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7 things cooking taught me about PR
The biggest tip new and aspiring PR pros often get from seasoned pros is that your most valuable lessons are the ones you learn outside the classroom. Even though this traditionally means on-the-job experience, the professional development you invest in and other opportunities you encounter in your post-grad life, you’d be surprised by where inspiration and insight can come from – like your hobbies and interests outside of public relations. There are two things that I love in life: cooking and communicating. I could, and often do, write for days on end. Twitter is the most used app on my phone. I strongly believe that communicating is one of the…
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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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PR Girl’s Guide to…Job Searching
Whether you’re fresh out of college, looking to switch jobs or an experienced pro looking for a change, job searching is tough and no one really enjoys it. If you’re currently unemployed and actively seeking a new opportunity to sink your teeth into, the search often feels endless and frustrating. Time seems to pass by both rapidly, as the weeks fly off you calendar while you send resume after resume, and terribly slowly, as the days drag on while you check your email and phone hoping for good news. So, yea, job searching is a headache, but that’s not news to anyone. It’s also not incredibly helpful information, unless you’re…
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#FridayFive (and then some!) – 10/16/15
Fall is here. The leaves are changing, the weather is cooler (although here in South Carolina, that means the highs are in the mid-70s), everything is more colorful and it seems like everyone is inspired. I’ve got a few posts ready for the next couple of weeks and I had such a hard time picking just five pieces for this week’s round-up that you’re getting a few extra freebies! Show Off Your Writing Chops Four ways to write LinkedIn posts that turn into career opportunities on The Daily Muse If I knew then what I know now… They really should have taught these courses in college by Career Contessa on…
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#FridayFive – Links for 9-18-15
Fall is almost in the air, the days are getting shorter…This is the time of year I live for! I can’t wait for the leaves to turn, the temperatures to cool and to cuddle up next to a fire (a first for me!) and read for hours. I’m getting myself started with these links and some of the books listed in #3! LC: Social Media Mogul Six lessons brands can learn from Lauren Conrad’s social media success on Adweek Networking for the Rest of Us The smartest ways to network at a party on the Wall Street Journal Curl Up with a Good Book The List: 15 books for fall…