indy
A friend of mine (@ntimpani) who just made the move from our home town of San Diego to New York City for grad school at NYU (holler) suggested to me today that we write a book on survival methods for women who move across country.
Just 5 months into her move and 2 weeks into mine in – We’re thrilled to be in our brand new cities, with brand new weather, a brand new job/school, a brand new social circle and network and essentially – a brand new life.
Now – could I write a book on how to help others cope with culture shock? Not sure I would want to attack that task just yet – but could I contribute a few words of advice that might get someone through a rough afternoon? Absolutely… (or at least I’ll be able to in a few weeks/months when these growing pains are over!)
A truth we have book been faced with is that no matter how happy you are to be where you are – you’re always going to miss where you came from. No matter how confident you are in the choices you’ve made to uproot your life – it’s still terrifying. There’s just no way around it. There will be hard days. But I’m not writing this post to tell you about hard days. I’m not writing to tell you about what I miss. You all know San Diego’s gorgeous skyline, countless activities and constant t-shirt weather. You’ve all seen Ron Burgandy’s backdrop and I don’t need to tell you about what I’ve left behind.
I want to tell you what I’ve gained.
Tonight, when I left work I had an extremely friendly co-worker (people are ridiculously nice in the Midwest…) telling me to drive safely (and with my CA license plates – it’s fair that they are worried.) Fact – I have yet to figure out what exactly “whiteout conditions” means. I’ll Google it when I’m finished writing this post… deal? That 30 minute drive home into downtown Indianapolis was exciting. Call me crazy – but it snowed today and the homesick feeling just up and leaves. Yes, mom and dad – I’m driving carefully, and yes my little car is holding up just fine. At least when the weather is bad here – you know the drivers around you know what to do (can’t say that much for San Diego in the rain!) And in the words of my best friend, “I feel sorry for people who never get to experience snow fall in a city.”
Now, I’m sitting at Starbucks, downtown on Mass Ave (yes I checked in on foursquare) watching these two college kids in beanies write their names in the powder that’s fallen on the sidewalk. I have a 3 block walk home in the freeeezing cold, but it’s snowing – and I have gloves. It’s gorgeous. It’s my city to learn – and it’s hard, when everything that means home to me absent from this Midwest city, it’s very hard. But everyday this transition will get easier, everyday this city will feel more and more like home and everyday it snows I will love this city a little bit more.
10 Reasons Why PR Professionals Need to PERSONALLY be on Twitter – Inspired by Social Media Today
I meant to post this ages ago, and am just now getting around to it. (So my apologies if you find this a little outdated..) However, as many PR professionals have given in and joined twitter for their firm or clients, I know for a fact many don’t tweet on their own. I think this is a mistake, and in this post I’ll tell you why. I think the “Trouble w/ Twitter” is hilarious but I do see the real value in twitter beyond being able to share w/ your followers that you just tried a really great new herbal tea. I found these 10 reasons on Social Media Today’s website months ago, and I’m not only backing them up, I’m adding to them…. I think the important difference between this post and many others that argue for PR folks to start tweeting is that these reasons are more about why YOU as an individual should be on twitter, not just your brand, not just your clients but you personally. So read on, and then start using your twitter account that you signed up for 6 months ago and don’t use! (Or go to www.twitter.com and sign up if you seriously still don’t have an account….)
1. Twitter is an influential medium
As SocialMediaToday puts it – as influencers it makes sense that we should be active in an medium that is rapidly influencing and engaging more and more people. 35% of tweeters are social network users which means they are plugged into other social web outlets as well, and they will spread your information (and therefore your brand) if it is interesting or helpful. Being on a personal twitter account with your name allows you to get to know other influencers in your field. Not just their companies (or competing firms) but who they are, what they do on the weekend, what articles they are reading etc. Get to know your industry, professional by professional.
2. Meet clever people
The people I follower on twitter never fail to make me laugh (and not just because my entire extended family is on twitter and my mom says funny things). There is an incredibly diverse range of people on twitter, get on, start listening and learn from them.
3. Build your network
I have met some great people who are in the PR industry who have given me great advice and direction. People like @gregblock have made twitter worthwhile for me! I’ve reached out to several people in multiple cities from San Diego, to Indianapolis, to DC in order to gain advice and friendship from people in my field, or in my similar situation as I’ve gone from job to job. People are willing to help, and when you’ve found them on twitter – it goes without saying that you already have common ground. In my opinion, the “twitterverse” helps you to connect with someone right off the bat.
4. Keep up with trends
As PR professionals we are supposed to be keeping up with our clients trends. Twitter is a trend every industry is jumping into, and therefore one that we should not only follow but attempt to know inside and out. Learn how to use hashtags and lists, and know how to recommend their use for your client!
5. Pitch journalists
6. and/or bloggers
Journalists are getting more active on twitter, and bloggers tend to be pretty involved. Meet them where they hang out, and reach out to them via twitter. Try reaching out to them as an individual too, professional to professional rather than just throwing info or links at them via your client/company twitter account.
7. Tactical execution
Twitter has enough of a presence to now be used as an individual tactic in a full campaign. Learn it now so you are prepared before you realize it’s expected to be a leg of your next full service media campaign.
8.. Get info…fast!
One of my favorite things about twitter is how quickly you can find and share information (search.twitter.com) or simply tweeting a request for information to someone you know or simply to twitter if you have enough followers. You can easily find people with common interest, and common knowledge. Someone asked me recently for some info on the value of foursquare (I’m still learning about this myself) but I quickly directed them to my brother @ryangraves (a foursquare expert you might say who was able to send me some info which I passed along.. (Do you see how this works?) Twitter is largely about sharing knowledge and information with a vast array of people who know a lot about a lot…. use your network to learn!
9. Build your personal brand
I’m young, I’m some-what new in the PR industry – and definitely always still learning. I’m interested in social media – but I’ve got a lot to learn and I don’t have 1/2 the time I wish I did to explore new applications, read more social media expert blogs etc…. BUT I have a pretty impressive twitter following because I reach out to people! I try to arrange as many “meet-up’s” as possible, and I’m interested always in getting more and more involved in social web avenues. You might say… I’m building my personal brand, and my interaction with other professionals on twitter is one way of doing that.
10. Have a laugh
Seriously, I documented my road trip from San Diego to Indianapolis via twitter, tumbr and facebook. Did I annoy some people? I’m sure I did. Is it professional? Maybe not. Were the constant comments about the flat state of Kansas and the horribly long and boring drive hilarious? Absolutely. Tweeting pictures of lost hubcaps and the “come hiking in Kansas” sign was pretty fun. I’m constantly coming across others who are sharing funny things they see, hear and do… and at least once I day I find myself laughing or re-tweeting something that I find interesting or hilarious on twitter.
To leave you on a positive note, part of Scott Monty of the Social Media Marketing Blog’s number one prediction for 2010 is that Twitter will continue to achieve legitimacy! Hooray.
Too valuable not to share. Thanks @ryangraves (www.thedreaminaction.com).
My “about me” will soon undergo a drastic change as my plans for the next month are to make a cross country move from San Diego, CA to Indianapolis, IN. I will no longer be sharing w/ you experiences from the West Coast – but from my apartment downtown Indy where I will most likely be snowed in for a few months (just kidding). Once I get settled I will be back to writing much more often – with a new PR job for inspiration! Until then… here’s the plan…
December 18 – Last day w/ my current company.
December 19/20 – Trip to Vegas w/ friends for a last hooray in California.
December 31 – Leave San Diego to start the road trip
January 1 – 7 – Snowboarding in Pagosa Springs, CO
January 10 – Arive in Indianapolis!
Januaray 11 – Start date for my new job…
Will have much much more to share with you soon!
Well, let me start by saying…Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!
This is such a fun time of year to stop and reflect and think about all the things that have unfolded in the past year and to be grateful for it all. Also, to stop and look forward to everything that is to come! (Like the Christmas season, which I can’t wait for!) For me in particular this is an exciting time and season for me, and I will tell you why… Over the past year, I’ve been through quite a lot. I want to take a second to look back and see where life has taken me since November of 2008….
Since then….I was laid off and found myself in a heavy job search in a terrible economy, which while it wasn’t easy was one of the best experience I have had. I then landed a great new job where I’ve learned so much about the corporate world and what I want out of my career. Since then, I’ve done a lot of traveling and I feel very lucky to have been able to do that allowing me to visit great friends. I’ve had to say goodbye to best friends who moved cross country. I have been lucky enough to spend a lot of time with family in San Diego. I took a spontaneous trip to LA to surprise my little sister. I booked a flight, left work and flew out last minute on a Friday to Indianapolis to see my college roommate. It was a trip that essentially changed my mind set about staying on the West Coast. I watched my brother, Ryan, marry the love of his life. I took a trip to see New York for the first time.
I went to the windy city for my sister-in-law’s bachelorette and instead of just staying on Michicgan Ave, I did the touristy Chicago thing for the first time including Navy Pier and the Sears Tower. I watched my little sister turn 21. Over the past 6 months, I’ve taken in the skylines in Chicago, Indy, New York & San Diego with people I love. I’ve surfed, I’ve spent time running by the San Diego Bay… I’ve apprecaited where I live. I had one of the best birthday’s I’ve had at the Shouthouse in Downtown San Diego with old friends and new friends combined. I’ve had friends come visit me from the midwest. I spent time in Newport Beach with friends, I saw Redando Beach and Yuciapa and new parts of California I had yet to see.
I went snowboarding for only the second time in my life and realized I love it. I’ve spent a lot of time considering my career and… coming up on my mid 20’s… allowed myself to reflect on what I want next out of life. I’ve spent my due diligence figuring out how to get there and make those things happen in my career. Part of that, was making the decision to move around rather than staying in the city I grew up in and so in the past few months alone I have made some pretty huge decisions about my life. After Christmas I will be moving cross country to Indianapolis. A move that I couldn’t be more excited about! (More details to follow in future posts….)
In short, I am so thankful for the people in my life, the unfolding changes that have come about in the past year and even the tough decisions I have had to make. Erma Bombeck once wrote about the subject of thankfulness, saying that when she forgot to be thankful among cancer survivors, she would hear the voice of a particular eight-year-old named Christina, who had cancer of the nervous system. When Christina was asked what she wanted for her birthday, she thought for a moment and then responded by saying “I don’t know. I have two sticker books and a Cabbage Patch doll. I have everything!” I guess what I’m trying to say is, it’s been an amazing year for me, and the outlook for next year is even better. I’m happy, I’m grateful, and I feel as though I have everything!! Happy Thanksgiving, enjoy your friends & family and don’t forget to be grateful for it all!
Though we all admit social media tools can be beneficial to our personal and/or corporate success, the truth of the matter is we all get lost from time to time reading less than productive blogs, or sneaking a peek at our old college roommate’s weekend fun from last weekend. Right? The key to making sure that certain social media tools remain productive for you is time management. It’s as simple as that. Here are a few steps to make sure you time spent on the social web is advantageous.
1. Manage Disruptions: Have daily priorities. Figure out what your task list is for being online. Assuming you’re actually using your social media tools to accomplish things for work or personal success…Do you want to have a blog post done by a certain time today? Do you want to have commented on all you favorite industry blogs by the time you get up and need to be out the door for dinner? Do you want to blast out a few links to the company blog and photo reel from your latest press event..? Do these things first. Then you can go see what photos your buddy uploaded from Monday Night Football last week….
2. Don’t overload on information: Pick a few sites that work best for you, NOT all of them. Stick with what you know… and when new strategies and applications are added learn them. Pick a few and know them well, rather than dabling with many. Better to be an expert in a few social media sites than hardly understand them all, am I right? Google Reader offers an easy way to monitor many blogs, but unles you can read them all, don’t subscribe. The truth is, you do’nt have time for it all – and you will make your head spin trying to monitor it all so pick what’s important and do away with the rest.
3. Learn task management: There are plenty of wasy to do this and many different programs that can help. I am an amatuer and I use my outlook task list, and my gmail task list. Don’t use your e-mail as a task list. Delete e-mails that you wont reply to, and move on. If something needs to get done.. put it on a to-do list!
4 .Get a Routines: If there are things you need to take care of once a day, or once a week. Make sure you set reminders and create a rountine for those items. (Whether it be blogging, e-mail, reporting results & updates to clients, and checking in on social networks)
5. Disconnect: Remember to unplug occasionally. Some things just won’t get done if you don’t get off facebook and twitter for a little bit, even if they do have to do w/ social media. Spend some time each day, or each week un-connected. Stay away from the computer (iphone, blackberry etc) while you prioritize your to-do list and get organized for the week.
What things do you do to stay organized and manage your to do list??? What don’t you do – that you could be doing?
Let me just start by saying, this is the style and type of marketing that I love.
Jiffy Lube International recently launched into their second year of their first nationwide cause-marketing campaign ever. As “Maintenance Partners for Life” they first teamed up in 2008 with the American Heart Association to help educate people on smart preventative medicine and maintenance.
Preventative medicine keeps hearts a healthy, preventative maintenance keeps a car healthy – and safe!
They set financial goals, time lines, picked out dates for events…and to execute the campaign in it’s first year Jiffy Lube teamed up with a communications firm (Cone, Inc. based out of B oston and known for their strategic branding) and did what you should do an any successful marketing campaign. They set some objectives.
1. Bolster Jiffy Lube’s reach to female customers, and attract new customer.
2. Enhance Jiffy Lube’s reputation as a good corporate citizen.
3. Build pride in the Jiffy Lube brand among franchisees.
4. Make a significant impact in the fight against heart disease in the local communities where Jiffy Lube operates.
What I like about this campaign is the immediately recognized their competition.
A. The amount of competition for the awareness of the media.
B. the American Heart Assoc. does a big national “Wear Red” day in February and they couldn’t compete with this event (especially since they had a similar time frame).
The solution was the steer away from national attention to the marketing campaign and be successful on a local level in each market that the plan was implemented. This means extra special attention must be paid to the specific trends, styles, media atmosphere etc of each individual local Jiffy Lube market. (Jiffy Lube has 2,200 server centers where local media was targeted.) Not a small task. To achieve this the professionals at Cone Inc and Jiffy Lube had the following three tasks, which I’ve broken down for you.
1. ACTIVATE – Arm franchisees in local markets with easy-to-use tools to activate to campaign in their communities.
2. ENGAGE - Leverage the Web to spread the word and engage consumers; and.
3. CREDIBILITY – Use AHA’s platform and content to build credibility.
They used these tactics to jump start local awareness and catered each media/activation kit (handed out to each local service center) to help build excitement in each individual community. The team then successfully integrated the program’s key elements into literally all of Jiffy Lube’s marketing communications channels. This means the program was seen on their website in special webpages, an additional call to action on the Jiffy Lube website that encouraged customers to come and give there cars a “health check” at local service centers, an audio news release featuring a spokesperson for the AHA and Go Red Campaign,and special events including awareness days and luncheons. Guess what?? They also used social media. Facebook, and hosted a personal blog through ning.com
The take away:based on their success here are some best practices for effective cause marketing campaigns that PR News gathered from Jiffy Lube’s great example.
-Create a traffic-driving component as part of your campaign.
-Make it easy to active the campaign locally.
-Support the campaign with media outreach.
-Employees are your most important ambassadors so get them excited (and prepare them!)
-Measure the campaign against the objectives you set out to achieve.
All in all I’d say this is a great of a nationwide cause-marketing campaign that a lot can be learned and taken away from. Good job Jiffy Lube.
“If you’re going to invest in a campaign like this, you have to know if it’s working!” – Marc Berlinger (account director at Cone Inc.)
For online content creaters, life just changed. Google’s new sidewiki now allows you to commenton ANY webpage… and read others comments who have been there before you. It’s a feature of their new google toolbar. Will this be helpful? Check out the details of the new Google SideWiki on Google’s blog.
Social Media Today’s daily e-mails just brought my attention to a post by B.L. Ochman’s called The Top Six Reasons Companies are Still Scared of Social Media. It was a great post that highlights some of the main reasons many companies aren’t exactly running to catch up on social media trends (but rather running in the opposite direction).
I have found myself in the position numerous times to want to argue with corporate professionals about why social media is worth the time and effort it takes to learn to utilize these new mediums. I’ve even given a presentation to introduce how each site/application could possibly used for different types of clients. This post made me realize that the first step is looking more closely at what is is holding our bosses back. Then we can more strategically plan our rebuttals! Here’s why the boss is scared of that little blue bird….
Here is a summary of Ochman’s post along with some thoughts of my own.
1- Companies think that employees will waste time with social media.
Many large corporations block their employees from accessing the Internet altogether. Others try to block employees from accessing personal email or social networks like Facebook during work hours. In May, 2009, according to emarketer, there were 29 million smartphones in the United States. That’s a lot of Internet access available to workers everywhere – and employers can’t stop us from accessing the Internet – on breaks, at lunch, in the bathroom, you name it. The value to workers of having Internet access – in terms of research, communication, and speed – is far greater than the threat of lost productivity. Companies have a right to make policies and rules about personal use of the Internet, but blocking it during work is just stupid.
This is great one. Your employees are already tweeting in the bathroom.. so you may as well them allow them to at their desk, then maybe they’ll learn enough about twitter/foursquare/facebook or whatever it may be to help you implement it into your overall marketing strategy!
2- Haters will damage our brand.
“What about the haters?” is the first question that comes up at my corporate and conference social media workshops. “What if people say bad, mean, nasty things about our brand?” Well, there may be things you need to change about your brand, and in that case, you should thank them for letting you know what they are. Then you should make changes. If you have built an online community that includes people who don’t hate you, that community will rise to your defense and they will handle the problem for you.
I completely agree with this one. Criticism can make your brand stronger if you counteract it, you will learn where your brand needs to improve. You’re getting free and easy feedback through interactive sites!
3- We’ll lose control of the brand.
Listen up: every person with a computer and even a tiny skill level has the tools to make their opinion about your brand heard by other people. They’re already talking about you. Message control is an illusion. Give it up.= Your workers are talking about you in closed Facebook groups designed to keep you out so they can talk about you in peace. Your customers are emailing, Tweeting, Facebooking, and that old standby – calling – their friends about their experience with your brand. You don’t have control. You might as well join the conversation. At least that way you can influence what is being said.
Simply put… since they are already talking about you… joining in gives your brand the change to first listen, then TALK BACK and be pro-active and re-active instead of just observing.
4- Social media requires a real budget! It’s not really cheap, or free.
While many social media tools are free, knowing how to use them takes experience and perspective. The boss’ friend’s high school or college kid can’t integrate social media into the company’s overall marketing. That requires experience and perspective. Having a large social network and a stellar online reputation helps too.
5- They’re scared they’ll be sued.
Oh puh-lese. Next!
Again, agreed.. you could be sued a number of other ways too. Crawl out from underneath that rock you’re living under… and welcome to the 21st century.
6- They’re scared of giving away corporate secrets or that information on social networks will affect the stock price.
If you don’t already have a social media policy, you need to create one.
CNN Money ran an article this week, Less Pay. More hours. Unhappy workers saying that the majority of workers that are still employed are dealing with longer hours and less pay and this make for unhappy and unmotivated workers. Which means the unemployed aren’t the only group that is feeling the recessions. And what about those that were laid off, and have picked up a new position simply for the paycheck, and not becaue they love the job? This group seems to have felt the recession from both angels.
The article gives this quote by Domnick Eger, an information technology specialist in Phoenix, Ariz. “You can’t help but just do the bare essentials to keep you from being fired.” He goes on to talk about how he feels stretched to a breaking point in his current position, but is unable to find a new job.
Feeling unhappy at work should not be taken lightly. In a book by Chad Foster, it claims that the average person works 86,000 hours in their lifetime, and most of us eight-to-fivers work anywhere from 40-50 hours a week. This is the majority of your time (the majority of your week) spend at a place where you may not feel challenged, may not enjoy, and according to this CNN article, you might just be miserable.
According to a recent survey by the Workforce Institute at Kronos, 40% of employees at organizations affected by layoffs say productivity has been negatively impacted, and two-thirds of them say that morale is suffering and that employees are less motivated than before.
My question is. When will this change?? When can we expect this to turn around? When will people to start be happy and fulfilled in their jobs again? When will the economy improve enough so that people feel secure enough to leave their jobs to find new ones that motivate and stimulate them again?
When are we going to get some good news? And once we do, how long will it take things to really turn around??
