Marathons are not for meetings.

Kelli Brignac

Recently, I traveled to Memphis to meet up with our Obsidian team and to see a few clients. But I made a huge mistake. Between traveling and scheduled meetings, I literally only had nine and a half hours of time in my week to actually get things done. Let’s just say there were a lot of late nights that week, followed by a few not-so-relaxing weekend days.

The example above is a pretty extreme case. I’m usually always stacking meetings when I travel because I want to maximize my face time with clients and with my account partners. But lately, it seems that I can’t get through my day without a meeting or five breaking it up. And, I’ve started to make a concerted effort to make the most of that meeting time while also keeping it efficient. Here are a few things I’ve learned to keep meetings on track instead of letting them turn into marathons.

1. Respect everyone’s schedules.

The shared calendar has worked wonders for me. As long as my calendar is updated and my account partners can see it, we can schedule meetings fairly easily without wasting 30 minutes trying to figure out who is available when.

When you’re working across various organizations, keep in mind that everyone has different pressures, so it’s important to schedule the meeting for as long as you expect it to last. Don’t put 30 minutes on everyone’s calendar knowing that you’d be hard-pressed to finish in less than an hour. If you can trust your calendar, it’s easier to plan your day and workload.

2. Make an agenda beforehand.

Without an agenda, your meeting may fall prey to chit-chat while you try to remember what you were supposed to talk about. And SHARE the agenda! Give everyone a chance to weigh in, at least by the day before. That way you don’t run into an unexpected topic that takes up all your meeting time.

Bonus tip: Arrange your agenda in order of importance. That way if someone has to leave the meeting early, they won’t miss the most important thing you’ll cover.

3. Stick to the agenda.

While unexpected discussion can produce wonderful things (it’s actually how Obsidian’s PR 180 Project was born) it can also waste a lot of time. By passing around the agenda beforehand (see tip No. 2), you should have a pretty complete idea of what you need to discuss.

4. Take notes.

Trust me. You won’t remember everything you talked about if you don’t jot it down while it’s happening. I like to take notes on my computer in my meeting agenda so I can refer back to them later.

5. Establish next steps for everyone. And assign deadlines to all tasks.

I work with five different people. And they work with others aside from me. It would be impossible for all of us to remember everything the other was supposed to do for our clients. So we keep to-do lists. They are wonderful for making sure we’re on time with everything.

When we have calls with our clients, I’ve found that the best way to make sure we stay on track is to send a follow-up email with next steps for everyone. That way, even if the person you met with wasn’t taking notes, he or she knows what needs to be done before you can accomplish your next steps.

6. Short regular meetings > long irregular meetings.

I’ve got six weekly meetings and even more bi-weekly or monthly meetings with my account partners, clients and managers. It might seem like a lot, but they are never long. My weekly meetings almost never last more than 30 minutes because we follow all of the above protocols when scheduling and executing them. And, there is nothing worse than letting things pile up until you really can’t do anything without talking to someone first.

7. Schedule time to work.

The calendar works both ways. Sometimes it’s important to schedule time to knock out a few projects and have no threat of being interrupted by a meeting. And there’s no shame in that!

Got any meeting efficiency tips I missed? Leave them in the comments! I’m always looking for better ways to streamline my meeting times. 

Social Media – PR Pros Should be Savvy, Not Sassy

Mary Catherine Banister

It is a PR professional’s top priority to make sure that all information presented about, and by, a client is sending the right (and appropriate) message. In the age of social media, it is all too common for an individual or a brand to present messages that are not conducive to the image it wants to maintain, or that is offensive or harmful to its audience. This can turn into a public relations nightmare and can tarnish the person’s or the brand’s reputation. That’s where we, the PR gurus, come into play. We work to prevent these problems from happening in the first place, but then we are ready to react appropriately on behalf of our client should an issue arise. It’s our job to deal with such situations, and we do it well!

Yes, we are able to recognize when an individual or a company posts a questionable photo and caption on Facebook or writes an insensitive tweet. We know where they went wrong, and how they should try to resolve the problem. But what about when it comes to our own social media presence? Are we always presenting ourselves with poise, dignity and respect to our audiences? Here are a few rules of thumb regarding being appropriate on social media platforms, especially when the line between being professional and being personal can get blurry:

• You have your right to free speech, but be mindful when putting your personal thoughts and opinions on the Internet. State your own points of view, but never attack others’ – you never know who you might offend with whatever “clever” political statement you decide to make while watching The State of the Union address.
• Don’t go overboard. I have been guilty of this a few times – when Auburn lost its bowl game over the holidays, I could have spoken my mind about it in 10 separate 140-character posts. But, I kept it to a short tweet about my Tiger pride and left it at that. Your followers don’t want to see a million tweets and retweets about a sports team or TV show that they might not even care about – you could lose credibility (and a few followers) if you let it all out!
• Post meaningfully. Don’t try to tell a long, drawn-out story via Twitter – if you feel the need to express yourself in a long post, use Facebook or a personal blog. Or, in all honesty, don’t post at all! Call your parents, have coffee with a friend or write in a journal – some things are not necessary to share publicly with your “closest” 250 Twitter followers or 1,500 Facebook friends.
• Keep your audience in mind. If your Facebook friends are primarily acquaintances from high school, college sorority sisters and relatives, posting a silly photo or funny video shouldn’t be a big deal. However, if your Twitter followers are a mix of friends, family, members of the media and coworkers, you should probably think twice about sharing that “super cute” #TBT photo of you and your BFF dancing on the bar at a fraternity formal in 2012.
• Watch your language. If you use your personal social media accounts to also interact with coworkers, the media or other professionals, you should always be on your best behavior. Not all of your posts have to be work-related, but steer clear of any foul language, inappropriate photos or emotionally charged interactions with others. Once it’s published online, there’s no going back!

Don’t be afraid to use your social media platforms as a way to appropriately mingle your professional and personal lives. You can brand yourself as a well-rounded and interesting individual if you play the game correctly, and that’s what it is all about. Don’t put yourself into a situation where you have to clean up your own social media crisis. Instead, stick to a plan and be mindful of your messages, and your reputation and image will continue to grow.

The Five Pillars of Personal Branding

Kayla Stringer

Bernard Kelvin Clive of The No Nonsense Guide to Personal Branding for Career Success once wrote that personal branding is the combination of skills and talents to create significance by forming “an impression, a perception and a reputation in the minds of others.”

Many people live their entire lives never recognizing their full potential, their purpose or worse - neither. Personal branding is a culmination of how you perceive yourself and how you want others to perceive you.

Building an effective and stable personal brand takes time and dedication and is important in today’s society for establishing who you are and what you bring to the table in your particular market.

I’ve established five important factors to consider when building a personal brand and why they are important.

1. Clearly identify yourself to others.

Who do you want to be? What do you want to be known for? These are difficult questions, but once you’ve identified the answers for yourself, you can begin to identify the brand you want to build. Choose a character trait that combines your abilities with your beliefs. Whether that’s aggressive or passionate or whatever it may be. Use that trait to drive the character you want people to recognize when they think of your brand and what it stands for.

2.  Manifest your personal growth.

Personal brands, much like corporate brands, evolve with time and development. The key factor in manifesting your personal growth is to evaluate where you began and set personal goals for yourself to measure where you are headed in the future. A demonstration of your personal growth builds credibility of your skills and reliability of your personal character in the minds of others. 

3. Build a reliable reputation.

Perhaps the most important aspect of building a personal brand is getting people to buy into who you are and what you stand for as an individual. A reliable reputation means the perception others have of you isn’t swayed from one person to the next. People associate your professional abilities and your personal values as one unit, creating one reputation. The reliable part is up to you. How you build that unit defines the association people have in their minds of your brand. Building a reliable brand is useful for credibility with future employers, colleagues or even friends. Be someone you’re proud of and someone that you would surround yourself with.

4. Understand your value and promote your uniqueness.

It’s been said to me a hundred times - you know when people ask you about the “it” factor. That’s what you have to find with your personal brand. What’s your “it” factor? What makes you shine? What makes you different? What makes you better? Understanding your strengths and weaknesses is half the battle. When establishing a credible personal brand that people want to buy into, you have to evaluate your strengths and weaknesses and use them both to your advantage. But, you may ask, “How can I use weaknesses to my advantage?” Turn them into strengths. Educate yourself on your weaknesses and use them as a defense to make yourself more marketable and to continue learning in your field every day. If you can’t write press releases well, read a couple that have been sent out to different media outlets and write a few samples of your own that you can give to a colleague to edit for practice. Play on your strengths - you have them for a reason. Give yourself credit where credit is due, and use your strengths as a marketing strategy to promote your uniqueness - your “it” factor.

5. You are your brand’s voice.

At the end of the day, brands are effective in communicating professionalism and responsibility. They also need to have the individuality of a human voice. Aside from the etiquette of branding and how it should be used in real-world settings, give your brand a voice that has your personality and your own special touch. Whether you do this with a vibrant logo or you build an app that intertwines your unique rhythm with your professional capabilities, remember to be yourself. Like Dr. Seuss said, “There is no one alive who is youer than you.” 

Public Relations is like…(Take 2)

Daniel Wade

Sometimes things just have to “click” with people before they can truly understand and then fully embrace that idea or take action because of it. As I reflect back on my academic career, I’m reminded of many instances where this proved true for me. For example, I’m close to pinpointing the month, day and year when I stopped learning math. (It’s one of the many reasons I’m in the public relations field. Can I get an “amen” from the peanut gallery?) Why did I stop learning math, might you ask? Simple: it stopped clicking for me. Mr. Dahlberg was a good teacher and an even better man, but math stopped clicking, and I didn’t care enough to ask for help. Fortunately for me, there were many more examples of concepts or theories clicking for me, and staying that way, that propelled me to future success.

Analogies can help make this connection to further understanding. Not sure if you’re a fan of a good analogy, but this is my blog post, so get over it. In all seriousness, I’ve found a few analogies that help public relations click for folks, leading them to a greater appreciation for and understanding of the tremendous value that good public relations can provide. A few posts ago, I shared an analogy that resonated with me years ago – the elevator button.

Today, I’m sharing the first analogy for public relations I was ever taught – the supermarket. (This is also helpful in explaining some of the differences in advertising, marketing and PR. While they are three sisters, they are incredibly different!)

So, you walk into your neighborhood Kroger store and can immediately spot advertising examples everywhere. Look no further than the printed list of coupons by the door, the ads on the back of the shopping carts and the announcement over the intercom about today’s special on ground chuck in the meat department.

Walk to your food section of choice, and before you’ve even turned down the aisle, marketing has greeted you with an elaborate end cap display featuring Bud Light’s latest campaign and a great price on a 30-pack. Meander down the pasta aisle, and you find yourself gravitating toward the macaroni and cheese, naturally. There’s marketing again – it has placed Kraft Macaroni & Cheese at eye level on the self, as opposed to the Kroger brand and other similar products which require you to stoop down or stand on tiptoe to reach.

And, finally, we make it to public relations. Except, you’ve actually already encountered it before you even set foot in the store. Public relations drove you to go to Kroger in search of Kraft Macaroni & Cheese in the first place. Perhaps it was that article in the paper about the mac-and-cheese contest Saturday. Or, maybe it was your brother-in-law raving about the best cheesy pasta dish he’s ever had. It could have been your sister’s Pinterest board, where you saw a picture of baked macaroni that was to die for. Or, maybe you heard from a friend that Kraft had adjusted its mac-and-cheese product to eliminate artificial flavors. Whatever your reason, public relations shaped your perception of Kraft Macaroni & Cheese and drove you to action well before you entered the store.

So, who is talking about what you are doing? And what are they saying? 

Pitch Perfect

Sarah Lichterman

If you were hoping this was going to be a post about the recent announcement of Pitch Perfect 2 opening in May 2015, I am sorry to disappoint you. As one of my favorite comedies, I would like nothing better than to list my top five movie quotes complete with several memes. However, this is not the appropriate avenue for that.

One of the more important roles of a public relations professional is to determine the appropriate outlet for communication. When a client has relevant news or a crisis situation, they come to us first to ask what to do next. After gathering all information about the situation, our next step is to strategize which media is most relevant to send it to, and then, we create the perfect pitch.

In a recent PRSA meeting, we listened to a panel of local media who discussed the best practices for pitching stories and shared stories of the worst pitches they have received. One horror story that stood out to me was a magazine editor that had recently received a pitch where he was blind copied on the email. Not only was the news irrelevant to his magazine, but he also said he would not have used it any way for the sheer fact that the PR person had not taken the time to craft an admissible pitch for his magazine. I was appalled to hear that some people send news that way. At Obsidian, we are encouraged to read news often in order to understand what types of stories are pertinent for certain publications and reporters. While each pitch that is sent out may not be perfect, we do our best to ensure it is relevant and timely to the outlet we are pitching.

If you want to be pitch perfect, there are a few key lessons you should practice daily. Mark Thabit, senior vice president of marketing and project management at Vocus, explains how to make the perfect pitch to grab a reporter’s attention in in this article on Ragan.com. Among these are straightforward tips such as to speak like a human being, network with media and know your reporter. The following tips are ones I think about regularly when crafting a pitch.  

Get to the point. If you think a reporter is going to read your eight-paragraph essay talking about a company’s new hire, you are wrong. Reporters received hundreds, if not thousands, of emails a day. They may only read the subject line or the first few lines of your email, so get to the point quickly and make sure the news is intriguing. If you don’t think it’s compelling news, then a reporter is most likely not going to either.

Answer the five Ws. This goes along with getting to the point. From the beginning of news sharing and storytelling, who, what, when, where and why have been the foundation of any story. And, this will never change. Make sure your pitch includes answers to these questions without too many details. The details can be included in an attached news release or interview.

Offer other media. A perfect pitch usually is not just words. With news being shared instantly through social media and websites, media doesn’t always have the time or resources to send a cameraman to cover your story. Use a content data sharing system like DropBox to share large photo or video files.

Once you have crafted the perfect pitch, reread it to triple check that you have given accurate facts, attached any supporting media and are sending it to the correct reporter. You want to be confident in your pitch to know that you have “crushed it.”

Do you remember?

Thomas Whitehead

Let’s play a quick game. Feel free to grab a pen and paper, open a word doc or just use your head, but take a few minutes and write down or try to recall the biggest news stories of 2013. Yes, 2013, not 2014. Go ahead; I will give you some time. And no cheating!

So, how do you think you did? Did you even come up with 10? Are you sure everything you wrote down was from 2013?

If you want to compare your list to one such list, try this one: http://tinyurl.com/mkyu3xe.

I will admit, when I looked at this list, I forgot most of these events happened just a year – or a little more than a year – ago. Some of them seemed longer than just a year and others seem like yesterday.

This exercise reminded me of a valuable element for communications today: past events are going to mean different things to different audiences now more than ever before.

When I was looking at this list of top news events, I was amazed at the ones that I forgot about completely or ones that didn’t even interest me at the time that they were occurring. Yet, others, I was enthralled with when they were happening.

The biggest takeaway from this for communication professionals is to be very careful when referencing historical events as examples for your messaging. It is critical to make sure that the example is relevant or something that the audience can identify with easily.

This is also true when you consider demographics including age, sex and religion. Different events might have more resonating effects on some people more than others.

As news and information continues to come to us at a lightning-fast pace, it is important to keep up with the significant events of the recent past to determine how people shape messages that they receive by marketers.

#NoFilter: Leveraging Instagram to Increase Brand Recognition

Ali Glemser

With more than 200 million monthly active users and 55 million photos shared daily, Instagram has become one of the most popular social media apps today. Capitalizing on the popular trend of sharing visuals through social media, the completely photo/video based app has made the average smartphone user a skilled photographer with various editing features, including its famous filters.

Just like Facebook, Twitter, Vine and Snapchat, brands can join the Instagram community, too, and connect to their existing and potential audiences if they leverage the opportunities Instagram presents. Below are four high points from an article about Instagram in the Public Relations TACTICS October issue.

#Hashtags – Similar to Twitter, hashtags are used frequently on Instagram and are a great way to tag your content and enter it into multiple conversations. Research hashtag subjects your targeted audiences are using and incorporate those into your posts appropriately, while also branding your content with one or two unique hashtags of your own. Promote those unique hashtags across multiple platforms to bring various audiences into the conversation.

Quality over quantity – This shouldn’t be the first time you’ve heard this rule in regards to social media. If you are constantly posting irrelevant or poor content, you’re likely to be ignored or unfollowed. The same idea applies to posting on Instagram. Post images that are unique, clear and bright to start conversation and build engagement. Find your inner artistic photography skills with the app’s filters and editing options. Also, in an effort to stay relevant, but not annoying, a good rule to follow is to post once a day.

Captions are key – Take advantage of the ability to attach a caption with your photo, but make it easily digestible and conversational. Nobody wants to read your marketing material copied and pasted below every picture you post. Take this chance to show there are humans behind your Instagram account, and use a little humor when appropriate.

Identify influencers – As with other platforms, identify the people or other brands that are first adopters in your industry and engage with them. Follow them, like them, comment and share their images, as appropriate. Showing that you can play nice in the Instagram community sandbox will help spread your brand awareness.

In conclusion, post content that is visually engaging often enough to stay top of mind, but not so often that you clog people’s feeds with your brand. Stay relevant in industry conversations and differentiate yourself with hashtags. Most of all, share the love! Comment on and like your followers’ posts. Give your brand a human element by staying timely, relevant and engaging with your exiting and potential audiences.

A Shoutout to Parents

Lauren Hannaford

A couple months ago, the Obsidian staff came together for a day-long annual retreat where we discussed a number of topics, including advice on handling some of the challenges we face on a daily basis, company updates, “guess that scary movie score,” how to work more efficiently, tools and resources to help us do our jobs better and so much more! After we wrapped up our retreat, I headed to see my friend and her less-than-one-day-old baby boy at the hospital. While visiting my friend and her precious new son, I was feeling so tired, having just spent a whole day actively listening and participating in a wide variety of conversations. I couldn’t help but notice how tired my friend was as well, naturally, since she had just given birth!

I had no doubt she was much more tired than I was, but on my drive home, I thought about how a career in public relations is relatable to being a parent. Now, I’m not a parent to a human child, but as nearly all my friends, family members and many co-workers are parents, I’m drawing from their experience. Working for a PR agency, you are responsible for the success of every single account you manage. That means making sure your client’s goals remain on track, responding to all emails and phone calls in a timely fashion, planning ahead for nearly everything, executing limitless research, managing issues, keeping up with an overwhelming amount of information and detail, trying as hard as you possibly can not to forget something, managing multiple schedules…and the list goes on.

Much like being a parent, PR managers juggle A LOT. It’s our job to do so. Our job is always on our mind; it can keep us up at night and busy on the weekend. Our clients are our children, and keeping them “alive,” full and happy is our responsibility. So, how do PR “parents” keep clients in all different industries, with varying personalities and different priorities, happy? There’s no one answer, but effective communication is the most important. Communication is the beginning and ending. It’s what holds everything together and makes everything move forward. Communication styles vary between PR managers and clients, and figuring out what works best is important from the get-go. Communicating with clients frequently and openly encourages a better relationship, and having a great relationship with your client produces the best results for everyone.

It’s a lot like how a parent raises a child - with a lot of uncertainty and “figuring things out” as a baby, to knowing every little detail inside and out by adulthood. So, I’m giving a big shout out to the parents out there. It’s a tiring job, but seeing your child reach his or her goals, knowing you helped them get there, is the most rewarding feeling.

New Year, New You

Tiffany Cunningham

So, every day I tell myself, “You’re going to make it to the gym, you’re going to make it happen today!” By the time I leave the office, at 5:45 (most nights), it’s already dark in Dallas and it’s winter, so my motivation to make it to the gym has plummeted. I need to fix this and want to, but how do I break this routine? It just takes two steps: throw on tennis shoes and drive to the gym. Right? I thought that, but it also takes focus and dedication and re-engaging yourself to want to feel better – not sit slumped on the couch every night.

I’m putting a stop to this no-working-out business and want to share a few helpful secrets that gave me the motivation to start moving again and stay on track, even if it’s cold out!

Make an investment.

Try a new workout class like The Barre Code or invest in new workout apparel to help bare the freezing temps outside. Fun workout classes make working out so much better and are an easier way to adjust to a workout routine again. You invest in a lot of things in life and most are not focused on your overall health and well-being. Save up, and you’ll find the biggest reward from relieving stress from a workout!

Make the cold winter months work for you.
I’m a huge fan of going on a walk. No matter what the temperature is, I grab my dog, Blakeley, and head for the Katy Trail. After 30 minutes, I feel better and my body temperature increases while I reduce my stress levels and bask in a peaceful environment for an hour or so. (Blakeley does chase after squirrels every now and then, but it’s still a great way to take my mind off work or other things happening without my cell phone.)

Reassess your fitness goals.

What do you want to get out of it? How committed are you? I have to ask these questions quite often. List the reasons you have for prioritizing exercise, and think about everything you’ve achieved in 2014 toward your goals. How are you going to keep it going and take it up a notch in 2015?

Get back to the basics.
Winter is also a great time to get back to square one. Identify what you need to improve on and get stronger. Now is the time to do that for the long term. Think in terms of useful fitness. Don’t do exercises that won’t lead you to your goals.

This is the perfect start to get re-energized and ready for the new year! Bring it on, cold weather!