If you are keeping up, a large amount of this blog’s subject matter delves into the realms of social networking. I firmly believe reaching out to people through internet websites like Twitter and Facebook is the way of the future. Public relations professionals are making this a priority in pushing brands and companies in different and new innovative ways. In the vast consumer market of the internet, more and more information is available in different and varying forms about companies. The biggest problem with this veritable flood of data is gaining a customer’s trust, and it’s how we employ proper uses of social networking. But how do we break into the growing practice effectively; making a good name for whomever we work for?
Enter Trust Agents, a book by Chris Brogan and Julien Smith. Both social media veterans, they detail some of the very best ways of utilizing their craft for the layman and experienced professional alike. The basic premise of the book is quite simple, it effectively shows how to add a human element on the web to whatever endeavor you choose; be it blogging, tweeting, podcasting, video etc. Brogan and Smith walk the reader through using these outlets to gain trust of potential customers or peers by “mastering the latest one-to-many communications methods” online and build a good reputation.
The book is quite easy to read, using real-life examples of people who attribute their business success to social media. With break-out types like Perez Hilton, a celebrity blogger, to Robert Scoble, a trustworthy former Microsoft executive; Trust Agents brings home the goods on how to hack your own system. Hack the system? This probably sounds like we are talking about the Matrix. In the book, the term “hacking the system” means finding short cuts to take though established barriers, making yourself recognized in whatever goals you want achieved while using social networking.
The reader can also find analysis on some of the better websites to use, and just how many people they can effect for their efforts. The reader definitely finds out the results can be quite astonishing. Being that I have read the book, I learned quite a good amount of building a network online and how much of a boon it is. I highly suggest this it to anyone wanting to understand the growing opportunity that is becoming the bread and butter of our chosen career field. Check it out!
Friday, December 11, 2009
Thursday, December 10, 2009
The Segue: A PR Professional’s Best Tools (Part 7)
It is finally that time, and no I don’t mean the holidays. The end of the second week of December has come! With but only a few minor assignments remaining, course work on my bachelor’s is just about finished. I write this as a man who has wanted a bachelor’s degree for years, and it feels damn good to finally attain a goal. So as any college student is want to do, so begins the epic job hunt. Well actually, my job hunt started last summer.
I fall in a different category than the average student. First off, I am 30 years old, and do have a decent amount of experience in government public affairs. Though government work is a great background on paper, it is still far from any type of corporate experience, where a vastly significant amount of the public relations trade resides. And so, my journey started to find myself a career in the field I choose to make a living in. Ever since leaving the military, this challenging economy makes it quite hard to find something worth it. Companies and corporations have their proverbial pick of the litter, as there are more people than available jobs. In fact, most of my interviews seem to only come from government positions I have applied for. It’s quite frustrating, but I persevere. Being my movement is toward a position in Dallas, TX, there are several websites I want to share. After all, segueing from studious education culminates in the practical application of what you have learned.
Of course everyone knows the big two, www.monster.com and www.careerbuilder.com. In my opinion, though decent, these websites are not specific enough for someone pursuing a career in public relations. Not only do you have to search several different titles to find the right positions, they are just too broad. I remember running a search on crazy job titles to find anything. Not many are simply listed under public relations, and those that are seem quite dated. Having the same problem as me? Fear no, for the ace in the hole is www.indeed.com. This website is actually a search engine in regard to other job websites. It compiles everything, and I mean EVERYTHING! Through Indeed, I found job websites I didn’t know existed like www.jobfox.com, and a few others. The jury is still out on Jobfox, as they seem to annoyingly request I pay them for service (dumb).
Another good one is www.dfwcommunicators.com if there is an interest for specific Dallas-based jobs. My college professor helped create the site, and it is run in tandem with the local PRSA chapter. And since I mentioned federal employment, also try www.usajobs.com for public affairs positions. Just make sure to book about three hours of time out of the day to make a profile. It is very involved.
I fall in a different category than the average student. First off, I am 30 years old, and do have a decent amount of experience in government public affairs. Though government work is a great background on paper, it is still far from any type of corporate experience, where a vastly significant amount of the public relations trade resides. And so, my journey started to find myself a career in the field I choose to make a living in. Ever since leaving the military, this challenging economy makes it quite hard to find something worth it. Companies and corporations have their proverbial pick of the litter, as there are more people than available jobs. In fact, most of my interviews seem to only come from government positions I have applied for. It’s quite frustrating, but I persevere. Being my movement is toward a position in Dallas, TX, there are several websites I want to share. After all, segueing from studious education culminates in the practical application of what you have learned.
Of course everyone knows the big two, www.monster.com and www.careerbuilder.com. In my opinion, though decent, these websites are not specific enough for someone pursuing a career in public relations. Not only do you have to search several different titles to find the right positions, they are just too broad. I remember running a search on crazy job titles to find anything. Not many are simply listed under public relations, and those that are seem quite dated. Having the same problem as me? Fear no, for the ace in the hole is www.indeed.com. This website is actually a search engine in regard to other job websites. It compiles everything, and I mean EVERYTHING! Through Indeed, I found job websites I didn’t know existed like www.jobfox.com, and a few others. The jury is still out on Jobfox, as they seem to annoyingly request I pay them for service (dumb).
Another good one is www.dfwcommunicators.com if there is an interest for specific Dallas-based jobs. My college professor helped create the site, and it is run in tandem with the local PRSA chapter. And since I mentioned federal employment, also try www.usajobs.com for public affairs positions. Just make sure to book about three hours of time out of the day to make a profile. It is very involved.
Thursday, December 3, 2009
A Little Ranting: A PR Professional’s Best Tool (Part 6)
I have a professor and mentor who is very established in the public relations field, and I can remember my first class with her. She related her background, and went on detailing a truthful anecdote-based explanation of the trade. Of the number of talking points, one thing she said rings true in my ears to this day: “PR does not stand for press release.” Now being I worked in military public affairs for the better part of a decade, I cackled somewhat when I heard this because it reeks of truth. The biggest misconception of PR seems to be all we do is sit around in our lush corporate offices waiting for some big company event, and then guess what? We write a press release. My friends that, I say, is balderdash.
People seem to not realize PR encompasses every facet of the media arts. For those unfamiliar with the list of media arts it is as follows: journalism (print/broadcasting), graphic design, photography, public affairs/public relations, videography, website design and even social networking. Though diehards in all of the fields listed would say I am talking crazy, let me be the first to say take it to the bank. PR professionals do their own fair share of writing, including press releases, speeches, guidance plans (emergency/media) and a multitude of others. We also use cameras. A degree in PR usually is a journalism degree. I took numerous photography classes, and also had need for photo-support for several…press releases. Graphic design is another primary use in the field. I can’t even count the amount of informational pamphlets, newsletters and event books I produced over the last decade. Though not as often, there is a need for proficiency in use of a video camera. An entity, being corporate or government likes to have records of involvement in events and functions. If there isn’t a huge budget to hire or contract the job off, guess who is going to be behind the lens? This also includes web design for those who don’t have dedicated professionals who do it full time. The newest facet adding to the field is social networking innovation. If you read other blogs out there, many report corporate and private entities are coming forward with necessity to have a presence on the web. It builds customer and public trust with easy accessibility to business information. Customers get a warm fuzzy when getting direct interaction with their favorite widget-maker. Do some searching on Google. It’s spreading faster than VD. I know, bad joke.
I have done all of these things and more, and so have many I keep a professional relationship with. Though a fair share of PR professionals work for firms and do account work only, there are just as many who are one-person media events superstars. They are unsung heroes. And it is quite all right, because it goes with the job. The biggest thing needed in so many trades are people skills. PR types need to be able to juggle and coordinate with others in both business and the community. The ability to sell yourself can go a long way with making relationships needed to make a good name for your employer.
So when you think PR professionals are a bunch of fake, stuff-shirt types who do nothing, know that plenty do work for a living. And those who do sit around making the rest of us look bad, take note. Its fast-paced tech-savvy and information-based society we live in. It doesn’t take much for it to pass you by.
[end/rant]
People seem to not realize PR encompasses every facet of the media arts. For those unfamiliar with the list of media arts it is as follows: journalism (print/broadcasting), graphic design, photography, public affairs/public relations, videography, website design and even social networking. Though diehards in all of the fields listed would say I am talking crazy, let me be the first to say take it to the bank. PR professionals do their own fair share of writing, including press releases, speeches, guidance plans (emergency/media) and a multitude of others. We also use cameras. A degree in PR usually is a journalism degree. I took numerous photography classes, and also had need for photo-support for several…press releases. Graphic design is another primary use in the field. I can’t even count the amount of informational pamphlets, newsletters and event books I produced over the last decade. Though not as often, there is a need for proficiency in use of a video camera. An entity, being corporate or government likes to have records of involvement in events and functions. If there isn’t a huge budget to hire or contract the job off, guess who is going to be behind the lens? This also includes web design for those who don’t have dedicated professionals who do it full time. The newest facet adding to the field is social networking innovation. If you read other blogs out there, many report corporate and private entities are coming forward with necessity to have a presence on the web. It builds customer and public trust with easy accessibility to business information. Customers get a warm fuzzy when getting direct interaction with their favorite widget-maker. Do some searching on Google. It’s spreading faster than VD. I know, bad joke.
I have done all of these things and more, and so have many I keep a professional relationship with. Though a fair share of PR professionals work for firms and do account work only, there are just as many who are one-person media events superstars. They are unsung heroes. And it is quite all right, because it goes with the job. The biggest thing needed in so many trades are people skills. PR types need to be able to juggle and coordinate with others in both business and the community. The ability to sell yourself can go a long way with making relationships needed to make a good name for your employer.
So when you think PR professionals are a bunch of fake, stuff-shirt types who do nothing, know that plenty do work for a living. And those who do sit around making the rest of us look bad, take note. Its fast-paced tech-savvy and information-based society we live in. It doesn’t take much for it to pass you by.
[end/rant]
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
