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Fresh Start to 2016
This year, I’ve decided not to make resolutions. Resolutions usually end up being lofty aspirations or very general changes, like “being healthier,” “working out more,” “read more books,” or “spend less.” Aspiring to do better is always great, but it’s easy to give up on such broad objectives. Sure, swapping the greasy pepperoni for some veggies on your pizza every day at lunch is healthier, but not by much. So instead of establishing some broad aspirations for the year, I’m setting goals in 2016. Why goals? Goals are measurable. Goals are specific. It’s a goal to start your own business or to read 50 books in a year or learn…
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Building the Brand of You: What’s in a Portfolio
The holidays are here and we’ve all got a little extra downtime between all that time with family and loved ones. And with the new year just ahead, there’s no better time to give your professional materials a once-over, especially your portfolio. I don’t know about you, but I dread putting together my portfolio. Part of my problem may be that I wait until I need it to put one together. Most of it is that I don’t always know what to put in my portfolio. A portfolio is meant to be a sampling of your best work examples. It should show exactly what you can do and what you’ve…
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Holiday Success: The PR Girl Way
PR Girls, we’re in the home stretch. Thanksgiving is behind us now, Christmas is rapidly approaching and the new year is on its heels. 2016 is upon us! We’re at the point in the year when we’re wrapping up the plans we’ve been working on and finalizing our outcomes and reports for the year, while putting together the strategies and plans for the coming year. If you’re a Sagittarius like me, you’ve got the added bonus of a birthday thrown in with those holidays & tasks, too. It can be difficult to completely focus with all that’s going on – I mean, anyone would be distracted by all those twinkling…
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Taming your Twitter
It’s no secret that Twitter is most PR pros social media network of choice. No other network offers the plethora of information, the conversation possibilities or the chance to connect with millions of people in real time. There aren’t algorithms preventing anyone from seeing our tweets or ranking others above ours. It’s all about timing! On the user’s end, Twitter can get a bit messy. If you’re following hundreds, or thousands, of other users from all over the world who are interested in many different things, it can be difficult to weed through all those tweets in your timeline for information that you’re interested in right then. The unfiltered nature…
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Building the Brand of You: Finding Your Niche
In last month’s “Building the Brand of You” installment, I talked about where to start with your personal brand – what do you want it to say about you and how you want others to see you. I also talked about thinking about which channels and methods you’ll use to promote yourself. Today we’re going to dive right into determining your niche. Figuring out your niche is the best way to start building your own brand. There are tons of people on social media and many with their own blogs and sites to share their ideas, so why should people pay attention to what you have to say? That’s where…
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#FridayFive – Tricks + Treats for 10/30/15
Happy [almost] Halloween, y’all! Goal Overload Three practical things to do when you have too many goals on The Daily Muse Pitches, Contacts + Media Lists – Oh My! Five steps to creating a useful media contacts list on PR Daily Keep Your Post-Grad Hobbies Finding time for post-grad extracurriculars on The Edge Beat That Writer’s Block Content ideas for every writer’s block scenario on That Working Girl Keeping Up With The Joneses Each week, I love putting together these links to the best career, PR, marketing, social media and professional development pieces out and about on the web. But we all know that, as PR pros, it’s important for…
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#FridayFive: Links You May Have Missed (10/23/15)
It’s the most wonderful tiiiime of the year! No, I don’t mean Christmas. Fall is the best time of year and Halloween is my favorite holiday. For some reason, I always find it easiest to focus and get work done during this time of year. I always feel incredibly inspired during the fall months – maybe it’s all the colors, scents and beautiful scenery. I’ll bet that it has a lot to do with all of the great content popping up in my feeds & inbox this time of year. Night Owls Rejoice! 11 science-backed reasons why night owls get more done on The Muse Asking the Right Questions 6…
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#FridayFive | In Case You Missed It Links
Sharing my news earlier this week has made me so excited and is a weight off of my shoulders. Did you miss it? Catch up on PR Girl’s big news here. But that’s enough about me and my adventures! Here are my top five links for you to catch up on news, entertainment and tips from this week. DKNY PR Girl is no more. Farewell, DKNY PR Girl: The fashion brand breaks with its sassy mascot on Mashable Make your office suck less. 6 Work Hacks That Will Instantly Make a Day at the Office More Fun on Inc. Clean up your act. 17 Ways to Have a More Organized…
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Big News for PR Girl!
I’ve certainly been a bit distracted over the last couple of months and I haven’t been able to share why. I’ve hinted that there is something going on, but I haven’t been able to share my news. Today, I can and the big news is… I’m on the move! At the end of the month, I’ll be packing everything I own into a trailer and leaving Pittsburgh for Columbia, South Carolina. It’s a little bittersweet – I’ve grown pretty fond of Pittsburgh – but I’m excited to start a new adventure, one that will hopefully bring a ton of new experiences that I can share here! So while I…
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#FridayFive – Links you may have missed
So I’ve been super busy, but I’ve actually getting better at posting regularly here and managing other things I’ve been doing. More on that once I can say! But, even being busy as a bee, I’ve kept up on the news this week. Here’s my favorite five links that you may have missed this week! Emails Done Right 10 email templates you’ll need during your job search from The Muse Be In The Know 4 trends every PR pro should know on PRSA Pittsburgh’s blog Perfect Your Social Media Posts Keys to creating perfect social media posts on Ragan.com How to Effectively Work from Home The best ways to be productive when…