Kourtney (should) hand a big fat check to her PR team

There's a reason Kourtney looks so smug...

"Helloooo high ratings!"

Because all of you care so much about Kourtney Kardashian, I thought I'd make your day and give you an update since last week.

In case you missed the big news--Kourtney is pregnant. Try not to jump out of your chair from excitement.

Quick review on why you're even reading this celebrity gossip on my blog--I'm claiming that she withheld her pregger news (and who the father is) until right around the time her show, Kourtney and Khloe Take Miami, debuts on E! to draw people in for the drama that is Kourtney and Khloe Kardashian.

This is what we call smart public relations. Use your news to your advantage to make moolah and get good publicity.

Anddddd guess what. It worked. The show was E!'s highest watched show since 2002's Anna Nicole Smith Show. Approximately 2.7 million viewers tuned in which was a 60% jump from the Keeping Up With the Kardashian's premier.

Goes to show that sometimes keeping a secret for a little bit longer is not a bad idea...

"Shh! I've got a little secret up my sleeve!"

Swine Flu Spin

Sometimes a news story can get out of hand. There's no telling why, it could be anything--people who believe anything they read to a bad spin on a subject thanks to some public relations professionals who still practice the dishonest, outdated, and one of the reasons PR pros have a false bad name, spinning technique. 

But for whatever reason, things can get blown out of proportion and the Swine Flu, excuse me, H1N1, is the latest victim. 

I just went to the Wall Street Journal site and saw they had added a tab titled "Flu Outbreak". I log onto Facebook and am bound to find at least 10 new status updates exclaiming their fear of the Swine Flu. The Fort Worth public school system closed schools for several days a few weeks ago. Parents are keeping their kids at home. People are walking around using hand sanitizer every few minutes. My parents called me, panicked, telling me to avoid crowds for several days. 

It's gotten a little over the top. While there definitely is a flu going around, it's not the first, and certainly not the last. I like Bret Stephen's take on the whole ordeal in today's Wall Street Journal. 

Sometimes it is quite valuable, if not always, to get an unaltered point of view from someone not affected by any hysteria in the news and public. Hopefully the people who are 'spinning' the Swine Flu out of orderly control will take note of Mr. Stephen's argument. 

Until next time, 

Sloane and Chelsea

Social Media consumes InPrint once more--Book Review

I've been talking a lot about social media lately. It's not the only part of PR, but it is a huge part, and the capacity to which a PR pro understands and practices it, either makes or breaks their client's success. 

Here at Blueprint we like to stay updated on current trends--whether they're tech trends, news trends, fashion trends, blogging trends, topic trends (Swine flu immediately comes to mind for that one), and the list goes on. That's part of the job, after all, staying up to date with pretty much everything and everyone. So, last Friday I found myself at Barnes and Nobles looking at the newest fiction novels when my "maybe I should check out the marketing section and see what's new" sense switched on. Next thing I know I'm walking out with 8 books on PR and Marketing skills. 

Yes, I sometimes go overboard, especially in bookstores. But I believe in the power of the written word, be it online or in print, and these particular books jumped out at me as a way to become even more of a PR pro (If that's actually possible...). 

Either an employee at Barnes and Nobles strategically placed amazing, intelligent, extremely helpful, perfect, books on the shelves so that I would automatically look at them first, or I'm just an incredible PR-book-picker-outer. So far, the ones I've read are filled with tips, hints, ideas, theories, quotes, history, case studies, and just the right amount of humor to rock the PR pro's world. 

I'm currently in the middle of "Putting the Public Back in Public Relations" and it's the first time I'm having a hard time putting a non fictional book down to be productive. That's saying a lot. I've been highlighting up a storm, crazily writing notes, and nodding in agreement with just about everything Brian Solis and Deirdre Breakenridge discuss. 

My point for this post: If you're looking at either getting into PR, hiring a PR pro, or simply wanting to know more about PR, this is the book that will answer your questions. I'm not divulging any of their topics or information solely on the fact that you will have incentive to go buy it. 

Happy reading and happy Friday everyone! 

Until next time, 

Sloane and Chelsea