Earlier this week I received a LinkedIn question from Jay Ehret, wondering whether I knew of any good, free eBooks on marketing. Unfortunately, most of the eBooks that I knew of were not free. But then, yesterday, Andrea Vascellari, sent a message on Twitter advising on the availability of a free marketing strategy eBook.
From a quick scan, "Strategic Communications Planning" by Dave Fleet is a great introduction to the steps required to develop a corporate communications plan. It covers context, audience, messaging, tactics, budget and even evaluation. For those wanting to go into further detail on the planning process, I would advise you to join the Plannersphere and begin reading the blogs of various members. AND don’t forget to visit the Staufenberger Repository to download this valuable (and rare) PDF of Stephen King’s Planning Guide.
But remember, while this material is available free of charge, putting the recommendations and suggestions in place in either a client or in-house setting is a challenge. The ideas are out there, but the devil is in the execution, in how you actually turn these ideas into frameworks, notes, analysis documents and creative briefs — and that is where professional planners can add real value. Good luck!
Fantastic. thanks for sharing these links Gavin. So there is value in Twitter after all:)
Cheers,
DK
@Gavin:
Hi Gavin!
Thanks for the link + for joining the conversation!
Like I said in my blog-post ( http://www.andreavascellari.com/blog/?p=238 ) this is a really good book that I would recommend to anyone out there who’s interested in getting into the world of PR. The book is based on his personal experience and in my opinion this is a plus…
@DK: Yep… there’s value in micro-blogging conversation 😉
Andrea
This is a great overview. Good to see the aussies pushing through. Too bad about them joking in the pool in Beijing
I have put my thoughts on it here
http://thingsdonotchangewechange.blogspot.com/2008/08/great-rundone-on-communications.html
thanks again
Hi Gavin,
Thanks for drawing attention to the ebook. Hope you find it useful! You’re absolutely right – knowing the process is the easy part; implementing it is where the skill comes in.
Cheers,
Dave
Its funny how you pick up adverts on things like twitter and google. At least twitter offered something good this time.
Thanks Judith, glad you found it useful.