Productivity

Five lessons from starting a new PR firm

Firebrand is now a month old. We’re signing up our first clients, hiring our first team members, and getting the systems in place. Agency life is a rollercoaster, so right now after the big climb to launch, we’re accelerating into the drop, hands in the air while screaming something joyously incoherent a few octaves too high for respectability. We’re having fun, so I thought I’d share five lessons learned so far.

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Stay calm under pressure

Three mind-hacks to keep calm under pressure

The role of a marketer or communicator can be stressful. Reputations and revenues are at stake, budgets can be significant, deadlines short, outcomes uncertain and scrutiny high. It’s fun – but it can have its moments. So how do you cope? Here are three ways to manage your stress and avoid a meltdown.


Is measuring time productive?

The end of time

We’re obsessed with time in our working lives. We trade our most productive hours for salary and benefits. We agree office hours, vacation time and PTO. But time is just an input. It’s not a deliverable. Are we measuring the right thing?




Why ethics suffer in a recession

Truth may be a casualty of war, but ethics are a casualty of recession. When the going gets tough, the weak cheat. It’s just easier than competing fairly. It’s an economic barometer, and we’re seeing and uptick right now.