Have You Un-Sucked Your Writing Lately?

We've all experienced that dreaded feeling of being obligated to use 'buzzwords,’ overused phrases and jargon in our writing. The term "For lack of a better word" may actually be a good thing when it comes to public relations writing. Let's face it, in the PR field we struggle to deliver a message to the public that is clear and unambiguous; a message that gets the point across and engages the public through expressive writing. The problem many of us face is how to remain creative without losing the public's interest in the organization's message no matter how complicated it may be. Simplifying the words we use does not equate to a loss of creativity but rather a broader, more comprehensible message for our audience.

Luckily, there is a tool to help those who wander in the purgatory of "fluff" words and terms. It's called UnSuck-It.com, and it may be the second best PR writing tool next to your AP Style handbook of course! Unsuck-it is a website that allows you to submit, search, define and sometimes laugh at the hundreds of examples of bad, over complicated business and communication jargon people use while identifying a better word or phrase to use. Some popular examples of over-used words the site lists along with their easier counterparts are: "Pre-Plan" or just plan, "Eyeballs" or viewers and "facilitate" or help. The site will help you and at the same time give you a good laugh with its sarcastic definitions and cynicism of media and culture today. As PR-squared.com sarcastically says in regards to the site's use - If only we could convince clients that all press releases needed to be “run through the Unsuck It filter” (read: “written in plain English”) before sending them to the wire services. Let’s work on that."

Simply stated simpler is better but often more difficult. The irony of the difficulty of finding a simpler word to use will be over once you give Unsuck-it.com a try. The word base is always growing on the site so user submissions are definitely encouraged. Remember the K.I.S.S. method folks: Keep It Simple and Short!

This guest blog was written by PRowl Public Relations staff member Jessica Lopez.

Creating Opportunity in 140 Characters or Less

This summer I am studying abroad in Paris for five weeks and I am getting ready to leave in less than 20 days. Earlier this year, I wrote a blog post about creating and taking advantage of the opportunity to travel and study abroad because of the benefits it provides to you as an up-and-coming young professional. Luckily for me, I followed my own advice (and the advice of many others).

However, being gone for such a large gap of time this summer meant that finding an internship this summer would be nearly impossible. Those that know me, know I am an internship addict of sorts. I haven't had 20 internships or anything crazy, but ever since I began interning last summer I haven't been able to stop and have had three internships since. I have plenty of things to occupy my time with this summer including arranging travel plans, my part-time job and working on things for the firm however I couldn't help but feel as though I was missing out on opportunities to do more.

I graduate next May and it is my dream to work in public relations/communications for a wildlife conservation nonprofit organization, combining my passions for PR, animals and nonprofit. I've had a great deal of experience with nonprofit, interning with two nonprofit organizations, interning for an agency that works solely with nonprofit organizations and managing several nonprofit clients through my work in PRowl. However, I had yet to gain any experience working with a wildlife conservation organization and I knew I needed to start making connections now not a few weeks before graduation.

So, I sent out a tweet. The tweet read: Dream job: PR for nonprofit animal conservation org. Looking to connect, learn more & volunteer services! I proceeded to tag @nonprofit orgs, my favorite Twitter feed that is connected to over 50,000 nonprofit organizations on Twitter.

Within an hour, I received a reply from an organization called Nikela Wildlife whose mission is to find and qualify experts and certify wildlife conservation and education projects in order to protect our planet's wildlife and prepare the rising generation for careers in conservation and ecotourism. I spoke back and forth with one of the organization's founders and she asked me if I would like to assist them with their blogging efforts for their "Meatless Mondays" installation that provides readers with meatless alternatives to their favorite recipes. It was honestly perfect... combining my love for wildlife, social media, blogging and food. I've already written up three posts and I very much look forward to writing more throughout the summer for this incredible organization. To check out their blog and read more about their various projects visit www.Nikela.org.

Twitter can be an incredibly powerful tool when used correctly. A friend and PRowl alumnus was able to find a job using Twitter and I was able to find a volunteer opportunity using 140 characters or less. Make sure you are clear and concise (you don't have that many characters to ramble with) and make sure you let people know how you can help and what you can bring to the table. Opportunities are out there, just learn how to use the tools you've been given to go find them.

#WeinerGate: Another Lesson in Political PR

Just when you thought it was over, up pops Weiner again.

Last Thursday I wrote about a Twitter scandal involving New York Representative Anthony Weiner’s unfortunate tweet to a college student containing a picture of a man’s bulging underwear. He ignored press inquiries until the picture became headline news on almost every major media channel. He then claimed that his Twitter account had been hacked and the recipient of the picture wrote an article for the New York Daily News supporting Weiner’s assertion. Oddly enough, he told a reporter that he could not verify whether the body part in question belonged to him. I mentioned that this blunder could drive further media speculation and that Weiner needed to address future gaffes upfront immediately in order to avoid a scandal that could end his political career.

Turns out I was right. A few days later a conservative blog reported that there were even more explicit photos of Weiner that he had sent to young women around the country. On Monday the representative held a press conference to admit everything; he had sent the original tweet and had similar relationships with at least half a dozen women across the country.

Weiner’s attempt to evade the press backfired on him. The hashtag #weinergate has been trending on and off the last couple days whenever a new piece of the scandal is unearthed. His media gaffe went viral and is still taking up most of the news cycle on major networks and pundit shows.

Avoiding or lying to the press is never a good tactic for a public official. Their careers rely on the sense of trust and credibility that they foster with their constituents, much of which is established through media coverage. Now Weiner’s colleagues from both sides of the aisle are calling for his resignation. I have to give him some credit; he came clean within a week. Other politicians like Bill Clinton and John Edwards have kept their denials up for much longer.

What do you think? Can Representative Weiner recover from this blunder? Should he resign from his seat in the U.S. House of Representatives?

Just incase you're considering a run for public office, here is a quick guide to posting on Twitter.

Delivery is Key

What makes a consumer pick Nike over Adidas or Tide over Gain? Brand loyalty has been tied to millions if not billions dollars a year in market research in the science behind how a consumer connects with a brand. Recently the majority of research in brand loyalty is getting those consumers who are infrequent or on the fence about a certain brand. An article in Distributed Marketing explains how message delivery, specifically message consistency, multi-channel delivery, customer management, and frequent communication within the channel, could be the key in swaying infrequent consumers.

1. Message Consistency- Making sure that the audience fits the message. For an example a young demographic calls for an informal relative message.

2. Multi-channel Delivery- Providing information that is easily accessible. Make sure the your key words for searches are up-to-date and accurate.

3. Customer Management- Knowing the consumer and their experience with the brand. The article highlights customer service as a major factor in experience.

4. Frequent Communication Within the Channel- The new front runner in obtaining brand loyalty can be directly linked to the interaction and open dialogue between the consumer and the brand, "You can’t over communicate with them – but you can easily overwhelm them by bombarding them with one-way messages..."
Most importantly we see that delivery and consistency of a message is key in converting a one time consumer to a potential loyal consumer.

Social Media...on the road?

The fast-growing world of social media is accessible on pretty much any device that we could want, but are cars equipped with social media capabilities too much?

We've all seen the commercials that advertise certain cars adjusting the temperature, or playing your favorite songs just with a simple voice command, but is that where car companies need to draw the line? Just last month, Toyota created a "Toyota Friend" network to connect with other Toyota drivers. They have also been working with Microsoft on a system called Entune, that allows drivers to access Bing and Pandora. General Motors has also added a feature where drivers can view real-time Facebook status updates.

In a recent article from the Wall Street Journal, they interviewed U.S. Transportation Secretary, Ray LaHood, on the matter of these changes. "There's absolutely no reason for any person to download their Facebook into the car, it's not necessary". Along with lobbying against automakers and these new social media features, LaHood is pushing for them to create public service campaigns against texting and driving. So far, BMW and Subaru are the only companies that have done so.

Do you think LaHood is stunting the growth of technology, or is he right in saying these new features would just further distract drivers?

Building Your Brand Online

It is an entrepreneur's job to take a risk to put themselves out there in order to establish their own business or venture. In order to do so, they must make their presence known. In "10 Ways For Entrepreneurs To Build Brands Online", Benjamin Lang discusses how using the internet and its variety of resources has proven to be a useful tool in a time when social media is the premiere method in attracting clients. Below are a few of Lang's pointers:

• A Custom Short URL-If you often share links on social media sites like Twitter and Facebook, a custom short URL can be very useful in making your name known. Whenever your link is retweeted or shared, people will see your personal short URL and associate it with a certain brand, that is, your brand.
  
• Social Email Signatures-By making your preferred social media site part of your email signature, you will make it easier for the public to get a hold of you personally and learn more about your company.
  
• Guest Posting-By posting on other blogs, you will be able to tap into that blog's clientele and gain a more broad range of potential clients, as well as build relationships with blogs that can advertise your company in the future.
  
• Newsletters-This is a good way to gain followers. By sending out monthly newsletters filled with interesting topics and future plans, you will catch the eye of your readers, who will in turn forward your newsletter to their friends, thus providing you with a ever-expanding network.

Would you use these suggestions to build your brand? Do you have anything to add? Do you think the Internet is the best way to build a potential clientele?

To read the rest of Benjamin Lang's pointers, click here.

Musicians and Social Media

Social media has forever revolutionized how we communicate with one another. Whether it is for personal reasons, business efforts, or promotion, social media has positioned itself as the dominant means of communication for a wide range of industries.

The music world has not been immune to this shift. The rapid growth of social media has allowed musicians, specifically those who are up-and-coming, to raise awareness of their existence in a way that was nonexistent merely 10 years ago. Musicians who have yet to make it are able to share their work beyond the scope of their own social circles and cities. Through the use of Facebook, Twitter, MySpace and YouTube, young artists are able to post their work and share it with the entire world in effort to achieve their ultimate goal, a deal. “Facebook is my resume,” said Aj Curry, an up-and-coming hip-hop artist from Rochester, NY. Not only can artists share their music, they are also able to market and create an image of themselves and the songs they represent. Considering that the current state of music is more fixated on production and marketing and less so on lyrics and quality of the composition, social media provides a necessary tool for the young musician to appeal to the capricious industry.

Prior to the explosion of social media, musicians were forced to do some serious legwork to achieve the results that YouTube or Facebook are capable of. Young musicians had to physically go to their potential audiences. Whether it was handing out CD's on a street corner, or incessant phone calls to bar managers in hopes of securing a venue, musicians had to put forth a great amount of time and effort to get their music out there, a strategy that is very time consuming and expensive. Social media has relieved artists of some of that burden. Artists are now able to reach a wide audience through more convenient methods. Evan Prewitt, a guitarist from Rochester, NY, said that his Facebook page has allowed him to easily promote upcoming shows. “I could not imagine trying to promote my shows without Facebook, I love it,” said Prewitt. “It’s the only way you can be in contact with everybody without being in contact with anybody,” said Curry. According to Curry, the use of social media has generated a faster growth of his fan base than when he originally began making music almost 10 years ago, a time when social media had not yet burst onto the scene.

But is this shift in the way we communicate truly beneficial to an artist who has yet to make it? The extreme popularity of these sites and the excessive amount of information posted everyday makes it easy to comprehend how a young musician may struggle to become noticed. How can an artist distinguish him or herself from the masses that constantly saturate social media sites with their work? It’s a daunting task to say the least, but one that is necessary in today’s world.

Curry noted that the accessibility of these sites has resulted in a large quantity of bad music being posted on the Internet. The voluminous amount of poor to mediocre music being pushed on social media websites has made it hard for good music to get noticed, a truth that has frustrated the young musician. But, according to Curry, persistence is the key. “Facebook really allowed me to prove my musical capabilities,” said Curry. Despite his frustrations with the continual exposure of subpar music, Curry credits much of his current success to his use of social media, attributing much of his recent fan growth and hype around the Rochester area to the quotidian postings of his songs and music videos on his Facebook page.

Prewitt expressed a similar sentiment. He too is frustrated with the mind-numbing music filling social media sites that make it difficult for quality, underground musicians to make a name for themselves. But ultimately, Prewitt feels that if you are good enough, you can separate yourself from the artists who prematurely release their work online. “I think what it boils down to is you can’t jump the gun until the product is right, especially if you’re just starting off,” said Prewitt. Much like Curry, Prewitt has increased his fan base and been offered to play gigs around Rochester because of his social media usage.

To learn more about Aj Curry’s or Evan Prewitt’s music, please visit their Facebook pages. You can also follow Aj on Twitter @AjCurry.


This guest blog was written by PRowl Public Relations staff member Evan Galusha.