Posts Tagged with Public Relations
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Connecting with people in your industry is as easy as creating a LinkedIn profile and using it as a live resume. Treat LinkedIn as the “suit & tie” social network and put forward your most professional self. Your profile should be kept up-to-date and polished regularly. A LinkedIn profile, as you’ll see, is a great way to build your network & a place to send prospective employers to get info about you and your experience. So how do you get started? First step is to sign up & complete your profile: Use your complete name Fill in your title (Public Relations student at the University of Oregon is ok… but what about Intern at XYZ Company or Account Executive at Student PR Firm?). You can have more than one title & then choose the one you want as your headline. My profile includes significant volunteer experience in my title alongside... Continue Reading
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Public relations professionals are, I would argue, faced with ethical decisions every day. They might be small or they might be life or death. In this business, the “product” we have is our integrity and credibility. Doing things that breech either can damage your reputation and your ability to be effective and just do your job. My best all-purpose advice is to develop a decision making process for yourself and to think through in advance, how you’ll handle difficult situations. One of the trickiest areas of practice for PR professionals is dealing with the media. Spin, control and manipulation can not be part of your repertoire. Period. Some specific (and basic) tips for behaving ethically in a media relations function. Don’t lie. People will find out. And in this day-and-age, they will find out more quickly and the backlash will be broader and more far reaching than ever before. You’d... Continue Reading
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It’s easy to think of cool ways to reach your peers, to identify strategies and tactics for and audiences made up of people who are like you. For most students, that means the temptation to focus on students and how to reach students is strong, even when it doesn’t make sense to include a student focus. But more often than not, public relations campaigns must focus on audiences that are decidedly not like you. Understanding how to reach those audiences takes a skill (a trait?) I don’t think we talk about in public relations much, but I would rank high on the “must haves”: empathy. Empathy is the ability to put yourself in someone else’s place and understand their feeling, emotions, motivations and values. Many argue it’s a core competency of emotional intelligence, widely seen as crucial to business and leadership success. It’s hard to step outside your comfort zone,... Continue Reading
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When you’re ready to launch a blog, rather personal or professional, it’s important to think beyond just “what am I going to blog about?” Your blog is a window into your professional life and what people see and how they see it is up to you. Have a strategy: Even if you’re creating a personal blog, have a sense of what you want to accomplish with it. Do you want your blog to be informational, to help you to define and explore your thoughts & ideas about working in public relations or maybe show your interest and expertise around a topic or issue? Think about functionality: Think about what you want the experience to be for your readers. Making your blog easy on the eyes and simple to navigate is the first step. But remember that window analogy – what do you want your readers to see? Do you want... Continue Reading
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This guest post is from my Twitter friend, Kellye Crane. Kellye is one of those PRos that I always recommend students follow. She’s super smart and has good advice for PR people at all levels. As the school year draws to a close, I’m sure many PRos in Training are thinking about the future, and pondering what Modern PR means today. Whether you’re on the job market, starting an internship, beginning a new position or just trying to keep up with the latest advancements, you’ve no doubt heard and read a great deal about the vast changes taking place in the approach to public relations. As current students know, whether it’s called PR 2.0, New PR, or some other catchy label, it’s clear that public relations is moving into a new age. At the forefront of this evolution is PR’s incorporation of a more conversational approach to communications, made possible... Continue Reading
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This is a guest post from UofO alum, Sarah Essary. You can follow her at @ConsumingPR. I like to think of job descriptions as simple suggestions. Coloring outside the lines is perfectly acceptable in the workplace, but only if your art becomes a masterpiece. Not too long ago, I was hired as a Reservationist at The Citizen Hotel. My job duties included answering the phones, filling reservations, assigning room numbers and routing payments. After a few weeks, I offered to develop the hotel blog and Twitter account. Soon, I proved to be knowledgeable in public relations and took on more responsibilities. Before I knew it, I was launching a social media campaign and taking a dual position as Public Relations Coordinator. Currently, I am the Reservationist and Public Relations Coordinator for both The Citizen Hotel and Grange Restaurant & Bar. My duties include updating and writing all social media content,... Continue Reading
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Most entry-level PR PRos will start in a technician role, participating in the “craft” side of public relations: writing, editing, taking photos, running special events and doing the legwork of media relations. The technician implements the management’s communication strategies. I always try to focus on helping students show that, while they have the skills to be a technician, that they have the capacity for the problem solving, planning and counsel that is required of managers. With social media, I think we’re seeing entry-level practitioners, well-versed in the tools of the trade, being asked to provide solutions, the strategic planning and serve as “reverse coaches.” I was chatting with my friend and colleague Pat McCormick from Conkling Fiskum McCormick about how important this “reverse coaching” role is in today’s business, especially in public relations and communications. CFM has hired several Ducks and recognizes how much its entry-level employees have to offer.... Continue Reading
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Image by luc legay via Flickr The question that I hear the most about Twitter is “How do I find people to follow?” Twitter often seems a bit overwhelming at first, but when you find the right people to follow (and follow you back) you can start to build really meaningful connections. To start, figure out who the thought leaders are. You can get a good sense of these by checking out lists of recommended people to follow. Three great lists: Dave Fleet’s two lists of people to follow: one, two. The Twitter Power 150 (the twitter IDs of the top 150 marketing, advertising and PR bloggers) But maybe you’re looking for people in a specific niche or outside the realm of marketing, PR and advertising? Some good applications to try. TweepSearch: This site will let you enter keywords or locations and searches people bios. WeFollow: Twitterers tag themselves with... Continue Reading
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My mentor has been an important part of my professional life and, over the years, a trusted friend, confidante and adviser in many aspects of my life. She’s given me opportunities to earn experience in areas of public relations that I might not otherwise have had and is always ready with advice if I ask. If I don’t need advice, she’ll just listen. We met when I volunteered for a nonprofit organization as an undergrad where she was serving as the communications director. We had a chance to work together on maybe a project or two before she left. I continued to volunteer for the organization and frequently asked my mentor for her advice on projects. It wasn’t long before she asked me to help her with a client project – doing some basic media relations work. That was 8 years ago. I am not exaggerating when I say that... Continue Reading
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Image by Stewf via Flickr Sorry for the delay in posting this week’s linky love. But I found lots of good stuff and and each is a numbered list. How handy! Debunking Six Social Media Myths (BusinessWeek, written by BL Ochman aka @whatsnext) Five Digital Trends to Watch for 2009 (Authenticities, written by Steve Rubel aka @steverubel) Five Stories of Twittering Gone Bad (Network Solutions via @SuziSteffan) Five Ways to Gain More Value from Your PR Agency (PR Squared, written by UofO Alum Nicole Jordan aka @nicolejordan) 10 Social Media Questions Worth Asking (Socialized aka @jpostman)** think about some or all of these questions as your post this week. 5 Essential Social Media Strategies for a Bad Economy (Social Media Explorer, written by David Finch aka @davidfinch) 10 Ways to Boost Your Blogging (Danny Brown aka @dannybrown)** Thinking about continuing your blog beyond this term? Some good tips and ideas... Continue Reading
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