What makes you feel the most confident in your skin? Which item makes a statement and is undoubtedly you? What is one thing you cannot live without? It could be a favorite piece of jewelry, blouse, color or whatever floats your boat. When you put on this item, your mood could shift for the better. You could feel more confident and ready to tackle any challenge the day throws your way.
Read MoreI wear my heart on my sleeve. As an introverted public relations practitioner, writer, and business owner, I use that to my advantage. In the coming months, content will continue to change and center on one of my favorite topics: introversion in your chosen career path. Here are five ways I use introversion to my advantage as the owner of Hourglass Media.
Read MoreMy brain likes to tell me lies, whether it’s perfectionistic with a self-deprecating attitude or positive with a side of nostalgia that never even existed.
And guys, I was 26. My brain was on the home stretch of growth. I didn’t have clarity and thought I had the direction I needed to head a small company. I had no clue what I was doing! I knew my industry very well, but I didn’t have clear goals and objectives -- although I made sure to have those for my clients.
Here are three outright lies I told myself during my company’s infancy. My hope is that they help you as you get comfortable in your own professional skin and wade through the clutter to live your best life:
Read MoreThis may seem like common sense, but think before you post. Your reputation could be harmed with a single press of send or an off-the-cuff remark on someone else’s photo. When an answer isn’t cut and dry, I refer to the Public Relations Society of America’s Code of Ethics and resources page. Social media is here to stay, no matter your opinion on it. As companies, all of us can greatly benefit from the organic and paid exposure social media grants us. Whether you’re a communicator by trade or just a social media aficionado, here are five ethical considerations you should think about before you post.
Read MoreQuickStart is a one-day conference hosted in the fall to give ECD chapter leaders an opportunity to ask questions and learn from each other before assuming leadership positions in the new year. Student leaders within the PRSSA network also attend. I always learn a wealth of knowledge to bring back to my Chapter and to use for Hourglass Media. This year, the conference focused on how we can improve our Chapters in myriad ways. Here are some nuggets I wanted to share with you.
Read MoreIn many cases, PR practitioners’ reputations are on the line. One stigma, in addition to the whole “spin doctor” line of old, is that all PR pros perpetuate fake news. Admittedly, there are public relations practitioners who do that, but as a whole, the industry relies on its ethical codes in two-way communications. So, as a public relations practitioner or your organization’s main communicator (with or without much communications experience), how can you ensure that you’re communicating ethically? First and foremost, how do you even define ethics?
Read MoreArthur W. Page was a vice president and director of AT&T from 1927 to 1947. Known as “The Father of Corporate Public Relations,” Page revolutionized public relations practices and turned AT&T’s then-negative press around. The founders of the Arthur W. Page Society created these seven principles so the association's members -- and communicators in general -- could have tenets in which to practice public relations with honor and ethics.
Read MoreThroughout these past 10 years, I’ve compiled list after list pertaining to what public relations pros (or anyone communicating a message) should possess. Some traits are natural, while others have to be learned in the classroom or on your own until you practice enough to meet mastery levels. Here are 10 skills every PR pro should develop and begin to practice every day.
Read MoreNo matter who you are, storytelling will help you achieve your goals and objectives through Research, Planning, Implementation and Evaluation. As public relations professionals, we use RPIE religiously. It’s paramount to communication and how you tell your story. Nearly 70 percent of our daily conversations consist of personal stories (source: Jeremy Hsu). Why are stories important to your bottom line?
Read MoreUnveiling the heart of stories is our way of life at Hourglass Media. It’s more than just a mission statement and a statement of being. We live and breathe stories, whether it’s reading the latest strategies in an industry publication or sitting with a client and brainstorming new messaging. That is what led me to craft my first signature course, “Telling Stories Through A Holistic Public Relations Approach.” In this course, students will learn how to confidently create, plan, execute and evaluate their stories through tried-and-true public relations practices.
Read MoreWhy do customer avatars help us in public relations? We use them to carefully construct who we want to outreach to, or our publics. A public is a group of people who are tied together by some commonality. Our publics are a primary focus of PR efforts. Without them, we wouldn’t have the knowledge and results to back up PR and business-related goals and objectives. As communicators, we use insights behind the scenes to cultivate our PR messages and undergo the RPIE (Research, Planning, Implementation, Evaluation) process.
Read MorePublic relations is at the heart of Hourglass Media. It’s what we do every day, but it could be challenging to define or explain to others. In its truest and intended form, public relations is “the management function that establishes and maintains mutually beneficial relationships between an organization and the publics on whom its success or failure depends,” according to the APR Study Guide.
Read MoreOne of the most easily recognized public relations tactics is the press release. Even if someone isn’t in a communications field, enough TV shows and other forms of mass media use press releases as plot points and other devices. Here are components you’ll need for a standard press release.
Read MoreDuring the Planning Stage, you will want to consider everything that could occur in the Implementation Stage. You’ll prepare your messaging and overall communications plan, and one of the tactics to heavily consider is creating an editorial calendar. Editorial calendars help you keep content organized during a specific timeframe. We have four considerations when planning out your editorial calendar.
Read MoreMedia placements and impressions are viable measurements of success, but are they the be-all-end-all of your campaign? Public relations and business are greatly tied to each other. In many cases, you’re reporting to investors, a Board of Directors, employees and other key stakeholders about your daily-to-annual company happenings. They will ask you questions in official and more nonchalant meetings, and you have to be able to tell them about the success or failures of the campaign’s efforts. The more information you have to share, the better. You want to show your campaign’s value, as well as what public relations brings to your organization. Here are some KPIs you can measure to showcase your campaign’s Evaluation.
Read MoreThis month, Hourglass Media is highlighting public relations strategies and tactics. Think of strategies as the bread (big, broad picture) and tactics as the butter (small, detailed picture). Every PR plan addresses a problem and then goes through several strategic motions to reach the Evaluation end of the process. Vital components of every PR plan include publics, goals and objectives.
Read MoreAs a kid, I would fast forward the Yoda scenes in “The Empire Strikes Back” (my personal everlasting favorite) on my VCR to get to the Han and Leia scenes. My closet-romantic self at 9 years old wanted the handsome man and the illustrious career, after all. Looking back, I missed out on the beautifully discombobulated wisdom from Master Yoda. It wasn’t until my 20s that I began to fully appreciate the knowledge bestowed by our favorite little green friend. To celebrate the international holiday that is May the Fourth, here are 10 life lessons I learned from Yoda.
Read MoreTechnology is ever-changing, and with it, comes a new learning curve for PR practitioners and other communicators. While some strategies and tactics seem like true no-brainers, others could leave us scratching our heads. Yet, we want to reach our publics, so we vow to communicate where no company or brand has gone before. Below are a few tactics in which small businesses and organizations can implement the “communication of the future” in small but impactful ways.
Read MoreI love my career and know without a shadow of a doubt that I am fulfilling my professional destiny. I tell stories for a living and chronicle them for the next generation and beyond. It’s not always warm and fuzzy, but on the bad days, I still know I’m meant to do this. Despite the blood, sweat and tears, I’m still standing — and still adoring what I do. I have been in a nostalgic frame of mind as the 10th anniversary of my practice of public relations approaches. I graduated in May 2010 with my Bachelor of Arts in public relations, but I began practicing PR a year before that as an undergraduate student. Here are some lessons I’ve learned during the first decade of my career.
Read MoreThe Accreditation in Public Relations, or APR, is more than just a certification. It showcases a practitioner’s expertise and devotion to everyday principles of public relations. It sets you apart from your peers, and in some cases, the “APR” at the end of your name could mean more money or that dream position you’ve always coveted. My APR journey was riddled with aha moments, heart-racing panic sessions and what-if statements. April is APR Month, so I wanted to dedicate an entire blog post to the APR process. If you’re considering adding the APR to your goal list, here are a few takeaways from my year-long experience.
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