Rules to Remember

Cheri Hegi, the Creative Director at Primal Media, posted a presentation called “The 5 Rules of Social Media for Non Profits (and everyone else!)” on the Network for Good Learning Center site. Even though we hear these things all the time, I think it’s always good to keep them on our minds.

1. Listen -No one is going to care about what you have to say if you don’t take the time to listen to what is already being said.

2. Get involved – You can’t just have a Twitter account or a blog. Develop a presence, and then maintain it. And make a conscious effort to contribute something new to the conversation.

3. Give up control – No matter how much you wish you could, you have no power over what other people will say. Just do your best to give them reasons to only write positive things.  :) 

4. Be honest – If you use social media to spread a lie, there is no way to hide it. What you say online is there for the world to see.

5. Think long term – Just because you start blogging or tweeting today doesn’t mean that you’re going to get recognition or see results tomorrow. Have patience. Give the social media world time to get to know you.

 

Are there any rules you think should be added to this list?

Blog Friendly PR: Helping You Make Important Connections

The public relations industry strongly relies on social media these days, and it seems like companies can never get enough of this publicity (when it is positive, of course).

Personally, I feel that company blogs are one of the most effective uses of social media. That is why a recent post on PR Couture caught my attention. Fashion Better Blogger Relations with Blog Friendly PR talks about how agencies and bloggers are looking for new and better ways to connect with one another.

A new site, Blog Friendly PR, is allowing bloggers, public relations practitioners, and companies to unite. This web-site was developed on the basis of one simple idea: Blogs and review sites are the new way to effectively market products to consumers.

But what exactly does all of this mean?

Blog Friendly PR has a list of review writers who are looking to write about companies and/or products on their blogs. It also provides information about PR practitioners, business owners, journalists, and other people working in media who want to have a presence in online review blogs.

Blog Friendly PR is making is making it easier for these two groups of individuals to connect and work together.

Need someone to review your product? Looking for a product to review? Head to Blog Friendly PR and get your name on the list.

New Addition for Your Social Media Toolkit

I recently read a post by Dave Fleet about what is currently in his social media “toolkit.” In this post, he talks about the social media tools that he uses on a regular basis.

I was pretty excited when I realized that I actually knew what most of these tools were and had used them at one point or another. But there was one in particular that stood out, mostly because he had noted that it was new. So I decided to check it out.

MicroPlaza is one of the new social media tools that you should take the time to become familiar with. Have you ever noticed that the links people post on Twitter often get lost in the mass of tweets you get each day? Wish you could check out the ones that spiked your interest, but you don’t have the time to filter though everything to find them again?

That’s where MicroPlaza comes into play. This new tool goes through your Twitter network and shows all the links posted by the people that you are following. It even shows you everyone else who posted the links as well, so you can see what those outside of your network have to say. One more cool feature is called “being someone.” This allows you to view all the links shared in someone else’s network.

Try it out. MicroPlaza just might become the newest addition to your own social media toolkit.

I Will Survive

I am graduating from Clemson in just a few months, and I am hoping to find a career in public relations. Unfortunately for me, and many others, this economy is not being very gracious at the moment. I realize that it’s going to be very difficult for me to even get my foot in the door, and I will have to go above and beyond to prove that I belong to be there if I do make it into this industry. But how will I do that?

I recently read a post from Ryan Anderson on his blog, The New PR. In his post, “Working the bottom rung,” Ryan gives some tips to help other new PR practitioners keep their jobs and maybe even move up in the rankings of their organizations.

Ryan’s advice includes:

• Be reliable
• Have an eagle-eyed attention to detail
• Figure it out
• Become a better writer
• Enjoy the grunt work
• Be patient
• Bring a big brain

Following these tips may mean that you’re not always doing the most glamorous or most exciting work, but this advice can help you prove yourself to employers. Everyone has to start somewhere, so you might as well go ahead and make a positive first impression.

Pick me, Pick me!

Are you trying to get employers to notice you? Are you trying to stand apart from the crowd as you search for jobs and/or internships?

Check out this post from Kerri on the PR Girlz blog.

Her advice to aspiring PR practitioners:

• Do your research
• Be just a little bit different
• Have an online presence
• Make connections

Use these tips to your advantage – it just may make the difference between whether or not you get that job or internship.

Do you find them useful? Do you have any other tips that might be beneficial for those wanting to get into the PR industry?

Also, check out my comment on her post.

A Girl in the PR World

Have you ever wondered just how some PR practitioners got their jobs? What types of internships did they complete to get prepared for the PR world? How did they set themselves apart from all of the other job applicants?

Janna, now a PR practitioner at Thornley Fallis, talks about her journey into public relations in her post “A PR Girl’s Beginnings – Part 1 – How I Got Here” on the PR Girlz blog. She did not have any public relations experience or knowledge about social media, yet she was still savvy and creative enough to set herself out from the crowd and get the job – a lesson that we could all learn from in these rough times!

PR Girlz is a collective blog from the women who work at Thornley Fallis, a communications and public relations agency in Canada. Their posts cover a range of topics – from public relations current affairs to defeating the traditional stereotypes of what a PR girl does.

It is both fun and informative to read what these women have to say about their lives in the PR world, and this blog is definitely a must-read for females looking to pursue a career in public relations. Check it out!