There comes a point in your life when it’s time to open up a LinkedIn account, and the reality is, you cannot get away without having one this day and age. Think about it as Instagram for the professional world, you want people to be impressed when they come across your profile. The same way we customize our personal social media channels to fit our personality, LinkedIn gives us the opportunity to highlight certain qualities about ourselves to impress our connections.
We live in a world where almost everyone uses social media. In fact, 72% of all internet users are on social media (Liz Seasholtz, Social Hire). Social media is no longer used to only communicate with your close friends or family. People, organizations and companies all over the world are constantly looking for new individuals to hire. Social media shapes their first impression of who you are as a person and what you represent as an individual. Therefore, it is extremely important to use your social media platforms correctly and appropriately.
Outbound marketing or interruption marketing has long been the method of choice for companies who look to promote their products. And in theory, it makes sense. Promoting one’s product through continuous advertising, promotion and public relations initiatives seem like a sure-fire way to cut through the noise of the modern-day lifestyle. But in reality, more often than not you are simply adding to it. The answer to combating all the noise created by modern-day marketing, is simply to change the “out” in your outbound marketing strategy, to “in.” Inbound marketing is a technique that draws customers to products and services via content marketing, social media marketing, search engine optimization and branding.
In today’s digital age, business communication thrives on email to distribute information and conversations internally and externally. According to a survey conducted by The Washington Post, employees spend an average of 4.1 hours a day on their work email. That means, over the course of their career, workers will devote 47,000 hours to their inbox. With email playing an integral role in today’s communications, it is crucial that businesses and individuals know the proper etiquette to craft a professional email.
Before being introduced to AP Style writing, I was unaware of all the mistakes I was making in my work. Taking a copy editing class and learning about editing marks and grammar rules has really changed the way I take my time to write a good quality piece. By learning the ways of the AP Style guide, I have gained more confidence in my professional writing.
What we did: The Center for Entrepreneurship was recently taken over by Dr. Colleen Robb. Essentially, the full scope of work for the center fell into her hands alone. In that regard, Dr. Robb’s needs were extremely open ended. These needs included, event planning, brand analysis, outreach and web content. The center’s social media needed to find it’s core voice so we created core messaging and tone guides in an effort to aid future social efforts by the center.
Our main goal this semester was to provide a comprehensive brand guide, content to use in a fundraising campaign, content for their online presence and a calendar to effectively roll out the content created. These efforts were all focused on one sole purpose, helping the center find it’s unique voice, while effectively campaigning for funding through Giving Day. Though Giving Day was delayed due to an extremely unexpected fire which numbed the community, we were able to provide the center with all the assets they would need to execute the event at a later date. Working through an iterative process, our team kept direct communication with the client at all times. This ensured cooperative communication and accurate project completion. We learned a great deal, helped more and walked away proud of the work completed.
Brand Manual – Kimberly Volkov (Art Director 2019)
Photography – Jasmine Garcia (Creative 2018)
Facebook Post Example – Dr. Robb via Team Recommendations
What we did: National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) Butte County educates and advocates for the mentally ill and their families. NAMI provides regular classes, support groups and presentations to the general public in the Butte County community. TGC has worked with NAMI during the Fall 2018 semester to build visibility for mental health support in Butte County and to effectively communicate the services that NAMI provides to the community.
We’ve implemented a variety of projects throughout the semester to reach NAMI’s goals of communication and visibility within the Butte County community. Through photography and videography, we’ve created content for NAMI’s website and social channels to increase brand visibility. Our collateral projects have focused on providing NAMI with flyers, a brochure and a newsletter that highlight the mental health services which NAMI offers. Our media relations project provided NAMI with a media list, a contact plan and a mock-up press release to increase membership efforts. Lastly, our strategic planning for NAMI’s spring fundraising event gave NAMI the content to implement a fundraiser to raise money for their organization. Together, our talented creatives and PR staff worked to successfully build visibility and communication between NAMI and the Butte County community.
Do you ever sit and reflect on where you want to be in your life in comparison to where you are at the moment? It’s easy to get stuck. You feel like you’ve started to move forward and you’re finally feeling some change and next thing you know, you’re stuck again.
Well, I believe that when those stagnant feelings start to arise, it’s time to get reinspired. A plateau in your life really just means it’s time to reevaluate what you’ve been doing, why it’s not working and what you need to do to move past it.
I advise that it’s best to get started with the personal. Maybe you’re losing motivation and feeling discouraged because you don’t absolutely love the job you’re working at or the environments you’re surrounding yourself in aren’t as satisfying.
Here are some Ted Talks I like to watch to reinspire myself:
Try something new for 30 days
By: Matt Cutts
Cutts discusses how 30 days is enough time to add or cut a habit. I really enjoyed this short Ted talk because it’s very encouraging in the sense that although you probably won’t start or stick to your new habit, the act of trying something new that you’ve always wanted to try will give you a confidence boost. I personally have a hard time sticking to new habits, but trying to stick to a new habit helps shift your perspective on your goals.
The hidden power of smiling
By: Ron Gutman
It’s really important to stay positive when times get tough and Ron Gutman presents a lot of facts and research about how smiling in itself can change a lot in your life. Something that makes me feel inspired again is when I start to evaluate all the things I’m blessed with, whether it’s family, friends, opportunities and more. It’s really easy to look at our situations with a negative view but when we change our thoughts and our reactions to be more positive, we can start to feel better and therefore get more connected in our creativity.
5 ways to listen better
By: Julian Treasure
In my opinion part of the process of reinspiring yourself is important to listen and pay attention to the world around you. It’s easy to focus on the negative and feel like things aren’t working out our way and that can block the focus from anything else. Whether you’re connected to something physically, spiritually, etc., it’s important to listen better. In a world of loud and busy noises, we can get lost in our electronic devices or close ourselves off to the world around us but really it just shows it’s time to focus our attention to the signs that are directing us to our paths.
Lastly, here are some options for Ted Talks that can help you grow in your PR career:
404, the story of a page not found
By: Renny Gleeson
This is a great Ted Talk because it does a really good job at comparing a 404 error page to real life errors. Gleeson explains that an error is a chance to build a better relationship. He explains how 404 pages mean you’ve hit a broken link but how certain companies decided to take this as an opportunity to make something humorous or creative about it. Therefore, he explains “404 pages remind you that a simple mistake can tell me what you’re not, or it can remind me of why I should love you.”
The clues to a great story
By: Andrew Stanton
Andrew Stanton worked on some Pixar classics like Toy Story and in this Ted Talk, he discusses storytelling and all the components to create a great story. In particular, he discusses working from end to beginning which is something that we do a lot as PR practitioners. We constantly set goals and slowly develop the means to get there. Like Stanton, we too create “stories,” persuasive ones at that, that illustrate how our work will greatly influence and impact the companies we work for.
