Gaining Traction on Twitter

Taylor Childress

Social media is one of the main ways people are getting their careers started, buzzing about their business, landing an interview and so much more. But sometimes, it is hard to gain followers and begin to be successful in the “Social Media World.”

In the social media landscape, Twitter is still one the most-used social media engines by business for activities like recruiting, meeting people, buzzing about an event or pushing out information. So, how do you gain followers? Here are three tips to gain more Twitter followers to make the most impact with your account.

1. Make your profile approachable:

Too often, people have a busy profile picture or too much wording in their bios. That isn’t necessarily bad, but simple is better when it comes to Twitter. Make sure your picture shows your face and isn’t too busy. Try to avoid angles with the picture and keep it square. Some companies like to have their employees use logos or random graphics. Try to steer clear of that so your account isn’t mistaken for spam, which can lead traffic on your page elsewhere. The bio should be clear but still tell who you are with pizzazz. Your bio will help people determine if they want to follow you. So, keep it simple and not too wordy.

2. Tweet and engage often: 

Consistency is key when it comes to any social media outlet, but with Twitter, it is very important when it comes to maintaining and gaining followers. If you don’t tweet often, no one will be interested. Tweet two times a day minimum. Remember to take into consideration the timing of the tweets, as well. If you tweet at 6:30 a.m. that might not be the best time. People are getting ready for work or getting to work and no time for their phone. Tweet around mid-morning, noon and evening. Also, keep in mind that engaging daily with your followers is just as important as how often you tweet. If you’re not talking to or responding to your followers, they will lose interest. Likewise, retweet others’ tweets that you find informative.

3. Hashtags, hashtags, hashtags:

Hashtags are still more important than ever on Twitter. Hashtagging opens up a new door in the social media realm. Monitor what is trending, and if you have something relevant to say on the topic, use the trending hashtag. People will check hashtags all day long and retweet your tweets, which in turn, gains new followers both from within the U.S., as well as from around the world. But, try to not over use the hashtags. Make them relevant and original.

My first year in public relations…

Ali Glemser

As I wrap up my first year as a public relations professional, I feel confident (and very lucky) that I found a job I truly enjoy so early in my career. Time seems to move faster every year now. So, I thought it would be useful to share some important lessons I learned in the last 12 months, before my first year blends together with the next five. Hopefully, one of these points, if not more, will save others an embarrassing moment or perhaps settle their expectations as they begin their careers in PR, too.

Research. Research. Research. – Everything. Your clients. Their industries. Their locations. Relevant media outlets, competitors and business partners. Most of all, leverage the resources you have and ones you can easily access for research. Your plate will be too full to do it all, so at least know where you can find these answers in case you need them.

Have a plan with a timeline. – And refer to it often. No matter if days, weeks or months are calm or hectic, having a planned timeline you created and approved with a client is imperative. This allows you to keep goals in mind and cross them off the list when you’ve met them. Allow this planned timeline to be flexible. Short-term projects can appear at any second and can stray you from your original goals, but if they can fit into the plan, they will harmonize well with client success.

Capitalize on your strengths and identify your opportunities. – None of us are good at everything, but that’s what allows us to be great at something.  I’m fortunate to work in a team environment where we all benefit from everyone’s strengths and are able to help develop each other’s opportunities. I know I have plenty more to find out about myself, but I feel like I have been able to pinpoint my personal strengths and leverage those as best I can in my work. I jump on items quickly that allow me to use those strengths so that I can support my team members and meet client expectations. Conversely, I consciously identify action items that allow me to work on my opportunities, and I seek help to build on those as they happen.

Too much communication? There is no such thing. – Rarely do I send a work email or text message to only one person. There is always someone else copied on it. I would rather over-communicate than under-communicate to any client or business partner because too little information creates problems. And, as communications professionals, we are held to the highest of these expectations.

These points come into play every day at work for me. Admittedly, I’ve made my fair share of mistakes to understand how important each of these points is to my personal success, but I hope others can learn from these and pay it forward as well. The exciting part is to see how far I’ve come and know how much more I can learn in 2015. Three cheers to many more years in PR!

Jam Session, Party of One

Sarah Burgess

Headphones. With this invention came the ability to get lost in your own little world and the freedom to listen to virtually any kind of music as you shut out the troubles of the world around you. Although early versions of headphones released around the turn of the 20^th century were considered a luxury item, in today’s society, it’s rare that you can turn a street corner without seeing someone using headphones. While this spectacular piece of technology can be used to pump you up during a workout or drown out the sound of snoring on a long airplane flight, let’s not forget about the many benefits of listening to music during your workday!

When I was younger, I avoided listening to music while doing homework or studying like the plague because I found it incredibly difficult to concentrate. However, now that I’m out of school and work full-time, I have found music to be my saving grace on many occasions! When co-workers have to take calls at their desks, the sound of South Main construction has become unbearable or I find myself growing weary from working on a project for an extended period of time, I’ve discovered that plugging into music has helped me gain energy and better concentrate on my tasks at hand. There’s even science to support this! In fact, studies have shown that music is effective in raising efficiency in work for most people.

Although I am now hooked on listening to music while I work, I have made my musical experience better by learning from some of the obstacles music can present.

• Familiarity = focus: If you’re in the middle of a project that requires precision and intense detail, it might help to listen to music you’re familiar with. Think about it – if you know what to expect, you might be less inclined to listen closely to what’s next. 
• Lyrical distraction: Listening to words actually activates the language center in our brains. So, if you’re in the middle of another language-related task, like writing, your language center could get confused on where the attention for words needs to go! If you find yourself in a situation like this, try listening to music without lyrics. You might try classical music or even a little ambient noise (like noises from a sound-soother).
• Musical interference: When trying to absorb and retain new information, distractions of any kind may prevent you from collecting and remembering new information properly. If you’re trying to take in and understand new material, music could make retaining the information nearly impossible. When I’ve encountered situations like this, I have found it best to rid myself of all noise distraction temporarily, focus on what needs to be done then turn the music back on when I’m done with that particular task.

So, do you listen to music to improve your workday productivity? What kind of music do you find best improves your focus? Let us know in the comments below!

What’s Next?

Thomas Whitehead

So this is my last blog post for 2014. As you read this, you are probably planning what you want to accomplish in 2015 and are wondering what the year will hold in store for you, your family, your business and your profession.

And you are not alone.

But first, I want to share with you my favorite story from 2014. I may have referenced it earlier this year, but these two related articles that ran in July in the Wall Street Journal were by far my favorite reads:

http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2014/07/29/howmanyistoomany-tallying-up-one-days-worth-of-hashtags/

http://online.wsj.com/articles/blinded-by-the-blizzard-of-hashtags-1406676440

I highly encourage you to take the time to read these if you are in marketing and communication. There are several takeaways that are still applicable:

• Twitter and the rest of social media has become very noisy with many companies, large and small, trying to break through to the same audiences on a 24/7 basis. 
• Hashtags were a great initial way to try to measure the impact of campaigns, but now, they might be adding to more clutter. 
• If you want to try a hashtag for a campaign, make sure that it is common sense so that people will actually use it. 
• If your company wants to measure the effectiveness of a hashtag campaign, make sure that you have two categories: overall mentions and organic. I have noticed several local campaigns where upwards of 95 percent of mentions were from either the organization or employees of the organization. You just want to make sure that it is used by your audience. 
• And this is the biggest takeaway for me: Don’t lose track of your overall goal. It’s not to come up with the most creative and viral hashtag but to help indirectly impact your bottom line, whether it is sales, donations or whatever. 

So what does this have to do with 2015 and beyond?

I’m glad you asked. My biggest takeaway with this is that something else will replace the hashtag in terms of marketing tools. Don’t get me wrong – I think the novelty of a hashtag will remain in western linguistics for some time. However, I am not certain that it will sustain its marketing power for too long, as these articles suggest.

So, in 2015, keep your eyes out for what is next. Don’t stay too focused on creating ideas that are based just on what is trendy and popular now. Just like digital media itself, marketing is always evolving.

And with that, cheers to a New Year, and may you all have a wonderful holiday season.

Think you don’t need PR or advertising? Think again.

Kelli Eason Brignac

Earlier this week, I went to a lunch event with a group of young professionals. As part of the event, we heard from a business owner who took a leap of faith to start his business almost 30 years ago. He talked to us about the risks, the benefits and how his business has changed and thrived in that time.

His story was great. But one thing caught me off guard. He said advertising doesn’t work. He said the best way to grow your business is by pure word-of-mouth. On that, we disagree. I know my feelings on his sentiment were written all over my face because everyone at my table laughed. But it’s the truth. He’s got a very successful business. But if you’re thinking about starting a business (or if you already own one), here are three reasons you actually DO need these things.

1. Businesses fail. Don’t be one.

According to Bloomberg, as many as 80 percent of businesses fail within the first 18 months. It’s no secret that the No. 1 reason is that they run out of money. But Forbes offered five other reasons. I won’t list them all here (that’s what the link is for) but two of these reasons caught my eye: not reaching customers through deep dialogue and failure to communicate value propositions in a clear, concise fashion.

Guess what a great PR partner can help you do? Not only are we constantly in tune with the media and what people are talking about – we’re consumers! At my firm, we often have brainstorms that involve our entire team, which spans four different states. It provides great perspective for our clients not only on how to talk to their existing customers, but how to best present their product or service to make it attractive to potential customers.

2. Word-of-mouth is great. But how does it start?

I’m not trying to say that word-of-mouth is not important. It’s crucial to most businesses. But if you aren’t communicating with your potential customers, how will they know you exist? You need to communicate who you are, what you do and why they should patronize your business.

How you communicate will depend on your business model. For example, Pinterest isn’t the right platform for every business. And not all businesses need to have billboards. But these things can be great for the right company. And a great PR partner can help devise what strategy is best for you.

3. Nowadays, people are talking. Make it a two-way conversation.

I use Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, GroupMe and G-Chat. I text, play Fantasy Football, read the news, email and follow blogs. And these are just a few things that exist on my phone!

The conversation is happening whether you’re part of it or not. There are hundreds of opportunities to talk to your customers and to address what they’re sharing with their friends. A great PR partner can help you take advantage of those opportunities.

I’ll end with a great quote. We’ll call this the “too long, didn’t read” version.

“There is only one thing in the world worse than being talked about, and that is not being talked about." – Oscar Wilde

Transmissions and Proactivity

Daniel Wade

It happened on the way back from dropping my son at daycare. That dreaded dashboard indicator. That miniature messenger of malice. Like the “Bat Signal” fired up by Commissioner Gordon, it beams its bright yellow light at the most inopportune times – alerting everyone in the vehicle that trouble brews under the hood. You guessed it; it’s our friend the “Check Engine” light. Already being nearly impossible to ignore and with a business trip coming up the next day, it was an issue that would need to be addressed right away.

Following a quick trip to my trusted mechanic, the source of the backlit transportation tormentor was revealed – it was a transmission error code. Cue a woman’s scream and the iconic “dun, dun, DUN” music. The day was a Monday, pouring rain and had the makings of something young Alexander would reflect on. No way was I escaping this escapade without a major dent in my savings envelope.

We’ve all been there, right? At this point in the story, we could head a number of directions. I can hear the comments from the peanut gallery now. That’s what you get for driving a 13-year-old car! Should’ve bought a Ford! Yes, there are money and car manufacturer discussions we could have here, but in this scenario, I was reminded of something essential in the public relations world: proactivity.

A good public relations individual/team is nothing if not proactive. It’s a mindset and one we try and champion for our clients. Pick your scandal, recall or what-have-you, and just like clockwork, two weeks later you’ll read a news brief about the organization hiring a PR firm. While potentially helpful, often, the damage to perception is already done. Being proactive is strategically planning ahead, anticipating what might happen and setting a course before the crisis. Are your processes and procedures in place to handle a crisis? Does your particular industry lend itself to vulnerabilities? Have you defined roles and responsibilities for staff? Most of these are operational in nature and don’t even touch the communications side of things, where a crisis can be mishandled publically and derail entire organizations.

Now, back to my car example. Ever seen what happens to a car when you don’t change the oil? It requires regular maintenance (changing oil/filter) or your engine will seize up! Other times, even with regular maintenance, a car can experience issues – it was made by and is driven by humans! Armed with this knowledge, it is wise to plan ahead (financially, emotionally, etc.) so you don’t lose your religion at a transmissions shop.

Even the best run organizations experience crises of some kind, and they either survive or fall, depending on how they have proactively planned ahead. Take the initiative, and when the transmission error code shows up, you just might hug your mechanic.

How Much Do You Really Know About Your Phone?

Sarah Lichterman

Think you’re a tech-savvy individual? Me, too. Be ready to have your mind blown.

I have always been one to keep up with the latest technology from devices to operating systems to appliances. Even if I don’t own the latest and greatest, I do my best to stay in the loop about such technology. Also, I have a knack for weeding through technology-help forums to fix most any technological problems that occur.

First, let’s get this out of the way – I am an Apple user. I am familiar with PC products and have owned some, but my brand allegiance is with Apple. I ran across this article the other day and was pleasantly surprised by what I learned. The article on A+ is titled “21 Things You Didn’tKnow Your iPhone Could Do.” While I waited for the page to load, I thought to myself that this would probably be a waste of time. However, I was intrigued with it from fact No. 1.

If you work in the realm of the PR world, you probably use your phone often; I know that is true for me. I wanted to share some of these iPhone tricks to help you save some time or just love your iPhone a little bit more. Below are a few of my favorites. (Warning: If you are an Android user, I’d suggest that you stop reading for you may become jealous of all your iPhone-using friends.)

Shake to undo. No need to waste any more time hitting the backspace key over and over again. Now, all you have to do is shake! Shake with caution, however, because it takes a power-shake to make this option work, so don’t be too gentle with it. Also, make sure not to fling your phone across the room while shaking it.

Recharge your battery faster by switching to airplane mode. I have always known that dimming the brightness on my phone would save battery life, but I never even thought about this method before. It makes complete sense because by turning on airplane mode, you’re turning off wireless and cellular access that drains your battery.

Teach Siri how to pronounce words. Do your friends have tricky names? You are in luck! The next time Siri mispronounces a name you can tell her “That’s not how you pronounce [blank]” and she will offer you alternative ways to say it.

Automatically turn off your music with a timer. I have never found a time when it would be appropriate for me to use this, but I still think it’s cool knowing that I have the option. Instead of setting a tone for “When Timer Ends,” all you have to do is select the “Stop Playing” option at the bottom of the tone list.

Customize vibrations. Who else hates the sound of your phone vibrating on a table? You can now make that sound a little less annoying by changing the vibration pattern for alerts, notifications and individual contacts. Just go to Settings > Sounds > Ringtone > Vibration > Create New Vibrations and viola! 

Create custom keyboard shortcuts. I am very familiar with this trick but wanted to share it with you because it is probably one of the most useful tricks on the list. It is very convenient and saves time when typing long words. For example, I’ve added the shortcut “bc” for “because” and “lich” for “Lichterman” to make my text-response time that much shorter. Also, you can fix any annoying auto-corrects using this tool. For example, when I type “Obsidian” with a capital “O”, it sometimes changes it to a lowercase. By making the shortcut for “Obsidian” as “Obsidian,” I have solved the problem. To make a shortcut, go to Settings > General > Keyboard > Shortcuts > Add New Shortcut.

There are many more interesting tricks on the list for all you iPhone users. I hope you enjoy!

Everyone Makes Mistakes

Lindsey Fleck

Mistakes happen to everyone. Would it be amazing if they didn’t? Of course it would, but if everything went smoothly 24/7, then we wouldn’t appreciate the perfect moments when they come along. It’s the same in the workplace, especially when you are in an area where your work is in the public eye.

No matter if you are writing a release, a tweet or even just a regular email, punctuation and grammar can get you every time. Have you ever heard of the old saying, “Do something right, no one bats an eye, but do something wrong and people will never forget?” I feel like a missed comma has the same type of weight, especially if you accidentally send an email without too much thought – the resulting impression of you may not be so great.

There are some easy solutions to prevent this type of embarrassment. The first is to pay close attention to what you are writing and review line by line. Have others look over what is written before you send it off to your editor or client, just for a pair of second eyes.

A second solution is to keep it professional.  As a person in the working world, professionalism should be a key part of your persona. This is the part of you that holds it all together when everything falls apart – and the part that holds your tongue when you’d prefer to let a few choice words fly.  It’s very rare to have someone you agree with on every aspect of a project, and it’s natural to want to vent something. If you choose to vent about your problem with someone else, make sure you are ranting to the right person and in the right setting. The easy solution to this is to pay attention or, maybe, wait until you’re home and rant to someone completely unaffiliated with the situation.

Finally, while you may not always be able to prevent mistakes, you can certainly take steps to resolve them as quickly as possible to avoid making the situation worse. When a mistake happens, the worst thing you can do is pretend that it never happened and just sweep it under the rug. If you text the wrong person, don’t try and spam their inbox with a million texts in an attempt to hide the text. If you have a grammar mistake, don’t blame the editor. When a mistake happens, you need to tell people as soon as you realize what happened. If you try to fix the situation right away, it will help minimize the damage. You can try and hide things, but in the end, everything always comes out – and when it does, it comes with a fury.

Nobody is perfect, and while you should always aim to do your best, it simply will not always happen. The important thing is to keep your head up and learn from the mistakes. The game isn’t over until you decide to retire, so there are plenty of quarters to go through to get back those points.

Being Organized and Flexible

Mary Catherine Banister

I’ll be the first one to admit it – I’m not good with plans that change at the last minute. If I’m in the middle of a project and then am asked to work on something urgent, it takes me a minute to get through an inner freak-out and process the change in plans. If I’m meeting friends for dinner but they decide last-minute to cancel, you’ll find me in a bit of a bummed-out tizzy. It’s safe to say that I like to have structure, an itinerary and a to-do list at all times, and when my list suddenly flies out of the window, I have to learn to roll with it.

Sometimes, a change in plans is out of the blue and cannot be predicted. However, when prioritizing time at work and setting goals and an agenda for each day, planning for any surprising turn of events is a smart and realistic approach to planning. Here are a few of my Type-A personality organizational tips that will help keep even the most inflexible person (yours truly) sane in the fast-paced world of PR:

• Keep your calendar up-to-date. Sync your work calendar with your personal calendar, and make sure you can access them on your phone, tablet and laptop. Setting reminders and alerts can be helpful, too!
• Keep a planner. I’m a bit old school, and I love having a planner that I carry in my work bag. I write in pencil so I can change dates and times as necessary, and each week is covered in post-it notes of things I need to do and personal reminders. To me, there’s nothing like a hand-written to-do list to keep me in line!
• Make a weekly to-do list. Then break it down into daily to-do lists. This goes for work and personal things. These lists can help you stay on task while also offering the opportunity to physically (or digitally) cross things off as you complete them. There’s nothing more rewarding than crossing off the last item on a to-do list! (Okay, maybe I’m an organizational nerd.)
• Prioritize. Within your to-do lists, make notes of which items are the most urgent and which ones can take longer for completion. This way you know what you should tackle first and how long it might take you to do it.
• Breathe. If an unexpected project falls into your lap, take a breath. Then, prioritize it. If it’s a client emergency, dive right in. But, if it can wait until your current task is complete, set it aside for now. Make the most of your (and your clients’) time by understanding what is most important, and everything else will fall into place!

Even a rigid, live-and-die-by-the-to-do-list person (like me) can learn to be flexible at the necessary times. All it takes is a little organization, a deep breath and the confidence you need to get the job done!