The world today is one of instant gratification. We want results, and we want them quickly.

The web gives us access to more information than our predecessors could have ever predicted, and because we can get results quickly, we make decisions quickly too. And that makes public relations measurement more important than ever.

The ROI of money invested in gardening public relations should be easy to see, but many question it. Analytics can be an important component of the work we do as PR professionals.

Read more to learn how to leverage analytics tools to serve our needs power of Google Analytics and how it can serve PR professionals.

What do you think of when you hear the word intern? Do you imagine a personal assistant running around getting coffee and laundry? Is the first word that pops into your head clumsy or inexperienced?

It is time to re-think the intern stereotypes and start looking at interns as investments for the future success for your company.

Here are some reasons to invest in educating the next generation of PR experts.

Yet again, social media is stepping up their game. Currently, the most engaging form of media is video. Well, not for long! The next big thing is coming and it is going to shake things up. What could possibly be more virtually engaging than a video? The answer is Virtual Reality.   

Virtual Reality (VR) will leapfrog video like video leapfrogged photographs. It will bring an unprecedented level of engagement to the table and force yet another advance among everyone’s social media accounts.

Read below to find out exactly how VR will revolutionize the digital world!

We are halfway through a glorious 2018, so because we love trends, let’s take a minute to look at some of the hottest trends in public relations!

Trends are important because it gives everyone a look at the direction the industry is taking. They give a more or less accurate reading on what is working and what is not.

Trends are an outline of what is popular which can influence business decisions. Not to mention, trends are a major source of content for the industry. 

In case you’ve been missing out, read below for a quick guide to four of the latest and greatest PR trends.

Here at Garden Media we are huge fans of talk radio and NPR is our favorite.

So when the podcast medium went through a resurgence, we were thrilled.

Our fascination started with Serial, grew to How I Built This, by Guy Raz and morphed into an addiction with Adam Grant's new podcast Work Life.

We've written an entire blog about why you should start podcasting. And we've created a list of our favorite PR and marketing podcasts. But today, we are going to dive into our favorite gardening podcasts to listen to. And, we want to hear from you, too! What are your favorites podcasts? What are your favorite episodes? Let's hear it!

Read on for our eight favorite gardening podcasts of 2018.

PR professionals are always looking for ways to make their clients shine the brightest. Whether that is getting their name in print, promoting and posting about them on social media, or getting an interview to air, it is their passion to see their client’s company name everywhere. Branding a garden business is one of the things we at Garden Media Group do best.

But what about when you want to develop your personal brand? Have you ever thought about that?

A personal brand shows off who you are and the person you want to be to the world. Most people know this as a reputation. When you’re in school, you can be known for being the smart kid, the stinky kid, the fast kid, or the bully. Humans are susceptible to associating people they know to things they relate with. As you grow up, these associations start to shape you.

If you want to develop a personal brand you need to think about how your decisions, actions and values shape that brand.

Continue reading to find out how more about your personal brand and how to make it shine.

The problem people find with emails is that it is difficult to communicate the tone of your voice. 

Depending on the mood the person on the receiving end is in will determine how it is read.

The thing you were trying to joke about? It might be read as being snooty. The friendly email sent to cover up the annoyance you feel? It will sound immature.

When you send a professional email that may sound rude, you can feel compelled to add a smiley face or put a “LOL” next to it. You need to stop doing that now – you will start to see a difference on how you are treated in the workplace.

Learn how to eliminate useless words from your emails and start getting to the point.

Creativity and innovation go hand-in-hand at thinking outside the box. It allows the brain to be used to create something out of nothing or even to fix something when it’s not working. But what happens when you get stuck in the box?

The Kirton Adaption-Innovation (KAI) is an evaluation tool that measures your style of creativity and problem solving based on your range of adapting or innovating. If you want to do things better, you probably would score higher on the adaptive range. Want to be different? You’d be on the innovative side. Thomas Edison was probably adaptive, while Albert Einstein was probably innovative.

Richard Tait invited Garden Media to try it for ourselves at our monthly ‘Lunch with a Pro’ workshop.

Richard, who has a Ph.D. in physics, co-founded the DuPont Company’s worldwide Creativity and Innovation Center. Today he is an international consultant in innovation and new corporate and product ventures.

GMG invited Richard for a lunch and learn to help our team brainstorm bigger and better ideas for our clients.

Read on to continue learning about Richard, KAI and what Garden Media learned.

Do you encourage your staff to pursue professional development on a regular basis? Do you allow them time to improve their skills while on the clock? If not, why?

The ROI when a staff member can improve themselves is a low investment with a high rate of return for the company.