PRos in Training

Author: Kelli Matthews

  • Chris Brown & Rihanna Strike a Chord with Students


    Reading through my students’ posts this week, I noticed that several picked up the Chris Brown/Rihanna story that I included in last week’s linky love to write about.

    This is an interesting topic with lots of angles – not the least of which is that it’s raising awareness about domestic violence among an audience that probably doesn’t think about it as often as they should.

    Chris Brown: Quick Dance Moves, Slow Response Time     from Maddy Hicks focuses on Brown’s lack of response for too many days following the allegations.

    What’s Love Got to do With it?: Chris Brown and Rihanna Edition from Josh Damis focuses on the implications to each star’s career.

    Rihanna: Navigating a Crisis from Ali Runyan talks about Rihanna’s response and likely effect on her career.

    Dude, Where’s my PR? from Krista Berlincourt asks why the stars took so long to respond and offers some advice.

    I’m sure they’d each love to hear what you think, too.

  • Blog Clearly & Purposefully: Transparency for Newbies

    Blog Clearly & Purposefully: Transparency for Newbies

    We talk about transparency a lot in social media (in public relations, too, for that matter). But what does that mean if you’re a blogger? And particulary, if you’re a new blogger.

    According to Paul Gillin‘s book The New Influencers, “transparency is about a lot more than just not lying. It’s about opening yourself up to inspection, analysis, judgement, praise and ridicule.”

    Gulp.

    That sounds a little frightening. But the blogging community has, over time, worked out some standards and guidelines that are not that difficult to follow and understand.

    When you get down to the nuts and bolts, transparency in the blogosphere means adhering to these community standards. Some basic rules:

    • Be familiar with the basics of copyright and fair use limitations. It’s important that you don’t plagiarize content (just link to the source!) or present others ideas as your own.
    • Your posts should be well researched and complete, try to avoid sweeping generalizations and jumping to hasty conclusions. Honestly, this is the biggest mistake I see new bloggers, and students in general, make in their writing. You can have opinions, even strong ones (please do!), but make sure your opinions are well-founded and you build a foundation on which to stake your claims.
    • Once you’ve pushed “publish,” don’t edit your post. If you need to make a change, do a strikethough the old information and insert the new. It is worth noting, however, that a strikethough doesn’t always mean that the author has made a change, sometimes it’s done humorously. (exception: you can correct typos if you need to, but don’t change anything that alters the post’s content)
    • If you need to make major revisions to your original, leave a comment on your post as a way of public correction.
    • Deleting a post is considered a major no-no. The only time this might be an option is if you think the post might result in harm to someone or could be seriously misleading.

    Consider adopting a codes of ethics for your blog (either formally included on your site, or informally for you to know and abide by – I recommend the former). This example from Charlene Li has laid the groundwork for many ethics policies including the GM Fastlane blog.

    • I will tell the truth.
    • I will write deliberately and with accuracy.
    • I will acknowledge and correct mistakes promptly.
    • I will preserve the original post, using notations to show where I have made changes so as to maintain the integrity of my publishing.
    • I will never delete a post.
    • I will not delete comments unless they are spam or off-topic.
    • I will reply to emails and comments when appropriate, and do so promptly.
    • I will strive for high quality with every post – including basic spellchecking.
    • I will stay on topic.
    • I will disagree with other opinions respectfully.
    • I will link to online references and original source materials directly.
    • I will disclose conflicts of interest.
    • I will keep private issues and topics private, since discussing private issues would jeopardize my personal and work relationships.

    What guidelines or standards have you seen, or do you recommend for bloggers? I know I’ve missed some of the deeper/more nuanced aspects of transparency and ethics, but anything I’ve missed here on the basics?

  • Life is a Mosaic. And Twitter is, Too.

    This makes me smile. Look at all these people! I *think* this roughly goes in order that you add people to your list. Those on the top row, I’ve known now for 2+ years (some pre-Twitter). What a fun tool.
    (Thanks Barbara Nixon for the link.)

    Get your twitter mosaic here.

  • The Loviest of Linky Loves: Valentine’s Week

    I felt like categories this week. I’m just that kind of girl.
    Let’s get right to it! Some of my favorite posts of the week:

    Social Media:
    EBook on Social Media Marketing (PR Squared): It would be great if you read and blog about this, but I think it’s a must read, regardless.
    The World Unites for Clean Water (WOMMA)

    Crisis Management:
    Crisis PR Advice for Bailed Out Boneheads (Kel Kelly)
    The Kim Family Search: An Insider’s Crisis Management Case Study (Johnathan Bernstein)

    General PR:
    Gee, Beav, Isn’t PR Just Like Advertising (Bad Pitch Blog)
    What’s Your Client’s Motivation? (Client Service Insights)
    Oh Kellogg Co… Watch Out for Reefer Madness (Corporate Hallucinations)

    International:
    Can the Reputation of Israel be Saved (KD Paine’s Measurement Standard)
    Public Relations in the Czech Republic (PRBlogger)

    Career:
    Social Media Starter Kit: LinkedIn (Altitude Branding)
    Rachel Created a Job for Herself (Connie Bensen)
    The One Interview Question (Public Relations Matters)

    Pop Culture:
    How Will Chris Brown Incident Effect [sic] Rihanna’s Career? (VH1)
    Mother Deserves Tolerance (USA Today)

    Misc:
    Mad Ninja Skill for Getting Anything Done (Remarkable Communication)
    The Value of a Personal Mission Statement (Dumb Little Man)

  • My Best Advice for Email Newsletters

    I had a question recently about email blasts/email newsletters and it made me realize that talk about enewsletters has probably been edged out by the new shiny thing (social media). While maybe not the sexiest tool – it’s still a great technique for reaching certain audiences and building a base of support.

    My tips for doing a good job with an enewsletter:

    • Know your audience. Rule number one for any new initiative or campaign. If you don’t know, ask. You can do basic audience research on the cheap – a short questionnaire at the checkout stand, intercept interviews around your location, build questions into an admissions form.
    • Set some measureable objectives and clearly define success. What do you hope to accomplish? And is an enewsletter the right tool?
    • Make it informational. Ads are ads are ads and the likelihood is going to read them on purpose is diminishing. I nearly always delete emails from Gap, Ann Taylor and Lands End without opening them. They don’t provide me with any value.

      If you’re in the real estate development industry, you might write about your corporate philanthropy, your green efforts and upcoming events that your readers might enjoy. If you’re in health and fitness, the possibilities are virtually endless: health tips, exercises (maybe a series on exercises you can do at your desk to keep lose during the day), nutrition, events, etc. You can see where this is going… If you’re primarily focused on content, you can get by with a little self-promo.

    • Pay attention to details. Things like subject line, who the enewsletter is from and what day of the week you deliver it are all important. I found some great tips here for figuring this out.

    • Keep your enews short. Maybe 3 or 4 short articles and that’s it. People are busy. But link them to your Web site for more good content or to a blog.
    • Be consistent. If you promise a monthly newsletter, deliver it monthly.
    • Content is king. Even if you’re not going for a content rich enewsletter and something shorter – always deliver content of some kind. A short tip, trick or tool that your reader will get something out of and then hit them with the sales pitch.
    • People need to opt in. Ask customers face to face and put a form on the web site where people can sign up.

    Think about what enewsletters you most enjoy and why. Copy that style. My two favorites are Iconoculture and Smart Brief on Social Media. Both are packed with information I’m unlikely to get elsewhere and consistently deliver good content. I’m a fan, for sure.

    What are your favorite (or least favorite) enewsletters and why?

  • Finally, a New Conversation!

    I am beside myself. I’m so excited about my spring term Strategic Social Media class that I think I am starting to annoy people. My reasons for this enthusiasm are threefold:

    1. I get to design my own class about a topic that I love.

      I love social media. I am not so good at the technical stuff, that’s not what I mean. I love the idea of social media. The visionary philosophies and the challenging discussions that go on every day about the whys and the whens. I love the potential of social media and I am fascinated by the drawbacks.

    2. The level of discussion is not about how-tos and technical aspects with a dash of strategy, it’s a whole new level. That means that we’re ready for a whole new level.

      The first time we talked about blogs in my principles of PR class, I invited a guest speaker. I had the sense blogging was important, but didn’t know much about it (this was 3 years ago). The next term, I tried the lecture on my own. The looks were glazed over and the response was tepid. I often get a similar response on day one in Advanced PR Writing, but by the end of the term I have a roomful of evangelists. That’s exciting to me. It’s these evangelists that are ready to take the next step with a class like this one.

    3. I get to challenge myself with new ideas and new conversation with a roomful of students who are interested and excited about this topic. People who register are doing so on purpose. I expect great dialogue and look forward to new connections.

    If you’re interested in the course, or just following along, you can check out the blog (in progress!). If you’re a UofO student, the class details are in the schedule. It’s a J4/512 class on Mondays and Wednesdays at noon. I hope to see some of you there.

  • Ducklings Take the Plunge: Blogs from Advanced PR Writing Winter 2009

    My advanced PR writing students have been blogging now for a couple of weeks, so it’s time to share their links and help them get connected to the wide, wide world.

    Please take a look at their blogs, add them as friends on Twitter and encourage their plunge into social media.

    In no particular order:

    Maddy Hicks: blog, twitter
    Daria Latysheva: blog, (update) twitter
    Krista Berlincourt: blog, twitter
    Amanda Ip: blog, twitter
    Kristen Victory: blog, twitter
    Melissa Erb: blog, twitter
    Marissa Phillips: blog, twitter
    Babe Hoffarber: blog, twitter
    Laura Hedges: blog, twitter
    Ali Runyan: blog, twitter
    Marla Federman: blog, twitter
    Gretchen Brandtjen: blog, twitter
    Dara Jester: blog, twitter
    Josh Damis: blog, twitter
    Chris Miller: blog, (update) twitter
    Ruth Hickock: blog, twitter

  • Fun Tool: Twittersheep Herds Your Flock

    Twittersheep “herds your flock” and pulls the keywords from your twitter followers’ bios to come up with a cloud that looks a little something like this. I love that these terms are so varied! Everything from “PR” (duh) to “mom” and “guy” (regular folks) to “love” (passionate people in my herd, my friend) and “Oregon.” I’m not sure where “Junkie” comes from. I can’t take responsibility for that. See all my results here and try out your own!

  • Social Linky Love

    With this week’s linky love, I bring you a pretty wide variety of posts that I found interesting this week. Thanks to everyone here for providing such great content to share!

    Learn Everything You Can, Then Ask Great Questions (Leo Bottary’s CSI)
    Chances are you’re going to work with clients in PR, whether internal or external. Take a look at Leo’s post about that first meeting.

    Creating Social Media Rituals (Social Media Explorer)
    David Finch shares four ways to develop social media rituals that will help you build a solid foundation for participation in this arena. I suppose ultimately it will save you time, but even more important, these rituals allow you to focus on the fundamentals.

    It’s a New Me (As Seen on Google) (WSJ.com)
    Julia Angwin shares her story of building the search engine results she wanted. Great tips for thinking about your digital footprint.

    Details, Details… Why You as a Young PRo Need to be Nit-Picky NOW (Megan Soto)
    Many account support positions, like entry level gigs at agencies require a high degree of detail oriented-ness. Hmmm… that might not be a word. Megan has some great tips for young PRos (and she’s a duck, so we like her even more).

    The Power of the Crowd (KD Paine)
    Did you see the GoDaddy SuperBowl ads? Apparently a lot of folks are fed up with them and were chatting about it on Twitter… and the competition was listening.

    How MC Hammer went from Caricature to Human Being – the Social Media Story     (Ignite Social Media)
    If social media can help the Hammer, what can it do for you?

    Student Highlight
    A Restaurant’s Guide to Social Media from Gretchen Brandtjen

  • Ducklings Take the Plunge: First Linky Love of the Term

    It’s a brand new term of linky love posts. I tend to slack off on these when I don’t teach Advanced PR Writing, but for at least the next 7 weeks, you’ll see regular installments of my favorites each week.

    The background: My students write two blog posts per week, one of which needs to be in response to something that I find interesting (and worth our linky love) during the week. I try to find a wide variety of things to chat about. Sometimes I provide a little commentary and sometimes I don’t.

    So, with that intro… here we go.

    (Students, every single one of these blogs is in my feed reader, maybe they should be in yours, too.)

    The 2009 Edelman Trust Barometer (Phil Gomes via PROpenMic)
    You’ll need to be a PROpenMic member to see this. Phil opens up a discussion about Edelman’s annual trust survey results. What do you think of the results? What does it say about PR?

    Candidate Question: When Should I Start Job Searching (Lindsay Olson)
    I get this question all the time. The short answer from Lindsay? Now.

    Back to Pitching Basics (Dave Fleet)
    Great overview and a terrific reminder about tailoring your pitches. What can you learn from this post? Anything you find surprising?

    Three To Dos When PR Fails You (PR Squared)
    I love this post. I’ve had a client for whom we’ve had a hard time getting coverage for over the last several years for many reasons. Thanks to advice from Todd and others, I’ve been able to steer them toward ideas like these to great success.  Do these tips help you think about the possibilities for clients (now or future)?

    Ghosts in the Blogosphere (Kel Kelly)
    Ghostwriting is a no-no. I always appreciate Kel’s perspective. She tells it like it is and it’s always a good read. What do you think?

    A Window into Nonprofit PR Work (via Tiffany Derville Gallicano’s PR Post)
    Windy Hovey, a recent graduate of the SOJC graduate program writes about working in nonprofit PR. This is an outstanding post with lots of good tips. Anything striking to you?

    Wisdom From the Computer Goddess (Media Bullseye)
    Jonathan Bernstein interviews Chesa Keane on SEO specifically related to reputation management online. I can’t overstate how important this topic is. We’ll be discussing more in my Spring social media clas, but I’m curious what you think (or if you’ve ever thought about these issues)? 

    Be Careful What You Post (Shankman.com) and How Not to be an Online Influcencer (David Henderson)
    Many lessons to be learned here. A bad tweet, a big response, a mini crisis… great reminder for the realities of the social web. What can you take away from these?

    By the Numbers: Inauguration Day’s Impact on Social Media (Mashable)
    “The social web flexed its muscle yesterday with Twitter reporting five times the normal tweet volume, and Facebook/CNN showing mind blowing engagement. Tweets containing “Obama” hit 35,000 per hour during his speech, and topped 150,000 for the day while @whitehouse_gov jumped on the scene with over 5,000 follows in the first day.”

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