Imagine the mess if your boat dealership, manufacturing company, or marine business appears on social media sites under the heading “Price Increases, We’re Done,” or worse: “Price Gauging.” With inflation on the rise and businesses needing to pass along those increases to customers, having a strategic communications plan in place to mitigate negative responses will […]
Communicating with Empathy
“Thoughts and prayers.” This may be one of the most cliche phrases in modern times. In a 2018 article about this phrase, journalist AJ Willingham referred to its use as “semantic satiation,” a phenomenon in which a phrase is used so often that it loses its meaning. The phrase now even has its own hashtag, […]
COVID-19, Workplace Safety & Handling Employee Push-back
This post taps the collective experiences of Brian Chandler (PR expert and CEO of Commonwealth Public Relations) and Tricia Dunlap (business attorney and CEO of Dunlap Law PLC). Like every business owner, the first months of the pandemic rocked your foundation. Now, nine months in, you’ve finally found your sea legs. And then an angry […]
Why Law Firms Are Choosing Us
The jury is in! Virginia Lawyers Weekly Magazine has informed us that we were voted as the winner of its 2019 Reader’s Poll, taking first place in the “Public Relations Firms” category. But we’re not a legal marketing firm, so why would we receive the recognition? While we have, over the years, been tasked with […]
Five Red Flags Signaling Your Company May Need PR Help
If you found this blog by searching “public relations firms in Virginia,” there’s a good chance you or your organization need PR help. Don’t worry, you’re in the right place for a short insightful read, so stick around. In today’s fast-paced world and 24-hour news cycle, many companies feel like they are getting left in […]
A Super Bowl-Sized Lesson About Winning and Losing
I’m sick of hearing people complain that once again the Alabama Crimson Tide and Clemson Tigers were the teams playing in the national championship and that the Patriots are in the Super Bowl again. In fact, it’s such a lousy complaint that I thought I’d write a blog about it. There’s a great book that […]
‘Twas the night before Christmas…at Commonwealth PR
The holidays are here, and everyone loves a good Christmas poem, right? In year’s past, we’ve had some fun using ‘Twas The Night Before Christmas as a foundation and mixing it up with a little PR slang. So, enjoy this not-so original rendition of ‘Twas the night before Christmas, at the expense of Commonwealth PR […]
Why We Aren’t ‘Dripping in Saltwater’
While on a call this week with a potential new client that works in the marine and boating industry, I was asked why our website isn’t “dripping in saltwater.” Ah, an interesting metaphor for all the public relations work we are doing these days in the boating industry. My answer was so well received that […]











