Public Relations Princess

The APR is Overrated. There, I Said It.

At an event the other day, a respected colleague of mine handed her business card to another person at our table. "APR," he mused. "What's that?"

Most of us in the PR and Marketing business know that it stands for "Accredited in Public Relations," and it's a respected designation in the field. Many excellent practitioners have the initials behind their name, and in some circles, it truly is the difference between your job and "your dream job."

About five years ago, I took the class my local chapter offered to prepare to take the test to obtain my APR. At the time it was a personal goal, and I'd be lying if I said if obtaining it wasn't still in the back of my mind. It is. But about that same time in my life, things in my professional life turned sideways. Social media moved across the horizon, and for me, it became my North Star. There's not much in the traditional APR exam that deals with my specialty.

This is symptomatic of PRSA's struggle as an organization to wrap its head around how social media affects both the practice and the need for public relations in our society. While I appreciate the effort to modernize, organizations like Ragan's Communications "PR Daily" and HARO are stepping into the void between the vaunted "APR, PRSA Fellow crowd" and the everyday practitioner. The cost to attend the PRSA International Conference is prohibitive and free PRSA webinars are rare. I don't know about you, but after paying my dues, I am tapped out financially. The hefty fee for the APR application itself does not help, especially for people like me who'd be paying it out of my own pocket.

Last year at PRSA Assembly, the possibility of having non-APR officers was shot down. Not surprising, since the majority of those who attend have the designation themselves. But it makes me wonder, how many could pass a truly updated and modern exam?

This morning, I had a lively conversation on Twitter with several Central Iowa PR practitioners and a student from the University of Iowa. All are successful in their own right, one even has the designation himself, but all the experienced practitioners agreed that experience is a more reliable indicator of success in the PR field. As long as the APR designation remains a job requirement for PR executives, it will remain a valid qualification, but as I tweeted this morning, none of my PR plans have started with the words, "Back in 1920, when Edward Bernays taught women how to smoke..."

My point? The history of public relations not as important as its future. What's your opinion? Please leave a comment and share. Thanks for reading.

Tips for New Bloggers

The Internet is littered with good intentions. Energetic new bloggers plow into writing their new blog with gusto. A few months later, they give up, leaving the remnants of a promising blog to languish online, perhaps for years.

There are many reasons bloggers give up after a few months. Some simply lose interest, some run out of things to say, and some simply move on to the next activity that catches their interest.

Here is my best advice for new bloggers:

1. Lower your expectations: It is rare for a blogger to generate much interest after only a few weeks or months of writing. Unless the blogger is already famous (or infamous), or has extraordinary talent, the average blog does not get much traffic or generate comments for a while. I wouldn't even judge the success of your blog for at least a year.
2. Blog regularly to build content: Get into the habit of writing a blog post at three or more times a week. In order to build search engine authority (people searching for terms and finding your blog), it is essential for you to build up a critical mass of content. I've been blogging on this blog for three years now and on a typical day, 50 people read my blog just because they've found an old post through a search.
3. Read and comment on other blogs: To find ideas for your own blog, you most certainly will be reading other blogs. By making comments, you're not only showing fellow bloggers appreciation for what they have written, you're leaving a trail of breadcrumbs right back to your blog. If the comment feature on the blog you're commenting on does not include a URL field, just leave your blog's URL in the comment box itself.
4. Use Twitter and Facebook to share your content. Make a tiny URL with any number of URL shrinking tools and let your fans on both networks know when you've created new content. This technique is the secret weapon of many bloggers, including me, to drive traffic to a blog.
5. Be passionate! The reason many bloggers run out of content is that they are not passionate about their subject matter, or have no focus on what to write about. During the month before your new blog is launched, sit down and think of at least 50 things you could write a blog post about. Add to the list when new ideas pop into your head. Try not to limit yourself to one subject, or keep the subject broad enough that you could easily expand your scope.

My last tip is essential. It's much easier to blog when you have a supportive social media community. Here in Central Iowa, there is a group of people who gather on a regular basis to provide support for people who are new to social media (including blogging) in the community. The group meets at Panera on 6740 University Ave in Clive, Iowa on the first Friday of every month. If you show up around 8, just look for the lively throng of good-looking people! Bring some business cards!

Have you had problems starting or maintaining a blog? Throw your questions my way and I'll try to give you some advice to get you back on track.

The Social Customer

Yesterday, I had the pleasure of speaking to a group of communicators at a large company headquarters here in Des Moines. They were taking time out of their busy schedules, as all good communicators should, to learn new things.

At the beginning of each of my presentations, I almost sheepishly try to explain my social media habits to people. To those who don't spend a lot of time with social media, I may seem like sort of a freak. I do everything online. Nearly all of my daily information needs are met by Twitter. I check Facebook while my coffee is brewing in the morning. I found out Michael Jackson was dead from a post on FriendFeed.

Today, as I was (of course!) perusing my favorite social media sites, I ran across a new term. It was, "The Social Customer." THAT'S ME!!! Finally, someone understands me and how I operate, and has even made a nice powerpoint explaining me to the finest detail. I must say, having never met me, they were remarkably accurate. But here's the rub. It isn't about me, it's about millions of people like me. 

The Social Customer

I found page two of this presentation to be most helpful. It lists the attributes of the social customer. I can really relate to these! Yes! Someone is listening to us!! Here they are:

• Has a lot to say (raising hand...)
• Is hyper-connnected (via phone, email you name it)
• Is creative and collaborative
• Expects to be able to customize products (this one is a little off)
• Critical of claims by brands (Hello, Dell.)
• Influenced by brands and people like her

That do you think? Are you a social customer? Do you want to be segregated and treated differently? Would love to hear your comments.