PRos in Training

Category: All-Time Favorites

Your Email Signature Block is Not a Resume
I’ve noticed a trend.

Students who are heavily involved in activities will be quick to let you know… in their email signature block.

Like most (all!) of what we write in public relations, your email signature line should be appropriate to your target audience. The advice on email signature lines will vary dramatically (just do a search). But here are a few tips for students and young PRos to make the most of this tiny piece of real estate:

1) Keep it simple: Less is more! Include the info your recipient needs – name, basic contact info – and avoid information overload.

2) Create more than one signature block: Your email signature block should not substitute as a resume. If you’re an intern, an account manager at the student-run PR firm, serve on the PRSSA executive board and participate in your sorority or fraternity, that’s all wonderful. However, each of those roles serves different purposes, and your signature line should, too.

If you were my intern, I would want you to represent my clients as a member of my firm (not as a student leader or participant in campus activities). If you were my intern, you’d also be using a company email, so putting that info on your personal signature line doesn’t seem appropriate (although I’m glad you’re proud!).

Put your Web site or blog address in your subject line and provide your resume there.

3) Avoid quotes. I might get in trouble for this… I know lots of people who have quotes in their signature blocks. I’d say if you want to include a quote, make it a positive one and keep it short. But generally, think about the point and think about your audience. Is it necessary info?

4) Don’t use lame fonts. Lots of fonts don’t translate from machine to machine or from HTML or “rich text” to a plain text email system. If you’re trying to do something fancy-schmancy… don’t (refer to tip 1).

5) No personal info. Keep the info business-oriented. No one needs to know how many days left until graduation.

So what should you include? No more than five or six lines and keep any “mini commercials” to one line.
- Name
- Credentials relevant to the email and to the recipient
- Phone Number
- Email
- Web site or blog address
For other tips, look here, here and here.
March 21, 2008
Do Well on Assignments: Five Tips
I’m in grading mode this weekend. My “grading” includes two categories.

My classes: the assignments I’m grading on one’s that I’ve required. Often I kick myself in the butt for having complicated assignments of multiple pages, rather than making it easy on myself. But then I remember how ill-prepared I felt at my first job (or three) and how I wished for more exposure to more types of things while in school. So… tonight I grade!
Work from AHPR: Allen Hall PR is the student-run PR firm at the University of Oregon. The firm has seven to ten clients, all of which has various projects in the hopper. I’m the last link in the “editing chain.” When things get to me, they should be client ready. They often aren’t.

With both of these types of “assignments” in mind, I offer these tips for students.
1. Be clear on the directions and format.I often think I’m being crystal clear, especially for a first time assignment. And, without fail, there’s a detail I’ve missed communicating. I appreciate when students ask for clarification. It gives me the opportunity to… well, clarify and to make sure everyone is hearing the same answer to the same question.
2. Ask how much time I think it’ll take.I work in public relations every day. Chances are I’ve done the very thing I’m asking you to do and billed someone for it. I can give you a sense of how long it should take to write a press release, or put together a plan. Knowing this will help you better budget your time – help you put the big rocks first. I don’t always think to offer this information, though.
3. Commit.You’ve chosen the PR major for better or for worse. Embrace each assignment with some enthusiasm. This assignment could be THE piece that your first employer hangs that job offer on. “You know, I wasn’t sure about hiring you, but then I saw that online newsroom material you wrote and I knew you should be part of our team!” Okay, that’s an instructor’s fantasy, but you get the point.Besides, I know when you haven’t committed. I can see it in the weak verbs, passive voice and run-on sentences.
4. Ask for help.In most of my classes, I require my students think… at least a little bit. That lets you be more creative, more interested in what you’re doing. But, that may leave you with writer’s block, too. Ask for help! I’m a great brainstorming buddy. I’ll help find the right angle that will help it all “click” for you.
5. Don’t be satisfied with “good enough.”I know. Sometimes you run out of time, cars break down, parents come into town. Trust me, I know. I’m afraid however, that empathy does not equal sympathy in my book. Every piece of work that you turn into me should be your best work. I’m the furthest thing from unreasonable, but I do have high expectations.
There you have it! Things you already know, I’m sure. But good to be reminded, anyway.
April 29, 2007
How to Write a Basic Media Relations Strategy

The ability to work with the media is our “value added” in public relations (and one of the key reasons PR is in the journalism school at the UofO)… So when you want to add a media relations strategy to a client plan or proposal, how do you do it?

“Get [my organization] on morning talk shows” is not a media relations strategy.

First, think about your target audience. You need to have a solid understanding of who your target audience is. Have you painted a picture that makes it clear what media they use and respond to. If not, do more research.

Once you’re comfortable with your understanding on the audience, you’re ready to move forward with recommended strategy. Your strategy needs to include your key messages and the tone of the media materials that you will create.

For example, say you’re working with a local humane society on recruiting more adopters and your target audience is senior citizens. Your objective might be: To raise awareness of [the humane society] among senior citizens so to encourage more adoptions.

You’ve determined through your research that your target audience reads the local newspaper daily. Your strategy might read something like this:

To accomplish this objective, we recommend a media relations strategy that focuses on the health benefits of owning an animal. According to APPMA.org, health benefits include lower blood pressure, longer life and lower stress levels. The Humane Society should identify key spokespeople from this target audience to dispel possible myths about behavior or social problems of shelter animals and discuss the benefits of adopting from the Humane Society.

The specific tactics would follow-on in a priority list and would include the steps to take to execute the strategy and meet the objective.

What else goes into a media relations strategy? Check out these articles:
Ten Steps for Successful Media Relations (on aboutpublicrelations.net)
Website Pressroom – A Key Promotional Tool

Other tips? What key elements must be considered for an effective media relations campaign?

November 13, 2006