Thanksgiving 2014: Blessings, Food and Naps

My Thanksgiving Itinerary this past Thursday:

·         10:00 a.m.: get to grandma’s house to help Grandpa set the table.

·         11:55 a.m.: steal a small piece of the turkey that just came out of the oven even though Grandma gives me a disapproving look.

·         Noon: sit down to eat as a family.

·         12:02: say grace; (everyone will be peeking during grace to see the steaming piles of deliciousness that overwhelms the table).

·         12:03: Grab a platter, plate-up and pass.

·         12:10-12:30: FEAST!

·         12:30-1:00: clean up.

·         1:00: Fall into a deep, turkey-induced nap.

·         After Nap: PIE TIME!

·         After Pie: nap, football and seconds, thirds, possibly fourths.

I love Thanksgiving, not only is it a gateway to Christmas, but it is a time to bond with the family who drives you crazy yet you love them dearly. In the daily grind of work, school, dinner plans, kids and trying to get enough sleep it can be easy to oversee the amazing blessings bestowed upon us so Thanksgiving is an important holiday because it brings these blessings back into focus. I am thankful for my family, my boyfriend, my friends, my freedom and The Ohio State University football beating Michigan this Saturday. What were you thankful for this Thanksgiving?

A Hard Pill To Swallow

Honesty can be a tough pill to swallow. Whether it is children or adults it can be hard to tell the whole truth upfront, especially if you know the truth will be damaging. As a kid I spilled grape juice on the couch and I spent the whole afternoon trying to cover it up. My dad came home and asked what happened and guess what? I lied. My dad of course saw right through it and punished me more than he would of if I had told the truth. It is better to tell the truth than try to cover it up.

Katie Payne in "Measure What Matters" echoes this sentiment in chapter 12. When crisis eventually breaks companies need to be ready with a reliable communication plan and the first step of this is upfront honesty. Do not let the masses hear intricate details of your screw-ups from someone else.

 In the case studies given on page 167, Payne shows this is true across the board. Those companies who gave all the details immediately, no matter how gruesome, had shorter crises. The interest peaks and then immediately declines once everyone knows what happened and there is sincere information on how it will be fixed. The crises that seem to go on forever are those that give an inclination they messed up and then try to cover up, or give "no comment", which is the number 1 thing not to do in today's communication. An example given was Kodak's Layoffs in 1997, Kodak laid off some workers, but first there were hints about layoffs but no answers were given, layoffs were then announced, and then they did not layoff enough people and had to continue with the process later. This series of announcements were awful news, and must have seemed insensitive to the workers actually laid off.

Like ripping off a Band-Aid, honesty may hurt initially but it is better to get it done and over with than to slowly peel it off and cause prolonged pain.

Boosting Visibility

I love a good infographic, and prdaily.com has a myriad of good ones. Todays infographic that sparked my interest was "10 Ways To Get More Eyeballs On Your Posts." This topic is near to my heart because we all want what we have worked hard on to be seen and appreciated. In PR it is also important to prioritize visibility of content.

In the latest infographic, the brilliant people of prdaily.com have listed tips like search engine optimism and frequently posting good content. However, there were a few other tips I think that thought outside of the box to help people with sharing the content people work so hard on.

The tip I want to talk about was tip number 9: Break up a long post. This seems like common sense but I wanted to list it here anyway. I am guilty of reading a catchy headline, clicking on the article and then scrolling through the whole thing to see if I want to make the commitment of reading the entire article. I am sure I am not alone in the fact I seldom read long articles unless I am really interested in the topic, especially on social media.  They suggest to break up long articles into one, two, or three consecutive posts. This led me to think like a "part 1, 2 and 3" idea. If you get someone hooked on the first one, it's a good bet they will check in for the next few installments. This aspect of storytelling could  also get them hooked on the website, blog, or social media platform you are trying to promote anyway; this could then lead to the path of loyalty.

There is another tip about email marketing, which I know you all may think "spam alert!", but you will be pleasantly surprised when you hear their ideas. Please, check out the article here; I promise it is worth the few minutes to read. I hope it helps!

The Cheesier The Better!

     I enjoy cheesy pickup lines. Sometimes social interactions can be awkward, especially if you like the other person. I think a good icebreaker is being able to get a girl or guy to laugh. Pickup lines should never be given or taken seriously. If you say one it should be out of fun, and if you hear one and it makes you laugh, do not be ashamed! However pickup lines can go to far, so if you use one be sure the cheesy pickup line is in good taste. If you like cheesy pickup lines strap on your seatbelts because I am sharing a few!

I found all of the following on Google Images by searching "cheesy pickup lines" if you would like to find some more!

1.) Are you a tower? Because Eiffel for you.
     ( -Very pun-ny.)

2.) On a scale of 1 to 10: you're a 9 and I am the 1 you need.
     (- I am drowning in this pickup line's sea of cheese.)

3.) You must be a banana because I find you a peeling.
      (-I find this one so absurd it would be funny. Props to whoever would have the courage to say this.)

4.) Hey girl, feel my sweater. Know what it's made of? Boyfriend material.
     (- LOL.)

5.) If you were a triangle you'd be acute one.
     (- Who said math couldn't be fun!)

6.)

(Found on Google Images) I personally love "The Big Bang Theory" so this one is right up my alley.
 

7.) Are you an alien? Because you just abducted my heart.

8.) Do you have a Band-Aid? I just scrapped my knee falling for you.
     (- Do you feel the love and sacrifice? You owe this person a Band-Aid, and a date!)

9.) If I had a nickel for every time I saw someone as beautiful as you I would have five cents.

10.) Are you Google? Because you have everything I am searching for.

 Have any funny, appropriate (lets keep it PG) pickup lines? I would love to hear them!

PRSSA Speakers Fall 2014

PRSSA speakers are so important to the continuation of learning and growing in the pre-professional environment PRSSA has to offer. By listening to speakers chapter members can make connections and see what we learn in the classroom has merit in the professional world. That's right; we are learning all this stuff for a reason!

I have loved listening and asking questions to professionals because it is such an open environment and there is a lot to learn from the professionals who do what I am learning on a daily basis. In my YouTube video attached here, a few more chapter members shared why they love coming to PRSSA meetings and what they get out of them.

Employee Responsibility: Communication is a Two-Way Street

In chapter 10 of “Measure What Matters,” Katie Paine says employees are no longer in isolated glass bubbles. No longer can an employer spoon feed news of the organization to employees. Since the social media breakthrough, employees have access to any information about the organization any other stakeholder can get through Facebook, Twitter, blogs, wikis and news apps. Paine says because of this rapid stream of information, around 63,000 advertisements, throughout an employee’s day it gets increasingly difficult to reach employees with pertinent information about the organization. In fact she even goes to say that “the chances of the message getting through to the employee are only slightly better than the chances of getting hit by a meteor.”

I agree that employees can gather their own information, and there is a lot of information out there in modern times. No person is in that glass bubble anymore. However, to say that a meteor hitting an employee is more likely to occur than a message from an employer getting to them seems a little exaggerated. It is an employee’s job, they are paid a salary, to be familiar with the organization’s information and actively work in the environment. Values statements, ethics, codes and goals should be known by an employee. An employee is in the environment. It is their responsibility to, within reason, seek information, read the memos, get caught up in the latest talk about upcoming goals and campaigns. Communication is a two-way street; if an employer talks it shouldn't fall on deaf ears.

Now I do not mean to say that all employees should be tossed hints and become sleuths about their organization’s needs because supervisors won’t openly communicate. Of course communication should be optimized, and then measured to see if the action taken to communicate was effective and promoted buy-in and feedback from employees. However, employees shouldn’t be treated like a helpless, wandering potential stakeholder who has never heard of the organization before. There should be a reasonable amount of responsibility on the behalf of the employee to be in-the-loop in their place of employment, even amongst the river of content flowing through their social channels.

Winter 2014: I Am NOT Ready

The snow makes me sad. I love absolutely Christmas, as I have said in a previous post in September, but I hate the cold weather. I would much rather have Christmas in Florida. That being said I like a small amount of snow on Christmas morning, but that is the only exception.

Reasons why I hate winter:

1.) I hate driving in the snow, ice, freezing rain, etc. People drive slower, I have to drive slower, and there are more accidents that slow down traffic.

2.) I hate scraping snow. I am filled with dread when I wake up and see my frost covered car. I know that I can go out and start my car earlier, which would fix the problem, but I often forget to do this and it eats my gas.

3.) I am a very cold person; not in spirit, in body temperature. I am not sure if I just have poor circulation or what the problem is but my feet are perpetually cold; with or without socks. It also makes my nose runny and red, which makes me have to carry tissues. By the time March rolls around all I want is to feel the sun on my skin again.

I know in my short list I may sound like a Grinch, but winter and I just aren't friends. Power to those of you who embrace the cold; you have thicker skin than mine.

This forecast is not what my dreams are made of.

How to Build Brand Ambassadors

I have talked a few times about energizers on this blog. It has come to my attention that it is one thing to say you need energizers, but it is another thing to actually understand and explain how to get them. Being a college student, I have not needed to get energizers for my brand yet, so once I need to go get them for a company I will probably ask myself “well how in the world do I get the energizers I know I need?”

            Well future Haley, prdaily.com has come to your rescue because they posted an article on how to attract and establish energizers, aka brand ambassadors. I have posted the link, the infograph is on the link, but I would like to point out a few things I think are important on the infograph:

1.)    In the “Attract” stage Visibility of content is more important than awareness. Visibility brings people back, gets people to engage, and constantly reminds people of the brand.

2.)    The “Convert” section attests to how well digital marketing helps with ROI, or Return on Investment. Within the process on how to get energizers you can also get measurable metrics.

I found this article so helpful and I hope you guys will too. Thanks for saving me a lot of future stress prdaily.com!

#RetailTherapy #Don'tJudgeMe

           I am a shopaholic. I love shopping; whether it is window, online or in person. My worst shopping habit is emotional shopping; specifically when the emotion is stress. I love walking into the mall and finding the thing I did not know I needed until that moment and forgetting all my troubles. It makes me so excited and I get to forget all my problems before I walked into the mall. It is like the mall’s front door is a portal into retail Narnia.

I know this is a bad habit, but to be fair I do not get so stressed that I just go and blow all of my extra money (and believe me that extra money is not a very high number) on a regular basis. Only about once or twice a year; and that once a year is about this time of year: when all of my final projects and papers are coming to a head in November. I get so overwhelmed about my long to-do list that I choose to do none of it and go shopping. Yet the projects are still there to do when I get home, which makes me stressed all over again. It is a viscous cycle in which my wallet and psyche pay the price.

            There is light at the end of the tunnel though, and I get my work done. Then afterwards I can turn in all my projects while wearing new clothes or shoes. I know this is not exactly the best example for not procrastinating but let’s reserve judgment. Go retail therapy!  

Ask and You Shall Recieve

            When I was flipping through “Measure What Matters” today I came across “New Rule #2: There is No Market For Your Message,” so I of course was thinking how is there no market for my message? What does that even mean? Author Katie Payne explains by saying there is so much content to look through that consumers get bogged down in the clutter. The message your company is trying to convey will either be passed over or skimmed through. If skimmed through people can choose whether or not to buy into that message, read further or completely reject it and move to the next bit of content.

            Payne says because communication has changed a new approach needs to be taken and listening is of the highest importance. I would like to focus on when she writes “ They’ll [customers] be more than happy to tell you what they like and what they don’t like.” That is the key.

            Stakeholders want to know they are listened to, just like any normal human being; it makes us feel special. If tomorrow Coca-Cola asked me what I thought about Coke Zero I would be happy to tell them (I love Coke Zero by the way, the flavor is wonderful and smooth with zero calories; just in case you’re listening Coca-Cola). This genuine interest in the stakeholders and target publics will get people talking and excited. At the same time it improves the product by asking people how improvements can be made and what they would like to see next. Asking and responding gives a more human quality to businesses and makes them more relatable; not just a name on a screen.  

            In the world of constant communication, ask and you shall receive; plenty of people will give their opinions.

 

 

Vague Won't Do

One thing I have learned with in the book “Measuring What Matters” is when it comes time to set a goal ,or to measure, it is not the time to be vague. As PR practitioners we should not be vague anyway, but in these moments it is crucial.

            On page 35, author Katie Payne says when businesses are asked to set a goal they sometimes say something like this “To reach our target audiences with our key quality message.” Payne says this is a good goal but the objectives are mixed. I agree with her, but I would like to be even more critical. There is a larger problem than just overlapping objectives. This is too vague. What is the message? Who is the target audience? What do you want to achieve by sending this message out? If you do not know what you are enacting it will be difficult to achieve a measurement at the end of the campaign.

            Vagueness should also be expelled from the workplace when picking Key Performance Indicators, or KPI. Payne talks about this on page 38 and 39, that KPI’s are valuable assets when it comes to output and outcome measures. A KPI can be downloads received, attendance records, retweets, comments and so on.  They indicate the performance of the campaign and should reflect back to the initial goal. The goal and the future KPI should be thought of before ever launching a campaign to avoid stumbling around searching for a metric.

            I believe one of the key aspects of measuring is planning; and in this endeavor vagueness won’t work. Be creative and think outside the box! It can be fun planning a unique, well-planned campaign and then seeing its results at the end.

Trying New Things

          One thing you I would like to share with the blogosphere today is that I am hesitant to try new things. This may be because I have anxiety about almost every social situation which stems from my social awkwardness. Let me tell you, I am very awkward. For example my baking experience I posted about earlier in October.

            Back to not trying new things, I am making a conscious effort to improve this aspect of my life. For example I tried Northern on Main today and it was really good. After I stood in line for a good five minutes before ordering because I didn’t know what I wanted even though the menu is only about ten items. Small victory for me though because I tried something new.

            I also always have a “standby” when I go to restaurants. Do any of you do that? I am notorious for that because I want to try new foods on the menu, but I always psyche myself out and worry whether or not the food I am going to order will be worse than my “standby.” Then, in turn, I have wasted my money.

            In the long run, these are very minuscule problems, but I am slowing making an effort to try new things.

Introducing a Little Chaos

Want to practice crisis communications in your business? According to SHIFT Communications, in the article "Bring Chaos Into the Workplace", you should initiate a crisis.

When I first read this I really could not believe what I was reading. Shouldn’t we go by the old standby “if it isn’t broke, don’t fix it?” I thought this would go against everything I have ever learned. As I thought about it though, I think SHIFT has shown their genius once again. It is  wonderful to have a crisis communication plan when the time comes to use it. We will all use it at one time or another, the deciding factor is how well we enact our plan. If businesses have already used the plan in a crisis situation, whether it is fake or not, then they will be so much better prepared from the experience.

Like a fire drill, we all can look at the little diagram on the door showing us where to go in case of a fire, but if we have done it before as practice it becomes second nature.

SHIFT recommends not telling employees of the coming fake crisis so it will be a genuine reaction to the problem. The article also gave example of companies who are actually doing this, like Netflix.

As the author of the article Tori Sabourin said, “Go forth and break things!”