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Competitive:

PR and Social Media – We are all vying for attention, attention from that key influencer in our niche, acknowledgement that our company or client exists and has something to offer, a story that will secure a placement in the publication that would put them on the map, the most creative idea and the list goes on.

WOW (World of Warcraft) -  a very competitive game, you roll on gear in the game, the person with the highest roll gets the gear, characters with the highest gear score get into the most raids. You can also do PVP (Player vs. Player) where you have the Alliance on one side and the Horde on another, whoever wins the battle obtains the most honor points which can then buy you better PVP gear.

Team Work and Independent Work:

PR and Social Media – you have to be able to work independently and make things happen and also work as part of a team. I have written out some great strategies, but they were implemented at their best because of the team I worked with. There have also been times where something urgent arose and I have had to make decisions and get done what needed to be done with minimal direction.

WOW (World of Warcraft) – you can do so much more when you are working as a team, you have to have open lines of communication to complete a raid, and there is also the quest part of WOW where you have to act independently.

Strategy:

PR and Social Media – To be successful you have got to have a strategy in place, it helps to keep everything on track and all pieces top of mind. It also helps to ensure that all communications efforts are going off of the given strategy. There also needs to be room for altering  or adding to the strategy based on new information, new products, new developments in a story, etc.

WOW (World of Warcraft) – In WOW the more strategy there is, the better off you and your guild will be. You need no more than a certain amount of each character in a raid, for example you only need two tanks for each 25- man, and certain specs, being destruction, affliction, etc will benefit a team when fighting a specific boss. Also when you are leveling your character you obtain new spells and abilities, and you have to learn how they fit into your overall strategy/rotation.

Relationships/Reputation:

PR and Social Media - Part of PR is building relationships and reputation, what you do and say, and what others say about you. If participate in something that is shady or unethical, chances are it will make it to the internet and everyone will know about it within hours.

WOW (World of Warcraft) – In WOW, the more relationships you build the more successful you will be, you will get more invites for raids and in general others will want to help you continue to grow and enhance the skill set of your character. If you steal gear in a raid, you will be labeled as ‘Ninja’ in chat and will be blacklisted for guild invites and everyone will know and will not let you into raids or into their guild.

Does anyone else play WOW, can you think of any more similarities?

“Do more than is required. What is the distance between someone who achieves their goals consistently and those who spend their lives and careers merely following? The extra mile.”
Gary Ryan Blair

I have always been told to start any type of cover letter or e-mail to a prospective employer by pointing out what I can offer their organization. I was told that I am asking for their consideration and I should always show them what I can offer them first, and then once I make it to the interview I can tell them what I want from a company.

Contrary to what has been ingrained me, my instinct has always been to start out by stating what I want in an organization and in a position, and then telling them what I can offer them. However, I have always felt they go hand-in-hand, when I tell a prospective employer what I am looking for, I am also telling them a bit about who I am, and what they can expect from me.

I am going to start with what I want and need from a company, because at the end of the day if it is not a good fit, then it does not matter what I can offer you.

In a PR firm, I want an agency that listens to their clients, but that realizes that they do not have to agree with everything they say to keep them on board. I want a PR firm that realizes that the success of their clients and their happiness go hand-in-hand. I want a firm that is forward thinking, that has open communication with their clients and that has an organizational process already in place. I want to work for a firm that goes beyond PR 101, and that challenges me daily.

In a Marketing Communications position with a company I want similar things, empowerment, leadership by management, team members that are motivated, an organization that rewards achievements but that gives me honest constructive criticism so I can continue to grow, an organization that controls rumors and realizes when a strategy or process is not working so they can make changes and continue to grow.

I would strongly prefer the non-profit sector or a position that allows me to give back, to make a difference and to have a positive impact on others.

I have five years of experience in the marketing and public relations industry. Through my hard work, determination, resourcefulness and insatiable appetite for success I have climbed the ladder at each organization I have worked for and have moved up through various positions. (See positions on my resume here)

Through what I have learned I can offer:

• Sound research and analytical skills. (Used to create in-detail local market fact sheets for a major wireless broadband provider along with researching all opportunities.)
• Understanding of Emerging Technologies (Twitter, Facebook, Youtube, Ning, Wordpress, etc. Increased number of individuals in multiple communities for a beauty client by 80%)
• Trade Show support (e.g.; NECA, ISH, IEC, etc.)
• Competitive analysis
• Development of marketing materials: News Releases, Sell Sheets, Internal and External Newsletters, Media Kits, Banner ads, and other marketing material.
• Event planning for annual client and user events (Increased attendance by 20% for a software companies annual user conference.)
• Creation of successful strategies to build Community Engagement. (Strategy and execution of an ebook campaign for a B to C client and a written strategy for a 90 day health and wellness program.)
• High level of organizational skills, multi-tasking and keen attention to detail.
• Media outreach (secured placements in the Baltimore Sun, WBAL TV, H2o, and other online outlets and blogs)
• Proficient in the MS Office Suite.
• Proficient with the Adobe Suite
• Proficient with software tools used in the public relations industry (MymediaInfo, Cision, Vocus, Factiva, etc.)

I am anxious for the opportunity to speak and meet with an organization where the relationship is mutually beneficial, where we can help each other continue to grow.

You can see my full resume, writing samples, creative samples, and recommendations here.

Therese Pompa
410-870-0215
@tlockemy
http://www.linkedin.com/in/theresepompa

To find out more about HAPPO go here:  http://helpaprproout.com/

A survey conducted by New York-based GfK Roper Consulting Group found that 76% of small-business owners think that social networking sites are not helpful in generating business leads or in expanding their operations.

This exact thinking is just why they are not seeing results. They are still looking for something measurable, such as business leads and sales. Social media is not a direct mail campaign, you are not telemarketing and this is not intended to serve as a platform for a product push.

In my opinion, social media is a tool we can use to build relationships with people that we normally would have never met, for companies it is a chance to directly connect with their target audience, and to appreciate their customers. Companies pay tons of money to find out what consumers think and this is an opportunity to listen, to connect and to find out directly from your audience, from your customers.

It is all in the way you think: So when you sign up for these online networking sites, the first thing to do before creating a profile is to change the way you think. If you are thinking how these new tools are going to benefit you, your pocket and the company, then you are not going to succeed.

What you should be thinking about is how can I be useful to my audience, what are their needs, their problems. How can I show my customers that they are appreciated, that their feedback matters to our organization and to the decisions we make.

Although there are companies signing up for social networking sites, I have noticed two things missing:

• Humanizing the organization and the faces behind it.
• Efforts spent on new prospects vs. current customers.

Some recommendations on how to humanize your organization:

- On your social networking sites use a photo of the person tweeting vs. a logo, if you would rather use your logo or if there are multiple people tweeting, you can include pictures of the ones tweeting on the twitter background, or in a photos section of the tool you are using. Here are twitter profiles where I feel like the company is more personable:

• Kodak -http://twitter.com/kodakCB
• Ford – http://twitter.com/scottmonty
• Communispace – http://twitter.com/CommunispaceCEO

- Build genuine relationships with people in your network and connect with them. Give them valuable information; ask them questions on what they think of your products/service.

- Within reason show vulnerabilities, none of us are perfect.

- Show that you have a personality, what are you views on things that are happening in the industry or in matters that your network is talking about.

- Have a link to a picture account such as Flickr or a place on your website where company events and the people that make up the company are shown. People can relate to a culture they can see vs. an invisible person behind a logo.

- Invest in a cause, one that you are passionate about and one that stays true to what your company is about, the same passion, the same emotion that led to you building your company.

Focus on your customers:

I have also seen a lack of appreciation for current customers, with all of the promotions and rewards being targeted to new customers.

So many companies forget who is there every day buying their cup of coffee over the coffee shop down the road, who every month buys their skin care regiment when there is a less expensive systems right within reach.

I think that all companies should work on tracking their consumers, whether the product is bought online or in a store. Start a campaign that goes with the packaging that will bring your in-store customers online, make sure you know who your current customers are so you can show them that you appreciate them and learn from them.

Listen, and truly engage with your current customers and followers, I have always felt that your current customers and your employees are your best brand ambassador. When the whole crisis situation happened with Dominion’s, the first things I thought were, eww that is gross, what a pr disaster, and that they needed to go back to basics and figure out why their employees had not one ounce of loyalty to the company.

A Customers First trends report notes that “Market research has proven that loyal customers or repeat customers represent 80% of your business.” So why in the world do companies only focus on new customers and leave their loyal fans behind. We all know that happy customers talk, that is why word of mouth is so powerful, and companies drop the ball on this time and time again.

Per btobonline.com only 15.5% of b-to-b marketers are counting customer retention as a top goal, this is a big mistake.

Take some of your current marketing dollars and invest them into a customer only campaign, hire your fans as brand ambassadors, gather their insight to make your next product or offerings even better, it will pay back dividends.

Just over a week ago I was mentally preparing myself for not only my first plane ride ever, but for my first PR conference and my first conference by myself.  I am going to PRVille on June 18th in Jacksonville, FL.  Then last Monday I see @jessicaknows post that she is getting excited for Blogpotomac, so I Google ‘Blog Potomac’ to see what it is that I am missing.  I find it is a social media conference and it is in Virginia, there is a conference in my backyard, I did not think there was anything going on around here, so I click on the register button, and alas, they are sold out.

The next day I start seeing people offering up their tickets stating they cannot make it. I tried about three people and by the time I got to them the ticket was gone, I started feeling like I should have placed ‘blogpotomac’ in my ‘TweetBeep‘ so I did not miss another ticket, fortunately Maggie (@maggielmcg) sent me a DM me telling me I was in luck, and as corny as it may sound I cannot tell you how excited I was.

Then the excitement wore off, and the anxiety set in, I am a bit of introvert. Have you ever took one of those personality tests that your employer gives you, well I came out as a INTP, these are the analytical folks that live inside their own minds – that is me, yeah I know – public relations, what was I thinking, aren’t you suppose to be an extrovert in that field.  However, most of the facets of this industry I thoroughly enjoy and I enjoy change and growth so it is great to be in an industry that challenges who I am as a person, I will always have to push myself.

Needless to say I pulled it together, knowing this was an opportunity to get my feet wet before PRVille and stepped outside of my comfort zone. Guess what………

I was fine, I am alive, I networked with a few awesome tweeps, and I met Jessica Smith in person, learned a lot of great information and honestly built my confidence as things were said that I have always thought I knew but always questioned myself on just the same, that is another INTP trait by the way.

So the highlights of each speaker for me were:

The wording may be part in their wording and part in mine, if I am pretty certain, I heard exactly what they said then it is in quotes.

Shel Holtz – @shel – Spoke on Cultural Barriers to implementations of Social Media in Organizations

Cultural Barriers

1. Legal – the law is whatever your general council says it is. The lawyers have assumed importance beyond what they contribute to the organization.  A lot of people have been in agreement with everything that the lawyer says, and it is not always the best advice for an organization.  So to change the culture you are going to need to make sure you can demonstrate that the results that were generated by your council are better than the lawyers but that the risks are still minimized.
2. Loss of control - the culture of the organization wants to be in control of everything that is said; we do not have that control anyway, we never did have that control it was just hidden. Their operating under a fantasy that they have control just by issuing a press release, etc.
3. Responsibility: Wrong – Ownership and responsibility for the organization should go to the ones that are really good with face book and twitter.  This does not mean that you are really good at developing a communication model that identifies the right communities that you need to be engaged in to communicate the business goals of the organization.  If you don’t start with the business goals first then you could be engaging with the wrong people, start with business goals first.
4. Regulation is another issue, specifically to the Pharmaceutical and Financial industry, they do not want to violate any regulations. Very few blogs dealing with Investor Relations. If you are representing these companies and careful with what you say in all other dealings what makes them think that you are not going to use the same approach when having these conversations over the net. Communicators need to stress internally that the rules that apply everywhere else apply online as well.
5. Resources: Lack of resources to utilize these new tools, if we don’t set the base point and show how much time it takes to produce the communication then we are not going to be able to show them how much better it is using these new tools to engage socially. When Southwest launched their blog, just moderating the comments warranted two more employees, but the pay off just from seeing the tickets that were bought that came over from the blog to registration was all they needed
6. One Voice – right or wrong? there is something wrong with making sure all the employees know what the organizations story is from the Director’s point of view. Culture says we only speak through the voice of the Director. There is a failure to recognize that people are having conversations with or without you and we need to overcome those barriers.

Notes:

• We get so fascinated by all the tools that we forget that we need to first know the organizations goals and to set a strategy, need a metrical objectives to take back to the organization.
• Every employee is a frontline PR person and needs to be empowered as such.

Shireen Mitchelle – @digitalsista – Political Blogging

Talked about Social Media and how that played a role in the last election.  She went to both conventions, her goal was to cover both parties and to give a balanced approach and view on the running of the two women in particular at the time Hillary Clinton and Sarah Palin

The most impressive thing was twitter, the debates the protest, most of everyone in the room at Blog Potomac followed the debates. She talked about the differences of each convention, when she was at the RNC – police where jumping out on people and you would not know they where they were coming from, they used the  hashtag as a way to let people know where the police where jumping out at.   The RNC did not embrace twitter and blogs where as the DNC embraced social media, she was allowed to bring her camera, her laptop, etc.  Social Media allowed everyone to see the real story, as the national news never projected the screen at the RNC, and what people on TV were seeing was something different than the people in the convention were seeing, it was not fair and balanced, so pictures were taken and put out on twitter.

Some of the Hashtags she uses are: (I did not catch all of them)

• Conservatives: #tcot
• Liberal: #rebelleft
• Libertarians: #tlot
• Progressives: #topprog or #p2

Now by women talking about issues that were important to them, you are now seeing more woman organizations getting on twitter than ever before.  By using the hashtags when you talk about these issues you can communicate across the different groups.

Scott Monty – @scottmonty – Social Media in Crisis

• Crisis in an opportunity to take a negative and turn it into a positive.
• Responding and being transparent and letting them know what is going on and inviting them into the process.
• Leveraging that community for the ones that want you to succeed, ask them for help, your community will have a far greater reach through the networks they know then you will on your own.
• Have a place where you can quickly post updates or comments, etc. (This is why I agree with those that say every company should have a blog)
• The notion that people are talking about your brand is key, everyone has a horror story with a vehicle. People have always talked about these, now these conversations are talking place online. People are going to go to other sites to find out about vehicles, want to give people the value to hear what Ford has to say but to also hear what other people have to say on their site.
• You don’t have to respond to every tweet or comment, let the community defend your brand and correct things that are wrong. You can only read so many blogs, comments, etc.
• The tools are irrelevant, they will always change, we are talking abut creating a culture of open communication and letting people talk about the company.
• If you can engage people that have spoken negatively about your company and if you can get them on your side then they will be your best brand advocates.
• People care about themselves, they care abut being part of a success, they care about being part of something bigger.
• Respond in context within the medium that was the starting point of the crisis and move on to other mediums from there.
• “Never going to win a battle in crisis communication by negating what the other person is saying”

Scott presented a mini version of Ford’s Code of Ethics for their communications,  loved these!

• I will tell the truth
• I will write deliberately and with accuracy
• I will try to be inclusive of all ideas and points of view
• I will acknowledge and correct mistakes promptly
• I will not delete posts
• I will not delete comments unless they are spam or profane
• I will disclose conflicts of interest.
• I will stay on topic

Liz Strauss – @lizstrauss - The Business Aspect of Blogging

Relationships: we have been doing this for years, before we had to get on a plane to maintain these relationships, now we have new social media tools to do this, should be able to do it a whole lot faster now but we have been doing it for years.

“The two things every company needs are: More products to buy, and more opportunities to buy them.”

“If you want to do social media well, don’t lead with the tools, lead with relationships, if you want to lead with relationships, start by knowing who you are, because knowing who you are is even more important than knowing what you do, cause knowing what you do is a subset of who you are, and when you know what you do, you know it really well…”

You will no longer be selling you will be talking about what you do, like you talk about it with your friends.

Aaron Brazell – @technosailor & Amber Naslund -  @ambercadabra Personal Branding

(Aaron also expands on his thoughts at Technosailor.com)

Amber: It is the idea that personal brands have become a shortcut for building a real relationship that is not cared for.  You are listing these bullet points about yourself and then others are just suppose to buy it.  Your personal brand is not your own, it is not what you say it is, it is what the community says it is.

Aaron – the fundamental flaw is the concept of a personal brand, a personal brand is more about ego.  A brand should be bigger than an individual person. Where do you position yourself, are you positioning yourself for yourself, or are you positing yourself for your company. Never allow your personal brand to eclipse the greater initiative, the greater goal of your company.

Amber: you cannot separate a personal brand with your professional personality, it’s about knowing who you are and representing it across everything you do. Your company is paying you to do your job, your reputations are tied together because it is for both of your benefit, it’s not about you, its about the company, can it enhance that, if you can-  that means that you are being a good employee.

Aaron - It is okay to have a personal brand, but does not like the word personal brand because there is a cockiness about it that says it’s all about me vs. all about us. Your brand is controlled by your customers.

Amber – You can’t control what is put out there about you. Doesn’t matter what information you put out abut yourself, it matters what others say. We have a personal responsibility to know what is being said about us, should be doing vanity searches on Google to see what is being said about you.

Shashi Bellamkonda – @shashib – Network Solutions

A social media practitioner should be independent, free thinking, and always active.

Most people in management are resistant, but through effective communication change is still possible.

Customer Service is the most important; if you are good to your customers then they will spread the word about you.

Do not use tools just for the sake of using them, they should be a tool to communicate and engage with others.

Mahdi Gharavi did a excellent recap Here

“Social Media and What Gives” was the topic of this past Spin Cycle with @ExtraordMommy

Two days later I find myself still thinking about this topic.  I know what gives for me, my kids, my husband, my me time, well wait a minute – I guess social media has become my ‘me’ time. I really hate admitting that I spend less time with my kids because I am on the internet, because reading my own words make me cringe, but it’s the truth.

When I first found twitter and used it for a few weeks, my mind was strictly on work, another way to network.  In the first month I was addicted to twitter, there were so many great minds to pick, so many great articles being posted.  Then I am not even sure how it happened, but twitter switched from only being a tool I could use while at work to becoming part of my social life.  People share their lives, their goals, their tragedies online and you grow to develop friendships with them, you feel a connection that you never thought would be possible just from communicating online.  I have learnt so much on a professional level and on a personal level from being on twitter, but it is amazing how time consuming social media in general can be.  There are tweets, and then the tweets link to an article or blog posts, then posts lead to engagement and so on it goes.

I have tried to pull myself away from the computer time and time again, and there are weekends where I succeed, there are weekends when I spend time with my family and barely touch the computer and there are times where it is the opposite.  However, I think I might have found a way to help me get more ‘me time’ and more time with my kids…

There are two things I am addicted to – Work and the Internet. I have an obsessive personality; it is one of those things I try to balance or curve often.  So I thought what if I take what I know I am already obsessed with and try to translate that into a way to spend more time with my family.  I know that probably sounds backwards huh. But I think it will work.  About 6 months ago I came across a forum/networking site called Baltimore Mommies:

I signed up, and like I have done with quite a few memberships or networking sites, I never went back.  So after taking a second look I thought that this may be a good way to network with other moms in the area, which will lead to more activities I can do with my kids and also for play dates where they can play with other kids.  They also have GNO, and although I love the #GNO that I join on Tuesday nights, I do feel at times that I need a GNO where I actually see other people.  My close friends although I love them much, for the most part are far away or single. They have bowling, scavenger hunts, library trips, orioles games and all kinds of fun stuff I can do with the kids that will not cost me tons of money.

I am not one of those creative moms that can think of neat, crafty ideas to do with my kids, so to have others make plans where I and my kids can go and interact is perfect.  Also, my kids are 16 months, 6 years’ old, and 10 years old.  They are never on the same page with what they want to do and what they consider to be a good time.

I am super excited that I have now just become active in this group.  I am supposed to go meet a group of mothers tonight, which should be interesting.  This is new to me, as I have never just gone and met a group of women that I did not know. I will tell you how it goes!

What gives for you for you?  Have you joined a network like Baltimore Mommies before?  What was your experience?  I am a tad nervous so any tips, stories would help.