Tag: Public Relations

Clairemont's New CMO

Dana PhelpsBlog, Marketing, Public Relations4 Comments on Clairemont's New CMO

 

Our friends over at Sky Bound Designs recently reminded us that we have been slow to bestow a title upon our loyal Billy when they sent him a letter to the office. It was addressed to Billy Hughens, Head of Team Morale. What about Head and Tail of Team Morale??

 

 

We are just as delayed in thanking all of you who told us what you thought Billy’s title should be. We appreciate your feedback, and a few of our favorites were Chief Wagging Officer (CWO), Unconditional Love Officer (ULO) and Pee R Account Executive. Without further ado, we are pleased to announce that our very favorite and Billy’s new title is…Chief Motivation Officer (CMO)!

 

Also, a little PR move of our own here, we want to pre-announce that we are saving the title of Pee R Account Executive for a new member of our team who is expected to join us later this week!

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Intern Tips

Dana PhelpsBlog, Entry-Level PR Job, Public Relations, , 1 Comment on Intern Tips

Thanks to Bridget, Rachel and Michelle, Clairemont’s TLC summer interns — it was a pleasure spending the summer with you! While we continue to interview fall interns (email j@clairemontcommunications if you are interested in applying), we wanted to share some parting words of advice from our summer intern group.

 

Bridget: Stay informed. When it comes to being an intern – and public relations in general – you should be in the know. It is necessary to keep up-to-date with clients, public companies, relevant news and recent trends. Being aware also keeps your mind occupied with fresh concepts, as well as facts that you can put on a side burner for later use. I believe that one general rule of being an intern is that you can never have too much information.

 

Rachel: As an intern, it is important to be a sponge. Learn from the professionals and other interns around you in order to get the most of your internship opportunity. The interns at Clairemont each come from different backgrounds, so we all have something different to offer one another in terms of knowledge and experience. On-the-job training is the best learning experience. Learn something new with each assignment and to never be afraid to ask questions.

 

Michelle: The action of finding important information via Internet research is an interesting task. How can I manage my time effectively while researching? How can I optimize my search to get results in an efficient and productive manner? The key is to maximize the search, and here are some helpful hints:

 

1. It is all in the words. Think carefully about what is being searched and write words that will most effectively narrow in on results. What is most important or unique about what is being researched? Focus on these aspects.

 

2. To search for an exact phrase, use quotes around the phrase.

 

3. Place a “+” before a word to guarantee the word will be on the page.

 

4. Place a “-” before a word to guarantee the word will not be on the page.

 

5. If a helpful website lacks a search bar, google “site:somesite.com” and the desired word.

 

6. Instead of forming a question, change the question into the form of an answer.

 

Were you a summer intern? What did you learn?

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Social Media in Recruiting and Hiring

Dana PhelpsBlog, Owning a Business, Public Relations, Social Media + Influencer Engagement, , , , 1 Comment on Social Media in Recruiting and Hiring

In need of communications professionals with an understanding of social media, we posted our job descriptions on our blog and then tweeted and Facebooked it out to our contacts. To help spread the word, our contacts did the same.

 

When Clairemont launched, it was our goal to find the perfect blend of traditional communications and social media for our clients. We proudly do just that for our clients, with a high majority of the day-to-day work falling on the social side. That’s why I was impressed when one candidate creatively demonstrated that 1) she understood the importance of social media to Clairemont clients and 2) that she had a working knowledge of how to use it by sending me a thank you note in the form of a blog post. (It was the “Thanks, Dana” sign that did it form me!)

 

She then took the blog entry and posted it to my Facebook page. To continue using social media as part of the hiring process, I asked my Facebook friends (many of whom are other communications professionals) to like the post if they thought I should hire her. Twenty-five likes and 19 comments later, Continue reading “Social Media in Recruiting and Hiring”

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L is for Learning Part 2

Dana PhelpsBlog, Owning a Business, Public Relations, , , 1 Comment on L is for Learning Part 2

Yes, today the letter L is only about learning, and in this case, it is very special. As in special events. If you didn’t catch yesterday’s post, Clairemont’s TLC Interns (team, learning, career) were asked to identify favorite take-away tips from an assigned-reading Entrepreneur article. Today’s tip comes from Rachel:

Make your special event special.

Do something original and attention grabbing. This tip is important to keep in mind because doing something different and original grabs people’s attention. It makes them want to learn more, which will drive them to the business.

It’s easy to pass by a store with a GRAND OPENING! sign outside and not much else. When passersby can see that there is something special going on, they are more likely to come and check out what you are doing.

By making your business memorable and enjoyable to customers, they are more likely to return and let their friends and family know about it as well.

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Reflection, Risk & Rewards

Dana PhelpsBlog, Owning a Business, Public Relations, Starting a business, , , , 4 Comments on Reflection, Risk & Rewards

Seven months ago today — on January 4, 2010 — I walked in and resigned from my position as SVP at the world’s largest PR agency. With no staff, no clients, no office space and no financial backers, I suppose you could say I left to start the world’s smallest PR agency.

 

I’ve read many times that the definition of success for a small business in the start-up stage is simply survival. There are days when the A/C in our office (in a lovely historic building) isn’t working again, and I’m in the floor trying to put together a fan, cursing at the screws that seem to be too short, that seem like mere survival. But those are the exception. Most days, I feel on fire in a way that has nothing to do with the broken A/C.

 

A part of the Clairemont vision from the very beginning has been to blend traditional communications and social media as part of an overall strategy focused on the client’s objectives. As an early mark of success, all ongoing Clairemont accounts have a mix of traditional and social tactics in the plans we have built and are executing for them. We have also been selected for social media projects, including an in-depth social media audit for UNC Kenan-Flagler’s School of Business. (More on that soon.)

 

The Clairemont team continues to grow which is absolutely thrilling to me! We don’t plan to be a small agency forever! Our summer TLC (team, learning, career) interns are amazing & have formed a great team with each other, and I’m interviewing for full-time positions.

 

What I’ve learned in these seven months (in addition to things such as get business insurance before signing a lease, how not to pull my hair out while using QuickBooks and that I have no future as a fan assembler) is that when you own a business, you have to take risks every day. Each day. I guess I thought before that the leap in starting the business was the risk and then somehow, voila, all would fall into place. Nope. I’m also learning — through experience and with the help of my executive coach, when I put an analytical evaluation behind my intuition and gut instincts, most risks yield rewards.

 

Last week, an interview candidate asked me why she should consider leaving her steady job to join a new agency and how could I reassure her that Clairemont will survive. Great question. I’m not interested in how to survive. Only how to thrive. I changed my life because I know that Clairemont will be widely successful and will bring me and my team members much joy in the process. Otherwise, January 4 would have just been another day at the office.

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