A Public Relations Must Have- Don't leave home without it!

All the communication exercises, excel and PowerPoint lessons, internships, natural or acquired skills are useless in PR without one key ingredient….work ethic.

I may not be the best ( yet ;) ) and I know I’m not perfect by far…and perhaps there is nothing I can do about these things...so instead I focus on something I can have a say in. I determined a long time ago that I will not let anyone 'out-work' me. I believe there is something to be said for someone who is naturally good at something and makes it to the top, but even more to be said about someone who isn’t and is still there. I’d want that person on my team.
 

I think this is where a college degree comes into play. Sure college courses train us in the details of  press release writing, pitching and etc. but the real 4 year lesson ( sometimes longer it seems for our generation ) is endurance.

Just as college athletes come to train to have what it takes to make it into NFL, we come to learn what it takes to make it into corporate. Sure natural ability will take you far…but it can only take you SO FAR…and then the work ethic has to kick in, the hunger for more knowledge, the ability to adapt and conquer the new.

 

I will screw up, you will screw up- it’s inevitable. The extent of the screw up is dependable…(depending on  if I wisely choose to evaluate sooner than later or ask for guidance before things get too far)…but I will only make the mistake ONCE. After that time- it is filed, evaluated and noted. If I trip over a rock, I now know it’s there. It becomes a stepping stone the second time around. I think this is the difference between a person who shows up "TO" work and a person who shows up "AT" work. (Think about it :) )

I can’t help but appreciate how often the lessons in PR apply to everyday lives. Ie: Don’t lie, don’t put too much information on the internet, stay positive and foster/ value relationships- but the lesson today is a little different. You will mess up along the way but don’t let it intimate you from giving it your all…and then some. Nothing in life worth having is without putting in work…no career worth having can be attained without the same concept.

10 Must-Pack Items When Traveling for Business

It’s your first time traveling with for a company trip! I ran into this my second week at my new job and boy did I pack wrong! I was so excited/ nervous at the concept I made a couple rookie mistakes ie: not brining a coat or a comfortable pair of shoes. 7 trips later including one from coast to coast, I feel that I have learned a thing or two on how to pack light and appropriately when traveling for business. Here are a couple tips to reduce some turbulence on your trip J

1.       Always pack a sweater: I was proactive in checking the weather but failed to consider how cold the meeting rooms would be. Since I was spending most of my time inside it didn’t matter that I packed for 90 degree weather…I was cold!

2.       Dry shampoo: I hate to confess this but I don’t always have the luxury of washing my hair on a business trip. My co-worker was blessed with natural wavy hair so she can emerge from the room with a wet head of hair and arrive at the meeting less than an hour later looking like it took her hours to dry and curl…since I-like many women- have to wash, dry, straighten and spray…I found dry shampoo to be a great travel companion.

  3.       Facial towelettes: They’re a quick and easy way to freshen up after a long day of travel or going from meeting. Even better- they fit in your clutch so you can bring them and run into the bathroom, use in the cab or even on the plane. They even help wake me up a little.

   4.       Speaking of a wake up call- Starbucks is my favorite vice…and with via on the go I can dump the little powder mix into any cup of water for a pick me up. You can find any flavor at your local Starbucks or Starbucks.com

5.       Bottled water….but don’t keep running up the company card. Get a water bottle filter for easy re-fills. Hint- the water bottles in the hotel room are not free…haha I’m sure you knew that though.

6.       Protein bar. You may never wind up eating it- but there are times in between meetings and trade shows where I have 20 minutes in my room and it comes between food and freshening up. This is where I am chewing my protein bar and putting on mascara- not as easy as it sounds try it!

7.       Your favorite travel sized perfume- because not everyone smells like roses when they use public transportation all day.

8.       A little black dress: Your sanity savoir for unavailable access to your room and flight delays. I will travel in an LBD with flip flops or flats for easy airport security checks and comfortable walking. Then throw on heels for the events and dinners without a hitch.

9.       Tinted Moisturizer-  You won’t have time to put on a full face of make up when running around from the airport, to a cab to an event to a company dinner or getting up at 4 am to keep up with the media’s work hours….this gives you a healthy glow. Opt for the ones with sunscreen!

10.   Finally, my co-worker ( the same one with the great hair) suggested brining and taking Emergen-C Vitamin -Easy little powder packets that can be added to any bottle of water. They boost your immune system that really takes a hit when traveling and being run down with lack of sleep and hectic schedules.

Safe Travels!

Maintain a Blog to Get the Job

One of the main reasons I blog is to share the insight I have learned throughout my professional journey as both a student, graduate and now working professional. I want to share some of the steps, lessons and mistakes that I have made so that if you stumble upon this blog you can get to know me, my writing and hopefully take something with you, even if its just a laugh for the day at a silly meme.

The truth is though that by committing to writing this blog I am also enhancing my writing skills, growing as a professional and filing away lessons I have learned. Check out this post by Qorvis.

From: Qorvis
 http://www.qorvis.com/blog/maintain-blog-get-job

"What you are currently reading is a blog, a form of expression that allows users to share their ideas across a digital landscape. Bloggers post pictures, videos, recipes, or stories about their life, or interests. Not since the invention of the printing press has a form of technology had such a profound impact on the written word. Simply stated, the blog is brilliant.

For this post, I want to speak directly to those seeking employment. Those with a steady gig are encouraged to read on, but for today, my focus is on my unemployed friends.

Ladies and gentleman, you face an uphill battle. No matter if you are fresh out of college or a decorated veteran of the marketing battlefield, you are no match for the weakened economy. Companies are now carefully considering every hiring decision and only those with the perfect set of tools make the cut. So, let’s add another tool to your belt.

You need a blog. This is not a suggestion – it’s an order. Pick a topic you are passionate about and start writing. The topic is of less importance than the quality of your writing. Your goal is to be engaging, sound smart, and show your worth.

A blog is a powerful tool because of its ability to display worth. Posting regularly shows you are dedicated and diligent. And, in addition to displaying your writing abilities, it also shows a potential employer you’re in tune with an ever-changing online community.

Blogging is a gateway that provides invaluable training on how to interact with others through a number of different channels. For instance, you will learn how to leverage Twitter, Facebook, StumbleUpon, and other platforms to push your message and attract readers to your site. Additionally, by maintaining a blog, you will discover the intricacies of data analytics and how they correlate with your content. Most importantly, you gain the ability to speak fluently about new media marketing. Recruiters or potential employers at communications firms drool over candidates that require little training in these areas.

During my time as a high school football coach, I often told my players, “put yourself in the best position to win.” The advice: While the situation will rarely be ideal, with the right skills or mentality, you will make that play. This same idea holds true for gaining employment.
Blogging will put you in the best position to win. Add your blog URL to your resume and always carry hard copies of your most popular posts to interviews. Professionalize your blog and maybe think about posting about industry-related content.  Finally, keep screen shots of your blog’s progress and don’t be scared to show these during an interview.

Remember: the emphasis is on not really on the topic. It’s on the opportunity to share your thoughts and showcase your knowledge about the changing digital landscape. Your worth is at your fingertips, so be brilliant and start blogging."

http://www.qorvis.com/blog/maintain-blog-get-job

Inspirational Quotes to Start Your Week

You may not be in Public Relations, Marketing or Event Planning. You may be a CEO instead of an intern or entry level associate. You may not even be going to work today...

Wherever you find yourself this morning... here are some inspirational quotes to start your week!

It took me 20 years to perfect note taking!

A friend of mine was out celebrating last night with all of us after receiving her first A in Law School.  With three months left she will then graduate and take the bar and hopefully become my future lawyer, (hopefully her services won’t be needed). She said something that was very interesting: "It took me 20 years to get this A" noting that we are conditioned and trained until that moment our entire educational careers we reach our goal. That’s what I took with me today to work.  The majority of the successes we achieve, goal we reach or even ones which we are after all stem from the conditioning we endure as a student.

Today I realized note taking is one of those things.  I think each person has to tweak it for their own but the foundation is always the same. For the most part, we learn how to take them in high school, then shorten them or learning to write much faster in college and then take these acquired skills to the work force to be used particularly in meetings. Why does all this matter? 

I’ll give you a setting. My boss and colleges gathered for a small meeting. In which we would delegate tasks for an upcoming event.  As he  separated each task out to each person, he remarked on attendance, things we weren’t  sure about yet, times and etc. This had nothing to do with my particular task as I was just given a list of people to contact.  Most beginner students start off with the mentality, “ I only need to write down what is going to be on the test” or in my case I would only need to note what is delegated to me- here are the people, here are their emails. The experienced student knows "I need to take notes of the “core” of this conversation, but also jot down and highlight the contributing factors." It is usually these little facts that turn up  later in a discussion question. The meeting then ended and we went to our desks. I then realized that part of my task did in fact entail some of those contributing factors. I was given the task I communicating with the rest of our team the logistics of the event. If I had only jotted down only the names and emails of who I had been instructed to contact and disregarded time, place, flights, who from the press would be attending etc.  I would not have been able to communicate these logistics very well to the team. My major is communications so not being able to communicate is something that I look at as a very serious fail personally. It would have also made me look quite inadequate if I needed contact my boss  to have him repeat the majority of the information he just went over.

There is also the type of beginner student also takes notes viciously.  Everything and anything is in their notebook and so much that they often don’t’ have time to look up. This is an problem later in life if you cannot find the time to participate in class discussions and God forbid you take this habit into the work place and have no contribution to your meetings. There is no growth in this and even more so it makes the employee perhaps appear less interested, less of a contributing team member and so forth.  This is where those note taking skills you took from college come in handy. All or us college kids have learned to jot down the highlights and let these trigger the specifics. Granted sometimes the specifics are necessary. After all you can't just jot down the word time. You need to put 3:30-6:00pm. But this allows  the employee to  take what is needed from the meeting, go back  to reflect and elaborate while still having the time to engage the team and ask questions.

It’s funny how something that  as far as I know, people are not tested on, is such a big part of the workforce. Such a vital skill to take from your education… it took me 20 years to perfect the skill of note taking. Maybe I’ll go out and celebrate tonight J.

Ps. Don't be afraid of 2012. There's more ways to take notes than just on paper....
http://www.yourlifestyledesigner.net/articles/7-apps-note

Keep Your Friends Close and Your Enemies Closer

Competition is seen as the enemy. At the same time though they are a healthy motivation to a growing business. The push to be innovative, faster and of course more profitable. We look at what they are doing and then think how can we do it better? Different?

Today at work  I was reminded that there are two key players when you’re in business. Your partners  and your competition.  Since the partners are not a threat they are sometimes over looked. The problem lies when there is a lack of communication  or neglect in keeping up with the partners agenda.  It is important to practice a similar strategy with competition.  Although you would not share your ideas with them as you would partners, in both scenarios it is vital to be aware of what they are doing.  Is your partner coming up with something that could benefit your company? Are they announcing something else that you could perhaps be tied in with? Even more important when is your completion releasing their products for sale? What events are they holding?

In a prior blog I talked about how timing is everything.  All the lessons come full circle in PR it seems.  If you are planning an event at the same time as your partners why not collaborate? Its more cost efficient and more than likely you will have the same demographics, allowing you to reach out to even more people.

The same works with competition.  It is inevitable that you and your competition will virtually have similar clients. At the vey least similar demographics. If you hold an event around the same time of your competition you are forcing your public to choose. Instead of allowing them to be educated separately. This is a big risk even if you have the upper hand.  Even worse, you are forcing the media to choose and risk losing potential coverage, which in the PR world is unthinkable. Sure you can get a reporter but is it the one you want. Remeber each journalist has their own beats, columns and niche. 

I’m thinking that perhaps an hour or so of the day should be dedicated to researching the competition. Knowing information before it happens and strategically planning accordingly. Having a good relationship with your partners through constant communication can ease some of the work load in having to monitor their actions aswell. Keeping informed will build a relationship instead of seeming uninterested in what they are doing by relaying on solely the partner to communicate their actions. Perhaps this is where newsletters come in handy?  We inform the partner and request they do the same.  As for our "enemy", that work falls on our shoulders alone. Although there are many channels of information to keep updated on their actions as well.  Our friend the media is the neutral party in which we should continually lend our eyes and ears to regularly in this field.  This isn't looking too time consuming after all....simple tasks with enromous rewards. Why can't everything be this way :) ?

Just the fact please, Hold the fillers.

“Only $800. Cable, Water, Trash all included.” I read this on the website, was confirmed this via phone and then again in person when I came to tour. Knowing it was well above my price range ( I’m a struggling post college kid) but thinking I could stretch to make the $800, I agreed to sign the papers immediately before the price jumped any higher as they tend to do. I was already sacrificing having a washer and dryer as well as a microwave ( my main source of food seeing as I'm not  the cook) to have this place. I didn’t want to wait until this last “discounted unit” was gone. You can imagine how happy my leasing agent was when I came in already Sold. As I began putting ink on paper I noticed the price at the bottom was well over the $800. Next to the lines for cable, water and trash were separate fees.

 “What is this about?” I asked pointing to the separated dollar amounts.

“Oh,” the agent responded in a matter-of-factly tone, “ This is your included water, cable, etc.”. 

“How is it included if it is extra?” I laughed but was becoming a little annoyed. I already knew I wasn’t getting this bundled.

“It’s included because we offer it.” She explained, “So you pay your rent which is the $800. Then you pay the $50 for cable. Your water depends on use and the trash is a $10 fee. Then you are required to purchase $95 dollars of renters insurance to us as well. Your electric is separate though.”

I went from thinking I would struggle to make the $800 and wound up looking at paying the very least $955 not including electricity and whatever I used for my water. I’ve never been one for math but I can assume that with the addition of water and electric I was looking at paying  at least $1000 a month. How did I even get in the door there? I did my research, read the facts then checked them twice and even sacrificed some “non-essentials” that are actually fairly essential to me in order to be conned.  Strong word choice but when you’re in my little shoes ( I’m only a size five on a good day) it seemed appropriate. Fortunately, I picked up on this before my signatures went any further. I politely explained that I misunderstood and would not be able to commit at this time.

This incident made me somewhat wiser as I continued to home hunt. I then would ask when seeing the  word “included” if  these utilities were really included in the listed price already. Surprise! I feel as if it was safe to say that 9 out of 10 times they were not.

This long rant has a point. I found that in marketing it is easy to say things like “only this much” but in separate payments. Show huge signs with the word “FREE” and then in tiny print put with two other purchases. Sure it grabs attention but at the same time I feel that I am being misled. Am I paranoid? Maybe. Either way I think that this all relates to the type of business I hope to run one day. I don’t want to mislead clients. I don’t want to mislead their clients. It’s not worth getting them in the door if they are dying to leave and telling everyone not to come in. Even if I had signed on the dotted line that day without catching all the additional fees my trust would have been broken. I would not recommended the complex to others and my relationship with the agents would have been tainted.

I currently work in reviews. I know and have seen what a bad vs good review can do. We look to others, especially people we know to provide us with insight on their experiences with something we have never tried.  How would I review the apartment complex if I had been “tricked” into signing or year? Sure they had me in the door but how many potential clients would they loose after I blew the whistle? No one likes the thought of being intentionally mislead. Don’t even get me started on how I purchased my first car ha ha. I am still paying for that one! Which is also partially the reason an $800 apartment is a struggle. Fool me once shame on you, but it was not going to happen again. I feel like clients, customers, partners, people feel the same way. Just the facts please, no fillers.