the Virginia Governor’s Housing Conference on Nov. 14, according to a news release.
Their Landlord Outreach Toolkit was one of five awards presented. Gov. Glenn Youngkin gave remarks.
“We are thrilled to both receive this Innovation Award and be in the room when Gov. Glenn Youngkin issued Executive Order 42, which formally ties Economic Development Offices to workforce housing supply by enhancing the alignment between economic development announcements and housing availability in the Commonwealth. We are excited for Loudoun County to be in the mix to receive those much-needed funds,” said Sharon Wright, co-owner of Loud & Clear Marketing.
by Loud and Clear | Jul 16, 2020 | Best Reasons to Blog, Content, Marketing, Media Relations, Public Relations
Give Your Business Brand a Personal Touch. Use Your Blog To Tell a Humanizing Story.
Loud and Clear Marketing has a vision for your business’ success. Our sights are squarely set on helping every client make progress toward business goals by helping them harness the power of a compelling, storytelling company blog.
Regularly publishing unique blog content on your company website is among the most surefire ways to set your business apart from the crowd. LCM has taken a deep dive into the top reasons why blogging works in this Best Reasons To Blog series. Of all the reasons a company should be blogging, this one is probably our favorite:
Every blogpost is a golden opportunity to create a new impression in the mind of a potential customer. Tell a story or two. Talk about local happenings. Make a human-to-human connection with your blog content. Write posts on your company blog that engage with the people in your target market. Let your business be something that’s knowable, friendly, and personal.
Always be thinking about the stories your company can tell that will connect with the folks in your target market. For example:
- Tell your origin story. Why did you get into the business? What’s your background? For a family business, let’s meet the family. Sole proprietors, tell us how you got your start.
- Out and about? Attend a recent event? Sponsor a local Little League team? Host a charity drive? Every single engagement with the community you serve is a story waiting to be told. Don’t keep it a secret!
- Show the grow. Hit a company milestone? Reaching a new level of customers, revenues, or years in business is a worthy story. Take pride in the business? Benefit from the hard work of your employees? Grateful for all your customers? Say so in a blog.
- Introduce us! Have you hired a new key employee lately? Is someone retiring after years of dedicated service? Did a member of your staff just earn a new professional certification? Then let’s meet them…by blog!
In recent years, businesses have made blogging a greater part of their marketing outreach – and for some very good reasons.
According to stats reported at http://www.impactbnd.com/blogging-statistics-55-reasons-blogging-creates-55-more-traffic, 77% of all Internet users regularly read blogposts, and 61% of online consumers have purchased something due to a recommendation in a blogpost.
Moreover, the Content Marketing Institute says that 70% of consumers would rather learn about your company through articles (such as a blogposts) than through ads (https://www.launchwaymedia.com/blog/2017/7/11/10-stats-that-prove-startups-and-small-businesses-need-pr), and 81% of businesses reported that company blogs are critical to their marketing success.
Let Loud and Clear Marketing help you set your sights on success and reaching your business goals.
Contact Loud and Clear Marketing by phone at 703-261-4252 or on our website. Let’s get to work designing a custom blogging strategy. Let’s tell the stories that build lasting personal relationships between your company and your customers.
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LCM’s Best Reasons To Blog In 2020: A Five-Part Blogpost Series
Reason One: Boost Your Google Rankings With Better SEO
Reason Two: Get More Leads, Earn More Business
Reason Three: Define Your Company’s Unique Sales Proposition
Reason Four: Establish Credibility as THE Local Leader In Your Industry
by Loud and Clear | Jul 16, 2020 | Best Reasons to Blog, Content, Marketing, Media Relations, Public Relations
Blogs Show What You Know Through the Three E’s: Establish Credibility. Educate Customers. Earn a Reputation.
Loud & Clear Marketing has always been in the business of helping clients creatively show off their industry expertise through a variety of media and marketing tools. Our specialty lies in setting our clients on a path to help them define themselves and create effective ways to be in the best position to be seen as THE local leaders in their market and industry.
Nowadays, we have a (relatively) new trick in our bag: Blogging. One of the most effective, most creative methods for a company or organization to demonstrate its market leadership is through a steady stream of brand-defining content known as a blog.
If you aren’t publishing a regular (and interesting!) company blog, you’re missing out. But your competition isn’t.
A blog is one of the most powerful tools in the modern marketing toolbox. Blogs enable businesses to build authority as THE preeminent thought leaders in the local industry. Blogs enhance your company’s reputation in the local community, making you THE go-to reliable resource for your products and services.
Blogging keeps your company front-and-center and top-of-mind with customers. How? Through a process we like to call The Three E’s: Establish, Educate, Earn.
— Establish presence and credibility, both online and in the real world.
It pays to tell folks where you are. Especially if you’re in a field service business, such as an HVAC repair company, or a neighborhood business like a family restaurant, be sure to mention all the towns, cities and localities your company serves in all your blogposts. (Doing this provides a valuable SEO boost, like we discussed in Reason One of this special LCM Blog Series.)
Along with establishing your geographic presence, use your blog to establish your professional credibility. Assume the role of THE local authority in your industry. Talk about the latest news and developments. Tell the customer why it matters. Share insightful stories from behind the scenes.
Speak directly to customers and potential customers in your market. Let them know you’re there – and that you’re there for them!
— Educate current and future customers about the value your business brings.
You know you’re better than the competition. But why? Blogs provide the ideal platform for a company to reach its customers and prospects, and show off the unique value you provide.
What does your company do, and how does it do it? Tell stories about problems your company has solved, experiences you’ve gone through, ways you’ve grown and expanded. Identify your company as THE local leader.
Post confident, authoritative blogs. Talk about interesting stuff. Add in a bit of multimedia flair (videos, pics, graphs and graphics). Let customers know what they’ll get when they do business with you. Relate useful information, describe technical details, tell real-life stories that demonstrate without a doubt your business knows its stuff.
— Earn a reputation of quality and trustworthiness.
Blogging is an inescapable component of marketing. It’s so essential, in fact, that a stat from http://www.inpactbnd.com/blogging-statistics-55-reasons-blogging-creates-55-more-traffic points out that 56% of businessowners have successfully used blogs to position their companies as thought leaders within their markets.
The Fear Of Missing Out is very real. Don’t get FOMO-ed out of more customers, sales and profits. If your company isn’t blogging to establish itself as THE industry authority within your market, your competitors will be happy to fill the gap for you.
Let us help you communicate your company’s expertise, experience and hands-on knowledge. Contact Loudoun Clear Marketing at 703-261-4252 or https://loudandclear.today/consultation/. We can help you implement a customized blogging strategy geared to your company’s strengths, and help you build trust with your customers through regular blogging of useful, unique content.
Whatever you’re in the business of, be the business people want to do business with.
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LCM’s Best Reasons To Blog In 2020: A Five-Part Blogpost Series
Reason One: Boost Your Google Rankings With Better SEO
Reason Two: Get More Leads, Earn More Business
Reason Three: Define Your Company’s Unique Sales Proposition
Reason Five: Engage Directly With Customers and Make a Personal Connection To Your Company
by Loud and Clear | Jun 13, 2020 | Best Reasons to Blog, Content, Marketing, Media Relations, Public Relations
What Truly Puts Your Business Above the Competition? Highlight Your USP With Blogging.
Loud and Clear Marketing is all about casting a laser focus on the best way to tell a clients’ unique story – and there may be no better way to reinforce your company’s unique story than through a blog.
Developing your story involves digging deep into what sets you apart from the competition. Think about your company in the context of its industry. What does your business offer that no competitor offers? What are your difference-makers, your distinguishing qualities, your value-added differentiators? What is your Unique Selling Proposition (USP)?
Your company has its own USP…probably more than one. A company’s unique selling proposition is a specific benefit your company provides which customers could not get doing business with any competing company. Companies often draw their USPs from their mission statements, industry experience, or service offerings.
What problem does your company solve for its customers better than anyone else?
Blogposts are the perfect medium to answer those questions. In 1,000 words of skillfully written content – together with pictures, videos, graphics, and other multimedia to tell the story – a blog defines your company’s unique sales proposition and disseminates it on the Internet for all to see.
If the goal is to set your business apart from competing companies in your market, blogging works.
- According to a statistic reported on HubSpot at http://www.hubspot.com/marketing-statistics, 55% of companies with blogs on their websites make blogging their top inbound marketing strategy and report seeing benefits from their blogging.
Let’s tell the story only your company can tell. Let’s take advantage of your company website to make your unique selling proposition absolutely clear. Let’s blog about the products, services, experience, certifications, education, community involvement or company history that really set your business above the competition.
Let’s get started blogging in 2020. Talk with Loudoun Clear Marketing at 703-261-4252 or https://loudandclear.today/consultation about designing a customized blogpost strategy that brings out your company’s most unique qualities…and brings out the customers.
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LCM’s Best Reasons To Blog In 2020: A Five-Part Blogpost Series
Reason One: Boost Your Google Rankings With Better SEO
Reason Two: Get More Leads, Earn More Business
Reason Four: Establish Credibility as THE Local Leader In Your Industry
Reason Five: Engage Directly With Customers and Make a Personal Connection To Your Company
by Loud and Clear | Apr 14, 2020 | Best Reasons to Blog, Content, Marketing, Media Relations, Public Relations
Blogging Is an Effective Way To Connect With Customers, Build Trust and Brand Loyalty – all without breaking the bank
Welcome to our original Loudoun Clear Marketing Blog series where we discuss the best reasons for why business blogs pack such a big punch for your content marketing strategy and why your organization needs to be blogging in 2020.
Reason One: Google Search Rankings
Boost your website’s Google search rankings with the keyword influx, SEO optimization, and the unique, dynamic content that regular blog posts provide.
Reason Two: Get More Leads, Earn More Business
The fact is, it pays to blog. Not only is content marketing (including blogging) 62% cheaper than traditional marketing investments – according to statistics published at https://www.demandmetric.com/content/content-marketing-infographic – it also produces three (3) times more business leads than a paid online search strategy.
Blogging generates fantastic returns on your overall marketing investment, especially internet content marketing efforts. Small businesses, whose websites have blogs, generate 126% more leads than those without blogs, according to figures available at http://www.techclient.com/blogging-statistics.
Reason Three: Develop Trust
Statistics show that 81% of U.S. consumers trust information presented in blog form, and 61% of consumers have made a purchase based on a blogpost. Therefore, it is important to be yourself, develop your voice in a creative way, and really dig into who you are as a business and why you matter.
- Blog about what you know. No one knows your business like you do. Educate prospective clients about the services you offer; use your blog to tell stories about problems you successfully solved.
- Blog about what you want your customers to know you know. Assume the role of a go-to thought leader and share up-to-date professional expertise. Advise readers about news in your industry, seasonal updates, the latest recommendations – show them you’re on top of your business.
- Blog about your organization’s role in the community. Sponsor any Little League teams? Participate in a fun run, fundraiser or a food drive? Blogging helps spread the word of upcoming events, and are a lasting medium for recapping community outings. Use blog content in tandem with social media to make that all-important personal connection with customers in your market.
It’s time to start making regular, creative, brand-defining blog posts a fundamental part of your business’s or nonprofit’s online marketing outreach. Call Loudoun Clear Marketing at 703-721-7040 or send us a message at https://loudounclearmarketing.com/contact-us; we’ll get to work on a custom Digital Marketing campaign including engaging, unique blog content tailored for the market you need to reach in 2020.
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LCM’s Best Reasons To Blog In 2020: A Five-Part Blogpost Series
Reason One: Boost Your Google Rankings With Better SEO
Reason Two: It Pays to Post
Reason Three: Define Your Company’s Unique Sales Proposition
Reason Four: Establish Credibility as THE Local Leader In Your Industry
Reason Five: Engage Directly With Customers and Make a Personal Connection To Your Company
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