New Bloggers (TOW 16)

Blogging is something that I was new at in the beginning of this recent semester. I was very excited in learning how to make my own and getting my words and thoughts out to everyone. There are ten different tips that I would like all PR students to take into consideration before they enter into the blogging world. They may not be the same thought as everyone, but these are my thoughts that may be useful.

1) Make Sure You Are Passionate About What You Are Writing!

When is comes to blogging, I was very excited to express my thoughts and passions to the world. Because my first blogging experience was for a class and particularly all about Public Relations, I began to get a distaste. I like Public Relations, but I am not in love with it, which made blogging very boring and rough for me.

2) Learn To Love It

If you are going into Public Relations, you need to learn to love every part of the profession along with blogging. Blogging is something that PR practitioners do on a day-to-day basis. It is key and crucial that you learn to love blogging and everything that goes along with it.

3) Hyperlinks

Hyperlinks are something that you need to learn to put into your posts. This either goes with your research or something just to keep you audience entertained. Hyperlinks should not be put in as a web address though. IN blogging you are allowed to make a direct connection through a hyperlink in a word that is in you sentence. This makes your blog look more organized and professional.

4) Credibility

Because you are on the internet and any people can see your posts, you need to make sure you give credit where credit is due. Credibility is always important in any writing, but especially in blogs.

5) Pictures

Make sure to add some picture within your blog. People are very visual so this will help entertain them. It also adds another way you can connect the audience to what you ar talking about within your writing.

6)Spelling and Punctuation

Spelling and punctuation are something that I struggle with all the time. This is something though that cannot be ignored. When you blog there is a spell check button so make sure before you post you always click it. You are putting all of your writing into the public, so make sure you do not make your writing look bad.

7) Network

When having a blog you are able to connect with hundred of people from all over the world. Take advantage of this and network. See what people have to offer and what you can offer them.

8) Comments

You write a blog so people will read and comment on your postings. The thing is, you have to do the same. Make sure that you are looking at others blogs and commenting on their posts. IF you comment on people’s blogs they will most likely do the same on yours.

9) Research

If you are wanting to put in interesting content within your posts do research to do so. There are so many things that people would love to know about. Be the person to tell them about it before anyone else does.

10) Reputation and Respect

With a blog you can gain a reputation of the kind of writing that you have. You get to choose your reputation. ALong with a reputation you need to be respectful. That is my number one rule about everything. Remember to respect others in your writing, in your comments, and in the responses of the comments you receive. There are opposing views, but that doesn’t mean that respect has to disappear. Continue to respect and you will build integrity and your reputation.

This is just some of my input that I feel you should take into consideration when you are beginning to learn to blog as a PR student.

SMNR’s (TOW 15)

An SMNR is a Social Media News Release. It is just like a news release but in a multimedia form. This is a growing and upcoming way that PR practitioners are starting to work. It is an advantage that our online services allow us to use. We can communication easier through these and have a more effective news release. The media content is more entertaining. It is said that more journalist prefer that PR practitioners use a Social Media News Release over a regular news release. The SMNR is more accessible to the audience and grabs their attention with and interest because of the unlimited resources you are allowed to attach and bring to their attention. Videos are also a great part about SMNR’s. They are easy to attach and engage the audience. Tagging is essential and there is a benefit that the PR practitioner has a two-way dialogue with the audience. When it comes to the audience in of SMNR’s, the main target are the bloggers online. These are the people you want to engage in. This goes along with one of my previous posts. Bloggers and other website have a huge effect on your company, so it is extremely crucial to keep the bloggers engaged and entertained in your content.

AS I looked around online I came across this video that is very help when you are trying to understand and gain the concept of SMNR’s. Click Here if you are interested in learning more about SMNR’s and where they are taking Public Relations.

I also came across a blog that give good incite on SMNR’s. The link of the blog is here if you are interested in looking into that. The blog is posted by Lee Odden who talks about the motivating factors in Social Media News Releases. Take a look!

I also came across this website that has some great links and other posting about Social Media News Releases. They are not extremely new anymore, but they are where PR is heading. Hop on board and learn how to even create your own here. Continue to research these. They are a creative outlook on how News can become more entertaining and easily accessible. Do not lose out on learning about this great social media tool!

5 Steps to Multimedia Storytelling (TOW14)

5 Steps to Multimedia Storytelling-NewsU

Choosing a Story-

In multimedia stories it is always good to include a video. This will be beneficial to you. Multimedia stories are nonlinear. When choosing a story make sure you collect preliminary information. This is needed to help create a concrete idea.

Create a Storyboard-

There are three different areas of creating a storyboard:

Define–Here you want to define what all the elements are going to be.

Identify– This is where you want to identify the media for the story.

Storyboard– This is where you will figure out the full concept of the story.

Reporting Multimedia-

This is the section in which you learn all of the basic need of what you will need for multimedia storytelling. You will learn what to pack, how to pack, how to travel, what to bring, what exact equipment is best for the traveling you are doing, how to go through an airport, what technologies you should bring and how to maintain. There are so many different elements that are beneficial to pay attention to in this section. This can also be helpful for people who are just doing this for leisure.

Editing-

Video–Keep short, effective B-roll, avoid action shots with lots of movement.

Audio–Only high quality, use subtitles if no other options, avoid background music.

Still Photos– Wed is a visual medium-use photos, you can use Photoshop, photos are used in two ways: 1-individually 2-sequentially

Graphics–Can make on a geographic info system, use hash tags, graphics can sometimes be the centerpiece of the story.

Text–This is a comfort for print people, use display type, works best for first person stories.

Producing the Story-

A print reporter will mainly be the person who will organize a story and a multimedia reporter will be the person who will shape the story. The wed designer is used to edit the story. There are many different tasks that each individual will be in charge of directing to make it a successful story. One thing to keep in mind, is to create more than one format so the readers do not get bored. If the readers are bored, then nothing sells.

This was a great NewU course. I personally love it because I learned something outside of my main focus. When we keep in mind these other insights then we become more well-rounded. This helps out our career and can just be an interesting hobby to pick up. I would love to learn more about the certain technologies that are needed and what is good versus bad in that area. There is so much more to learn.

Things that are Annoying- (TOW 13)

There tends to sometimes to be an annoying factor to PR specialists. Journalists especially can get very annoyed when working with PR people. Going into this field I think that it is beneficial to point these things out that are annoying, so as I and other PR students enter into this field we can work better in these areas.
1-    PR Specialists use too many words. Journalists are people who keep things interesting, but get right to the point. PR specialists do the opposite and keep things wordy.
2-    PR people are not always time relevant. They have a tendency to not be as timely as a journalist would like.
3-    PR people tend to talk about things that are not needed. There is lots of information that they give that a journalist does not need for the story.
4-    Because they add extra information, they tend to neglect what is really needed for the journalist to write a credible to story and report it.
5-    PR specialists are all about reputation. This can sometimes get to their heads and what they expect.
6-    PR specialists act as if they are selling a product even when it is not their job. This can be very annoying when it comes to being a journalist. They do not want your product, they want the story.
7-    PR specialists do not have a sense of perfect writing ability. It is very annoying to a journalist when there are many punctuation errors that they have to deal with, This is not just something that annoys journalists, but everyone!
8-    Because of a sales person mentality, PR specialists can be very pushy. This may be because their reputation is on the line or for some other reason. It is just annoying.
9-    Lack of communication is something that is also very prevalent when it comes to PR specialists. They can neglect to keep good communication with the journalist, which in turn, leaves the journalist hanging.
10-    PR specialists can tend to be very overwhelming at times. There needs to be a balance of space and understanding. Many times PR specialists think they can do everything thing, when the truth is they can’t.
These are just ten things that I thought would be good to bring to the surface before entering into the Public Relations field. It is always good to understand you field and what other’s views are on your position. This will help you learn how to overcome the negative connotations and create a better relationship with the people you have to work with to be successful.

TOW-12

Marketing Over Coffee—Click Here

This is a Pod Cast that is done by two men named Chris and John. They go over many different areas of the market and explain their views and how to help better anyone’s understanding of the market. This past week they talked about R.O.Y and the influence of timing and numbers in a marketing world. Most companies never realized that the traffic of users to simple website they have connecting with Facebook or Twitter really do have an effect on the results of their company. They talked about numbers and how to analyze them. There is a place on Google (Google Analytics) where companies can go in and place their particular numbers that are relevant to their company and Google will do all the configuring of numbers. This si something to try so you can better understand your goal and have to employees understand the goal as well.

Then they went into discussion about the iPad and whether or not they would jump on the bandwagon and get one. The screen is about ten inches and is great for traveling. The also pointed out that the iPad would be a great tool for a sales and marketing representative. They used the example of a coffee shop. A person can pull up the graphs and numbers on the spot and the picture is unbelievable. stressed is every company lives and dies in their data bank. You need to make sure you build your own data bank.

The one thing they stressed what that you need to build your own data bank. As a company, you live and die within your data ban. If other sites crash you can still rely on the data bank that you have assembled.

This was a very beneficial Pod Cast. I am not a rapid listener, but this was enjoyable because of the presence they had when talking. It was as if you were there in conversation with them. I was very surprised with the amount of information I received form listening to the Pod cast. I would love to learn more about marketing and all the aspects that go into the profession. Time wise just listening in on their show is all I will be able to do for now.

These types of venues are great for PR specialists and students just because it is easy information. Instead of listening to music you are getting educated. Especially listening into a marketing podcast you are able to understand that field better, in return, will help you better connect and be successful in your field. Students especially should take advantage of Pod casts and shows like these because it is knowledge from people who are actually working in their field and not just teaching it.

Students take advantage of the opportunities you have online. You the media to your fullest advantage!

Brands That Twitter

I came across a blog that listed over 100 brands that use twitter as a permotional tool. Twitter is newer, but has taen off at a marketing tool. Twitter being a brand itself has connect millions of people together and creating a new design to what makreting and branding used to look like. Social networking has been proving itself successful not only with the public, but with the business consumer world. Here is the link to the blog I came across by Paul Dunay: Click Here

Chapter 10 Notes

Chapter 10

In PR writing you can use tip sheets. These are a good for finding media people who might have an interest in your work.

Here are Distribution Channels for Publicity Materials:
1). E-mail: This can be used for pitching story suggestions to journalists and editors. You can have questions answered and you can also send any of your materials through this medium.
2). Online newsrooms: This can be used to discuss news releases, media kits, features, corporate background information, and high-resolution photos and graphics.
3). Electronic newswires: This can be used for distributing financial news to larger newspapers and broadcasting outlets. This can be national or international.
4). There are mat distribution companies that can also be used.
5). Photo placement firms: This is good and can be used for distributing high-resolution photos used to make publicity on an international basis

Source: Public Relations Writing and Media Techniques

Chapter 9 Notes

Chapter 9

Audio News Release is often called an ANR. These can take 2 forms:
ANR-Audio News Releases can be in two different forms. They are either actuality, which is someone who has a great voice for the radio and reads all of the announcements yet their name is not said. And the other is soundbite, which is a more complex one yet easy. This is where an announcer can be used or a soundbite (a clip from a customer, famous person, or company spokesperson).

–Public Service Announcements can only be used by non-profit organizations and is properly defined by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) as an unpaid announcement that promotes the programs of government or nonprofit agencies.

These are a list of eight titles that are on radio and television stations:
1.General Manager
2.Program director
3.Directors and producers
4.New Director
5.Assignment editor
6.Reporters
7.Public affairs or public service director
8.Promotion director

Source: Public Relations Writing and Media Techniques

Public Relation Specialists…

As I was on the internet just searching around looking at Public Relations related information, I came across the official website of the United States Department of Labor. They have an official definition of what PR is and what specialists do an achieve. Take a look HERE!

TOW-Info graphics

Withing journalistic writings visuals have a place of importance. There are those types of graphics that are more focused from the photo journalism perspective and then there are those such as infographics that place more of an information/explanational purpose.

Info graphics are placed within articles to give and example or explanation of what the article is talking about. They tends to be graphical but in a more creative manner. For example, there may be a pie graph used to show the sales of the pizza industry. As an infograph the pie graph would literally look like a pizza. This gives a more relevant and creative visual that goes along with the information being presented within the article.

When making infographics, you want to make sure that you are creating a visual that pertains directly to the information given. Creativity matter, but s does relevancy. The graphics should not be so distracting that they take away from the main idea of the information. You do not want the infographic to be a distraction. Make sure there is a distinction of simplicity. You want the reader to be able to still follow and understand the graph. The whole reason the graph is there is to help better explain the information being given.

Here are some examples:

*These photos were found on google images.