PRos in Training

Author: Kelli Matthews

  • Where Do You Find the Time? Social Media Time Management Tips

    I’ve always been a multi-tasker. Admitedly, I get a lot done in a day. I don’t know how, sometimes. I really don’t. But the answer I always give is “get enough sleep.” I am only half-joking. I don’t pull all-nighters. Ever.

    Now that I’m involved in social media, I get asked a lot how to manage it all. Over time, I’ve been able to integrate social media tools into my daily routine. In fact, social media tools have replaced other less productive forms of communication and networking for me.

    But I thought I’d share some tips about social media time management – especially for those just trying to figure it all out.

    • It takes time to create a new habit. Know that for a few weeks, you’ll have to work to make social media a habit. If you don’t check your feed reader every day, it won’t come naturally. If you don’t think about twittering, it’s not going to be top-of-mind.
    • Visual reminders help. Put the link or the page to your feed reader where you can see it. I put mine on my toolbar. This is a visual reminder that you should give it a quick look. You can also make your feed reader your home page. iGoogle or a browser like Flock gives you a home page with all your social web stuff in one place.

    • Participate! Don’t just be a looky-loo. My sister recently got the point of Twitter when she followed a well-known graphic designer, he followed her back and even commented on her work. “I’m hooked,” she told me. For Twitter in particular, you have to add friends and followers beyond your circle of friends or it’ll never be of value (not that your friends are valuable…). If you’re involved in conversations, it’s hard to not remember to go back and check in now and then.
    • Create a “social media to do” list. What tools do you want to try (or do you have to try because I said so)? Having a list to focus on will keep you from being drawn into the social media time suck.
    • Blog on Sundays. Or whatever day works for you. I do most of my blogging on a single day and schedule my posts out over the week. Sunday is my day. Basically, whatever the tools are that you use (or want to use), block out time to focus.
    • Be selective. You don’t have to participate in everything! Pick a few that you really want to spend time with, maybe one or two that are important, but take less administration and then leave the rest. For me personally, this blog and Twitter are the most important. PROpenMic and Facebook are second level priority. LinkedIn gets attention about once a month, just to keep it current. I also spend time when I can exploring other tools.
    • Think about rules for your social networks. I don’t follow someone back on Twitter unless I think that what they have to say will be interesting. Usually I’ll give people the benefit of the doubt but I’ll unfollow those who just aren’t a good fit for me. I don’t friend everyone on Facebook (which for me, is mostly personal and family-oriented).

    What tips would you add?

  • At the Starting Gate: Getting a Running Start on Your Blog

    Often the scariest thing about getting started with a brand new blog is the daunting task of coming up with new content on a regular basis. What on earth will you write about?

    My 16 Advanced PR Writing students are embarking on a blog-venture this week and I know this topic is top of mind.

    I’ve collected quite a few resources here that will give you plenty of ideas to get started (and honestly to keep you going for quite some time).

    OMG What Do I Blog About?: My list of 20+ ideas to get you started.

    20 Types of Blog Posts – Battling Bloggers Block: From ProBlogger, a terrific list of categories of posts, which might help you think about your own blog.

    Hey Blog Coach: My Blog Runs Dry, How Do I Get Started Again?    : While clearly for a re-blogger, this list is also good for newbies.

    7 Types of Blog Posts Which Always Seem to Get Links and Traffic: A simple list, but good ideas to think about. You don’t want to be blogging into a vacuum, it’s great if people actually read your stuff.

    101 Great Posting Ideas That Will Make Your Blog Sizzle: Some common sense ideas, for the most part. But a good list to get you thinking.

    40 Ways to Deliver Killer Blog Content: From the master of content, Chris Brogan. Not a list of ideas, per se, but some great tips and ideas to make you think about your own blog. (P.S. Subscribe to Chris’ blog right now).

    50 Blog Topics Marketers Could Write for Their Companies: Think about this from a PR perspective, are there ways you could use these ideas and relate to your PR work in class or out.

    100 Blog Topics I Hope You Write    : Rounding out the trifecta from Chris Brogan, this is a stellar list of great topics that I’m sure you can find some good ideas in.

    10 Steps to Writing a Successful Series: A series of posts on one topic is a great way to knock of several posts at once. This post will help you think about a series for your blog.

  • Guest Post: Earn an Internship at MWW Group with 100 words

    My name is Allison Blass and I’m a Digital Media Coordinator at a PR agency called MWW Group. Kelli invited me to write a guest post about an exciting initiative (as much as possible, don’t want to use the word “contest”) that we’ve launched this month to mark the first 100 Days of the new Obama administration. It’s called “100 Words for 100 Days” and we’re asking for people to tell us in 100 words “What Change Are You Ready For in the First 100 Days?”

    Since FDR’s administration, the first 100 Days has been a time of intense scrutiny for a new administration, and MWW Group wants to know what kind of positive change you want to happen in the first 100 days of Obama’s administration.

    MWW’s President & CEO, Michael Kempner, had this to say about the contest: “The purpose of this initiative is to challenge America to think about how we can all make a difference. To do our own small part, we’re offering our services, free of charge, to help further the effort to enact positive change. And to help teach the skills of communication to further change America for the better.”

    Two winners will be selected from the submissions – an individual and an organization. The individual will be given the opportunity to experience a 3 month long, $5,000-stipend internship at MWW Group. The organization will be given the opportunity to receive 3 months worth of PR support from MWW Group, valued at $30,000.

    I have been working at MWW Group for a year and a half, since I graduated from the University of Oregon (where I had Kelli has a professor!). Working at MWW Group has been a great experience and I’ve enjoyed working with all of our clients. MWW Group has 10 offices in the U.S. and has been named for many awards, including PR Agency of the Year by the American Business Awards in 2008. Times are tough in the economy and this is an amazing way to get real-world PR experience if you’re a student or have a top notch agency representing your organization and its effort to enact positive change.

    To submit your 100 words, head over to www.mwwpr.com/change. Thanks and good luck!

  • Your Favorite Social Media Resources, Please!

    I’m working with Michelle Honald at Ohio University in Athens, Ohio on a project and we need your help!

    Whether you’re a professor, a student, an enthusiast or just a reader – we’d love to hear about your favorite resources for teaching or learning about social media. We are particularly interested in books, but any resources are welcome!

    Professors: what are your favorite books? if you teach social media, what books do you assign?

    Students: what resources have you found most helpful in learning social media (books, in particular, would be great to hear about)?

    Enthusiasts: What’s on your bedside table? any favorite reads that have been particularly helpful?

    Just leave your feedback in the comments. We’ll definitely share the results!

  • Guest Post: Make a Connection – A Mentorship Connection

    This guest post is from Allie Osmar, founder of The Mentorship Connection.

    Amid the woes of our nation’s current economic situation, many students are beginning to feel a bit uneasy about approaching the real world. I was thinking about this during a recent meeting with my mentor at Edelman, where I work today. We have a great mentorship program that sets junior staff up with senior staff for career guidance, and I couldn’t help but think I wish I’d had something like this back when I was student.

    A month later, I launched a volunteer project called Mentorship Connection as an extension to my existing blog, The Creative Career. The concept is fairly straightforward. Students and professionals sign up and select basic information about what creative fields they are interested in—and when a student’s interests line up with a professional’s expertise, the match is made. Although these connections are not always geographically close, the matches are already proving to be great resources for students.

    For those like myself, who don’t have the luxury of having relatives in the industry to answer questions or make introductions (my family still doesn’t understand what exactly I do for a living), it can be hard to know where to start. Through Mentorship Connection, I’m hoping students will have go-to resources for career guidance—anything from figuring out what jobs might be the right fit to perfecting resumes that will ultimately help them land those jobs.

    If you’re a student, I encourage you to check it out. Building your network and finding guidance can only help you in preparation for your fast-approaching career.

    Allie graduated from Michigan State in 2007 with a duel degree in advertising and digital media arts and technology. She now works at Edelman Digital as a social media analyst, where her core role is the development of internal online learning courses to bring all of Edelman to a level of digital and social media expertise. You can reach her via her blog or on Twitter where she’s @allieo.

  • The Magic of RSS: Really Simple Syndication for Really Smart Students

    Really Simple Syndication (RSS) has fundamentally rocked the way that, as consumers, we get information. You may not know the acronym, or know the technology behind it. But, trust me, it has affected your daily consumption of information.

    This is not just “online” vs. “offline” – it’s “push” vs. “pull.”

    Let me explain.

    Since the dawn of information, we’ve been beholden to the all-wise, all-knowing gate keepers to tell us what we need to know; whether it’s editors, PR people, educators and so on.

    This is “push.” Read this, listen to that.

    With RSS, we now have control over information. We “pull” what we want, when we want and how we want. This has rocked the traditional information providers and opened up a whole new world.

    Here, let Common Craft explain it.

    To maximize your use of RSS, you need a feed reader. And honestly, finding a good way to keep up on feeds is the best way to keep this social media stuff manageable.

    Here are the most popular:

    Google Reader: I’ve never loved Google Reader, but it’s often the one I recommend for students who are comfortable with the Google interface. I think there’s too much extra stuff going on with the page outside of my feeds.


    Bloglines: For its ups and downs, I seem to keep coming back to Bloglines. Likely, that’s partially because that’s what I cut my RSS teeth on and what I’m used to. But when I compare it to some of the others on this list, it feels cleaner. What I don’t like – if you jump out of the feed you’re reading for some reason, that clears the unread posts out.

    Flock: Flock is beyond a feedreader, it’s a “social browser.” You can connect to your blog(s), Twitter, Flickr, video and get your feeds all in one place. I do like the interface and its a Mozilla thing, so it works a lot like Firefox. I just can’t quite commit to go all the way with a new browser, so I keep coming back to Bloglines. But this is definitely my second choice.

    Netvibes & Pageflakes: Netvibes and Pageflakes are pretty similar. Both are designed to be an “all in one” feedreader and iGoogle-esque home page. I like both. Netvibes imported my feed folders as individual tabs, which is a nice for organizing. The layout of both works nicely. I like the feedreader part better than Google Reader, so these are a nice alternate to iGoogle.

    Tips for making feed reading a habit you can manage.

    • Make your feed reader your home page – open a browser, greet your feeds. That seems easy enough.
    • Add browser button as a visual reminder – I have my bloglines button at the top of my Firefox browser, so it’s just within my vision to remind me that I need to see what’s up. I have to admit that creating the habit didn’t take long and now I’m as dependent on Twitter as I am the feed reader.
    • Set an outlook or other email reminder service to jog your memory once a day – if you’re reading any more than a couple of dozen blogs, you need to stay on top of it and check daily. Especially when you’re starting out. As you get in the groove, you can find your own rhythm. If I wait more than a couple of days, I have hundreds of posts to catch up on.
    • Use your reader + a social bookmarking application – if I only have time to scan, I’ll scan headlines, open posts that look interesting and tag them in Delicious. Then later, I can hit the highpoints and read the things that really caught my eye.

    For those veterans of RSS feed readers… any tips for the newbies?

  • What Horses Have Taught Me About Being a Communicator

    What Horses Have Taught Me About Being a Communicator

    If you follow me on Twitter, you know that there’s been a little horse drama in my life. It’s a long, sordid tale (ok, maybe not that sordid) with the end result of needing to find a new home for my Thoroughbred mare, Journey. It turned out splendidly. The whole process had me thinking hard about what having horses has meant to me generally and specifically about what they’ve taught me about being a better communicator. Sometimes you can learn to be better at what you do in surprising places.

    • Honesty: A horse that offers few surprises with her intentions is called “honest.” You know what to expect because she tells you how she feels. And, by extension, you can trust her. That doesn’t mean she does exactly what you ask every time, but when she doesn’t, it’s not a surprise.
    • Authenticity: You have to be yourself with horses. No point in trying to fake expertise or skills – the horse will be confused and won’t be able to respond the way you (or she) wants to. She’ll know when you’re off balance, nervous or even upset (ever had a horse-hug?).
    • Patience: It may take try after try, day after day or even month after month to perfect a skill. Being patient about how quickly you can both learn new skills and translate that into perfect execution is important.
    • Clarity: Be clear about what you want your horse to do. You can’t send mixed signals and expect to get a positive result. If you’re clear about what you want, you can translate that into voice, leg and hand cues that will help her figure out what you need.
    • Humor: Owning horses is not terribly glamorous. You have to shovel their poop, for crying out loud. There is always room to laugh at yourself.

    Horses are remarkable creatures and make you a better person. I’ve been very lucky to be involved with them for most of my life (although only an owner for about 6 years).

    Are there unexpected places, things or people who have taught you about being a better communicator?

    Picture: me with Journey in 2006

  • Guest Post: Advice for Strategic Planning With a New Client

    Sarah Essary is a public relations professional and recent graduate from the University of Oregon. Currently interning at Frause, she is seeking a full-time career in communications. Check out Sarah’s fashion public relations blog at Consuming PR (consumingpr.com).You can find Sarah on Twitter (@consumingpr) or reach her via email at: sarah.essary(at)gmail.com.

    As an intern at Frause, I had the opportunity to take part in leading a strategic planning session with a sports team looking to change their brand perception. Facilitating a strategic planning session is the key to beginning a good relationship with any new client. It enables the client and public relations practitioner to find a common ground in order to implement a successful public relations plan.

    It is important to remember a few things before beginning a strategic planning session. Begin by creating an outline of what you want to accomplish during the session and clear up any questions your client may have. This will create a more comfortable and confident atmosphere for communication.

    The next step in a productive strategic planning session is establishing your client’s goals and objectives. Ask your client what they believe is their main purpose for utilizing public relations. This will help you understand how to accommodate their needs over the course of the plan.

    Once you understand your client’s needs it is best to assess the current market by SWOT analysis. A SWOT analysis defines the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. In addition, remember to have a conversation about their target audiences and their market position.

    Wrap up the session by defining your client’s current and desired brand perception. Remember, a public relations practitioner is not only a businessperson, but an investigative journalist as well! Get to the bottom of your client’s environment and identity.

    Also, ask your client if they have any more questions and be sure to address any immediate needs. It is also important to leave the strategic planning session with a sense of accomplishment and purpose.

    Looking back, I am grateful to have had this experience as a young professional. Through a productive planning session and some diligent implementation, we’ve been able to meet our objectives through media coverage in print newspaper, online and broadcast media.

  • But What if I Can’t Find a Job?

    So you’re prepared to be the PRo of the future. Whoop-de-freakin-do. What if you still can’t find a job?

    • Be patient: It takes time to find a job. The average time is three to six months, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it takes 2009 grads a bit longer (I know several ’08 grads who are still looking, too). Find a part-time job in the meantime doing something that’s not terribly painful – barista, retail, restaurant, or office – and just keep at it. The right job will come along.
    • Keep the End in Mind: Constantly looking for work for three, six, even nine months can be awfully discouraging. Stay motivated to reach your goal.
    • Volunteer: Especially if you’re a new grad, you have to keep your skills fresh and keep building your portfolio. Find a nonprofit that does something you’re excited about and offer to help with their PR or help build a social media plan. Even a few hours a week can help you add some good work to your resume and you’ll keep learning. And you never know who you will meet.
    • Network virtually & in person: Most jobs are not found by applying to a help wanted ad. You need to be networking! Know what kind of job you want and tell everyone you know. This post from the NYT Career Couch column has some terrific tips. A good network is not all about you. Figure out how to make it reciprocal. Participate in Twitter, have an up-to-date LinkedIn profile (with recommendations!), and clean up your Facebook page.
    • READ! READ! READ!: You must stay up to date with the goings-on in the industry in which you intend to work. Read PRWeek, subscribe to the bevy of smart PR bloggers (see my blogroll to the right for some places to get started). In addition, set Google and Twitter alerts for your dream job (company, clients, principals, industry, trends). That’ll give you something to talk about at the interview.

    What tips do you have? How do you stay motivated and keep your PR brain working while you job search?

    Image via Flickr from Thewmatt

  • New Voices for a New Year: Blogs to Read

    Happy new year! As part of my “social” resolutions, I am finding new voices to read, listen to and build relationships with in 2009. I thought I’d share a handful of new subscriptions I’ve added recently to my reader. I hope you’ll check out their blogs and find them on Twitter.

    • Dave Fleet’s davefleet.com
      Dave writes a lot of great stuff about PR. He had a communication planning series last year that was terrific and resulted in a free e-book that you can download. It was a tad different than the way we teach planning at the UofO, but styles vary from organization to organization and even client to client and it’s good to see and know lots of different formats. If you want a snapshot of what he has to say, you can check out his top posts of 2008 post. (@davefleet)
    • Scott Hepburn’s Media Emerging
      Honestly, Scott had me at this post, which I’ve bookmarked and forwarded to a handful of folks who I know will appreciate it. But look around, there’s a lot of great stuff here. He’s a talented copywriter and brings a great perspective to this new media stuff.(@scotthepburn)
    • Amber Naslund’s The BrandBox
      This Amber is one well-connected lady. I’ve enjoyed following her on twitter (@AmberCadabra) and really appreciate her blog. Her post on building on what you already have to participate in social media is a great one for anyone new to this stuff (including students!). Social media can feel overwhelming, but thinking about it piece by piece is an easier way to get your mind around what your organization (or your client) can do).

    I’ve added a few others in the last couple of months worth checking out, too: Danny Brown at PressReleasePR (@pressreleasepr), Beth Harte at The Harte of Marketing (@bethharte) and (not new, but I finally subscribed) David Meerman Scott’s Web Ink Now. (@dmscott) (I’ve also updated my blogroll recently, so you can check out my long time faves there).

    Do you have any new favorites?

    photo via flickr by Steve Kay

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