TOW: 10 Blogging Tips from Me to YOU!!

The first time that it ever occurred to me to create a blog was when it was assigned to me in my intro to PR class. Before this I had occasionally dabbled in online writing but nothing serious. At one point I attempted to keep an online journal but I gradually lost interest and moved on to something more exciting. I know that the main reason that people in this class blog is because it is assigned, but through blogging I have learned so much about myself and the professional community that I am entering into.

1. The first thing to remember about blogging is to have patience. At first you will not have many visitors to you page accept you teacher and maybe a few classmates but if you continue on, the readers will come.
2. When blogging be careful with you grammar, spelling, and sentence structure. I know that blogging is a less formal style of writing but the basic rules of English still apply.
3. Be sure to read and comment on other blogs. This will not only expose you to different topics and styles of writing but also draw people to your blog.
4. Don’t talk about the same topics as everyone else. I know that some topics will be assigned but try to put your own spin on them whenever you can. Nobody wants to read the same things over and over, not even your teacher. Try to make each post your own.
5. Be courteous to all other bloggers. I know this can be especially difficult when some bloggers can be rude. But always do your best to keep the animosity to a minimum.
6. If you find a blog that you like and read on a regular basis, tell the blogger. It is always nice to hear that your work is appreciated. Who wants to write all these blog posts for nobody to read? Right?
7. Try to add several pictures and hyperlinks to your blog posts. These will make your postings more interesting and keep your readers engaged in you writing.
8. When you do use hyperlinks make sure that they open in a new tab or new window. This way your readers can enjoy the links without losing their place on your blog.
9. Remember that blogs are open to the public. Just like Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter, don’t post anything that you don’t want future employers to find out about.
10. The most important thing is to get everything you can out of your blogging experience. Try not to see it as a chore but as a joy. The more you write the better you will be at it. Take advantage of every blogging opportunity.

TOW: Do Not Annoy The Journalists!!

In the field of public relations we often work with journalist and reporters. We need them to get our job done and they need us to get their job done. We are a source of information for them and they are a source of publicity for us. In this mutually beneficial relationship there can sometimes be tension because of actions that are not always appropriate. Here is a list of 10 things that PR professionals do to annoy journalist and how they can be avoided.

1. Submitting written material that is not up to standard and must be rewritten. Be sure that all materials sent to journalist adhere to AP style and is print ready.
2. Using too many “hype” words in press releases. Journalists do not respond to words like “sophisticated”, and “unique.” They just want the basic information. It is for the public to decide if it is “state of the art” not the publicist.
3. Overwhelming them with emails, phone calls, or faxes. Try to limit the amount of unsolicited communication. Too many people calling you multiple times a day can get really frustrating.
4. Too many repeat calls or follow ups. It is ok to call once to update a journalist if there is new information, but don’t continue to call simply to “check on things.”
5. Being unavailable. When you have your contact information on a press release. Make sure that you are actually available for contact. Journalists do not like being sent to voicemail any more than the rest of us.
6. Not meeting deadlines. Journalists have serious deadlines. If a journalist misses a deadline because of the actions of a PR professional, it does not have a good impact on that relationship.
7. Not being informed about the product or service in your press release. You should always be able to talk easily with a journalist about a service or product of a client. While it is possible to not have the answer to every question, doing research beforehand can ensure that you are knowledgeable enough to answer most of them.
8. No knowledge of the publications format and content. Again research will help you in this situation. You would not send a press release about a new line of stuffed animals to a magazine that is all about coin collecting.
9. Sending a press release with gimmicks like shirts, cups, or pens. Journalists see this as a trick to get you to publish your story. Most of it will end up in the trash and it will do nothing to improve your media relationship.

10.  Sending the same press release to every journalist you can find. It is always a good idea to research specific beats and target specific reporters that you think would be interested in receiving your release.

Source: Public Relations Writing and Media Techniques

TOW: Multimedia Storytelling

This week, I took the Five Steps to MultiMedia Storytelling course at News University.  Before I took this course, I had never studied anything similar to this. In my journalism classes, I was taught how to write for news and magazines and a little broadcast writing too but nothing similar to this.

The thing that surprised me the most about multimedia stories is that multimedia stories also are nonlinear. They engage the readers by letting them choose which elements to read and when to read them. In my past experience I have always been taught to tell a story in chronological order from beginning to end. In some cases with journalism you might tell the ending first just to keep the reader interested but then you go right back to chronological order.

I also learned how to make a storyboard. The only time I have ever seen storyboards and how they are made in when I was watching behind the scene clips from various movies. It was interesting to see a storyboard from a news perspective. I like the idea that you can use many different mediums in one story and you are not so confined. You can use video, animated graphics, maps, audio, text, and/or photography. I think it is good that a storyboard can be simply a rough draft to your final work. Like the workshop said, it is not written in stone; it is fluid and can be changed as the process goes on.

The only thing that I would have liked to have seen more of in this workshop was examples. I saw the example of the Death Valley dancing rocks but the link to the site was incorrect and took you somewhere unrelated. But even if the link had worked correctly I think it would have been good to have another multimedia story to compare it to.

Overall I think that this was a good course and it served its purpose as far as showing the steps to multimedia storytelling.

TOW: The Importance of Podcasts

This week I listened to a marketing podcast “For Immediate Release” the podcast that I listened to was FIR Speakers and Speeches: Alex Plant on Corporate Video Channels. The speaker, Alex Plant, was talking about the role of video in corporate marketing. Alex is an employee for NetApp that works with social media and video marketing. According to their website, NetApp is a company that works to help people affordably store, manage, protect, and retain their data. They have a reputation for innovative problem solving by creating products and solutions that deliver efficiency savings and enable breakthrough business capabilities.

Throughout the speech Alex talked about the importance of creating different videos for different audiences and customizing videos for specific audiences. He talks about how NetApp uses videos to connect with their employees. They do this by interviewing people from the company to be dispersed within or outside the company.

He also talked about the growing use for social media in the professional world and how it is no longer a “tween thing.” He says that it is important because it is becoming a worldwide tool that can connect us with major consumers in China and Japan and other locations where social media sites are widely used.

There are many ways that listening to PR and Marketing Podcast can benefit PR students. For one it will inform you of key leaders in the field you are entering into. Podcast will keep a PR students or professionals updated on new techniques and methods that are being used and they will be able to see how these methods can be modified to work for a current clients.

Also podcast can be useful to simply refresh yourself on the fundamentals and basics that you have already learned. You can see how some professionals are putting a twist on the basics and using them in new and innovative ways. I think that it is important to keep updated with what is going on in your chosen profession, public relations or otherwise. Podcast can help you do that along with many other things.

TOW: Twitter Twitter Everywhere!!!!

The very first tweet I ever made was on March 29^th at 5:21 pm. It said “can’t believe I am actually tweeting…… what has my life come to?” This statement pretty much sums up the way I feel about twitter. I thought that it was completely pointless and a colossal waste of my time. However, I was assigned to tweet for a PR class so I did. I was equally as thrilled when I found out that I would also be tweeting for this class.

Currently, I am following 62 people on twitter and 22 people are following me. Over my entire twitter experience I found that I was always very updated on the lives of the people that I followed. I’m not really sure how I feel about that. I’m not a person that cares to know what everybody is doing at every point in the day. I just don’t think it is that serious and I don’t think people’s lives are that interesting to warrant an hourly account of what they are doing.

As far as what I think about the site, I think it does exactly what it says it does. It helps you to know everybody’s business every second of the day. However, as much as I despise this concept I cannot dispute the fact that twitter has vast potential for companies. Using twitter can help a company get the word out about the latest and greatest thing that the company is involved in. As soon as a company starts a PR campaign, it can automatically update every person that is following them, which can be very useful.

I do not think that I will continue using twitter after this project is over. Possibly when I get a job I will start tweeting for my company but until that time I do not see the point in updating the world on my every move.

PR vs. Alaska!

This summer I made this mistake of signing up for a class that was full term. When I first signed up I thought that it was just A term, which was perfect because it would finish exactly two days before I was to head off for a job in Alaska.

However I didn’t want to drop the class so I decided to complete all of my assignments before I left and I would simply have to find time to take the final while I was there. (No easy feat when you are working 16 hour days)

The past few weeks have been thoroughly exhausting because of trying to complete an entire semesters worth of work but I am glad I did it. I fell like I have learned so much and got a feel of what it is like to be in the shoes of a REAL PR professional.

Well, Professor Nixon, you have put together a great class here (I used to dread taking online classes) It was highly organized which was very helpful for me to get all of my work done. Hopefully I will take another class with you at some point.

Well, Ciao for now….. because I don’t know what they say in Alaska….. yet.

Tips and Tricks for Multimedia News Releases

A multimedia news release, also known as a smart news release, is an electronic news release that allows a public relations professional to embed a typical news release with pictures, hyperlinks, graphics, video, and audio recordings.

There are many advantages to the social media news release. The most obvious is that it is a part of a new technology. Something interesting and refreshing that will break up the monotony of receiving ordinary press releases day after day for the journalist or editor. Another advantage is that you can include many more things in a social media news release. You can include video, audio, and links that would have been out of your reach with a regular news release. You can even add a bit of an interactive element to the multimedia news release if you wish.

The disadvantages of a multimedia news release come into play when you make a misstep in creating it. It can be a turnoff to journalist or editors if the pictures, video and audio included are of low resolution and or take too long to load. Their time is always limited so they will not want to wait 10 minutes for a single picture to upload. Another disadvantage can occur if you use too many hyperlinks in your news release. The links will be distracting and potentially detrimental to you if one piques their interest so much that they forget to come back to your news release. Another thing that a journalist will not like is if you are using all the flashy tricks of a multimedia news release to cover up the fact that it is lacking in content. You have to make sure that your information and sources are solid and use the multimedia additions to complement your campaign.

A public relations professional should not use the multimedia news release for just anything. They are usually used for major events and product launches. You will not get the most out of your social media news release if you use them for mundane activities that don’t require audio, photos, or video additions.

While creating a social media news release it is important to know the resources that can help you. Businesswire’s “How to write a news release” has a small section on how to input the components of a multimedia news release. But Mediashift gives a detailed “how to” along with “when to” information in their article “The Social Press Release: Multimedia, Two-Way, Direct to the Public.” In addition to those sources, PR Newswire can tell you what should be in a multimedia news release and if you want to get fancy with it Online PR News can show you how to embed slideshows in you multimedia news release.

When creating your first multimedia news release it can be very helpful to see releases from other companies. This will give you an idea of what you should do while at the same time giving you a goal to reach for and surpass. Some news releases that I have found to be extremely well done are Loreal Paris, Guitar Hero, and Listerine. These multimedia news releases seem to go above and beyond. They are eye catching and incorporate all of the components that make a multimedia news release different and interesting.

Here are 10 tips that may help you when creating your multimedia news release.

1. Include links to pages that will complement your message.
2. Do not use too many links. They will be confusing and draw attention away from your message.
3. Place main terms in key positions like headlines and first paragraphs
4. Do not use low resolution images.
5. Distribute your release through a service that carries hyperlinks to downstream sites such as Yahoo!, AOL, and Netscape.
6. Try not to use too many tools at one time, it will clutter your release and be distracting.
7. Make sure you have a solid message that is enhanced by the multimedia components.
8. Use multimedia news releases for big events and product launchings.
9. Never send a news release as an attachment. Journalist will not open it.

10. Stick to the basic rules of writing that you would use in a regular news release. AP Style, short sentences, and specific terms.

Now you are ready to create your very first multimedia news release!

Additional Sources: Public Relations Writing and Media Techniques

TOW: Leads? So What?

This week I got the opportunity to take the News U The Lead Lab Course. This course was intended to help any kind of writer, whether a journalist, a reporter, or a public relations professional, to be able to write better, more interesting leads. Leads are very important to a story. Some might argue that they are the most important part of the story. The lead is what helps draw the public in and makes them want to hear what you have to say.

This lab taught everything there is to know about how to write a lead. It started at the basics with the typical who, what, where, when, why, how, and so what approach (the “so what” was new to me). Then it went into the more detailed approach of revising your leads with the lead toolkit. It also talked about the commonly accepted myths and gave you the opportunity to write a lead of your own.

The main thing that I learned with this lab was that the lead does not have to be great the first time you write it. It can sometimes be helpful just to get it out, work on it a little, write the story, then come back to it later and make it great. With the revising toolkit I learned the questions to ask to make any lead better.

The thing that surprised me about this lab was the overwhelming use of many different kinds of leads. I was always accustomed to the typical 4 w’s and a H approach. It is refreshing to learn that you can make a lead more fun and interesting while still being informative.

I do not think that this lab left me wanting for anything. I enjoyed the good lead examples so maybe a few more of those but other than that I thought that the lab was informative and very helpful.

Pitch like a Reporter

As I come to the end of my undergraduate career (finishing up my senior year) I find myself making connections that I never would have imagined as a freshman. For example, when first attending Georgia Southern I always asked myself why we were required to take core classes. I was a public relations major, how was a biology class going to help me? Why did I need to take political science? How was geology going to help me with my future career? I know realize that all of these classes come together to make a person a good student and a good learner. As far as helping with PR, I may someday have a client that runs a lab and I may need to know some of the basic biology or geometry language. I may one day work for a politician or for the government, in which case my political science education might come in handy.

Another class I was required to take was journalism and news reporting and writing. I thought that the only purpose of taking these classes was because of the close relation of public relation professionals and journalist. I thought those classes would help to gain a respect for the profession that I would have to work with for my entire career.

Then I came across this article with tips about pitching your story to a reporter and I realize that those classes taught me something else too. I learned what is and isn’t important in a news story. This will be put to use as a public relations practitioner because I will be able to pitch stories that I know are newsworthy and will make the cut for the broadcast or the final version of the paper. I know how to do this because I have been taught the basics that all journalist and reporters are taught. I have taken the same classes and learned the same rules. I can speak their language and I can give them what they need to get a good story out to the public.

Source: The key to catching a reporter’s eye? Pitch like one

Internet= Intelligence or Incompetence

In todays fast pace high pressure world, the internet is vitally important to us. It is the way we communicate to each other. It is the way we learn. It is the way we grow. However is it possible that the internet is actually stunting our growth?  Nicholas Carr, author of “The Shallows”, suggests just that. In a blog post that quotes Carr it stated that because of the nature of how people are trained to “read” when online (by scanning instead of taking in the entirety) it is starting to decay our brains. I am not sure if I agree with Carr but this got me to thinking of the challenges that face public relations professionals today.

In the days when newspapers were the most popular form of news, or the days when television was new and exciting people seemed to have a longer attention span or give a subject more time before disregarding it as irrelevant. Today we find that people give messages just a few seconds before deciding if they want to hear more or if they have had enough. This puts serious pressure on public relations professionals to hook the audience with something new and exciting in the opening seconds.

It is no longer enough that you message has good content, is interesting, and relevant. Now it has to have some kind of flash or draw to keep people’s attention. Even when pitching a story idea to a journalist or editor, you don’t have much time to get your message across before they move on to the next.

I think that the real problem is that there is so much information out there now that everybody knows that there is no way that we can effectively absorb it all. So the average person will try to take in bits and pieces of information to compensate. However, doing this leaves them missing out on the real meat of the subject. The true question that needs to be answered is how do we get people to realize that they are only hurting themselves by avoiding real information?

Source: Will reading this blog decay your brain?