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This month marks my 12th year with Young & Associates. As I reflect on the last decade, it is certain the PR industry has evolved its fair share. While a lot has changed from how consumers digest content to how we conduct meetings and communicate with clients, there are a few things that remain the same:

1) Tenacity is a key tenant of PR

A tenacious, hardworking agency devoted to its clients is necessary to produce results. Meeting clients’ needs, requests and deadlines is imperative for maintaining success. How do you find an agency like this? When you engage with a potential PR partner, ensure that you will be working with the individuals who initially present the program and carefully review their activities and results with current clients.

2) Strong relationships with reporters are key to success

Potential touch points with journalists have multiplied, but reporters’ schedules seem to be busier than ever. While today there are more ways than ever to connect, e.g., Twitter, LinkedIn, HARO, thoughtfully building a connection with journalists is always the best bet for securing positive media coverage down the road. That means closely following journalists’ stories, their social media presence and reaching out from time to time with brief emails to determine if you or your client can serve as a resource.

3) Writing is always at the core

Writing will always be the foundation of an effective PR program. A decade ago, our focus might have been on press releases, byline articles and case studies. Now we have the luxury of producing a greater variety of multi-faceted content pieces. From eBooks to infographics to blog posts, our communication channels continue to grow allowing us to bring even greater visibility to clients.

Cheers to the next decade! I can’t wait to see what is in store.

We’ve all been there – your PR program starts to feel like Groundhog Day with the same press releases, pitch angles and bylines year after year.

And while publications may still be receptive to your news and ideas, you are likely stuck in a PR rut. Here are a few tips to shake things up and reinvigorate your efforts to maximize results:

1) Hold A Brainstorming Session – Pull in your marketing and sales teams for a brainstorming meeting to get those creative juices flowing. Discuss new tactics – Are there new trends that haven’t been exercised? Sometimes good ideas come from unlikely sources.

2) Interview Unconventional SMEs – Similarly, set-up calls with senior leaders who aren’t traditionally tapped for their expertise to gain an alternative perspective on trends or customer issues the organization is solving.

3) Conduct a Competitive Review – How do your PR efforts stack up against your main competitors? Take a few hours once a quarter to investigate their marketing and PR tactics and coordinating results.

4) Reconnect with Reporters – Even when you have no news or trends to share, drop a friendly line or pick up the phone and remind a reporter that you are glad to serve as a trusted resource.

*Note: This post also appeared in the May 2016 issue of The Spark newsletter.

For many journalists, embargoed news releases represent an advance preview of critical news before an announcement hits the wire. Typically, they offer reporters additional time to process the news, gather additional research, schedule interviews and write their stories to be ready to publish the day the news becomes public. While not all news announcements warrant an embargo, we utilize the approach for important corporate news and often even lengthier product announcements. However, it isn’t as easy as blasting out an embargoed release to your entire media list.

Some reporters do not honor embargoed releases because they view them as a challenge to their news writing process and prefer to cover the news once it is live. Separately, many tech media outlets and blogs will not honor embargoes as a way to avoid the competitive back and forth and habitual embargo breaking that was commonplace in the technology blog world not too long ago (See TechCrunch’s Lyft example here).

However, there are other reporters who won’t cover an announcement if they do not receive the information in advance, proving that knowing reporters’ newsgathering and writing styles is important. This upfront work is paramount to navigating embargoes and building strong relationships with the media. Respecting those preferences will go a long way in helping your company or client achieve successful and ongoing media coverage.

In just a few short days, Chipotle will close its doors for a day in hopes of quelling fears by consumers that its food isn’t safe and most importantly regain lost revenue – dropped nearly 7 percent in Q1 2016 – and customer loyalty. While undoubtedly a PR move by senior execs and its advising agency and internal communications team, the food safety day announcement in mid-January – nearly a month prior to the actual closing day – was mishandled from the start. I’ve read countless articles where the media and the 24/7 news cycle was blamed for the negative press, but in truth it was the PR team and management that bungled what should have been a positive event. Headline after headline declared that Chipotle was shuttering its stores yet failed to mention just for a day. The fast food burrito giant mismanaged its communications crisis by burying the lead and then overlooking critical crisis management steps.

And here’s why: 1) Accept responsibility for the issue – and apologize. Not in the press release or any of the interviews, did the co-owners or communications leads apologize for the issue. 2) Announce all of the steps to be taken to rectify a very serious situation. While announcing a food safety employee day should be a positive, what about all the other steps involved in making Chipotle a safe and healthy place to dine? 3) Communicate quickly to get ahead of the news cycle. I appreciate that it might take a week or so to develop plans for a food safety day, but why wait nearly a month from the announcement to host it? What about the days leading up to the day – are the employees properly trained and is my burrito bowl safe to eat on February 6?

In the age where people move on to the next crisis like a dog gets sidetracked with a squirrel, a few best practices could have severely improved Chipotle’s position with its customers and its bottom line. For the record, I am still frequenting the chain and enjoying the shorter lines.

While there are many traditions worth following, I’ve noticed that the practice of proclaiming New Year’s resolutions often sets people up for failure. They get overly excited about something and quickly commit before thoroughly thinking through what is actually required to deliver. Case in point, the influx into fitness gyms during the first two weeks of January, followed by a mass exodus by mid-February.

The same issue crops up in business, for example, when executives set pie-in-the-sky goals to improve on last year’s results without proper planning. That’s not to say that setting goals is a poor idea; in fact the opposite is true. However, the key lies in the execution – here are a few thoughts to consider when setting goals for the year.

— Focus on the Motivation: What is actually driving your goals? You may want to improve customer satisfaction by a certain percentage by Q2 2016, but consider evaluating your current benchmarks to determine why it needs improvement. Are there specific issues with your product, customer service reps or corporate communication processes that need addressing? Focusing on the “why” will help your team develop meaningful goals that will move the needle in driving success for the whole company.

— Don’t Go It Alone: Make sure to rally the troops before putting a stake in the ground. Securing team-wide accountability and support for a major goal is necessary for meeting all the milestones that lead up to the big results. Also take the time to clearly communicate goals internally before sharing them with external parties – this will help avoid alienating employees and give them a greater sense of team in approaching objectives.

— Plan for Follow-Through: Sure, setting goals makes people feel good, but the follow-through is often hard work. Approaching the goal-setting process with a healthy dose of realism is vital. Develop a solid plan that accounts for all steps required to move forward, including determining metrics and benchmarks that will prove you were successful when you deliver results.

Ultimately it can serve us well to set resolutions to move forward in both our personal and business lives – it helps us stay focused and organized with our eyes on the prize. And in business, the exercise works particularly well for unifying multiple individuals to collaborate toward a specific vision. Wishing our clients, friends and readers a successful 2016…and may your resolutions come to fruition!

As we all sprint to the proverbial finish line – to the end of the year and holidays – it is a good time for a reminder to take time to disconnect. Put the phones and devices away, forget about the To-Do lists, status updates and other social media documentation and give yourself, your family and friends the gift of being present and reconnecting. It is time to reflect on 2015, recharge and reset before the grind restarts on Jan. 4. Do these things and you won’t regret it. Plus, you will be ready to take 2016 by storm. Happy Holidays to you and yours from all of us at Young & Associates. We wish you health, happiness and much success!

In a story that sounded too good to be true, Dan Price, CEO of credit card processing company Gravity Payments, announced in April that he would equalize all salaries to a minimum of $70,000 a year. He also planned to cut his own $1.1 million salary. A media circus soon kicked off and Price appeared on 25+ TV shows and in mainstream news, including The Today Show and Good Morning America, speaking to the benefits of leveling employee pay.

A lawsuit filed by Price’s brother, Gravity Payments co-founder Lucas Price, has raised the question of whether this was a true act of kindness or a ploy to gain quick celebrity status. The jury is still out, but what is clear is that due diligence wasn’t done prior to making the “groundbreaking” decision. Now the company is left trying to figure out how to implement the policy and dealing with employee and customer backlash.

Raising a cautionary tale, the Gravity Payments story spotlights the negative consequences of going too far for 15 minutes of fame.

**This post originally appeared in Y&A’s Spark Newsletter