What you know after 15 years in business.

Table of Contents

By Cathy-Anne O’Brien

It was a LinkedIn message that reminded us of our upcoming 15th anniversary. We launched BlueSky Communications in October 2002, the same year LinkedIn was founded. A year overshadowed by 911, we saw a downturn in the economy and widespread corporate scandal from companies like Arthur Andersen and WorldCom. A collective cynicism of the world was sweeping over us.

But it didn’t stop us from dreaming. Harry Potter was slaying monsters, we had 4000 songs in our pocket with the second-generation Apple iPod, and Kelly Clarkson went from waitress to America Idol.

All this made for the ideal business climate to launch a public relations firm. My business partner and sister, Julie McCarthy, and I were dreaming of being entrepreneurs, leaving corporate life behind to run our own business. Armed with two desktop computers set up in the attic of my downtown Toronto home, and a project from Bell Canada, we were launched.

We were eager to please. Bubbling with energy and enthusiasm, obsessing over every campaign, every email, every proposal and presentation, we were committed to “surprising and delighting” our clients.

And it worked. We developed a roster of clients who we truly enjoyed working with, many of whom are either BlueSky clients today or great referral sources. We were committed to delivering outstanding work that made us proud – and what was a job became our passion.

Fifteen years and more than 100 campaigns later, we’ve grown into a team of 10 communications professionals who have executed countless PR successes in just about every industry.

What do we take away from all this experience?

That effective communications is not only essential for every business, it defines who we are, as an organization, as a brand, and as people.

We learned that it’s important to surround yourself with people you enjoy working with – colleagues and clients – and ask yourself regularly, are you still having fun (most of the time)? When the answer becomes a ‘no’, time to change things up.

Try new things. Embrace the unfamiliar with a fresh visor and when it pushes the comfort level too much, we find partners who complement our skill set.

Tell everyone you meet what you do. You never know what business opportunities can arise, even where you least expect it.

Never burn a bridge. When you don’t see eye-to-eye, search for a consensus in every situation and leave things on good terms whenever possible.

Stay current on the latest and greatest. Know a little about a lot, and read, read and read some more. Meet regularly with other marketing professionals and folks outside the industry to hear about their successes, trends in their world, and be sure to continually cultivate that network.

These guiding principles have served us well over the past 15 years in business. They have shaped our culture and our brand, while ensuring a steady growth year over year. It’s a mindset that has allowed us to develop true partnerships with many clients and create a non-hierarchical team who seems to enjoy working with us. These values will certainly continue, but our future will bring an added emphasis on gratitude and celebration. That celebration includes honouring company milestones and marking client successes, but most importantly it means showing gratitude to our amazing BlueSky team, who we know is the key to our business success.

 

Blog Posts by Keyword

Content Development

Effective, creative content is at the core of what we do. From B2B and B2C, our expertise spans article writing and storytelling, editorial planning, key messaging, video production and more. And we help ensure that your content gets seen. We amplify your brand’s story through an integrated, custom content strategy across digital, print, social and broadcast channels. We maximize owned, earned and paid media to amplify your message, making sure it gets in front of the right audience to drive the results you want.

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Corporate Communications

An integral part of any business, your brand reputation and corporate communication sets the tone with the public, your clients, employees and stakeholders – and we make sure you get the tone right. BlueSky helps you understand what matters to your audiences – both external and internal – and develops meaningful programs that resonate. We help clients with crisis and issues management, employee and executive communications, community relations and corporate social responsibility (CSR). Whether it’s a workplace fundraiser event, an annual report, infographics, HR video or speechwriting, we help you share your message with relevant stakeholders.

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Social Media

Social media demands an always on, two-way communication, transparency, and authentic interaction. More importantly, it demands strategy. We’ve managed social communities, developed social media guidelines and created engaging, impactful content, whether a short Instagram caption or long-form executive-published posts on LinkedIn. Through social listening tools and insights, we can make sure you’re talking about what matters most to your audience, and that your online and traditional PR efforts are integrated seamlessly and effectively.

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Public Affairs & Advocacy

Our in-depth experience providing integrated government relations, public affairs and strategic communications tailored to your needs helps our clients navigate the public policy process in order to successfully achieve central objectives. We work with you to better position your priorities within the current political landscape to ensure you’re able to gain the ear of key decision-makers and reach your goals.

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Influencer Marketing

When it comes to social influencers it’s not about who has the biggest audience, but about engagement, trust and authentic connection. We leverage valued relationships with nano- to celebrity-level creators, working collaboratively to ensure they deliver quality content that resonates with your target audience and is on-point with your brand messaging. Our winning formula requires a thoughtful approach that combines the right people, the right content and the right distribution to maximize engagement and drive impact at scale. You’ll see the results in our campaign evaluations – supported by numbers that exceed industry average performance.

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Media Relations & Media Training

In an environment that is increasingly pay-to-play, earned media remains the holy grail of coverage for brand credibility. Over the years we’ve developed solid relationships with traditional and online media, and we know the elements of success for securing interest from trusted journalists at top-notch publications. We excel at crafting tailored, compelling stories that help keep your brand top-of-mind across print, broadcast and digital channels. You’ll see the results through our media measurement and reporting and assess your share of voice (SOV) among competitors.

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