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Forbes
01-04-2025
- Business
- Forbes
Building A Remote PR Team: Challenges And Solutions
New York native and nomad by choice—Emily is a marketing & PR pro, now the founder of the award-winning R Public Relations, New York. getty In a post-Covid-19 world, remote work has become more normalized in many industries—including public relations. It's so normalized, in fact, that U.S. workers' remote workdays have stabilized and shifted to regular business hours since 2020, according to Gallup's 2023 annual Work and Education poll. With such stabilization, some businesses are switching to fully remote teams. For those in PR, building and managing a high-performing remote team opens up a world of possibilities in what you can offer to both your team and clients. But just as building a traditional, in-person team brings challenges, so too does building an entirely remote team—from how quickly the industry moves to ensuring all team members communicate properly. While the challenges that come with building a remote PR team can seem daunting, there are solutions you can implement as you build and create your team. Taking the time to understand how to tackle the challenges that come with fully remote work can help set your PR business up for long-term success. The PR space is very fast and is known for trends, news cycles and ever-changing strategies. While plenty of tried-and-true practices have stuck around, the nature of PR is still quickfire and requires immediate responsive action. If your remote team is not well-connected and excellent at both internal and external communication, you can miss media opportunities. Remote PR teams are responsible for a great deal of communication. To ensure your team communicates effectively, it's important to set up tools that make it easier for them. This includes everything from email and video conferencing software to online project management platforms. Here are a few of my team's favorites: • Google Workspace • Microsoft Outlook • Slack • Zoom • Trello • Asana • • Basecamp Communication options are wide and varied, giving you freedom in how to best build a communication toolbox suited to your team's needs. Remember, video conferencing platforms allow remote PR teams to meet on camera, record meetings and easily share screens as needed while project management tools are key to keeping your team on track and ensuring the moving parts of all your projects are completed. PR is all about setting the tone—something notoriously hard to do online. And for a fully remote PR team, being able to set the tone is crucial for every aspect of their work. When it's time to nail the messaging tone, unclear organization guidelines and team members lacking the ability to write effectively can lead to issues. One major factor when hiring for a remote PR team is ensuring your team members are able to write conversational English in addition to professional business writing. This can ensure they accurately convey the tone of messaging on behalf of clients, no matter the project they're working on. Tone is important to maintain across all client work, from strategic communications and public affairs to crisis management, as it helps build trust and credibility. As you build your remote PR team, ask to see writing portfolios during the hiring process and consider offering additional training opportunities once individuals are brought on. A fully remote team doesn't have the luxury of meeting in person for training. And for the PR industry, which has a learning curve, this can be a challenge! You can't really learn the nuts and bolts of PR in a classroom. There's a good amount of on-the-job learning that has to happen, and this is particularly tricky in remote settings. But it's not impossible. One solution to address your team's PR learning curve is to develop a robust meeting structure, including training opportunities. This helps ensure your remote team is meeting regularly and keeps everyone in the loop on projects, clients and internal news. Training opportunities for employees of all experience levels can be built into your meeting structure at regular intervals to help team members improve their skills and knowledge, from media training to professional development workshops. You can also consider a formal mentorship program that pairs individuals with experienced peers within your organization (something that benefits both mentors and mentees), making for unique knowledge-sharing opportunities and career advancement. Building a remote PR team means you might face a range of challenges, even beyond what I've covered above. Here are a few additional solutions to keep in mind as you build up your team. • Establish clear communication guidelines to help keep your team on the same page—from which communication platforms are to be used to how asynchronous communication works for your team. • Create a remote team culture where possible. Recognize professional accomplishments, create social time once a month (such as a virtual team lunch) and incorporate a 'social' channel into your chosen communication platform. • Define remote work guidelines so that all team members know what's expected of them from day one. A remote PR team comes with its challenges as you build, but there are solutions you can incorporate to lay a strong foundation for your team. Understanding how fast the PR industry moves, establishing clear communication channels and ensuring your team has training opportunities to continue growing professionally over time are just a few solutions to consider as you build up your high-performing team. Remember, you have total freedom to incorporate solutions and strategies that suit how you want your remote PR team to function and how you ultimately want to serve your clients. Get creative and enjoy the process! Forbes Business Council is the foremost growth and networking organization for business owners and leaders. Do I qualify?
Zawya
20-03-2025
- Business
- Zawya
The cloud pendulum: why companies are swinging back to on-prem?
Companies are increasingly turning away from cloud as they shift their data and workloads back to on-premises platforms, but is this the right move in a world where cloud is evolving asks Chris Badenhorst, Head of Azure Core Services at Braintree. Cloud is more expensive than companies expected. According to a Citrix survey, companies are turning back the cloud clock, repatriating workloads to on-prem solutions because cloud introduces security risks, isn't performing to expectations, and is adding more zeroes to the bottom line than anticipated. There are already case studies – 37signals, the developers behind Basecamp, have walked away from cloud and other names are following suit – which has, for some, signalled a trend. However, the truth lies somewhere in the middle. Expedia, for example, has remained within the cloud as the company needs the agility and scale it provides to service a global market. The company's thriving within this architecture because it has a cloud centre of excellence and this has led to savings of around 10% on costs over the past year. It's a case study in optimisation and setting clearly defined policies and processes that minimise the risks associated with cloud spend while extracting the most possible value. There is no point going around the cost of cloud, particularly in the South African context. The US dollar and fluctuating exchange rates make cloud expensive for most organisations, even before they've created workloads or opened instances. However, both on-prem and cloud costs are influenced by one increasingly important factor – strategy. While there is plenty of hype around the concept of cloud repatriation and the headings are as dramatic as those claiming the mainframe has died (it hasn't), companies need to pause before they walk from cloud. Regardless of the direction you want to take your business, you need a clearly defined strategy that outlines workload demands, costs, efficiencies and use cases. Not all workloads that return to an on-premises implementation will be cost-efficient when compared with their usage in the cloud, and some companies may benefit from a hybrid multi-cloud strategy that gives them the space they need to optimise costs without losing ground. You need to evaluate which workloads are more cost-effective on-prem versus those that are cheaper in the cloud and pay attention to stability. Maintaining stability in the public cloud is not as complex as in on-premise environments so your requirements as a business may lean towards a solution that enhances this, or it may not even be a relevant consideration. You also need visibility. The cost conversation is more nuanced than just the cost of workloads. There's also the cost of governance within public cloud environments which is understandably more complex. However, instead of ditching cloud as too expensive or too risky, a well-defined strategy will ensure you can make an educated decision around OPEX versus CAPEX. It will also provide you with insight into your costs upfront – you need to know exactly how much that instance is going to cost, or how much you will spend on required assets before you invest in the cloud. Companies are losing their love for the cloud because not enough work is being done to evaluate their environments correctly at the start, and because they don't realise how many tools and services exist in environments like Azure which are designed to help them do just that. These tools give companies options when it comes to deciding their cloud futures because they offer insight into expenditure and give finance teams the data they need to make informed decisions. Instead of jumping back on-prem, you can optimise their infrastructure based on real-time, relevant insights that shift your costs back down to the level that you need. It comes down to having the right information. Companies are eyeing the exit because of amorphous promises about cost savings and unfulfilled expectations. Strategy, stakeholder buy-in and engaging with decision-makers are key success metrics for cloud – and for exiting the cloud or creating a hybrid or multi-cloud architecture. Whether your organisation wants to expand geographically or build an ecommerce site or simply refine expenditure, you need to consistently return to your strategy and planning. The same applies to your decision to leave the cloud. Is your plan taking your strategy into account? Will your existing cloud or on-prem architecture deliver on what the business needs over the next five to ten years? How will leaving the cloud shape expenditure versus staying? Ultimately, there is no one perfect architecture for everyone, but there is the perfect solution for your business and your strategy. That's where the sweet spot lies, and where you decide if you're pivoting out to the cloud or into on-prem. And it's where having a partner that understands the sweet spot is essential because then you don't run the risk of losing out. Copyright © 2022 - All materials can be used freely, indicating the origin Provided by SyndiGate Media Inc. (
Yahoo
17-02-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Portable 'tiny house' RVs are cheap and fun
SHREVEPORT, La. (KTAL/KMSS) – Have you ever considered selling everything and buying a tiny house? If so, would you consider traveling part-time in an RV first? The United States is undergoing a social movement that promotes the use of tiny homes that offer eco-friendly and lower-cost lifestyles. But with many tiny house companies charging big prices for small spaces, it's difficult for some Americans to make the switch to tiny house living. That's where RVs come into the picture. A used RV can cost a fraction of the price of a new tiny home, and the portability of a small RV can help potential tiny-home buyers practice tiny-space living before they fully commit to the lifestyle. There are many reasons to choose a lightweight RV as your portable tiny home, including: Fuel efficiency: Lightweight RVs can easily be towed by small SUVs or small trucks. The lightweight RV setup is easier to maneuver than a heavy motorhome, which can be more expensive than lightweight RVs to move and operate. Smaller camping spaces, that are not options for motorhomes and larger SUVs, are no problem for small vehicles and lightweight RVs. Lightweight RVs are budget-friendly, with some gently used models selling online for less than $10K. Lightweight RVs, particularly those with solar capabilities, are easier to take with you to explore backroads and off-grid campsites. If you're interested in learning more about lightweight RVs, the following campers can give you a glimpse into the world of small-scale but big-picture living. Airstream Basecamps are one of the most attractive lightweight RVs on the market. According to Airstream's website, the Basecamp is made for 'those who want to see the world.' And the basecamp is a tough little RV, too. Light filters into the RV through wrap-around windows, and an outdoor shower is ideal for those who want to thrive in nature without going full-scale hunter-gatherer. The Basecamp is available in a 16'3″ or 20′ model. It is 7′ wide and 8'8″ tall and weighs 3,500 pounds before you fill it with your hiking and fishing gear. It also includes a 21-gallon freshwater tank and a 24-gallon graywater tank. The 10′ version of the RV sleeps up to four people. Prices on used Basecamps can be as inexpensive as $23K or as high as $73K, so do your homework before buying. If you're looking to spend around $10K for a small, used RV, consider buying a Braxton Creek Bushwacker. Braxton Creek has been recently rebranded to Bontrager Outdoors, but it still has the same quality and adorability. The Bushwacker series featured trailers 10-12′ long, which is perfect for vehicles with a lower towing capacity. The Bushwacker Plus trailers, however, were between 15 and 17′ feet long. Bontrager Outdoors will have new lightweight models available soon if you're only interested in purchasing a new RV, but the recent rebranding may be an excellent opportunity to score a good deal on lightly used Bushwackers. It should be noted that Bushwacker RVs are small even by tiny-home standards. Bushwacker models can weigh as little as 1300 pounds. And did we mention that used Bushwackers are budget-conscious? Starcraft is owned by Thor Industries. Their 19BH model weighs less than 3500 pounds, sleeps four, and costs around $20K new. You can buy a gently used Autumn Ridge for under $15K, and the new base models start off at the same price. They weigh around 3,000 pounds. If you're looking for a Texas-made, lightweight RV, the Casita might be just the camper for you. The ultra-lightweight and water-resistant fiberglass body has helped the company develop a cult following, and the high resale prices prove that investing in a Casita may be wise. At the time of this article's publication, a used 2021 Heritage Deluxe Casita was listed on for $28K, while a new Casita Independence (2025 model) was available for $26K. Even a 2018 Casita had an asking price of $24K. So yes, Casita's hold their value. Casitas weigh less than 2500 pounds and have a maximum capacity of 2-3 people. And did we mention that they're manufactured in Rice, Texas? Sales prices are as low as $14K for the 2025 Forest River Cherokee Wolf Pup 17EV, which compares to the 2025 Keystone Coleman 13B that lists for $10K. And yes, they're both brand new. The Coleman weighs less than 2500 pounds, while the Wolf Pup weighs around 3000 pounds. They are bare-bones basic, but if you're planning to spend most of your time outdoors while you're camping, these basic campers are a bargain. If you're ready to sell it all and live a bigger version of tiny, why not consider a destination trailer? These RVs are surprisingly posh, with two-story options available, and they're not that expensive when compared to high-end tiny homes. Destination Trailers are meant to give their owners the ability to live their RV life in a more residential home-styled design. Check out this brand new Forest River Salem Villa Grand 42View if you want to completely rethink everything you thought you knew about tiny houses and RVs. But don't get too attached if you're on a super tight budget, though, because this bad boy lists at just over $80K and weighs in at more than 13000 pounds before you load it down with hiking boots, bicycles, groceries, and your husband's baseball card collection that he refuses to part with as you're downsizing. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
