TOW: 10 points on blogging June 27, 2010

 

Here are 10 suggestions to do when blogging. These are things I have discovered over the course of this semester. Keep up the good work!

1. Leave Comments – By leaving other people comments you are connecting with them and sharing your ideas. What is the point of a blog when you don’t share ideas with each other?

2. Update!!!!!!!!!!!! Updating your blog is like changing your underwear in blog world. You should do it every day when you can. It will help you keep in contact with people and will help you keep your own online journal of your own thoughts and ideas. It also can help relieve stress to write what you’re thinking online! Within reason of course!

3. Create an About Me page. Having an About Me page really makes you personal to other users and audiences. It makes you seem more human and not just another blog website online. It also helps the users to get to know you and help them understand a little better about your blog posts. Make sure you keep your About me professional though. There are certain things that the internet users don’t need to know about!

4. Keep it entertaining/interesting. No one wants to read about boring things. Always do some research and keep up to date on what’s going on around the world/community. People will want to know more about what you’re writing if you keep it current!

5. Include Infographics. Including charts and visual aids will help the reader follow along in a more organized fashion. It will also hook their interest if the first thing they see is a picture instead of nothing but paragraphs. Including photos can skyrocket the popularity of your blog.

6. Find other blogs that interest you. Keeping yourself interested in other’s blogs will urge you to comment and post blogs yourself.

7. Have fun! Having fun with blogging is half of the battle. Don’t look at it like a 20 page paper you have to write. If you blog about something you want then you will enjoy it so much more. Trust me! This was  something I had to learn this semester!

8. Cite sources. Plagiarism is still possible on blogs. Make sure you give the credit to whom deserves it!

9. Be careful what you say. Yes it is your own blog and you can say anything you’d like according to free speech but I recommend to stay within boundaries. Offending a lot of people could cost you a lot of readers. You want to stay somewhat positive when keeping a blog!

10. Grammar. Beware of your spelling and grammar mistakes. A lot of readers might not understand jargon and may not understand what you are trying to get across.

TOW: 10 Ways PR Professionals drive Journalists Crazy! June 20, 2010

I’m sure there are a million ways in which PR professionals can drive journalists crazy. I can already see me having to explain myself to a fellow journalist friend in the future. Knowing what drives them crazy will help me in the future to not burn any bridges and keep some close connections! My aunt works as a journalist in North Dakota and she gave me most of these reasons why she cannot stand the PR people sometimes.

1. Telling the journalist what to do how to do it. PR professionals and journalists need each other to get a job done. PR professionals need to stick to what they know and let the journalist do their work. It will cut out bickering and fighting in the long run if both people just do their own jobs and then meet in the middle.
2. Not Meeting a deadline on time. Journalists are all about deadlines, getting a story in, out and on to the next one. It is crucial that PR Professionals make sure to have all the information for the journalist or vice versa on time. Deadlines are everything in the world of journalism.
3. Not telling the truth. If PR professionals lie to the journalists they will not be considered credible and they might never work together effectively again. It is important to be honest and up front with the journalists at all times.
4. Press Release not getting to the point. Journalists could care less about the client and the company. They want the story to give to the public. PR professionals need not go on and on about that to try and impress the journalist. Give them the facts and news period.
5. Know what you are talking about. PR professionals should always make sure to do their research on everything before spitting out what they “think they know.”
6. Do not Tweet the journalist asking if they got your press release. Journalists are very busy and will see your press release when they see it. My aunt told me that she will get to it when she gets to it. Patience is a virtue.
7. Not making your theme/title of a press release interesting. Journalists get tired of seeing the same thing over and over. Come up with a catchy title and theme so it will keep the journalists attention, otherwise it will be thrown away!
8. Calling the journalist’s editor first before the journalist when not happy with a story. Discuss it with the journalist first if you are not happy with a story and if nothing can be worked out then go above their head. No need to “tattle.”
9. News Conferences. Schedule the conference when it is most convenient for the journalist.
10. Becoming close. You will be working along the side of journalists for all of your PR career. It’s important to connect with them and get to know them.

There are some of the reasons why PR professionals drive journalists crazy. If you have more to add to my list leave me a comment and tell me some of your reasons!

TOW: 5 Steps to Media Storytelling June 15, 2010

I didn’t spend a lot of time on the site 5 Steps to Media Storytelling http://www.newsu.org/node/338 but the time I did; I learned a lot. This was an easy step-by-step way to show people how to write a web-based story properly. It also tells of all the different media to use when telling a story and how to use each one to your benefit.

What I learned was that multimedia journalists really need to be ready for the unexpected. They need a laptop, a camera, lens cleaners, extra batteries, cables, tapes, video recorder, duct tape, microphone, and a tripod. It’s essential to carry all this if something goes wrong.

What I also learned was the 5 step process to writing a web-based story:

1. Choose a story – talk to experts and gather info to get ideas and facts

2. Story board – Define elements, name which medium you will be using, and sketch a guide

3. Reporting with multimedia  – equipment is the same no matter where you go, always expect the unexpected

4. Editing for the web – use high quality audio, keep videos short 1 to 2 mins, include photos, use flash to animate graphics, use text for headlines and photo captions

5. Producing the story -  web designer serves as your editor

The thing that shocked me the most was how many things to bring when reporting. I figured a camera and laptop would be good enough! Apparently it requires many more things to write a good story.

I would like to learn more about the reporting part. I would love to see someone use all those things live one day.

TOW: Getting more involved with Twitter! June 9, 2010

 

In the last week, I’ve gotten into the Twitter thing a lot more. I wasn’t aware of how many companies and firms were Twitter users. It’s crazy to me while you’re online you can see a person update what they’re thinking at that moment. Major Public Relations companies upload their thoughts and projects all the time. Rob Tencer is one of the PR people who I followed first. This certain PR person is all over the place. He is on Facebook and all over Google. He is updating his twitter constantly. People who crave the spotlight and want to get famous: Rob Tencer is the PR Rep for you!

Ria Ramano is another PR person that I have followed closely on Twitter. She works for the RPR firm which is known globally around the world. This firm deals with thousands of people per day who are trying to get their products or ideas out there.

Twitter is such a great way to promote a company or yourself. I really think twitter is a useful and helpful tool. It can help one find a job possibly, or even if there’s a question you don’t know, you can ask and someone will probably come back with an answer almost right away. It’s one of  the quickest way I’ve gotten ahold of someone besides Facebook and my cell phone. Mrs. Nixon mentioned a story one time that a boy was in the process of getting arrested and he was able to reach in his pocket to his cell phone and tweet to his friends to meet him  at the jail for bail! How handy is that?

Communication plays such a huge part in PR, so having a Twitter account is a great way to relate and talk with other people. Although Twitter is useful and very helpful; people need to be careful how you use it and what you say. After hearing all these horror stories of people getting fired just because they tweet something, scares me a little. Twitter definitely puts a whole new spin on the difference between a personal life or business. All these celebrities have accounts and you would expect them to act more professional somewhat, but Twitter certainly allows them to be normal people and to update their life as it happens. I never thought so much could go into just a simple Twitter account!

TOW: Why Blogging is Important! June 8, 2010

When I first had to get a blog I constantly wondered to myself what the point was and thought that no one else on earth blogs I’m sure.  I was so wrong. I was the one that jumped on the bandwagon. Everyone blogs. Celebrities and organizations are hiring people every day to blog FOR them….YES THEY GET PAID TO BLOG! I was always told that blogging was a diary. It can be, but blogging is taken more seriously every day. Blogging is personal, but not a monologue. There is room for comments and feedback from other bloggers. Opinions are encouraged but when stating them, remain unselfish knowing that there is someone out there with the total opposite opinion as well.

Blogging is a great way to connect with customers if you are using it for business. It can help improve the company’s reputation and always keeps the communication line open. In order to keep an open communication with someone, one should blog often. Not only should you just blog, but check out others pages and ideas and give them feedback too. Blogging is meant as a way to communicate ideas to others, not to write your feelings and sign off. Blogging has become very important in the business and social world. It is important to learn how to blog because who knows, you might get hired to blog for a living.

Chapter 7 Summary June 7, 2010

Chapter 7 discussed news features and Op-eds.

Right-brain thinking is critical when one is writing a feature story. It requires creativity and intuition. A feature story basically creates publicity for a product or service. It gives background, and context to events and products. Although writing a feature story demands right-brained thinking, be cautious not to hype up the story too much. There are 4 different approaches to feature writing:

1. distribute a general feature to a variety of publications

2. write an exclusive article for a publication

3. interest a freelancer or reporter in writing a story

4. post feature articles on the organization’s website

There are also many amounts of features:

1. case study

2. application story

3. research study

4. backgrounder

5. personality profile

6. historical feature

One would want to use photos and graphics to make the feature more interesting and eye-catching. In using photos the feature becomes more entertaining for the reader.

Last, Op-ed’s are pages that contain the views and opinions of people who are not a part of the staff of the newspaper. They must feature strong writing, use facts, and are generally 400 to 700 words in length.

Chapter 6 June 1, 2010

Chapter 6 discusses how to prepare fact sheets, advisories, media kits, and pitches.

• Fact Sheets are a brief outline of an event, organization, or a new product. The reason these are written is to supply editors and journalists with information
• Media Advisories tell editors about upcoming events. They include the 5 W’s and H in an outline form and can give photo, video, or interview opportunities
• Media Kits are kits that can contain news releases, photos, stories, fact sheets, etc.
• Electronic Press Kits are available online and prepared in a CD format.  They include more videos and photos.
• A purpose of a pitch letter is to convince an editor or journalist to cover a news story or event.

TOW: Clean Your Copy June 1, 2010

Clean Your Copy opened my eyes to how very little I know about basic grammar! The only part I excelled in was the spelling part. I’ve always been an excellent at spelling, and would USUALLY consider myself  good at grammar. So much for that assumption! Clean Your Copy is a great way to not only help better yourself in writing, but easily takes you step by step. It shows you the same words with different spellings, tells you when to use like or as, etc.  It takes about an hour or two to complete, so make sure you have enough spare time to finish it.

It focused on 4 main things:

• Grammar
• AP style
• Punctuation
• Spelling

Spelling, punctuation and grammar I did well in when tested on the site. However, my AP skills could use more sharpening. I never had to use AP much until I had to write papers in college. Using this website could help me improve my AP immensly, especially if I plan to write news releases and what not in the near future with my career.

When writing is the main focus in your career, it is vital to have a good knowledge and understanding of grammar. You can’t write a decent column, journal, paper or news release without proper usage of grammar. It is so important to get the basics down before anything more advanced, and that was my problem. I didn’t have my basics down yet. My mom and dad always told me, “You need to learn how to crawl before you can walk!” This is true in anything you do, even something simple as writing a paper. I suggest any person try this site. It can help you excel in writing and has great and simple tips.

LINK:http://www.newsu.org/courses/cleaning-your-copy-grammar-style-and-more

Chapter 3 Summary June 1, 2010

Chapter 3 basically discusses the laws that PR practitioners have to and should abide by. Here are some suggestions for staying within the law boundaries that I took from Chapter 3:

• Copyright your ideas when they are put on paper, but also be wary and do not steal anyone else’s work
• do not say anything that could cause hurt to a person’s reputation. That is called libel and defamation.
• no misleading quotes, you don’t want anyone to make a mistake and say they heard something but didn’t
• do not pass private information to someone and expect them to keep a secret
• no false advertising, stick to the truth and what you see and report, stay away from the hype
• trademarks are protected by law (like the NIKE check symbol) if used out of context you could be sued
• FTC will ensure that advertisements are not false
• make sure celebrities really do use the product you are trying to sell before you try to pass it off as that
• watch the language and what you say at all times
• Securities and exchange commission watches the financial affairs and protects interests of stockholders
• If you have a blog, twitter, Facebook, etc…watch what you say, you might offend the wrong person and could end up in a law suit. Keep opinions to a minimum

As long as you abide by these rules and watch what you do, you won’t ever have any problem with the law. Always stick to the truth!

Chapter 2 Summary( Public Relations Writing and Media Techniques by Dennis Wilcox) June 1, 2010

This chapter was  a bit of a review for me.  It discussed the basics of communication such as  a sender….channel….receiver.  Then the chapter goes into the different styles of writing :

• Cognitive dissonance making the reader or audience question their beliefs
• Framing – the selection of certain facts, stories, and themes to get interest in their story
• Diffusion and Adoption giving the reader new ideas and encouraging them to “adopt” their idea
• hierarchy of Needs – this is a graph that lists humans basic needs for survival all the way to their social/emotional needs

Chapter 2 also discussed that there are certain factors to Persuasive writing:

1. Audience Analysis –  Knowing who your audience is and recognizing what appeals to them is crucial to what you are selling or promoting. Getting a better understanding of your audience will help you better recognize what they wish and want.
2. Source Credibility – In order to get your audience to believe or trust you about what you are selling or advertising, you want someone who the audience can connect with and believe. For example, sometimes companies will get celebrities to advertise and market something for them because the people recognize them and will believe them. Or perhaps you would like to hire a professional surgeon to tell it is ok to get certain surgeries done to oneself.
3. Appeal to Self-Interest – The audience/consumers want what’s best for themselves. What the audience is interested in and wants to know about is what PR people need to see and recognize. How can it benefit them?
4. Clarity of the Message – Make sure the audience can understand what you are trying to tell them.
5. Timing and Context – timing is everything…make sure it appeals to the audience when it is relevant to them
6. Symbols, Slogans, and Acronyms – create symbols that the audience can recognize and relate to. Such as the Nike swoosh symbol. It is recognized globally around the world.
7. Semantics – Be careful what you write. Different words mean different things to different people. Dog may mean a cute puppy to a little American girl, but may mean food to a little 5-year-old Asian girl. (This is true, one of my friends from asia considered dog a gourmet meal!)
8. Content and Structure -  Overall people and audiences alike want to hear a good, interesting, and captivating story. They want drama, they want real stats, they want to know what others think with surveys and polls. Audiences want to hear examples of others like them, testimonials from different people. They want to be a part of the story and a part of the action. It is your job to include them.

To persuade your audience into something you are writing you need to reach their hearts and minds first. Reach their heart with a story and feed their minds with statistics. People are not stupid and can see phony a mile away. Be truthful and ethical in your writing and you will get the audiences trust and respect.