007 Tips You Can Learn from James Bond to Ignite Your Tech PR Career

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James Bond needs no introduction. He’s the most popular secret agent in the world with 26 films and even more books to his name. He’s also someone you can use as a model to strengthen your tech PR skills. Wait! What? Are you serious? Yes! Bond’s behavior, ambition, resourcefulness and more all work in tech PR. In honor of the new Bond film Spectre releasing this year, let's take a look at what 007 can teach us.  

001: Bond Adapts to the Present

If Bond stayed the same and didn’t redevelop his identity multiple times over the years, he’d be KIA (killed in action) just like every other 00 agent. While tech PR isn’t espionage, agencies that don’t adapt to new trends risk being abandoned by their clients and the media. So to ensure your agency remains relevant, always evolve your tech PR craft and pay attention to changes in the industry.

002: Bond Is Proactive

Observe Bond in the films and you’ll notice he goes to venues alone, conducts his own research and makes new connections without his boss M's approval. While you should probably get permission for high-level assignments, don’t be afraid to proactively pitch, share new ideas in team meetings and find that next great connection independently. Don’t wait around for opportunities to come to you. Make it happen.

003: Bond Constantly Seeks Out New Experiences

A day in the life of Bond is never the same. He’s always off having little adventures, whether it’s skiing in Switzerland, bungee jumping, playing a round of golf or using the latest Q-Branch gadgets. Obviously most people don’t share Bond’s luxurious work schedule, but devoting some of your free time to new activities can enrich your life in surprising ways. It might not seem practical now, but your interests and passions may prove invaluable to brainstorming the next great byline or press release idea for your clients.

004: Bond Is Ready for the Unexpected

Bond dresses to impress and lives a life of spontaneity. You never know when you’ll run into a client outside of work. So always be mindful of your appearance. Also, how you act in response to a client’s internal crisis can make or break your relationship. Do you know how to act under pressure? There’s no harm in preparing ahead of time, but you need to be able to act without hesitation – like Bond does.

005: Bond Is Very Thorough

Bond is meticulous with his research and knows his co-workers, friends and especially rivals like the back of his hand. He’s always thinking one step ahead and lining up his next move similar to a great poker player. You can do the same when interacting with your clients by demonstrating you’ve done your homework.

006: Bond Is Charismatic

Bond may be a cold-blooded killer, but he’s also an expert conversationalist. Watch his body language and behaviors to see how he demonstrates charisma. Observe how he focuses completely on who he’s talking to and displays just enough mystery to get people thinking about him when they’re alone. Be like him at your next networking event but also while you’re working. Consider this: do your pitches, conference calls and coffee meetings leave people wanting more?

007: Bond Never Gives Up

The most critical character trait of Bond is determination. Remember on those tough workdays that Bond has encountered much worse and still found ways to overcome his problems. You can’t win them all. So don’t let a reporter’s rejection or a client leaving your agency for someone else become personal. You might not be 007, but you can learn from him to better your tech PR career or any job for that matter.

For five more 007 tips check here and prepare for Spectre with this Bond film roundup.

Meet the BOCA Pets

At BOCA, we’ve enjoyed introducing you to our new BOCAteers over the last few months. Now it’s the BOCA pets turn in the spotlight. Each BOCA pet has a personality (almost) as unique as his or her owner, along with some interesting stories. Without further ado, it’s time meet the BOCA pets.

Bentley

Breed: Morkie (a mixture of Maltese and Yorkie)

Owner: Senior Account Executive Natalie Wolfrom

Bentley’s Personality

“He’s always super happy, which is what I love most about him. Recently he’s had this more territorial personality where he growls when he sees other dogs outside, which is something he never used to do. So he’s become more like a little-man protective type, which I still think is cute. In general, he’s a very loving dog and gets along with most other dogs.”    

Bentley’s Cool Story

“I’ve had him since he was a pup, and he’s pretty much used my cat Spartacus as his role model. So instead of a dog figure he has a cat figure in his mind. He has some cat habits like licking and cleaning his paws, and whenever he sees a dog he will get down like a cat and literally get ready to pounce. To me, I know what he’s doing so it's playful and cute. However, I understand when dog owners think Bentley is trying to attack their dogs, so that doesn’t really go off too well. Some other cat tendencies he has are to rest on the top of my couch like Spartacus does. Dogs don’t normally do that and sometimes Bentley gets up there and sits with Spartacus side by side, or sometimes on top of him.”-Natalie Wolfrom

Chai

Breed: Poodle/Bichon mix

Owner: Account Director Michelle Newburgh

Chai’s Personality

“Chai is friendly, loving, outgoing and loyal. I love that he is empathetic, wants to be around people and can sense when someone is stressed or in need of comfort. I feel having Chai in the office helps with teamwork. He helps people relax and de-stress by sitting on their laps and being held. Personally, he forces me to take breaks, which helps keep me refreshed. When I get back to my desk, I often have a new way of looking at a something and find myself more productive. I love having him in the office and that my colleagues enjoy his company as much as I do.”

Chai’s Cool Story

“Chai's former owners spoke fluent Japanese. One day I had a few Japanese friends over, and they started giving him commands in Japanese. To my surprise and delight, he started doing all sorts of new tricks! I had no idea he was a bilingual dog.” -Michelle Newburgh

Bella

Breed: Miniature Schnauzer 

Owner: Vice President Ashley Breinlinger

Bella’s Personality

“Many BOCAteers refer to Bella as Kim Kardashian, which I tell myself is because of her fantastic eyelashes and luscious locks, but I think it's actually because she can be something of a diva. She LOVES her work pack and was very sad to be home alone with me and the baby while I was out on maternity leave because she clearly thinks she has important work to do here at the BOCA office. She spends much of her time here greeting visitors and inspecting purses and backpacks for food. Beyond that I hope she functions as a work-therapy dog when people need a snuggle break from pitching and meetings.”

“One trait I love is that Bella is very perceptive. Unlike some breeds, she looks people directly in the face and will ask how your day is going and where the next adventure will be, all with her eyes. If she sees that someone is hurt or sad, she wants to help and give them love.”

Bella’s Cool (Sweet) Story

“My mom passed away from cancer at our family home nearly five years ago when Bella was just a puppy. My mom taught her to fetch and loved her very much, and the day that my mom died, Bella sat with her on her bed and would not leave her side for 24 hours. Bella refused to eat or drink or go outside, and instead stayed nestled under my mom's arm the entire time as she slipped away. In fact, all of our family dogs (we had three at the time) stayed with my mom either on her bed or underneath it during that time. I think Bella knew something was changing in my mom, and she wanted to be there to comfort her and all of us through it.” -Ashley Breinlinger

Zoe
Breed: Boston Terrier
Owner: BOCA Founder Kathleen Shanahan

Zoe’s Personality
“Zoe is the Mayor. Literally, she is the Mayor of BOCA and our street, Francisco Street. She trots around knowing that people know that she not only belongs on this street but basically owns the street. She is intelligent and loving - a huge people person. Everyday she comes to work, and she visits our lovely neighbors here on Francisco Street…be it Water Lilly Cleaners for yummy Chinese Food, Cafe Francisco for bacon scraps or Sweeties - a #1 dive bar here in San Francisco - so she can chase bottle caps. Lastly, she is a lover, not a fighter. She cuddles everyone and just likes to visit friends and chill out."

Zoe’s Cool Story

“One day my wonderful work colleague told me that her brother was talking about a super smart dog that he met on the corner of Cole and Carl (Cole Valley - the San Francisco neighborhood she lives in full time when not at BOCA). He met a Boston Terrier with brindle coloring that was playing ball with him.” 

“Not playing any ball. The dog was strategically nudging the ball to his foot and looking at him, making a bark (an order) and basically saying in dog language, "please pick up that ball or kick it for me."

“When this brother spoke about the dog, he met - our BOCA employee (VP) said that is Zoe…she is famous for her ball skills and lives in Cole Valley. Zoe is the ONLY brindle Boston in the Cole Valley area. So known is the Cole Valley area she is even part of a dog mural on Cole Street. I am just amazed by her intelligence. She truly sits apart from other dogs. Zoe, also swims…most Boston Terriers can't swim, but she can, perfectly.”-Kathleen Shanahan

Some of the most successful companies in the world welcome pets on their premises and BOCA is no different. Bentley, Chai, Bella and Zoe all help our staff finish an exhausting tech PR workday by cheering us up and keeping us motivated. We couldn’t imagine our work life without the BOCA pets and consider them an integral part of the BOCA family. 

Best Practices for Writing Emails

Photo: Seamus Mcgill Licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons -

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Although you may not consider yourself an expert wordsmith, it’s likely you write as part of your job every day, and most of that writing is probably in the form of emails. The vast majority of jobs (especially in PR) require daily email use, so it’s imperative that your writing’s clear and concise. Try these email best practices to improve your writing and boost your productivity in no time.

EMAIL ETIQUETTE

Don’t beat around the bush

Nowadays most people read emails on their phone, so keep your messages short and easy to understand. Ditch overly long emails and get to the point in three sentences or less.

Pay attention to your email format

How your emails look makes a huge difference. Always check that your font matches, use bullets strategically and put keywords in bold so important facts stand out.

Watch your tone

Written communication differs from face-to-face conversations so make sure what you say doesn't send the wrong message. Use smiley faces or other emoticons if the conversation isn’t too formal, eliminate redundancies and avoid sounding negative. A positive and upbeat approach is much more effective.

Don’t forget the greeting and closing statement

When writing email make sure to greet everyone and leave them with an closing statement. It really comes down to personal preference, but words like cheers, best, kind regards and anything else that fits your style works.

EMAIL FUNDAMENTALS

Use a great subject line

Use a memorable subject line like a question, the recipient’s first name, or put the word urgent to ensure your email gets quick attention. If you’re reaching out to a reporter, try referencing their Twitter account in some way in the subject line.  

Respond quickly

People always prefer a quick response versus waiting days for a reply. Obviously, it’s not possible for every email, but acknowledging someone within 24 hours shows you’re paying attention.

Avoid playing email tag

To avoid lots of back-and-forth, ask all your questions upfront and provide answers right away. Also, repeat back instructions you received and ask for deadlines or any other important information so you can start working immediately.

Follow up professionally

Sometimes you don’t get a response no matter what you do. Instead of getting mad, take a more thoughtful approach. Add some additional information to your message and acknowledge that you know the recipient busy. Oftentimes people just missed your first email and need a friendly reminder. If this fails to produce a response, just pick up the phone.

PROOFREADING TIPS

Use Microsoft Word spell checker and read emails out loud

Gmail and Outlook don’t catch everything, so before hitting send use Microsoft Word or another spell checker like Grammarly. Besides spell checking, read your emails out loud. Doing so helps you detect run-on sentences, sentence fragments and misplaced or missing commas.

Send emails to yourself

It’s easy to make a typo without realizing it. Prevent embarrassing mistakes by sending emails to yourself first. Reading your message from the recipient’s perspective helps you catch issues you might have missed.

Have a co-worker or friend review your email

Sometimes a second pair of eyes helps you find writing flaws you wouldn’t see otherwise. When sending high-priority emails, like securing media coverage, getting peer feedback makes all the difference.

TRIM THE FAT FROM YOUR EMAILS

Eliminate long-winded sentences

Remove unnecessary prepositional phrases to make your writing easy to read. You don’t need to eliminate them all, but more than three per sentence is probably too many. See the Paramedic Method for a more thorough breakdown.

Shorten your paragraphs

If you do write long emails, shorten your paragraphs to improve readability. No one likes reading huge paragraphs with no white space. So keep your paragraphs concise (under 100 words) whenever possible.

Make a word watchlist

Maybe swearing like a sailor and saying bat-shit-crazy wasn’t the best move. Learn from your bad email experiences by creating a word watchlist so you don’t repeat the same errors again. Words people frequently misspell, like embarrassment, and meaningless jargon also make good inclusions.

EMAIL PRODUCTIVITY HACKS

Use a timer

Do you have an overwhelming number of emails that require a response ASAP? Try giving yourself a short deadline of 25 minutes to compose a pre-determined number of emails, say five or ten. This way you won’t waste time rewriting the same emails over and over again.

Wake up earlier

Waking up earlier does wonders for you productivity. Just ask Tim Cook. You don’t have to get up at 4:30am everyday like he does, but getting started before the 9am email onslaught begins means more free time for you.

Work on two screens

Having your email open constantly interferes with your productivity. So, to lessen distractions, limit emails to your phone or tablet. Use your computer only when you need to respond.

We’ve covered a lot of email tips, but feel free to try just a few. A few weeks of implementing these strategies routinely, and you’ll be an email all-star!