Author: Margot Horgan

Clairemont Interns: Introducing Erin Owenby

Margot HorganBlog, The Clairemont Team, , , 2 Comments on Clairemont Interns: Introducing Erin Owenby

This semester, we have three wonderful interns working with us at Clairemont and we can’t wait to introduce them to you. In a bit of a team building exercise, we asked our interns – Erin Owenby, Sydney McKinney and Natalie Baker – to interview each other and share some background information (and some fun facts!) with you, our blog readers. Sydney recently sat down with Erin and learned some pretty interesting facts…

erinBorn and raised in Asheville, this North Carolina native bleeds Tar Heel blue.  She loves going to sports games and is into country music, sweet tea and all things Josh Lucas (remember the hunk from Sweet Home Alabama?). But, those are just the quirks—this PR junkie also has a diverse background in the industry.

A public relations major at UNC Chapel Hill, Erin has done it all! She’s organized events for several nonprofits, coordinated logistics for a wedding planning agency and has somehow managed to work two part time jobs in the meantime.

Want to know more about Erin? Here are some of the details:

  • She loves cheese. Parmesan’s her favorite food—she eats it daily.
  • She is currently reading Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen for her third time. Why? Because she’s a die-hard classics fanatic.
  • In her spare time, she likes to paint furniture. Most recently, she painted a shelf for her room in coral and cream.
  • This girl loves to exercise! She goes to spin class every week at 6:30 in the morning, has run a marathon and is training for another half marathon in February.
  • She claims to be a tomboy. BUT she wears purple dresses and bows in her hair to Clairemont.
  • More fun facts? She’s a dog person; loves Mexican food; dreams of going to Europe; drives a stick shift; would choose the mountains over the beach any day; enjoys salty food more than sweet; and has a slight obsession with Snapchat.

So where does Erin see herself in the next year? Working in an agency setting and living in a large city—preferably New York or Washington D.C. But that’s not all. Erin’s wants to remain involved with Building Tomorrow, a nonprofit that raises money to help build primary schools for underprivileged children in Uganda. In fact, she’s going there this summer to visit schools that she helped raise support for over the past three years.

As for her time at Clairemont, Erin is interested in learning more about the client-agency relationship, applications of public relations in real world scenarios and the ins and outs of what it takes to be a successful agency. So, cheers to Erin and our adventure here at Clairemont! I can’t wait to see what this semester has in store for both of us!

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Tips for a Successful Job Search

Margot HorganBlog, Entry-Level PR Job, Free Advice, , , , , , , 4 Comments on Tips for a Successful Job Search

Come May, all three of our Clairemont interns will be turning their tassels and leaving the beautiful UNC campus behind to officially enter the job market. With North Carolina currently at a 9.2 percent unemployment rate, we challenged our intern, Erin, to find out exactly what recent college grads and other young professionals need to do to make sure they get hired in an oversaturated job market.

1Twenty years ago looking for a job meant checking the newspaper, asking around town and simply submitting an application or resume. Today, the search itself has become a full-time occupation. With endless access to job postings through search engines and social networking sites such as LinkedIn and Glassdoor, companies that at one time may have received 50 resumes for an open position now receive thousands.

So, just how do you beat out all those other applicants to land your dream job?

According to Richard Spector, Public Relations Society of America Jobcenter manager, you have to be just as strategic and persistent in your search as you would be if you were hired. In his recent webinar, “Your Guide to Career Success,” he outlined the top facts and “dos and don’ts” of a successful job search.

Interviewing

  • Do your research. Know the company inside and out from social media sites to media coverage.
  • Come prepared. Have a mock presentation with a strategic answer to that company’s needs.

Resume

  • On average, resumes are judged within six seconds, so keep it simple.
  • Your resume is your calling card. Use measurable examples to show things you accomplished.
  • Use technology such as a QR code to show you can be both digital and creative.

Cover Letter

  • Employers want to know what you have done, so start off with how you solved a problem.
  • Take note from the cover letter that went viral and stay away from personal attributes.
  • Be authentic! Keep to keywords and refrain from flowery language.

Online Profiles and Portfolio

  • Make sure your Linkedin profile is 100 percent complete. Recruiters can see the holes in your profile.
  • Google yourself. Are your online profiles easily accessible – and just as importantly, are they appropriate?
  • Utilize your social profiles to position yourself as an industry thought leader. Follow different agencies and industry professionals on Twitter and re-tweet and share interesting news with your followers.
  • In your portfolio, always remember quality over quantity. Only show the best examples of your work to potential employers.

Networking

  • Use social media, informational interviews, job shadowing, volunteering and freelancing to meet other industry professionals.
  • Build relationships by connecting over commonalities or giving recommendations.

BUT, what’s the most important thing to remember in every aspect of the job hunt? Be authentic and never give up! Twenty percent of job rejections will actually end in a job offer. As the old saying goes, when one door closes another door opens. Good luck and share your job search tips in the comments section below!

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Clairemont Communications’ Dana Hughens Appointed PRSA’s Counselors Academy Conference Chair

Margot HorganBlog, Counselors Academy, The Clairemont Team, , , , 3 Comments on Clairemont Communications’ Dana Hughens Appointed PRSA’s Counselors Academy Conference Chair

Raleigh, N.C. – February 5, 2013 – Dana Hughens, the founder and CEO of award-winning public relations and marketing communications agency, Clairemont Communications, has been selected as the conference chair for the 2013 Counselors Academy conference to be held in Austin, June 9 – 11. Counselors Academy is a professional interest section of Public Relations Society of America (PRSA)  designed to foster information and best practices sharing amongst a peer network of PR agency owners and senior managers.

“There’s no one better than Dana to chair the 2013 Counselors Academy conference,” said Martin Waxman, principal of Martin Waxman Communications and the 2012 conference chair. “As a successful entrepreneur and agency owner, she has an insider’s knowledge of the kind of content PR leaders need to take their businesses to the next level.”

The conference theme is “Get W.E.I.R.D. in Austin: Wired, Entrepreneurial, Imaginative and Results-Driven” with presentations focused on all aspects of agency management, business development, operational excellence and emerging technologies. In her role as conference chair, Hughens is leading a committee of PR agency leaders to select speakers, plan conference events and promote the conference.

“Each year I’ve attended the conference, I’ve gleaned immediately implementable information that helped me improve my business,” said Hughens “I’m excited to play a key role in delivering valuable content to the PR agency professionals who join us in Austin in June.”

Hughens, who has been a member of the Counselors Academy since 2007, was named to the executive committee of Counselors Academy last year and served as the co-chair of the 2012 conference in New Orleans, La. She was recently video interviewed about the 2013 conference content by Waxman for Inside PR.

“I worked with Dana on last year’s conference, and she is one of the smartest, most dedicated and creative people in the industry. I know she’ll use her talents to make this conference a real standout,” Waxman added.

About Clairemont Communications

Clairemont Communications devises communications strategies that utilize both traditional PR and social media to help clients achieve business objectives by influencing purchases, persuading stakeholders and influencers, and defining brands. Clarity in vision + the promise of monumental results = Clairemont Communications.

–30–

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Value-driven Marketing: Using Public Relations for Effective Brand Building

Margot HorganBlog, Entry-Level PR Job, Marketing2 Comments on Value-driven Marketing: Using Public Relations for Effective Brand Building

Sydney, one of our stellar interns this semester (don’t worry, we will do a proper intro of everyone soon!), recently watched a PRSA webinar about marrying the power of public relations and branding. Well, what did she learn? Keep reading for all of the highlights!

prsa

Marketing never stays the same and neither do consumers. We are a long way away from the product-driven days of Henry Ford where you can have any color you want as long as it’s black. In the current market-driven economy, businesses are listening and developing strategies based on their consumers’ needs. And today, consumers want a long-term relationship and a deeper level of engagement that establishes a sense of trust and emotional connection with a brand.

That’s where public relations professionals come into the mix—whether its utilizing social media, blogging or traditional media tactics, we help tell a brand’s story and encourage a two-way conversation that will bring value-based ideas to the table and integrate seamlessly into an organization’s larger marketing communications plan.

To be relevant to the value-driven consumer, brands must:

1. Talk the talk and walk the walk. The post-recession consumer is not one that wants to be sold to, but one that wants meaningful interaction with a brand. In order to speak to the new value-driven consumer, brands must put purpose behind their products and personify its brand in a way that is authentic. This means brands can’t just talk the talk, but they must walk the walk in order to be successful. Through blogging and various social media channels, brands can connect and engage with consumers on a personal level and build more meaningful long-term relationships.

2. Get emotional. Consumers want to establish an emotional connection with a brand. Where brand values and consumer values intersect are shared values, and when these shared values are successfully tapped into, emotional connection ensues, which builds the loyalty, creates the engagement and ultimately drives the sell that every marketer wants. Blogging is one opportunity out of many that brands can use to show its personality and communicate with its consumers in a more emotional, personal way.

3. Create a culture that is inviting. Tony Hseih, CEO of Zappos, lives by the motto, “Your culture is your brand.” Put your culture out there and it will become an integral part of your brand to the value-driven consumer, who is often not only purchasing your product but also the idea of your brand.

Interested in hearing more? Check out the full webinar here. Have any tips to add to this list? We’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments section!

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The Benefits of Having Your Business “In the News”

Margot HorganBlog, Clairemont Client News, Entry-Level PR Job, Hiring a PR Firm, 2 Comments on The Benefits of Having Your Business “In the News”

In addition to helping Clairemont clients get in the news, we love to help them merchandise their media hits. We’ve found that many organizations understand and are excited about the benefits of media exposure itself (awareness of the company, getting the attention of potential customers, increasing employee morale — just to name a few), but don’t typically think about what can be done with the story once it has been published, posted or aired. Below are a few of the many ways you can merchandise your news coverage and further maximize your PR budget:

awards-wall
Some of Clairemont’s awards displayed in the office.

By capitalizing on news exposure, your business can:

1. Compile publicity articles and material into a book that you can show to prospects, clients or investors. A publicity book or press book provides an easy way for these audiences to see who you are, what you do and what you are capable of doing. Showing that your company is newsworthy and credible will help reinforce why your company is desirable to work with compared to your competitors.

2. Many publications present awards in various categories. If you have won publication awards, feature them on your website, social media and advertisements. If you do not have any of these awards, you should work for them! Publication awards establish superiority over your competitors and third-party credibility for your work.

 3. Promote articles written about your products in your advertisements. This makes your ads more credible. In advertising your company and products, referencing previous publicity (i.e., “As seen in Southern Living Magazine…”) you are referencing good things that others have said about you, which can help establish credibility with consumers.

 4. Send articles to industry opinion leaders. Consumers value what opinion leaders say or think about a product or company. Many view them as “in the know” regarding their field of expertise. Sending opinion leaders articles about your company and its products forges a positive relationship with them, meaning you are more likely to get their free word-of-the-mouth promotion.

 5. Include your published articles on your website and share through social media. Articles serve as valuable content for your website and your social media channels. Make sure the articles are easy to access. Give article summaries so visitors can quickly get the message without having to read the entire document.

 6. Use your articles to get more publicity. Carefully! Sharing one outlet’s story of your company with another news outlet can be risky. It can cause the second editor to say that the story has already been done. However, done in the right way, existing coverage can reinforce your newsworthy-status and potentially help the editor think to see the value of another story idea about your company. Perhaps more effective than directly sharing coverage with other news contacts is building a strong base of media coverage that can easily be found online for reporters who might decide to research your company in consideration of covering it. We often see this to be the case with our clients who are growing into having a regional or national story. When we pitch that higher-tiered media contact, chances are, he/she will Google our client. We want the results to show steady local and perhaps trade coverage.

What are the ways you merchandise your news coverage? For more ideas, leave your email address and we will send you our complete list.

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