Thought Leadership in Forbes – What Houdini Teaches us about Selling

Posted on January 11, 2023 by Mark Macias

By Mark Macias

One of the most exciting parts of my work is learning from experienced entrepreneurs and CEOs from all walks of life. The proximity to these entrepreneurs has given me a unique opportunity to observe thought-leadership up close.

I recently wrote an article in Forbes – What the Great Houdini can Teach Us about Selling. The entire story was inspired by a CEO who was a magician before his career in finance took off. He always shared stories with me on how magic is related to business. We need to captivate the buyer and never reveal our industry secrets, he would say.

I turned that thought leadership into thought leadership for Forbes. Here’s an abridged version of that article.

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Why Fear of Failure Destroys the Best PR Campaigns

Posted on November 15, 2022 by Mark Macias

By Mark Macias

Fear is an attitude that can never be associated with public relations. A creative media strategy requires confidence in an idea and strength with the execution.

The best publicists know they can’t be afraid of creative ideas when pitching reporters. The only thing more dangerous than fear? Complacency.

If your PR firm hasn’t succeeded recently with media outreach, it’s time to assess their level of fear. How far will they go to push your ideas and angles? Are they pushing stories that are already in the news, or are they conceptualizing new ideas that leading publications will want to follow?

Here’s a look at what separates the best PR firms from the agencies that never succeed.

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Best PR Agencies Know How to Tell your Story to the Media

Posted on September 11, 2019 by Mark Macias

You’ll never hear the story if you can’t find the book. It’s no different with the media.

Reporters are constantly bombarded with pitches and ideas. Their inboxes are full of publicists and PR firms wanting to get their clients’ stories told to consumers.

But these publicists and PR firms aren’t strategic in getting their message in front of the right reporters. They spray and pray – a tactic that’s sure to fail.

This is why If you want your story in the media, you need to be strategic in getting your message in front of the right reporters. This is what our team does every day at MACIAS PR – and it’s why we deliver such quality results.

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Creative Social Media Examples – How to Stand Out

Posted on November 15, 2017 by Mark Macias

By Julianna Alvarado

It’s difficult to stand out in today’s cluttered social media world.

Facebook alone receives more than 4 million likes every 60-seconds. Consumers upload 300-plus hours of video every minute to YouTube. And Instagram will collect more than 2 million red hearts before you even finish reading this story.

With this constant stream of content, you need creative content that stands out.

MACIAS PR recently released a video that transported viewers back to the 1920s. We posed the question, “What happens when an actress reveals she wants fame in the 1920s?” and it seemed to spark people’s curiosity.

In just over a week, the video has generated close to 2,000 views on YouTube, and reached more than 1600 people on Facebook. Another 500 consumers actively went out of their way to click on the video and watch it on Facebook.

This 1920s video was successful because it utilized several approaches that drive social media. Here are some of the tactics we used to generate traffic towards our post.

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Thought Leadership PR Campaigns

Posted on August 18, 2015 by Mark Macias

By Mark Macias

Thought leadership is one of the best ways to distinguish your tech startup or business from its competitors, especially if you are a CEO. Your experience brings credibility while personal case studies can teach other tech startups or entrepreneurs how to do it better, which makes for a great business story.

When speaking with potential clients, I always try to get into their minds quickly to identify how credible they will be when speaking with the media. This is particularly important with tech startups that historically enter the business with little credibility. In these situations, it can be helpful to find unique personal stories that can help your narrative.

For example, we work with the CEO of a major lending organization who is also a Latino from Queens. Yes – his expertise is in financial, but he also brings a new dimension of expertise based on his life experiences. How does a Latino rise to the top of a lending organization that was founded by JP Morgan more than 100 years ago? How did he use his culture to help grow his customer base among Hispanics? How did he assimilate into a financial industry that is not known for its diversity? What did the streets of Queens teach him that he applies to the board room?

We used those same questions to get that CEO in the NY Daily News (story above) and later this week, he will be on CNN en Español in prime time, talking about what he learned on the streets of Queens and how he is applying it at work. Thought leadership is about introducing new ideas and life experiences so next time you’re brainstorming on publicity ideas, go back to your roots and work backwards.

Macias PR was named the 2015 “PR Consultant Firm of the Year – USA” by Finance Monthly. The firm was founded by Mark Macias – a former Executive Producer with NBC and Senior Producer with CBS in New York. Macias is a weekly contributor with CNBC.com and author of the communications book, Beat the Press: Your Guide to Managing the Media, which has been featured in the NY Times, Fox Business, NY Post and others. Macias PR has run media campaigns for tech startups, financial groups, service providers, nonprofits and politicians.