Tag: Raleigh Public Relations Agency

My First 30 Days at a Raleigh PR Agency: Day 16

Margot HorganBlog, Entry-Level PR Job, Raleigh PR Agency, Social Media + Influencer Engagement, , , , , ,

While I was fortunate enough to land a job at a Raleigh PR agency prior to graduation, many of my friends and classmates are still searching for full-time employment. The job market is tough right now, and job openings don’t necessarily match up with the timing of graduation.

www.hubspot.com

With so many recent graduates unemployed, looking for jobs is extremely competitive. So, what can you do to make yourself stand out from the crowd? According to my Hubspot e-book, Learning LinkedIn from the Experts, “LinkedIn is one of the most powerful resources online to market yourself.”

Whether you are trying to become more influential in your industry, get more leads or clients, build your brand, drive traffic to your website or find your dream job, LinkedIn is one the most influential tools you can use. Here are just some of Hubspot’s top tips on how to use LinkedIn to market yourself.

1. Give before asking for favors. One of the best ways to give back to others on LinkedIn is by making recommendations. The more you recommend others, the more they will want to be helpful in return, especially if you weren’t asking for a favor. Introducing two connections you think would benefit from each other is another great way to give back.

2. Connect with everyone. Don’t limit yourself to only having a “small trusted network.” You never know where an opportunity will come from, so don’t limit your connections. Add a link to your LinkedIn profile to your email signature, business cards and other social networking profiles to encourage people to connect with you.

3. Use advanced applications to promote your own content. Add advanced applications to create a full profile that showcases your abilities. If you wrote a book, add the Amazon application to display a picture of your book and a link that takes anyone interested directly to the Amazon page selling it. Or, add the WordPress application to your profile to link your connections directly to your blog.

LinkedIn is a powerful asset for building a strong professional presence and standing out from the crowd. But, just having a LinkedIn account isn’t enough. Staying active on the site and employing some of the suggestions listed above is essential. Does anyone else have any tips on how to improve your LinkedIn profile? I’m going to take one of Hubspot’s suggestions and start adding my personal LinkedIn link to my different sites. You can connect with me here at: http://www.linkedin.com/in/margothorgan.

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My First 30 Days at a Raleigh PR Agency: Days 14 and 15

Margot HorganBlog, Entry-Level PR Job, Social Media + Influencer Engagement, , , , , 1 Comment on My First 30 Days at a Raleigh PR Agency: Days 14 and 15

Working with B2C clients often means working with actual customers to resolve customer service issues. This can be a difficult situation, but in the long run, working through an issue with a customer can not only fix the problem — it can make that individual an advocate for your brand.

With the advent of more and more businesses on social media, tools like Facebook, Twitter, Yelp and many others have created just another medium where businesses have the ability to interact with their customers and confront customer service issues.

When businesses respond to issues, listen to their customers and genuinely want to make a great experience for them, social media can be a huge asset. But, for companies like Netflix (we all remember the debacle of summer/fall 2011), social media can be a nightmare if you misuse it and refuse to listen to complaints.

Customers lashed out at Netflix on Facebook when the company announced it would be separating its services.

Delivering great customer service doesn’t have to be a nightmare, though. Brands like Nordstrom have built their empire on doing just that – providing unparalleled customer service. It makes customers happy, and, in turn, creates loyal repeat customers who advocate for the brand.

According to Tony Hsieh, CEO of Zappos, providing great customer service means he doesn’t have to spend as much money on marketing and advertising – his happy customers are his marketing (just ask Dana!). In his book, Delivering Happiness: A Path to Profits, Passion and Purpose, Hsieh writes about his journey to discovering that customer service should be the foundation for any successful brand. (If you haven’t read his book, I would highly suggest it! It is my favorite nonfiction read.)

http://www.deliveringhappiness.com/

Just from examining the examples above, one could make the argument that customer service is a quality that could propel a brand forward (i.e., Nordstrom and Zappos), or severely damage it (Netflix). Knowing how to listen to complaints and work with customers, especially with the help of social media, is a tremendous opportunity for businesses, and one that should not be overlooked.

What are your opinions on this? Has anyone encountered any great customer service that has made you a lifetime customer?

 

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My First 30 Days at a Raleigh PR Agency: Day 13

Margot HorganBlog, Entry-Level PR Job, Public Relations, Raleigh PR Agency, , , , , 2 Comments on My First 30 Days at a Raleigh PR Agency: Day 13

 

10th Annual Gingerbread Benefit

Triangle Family Services’ Gingerbread Benefit isn’t until November 29 at the Umstead Hotel and Spa in Cary, N.C., but planning for this annual benefit is already well under way at Clairemont. The event’s past success coupled with Triangle Family Services’ 75th anniversary this year means the pressure is on for this benefit to be bigger and better than any other.

It may be only June, but we have been getting into the holiday spirit in the Clairemont office lately. We have been researching and compiling media lists and drafting and editing press releases and backgrounders in preparation to pitch long-lead publications like Southern Living, Bon Appétit and Our State. The best part, though? Researching gingerbread-themed goodies, bags, boxes and folders to use for media kits.

Ideas like gingerbread candles, chap-stick and sticky notes have been suggested, but personally, I’m still looking for gingerbread-scented paper (inspired by Elle Wood’s pink scented resume in Legally Blonde – “It gives a little something extra, don’t you think?”).

After working on these projects and looking at pictures from past Gingerbread Benefits, I almost forget that it’s still only the summer and more than five months until the event. It has shown me how much work and preparation goes into the event months and months ahead of time. It’s an exciting process! I am able to watch the planning, and in November, will see all of the hard work come together into a great event.

Fearrington House chefs created a beautiful gingerbread house for the 9th Annual Gingerbread Benefit!
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My First 30 Days at a Raleigh PR Agency: Day 12

Margot HorganBlog, Entry-Level PR Job, Professional Development, , , , , , ,

Working in public relations is a lot more than planning events or helping a celebrity or corporation recover from a public blunder. Yes, event planning and crisis communications are very important skills for public relations professionals, but the most fundamental, absolutely necessary, hire-or-fire skill is something a little less glamorous – great writing. Whether it’s a tweet, blog, press release or annual report, clear and concise writing is one of the most important weapons a PR practitioner can have in his or her arsenal.

2012 AP Stylebook — the #1 resource for all things style and grammar!

The difference between good writing and bad writing is a press release that gets primetime media coverage verses a release that gets ignored because of its weak lead; it’s the difference between an attention-grabbing tweet that is shared and retweeted, boosting a company’s ROI and SEO, compared to a tweet that is too long or boring to get noticed; it’s the difference between a strong, convincing, informative brochure or fact sheet that can inspire publics to act and change their behaviors, compared to a ready-to-use piece that inspires nothing and no one. But, most importantly, it’s the difference between the ability to generate results for the client or to not.

At Clairemont, the importance of writing is stressed on a continual basis, and nearly all of my daily tasks are centered on writing in one way or another. A number of my assignments are creative writing projects, and this past week, I’ve been working on writing copy for a furniture client’s new collections. While the style of writing is certainly different than that of a press release, it still comes down to the same concept of aiming to create results. For furniture copy, this means exuding the feeling and style of the collection or piece. It is about making a customer feel the sophistication of the product. Furniture copy is not just a description – it’s a feeling.

Writing furniture copy isn’t always the easiest, though. It takes time to perfect and to know how to write in the client’s style. For me, the biggest help is to sit down with Josie and walk through the editing process with her. Instead of just passing my copy on to her to edit, she will sit down with me and show me exactly what she is looking for and how to make those edits. This way, I can see the mistakes or style issues in my writing and address them in future assignments.

Does anyone else have any other writing or editing tips? We are always looking for ways to improve because it is such an important skill!

 

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My First 30 Days at a Raleigh PR Agency: Day 4

Margot HorganBlog, Entry-Level PR Job, Professional Development, , , , ,

It takes time adjusting to a new team, club, internship or workplace. Some lucky people can fall right into step with a new experience, but for the most of us it takes a little practice before we can perfect a new routine.

In a public relations agency, it’s necessary to think quickly on your feet and transition from one project, to the next, then back to that project and then on to a new one. Slowing down for a few seconds or even a few minutes to think something through or clarify the instructions feels too time-consuming and trivial. Better to just figure it out as you go along, right? Wrong. Don’t be afraid to ask questions!

Today, I was tasked with organizing and assembling several e-books that we use for professional development. It seemed like a simple enough assignment, but I misunderstood how the books should be organized, bound them incorrectly and needed to redo it. This was a mindless blunder on my part, and it could have easily been avoided had I clarified the instructions beforehand.

The lesson of the day? It may feel unnecessary to clarify a seemingly obvious assignment, but it’s better to ask for help than to do your work completely wrong. Take some time and ask questions. You’ll end up wasting more time redoing the project than you would have if you had asked the necessary questions before you started it.

For any readers out there looking for an internship or entry-level job, this lesson is for you! When working at my various internships, I was tentative to ask questions or clarify instructions given to me. I felt like I should already know how to do certain projects and didn’t want to look stupid for asking. This was a bad habit to develop, and it hurt my productivity today! Stop focusing on looking dumb, and start focusing on getting it right! That’s my biggest lesson today, and it’s all about the learning process, right?

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