Stay Sharp over the Summer

Summer is the season to relax and enjoy your long-awaited free time. Even if you landed the internship of your dreams or just purchased your plane ticket to Cancun, you should still use these months to fine-tune your reputation as a soon-to-be pro. That way, when the new semester comes, you will be sharper than ever!

Polish you resume and LinkedIn profile.

What have you accomplished this year? Think of the new skills you have obtained, the rewarding experiences you’ve had, and the projects you have done. All of these things should be displayed for prospective employers to see.

The summer season is the time to work on the minute details of your resume and LinkedIn profile. Does your resume look a bit cramped and wordy? Reformatting it can be a tedious process, but it is essential to be a memorable job candidate. Use the extra details from your resume in your LinkedIn job descriptions, instead. Your profile is meant for people to get a more in-depth look at what you have accomplished thus far in your career. Use the summer months to focus on the specifics that will polish off your experiences. Contact a few people that you have worked with and built relationships with to endorse your skills and provide short recommendations for your profile. This kind of support confirms your capabilities and strong performance.

Stay in the know in your industry and career field.

With so many different news outlets, keeping up with the times is simple in the digital age. Stay up-to-date with your industry by following companies and professionals outside of your friends. Become familiar with a few relevant news websites, digital magazines, and  blogs to stay on top of the latest trends. Pay attention to how the public responds to things.

Going to events is a more exciting way to keep up with your industry. Aside from the networking benefits, events and conferences in your career field expose you to new trends, research studies, and knowledge in your industry. Use events as a learning tool to gain feedback from significant industry leaders about the challenges you face and how to handle them.

Having the knowledge and understanding in an evolving business helps you to grow your own expertise and begin to think ahead of the game.

Maintain your network.

Making connections and building relationships is important, especially in PR. How many times have you needed something and called a friend because you knew they had the resources or skills to help you? Upholding professional relationships makes it easier to ask for a favor when needed. This summer, concentrate on maintaining these relationships and make your network worthwhile. Look through your phone to find people you have met and send them a friendly email, just to follow up on any projects they have been working on and how they have been doing. Professionals love young, ambitious individuals who show an interest in what they do. If you’ve taken on a new venture or need help writing something for your internship, contact a professional who would be willing to provide their expertise.

This guest blog post was written by PRowl staff member Marlo Brooks.

How About A Trade?

Trading a service for a service is not a new concept and with more and more small businesses sprouting up, trading is becoming increasingly popular. Because most small businesses don't have a huge stream of income just yet, trading services is extremely beneficial for both parties. If you are looking to do some public relations work of your own but need a few more resources, trading is a great idea. Here are few ways that it can be a very useful tool.

Everyone benefits. While trading may appear to mainly benefit the small business or freelancer, the point of trading is so that everyone gets something they need. For instance, if a small blog team is in need of professional head shots, they can offer the photographer free promotion on social media and a blog post highlighting their work in exchange for those shots. It should foster a symbiotic relationship.

Your network increases. By reaching out to multiple outside parties, you are reaching out to potential clients. Every connection made, whether a trade develops from it or not, is a connection that can be beneficial in the future. That's why keeping in touch with different contacts is so important. You never know how they can help you, or how you can help them, in the future.

Anyone can do it! Something I occasionally fail to realize is that my resources are not limited to my own circle. Networking and trading allows absolutely anyone to go beyond the means of their own group of colleagues and introduce themselves to new possibilities. You may have something to offer that others never knew about and by expanding your scope, you also expand the group of people who are aware of your services as well.

Is there a service you could use or something you can offer? Share your thoughts on trading below!

#TwitterFamous

We've all been followed by Twitter accounts that are clearly just following massive amounts of people in order to get followed in return.  That is definitely not the way to build a quality Twitter audience, which is important to have in a field like public relations.  These articles from Social Media Examiner and Media Bistro seem to agree on some tips to help gain followers and build your Twitter presence.

1. Pay attention to your profile.
Using relevant information in your Twitter bio along with a quality headshot picture is a great start towards attracting new followers.

2. Engage--but not with strangers.
Sometimes people seem to think reaching out to strangers on Twitter will help them gain a follower or two, and in some cases that may be true, but the best people to engage with are the ones that are already in your network.  If you do this, it will show others that you are active and they will want to follow and engage with you too.

3. Use Twitter directories.
Who knew there was such a thing? Sites like www.wefollow.com help segment prominent Twitter users into categories. So if you're looking for influential people to follow, check it out.

4. Share your Twitter on other networks.
I personally dislike when people have every social network linked so I see something they post four times on four different sites.  However, linking your Twitter to other networks can definitely be beneficial.  If someone who doesn't follow you (yet) sees something you tweet because it's linked to your Facebook, they might be inclined to check you out.

Do you have any tips or tricks for building an effective Twitter following? Let us know!