Recently, I read fellow classmate Ashley Hall’s post “I will survive” and found her information very helpful along with the post from The New PR blog with reassurance . I commented with what I thought was helpful so check it out for yourself and let her know what you think!
Reading and following Cheryl Harrison through her blog and twitter account.
Marilyn Monroe.
Nana (my grandmother).
Where am I going with all this?
So… first I feel like I need to start with Cheryl. I have to admit that reading her blog has really opened my eyes. She’s not afraid to speak her mind, even if it includes a lot of OMGZ. It’s also shown me that you don’t have to be so prim and proper. I need to take my writing from Audrey Hepburn to Marilyn Monroe.
What also made me start thinking about this is how Nana looked at my blog a couple weeks ago and the first thing she really was appreciative of was the beautiful picture at the top. At that point in time it was a pretty, foggy, fall day, completely just a default template. Beautiful but Lame.
This all leads me to Kung Fu Panda. Po and his friends used a word brilliantly and humorously throughout the movie that reminded me of Cheryl’s blog and what I want mine to be eventually: AWESOMENESS.
Disclaimer: I absolutely adore Nana and truly respect her above all… but common’ really, the picture? And finally, Audrey Hepburn is brilliant and probably my favorite actress of all time, but you know Marilyn was pretty brazen…
How would you advise a small, local yoga studio, an animal shelter, a small pizza restaurant, and/or a bathroom decor store to blog? Can you think of a niche and an angle? What topics would you recommend they write about? How could they engage their publics online?
In reply to the Edelman Autheniticities cases on engaging the bloggers here are a few of my ideas:
Justin: It seems to me that at this particular moment Justin is most interested in his development as a video blogger on video games. Being that I do not know much about most video games but quite enjoy a tenis or boxing match on wii I might engage him by asking his favorite wii sport or even how he feels on the version of rock band for wii compared to that for xbox. In other words, I would ask for advice, I would ask for his opinion because obviously he wishes to be heard and believes he has something to say about video gaming. After I have established this platform with him I would begin to speak with him on some of his other interests, like the election since he is an avid Democrat.
Victoria: The most interesting thing that strikes me about Victoria is all her experience in blogging and how she has gotten a chance to see it evolve. I would engage her by asking precisely about the evolution of blogs, and emergence and importance of other social media such as twiter and facebook. Later, I could continue this engagement by speaking with and interacting with her on these outlets and also by asking about her home town and various conferences she might attend.
Cindy: This particular blogger seems like she draws a tight line and you need to be very careful not to fall on the wrong side of this. To engage Cindy, I would explain that I am a college student and was wondering how I could help to spread the word of her blog on campus and give her good PR amoung students who may need help with this issue. I do feel like many suffer through this and do not have the means or courage to stand up for themselves and with Cindy’s help could gain that means of communication and courage.
Moving on to the second question:
I recently recieved an email from Eddie Smith about Main Street Deli in Central, SC that is part of The Bridge at Clemson student ministry. They are in need of a PR representative to help them by attending a once a month meeting, festivals, etc. One thing that they did not post they needed help with was a blog. I ventured further on their website and did not find a link to a blog so I called the number attached to the email to get more information and see if I could lend some of my skills I have learned through class this year. While I have not heard back yet here are some ideas I would have for them:
Since they are about student ministry they can post upcoming events and a calander of bible studies etc.
Post topics of thought, maybe even bible verses for followers to comment on.
Connect with other student ministries at other Universities.
Upload their menus and post specials.
They can do a recipie contest or a bake sale along the lines of “Goodies for God” and get sign-ups and ideas through their followers.
Also, I would want to help them get active on twitter and all of the students as well who are part of this group.
I think this would definately appeal to the students and make ministry seem a little more hip as well, especially in connection with the Deli.
Got any other great ideas or feedback, let me know!
Today in PR class we were challenged to create our own lead for a news release. Carefully, my partner and I read through our given release to derive the key elements to include in a single, concise sentence. After compiling our lead we had our professor, Dr. V, read and critique. Our release contained the necessary key elements yet was too wordy, it was then that Dr. V told us as a class that every word costs and you are looking to limit your cost. Therefore, we condensed our words to make a complete lead we were proud to call our own.
This lesson not only taught me how to correctly and efficiently write a lead, but also the value of words and how so much meaning can be portrayed in simplistic writing.
Ironically enough while reading some of the latest blogs I am interested in, I read a post from a blog titled Five Blondes. Their most current post, published on October 15, is by one of the blonde’s named Lauren and was entitled “Can you define your life in six words?”. Her post linked to many websites, with one particularly interesting me. It directly exemplified the point I made before on how so much meaning can exude through such little writing. The one I am referring to is Six Word Memoirs where you are asked to describe your life in six words or less. Below is one of the youtube videos found on the site so you can see what I mean:
I find this website so interesting and challenge you to write at least one “six word memoir”…
Tonight I explored 50 Online Applications and Sites to Consider by Chris Brogan. I feel like I must first start out by saying… WOW I am utterly amazed by the vast amount of social media applications out there. It also amazed me how so many people are connecting in so many different ways, technology in this sense is truly brilliant.
Some cool sites I did not know about or use:
plurk- “social journal”
seesmic- video conversations
digg- creates competition and gives stats
librarything- connect, share, and read books with others
twitter search- type in keyword to find conversations
skitch- copy/paste images right from a browser window!!
vimeo- had some really cool videos
Sites I knew and loved:
facebook- popular social networking
twitter-create conversations
wordpress- where I blog
delicious- still exploring this actually, but like it so far…
pandora- I have this on my phone and am in love forever, my Justin Nozuka radio station is my favorite
youtube- who couldn’t love this, so many interesting videos
Sites I did not like (mostly because they were not what I have listed below):
sphinn- looks cheap and like it contains many advertisements
readdit- too messy
Things I found helpful on new sites:
When the “about” or information on a certain website is easily seen or accessible.
When they state how they are different.
When it is evident they are connected to other sites.
Most of all, when they are well organized and not overcrowded and messy.
A couple of questions developed while I was looking at these sites:
What is a good basic definition of hosting, I’m kind of confused here?
Why are such sites as twitter, delicious, myspace, and facebook so popular?
On September 4th, 2008 in Dr. V’s intro to PR class we got a chance to speak with Kipp Bodnar for a duration of time. During this call with him he spoke on things that employers look for in an intern. Some of the highlights included:
Important to be involved in social media through blogging.
Read! News, broad readings, or for pleasure.
Know your accomplishments and be able to speak on them.
Additionally, I found a post from the podcast Inside PR (#105). This post was made on April 1st 2008 and was on the issue entitled “Hiring Interns: the good the bad and the marvelous”. From this podcast I pulled out the following important points:
Again, active in social media.
Volunteer and Service work is key (even if you do not have too much comm experience).
Attitude (would rather work with someone with a good attitude than a lot of skill).
Have good email etiquette.
Bad things to do: Say you do not want to do admin work, this is a stepping stone to law school, and don’t list such detailed info as your Elementary school…
I thought these points were very interesting, I’ll let you know if I find more and if anyone else has anything to offer please reply, I would love to hear more pointers!
Sophie Kinsella is the author of the Shopaholic book series. This witty and over-the-top set of novels deal with the absurd adventures of Becky Bloomwood. In the first novel Becky meets Luke Brandon, the head of his company, Brandon Communications. In his company is where the connection to what we learned in our public relations class lies. On Thursday, August 28th, we discussed the relationships perspective and seven dimensions were listed: trust, commitment, involvement, investment, openness, dialogue, and satisfaction.
In one chapter from the novel Becky is asked to be a guest on a talk show because she is a financial journalist and has made a strong case against a certain company and their policies. To her dismay, Luke Brandon is in charge of public relations for this company and he is the one Becky must debate against. The usual catch of the book being that Becky actually knows nothing about finance and everything about shopping, she has surprisingly changed the tide and done her homework. Luke truly tunes into the seven dimensions of the relationship perspective because he gains the public’s trust, shows his commitment to this audience, shows he is willing to invest his time and possibly loose face and money by being open, and uses correct dialogue, finally gaining their satisfaction by admitting to Becky’s findings.
The books are really great and I just wanted to post this connection between a perspective that can seem mundane to such a colorful writer and novel. Visit Sophie Kinsella’s vodcast at: feeds.feedburner.com/SophieKinsellaVodcast
Comment on Ashley’s “I will survive”
March 4, 2009 · Leave a Comment
Recently, I read fellow classmate Ashley Hall’s post “I will survive” and found her information very helpful along with the post from The New PR blog with reassurance . I commented with what I thought was helpful so check it out for yourself and let her know what you think!
Categories: Blog Comments · Responses