How to manage your social media.

As the use of social media expands more and more businesses are turning to social media as a method to advertise and gain publicity. Even though using Facebook and Twitter to promote your company may seem easy as pie it's easy to either underwhelm or overwhelm your followers.

Source

The Underwhelmers:

Having social media accounts that aren't managed on a regular basis can actually work against your company. It looks like you just don't care about business or your customers and can turn off potential customers. Even if you do put a lot of information out when you do decide to update your status's, spurts of information won't be enough to keep people coming back.

The Overwhelmers:

Some companies take the approach that the more advertising and publicity you have the better! But as the old adage goes, everything in moderation. Over tweeting or over updating your Facebook can just bombard your followers with information and make them not want to have you cluttering their feeds. People don't want to have to hear about how great your company is every second of the day.

So what do you do? The best solution for managing your social media is to create a schedule for how often it will be checked and updated. If you have set times you will be much more likely to do it consistently and therefore reach the most consumers.

If you need help creating a schedule check out this great article that provides some starting templates for managing your social media! Good luck!!

The importance of learning various skills.

As I have mentioned previously I work as a Public Relations intern at an art gallery. Going into my internship I had zero experience doing any sort of work on programs other than your basic microsoft word and powerpoint. The internship was only supposed to last for this semester BUT I have been asked to continue working with them next semester also. (Exciting!)

One of the biggest reasons I think that they want me to continue working with them is that I have shown that I am adaptable and that I am will to learn to skills.

Stand out!!

Source

Anytime you have a chance to learn new skills, say for instance taking a digital media class you are increasing your making yourself more marketable.

In my digital media class at Park University with Prof. Steven Youngblood check out his blog! I have learned how to navigate my way around multiple adobe programs that I will be using next semester in my internship. Even if you don't think your field is directly related to you needed to know how to edit video or photo or create web or newspaper layouts, having those skills set you apart from all the other candidates.

The moral of this rant is that you should take every opportunity given to you and think outside of the box! Our world is continually becoming more digital and you don't want to be left behind!!

Women in PR

We all know that the media shapes and reflects what we think about virtually everything in our modern culture. So what kind of affect does the media's portrayal of women in public relations (PR) have on real life women going into the field of PR?

One of the most iconic images of television women in PR is Samantha Jones in Sex and the City. She embodies the sterotypical idea of a fierce PR girl. Always dressed to the nines with a cell phone attached to her ear and taking the world by storm. Samatha is always at the swankiest parties and rubbing elbows with the hottest celebrities (remember when she worked with Lucy Lu?).

Sex and the City: Samantha Jones
Source: NYC PR Girls

So how does this protrayal affect the rest of girls out there wanting to get into the business? Well it definitely creates a false perception of what we actually do. The job isn't all fabulous parties, chewing out unsuspecting victims and chatting with celebs over lunch. There's a lot more to it than that. The part that goes unmentioned is all the hard work that happens behind the scenes. The long hours and the vigilant loyalty to your calendar.

The important thing to get from this is that PR isn't what the media protrays it to be. Before you decide that you want to go into the PR business to be one of these power house women look into what actually goes into the real job.

Of course this isn't to say that women in public relations aren't fabulous divas in real life because they are!

To read more about women in PR check out this article in PR Week.

Photoshop Fun

Read the Story here: Duggar Family Expecting 20th Child

Lightroom Photo Editing: Black and White Photo

How to communicate with patrons or customers.

     Depending on the career you choose you may or may not have to interact with potential clients or patrons at one houses or other "meet and greet" events. Even if you don't think your job will require you to do that it's still a valuable skill to know how to interact.

     The first friday of every month is First Friday Art Walk in which many downtown galleries and businesses stay open late for people to get a chance to visit them. The gallery I intern for participates in these First Fridays so it is important for my job that I learn to talk with our patrons.
     Having conversations with complete strangers about works of art that the artist may not even understand fully sounds easy, right? Not at first but once you practice it is just like chatting with a friend or classmate.

Here are my tips for how to interact with patrons or clients:

1. Assume the stance

One thing I have noticed every person I work with do is pose themselves in an inviting way. The way we communicate is much more than just our words. It's also our body language and the "vibe" we give off. When you are simply standing there or walking around keep your arms relaxed at your sides or clasp them being your back. Folding arms looks like your either bored or unfriendly.

2. Judge the people (in a good way)

Are they in a conversation with others? Did they make eye contact with you or acknowledge you? Don't interrupt someone or approach someone that look like they are perfectly fine on their own. If they look open to conversation initiate something but let them push the conversation on.

3. Be polite

Always greet people on their way in and out. Even if they don't want to talk with you, the fact that you we're courteous to them will mean a lot.

For more tips on interacting with customers check out this great article here!