Archivo December de 2009
This is a guest post by Dacrie Brooks.
During this time of year, most people - determined not to make the same mistake twice - will take a retrospective look back to what could've be done differently.
And while this typically involves personal retrospection (i.e., losing weight, better financial planning, etc), it wouldn't hurt for PR professionals to examine PR lessons learned from 2009. Whether it's re-evaluating your approach to counseling clients, maintaining better PR budgets in 2010, or simply making it a priority to communicate more effectively to media - every PR pro should have a resolution!
So, while we're all in the spirit of giving this holiday season - I'm going to share my top two lessons learned in 09 and resolutions to strive for in 2010. Here we go:
1. Become a Better Communicator
If you've been a PR professional for more than a decade (like me), it's time to brush up on your communication skills. As a senior PR professional, I have been guilty (I'm admitting this) of assuming that my clients understand how to reach their target audiences through media. But in retrospect, I've learned not to assume and to challenge my clients' thinking, strategies and ways of doing things. The same approach is not always the best approach. In 2010, I want to push my clients to become more innovative, strategic and passionate in the way they communicate with media. In order to do this, I must also push myself to think beyond the now.
2. Gain A Greater Sense of Balance
In 2009, everything is social. Whether it's Facebook, Friendfeed, Linkedin, Digg or Twitter - almost everybody, everywhere is on one social media network. They're even corporate communications programs specifically designed to be social. So now, people in the PR world are seeking to fill positions that require social media savvy experts.
But amid all of the social networks and social buzzwords, communications professionals should never fully discard traditional media. In fact, a solid PR campaign typically strikes a good balance between social and traditional media, and depends on both to make a real impact. In 2010, I want to continue working with bloggers and online media but I should be coming up with new ways to blend the two to help clients build and reinforce their brands.
Dacrie Brooks is a seasoned PR executive with more than 10 years of media relations experience. She works with some of the nation's most widely respected journalists at the top business and daily news outlets. You can find her at Brooks Media Relations.
This is a guest post by Alison Kenney
January 1 brings out the optimist in all of us. It′s a time for new beginnings and fresh starts. For those of us who want to make a commitment to change in our PR careers, consider these New Year resolutions for 2010:
- Embrace technology: if you haven′t already, look for opportunities to learn about and use new forms of technology like podcasting, video, Flickr, Slideshare and more. Many of these technology tools are now easier than ever to use and can make a big difference is helping PR pros tell a story and/or spread the story to new or larger audiences.
- Get your creative juices flowing: great storytelling is critical to good PR. If your storytelling skills are getting stale, look for ways to bring them back to life. Build creative writing skills and bolster your vocabulary by joining a writer′s support group, stocking up on reference resources or reading work written by good writers (in any medium or industry). Likewise, think about learning some new presentation skills — through a personal coach, via an improvisation or acting class, or by gleaning tips online or through articles.
- Be social media savvy: if your idea of incorporating social media into PR campaigns consists of re-tweeting a client′s news, it′s time to spread your wings and learn about all the ways social media, online communities and SEO tools can enhance a PR program. Fortunately there are plenty of resources to help you get up to speed. Search Mashable for best practices examples and tips, sign up for a webinar from Vocus or HubSpot, attend seminars, association meetings or casual meetups and ask around to get examples of social media success stories.
- Get grounded with measurement: technology and social media are a boon to the PR toolbox, but don′t use them for the sake of using them. Make sure your PR strategies are in line with overall PR goals, which themselves need to be in line with your client′s or employer′s business goals. Clearly stated goals make it easier to come up with the right metrics for measuring success. This will be a hot topic in 2010 so look for lots of conversations about measurement in online forums and social media.
- Become a PR thought-leader, or at least join the discussion about PR trends: start by resolving to stay on top of industry news and developments. To get started, set aside time regularly in your schedule to stay on top of the news and to read what other industry leaders are saying. Technology makes this easy: you can subscribe to and scan blog headlines with Google Reader, get news alerts delivered with Google Alerts, set up lists of news headlines and PR pros on Twitter or TweetDeck. Use online communities to learn, too. Join a Twitter chat, answer questions on LinkedIn or participate in another form of professional online discussion.
Alison Kenney is an independent PR practitioner with more than 15 years of PR consulting experience. She is based on Boston′s North Shore and has worked with organizations in the technology, professional services and consumer industries. She can be reached at alisonkenney@comcast.net.
With 2009 quickly coming to an end and some idle time, I've been thinking about my goals for Paradigm Staffing and for this blog in 2010. It's been a difficult year for many of us and I expect 2010 will treat us much better.
Despite the challenging economy, this year has been my most rewarding yet. I become a mother for the first time in September. I had an amazing and easy pregnancy. The support from the awesome team at Paradigm Staffing allowed me take the past few months to spend as a full-time Mommy and the smart group of PR and HR/search professionals I've been so lucky to work with volunteered to share their thoughts and time writing as guest bloggers here.
In preparation for the new year, I was looking through some of the posts written in 2009. In case you missed any, here's a short round-up of the top five posts this year according to page views.
1. How Not To Ask For Help In a Job Search
2. Write an Attention-Grabbing Cover Letter
3. How To Answer the Salary Question
4. Tough Interview Questions and How To Respond
5. Do You Have a PR Personality? (guest post by Alison Kenney)
Chau 2009... may 2010 be even better!
This is a guest post by Kimberly Walsh.
I think it's pretty safe to say that the majority of people who graduated with PR degrees had to learn social media in the great educational institution of life. We've taken our knowledge of creating mutually beneficial relationships through two-way communications and applied it to the many online tools at our disposal.
I'm lucky enough to have landed my dream job. It combines my love of books and of connecting and communicating with people and bringing it all together through technology. It's also a job that didn't and truly couldn't exist before the advent of web 2.0.
My job is essentially running an online book club through Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC). Book clubs have long been popular in our culture, made even more so by celebrity backings like Oprah in the USA and Richard & Judy in the UK. It's so much a part of society that American network CBS even attempted a failed "reality" show Tuesday Night Book Club.
Anyone who's ever been a member of a book club knows the pitfalls. And that's usually finding the right fit. Some members are hardcore bookworms armed with English lit degrees, some join in order to simply have an adult conversation, while others are there just for the wine.
So, the question in an online version becomes: how to engage a wide audience? And by engage, I'm talking about our precious two-way communications, not just broadcasting opinions. Books aren't exactly niche marketing. Everybody reads. While an online book club (or any club for that matter) can't provide refreshments, it can provide a friendly setting for all manner of discussions. In fact, the virtual world is ideal for the book club format.
First, a little background about the program I'm talking about: Canada Reads started as a one week radio program where five celebrity panelists each choose a book to defend on air during the course of five days. If a book makes onto the show, the Canada Reads "bump" means an average sales increase of more than 1700%. That's second in influence only to Canada's biggest literary award, The Scotiabank Giller Prize.
The CBC Book Club was launched in spring of this year on the heels of a Canada Reads victory by journalist Avi Lewis who defended Lawrence Hill's Book of Negroes (printed as Someone Knows My Name in the USA). Incidentally, the book was recently named one of the top 10 Canadian books of the decade by Maclean's magazine.
With the advent of social media, particularly in recent years where the uptake by mainstream audiences of sites like Facebook and Twitter has influenced strategic communications and marketing plans, the opportunity for conversation is almost limitless.
Some takeaways from the online successes of these programs:
The golden rule of web 2.0 should be know thy audience. The bigger the audience, the more diverse their needs. You're simply not going to be able to force everyone who wants to participate into joining social media sites. Don't punish them for making that decision. Provide them with content in other ways. Use widgets to show them your Twitter stream. Hold their hands a little if you need to by posting how-to tips.
Not everyone is going to be comfortable with learning a new technology. Heck, you might even be nervous about it, too. Let them know they're not alone.
Let your personality shine. Your audience doesn't want to constantly be sold on an idea, product or service. Social media is the wrong platform for that. People want conversation with a real live human being who has opinions. Common sense and a smart code of conduct go a long way.
Content may be queen but a prime minister is needed to manage it. Post all you want, but know that there's such a thing as information overload. More importantly, don't make your audience work to find content. Information architecture are words you should get comfortable with but also think about options for sending out updates. It can be as easy as a well-crafted tweet with an appropriately shortened link, an RSS feed for updates, or a combination of options. Remember each user is different and will experience your content and site in a variety of ways.
Embrace change but know what your breadwinners are. It's all well and good to have a strategic communications plan setting out short- and long-term goals but social media is a moving target at times. You need to build in the flexibility to change with shifting interests in various platforms.
Take calculated risks. When those interests do shift to the next shiny web 2.0 tool, evaluate whether it's the right one for you before making the leap. At the Book Club one of the great value-added tools we added to our toolkit is CoverItLive for moderated chats with authors. Ultimately, it's a win in terms of bonus interactivity but it wasn't without a bit of sweat and elbow grease to get it just right.
What are some of your success stories in building online communities?
Kimberly Walsh (aka @AliasGrace) is a geek girl, bookworm, writer and PR thinker in one. By day, she works as a web content producer and social media manager for the CBC in literary programming.
This is a guest post by Alison Kenney.
Whether you′re interviewing for an internal PR opening or talking to a prospective client, it inevitably comes up: the "˜how far can PR go′ question. As in "what can we expect from PR?" or "will this PR push jumpstart our sales?" or even "with this investment in PR, which other marketing initiatives do we not need as much?"
Of course, you — the interviewee — want to sound bullish about the power of PR.
PR can establish credibility. PR can raise visibility. It helps build a brand and establish market identity. PR is a great tool for launching products and announcing news. PR improves communications with all types of audiences. PR practices are essential in social media efforts.
But you also want to be realistic and set expectations. You might explain that PR works best when it′s integrated with an overall business and marketing strategy. For example, PR can highlight the great product positioning the marketing team develops. PR can drive traffic to many other customer/sales interaction points. PR can mitigate damage and offer context when there′s damage to the bottom line or a company′s reputation.
Have you had this conversation with your employer? How do you define PR? What PR promises have you made?
Alison Kenney is an independent PR practitioner with more than 15 years of PR consulting experience. She is based on Boston′s North Shore and has worked with organizations in the technology, professional services and consumer industries. She can be reached at alisonkenney@comcast.net.
This is a guest post by Kevin Mercuri.
As an eighteen year veteran of PR and CEO of my own start-up PR agency, I am routinely approached by recent college graduates looking to lay the final groundwork for a career in Public Relations. For most candidates, the last big step towards garnering a full-time paycheck involves an internship with a New York PR agency.
Many candidates, however, fail to realize that the internship — in addition to teaching a recent grad the ins and outs of agency life — is the primary platform upon which to transition from student to professional. I′ve seen scores of interns worsen their chances for full-time work, by "going through the motions" of an internship instead of taking charge. Based on my experience, I′ve provided several key points to consider for recent grads looking to land that all-important first position.
Clean Up Your Social Media
No HR person schedules an interview without an initial Google search. Few senior executives say "yes" to a hire until they examine a candidate′s online presence. Those rowdy and risqué photos taken during Spring Break or outrageous insights found in your Twitter Stream aren′t helping your chances with HR directors or recruiters.
I′ve turned down more than a few candidates based on what my team has found online. Take a good, hard look.
Furthermore, take a moment to review your personal information on each site. Does it position you as a young professional or perpetual college student? Cleaning up your social media presence will make you appear more professional, giving you an advantage over competing candidates.
Network Now
It′s never a bad idea to begin networking with your college alumni association before you graduate. Send an email requesting a fifteen minute "informational interview," to a few select leaders in your chosen industry. Ask them to critique your resume and your interview style. Then ask where they think you should intern.
Get the Right Internship, and then Work It
Every agency has an internship program, not all of them are good. Some agencies send their interns on coffee runs; others take the time to teach their interns the basics of PR. If you′re giving an agency your time for free, it′s OK to ask what you′ll be doing on a day-to-day basis.
Once you land the internship, it′s time to get to work. Only a few interns land a job from their internship; and they′re usually the ones who ask for assignments. Don′t wait around for someone to find you, ask if you can write the first draft of a release or a pitch; ask if you can attend a client meeting; ask if you can pitch low-level reporters under a staffer′s supervision; then ask questions when things quiet down. Don′t wait to get noticed, get yourself noticed.
No Job Offer? No Problem
We all know that an internship isn′t a guaranteed job. When the internship period is nearing an end, this is the time to approach the senior most executive in your work group and ask for advice. Ask them to review your resume and then find out which recruiters he or she admires as well as contacts they may have at other PR agencies.
Keep Your Eyes on the Prize
By this time, you should have a running list of people who may help you land that first position and a resume that positions you as an entry-level PR pro. Stay focused; stay in contact with key people who may assist you and don′t give up. In many cases, entry-level positions are the first to be filled at many agencies once the recession passes. When the time comes to hire, you′ll want to be front and center on people′s radar.
Kevin Mercuri is an eighteen year veteran of Public Relations and related disciplines. He is president & founder of Propheta Communications, a New York based PR and social media agency serving corporate, consumer, technology, lifestyle and nonprofit clients. He can be contacted at kevin@ProphetaComm.com.
This is a guest post by Derek Pangallo.
There is an inherent, maddening irony in a New Media job search. You are distinguising yourself from the crowd, attempting to keep the hiring manager's attention -- effectively showcasing your ability to hold fickle interests in an economy where that same attention is the most precious commodity.
Still reading?
I'm taking inventory of my experience with personal branding in the digital age as applied to my job search. Last year after some professional success in my small hometown, I realized my life was spent inadvertently preparing for a career in New Media. I promise that's the last part of this post that will sound like a cover letter. An anthology of my cover letters would be an instant classic, though.
They said you have to get yourself out there. I needed a public blog, something in the search results. The only thing Google result was a PDF transcript of a trial in Australia where someone shared the same name. We can't have that; maybe it would be okay to open up the Facebook privacy settings just a little...
Where I'm from, it's uncouth to have your name, much worse your picture, on the internet. In a community where everyone already knows each other's business, it's somehow taboo to share outside that small bubble. Owning yourName.com was a good idea to harness SEO flow, but grandma thinks it's incredibly vain and possibly the mark of the beast.
You're me. Get a Twitter account. Follow all the movers and shakers. @ them, retweet, add to the discussion. But you need an edge, something to help you stand out. Maybe have the bright idea to stalk and "friend" the hiring managers on Facebook; turns out this works equally well as it would on real-life crushes, creeper. If you had the time back you've spent scouring job sites and writing cover letters, you could have written that novel, finished the album, or spent a more time nurturing your real-life relationships. Regroup.
Stretching yourself thin, trying to be all things to all people. A-political, a-sexual, ageless, always positive (read: boring). Wondering whether to add the french accents on the word résumé or leave it "resume", but phrases like "resume attached' can mislead the reader - best head over to the character map.
Have a few interviews that go great. Write thank-you letters, call and follow up. Never hear from them again.
Now you google yourself, second-guessing. You realize that there's too much now, an overload. Between the Youtube channel, blog comments, Flickr account and more, the person researching you has the same problem we all do while sitting in front of shiny rectangles - ADD. They stop reading at the first typo in your cover letter -- the tweet where you abbreviated please to "plz" for lack of characters is doubly offensive. They're not looking for a person, they're looking for a solution, a tool to solve a specific problem.
So you tighten your identity belt, dig up Linked-in connections, buck up, read a million more job descriptions. You know you're being watched. You're famous, no -- you're a secret agent. And you better be one hell of a verbal and written communicator with the ability to multitask in a fast-paced environment. Brb, my laundry just beeped.
Derek Pangallo is an Online Community Manager with expertise in audio/video/web/graphic production. He is New Media Director for a Congressional campaign, Online Events Manager for a college bar, and markets his vinyl graphics designs via internet advertising. His next goal is to work in New Media Communications in the United States Congress. This is a guest post by Alison Kenney.
If you could do PR for anyone or any company, who would it be?
Recruiters and hiring managers like to ask a variation of this question. Presumably, your answer will shed light on what makes you tick in the PR world of work.
For instance, your answer may point to your aspirations and ambition. If your dream client is Barack Obama, Wal-Mart, or Google it probably means you want to take on a lot of responsibility or like being in the center of the action. If instead you answer that your dream is to make a difference in one company′s growth, your ideal work setting could be slower-paced with more time spent on strategy, researching market opportunities, developing messages and cultivating relationships.
The question is also a way to flesh out how well you know your strengths and interests. For example, if you answer that an ideal client is a large university because it would give you a chance to leverage your network and experience in the higher education field. Conversely, you could answer that you would love the chance to do PR for a major retailer because it would open up opportunities to stretch and develop your consumer and product pitching skills.
When I posed this question to the PR community on Twitter, no one mentioned a specific brand or company. All of the responses were about finding a partner who understood and appreciated the role of the PR professional and the importance of a strong two-way relationship. Not surprisingly, most of the responses came from seasoned PR pros:
@doitinpublic said "An ideal client tells you the truth, keeps you updated, has vision, drive, respects the budget + your expertise."
@BigguyD said "access to experts. understanding of challenges. creativity. willingness to take risks and be disruptive in their space" and "relationships are THE key to successful programs. it's a partnership"
@fontbandit said an ideal client is "open to new ideas, takes good advice, shares information, responds quickly, doesn't need constant updates, pays the bills on time"
@mdbarber added "Respect and trust are key in any partnership."
Who is your ideal PR client? What is your PR dream job?
Alison Kenney is an independent PR practitioner with more than 15 years of PR consulting experience. She is based on Boston′s North Shore and has worked with organizations in the technology, professional services and consumer industries. She can be reached at alisonkenney@comcast.net.Alison Kenney is an independent PR practitioner with more than 15 years of PR consulting experience. She is based on Boston′s North Shore and has worked with organizations in the technology, professional services and consumer industries. She can be reached at alisonkenney@comcast.net.
This is a guest post by Nicole Messier.
No doubt our clients have just completed a rough year and are about to close 2009 cautiously optimistic about the year ahead. As PR professionals, there′s a bit of instinct to apply here in terms of how we′ll manage our clients differently in the start of 2010.
Below are a few predictions or realizations I believe we′ll have to face as we build our campaigns for the New Year.
Prioritization in planning
Our client executives and Board of Directors at any <insert company here> will come back from the holiday break with guns blazing. Don′t be afraid of creating a campaign with a quick wow factor for Q1. Be proactive when writing your 2010 plans and apply campaigns that will create a quick ROI — i.e., awareness, new relationships via social media channels. When advising our clients on how to structure their road maps, launches and news distributions, consider how you can tap into current events to leverage more timely results.
Conversational messaging
With the rise of social media and reporters demanding ever more customized pitches, it will be important to convey the importance of brevity to our clients. We should be able to articulate what the news is in one sentence, explain the larger business benefit in the second sentence, and wrap it up with a third sentence about why the reporter should care. If that's not possible, then it's time to edit more ruthlessly. Cut the marketing speak.
Consider the social media effect
Remember that it′s okay to counsel our clients, albeit with care, regarding when news isn′t news and how each announcement should consider a different type of media distribution. A fluffy release or an irrelevant executive Q&A pitch can end up as a front-page social media laughingstock instantly. We might not always win these battles, but it is our job to tell them the war stories that are out there, the companies who get banished by prestigious thought leaders, bloggers and reporters. Use examples and provide alternative suggestions to make the most of their suggested news hook.
You dictate social media strategy, not the other way around
Getting control of the social media plan or working with all the groups involved (marketing, advertising, customer service) will be a crucial element to PR this year. We will have to open up the dialogue with many internal departments and even other agencies to make social media efforts effective and cohesive for our clients. Think about what value we can add to these other marketing functions, on how we can counsel on relationship building and targeting different audiences. Remember to see things from a reporter's perspective. If you know something isn′t going to work, don′t let the client be the butt of a writer′s joke. Be vocal and collaborative.
Start to educate yourself now
As PR people, our function is no longer just as content developers and media/analyst liaisons. We have to be able to speak about brand defense, application development, mobile marketing and rich media. Understand the basic elements and think of creative ways to tie your PR plans into supporting and promoting these priorities for companies.
Back to our roots for biz dev
If we want to continue to be successful as PR agencies, professionals and consultants, we have to remember that business development is about relationships. And as lines blur between the topics mentioned in No. 5 above, it will be even more valuable to build long-standing partnerships to keep the client work at your table. Outsourcing everything so you can offer a sushi boat of services isn′t always the answer. Consider finding powerful partners that you can collaborate with and trust. If you bring in a major brand, connect them with a rock star lineup of app developers, designers, brand consultants, marketing agencies, etc... In time, your partners and clients will benefit and return the favor by sticking with you.
Nicole Messier is an award-winning technology PR consultant located in the Capital Region of New York, commonly referred to as "Tech Valley." She represents technology clients from London to Silicon Valley. To learn more about her background visit here, or follow her on Twitter @nmessier. She can be reached at nicole@nicolemessier.com
This blog is to share my recruiting experiences and discuss thoughts on the job market, PR industry and technology.
Alison Kenney is an independent PR practitioner with more than 15 years of PR consulting experience.
