By Assistant Account Executive, Baret Yahn.
The Wonderful World of Pinterest
I’ll admit, Pinterest is addictive. I will not admit to how many hours I spend consuming an array of snacks, and pondering “to pin or not to pin? I guess I’ll just heart it instead.” I’ve always recognized the potential this social platform has to be beneficial in Public Relations. There are endless ways to use Pinterest to better your brand and client relationships. Here are a few tricks of the trade from yours truly.
Pin Vocab – Pinterest is a social network that allows users to visually share, curate, and discover new interests by posting, also known as ‘pinning,’ images or videos to their own or others’ pin-boards (i.e. a collection of ‘pins,’ usually with a common theme). Users can either upload images from their computer or pin things they find on the web using the Pinterest bookmarklet, ‘Pin It’ button, or copying a URL. One can browse through the items other users have pinned and ‘like or heart,’ ‘repin’ or ‘comment’ on them. You can invite members to pin for your boards, as to add more content-user interaction. There are about 70 million registered users and about 54 million new pins added to the site everyday. It’s only growing.
Key Uses with Pinterest to improve your company’s PR image:
Pin blog articles or other Web pages – The latest feature on Pinterest is their pinned article layout. Instead of just an image being pinned that links to the story, now Pinterest articles have a headline, author, story description and photo that all show on one pin.
Image from Pinterest Blog
Pin with colleagues around the world – The great thing about Pinterest is that you can tag people in pins they might find interesting. You can share ideas for an event or new product quickly with one @ sign. Not only can you share a pin, but commenting back and forth on it is also a feature. There is a comment box under each image for easy communication. Sharing and interacting with others, even if they are far away, can enhance relationships in a creative way.
Keep posts visual – Always pin images for your client or business that are visually enticing. Pinterest is a pictorial site, which means having beautiful pictures; whether they be travel photos, funny pictures from a craft gone wrong, or professional photos of your product — and combining them with a well-written blog article, product, or how-to, is guaranteed to be very successful. Pinterest users love pinning beautiful pictures, it is the basis of the site. Users will repin something if they see value in the image without even seeing what the click through links to.
Chart from KissMetrics.com
Don’t use obvious promotion – Using Pinterest to sell products in a non-blatant way is a great way to get your business or client’s name out there. If you add Pinterest content, your followers will see striking visuals for a great product. They will then use the click through link if they want to buy the product. There is also an option for businesses to promote their pins, which means paying for people to see the pins they post. I think consumers like having the choice of whether or not they are interested enough in an item to go to the website.
Show what’s going on in the industry – Creating boards for public relations, marketing, business or whatever it may be; lends a great opportunity to share information about your industry to other people on the job, or those outside a particular career realm. This is also a good place to proudly display infographics!
Put a pin on all of your social media channels – Be sure to have a “Pin It” clickable link on all sites. This makes it incredibly easy for a consumer to directly take a product from a business’ website and pin it on their own board. When something gets pinned, that means more eyeballs through the site, which is always a good thing when it comes to sales.
Contests – Many companies use Pinterest to garner more interest in a particular brand. For example, Victoria’s Secret sends out emails saying that if people make a “Pink Board via Pinterest” (Pink is one of their clothing brands) their board could be chosen for a Pink vacation, or another select prize. Generally, contest guidelines require users to pin a certain amount of images from the business’ direct site, creating more content circulation for them.
There are many more tools out there to enhance your Pinterest experience. Using these tips, you can create fun consumer relatable content that is sure to drive more traffic to your business or a client’s. Pinterest is the secret to success in interacting with target audiences and getting information to the public in an unobtrusive manner. Get pinning!
By Alyssa Worley, Account Executive
Navigating Music Outlets in a Digital Space
Gone are the days of a simple CD. The music industry has been pushed to evolve along with technology, creating a plethora of options for listening experiences. I’ve had experience with multiple music outlets and here’s what I’ve learned: amongst the competition, each has its perks and drawbacks.
Spotify
What’s Good:
Spotify has mastered the social sharing of music in the digital space. It is very easy for me to browse through the artists that my friends have been listening to. I can even check out my favorite artist’s favorite artist. There are even public playlists for practically every event. Attending a roller skating party? There’s a playlist for that. Having a “hipster barbecue”? There’s a playlist for that too—a very good one at that.
Their free version is convenient and has basically all the perks their premium service has, as long as you’re connected to Wi-Fi and don’t mind an advertisement every 15 minutes or so. As a college student, Spotify’s commitment to providing an affordable premium price for students by providing a 50-percent discount is incredibly appealing. I happily splurge on the student discount premium fee every month and am a huge fan of their mobile app, which is very convenient for car rides and workouts.
What’s Bad:
There’s not much bad to say about the user experience with Spotify. The only complaint I have is about their computer app, which occasionally flakes for no apparent reason and won’t start working until I uninstall and reinstall it multiple times.
While the user experience is convenient and enjoyable, they’ve had some very public disputes about their method of paying artists. Because of this, you may not be able to find your favorite artist on the platform, i.e. Taylor Swift.
Apple Music
What’s Good:
Apple Music was released in June of this year and rivals the likes of Spotify. It has a beautiful interface that is completely compatible with Apple devices and seamlessly incorporates user’s existing iTunes files. Apple’s successful business relationships with iTunes and artists is evident in Apple Music as well. Users can find mostly every artist’s music available to stream on the service.
Apple Music understands the listening experience. Its suggested playlists have the perfect mixture between familiar tracks, pulling from popular, well-known albums and lesser known artists alike. Users can sample the service on a three-month free trial. After that, the service costs $9.99/month or $14.99/month for the family plan, which allows up to six separate users.
What’s Bad:
Apple Music’s first faux-pas, especially when compared directly to Spotify, is the lack of a free version beyond the three-month trial, as well as offering no student discount. While Apple is planning to offer the service on multiple platforms, including Android, it is currently only available on a computer and on iOS.
Pandora
What’s Good:
I find Pandora’s stations to be impressive, as they always satisfy the mood I’m going for while listening. They’ve introduced me to some great new music. Their paid version is just $4.99/month and removes advertisements. Their free version is very usable, with the only downside being their advertisements, which aren’t too disruptive.
What’s Bad:
While the advertisements aren’t intrusive, they are repetitive. Pandora’s radio format denies users the option of choice. Users can pick a song or artist to build a station around, but they can’t pick a specific song they may have had stuck in their head all day and are dying to hear.
Soundcloud
What’s Good:
For fans of EDM, Soundcloud is definitely the best way to explore new music of the genre. Since it allows users to directly upload their music, there are unique, high quality, original and remixed songs available on Soundcloud that may not be available elsewhere, making it the Mecca of electronica. They recently introduced advertisements to the service, but they are limited and far from intrusive for the listener.
What’s Bad:
Soundcloud’s interface is not as user friendly as Spotify or Apple Music. They don’t have a computer app, and while they have a mobile app, it is undependable and often has bugs that cause it to shut down. Soundcloud doesn’t offer suggestions, a feature that has grown to be an ever popular resource through other streaming sources.
Youtube
What’s Good:
I’m a huge fan of watching music videos. Youtube, being the video streaming site it is, serves as a wonderful platform for artists to share their visual vision of their music in a way that no other site can support. Youtube also has an amazing search algorithm. I never struggle to find obscure songs, which can be an issue with some other sites.
What’s Bad:
Although I know a lot of people use Youtube as their main source of music, it is designed to support videos, not music. This especially becomes an issue when the listener has to hear advertisements between every 3-minute song.
Youtube also lends its contents to the risk of online piracy. Sites like youtubetoMp3.com make it easy for any slightly computer savvy listener to illegally pull the music from the video and save it as a MP3 file on their own computer.
Classic Radio
What’s Good:
I spent a semester interning at a local radio station and was surprised by the community’s involvement with the station. Local radio does something for listeners that big streaming companies can’t. They can provide the global hits with a personal touch of community, whether it be snippets of local news, involvement in community events or contests for an upcoming concert in town. Like Pandora, radio is a way to listen to music that you don’t know, making it a great source to discover new music.
What’s Bad:
Advertisements. Traditional radio is by far the worst offender when it comes to reoccurring and disruptive advertisements. Not only are they frequent, but they are often corny and annoying. Also, stations tend to over-play songs, making a song that you once treasured a mainstream travesty. (Uptown Funk, anyone?)
By Allie Hahn, Account Executive
Infographic: Knowing the PR Industry
By Kate Kelly, Digital Media Assistant / Photographer
Infographic: A Guide to Great Visual Content
Five Ways to Conserve Water During a Drought
California’s drought deficiency has had me in a steady state of anxiety for well over a year now, and things aren’t looking any better. Growing up in Northern California I have always been able to see our water sources first-hand. I’d see water flowing downriver driving up to South Lake Tahoe and when I’m enjoying boating on Folsom Lake. Now, all I see on trips to the lake is stagnant water with ever decreasing levels. Some people think the situation is helpless, but there are always ways to conserve water.
Turn off the water when you brush your teeth
It seems obvious, but I see so many people run the water while they aren’t even using it! It drives me crazy. When brushing your teeth, rinse the toothbrush, turn off the water, dab the paste and start brushing. Only turn the water back on when it’s time to rinse again. Simple right? Apparently not enough people think to do it, so check out this short tutorial by Thames Water for more insight. The same goes for doing dishes, turn off the faucet in between scrubbing plates and it can save gallons of water.
If it’s brown flush it down, if it’s yellow let it mellow
I’m sure most people know exactly what I’m referring to, but I’ll go ahead and elaborate. Try not to flush the toilet if you don’t have to. Did you know that every time you flush a toilet it uses anywhere from 1.6 to 7 gallons of water depending on the model of the toilet? So unless you need to drop the kids off at the pool, try to avoid flushing.
Leave the ‘Wash Me!’ sign on your car
I love my car and it kills me to see it covered in dust, leaves and bird poop. But it hurts even more to use water to wash something that doesn’t really need it. There are conservative ways to wash a car, for example, fill a bucket up with soapy water, hose it down, scrub and rinse. But this is only necessary when your car is looking desperate for a wash.
Create a song queue for your showers
After a long day, a nice relaxing shower can be just the thing you need. But keep it to a minimum. Dilly dallying in the shower is a huge waste of water – get in, wash up, get out. I like to pick out two songs that run for a maximum of 10 minutes. That way when those songs are over, I know it’s time to turn the shower off and hop out.
It might seem like a lot of inconvenient sacrifices, but when everyone does their part it truly makes a difference. The WREC saves over 19,000 gallons of water a month by stopping the distribution of towels. Desperate times call for desperate measures and right now California is definitely in a time of desperation.
By Julianna “Jane” Eveland, Assistant Account Executive
Making the Transition from an Assistant to A Leader
In life, we are always trying to achieve something greater. It may be a personal goal, or something that we are trying to accomplish in the professional world. Last semester I had the opportunity of being the PR assistant as well as an assistant account executive for Tehama Group Communications. This semester, I accomplished one of my personal and professional goals of becoming a leader at TGC. I was given the opportunity of becoming the organization’s PR director and an assistant account executive for the fall 2015 team. The transition of becoming a leader has been exciting and overwhelming, but all around a great experience.
I would like to share some tips on how to make the transition from being an assistant and stepping into the role of a leader a little bit easier.
1. Communication
I feel that effective communication within your team is one of the greatest qualities a good leader can possess. When you are managing a group, big or small, you want to make sure that there is an open two-way flow of communication. You want your team to know that they have a voice and feel as though they are being heard. Being able to interact with them will allow meetings to run smoothly and for everyone to stay on the same page. The best communicators are in turn the best listeners, and I find both of those qualities to be very important in being an excellent leader. It is crucial that you listen to your team’s advice, because they tend to have insight on things you may not have been aware of and their knowledge can be extremely valuable.
2. Set Goals
Setting goals is a major priority. Goals should be realistic and under a set timeline. Create a plan to accomplish each one. A goal can easily be overlooked or forgotten about if you don’t write it down and make it clear to everyone involved. When you visually see an objective in front of you, it will always be on your mind and you’ll work harder to reach it. In the beginning, some goals may seem very difficult to achieve. However, if you persistently work together, you’ll be surprised at the amazing things that can be accomplished.
3. Delegation of Tasks
Delegating tasks has been one of the most difficult transitions I have had to step into in a leadership role. It’s never fun being the person telling people what to do, but it needs to be done. I am the kind of person that doesn’t like to ask for help, so have found myself trying to undertake too many tasks alone. This semester, I’ve had to ask my teammates for more help than ever. I’ve found that ultimately, people are more willing to contribute their time than you’d think. When its time to delegate tasks, don’t be afraid to ask for support. That’s what your team is there for, and it will help get things accomplished much more efficiently.
4. Share Your Knowledge
Sharing your knowledge is one of the most important tips I can give on stepping into a leadership role. Be the figure your team feels they can ask questions and learn from. I know exactly what all of the new members of TGC are going through, because I was once in the same position. It wasn’t until I spoke up and asked questions that I found how helpful the leaders around me could be. There is an abundance of information that I have learned from my colleagues and it’s important to share that intelligence with others. I have learned that when you share your knowledge, others are more willing to share their own with you. This is an opportunity as a leader to learn more about your team and unearth everything they can bring to the table.
These are just a few of the things I have learned as I made the transition from an assistant to a leader this semester. I hope that you find them as valuable as I do.
By Travis Martin, Public Relations Director
Learning Ethics: Transparency via Internships
As a public relations professional, abiding by a certain code of ethics is extremely important. The Public Relations Society of America has been celebrating “Ethics Awareness Month” throughout September, and their theme this year is “Ethics Every Day.” Day in and day out, PR professionals are faced with ethical dilemmas that require them to constantly be on their toes. Most of the time, PR professionals are working for multiple clients, so they need to be aware of any conflicts of interest that may occur.
When I was coming up with ideas for this blog post, I was confronted with my first ethical dilemma that I have experienced within my time at Tehama Group Communications.
To provide some background, I work for a company called EPIC Productions. Our company promotes various electronic music shows in Chico and the Bay Area. My role is to hand out fliers, hang up posters, promote the show via social media, and overall do anything I can to get people to attend the show.
Now here is where my situation arose. I love music and writing about music, so I thought I would write a blog post reviewing an electronic music show sponsored by EPIC Productions at the Senator Theatre this past weekend. I was going to cover everything from how the show itself went, to how PR was used to promote it. However, because I work for both EPIC Productions and TGC, there was potential to create a conflict of interest.
Essentially, I would be promoting one of the companies I work for via the other. From both a PR professional and journalist’s standpoint, this does not go over well in the eyes of the public. I know for a fact that I would have written a good review about the show because I would never want to make EPIC Productions look bad. Even if something went wrong, I probably would have found a way to turn it into a positive. The post would have been extremely biased, and that looks bad for both of the companies I work for, as well as myself. Because of this, I chose what was best for both companies and was inspired to write this blog instead.
From this experience, I learned that no matter how small something may seem, it could potentially blow up into something much larger. I was simply going to write about something I loved, and didn’t think anything of it. I could have damaged the reputation of both EPIC Productions and TGC with one simple blog post. As a board member of PRSA’s Board of Ethics and Professional Standards once said “If you don’t live and breathe ethics in your public relations career on a daily basis, you may overlook inauspicious ethical missteps that can later breed disaster.”
By Shane Smith, General Manager
Happy Holidays!
Thank you for following our blog during the fall semester. We wish everyone happy holidays and safe travels!
Check back in January for new blog posts from our spring 2015 team members!
-TGC
Finding Your Dream Job
When people think of a dream job they often don’t think about the work that goes into finding or creating it. Whether you are job-hunting for the first time, new at a job or looking to switch jobs, there are things to consider before committing to a career. If you want a career that will last a lifetime, take a look at the points below to set you on the right path:
- When looking for a job of course you want to take salary into consideration. But try to be realistic about how much you’ll be getting paid considering the position’s responsibilities and your experience level. In addition, keep in mind what you really may need to make to cover bills, rather than how much you want.
- Do you want to work for a big company, a small company, or self-employed? Some people prefer a big company because the clients’ budgets are often bigger, which in turn can allow for more creativity when handling their affairs. Others prefer a smaller company atmosphere where individual responsibilities are more varied, and you get to know all co-workers. Still others prefer to be self-employed to maximize ability to be creative and independent.
- Take into consideration the hours you will have to work. Do you hate being stuck inside for eight hours a day? A desk job may not be the right path for you.
- Notice the things that you do that make you happy, and find a job that fits with those kinds of tasks. You can use the skills from things you enjoy doing in your free time to lead you to your career. For example if you like being creative and working in groups, perhaps something like marketing is right for you.
- Laura Garnett in “5 Steps That Will Uncover Your Dream Job” recommends that you not only find your talent, but also know how to talk about it. She also recommends that you find how to do this by asking others. It may seem intimidating, but if you ask others about your strengths then you can get a better idea of how to sell them.
- Ultimately doing it and seeing if you like it is the final test. Try out that internship or volunteer. The only way to know if you like it day-in and day-out is to do it.
- As Jordan Wedell says in “3 Steps to Determining Your Dream Job,” you can’t be afraid to fail. If you tried your best and it doesn’t work out, that may mean you just need to keep trying new things. It’s okay to learn from your mistakes and then use lessons learned to find your dream job.
- Still not sure? Try taking a quiz from The Guardian to see what job you have aptitude for.
– Jason Balangue, graphic designer