Wednesday, December 17, 2008

Blogging in the Workplace

At a conference held in central London in early April, business men and women were encouraged to let their employees blog. Darren Strange, an employee of Microsoft, was a guest speaker who blogs regularly. He gets about 200,000 hits per month. Some people are reading because they want to be up to date on the latest tech that Microsoft is producing. Others read because they can relate to the issues that he faces with co-workers and supervisors. No matter what they go there to read about, Darren considers his blog “a conversation about something I am passionate about."
Strange spoke about letting their employees blog freely, yet within guidelines. He encouraged the assembled mass to at the very least entertain the idea of a corporate blog. Darren suggested that this blog could actually benefit the organization. By blogging, they can directly address concerns that anyone may have rather than ignore them.
However, blogging about your work life can have a detrimental effect as well. Several years ago avid blogger Heather Armstrong was fired for the blog she had at the time. She worked for a web design company and wrote about everything from the computer problems she dealt with on a daily basis, to commenting on her supervisor's looks.
When her employers found out about her blog she was immediately terminated from the company. She even wrote about that experience. Since her termination and the blog posts that followed, a term has been created for what happened to her. It is called being, “Dooced,” dooce being the name of her blog site. Since then it has circled the globe and is referenced whenever someone gets fired for what they write on their blog.
Heather still has her blog and writes almost every day. She no longer writes about her job. She writes about being a mother and wife, and everything in between.
So whatever you decide to do, blog or not blog. Just be careful what you write. You never know who is reading.

Help for P.R. Rookies

Many of us are at the threshold of employment in the PR industry. As PR rookies, it might be helpful to start tracking information that others in the industry report as helpful. For example, in KDPaine's blog she refers to Google Analytics. I checked it out and it looks like a good tool to keep in mind for future reference. As you discover cool tools, please give our classmates a head's up post in our blog.

I liked the style of Jim Horton's blog. It takes on more of a news reporting tone. It's easy to picture him as a PR professional. His focus is on the presidential elections right now. It will be interesting to see what his topics are after the elections. I discovered that he authored two books. His blogging gives you a feel as to whether or not you might be interested in reading his books. This is a much better method of book selection than just a cursory glance through a book before its purchase.

It seems to me that posting comments to someone's blog opens the door to a potential mentorship. I've noticed that many of the initial bloggers respond to the comments that are posted. Certainly one would become familiar with a frequent commenter, assuming the comments were pertinent and thought provoking or at least humble in soliciting information.

The more I search the PR blogs, the more I think they are valuable to search. New tools, discovering the styles I like and why, and the potential of mentoring by already employed professionals makes blog searches more appealing to me. I especially like the more informative and educational blogs, as opposed to the ones that focus on ranting and complaining. I haven't yet commented on a blog other than our own. Soon...

Thursday, December 11, 2008

The Good, the Bad, and the Networker

If there is one tip that I can pass on that will make a big difference professionally, it is how to network the right way. I recently read an article titled "How to Work a Room." It nailed the correct concepts of how to network with efficiency. I try to regularly apply these suggestions and feel that over time, they have begun to pay-off.

So far, most young professionals I've met interpret the term "networking" as a concept that means that they need to glad-hand professionals that can make their careers take-off. They need to get as many business cards as possible at every function, or they need to make buddies with the big-wigs in the room.

Wrong. Wrong. Wrong.

As you will see in this article, the best practice is to meet a small handful of people at a party and get to know them. Not get to know their business, or company, or job. Talk about real things in society outside of work. After all, you are public relations person, aren't you? Shouldn't you know what is happening in the world after having read, say, the newspaper? Novel idea, I know.

A successful "networker" will spend time cultivating relationships with a few people at a time. Talk about sports, the news, politics, jokes, and mostly THEM. It is so true that we all like to talk about ourselves, but getting yourself to prompt others and let them tell their stories builds friendship. There will be many parties and lots of time to talk about work. Don't miss the chance to learn about people's personal lives.

"How to Work a Room" was a great article and reminder about good networking practices.

And remember, next time someone challenges you to a game of "I bet I can get more business cards than you," slap some sense into them.

Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Internet PR Campaign

Internet PR Campaign
http://thatsgreatprblog.com/2008/08/12/10-tips-for-a-successful-internet-pr-campaign/
This blog posting was designed to give tips on making a PR campaign successful on the Internet. The author gives 10 tips that I think are helpful for any company to use especially if it has a Web site or a blog site.
In the first couple of tips the author talks about having key points in your press release so that those who are searching the Internet may stumble upon this document. The idea behind this is to have potential customers go to your Website.
Normally, with traditional media it might take longer to create the excitement of a press release that you sent out for your company. His point here is that by using the internet you can create the excitement in advance to get the coverage that you want to make this campaign successful. To create this excitement he says to send out the press release on the Internet seven days in advance. He said that within about a month-long period of time the clients will be able to see how many hits and page reviews that have occurred from this release. Later on during this period of time he says to then send the press release to the media of when the event is actually going to happen.
I thought that this blog is helpful in showing a different way of starting a PR campaign.

Monday, December 8, 2008

A PR Rant

It is sometimes more insightful to ask someone what they don’t like about their job, instead of what the best part of their job is. Let’s face it, the bad days come with the good, and you have to be prepared for them.
Bad Pitch Blog is all about the things that many PR agents do wrong, can’t stand about clients, or that journalists hate about the PR world. The thing that I like about this blog is that it doesn’t just complain but gives helpful pointers.
Even though the blog talks about all the bad things in the profession it usually keeps an upbeat tone and is very entertaining. They offer complaints and advice on everything from typos and bad pitches to bad clients and much more.
Personal Branding I found this blog about personal branding, and it seems like it could be very helpful. Dan Schawbel is the author of the blog. According to him, in this changing world of media, it is important to have a good personal brand image.

A post I particularly like is one about creating a consistent brand image across all social networks. He talks about the accepted types of pictures you would put on your profile if you were going to use networks like flickr and twitter. He also talks about if you wanted to create a facebook or myspace account what types of pictures are the best for posting. Another important point he makes is that as you grow your brand your online brand should grow as well. Keep it updated and current. Do not have pictures on there that make you look like someone you are not. Pictures

There are a variety of other posts on his blog. One that specifically deals with PR is a blog on what to do if someone is posting bad things about you. Schawbel used an example of where people were blogging negative things about him. He wrote out the different steps of what to do in this situation. Negative Blogs

How does this all relate to public relations? It is important for professionals in this field to have a credible brand image themselves, as well as the brand they work for. Not only does it show your employer who you are, it shows what you are capable of.
5 Stupid PR Tactics
Don Crowther, a blogger on Global PR Week, writes about the 5 stupidest PR tactics. I am sure that this could create some controversy with other PR professionals, but I think he makes some valid points.

Crowther first explains that a PR campaign can cost a lot of money, so if you are looking at hiring a PR firm, make sure they bring something different to the table.

Crowther's first stupid PR tactic is big events. He thinks that, yes, they might create a big attendance, but did it create media coverage? More importantly than media coverage, does that really increase sales? He argues that most of the time it does not.

Sponsorships are the second stupid PR tactic. Yes, they might get a company name out there, and Crowther argues it could be a nice tax write-off, but again how does that increase your sales. Crowther argues that sponsorships might as well be a nice charitable activity.

The third and fourth tactics have to do with media releases. Crowther thinks that if it's not news, don’t bother. People don’t care about things that are not news worthy. Also, don’t send news releases to international outlets unless it is international news. Some people get the idea that sending a news release to as many outlets as possible is the best thing to do. Crowther argues to send them to places that have a good chance of printing it and save the money you would have spent sending them elsewhere.

The last tactic is not to bother with expensive, cool media kits. Give people what they need, and don’t waste money on other superfluous things.

PR hurting other countries

Katie Paine is known for her creation of the Measurement Standard, which is the international newsletter of public relations research that tracks the effectiveness of Marketing and PR programs. Paine posts an interesting blog in regards to Dubai, and how lousy PR has ruined its reputation as a safe place to visit. She further comments on the social media, and how they can be a rain cloud over society. Paine explains how certain mainstream media outlets in America portray the United States as superior to other countries, and how America is the last safe haven left in the world. I have to say that Paine is making this out to be a larger issue than it really is. I understand that America is not perfect; other countries have nice places to stay and would be considered safe by most standards. Paine needs to understand that after 9/11, the psychology of Americans changed. Terrorists from the middle-east murdered thousands of people on our own soil. It’s natural for an average citizen of the United States to be cautious when any other American is traveling abroad. What’s going to stop them from killing you on their own turf?