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My 10 Picks for 2010′s Top Posts on Social Media

Over the course of the past year, I’ve read dozens of good (and bad) blog posts and news articles on social media, the field of public relations, and how the two are converging more each day. As 2010 comes to a close, I share with you a list of some of the best posts on the two that I’ve come across, so that you can read through and glean some information to take with you into 2011.

Click here to read the full post.

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Spreading a Little Holiday Cheer

I get really into the holidays around this time of year. I wanted to wish a happy holiday season to all of my readers and subscribers, and take a minute to thank those that have helped me to achieve success in 2010.

Here’s a bit of little holiday cheer.

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9 More Nuggets of Advice for Young PR Pros

A few weeks ago, I wrote a post called “9 Nuggets of Advice for the Aspiring PR Pro,” and detailed a few lessons of wisdom that I’ve picked up in the industry. I also promised a follow-up article, and now I’m making good on that promise. Without further adieu…

Check out Pt. 1 of this post below, then read this one.

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9 Nuggets of Advice for Aspiring PR Pros

Although I’ve recently graduated from college, I’ve been in the field of public relations for some time now, having gotten valuable experience working with several businesses and non-profit organizations. Over the last several years, I’ve seen quite a bit of both good and bad. I’ve witnessed — and made — mistakes that have taught me valuable lessons for the future, and I’d like share these with anyone considering a career in PR, or as reminders to even the more seasoned industry professionals. I’ll post nine today, and nine next week.

Click here to read the full post.

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UGA PRSSA’s “PRofessional CONNECTION 2010″:

An Absolute Must for PR Pros

Yesterday, I had the amazing opportunity to participate in the sixth-annual “PRofessional Connection,” hosted by the Drewry Chapter of the Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA), an award-winning student group at the University of Georgia. The chapter, which operates through the Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication, is unique in that it’s the largest chapter of any within PRSSA, a pre-professional public relations organization made up of more than than 285 chapters nationwide. The Drewry Chapter has not only recently won an award for “Student Organization of the Year” on the UGA campus, but has also been recognized for making strides in bringing diversity and top-notch programs to both the national PRSSA organization, as well as to the PR industry in general. In case you’re unfamiliar with PR CONN, I’ll get you up to speed, and tell you why you should go next year.

Find out by clicking here and reading the full post.

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* GUEST POST *

Social Media are Taking Over the World

by Ryan Chaffin

Every once in a while, I like to feature guest posts written by fellow industry professionals, just to change up the pace a bit. This week, I chose to share an article written by Ryan Chaffin, a business marketing student in Hawaii. Written exclusively for this blog, Ryan’s post is about the ever-increasing presence of social media throughout society. Find out what he says…

Click here to read the full post.

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Hello, My Friends!

It’s been rather quiet, I know… But I will do better.

You may have noticed a lull here in the last few weeks. Not to worry, I haven’t forgotten you all! I’ve been working hard as ever to hone my expertise as a PR professional, and I figured I’d write up a post just to share what I’ve been up to.

…Got a New Job. The verdict: I like it.

Recently, I’ve taken on a new position as the Director of Communications at Green Room International Productions (GRIP), a Terrapin Blue company dedicated to providing PR, web design and media production services for private transportation companies. In the process, I’ve been learning a lot about the motorcoach industry, and how to ensure that our clients are seen in the best light by all key stakeholders. It’s been an interesting ride so far, and I’m far enough in to say the experience has not only been enjoyable, but also one that I can definitely grow from as a public relations professional. I’m happy, and I hope to share with you all many of the learnings that I glean from the experiences I will have here at GRIP and Terrapin Blue.

Click here to read the full post.

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Why Media Industry Pros Need to Participate in @Journchat

(And Other Twitterchats Like It)

This past Monday night, I participated in my very first “Journchat“, and I had such a great experience that I thought I’d write about it for all of my readers.

For the uninitiated, @Journchat is a live chat on Twitter for journalists, public relations professionals and bloggers, run by Sarah Evans (@PRsarahevans). Designed for media industry professionals, the chat takes place from 7 – 10 pm on Monday nights, and is monitored and tracked through Cision, which then provides a neat transcript of the three-hour chat shortly afterward.

I’d never heard of “Twitterchats” before, but after my follower @MissVersatile invited me to participate, I was instantly curious (as I always am with new media), and was eager to jump in.

And jump in, I did…

Want to know what I learned? Click here to read the full post and find out.

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#NowTrending in Social Media: Geo and Q&A

Perhaps you’ve heard of Foursquare, the explosively popular social gaming platform based on check-ins and badges? But did you know that Twitter, Google, Gowalla, Facebook and countless others are all fighting for the same territory? It’s true. What do these contenders have in common?

They all offer some form of geo-location-based service, which have been gaining popularity for some time now in the social media world. At a glance, it appears that each of these titans wants a shot at wearing the ‘mobile crown’.

And what about social media Q&A platforms– social sites built upon community question-and-answers, such as Formspring, Quora, Aardvark, and many more? They’re going mobile too. Aardvard and Quora have had cell-phone friendly versions for a while, and Formspring just released their mobile site a few weeks ago.

It’s clear: both Geo-location and Q&A have been gaining steam recently in the mobile trend, and are important to the future of social media.

Want to learn more about the newest trends? Click here to read the full post.

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New Media: You’re Never Done Learning It.

So you’ve got a Facebook account, and you know how to use Digg. Perhaps you’ve even run a successful social media campaign or two. But do you know which social network will be on top a year from now? Tell me, which iPhone app will be the quintessential tool for public relations professionals in six months?

Relax, this isn’t a test of your psychic abilities; instead, I ask these questions for a different reason. As much as you might think you “get” new media, realize there’s always more to learn.

What more is there to learn? Click here to read the full post and find out.

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Say “No” to Rush-Job Blog Posts

This post, in ten words: Don’t publish half-baked content. Why? True pros don’t do rush-jobs.

I recently read a post written in 2008 by Jim Estill (of Copyblogger) about how to write an article in 20 minutes. I find it fascinating that two years later, it’s still being retweeted to high heaven. Estill certainly brought up some good points, such as limiting your post to a single topic, and using lists. After I thought about it a bit, however, began to get a little concerned that inexperienced bloggers might take his advice too literally. In other words, I don’t believe that the “20-minute blog post” is for everyone.

Why? Click here to read the full post and find out.

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How to Use Twitter for Media Relations

Many public relations professionals worldwide dream of the day that they can successfully pitch their latest and greatest story with the world via ‘the little blue bird.’ And quite naturally so, after more than 20 billion tweets. The real-time social platform Twitter has firmly established itself as not only one of the largest online hubs of social activity, but also as a fairly ripe vehicle for media pitches, a realization that has PR professionals rejoicing. It can make your job much easier — if you do it right.

According to Twitter officials, there are more than 65 million tweets per day. If you hope for getting your message out, you have to distinguish yourself from the pack. To do this, try thinking like a journalist, rather than a press-starved PR person. This might sound a bit counter intuitive at first, but trust me, it’s crucial.

Click here to read the full post and learn more.

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What Does it Mean to “Listen” in Social Media?

I spend a fair amount of time in the Linkedin “Answers” section, learning from fellow PR industry professionals, and also contributing expertise to the community pot, so to speak. A few weeks ago, I came across a great question:

“When I read about planning your social media strategy, it is recommended that you “listen” before getting involved. What does listening consist of?”

So I decided to respond. But first I had to stop and think…

What does it mean to “listen” in Social Media?

Want to find out? Click here to read the full post.

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Twitter “Unfollowers” Should Be More Like Nike

You might be wondering, from reading the title, what exactly this has to do with public relations. It has everything to do with it. I’ll explain:

In recent weeks, I’ve noticed the strangest phenomenon at social networking website Twitter: It seems that there are more people there talking about “unfollowing” others than there are people who need to be unfollowed. This bothers me especially because a good number of people doing this are so-called “PR professionals.

PR professionals don’t talk about “unfollowing” on Twitter. They just do it.

Why? Click here to read the full post and find out.

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Social Media is a Two-Way Street

It still surprises me. No matter how many articles on social media etiquette that are posted, I still log in to Facebook each day, to a bevy of direct marketing spam. I still get requests to connect on Linkedin without the slightest explanation for why. I could go on and on with examples from each social network that I belong to, but really, there’s no need.

I’m gonna be bold today, and say it: You will not be successful with social media if you don’t learn how to build meaningful, mutually-beneficial relationships. You won’t.

Click here to read the full post to learn why.

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5 Selfish Acts that PR Pros Should Avoid

Are you a selfish social networker? It’s been never a particularly positive trait, but it’s especially bad for public relations practitioners. If you work in PR, you can’t afford to be selfish: your professional reputation is on the line.

It’s now common knowledge: the number of users on social media is rising by the hundreds of thousands on a daily basis. And yet, the number of those who follow the rules of “social networking etiquette” remains embarrassingly rather stagnant in comparison.

With so many people registering for social media accounts, it can be easy to forget that hitting the “share” button publishes content an entire network, to every one of our connections on a given site. Indeed, a single inadvertent act of selfishness can easily offend an entire social network.

For public relations professionals, this can be the “kiss of death” to your professional reputation. You can even get fired for posting the wrong thing, so be careful.

These are easy mistakes to make, but they’re even easier to prevent.

Click here to read the full post and learn about these mistakes.

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So You Want to Run a Social Media Campaign…

There’s been a lot of “trial-and-error” with social media campaigns over the last few years.

But there doesn’t have to be. Not anymore, at least. We have a pretty good knowledge of what works and what doesn’t.

Here’s what doesn’t work…

So many business owners have heard that they “need to get on” Facebook, Twitter, or whatever the latest and (supposedly) greatest social network is at the moment. How do the majority of them respond?

Most immediately quickly type in the url and sign their names on the dotted line, taking their company name along for the ride, of course. Without the faintest bit of research, these businesses register for social media accounts, and begin mindlessly posting and “cyber-shouting,” putting their corporate brand reputation in jeopardy.

Click here to read the full post and find out what does work.

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Think You’re a Social Media “Expert”? Think Again.

“How to become a social media expert” is one of the most asked questions by communications professionals today; just Google it, you’ll see. I’ve come across it in Linkedin’s “Answers” section quite a few times myself, and so I figured I’d take the time to write up a real answer…

We’re a full decade into the 21st century, and the social media craze is changing the world as public relations professionals know it, day by day. Once-traditional full-service agencies and independent consulting firms are now beginning to diving in headfirst, fully embracing technology to develop strategic campaigns of a strangely new breed, based upon social dynamics and user interaction.

PR Executives and clients alike are beginning to realize that the ROI potential from a good social media PR and marketing campaign is virtually limitless.

And with that realization, an entire generation of young, “new-breed” PR professionals is emerging. Their aim: to become as well-versed in social media as possible, to offer agencies and clients what they need to succeed using this new technology.

Think you’re a “social media expert”? …Pfft. Doubt it.

Click here to read the full post and find out why.

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Why PR Professionals Need to Understand Social Media

I’ve heard every adjective from ‘genius’ to ‘gimmicky’ to describe social media’s impact on the 21st-century modern world. “It’s the greatest thing since sliced bread,” some will tell you, as they check into Foursquare on their iPhone over a hot cup of coffee. To others, it’s “just a fad,” useless beyond an occasional Facebook wall post written to a family member or friend.

And yet, businesses small and large are signing up for social media accounts by the hundreds of thousands, all to connect with their “fans” and “followers” (Read: potential customers). Clearly, there’s a disconnect here. Some feel that social media is useless, but others feel that it holds incredible value for connecting with friends, family, and even with consumers.

So the question is, what does this mean for PR professionals? Is it necessary today for public relations practitioners to know why social media is important, and how to effectively use it?

Click here to read the full post and find out.

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PR & New Media Today: An Introduction

You hear the term every day. It seems like every time you turn on the news, there’s a new ‘platform’ that has the nation in awe, with it’s immense popularity, intuitive design and groundbreaking features. Sound familiar?

How about if I mention Facebook? Youtube? Apple’s iPhone? Foursquare? These names all have three things in common: 1) they’re all forms of new media, 2) they’ve all been become icons in popular culture, and 3) because of this, have a place in the future of public relations and mass communications.

But maybe you haven’t yet quite jumped on the ‘new media’ bandwagon, so to speak. Perhaps you’re thinking it’s too hard to use, overrated, or simply unnecessary. Perhaps you’re overwhelmed with all of the apps out there, and don’t know where to start.

Whatever the case may be, I’m here to tell you that now would be an excellent time to ‘jump on the new media bandwagon,’ so to speak, especially if you work in public relations, or any of the other fields of mass communications, including journalism and broadcast media. I’ll be your guide.

Click here to read the full post.

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