Posts Tagged ‘LinkedIn’


POLL RESULTS: Should PR Interns Pitch The Media?

Wednesday, July 6th, 2011

This post first appeared on PRconnection (7.5.11) and is cross-posted with permission.

Poll Results: Should Interns Pitch The MediaIt’s been nearly two years since I first broached the subject of whether PR interns should pitch The Media. At that time, it seemed, most people had a very strong opinion one way or the other so I decided to do a quick poll and report the results.

And it is a topic that still sparks a lot of debate today. I’ve seen some recent chatter on Twitter about who should be pitching The Media and thought it was time to resurrect the poll and see what, if anything, has changed in the past couple years.

To the question, “Should PR interns pitch the media,” I got 71 votes and 11 comments using the LinkedIn polls tool. Since there are more women in PR than men, it’s not surprising that the respondents were mostly female.

Respondents could choose from the following answers:

  • Yes
  • Yes with direct supervision
  • Depends on the circumstances
  • No

Only 15 percent said “No” (as in, “never”).

Of those that replied with a “No,” Mitch Leff, owner of Leff & Associates PR firm, commented, “Wow…If I was a client, I’m hiring the agency for their expertise and to have their best people on my account. No way I’d pay an agency to have an intern pitching! Wow again.”

Of those that replied, “Yes with direct supervision,” Rodger D. Johnson, PR pro and professor (aka @getsocialpr) suggested:

“Interns need to learn how to pitch and the best way to do that is to pitch. They also need coaching, which is why it is best to have supervision early on. I might add that supervision should be in the roll of coach, teacher or mentor. And agency owners need to understand sometimes interns make mistakes. At the same time, a good agency owner or corporate communications director who be in the business of building people. After all, investing in people is how we build relationships, right?”

My personal thoughts are in-line with Rodger’s – how can you learn without doing?  And, isn’t this business all about investing in and building relationships with people?

There were other great comments as well.  If you’d like, you can review the comments and full results here, but let’s continue this conversation. What do you think?

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Posted in Media Outreach, Media Relations, Public Relations, Social Media | 10 Comments »

Give Us Something New Google!

Thursday, June 30th, 2011

Valerie Simon

Can Google+ succeed where Google Buzz and Google Wave have failed? While it is probably too early to make predictions, I’ll go out on a limb and share my opinion… unless they unveil something groundbreaking, this latest attempt at social networking by Google will likewise falter.

Social networking is not really about the tools. It’s about the people. In order to succeed, the tools must be designed to innovate how people connect and relate. In order to persuade people to invest the time in a network, tools must offer something new and valuable… a unique selling proposition. Otherwise, why should users invest their time with a new tool when their relationships and communications are already being served by established networks such as Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter?

While the initial invite process – one that Google+ has since been shut down because of “insane demand” – makes the network seem promising enough, I have not found anything truly unique in Google+. Yes, it’s cool to drag and drop people into circles, but I am already extremely organized with my Facebook and Twitter lists. Why reinvent the wheel (list, or circle)? Especially if it means walking away from the networks I have already invested time building? Time is limited.

My friend Arik Hanson (who I initially met on Twitter and am now communicating with on Facebook, LinkedIn, Skype and more traditional platforms like the phone and even, gasp, in person), noted that the integration with current tools is the biggest advantage. I’m not convinced that integration is enough.

Opportunities for new networks must be based upon new concepts of how to bring people together in unique ways for distinct purposes. LinkedIn has established itself in the professional arena. Facebook has positioned itself in the more general/ all purpose area. For startups (and yes, I think Google counts as a start up in this area, albeit a start up with tremendous experience and resources), these mammoth social networks are hard to compete with. Because the ultimate reason people use these networks is not the service itself, but the other users.

Let’s get creative Google and utilize your greatest advantage… search. Why not create niche networks that allow people to connect with those searching for similar information. So if I am looking for “Berkeley Heights, NJ” I can (selectively, of course) choose to connect with others who have done the same search in the past 30 days. There’s your circle.

Have you had a chance to try Google+?  Please leave a comment and share your thoughts with BurrellesLuce Fresh Ideas readers.

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Posted in Public Relations, Social Media, Technology | 5 Comments »

A Listening Exercise – Gaining Information and Encouraging Action from Your Social Media Communities

Monday, June 13th, 2011
Flickr Image: Sebastian Fritzon

Flickr Image: Sebastian Fritzon

Valerie Simon

Listening, as I define it, is not a passive exercise. Listening is not a matter of simply hearing words. Listening requires a concentrated method of digesting the information, and using that information to take action. So like any exercise program, I’ll recommend you do a quick check up before starting to strengthen your listening efforts.

Check Up
Take a quick pulse: Review your business objectives and marketing plan. Keep in mind that social media participation should be integrated with your overall communications plan.

Set Goals:  What business objectives will your social media participation help you to achieve?

  • Sales
  • Donations
  • Event attendance
  • Customer Service (response/retention/loyalty)
  • Brand Awareness
  • Crowd sourcing/ product development
  • Membership/Admissions
  • Communications amongst different stakeholders
  • Recruitment
  • Thought leadership

Warm Ups
Who are you trying to reach? Consider what social media channels will be most beneficial for your organization. Stretch. Extend beyond Facebook and Twitter. Consider Flickr, YouYube, Tumblr, LinkedIn and seek out forums and blogs with strong communities.  BurrellesLuce offers several tools to help get you warmed up quickly, including ContactsPlus™, which helps you to identify new blogs by matching up a current release with those bloggers who are writing on similar topics, and Social Media Monitoring and Engagement solution, Engage121, which enables you to explore what is being said across social media channels and effectively build and manage your online communities.

Speed
Are you planning/prepared to provide immediate responses? The W Hotels “Whatever/Whenever” promise may well be on its way to becoming the standard, rather than the exception, in customer service. Social media allows stories to break and quickly spread at any time of day. I encourage those using BurrellesLuce’s Social Media Monitoring and Engagement solution, to experiment with setting up alerts using filters such as Klout rank or sentiment to sift through the noise and make sure that they are advised of critical information whenever it breaks. Of course a quick, well thought out and efficient response across all channels is critical.

Strength
Do some heavy lifting, err, searching. Investigate the current conversations being said about you, your competitors and the industry. Identify recurring themes and study trends. Review sentiment and compare how the conversations vary across different platforms. Identify key influencers and pay attention to the language and tone. What topics evoke passionate responses?

Flexibility
Don’t get stuck monitoring the same keywords you have always deemed important. As you study industry trends and influencers, adjust your searches accordingly. Begin listening to your communities even when they are not actively speaking about “relevant” topics. What do they care about? Consider what new topics or audiences may be interested in your organization.

Endurance
Set yourself up to succeed over the long term. Put in place a structure to collect the data that will allow you to learn from both your communities and your own social behaviors. There are a myriad of ways to measure social media buzz, sentiment, link tracking, share of voice, fans and followers, geo-location check-ins… slow down and take another pulse check. Review business objectives and consider what metrics can best indicate whether your activity is supporting those business objectives. As you embark upon this listening exercise, look at the data in a number of different ways.

Cool Down
Evaluate all of the data you have collected and all your new knowledge regarding trends and influencers. Go back to your business goals and consider how you will align your social media activity to meet those goals. What channels are best suited for your organization? Where should your voice be heard? Where can you build a strong community that will offer business results? Participating in social media will require an investment of time, so consider the time and resources you can devote. 

Prepare to Play
Listening exercise complete, you are ready for the big game… engagement. But that, my friends, is another post!

What would you add to your listening exercise? What activities are included in your daily listening routine? Share your thoughts with me and the readers of BurrellesLuce Fresh Ideas.

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Posted in Advertising/Marketing, Career Advice, Media Measurement, Media Monitoring, Media Relations, Public Relations, Social Media | 2 Comments »

Will Social Networks Replace Traditional Résumés?

Tuesday, February 22nd, 2011

by Lauren Shapiro*

I graduated from college when Facebook started its transition from being open to only users with college/university email addresses to the general public. With this transition, my college began the crusade to educate students on how to make their Facebook profiles “employer friendly.” They laid out the common sense do’s and do not’s of Facebook use and even started to make real-world examples, out of certain students, by utilizing the social network as a way to crack down on underage drinking on campus by finding photos posted to students’ profiles.

The key message that my college was sending has come to fruition – your Facebook profile is no longer just a Human being typing on laptopfun place to tag photos and post your favorite movies and quotes. It is your personal résumé… a representation of who you are, even if you are not using the site professionally. Now, with the popularity of LinkedIn soaring, potential employers have two opportunities to do extra homework on employment candidates. On LinkedIn, employers can see your past experience and educational background; on Facebook, they can see your personality and who you are as an individual.

Since employers are already finding out everything they need about a candidate on the Internet, will social media sites eliminate the traditional résumé?

According to a study of Canadian human resources professionals by OfficeTeam, a staffing agency, it could go either way. As reported in the Montreal Gazette, the survey revealed that 43 percent of managers thought it was “somewhat or very likely that profiles on such websites as Facebook and LinkedIn will someday replace resumes for getting jobs.” However, 55 percent of managers thought it was “not very likely or not likely at all that social network profiles will completely replace resumes as job seeking tools.”

In short, the data found comes to an outstanding, “We don’t know if social networks will replace traditional résumés.” Nevertheless, OfficeTeam provides the following advice for handling your own social media accounts – job seeker or not.

  1. Make sure you have a visible profile picture
  2. Highlight your key skills and experience
  3. Limit public access to pictures and other things that might not go over well with a prospective employer
  4. Keep in mind the people you’re connected with might be contacted as references
  5. Keep your online profile up to date

And with regards to privacy settings, Dianne Hunnam-Jones, OfficeTeam’s district president in Toronto, states: “I think the reality of the world is that [privacy settings] don’t matter; it’s still out there, somebody will find parts of it somewhere.” 

Do you think Facebook and LinkedIn will ever completely eliminate the need for a personal résumé? How do you use social networking in evaluating potential employees or employers?

***

*Bio: Soon after graduating from the Richard Stockton College of New Jersey, in 2006 with a B.A. in communication and a B.S. in business/marketing, I joined the BurrellesLuce client services team. In 2008, I completed my master’s degree in corporate and organizational communications and now serve as Director of Client Services. I am passionate about researching and understanding the role of email in shaping relationships from a client relation/service standpoint as well as how miscommunication occurs within email, which was the topic of my thesis. Through my posts on Fresh Ideas, I hope to educate and stimulate thoughtful discussions about corporate communications and client relations, further my own knowledge on this subject area, as well as continue to hone my skills as a communicator. Twitter: @_LaurenShapiro_ LinkedIn: laurenrshapiro Facebook: BurrellesLuce  

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Posted in Career Advice, Client Services, Public Relations, Social Media | 1 Comment »

Insights from the PRSA-NY New Professionals Committee and NYU PR League HR Roundtable

Monday, January 31st, 2011

Valerie Simon

PRSA-NYChapter_CMYK_72dpiTuesday evening, January 25th, I had the pleasure of speaking to a room filled with PR recruiters and those seeking a job in the public relations industry at the HR Roundtable, presented by PRSA-NY New Professionals Committee and NYU’s PR League.  The HR Roundtable offered attendees the opportunity to meet with recruiters from New York City’s top agencies. Special guests included:

Jami Secchi, Edelman
Katie DiChristopher, Marina Maher Communications
Lucy Cherkasets, Clarity Media Group
Marie Raperto, Cantor Integrated Marketing Staffing, Inc
Mindy Gikas, Ruder Finn, Inc
Sara Whitman, Peppercom
Jennifer Greenberg, Quantum Management Services.

Each offered their advice and insights in small group sessions.

“As the old saying goes, it’s not always what you know, but who you know,” explains Jason Brownely, co-chair, PRSA-NY New Professionals Committee and assistant account executive, M Booth & Associates Inc. “It is for this reason the PRSA-NY New Professionals Committees number one goal is to connect public relations professionals entering the job market at every level with opportunities to meet their peers and gain advice from experts in the industry.”  

Other important insights overheard at the roundtables:

How do I get my foot in the door?
“With the volume of requests I receive, I can’t do informational interviews with everyone so it helps to make a connection, whether through LinkedIn or through someone you know who works in the company you want to work for, says Secchi.

Should someone accept a lower position or even entry-level position if they are moving to a new country, but have experience working in two or three other countries (including the U.S.)? “I thought that was very intriguing, and obviously many people are having to “come in” at lower or entry levels so they can break into agency life or just get a job,” said Whitman. “In this case, I told the person to focus more on identifying how her skills will translate and add value in her new home versus looking for entry-level positions. One of the strongest things a communications pro (and PR pro in particular) is to spend time positioning his/her self first, which will make matching skills and experience with an open position – or even just with a company – much easier.”

How often should candidates touch base or follow up with a recruiter? Once a month, recommends Secchi. “You want to be consistent but you don’t want to be a nudge,” she explains. “Because of the volume of resumes and emails companies receive, we can’t always get back to everyone daily so a monthly check in is totally appropriate.  I also wanted people to know that they shouldn’t be discouraged or take it personally if they don’t get an interview.”

Secchi also reminded those she met that, “It could be timing, it could be the particular specs of a position, it could be that the position was filled internally so you just never know.”

Brownely notes that the New Professionals Committee will be hosting a number of events similar to this one, throughout the year. He encourages anyone looking to succeed in the public relations industry to become a member of PRSA-NY and to join the New Professionals section.

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Posted in Career Advice, Industry Events, Public Relations | No Comments »

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