New Perspectives: Why Every PR Professional Should Consider Applying For A Journalism Internship

For the past two summers, I have been interning at a suburban newspaper in my hometown.

As a public relations major, I am often asked why I continue to pursue internships in the journalism realm.

I always give the same, one-word answer: experience.

It is common for people to overlook how connected journalism and public relations are. There is a co-dependency between each field because professionals in both spheres rely on one another to do their jobs effectively.

 For example, a PR professional needs to pitch their client’s or company’s events or findings to media outlets for exposure, and journalists need to have contact with PR professionals so they are able to write important material for their publications.

Throughout my internship, I have had the opportunity to communicate with many PR professionals and get an inside look at what journalists expect from them.

I've been sent the good, the bad, and the ugly press releases and media alerts, and I've had many conversations with journalists about their pet-peeves regarding PR outreach.

I have also been able to network with the PR professionals I reach out to, and often times, I have made a connection with them regarding their PR background.

Now, as I pursue other PR opportunities, I will be able to look upon my experience and I will be able to tailor my press releases to the needs and preferences of journalists.

Also, having that insider perspective may be helpful in landing PR internship opportunities in the future.

Being able to say that I have explored various realms of media and communication shows that I have many abilities and levels of experience, which may be the factor that could put me ahead of other candidates in an interview setting.

Have you had an internship in a field that has helped you in your journey towards becoming a PR professional? If so, we would love to hear from you!

Email Etiquette 101

Compulsively checking your email account is one thing every PR professional can relate to. Emails are a constant form of communication and it is important to know how to efficiently write one. Below are 4 of my favorite tips for writing an exceptional email:

1. Get straight the to point. Reading more than one is something no one enjoys doing. Cutting out unnecessary words is one way to get straight to the point. Focus on what is most important and people will be more inclined to read what you sent.

2. Use proper spelling and grammar. This will show that you are not careless and keep things professional. It is important to have a good reputation with your collegues and people you have to engage with.

3. Have a proper signature. It is important to have an appropriate signature depending on whom you are writing to. My favorite one to use is “Best” because it can be formal or casual. Using “Thank You” is also a good option when closing an email.

4. Keep it simple. Along with getting straight to the point, keeping it simple is another key tip. No fancy font or colors is the way to go.

Once you get the hang of writing emails they will be fun and quicker than you anticipated. Email is the most common form of communication and it is something one must be good at to do well in the professional world.

This guest blog post was written by PRowl staff member Gabrielle Lacherza.

Staying Inspired

As our lives continue to get busier & our responsibilities increase, it’s important to never lose focus and to keep yourself inspired both in and out of the workplace.

Here are some positive tips to keep you inspired this summer:

STAY HEALTHY

Keeping up with your health is one of the most important factors contributing to a more productive and fulfilling lifestyle. Something as simple as drinking a large glass of water when you wake up in the morning can help you think more clearly in order to start the day fresh. 

It’s no secret that daily exercise boosts your energy level, improves your mood, and reduces stress. Summer is the perfect time to do some of the most adventurous outdoor activities! I find joy in hiking the steep mountains in Colorado or swimming in the fresh water springs. There are plenty of options around you, so get out there, continue to move and don’t be afraid to sweat a little!

PLAN YOUR DAY

In the morning, identify your top three priorities for the day- then do them. I am huge fan of making lists, I make them for almost everything! A great way to start is by organizing your tasks by production time. Completing simpler tasks earlier in the day will allow you to devote maximum time to bigger projects or more playful summer activities.

At the end of your day, sit back and review your task list. Check off your accomplishments for the day and begin to set your goals for the following day. Taking a short amount of time at the end of the day to reflect will provide you with awareness of your current status when it comes to your ongoing projects, as well as confidence in your workflow.

KEEP LEARNING

To most of us, summer is a school-free, stress-free, responsibility-free few weeks of essentially doing exactly whatever we want. Although that can be true, it can also be a time to work your creative mind and keep learning new things. Have a summer reading list, browse the web, or brainstorm new innovative ideas to add more color to your life. By doing these things, one can increase their knowledge, capabilities and in turn stay inspired.

FOCUS ON WHAT MAKES YOU HAPPY

Indulging in your favorite things is the BEST way to stay inspired this summer. Setting time aside to relax and enjoy what makes you happy can not only bring you positive thoughts but can also get your creative juices flowing. 

It’s certainly possible to have a playful summer without losing touch of your inspiration to be a more creative, happy and productive you. Recharge yourself by trying something new…who knows what doors will open because you put forth the effort!

This guest blog post was written by PRowl staff member Nicole Beck.

Mashable's Social Media Day Recap

This past Monday marked the 5^th annual Mashable Social Media Day. Created in 2010, the international event works to help recognize the current digital revolution. Across the world, thousands of people attended meetups to celebrate the way social media has changed our lives, focusing especially on how it can be used for the betterment of social good.

Philly was no exception, with local social media enthusiasts celebrating with a meetup at Benjamin’s Desk to discuss local issues and how social media can create a difference.  To begin the event, City Representative and Director of Communications Desiree Peterkin Bell read Mayor Nutter’s proclamation announcing June 30^th to officially be Social Media Day in Philadelphia. The meetup continued with a panel of social media experts from different areas of communication. Panelists included Peterkin Bell, local American Red Cross spokesman Dave Schrader and Slice Communications’ Social Media Account Supervisor Kwan Morrow. They spoke on everything from slacktivism to digital volunteers to even their favorite social movement created online.

It was one of the few events I've ever attended that actively encouraged its attendees to be on their smart phones throughout. In fact, moderator and CEO of Twitchange Shelton Mercer explicitly asked the room to live tweet quotes and answers to keep the Twittersphere updated.

The meetup concluded with an opportunity at casual networking with other attendees over food, drinks and music. With pizza, beer and Twitter, this year’s Social Media Day has easily been one of my all-time favorite events. But truly, it was a perfect opportunity for some of the city’s most social media active and socially conscious to come together for discussion and collaboration that will potentially lead to real social change.

(PRowl staffers and alumni alike attended Social Media Day 2014)

Couldn't make it to the event? Search #SMDayPHL on Twitter to recap with panelists' quotes and photos. For updates on future meetups or next year’s Social Media Day, be sure to follow Social Media Day Philadelphia on Twitter.

The Price of Social Influence

As social media networks have increased in size and profits over the years, the value of a strong social media presence has also increased. Websites and communities, such as Influenster, have developed all which focus on using the power of trend setters with high social worth to promote brands.

When planning campaign, it's important to consider the power of social media influence. Reaching out to bloggers and vloggers with large followings can be extremely beneficial to your client's campaigns. Bloggers and vloggers, along with creating their followings, have also established a trusting community of consumers who trust and rely on the blogger/vlogger's opinions. There is definitely value in that kind of community, but how do you put a price on it?

Currently, the ball is largely in the court of the influences to determine the worth of their influence. Bloggers and vloggers can name their own ad rates, and most have a standard price for sponsored posts or content. But that doesn't mean that brands and their representatives don't have bargaining power in these situations.

Before investing money in social marketing, consider these factors:

Followers don't equal engagement. 
Engagement will always be worth more than the number of followers someone has. Rather than ask for a sheet of numbers, ask how many times a day the influencer is mentioned, retweeted, or shared on other platforms. These are the numbers that will make the money you invest worth it.

You need a system to measure ROI.
Tracking your website traffic or the number of social media followers you gain (or lose) are both great ways to tracking the return on investment of working with social influencers. Create a system that shows growth (or lack of growth) to help determine if the money spent was worth it and should be spent again.

Don't create greater competition.
Because social influencers are in such a high seat of power, there are many brands ready and willing to work with them. Before agreeing to become another one of these brands, do your research to see who they currently work with, or who they've worked with previously. Don't create a campaign that increases the competitive struggle by placing your posts or content alongside that of your competitors. Push for exclusivity.

Have you worked with social influencers to develop your campaigns before? What research did you do prior to creating the campaign?

World Cup Update: No Belgium Waffles for Breakfast

Team USA continues to play game after game, and fans continue to post tweet after tweet. PRowl has already emphasized how social the World Cup is, and what more could us PR folk want other than to be trending worldwide! All of the games scheduled in the World Cup have found their own little corner of the internet with their own hashtag. The hashtags are composed of the 3 letters representing the country connected with "vs."

Today at 4:00pm, USA will play Belgium and millions of passionate fans will be using the hashtag #USAvsBEL. Many fans and organizations have already begun using the hashtag to express their interest and support in the games, but for some, the hashtag isn't even needed. Yesterday morning, the official Waffle House account tweeted:

 

Twitter users from all parts of the United States had this one tweet buzzing. Chances are you saw it on your own personal feed at least once, if not twice - thanks to the retweet of your World Cup-addicted peer. Waffle House continued to support the USA team on their Twitter by retweeting a bunch of replies from excited fans, claiming they are only eating American waffles on a day like today. 

Waffle House made the right move. They knew what their audience had been talking about for the last two weeks, and put themselves out there supporting the one thing we should all agree to support - our country! This morning, Waffle House posted more World Cup-themed content:

Additionally, many social media users have found a great use for the flag emojis hidden in the depths of the smartphone emoji collections. Waffle House, fans, and even sports publications have been posting content with the flag emojis of the teams playing. The images are an alternate way to update those looking to check the score and plays of the game quickly.

What do you think about what Waffle House has been posting? Do you think it's okay that they support USA by going against Belgium, or that we should be a big happy family on social media? Let us know!

It's Time to Start Reading the Terms of Service...Especially for Facebook

Earlier this week, a study was published by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, in which researchers had manipulated Facebook user's news feeds in order to test for a phenomenon called 'emotional contagion'. Back in January 2012, for one week, researchers at the University of California, San Francisco, and Cornell University, paired with the Facebook data team to manipulate the news feeds of nearly 700,000 users. Using a computer algorithm, users were selected randomly, and then their news feeds were populated with more positive posts, or more negative posts. According to the study, users with more positive posts all over the news feeds posted more positively themselves, while the opposite was true for users with more negative posts. However, not a single Facebook user was told in advance, or even afterwards about their 'participation' in this study; so if you were feeling more happy or more depressed for a week in January of 2012, then this is probably why.

The real punchline to this story is that according to Facebook, everything they did complied with the terms of service and privacy policy that every user agrees to before creating a Facebook account. I think it's safe to say that the grand majority of people don't read those very long documents, myself included. If it really is true that Facebook's policies allow for user's data to be manipulated and studied in this way without their knowledge or consent, then it's time to at least start actually reading every terms of service you agree to, no matter how long. That's at the least, on the other end of the spectrum, many people are quitting Facebook and advocating for a general boycott of the social media giant.

Social media, and especially Facebook, have become essential parts of the lives of so many people, especially younger generations in college and high school. Having been a Facebook user myself for over 5 years, I can hardly imagine how I'd ever stay in contact with people without it. But, no matter how essential social media platforms force themselves to become in our lives, we have to remember that not too long ago, people got along just fine without them. In fact, whether or not you continue using Facebook and other sites, it's relaxing to get away from it once in awhile; go eat a meal by yourself and enjoy the scenery, or just spend the day with friends, face-to-face and without your phones. Social media is very important, especially for people in the field of public relations, but everyone needs a break from it once in awhile, just don't be afraid to take that break.

What do you think about Facebook's use of user's data? We'd love to hear from you!