14 Key Attributes for New Public Relations Professionals

It's crazy to think that we are the future.... truly we are the future for Public Relations and everything we are learning is the new era of PR. Social media.... blogging... tweeting all of it is a big part of public relations today.

Honestly, before I took this class blogging was new to me and I really didn't see the big deal about it.... same with Twitter but since this class my personal opinion has changed. All of this is here and we need to be using it.

Our profession is always changing along with technology and everything else. So what does it take to be a good... I mean really good....

Dave Fleet give his opinions on what he thought is important for public relations professionals.

Writing is always important. I agree with this 110%. We need to know how to write... but as I have come to learn... nothing is perfect. Event the best writers make mistakes.... but strive for no errors. With writing.... there is always a need to brush up.

Communication skills, attention to detail and proactiveness are all very important as well. I am always trying to improve my attention to detail because like Fleet said, "Nothing will drive your colleagues mad like poorly-edited work."

Work ethic is important with any job. If you don't have a good work ethic then honestly what are you doing?

We've heard about this all through our college careers but what about the recent trend in social media and those skills.... Fleet went on to give his opinion about other key attributes...

Blogging*** This is so important and if you know how to do it you can really help yourself and your business.
I am still learning the world of blogging because it really is a whole new world. I definetely want to keep blogging.... it's sometimes hard to find time though but it's important and I need to work on it. Tip: Give up facebook for 15 minutes and blog?

Microblogging is actually very informative and fun at the same time. Twitter is taking over so it's time to join. To be honest.... it's not as hard as you might think!
Why not take 10 seconds to see what others are saying about you or your business or better yet spread news or information about yourself in a matter of seconds!!

Social Network can be used to your advantage in so many ways. Think about it. It's an easy way to put yourself out there by being interactive and gain feedback at the same time. This is something that I am very confident at. I love social networking.

I would say that I would need to work on coding and social media ethics. Ethics are not always black and white so sometimes it's harder....

There is a lot that I need to work on but for the most part I feel confident or atleast a lot more confident than I did at the beginning of the semester.... but there is always room for improvement!

50 Ideas on Using Twitter for Business

Twitter is the new thing of today so why not use it. With ideas for social media campaigns growing Twitter is just one of the many ways to help your company grow.

I recently read 50 Ideas on Using Twitter for Business by Chris Brogan and he gave some great insite. He lists the steps to get started and an important step and reason to use twitter is to search... to listen for your name and your competitors. By doing this you can keep track of how well your business is doing or maybe not doing. You can also check out your competitor and find out information you might have not known. Not everything has to be about you all the time... infact sometimes it's nice to hear other things going on.

Opinions are huge with Twitter. Post something about your business or even just a question or statement and see the opinions or feedback come pouring in. What could be better about receiving feedback from others. From this you can fix or create other solutions or options. Today, interaction is key and by involving people through Twitter or other programs it can help you.

Through Twitter you can bring people to different sites or show pictures or different types of media.... give others visuals.

It's Fast. What better way to spread new information fast.... With technology changing and growing everyday.... so many people have access to the web either by a computer or cell phone so they are always receiving messages or news at the touch of a button. Use Twitter to your advantage.

Try Twitter... you may just become addicted.

Women and Spirituality Conference

'Politics of Food,' and other hot topics will be discussed at Women and Spirituality Conference

10.26.09-Mankato, Minn.- The Women and Spirituality Conference will take place at Minnesota State University, Mankato, with nationally known speaker Dr. Vandana Shiva.

Shiva will discuss "Politics on Food" on Oct. 31. Shiva's keynote address will be at 11 a.m. in the Centennial Student Union Ballroom.

Shiva is a physicist, author and international sustainability leader. She founded Navdanya, a national Indian-based movement to protect resources and promote organic farming.

The conference will include more than 100 workshops and discussions such as "Nurturing Spirit by Embracing Inner Awareness in a Public School Setting," and "Find the Balance of Masculine and Feminine Power: Astrological Keys for Healing Mother Earth Ourselves."

Shiva, described by Time magazine as an "environmental hero," has received the Alternative Nobel Prize and Earth Day International Award.

Registration is required. Visit www.sbs.mnsu.edu/women for a full list of workshops, sessions and a registration form. For more information contact veldhc@mnsu.edu.

Course credit, scholarships and child care are available.

Minnesota State University, Mankato is wheelchair accessible. Anyone who desires special arrangements during the conference, call us at 507-389-2077 at least 48 hours prior to the conference.

Video News Releases and Corporate Blogging

Reading Chapter 9 and 1o in the book, Putting the Public Back in Public Relations proved to be very useful. (as always) Video News Releases have really exploded within the past couple years. With programs like Youtube out there it makes it a lot easier for companies to broadcast their product out to target markets.

There is more than you think to a VNR. Research must be done. Anyone can watch a video... but is there a certain group you want to see your video. Research to see where your target audience is or what they look at is a good way to better your VNR.

INFORM....INFORM....INFORM.....

Anyone can do a video about anything but does the receivers of your message really understand what you are trying to say?

After reading the chapter and how imporant video has become in the media it makes want to learn more about videos on line and visit more sites besides Youtube.


Blogging.....

This has become more important than ever in the past few years.... What's funny to me is that I think back to when I started the program (Mass Communications) in 2006 and I don't think I ever or not ever... but maybe a couple of times heard about blogging.... no joke. Now blogging is everywhere.... and I mean everywhere.... I don't just hear about it in my research class.... So why blog? Advice that my parents used to say... Don't ASK JUST DO IT! (BLOGGING)

I visited Conversation Marketing by Ian Lurie because in the book I was intrigued by the "How to Write a Really Crappy Blog."
She has so many blog posts on there and even better than that is her since of humor. There is a post titled "Nah You Don't Need a Blog..." It's short, funny and gets to the point.

She writes about a lot of things... not just on how to create a bad blog. I found her blog about comments to be interesting... not to mention the sarcasm that goes into her blogs. She writes about other things to think about with the web and not just blogging.

In conclusion, I think blogging is important and becoming huge in PR and marketing. The trick is to do it right and interest your followers.... don't get wrapped up in fancy things like words that others won't understand. Sometimes even simple can be the best.... Comment as much as you can.... and follow others, too.

The PRISM

Last class period we discussed different parts of the conversation prism. I had to research about video aggregation and learned quite a bit. I learned the definition of an aggregator is a site that aggregates original content from multiple sources.

It could be a web application which aggregates syndicated web content in a single location for easy viewing. Examples would be Blogs and Podcasts.

How does it work?
After you create videos and compress them you will transfer it using an RSS aggregator. Your viewers will then be able to see it.

This makes it possible for your video cast to be available and viewable to your public.

Why should we use it in PR?

Since we are communicating to our public and using on line video (which is a great strategy for attracting customers and public) it reduces time and effort. Also, it increases traffic to our site. To me, the most important would be because it engages readers or the public in the company.

Sites to check out for Video Aggregation:

Magnify.net
FireAnt
Twitmatic
Technorati
Dubble

Video is a good tool for your target market so use it :)

It was also interesting to hear about other sites on the web. I really liked LifeStream where you can read and share from the phone.

Ping is another sight that I will take a lot at.

I had heard about Blog Talk Radio but didn't know exactly how it worked

The Wonderful World of Blogging

I checked out some sites this weekend that caught my eye. The whole world of blogging is very new to me but so far it has proved to be very interesting. One of the sites I like best is The Bad Pitch Blog. I like the randomness of the site but how it pertains to Mass Communications. It was fun to read the different blogs but I really liked the blog Don't Get Cute with Naming by a random blogger named Susan Jacobsen. What's in a name?

Everyone has heard a name of a business, product or maybe even just a person that makes you go.... "wait what?" Sometimes you think how did they come up with that name for that? A name is very important and is what people remember.

I AGREE with what the author said, "You may have a fantastic story to back up your company name but without the right positioning - from the get-go - trying to be "cute" can backfire."

There is so much that goes into a name.... the meaning or what you want it to stand for. What you may be selling.... what you want others to think of when they hear the name. A bad name can deter potential clients or customers.

From this blog site if you click on the Wikepedia link it will lead you to other big companies and how they got their name. Do you know where Coca-Cola got its name??? Or how someone came up with the name Google?
A lot of them were named after initials but there were some interesting ones that you wouldn't have guessed.

You can hire a firm to help you come up with a name because sometimes it is difficult. Sometimes what we see or come up with might be a good idea to us but to everyone else it just sounds dumb. It's good to have outside advice and it doesn't even need to be a research company although it couldn't hurt. Take a long heard look at your product or business, what you want to say to your audience and even what audience you are going for. Reasearch or what is important to your target audience.... how do you think they would pick up on the name.

Some of us may be promoting new companies or products in the future and if you don't agree with them or their name/banding... it will be harder to promote them.

Take the time.... do the research..... pick a good strong name!!! It will stick with you forever :)

Ethics Today

Today in class we went over Ethics involving research. It's a great code to follow when conducting an experiment not only for you as a the researcher but also for the participant. They are as follows...

1. All the participants in a study must agree to do the study.

I believe the easiest way for you to make sure they agree to the study is to have them sign a waiver. This is very common in all studies done today.

2. A participant must be allowed to withdraw from a study at any time.

This one is easy enough. The participants are volunteers and should be able to withdraw from anything whether they don't feel comfortable anymore or just don't want to do it.

We also talked about awards and that if there is an award for participating in a study or experiment they should be entitled to something even if they withdraw from the study.

A participant should never be punished for withdrawing.

3. Participants must understand what they are volunteering for.

Basically, they need to know everything that is about to take place.

4. The research may not harm an individual.

This includes in any way .... physically, psychologically etc. No one should be harmed.

5. EVERYTHING you receive from the volunteers must remain CONFIDENTIAL!!!!

Just like a visit to the doctor.... it needs to remain confidential. This is very important and you must protect it.

The Code of Ethics found on the PRSSA website is a great guideline to follow.

The Golden Rule was something that we were taught as kids. In a nutshell.... Treat others as you want to be treated. This goes along with ethics, too. It's a great guideline to live by!

The Machine is Using Us

We were asked to watch the video on Youtube called The Machine is Using Us. It was intriguing to watch because it shows how vastly the web is evolving and how everyone is or will be affected by it. It's not just writing either but I liked how they showed Youtube as another way for people to find out what's going on. You can find out so much information on the web from today and the past. Because the web is evolving and everyone around us is using it in some shape or form there are things that we need to watch for. Privacy is changing... the way we send and receive news is forever changing. I thought the video gave a neat insight on how we are being impacted by the "machine."

First Blog Post

This is my first blog post. We are watching a video and then writing about this for our blog in Ellen Mrja's class.