Meet the Author

I’m sure we can all recall stories from when we were younger when our parents tried to get us to listen. I can still remember the days my dad would try to talk to me while I was focused on something, whether it was a great movie—like one of my favorite childhood obsessions, Jurassic Park—or one of my favorite books. He would have to repeat my name several times before he could get my attention.

“Laura, Laura, LAURA HOPE,” he would eventually scream, before I would finally look up and say, “Oh, are you talking to me?”

One of my dad’s favorite nicknames for me was Space-case, because of how often I would zone out into my own little world, especially when he was trying to talk to me. I was always focused on what I was thinking or doing, never focused on what he was saying.

He was right. I was a terrible listener.

When we think about success and growth within a community or organization, two groups stand out to me most: Individualism, which is defined as the “moral stance, political philosophy, ideology or social outlook that emphasizes the moral worth of the individual” and conformism, or collectivism, which is “an ideology that emphasizes the interdependence of every human”.

Working in digital, we hear buzzwords like “innovator”, “visionary”, “revolutionary” and “thought leader”, and we think those words represent the best qualities in people who have made or will make a difference in this world. We tend to consider those who are considered original, extreme, no-nonsense and bold as the leaders who stand out most to us in our fields, right?

I was recently on Ragan’s PR Daily reading an article about disruption in PR. I agreed with a lot of what the author had to say, a CEO of a start-up PR firm in Atlanta, and I felt compelled to tell somebody about it. So, where was the first place I went? Twitter, of course. Not only did I think the piece represented my beliefs about the industry, but I also wanted to put it out there for others to read in the hopes it might inspire them, too.

Do you ever feel like you might die if you don’t check Facebook? You know there’s nothing on there you need to see, but for some reason you still feel like you need to check.

Well, you’re not crazy.

Research indicates that the need to connect socially with others is as basic as food, water and shelter. But despite knowing this, many marketers find themselves frustrated when trying to reach people on Facebook – the ultimate human connector online -- and I believe that’s due to one simple concept:

The only constant on Facebook is change.

Online videos have completely transformed the way brands engage. Chances are you’ve heard Nebo talk a lot about the importance of storytelling. Well, YouTube is brand storytelling heaven. Companies have the ability to build and share powerful narratives in the form of videos to reach a desired business goal or benefit causes they’re passionate about. Video enables brands to reach users on a level deeper than any other platform allows.

Because video content tends to have a greater emotional impact than the written word, or even photos and infographics, brands have a unique opportunity to use YouTube to quickly build awareness and connect users with purpose and passion. Videos can inspire a community to take action against a conflict in the market. Videos can build engagement and provoke change faster and wider than any other social platform. Videos generate loyalty and lifelong fans of everything you share and everything you represent.