Tag

Jaggers Communications

Mar 07
Love0

On the Blog Wagon — How to Fall Off and Get Back to It

By Communications, Social Media

It was pointed out to me today that I haven’t been blogging much at all. And a lack of blogging for me means a lack of Twitter or Facebook interaction and a general sense of missing-in-action for my followers and for me, personally as well. I miss it, and being busy with client work, while true, is not an acceptable excuse. Writers’ block doesn’t suffice as an excuse and isn’t the case, either. It just happens, once in awhile. My appetite wanes, I guess.

So how to re-energize the process?

I’m mixing up my content by adding a couple of contributors: Jaggers Communications team members Rusty Speidel and Erika Gennari have recently contributed blog posts. I’m also thinking philosophically about what content I want to post, categorically, and thinking about reorganizing categories to reflect the firm’s capabilities. I also know from a look at analytics that the more personal I am in my posts, the more reflective about my business or the more fired up I am about a particular communications issue, the larger the audience.

You guys sure like it when I get pissy.

So I’m considering all of that, and working on getting back to posting much more often.

Suggestions, demands and questions will be entertained by the management. Comment below.

Mar 06
Love0

JAGGERS COMMUNICATIONS ANNOUNCES 2012 COMMUNITY PARTNER: CENTER FOR NONPROFIT EXCELLENCE

By Jaggers Communications News

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (March 6, 2012) – Jaggers Communications, a strategic  communications firm with a growing presence in Charlottesville, announces that Center for Nonprofit Excellence (CNE) will be its local pro-bono community partner for 2012. The firm will develop an integrated, strategic communications plan to support the organization’s programs, events and member resources.

“We’re honored to have been chosen as this year’s community partner. Bringing increased awareness to the tools, training sessions and resources we offer will surely help strengthen our local nonprofit community,” said Cristine Nardi, CNE’s executive director.

Jaggers Communications provides a positive impact to the communities in which it has a presence by selecting a nonprofit organization to work with on a pro-bono basis each year. “We believe it is critical to give back to the communities where we live and work,” said Marijean Jaggers, president and owner of the firm. “We’re very excited to work with CNE as this year’s community partner. CNE works with local nonprofits to build the capacity of staff, board and volunteers to effectively manage and lead and to collaborate to increase mission impact. By supporting their initiatives we can effectively support the entire nonprofit community as well as local businesses.”

The firm has added several clients to its roster in 2012 including HemoShear, a biotechnology research company, telecommunications provider Lumos Networks, headquartered in Waynesboro, Va., the Charlottesville Albemarle Association of REALTORS® (CAAR), and Rebecca’s Natural Food, a supplement and organic grocery store based in Charlottesville.

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 About The Center for Nonprofit Excellence
Center for Nonprofit Excellence (CNE) in Charlottesville, Va. is the area’s primary resource for nonprofit management, leadership and collaboration. CNE strengthens nonprofits to reach their potential by sharing information, providing training and professional development and encouraging collaboration to enable a healthy, vibrant community.

About Jaggers Communications
Jaggers Communications applies experience to help businesses and nonprofits reach their business goals through strategic marketing, content creation, public relations and social media. Jaggers Communications provides organizations in the health care, education,technology, travel and tourism industries with social media consulting, public relations support and reputation management strategy. The firm was founded in 2011 to serve businesses with a need for cost-effective, strategic communications with effective reach.

 

Feb 29
Love0

Jaggers Communications Adds Director of Client Services, Rusty Speidel

By Communications, Jaggers Communications News, Public Relations

Last year the most popular post on this blog was, sadly, not written by me. My good friend Rusty Speidel wrote it. So when it became apparent that it was time to expand the Jaggers Communications team, I didn’t have far to look; the right person for the job was right here all along.

He is the Felix to my Oscar; the Ernie to my Bert. I’m so happy to have him as part of the team!

Rusty brings a wealth of experience in brand positioning and management and a specialization in bringing products to market. A long-time digital communications expert, Rusty’s experience has focused on designing or improving user experiences and business processes that drive revenue, increase brand affinity and attract users.

Rusty’s background includes the creation of Rowdy.com, the social network for NASCAR fans. As the vice president of social media for Rowdy, Rusty grew the network to more than 1.5 million views per month and launched the award winning #1 ranked iTunes podcast, which has more than 60,000 downloads per month.

As part of the team at Jaggers Communications, Rusty will be involved in client plan development, brand positioning, project management and client services, content creation and strategic communications planning and execution. His capabilities, interests in technology and the environment, and thought leadership in community development and go-to-market strategy enhance the firm’s product offerings and complement Jaggers Communications’ client service.

Dec 16
Love0

333 Reasons to Use Video to Market Your Small Business

By Communications, Media, Social Media

My friends at Nest Realty launched a video campaign “Live where you love; love where you live.” I was delighted to be included, along with other small business owners in Charlottesville, Va. including Liza Borches from Volvo of Charlottesville, Will Richey of Revolutionary Soup. The approach of featuring real people in a community to share the genuine stories of our love for where we live is pretty compelling. Take a look and tell me what you think — (by the way, 333 people have watched this video at this writing — all probably convinced to drop everything and move to Charlottesville, Va.

 

Dec 13
Love0

The Culture of Social Media without the Platforms; Mind = Blown

By Communications, Public Relations, Social Media

It’s a very busy time for my business and yesterday included a marathon of meetings right in a row (six!). Right in the middle, we met with a prospective client.

Now, Jaggers Communications offers the full suite of communications services from public relations to brand positioning to social media strategy, but often client conversations begin with learning about social media (it is a specialty of our firm). One of the people we met with shared his complete lack of use and knowledge of social media. He’s not engaged in any way online and hasn’t had an interest in doing so personally, even though he understands it’s important for his business to begin to seriously look at digital communications and how they should be used.

Then, he went on about his business philosophy, about how he prefers to serve clients, to interact with partners, to collaborate and nurture a culture of transparency within his organization.

And then my brain exploded.

Everything he said is exactly the culture that social media has established and worked to grow. It’s precisely where bloggers hoped business would evolve when it became impossible to hide behind a curtain of complacency. But it wasn’t the culture online that drove this man’s business values; it’s how his company has done business since the 1970s, long before blogs, Facebook and Twitter.

It was so refreshing, and so very exciting for me to meet with someone who “got it” before the technical aspects were even brought into the discussion. In fact, the words we use to talk about the tactics of social media are almost irrelevant. They’re tools to get us to the goals we make. The framework and quality are there; the genuine stories and rich culture exist; we have the honor of helping the business share them online.

Sometimes my work makes me giddy.