Basic Principles: The Hitch Factor

Last night I decided to watch one of my favorite movies, Hitch. The 2005 comedy is about matchmaker Alex Hitchens’ (Will Smith) behind the scenes work to help hopeless romantic Albert Brennaman (Kevin James) win the heart of society heiress Allegra Cole. With an energetic storyline, fluid comedic timing and jazzy soundtrack, Hitch is one of the few movies I find worth watching on a yearly basis.

Fun Fact: The opening credits sequence displaying the title for the film inspired the banner for this blog.

But it was not until recently that I was able to appreciate the film for its positive, underlying inspiration for public relations and marketing professionals. So what gives a practitioner the Hitch factor?

Hitch’s own techniques focus on brand management for guys hoping to get the girl of their dreams. And no marketing strategy is successful without comprehensive research of your brand’s target audience.

For Hitch, his research involves understanding important social dating techniques to better connect those audiences and his clients. Depending on the target audience (Allegra in this instance) it is important that PR practitioners should do concentrated research to understand what key messages most interest an audience and will better connect them with a brand (Albert in this instance).

Of course, the fundamental cornerstone of Hitch’s strategy is client confidentiality and trust. Practitioners should always safeguard critical information about their clients and conduct their work in a discrete, professional manner.

“My business is 100 percent referral and thus far untraceable. And if there’s one thing I’ve learned when you orchestrate, coordinate and otherwise mess with fate, it’s best to fly under the radar.” - Hitch

Hitch understands that secrecy is an important part of public relations but he also knows that it should never override ethics and the public interest.

Strong ethical standards are always an important component to being a successful public relations practitioner. Hitch’s own moral compass is showcased often through his sense of compassion and understanding. Early on in the film, he asserts his standards and refuses to work with chauvinist Vance Munson as a client. “Hit it and quit it is not my game.” -Hitch

Passionate PR professionals care about and protect their brands from misperception and falsehoods. Hitch does this while also emphasizing his ethical principles when he later clarifies his association with Albert to Allegra. “My job is not to deceive Ms. Cole. It’s to create opportunities.” - Hitch

Promoting a brand also requires positive energy and confidence. Hitch does so with an air of savoir faire about him. He highlights this quality often through the use of constructive quotes.

“Basic principles: No matter what, no matter when, no matter who, any man has a chance to sweep any woman off her feet. He just needs the right broom.” - Hitch

“Like I always tell my clients - begin each day as if it were on purpose.” - Hitch

“Always remember, life is not the amount of breathes you take. It’s the moments that take your breath away.” - Hitch

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“Never lie, steal, cheat, or drink. But if you must lie, lie in the arms of the one you love. If you must steal, steal away from bad company. If you must cheat, cheat death. And if you must drink, drink in the moments that take your breath away.” - Hitch

Did you happen to notice the recurring theme in the last two quotes? Catch phrases and slogans are an important part of marketing - even when branding your personal self. Do so eloquently and before you know it, you'll achieve the Hitch factor.

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Of course, if Hitch isn't your Jerry McGuire, then maybe you and PR pro Mike Schaffer share the same role model. I hear the guy is “Legen - wait for - Dary! Legendary!”

Down the Road Less Traveled

A year past. A year ahead. Ambition will lead me...

It may come eight days after the fact but, Happy New Year! I know mine has certainly been exciting and already filled with new challenges.

For me, 2010 was quite a year. The remaining days of my college tenure were filled with many achievements including creating, developing and implementing a student government debate; leading my chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists and awards recognition for my creation of a public service PR campaign. I also came across a few failures along the way.

After graduating I found myself working in one of the best possible entry-level jobs I could ask for with the Society of Professional Journalists. Stationed at its national headquarters in Indianapolis, the past few months have been an incredible benefit in developing my PR, marketing and media relations experience. Even more, it's given me the opportunity to be an important part of a non-profit organization that is devoted to improving and protecting journalism and the First Amendment.

I was lucky to once sit on the front row of a presentation featuring NBC Nightly News Anchor Tom Brokaw when he said "You cannot let this forum go away. If you lose journalism, you'll lose the essence of the republic." Even in the turmoil journalism has faced over the past decade, I still have hope for its changing future and the Society is a part of that.

My blog has also continued to improve over the past few months. And for all of those who tweeted, shared and commented on "35 Big Twitter Hashtags for PR Pros," it is both a humbling and thankful experience to know it has been such a useful resource helping many students and practitioners. Thank you for sharing with me.

So here I am at a New Year - 2011. And no yearly beginning is complete without resolutions to hold one's self accountable by!

My Resolutions:

1. I will continue to adhere to strong ethical standards in the practice of public relations while working to expand my knowledge and experience beyond my current capabilities.
   
   (Well that first one was easy. Let's just call it my "mission statement" resolution. Now how about some "meat and potatoes" resolutions that are a little more"objective" based.)
   
   
2. I will fully participate in a minimum of 10 PR related Twitter chats in this list of 13 by Petya N. Georgieva by the end of December 2011.


3. I will increase both the quality and yearly quantity of the entries here on my blog to better enhance my professional experiences and service to other PR professionals with a minimum of 20 posts by the end of December 2011.


4. I will officially pursue an APR accreditation while improving my fundamental knowledge of communications theory and its application in the field to better serve clients, the public and the PR profession by the end of September 2011.

I have to admit that the last resolution was honestly the scariest one to write out loud. The APR is an important asset that is the nation's only post-graduate certification program. Studying for this accreditation is an intense and time consuming process that takes patience. Nevertheless, the benefits will help in my career enhancement and promote lifelong learning.

It's important to believe in goals but saying them out loud is what breathes life into them and makes them real. No success is ever achieved without ambition and faith in yourself. I certainly would not have had such an incredible year in 2010 if not for that philosophy.

Where will your ambitions take you this year?

35 Big Twitter Hashtags for PR Pros

Twitter is an exciting place for new and seasoned PR professionals to come together and share ideas and opportunities in the profession. The key to optimizing your Twitter experience is to take advantage of its hashtag resource which links related topics together with a simple # at the beginning of a word, acronym or phrase.

Over the past few days, I've researched some of the top PR related hashtags and their benefits. For the new Tweeters out there, or those still thinking about taking the plunge, I hope you'll take advantage of these 35 big Twitter hashtags for PR pros!

Most Common:
#PR – Obviously one of the two most encompassing tags, it's the most optimal for 140 character tweets. Great for mixed industry related posts.
#publicrelations – This tag may be the same concept as #PR, but the tweet results are hardly the same. Great for mixed industry related posts.

Practice & Expertise Focused:
#branding – Lessons for #corporate or #smallbiz related work.
#personalbranding – Perfect for learning to promote your self.
#mediarelations – Helps develop stronger relations with news media
#reputationmanagement – Tips/case studies for building and maintaining reputations.
#marketing – Industry news and strategies.
#crisismanagement – Trends, strategies and case examples of good/bad crisis work.
#CrisisPR – Like #PR/publicrelations, this tag is just as effective while diverse.
#publicity – Often sporadic in content value when searched, the worth while tweets make up the difference.
#advertising – Great techniques and trends.

Social Media Focused:
#socialmedia – Great for most trends and strategies for social media.
#SM – A second social media tag.
#digitalmarketing – Great for emphasis trends, news and some job opportunities.
#SEO – Search Engine Optimization related content.
#SMO – Social Media Optimization related content.
#smcedu – Weekly chat (Mondays, 9:30 am PST) devoted to ensuring that college grads are media literate and capable of applying emerging lessons from social media in organizations.

PR Jobs:
#prjobs – The definite way to find career opportunities and advice.
#prjob – Despite the one character difference, the opportunities and advice often vary.
#EntryPR – A specifically important tag for finding entry level jobs that are available and additional advice.
#happo – Help A PR Pro Out constantly provides job seeking advice, internships, and job opportunities with a focus on networking. The next organized chat will be on Wednesday, Dec. 8 from 8-9 pm CT.

Professional Development:
#PRadvice – A pretty wide spectrum of content with direct advice tweets and URL links.
#prtips – A pretty wide spectrum of content with direct advice tweets and URL links.
#pr20chat – Weekly chat (Tuesdays, 8 pm EST) discussing public relations social media related issues for the future.
#u30pro – Weekly chat (Thursdays, 8 pm EST) focusing on issues surrounding PR professionals under 30.
#solopr – Weekly chat (Wednesdays, 1 pm EST) designed for independent PR professionals and those interested in learning more about this career emphasis.
#measurepr – Bi-weekly chat (Tuesdays since 2/2/10, 12-1 pm ET) focusing on all things measurement in public relations and social media measurement too.
#brandChat – Weekly chat (Wednesdays, 11 a.m. EST) with focused topics about branding and marketing strategies.

PR Students:
#PRstudents – Mostly for building student's credentials and a frequent source for internships.
#prstudchat – Monthly chat (different days and times) focused on students and professionals coming together to share thoughts.
#PRintern – Learn about current student internships that are available.
#prssa – The Public Relations Student Society of America.

PR Organizations:
#prsa – The Public Relations Society of America.

Journalism Related:
#journalism – Great for most journalism related posts.
#journchat – Weekly chat (Mondays, 7 pm CT) between journalists, bloggers and PR pros.

2nd Street Baking Co. Against the Mayhem

Two weeks ago a justice was served in the name of copyright protection as the Internet made clear its stance on infringement. This came after blogger Monica Gaudio posted a scathing e-mail from New England based Cooks Source editor Judith Griggs claiming the blogger's unpaid article in the magazine was "public domain."

But there are two sides to every coin. The Internet tirade quickly engulfed the unknowing advertisers of Cooks Source into its rage. To quote the website, How Publishing Really Works, "You can't release the hounds and then expect them to behave like lap-dogs."

The businesses that were listed as the magazine's advertisers were pummelled throughout the next few days with angry calls, emails and threats to boycott. But one small town bakery somehow managed to succeed where even some large, corporate businesses have often failed in this situation; with an effective and timely crisis communications strategy.

2nd Street Baking Co. is a custom style bakery in the village of Turners Falls, MA. The business has been open now for three years under owners Christa Snyder and Laura Puchalski. Laura first learned about the scandal at approximately 1:30 to 2pm that Thursday, just as the story was breaking online. The baking company's email account began receiving dozens of emails from people all over the country as well as Australia and Canada.

According to Laura, most of the angry e-mailers had copied a form letter that was posted on Facebook to notify the Cooks Source advertisers that they were "supporting plagiarism" by advertising with the publication. The message threatened to boycott their company and its products unless 2nd Street chose to pull their advertisements. Other emails were more brazen and offensive with lines like "how dare you support Cooks Source."

Laura immediately logged on to Facebook to find out more. Seeing the numerous posts on the Cooks Source fan page and researching about the story, she became deeply concerned about the quality of the publication 2nd Street Baking Co. was supporting.

"Not only do we disagree with the way Monica's work was used without her permission, I worried that the association with Cooks Source would negatively impact our business," Laura told me in our email correspondence.

What does it take for a small home-owned business to fight against the mayhem? Engage your audience on their playing field. Within minutes of learning about the situation, Laura began to post a public statement on Facebook that they were pulling their ads.

"As an advertiser, we are disappointed in Cook's Source as we are pulling our ads from this publication. Many of us (as is the case with our business) paid several months in advance for advertising and are unlikely to get any compensation back. We ask that you please stop emailing our business, we agree that the publication made a grave error, but the blame should be placed with them. Please do not make small businesses like mine pay for their error in judgment. "
- Laura Puchalski
(2nd Street Baking Co.)

Laura then continued to post the statement about every 20 to 30 minutes for the first few hours on the Cooks Source Facebook page, with an additional posting on the bakery's Facebook page as well. She also began posting on Cooks Source's Facebook "Discussions" page where new threads would start-up like "Cooks Source Advertisers List."

"As I posted that we had pulled our ads, I would get dozens of responses immediately and the emails would slow down," Laura said. "Then as the statement got pushed further down the page and lost in the sea of other angry posts, the emails would start up again and I would have to post again."

In Laura's research, she discovered that Neil Gaiman had posted something about Cooks Source. She then used the bakery's Twitter account to respond to him in hopes that his 1.5 million followers would pass along the message that they had distanced ourselves from the publication.

"He did help us out in that respect, and also made a donation to the Food Bank of Western MA, which we very much appreciate," Laura said. "We were getting a huge response from people wanting to send us money to compensate our lost advertising dollars, or requests to order products from us in support of us pulling our ads.

Because 2nd Street could not ship most of their products and they did not feel it was morally right on their part to accept money from people, the owner's instead asked for support by donations to the local food bank.

Laura received an email response that evening from Griggs, confirming that the bakery's ads would be removed.

"I have tremendous respect for the power of the Internet!" Laura said. "It can be an extremely useful tool for promoting your business and communicating with your current and potential customers. Unfortunately it can also ruin you, as evidenced by the situation with Cooks Source."

2nd Street Bakery's story is a positive light where others have quickly fallen victim to this kind of chaos. So what public relations strategies can small businesses take away from the experience of 2nd Street Baking Co.?

Research your dilemma:

• Make sure you know ALL the facts
• Appoint a spokesperson who will serve as the point of contact between your business and the media
• Identify key audiences - your local consumers, employees, the media and the Internet
• Develop a communications strategy - including your plan of tactics

Take action in a crisis:

• Act quickly to resolve the dilemma
• Tell the truth
• Don't editorialize
• Be accessible to the press and other publics
• Show compassion
• Update your message as frequently as you can

I also asked Laura to weigh in on what she learned from this experience. In her own words:

• First and foremost, remaining calm is always best. It is never a good idea to communicate from a place of anger, confusion, or fear. Keeping calm allows you to really think about what is happening around you and decide what the best approach to take for your business really is.
• Acting fast to minimize the impact to your business is also helpful, and respecting your customers (and potential customers) and their feelings is important.
• Knowing that the Internet is a powerful force of positive and negative publicity for your business is also important. It is the fastest way to reach the multitudes and get your messages across. In this instance, it is where this was all taking place so it was also the logical place to communicate our position.
• And always be as professional as possible!

I also discussed an additional tactic with Christa and Laura that they agreed small businesses should consider.

• Use your email to your advantage in this situation. Most email providers include an automated reply message that users can program in their absence. For a small business under the gun from a continuous number of emails, utilizing this means of response will save a lot of time and emotion while helping to quickly spread your message. It will also create less of a disruption for your limited resources.

As a continuing student of the public relations craft, my sincerest respect goes out to Laura and the people of 2nd Street Baking Co. for their inspiring work. It's not often people talk about the crisis communications scenarios that go right but theirs is certainly one worth telling.

The Curious Case of Cooks Source and Poor Reputation Management

The Internet set to flames this past Thursday when New England based Cooks Source Magazine became the center of a copyright infringement and plagiarism controversy with blogger, Monica Gaudio. It's become an epic tale of rightful justice and poor reputation management under crisis.

After Gaudio discovered that the magazine had published a piece she had written about apple pie without her permission, she contacted the publication requesting an apology as well as a $130 (10 cents per word for her 1300 word article) donation to the Columbia School of Journalism.

Enter the now infamous editor Judith Griggs and her response to Gaudio:

But honestly Monica, the web is considered "public domain" and you should be happy we just didn't "lift" your whole article and put someone else's name on it! It happens a lot, clearly more than you are aware of, especially on college campuses, and the workplace. If you took offence and are unhappy, I am sorry, but you as a professional should know that the article we used written by you was in very bad need of editing, and is much better now than was originally. Now it will work well for your portfolio. For that reason, I have a bit of a difficult time with your requests for monetary gain, albeit for such a fine (and very wealthy!) institution. We put some time into rewrites, you should compensate me! I never charge young writers for advice or rewriting poorly written pieces, and have many who write for me... ALWAYS for free!"

Following the Nov. 4 Internet explosion upon the Facebook page of Cooks Source Magazine, Griggs allegedly wrote:

"Hi Folks!
Well, here I am with egg on my face! I did apologise to Monica via email, but aparently it wasnt enough for her. To all of you, thank you for your interest in Cooks Source and Again, to Monica, I am sorry -- my bad!You did find a way to get your "pound of flesh..." we used to have 110 "friends," we now have 1,870... wow!
Best to all, Judith"

And in what continues to reflect the lame duck communications of Cooks Source Magazine, the publication has released a statement on their website. The 862 word apology mostly focuses on the Magazine's own personal "victimization." Due to its length, I've highlighted two select portions of the statement relevant to this entry. You can read the full apology here.

"We have cancelled our Facebook page on Thursday, November 4th, 2010 at 6:00PM. It has since been since been hacked by unknown parties and now someone else unknown to us has control of it. Their inclusion of Cooks Source issues and photos is used without our knowledge or consent. Please know that none of the statements made by either Cooks Source or Judith Griggs were made by either our staff or her...

...Last month an article, “American as Apple Pie -- Isn’t,” was placed in error in Cooks Source, without the approval of the writer, Monica Gaudio. We sincerely wish to apologize to her for this error, it was an oversight of a small, overworked staff."

And thus, a simple analysis while highlighting a few very simple lessons to take away from this mishap. The first applies to anyone in the communications field:

Rule #1 (And the Golden Rule I might add): Don't plagiarize and know your copyright laws. As a business entity, constantly work to ensure high standards of ethical and legal business practices among all employees. Place additional emphasis on teaching proper decision making scenarios to apply their legal knowledge in. Apparently Cooks Source Magazine couldn't seem to grasp the simple logic of copyright law and it cost them.

Next, is the issue of social engagement with your publics.

Rule #2: Have a set policy for all employees when handling internal and external communications. Never assume emails are private. Once the information you publish is "sent," it's out there and anything can happen with that content. I think the Steve Jobs v. Chelsea Kate Isaacs incident gives some additional background into that principle.

Rule #3 (Also making Rule #2 obsolete): Be professional at all times when conducting all communications with your publics. This is where Griggs truly fails. Rather than acknowledging her mistake and diffusing the situation, she chooses to take a highly demeaning standpoint towards Monica. In her editorializing, Griggs also reveals her huge lack of understanding copyright infringement. The two factors, arrogance and ignorance, would only add fuel to the fire. As a rule of thumb, avoid writing aggressive, defensive responses.

Now what do you do when a reputation management crisis hits?

Rule # 4: Silence is not golden. Under crisis, engage your audience and publics. An important strategy to this rule would be to pre-develop protocol and train key communicators on how to actively and positively combat negative engagement online. Once the Cooks Source blaze took off, nothing "official" would be heard from Cooks Source Magazine for six days. Six days is a long time in the realm of the Internet. Aside from the Facebook status update from Griggs, the magazine would not respond to any media inquiry, including my own on behalf of the Society of Professional Journalists.

In a recent article on integrated marketing communications, I highlighted a very dangerous aspect that some "brands without efficient response to this form of dialog within the past year have in turn suffered drastically negative exposure at the hands of consumer social media." The same holds true for Cooks Source Magazine. Not responding only lead to further suspicion across the media and Internet.

Timeliness is everything.

Much like the Tiger Woods affair scandal, Cooks Source Magazine's withdrawal from public communication only lead to further investigations like that of journalist/blogger Ed Champion, revealing that the publication had repeatedly used copyrighted material from other outlets and personalities such as NPR, Paula Dean and the Food Network.

Rule # 5: Don't Editorialize. Be short and factual. I already mentioned this in Rule #2 but it honestly needs it's own rule. If your company or organization finds itself in an a difficult situation, it's best to know when to disengage from editorializing and instead focus on straight-forward statements.

Cooks Source not only takes on a role of personal victimization, but it also tries to assume an authoritative stance in the "official" statement. Cooks Source takes to condemning the "disreputable" internet for attacking them while "protecting" the advertisers of Cooks Source, the small businesses and farms in area that rely on Cooks Source and even, Gaudio? (From the Cooks Source Statement: The misuse of Facebook discussed above also applies to Ms. Gaudio: she did what she felt was the right thing, and doesn’t deserve this kind of treatment, either.)

Unless something is missing here, no mass congregation of the Internet has taken to attacking Gaudio. Of course, taking Cooks Source's above rationale into perspective, the running Facebook meme "But honestly Monica, (insert something ridiculous about Cooks Source)" might be misunderstood as an attack on the blogger rather than the obvious attack on Judith Griggs.

Further editorializing while inadvertently trying to draw attention elsewhere, the statement goes on to back-hand Facebook when referencing their corporate number.

"Interestingly, this phone number and any other contact info is not listed on the Facebook site, and has taken four people a number of days to track down."

(Note: It took one me less than two minutes to find the same contact numbers via Google search...)

Prior to that comment, the publication identifies their Facebook page being "hacked" and "someone else unknown to us has control of it." Aside from the Griggs Facebook quote above (predating the 6 p.m. cancellation on that date), no such hacking has truly taken place. This further indicates that Cooks Source is either ignorant of how the Internet, Facebook and social media works, or they could just be lying.

If the magazine had merely published strait forward facts, none of these assumptions would be in question. This brings us to the last rule.

Rule #6: Just tell the truth. By the time readers finally arrive at the "apology" segment of the statement, Cooks Source disclaims that the article by Monica was "placed in error" due to the "oversight of a small, overworked staff." Not only is this editorializing, it's makes excuses and takes a lack of responsibility. This case is hardly an "oversight" if reflecting the number of additional infringement cases that have surfaced as a result.

The Magazine's statement that their Facebook account was "hacked" with the inclusion of Cooks Source issues and photos without their knowledge or consent is also missing a few key points in their logic. A closer look at any one of the aforementioned issues and photos will reveal Facebook publication dates going back months prior to any alleged hacking.

The curious case of Cooks Source Magazine is definitely a paradigm shift in a positive direction for copyright protection on the "world wild web" and an encompassing example of what not to do when it comes to crisis communications.

The Hunt: Interviews & the Secret Sauce

Through this short series, we've "Re-covered the Basics" and looked at "Concurring the Digital Realm." Now what factor is it that's going to help you land that dream job in public relations?

It's a simple principle, even though it seems to be looked over by most entry-level candidates, and it all starts with the interview.

Interviews & the Secret Sauce...

Getting your foot in the door with a firm or organization is a tough first step; however, the interview process will make or break your chances of getting the job you're after.

Interview Basics Check List:

The Look

1. Professional Business Attire (first appearances DO matter, be conservative)


2. Laptop and briefcase (with tabs already pulled up to display your online portfolio)


3. Physical portfolio (just in case you need it)


4. Notepad portfolio (with a pen, handout samples of your work, and that business card we talked about)

The Talk

1. Be open and honest about your skills (and how they will benefit the position you are seeking)


2. Be observant and create a personal connection with your interviewer


3. Don't be afraid to ask questions about the job and the firm (it shows your interest)


4. Keep eye contact (it shows confidence)

Other than this short check list, it's best to check out other tips you can find online. My personal favorites for PR interviews are "5 interview tips to get you the job" by Marisa D'Vari and CVTips PR job interview tips. You should also prepare a list of frequent interview questions to help study by.

Can you hear me now?

In the words of the How I Met Your Mother television character, Barney Stinson, "Suit UP!" even if your interview is over the phone. Phone interviews limit a lot of your presentation. Wearing your professional attire affects your inner psyche and helps build a sense of confidence. And that confidence carries in the tone of your voice, which is important in this situation. My interview for my now job at the Society of Professional Journalists was held over the phone while I was wearing a suit.

Other MAJOR phone interview tips:

1. Make sure you are in a comfortable, quite location
2. Internet access is a plus
3. Phone reception is IMPERATIVE (For me, living in Mississippi at the time with AT&T as a provider was hazardous to the interview process so it was pretty important to find a location with stable service)
4. Post your resume in front of you

The Super Secret Sauce!!

Passion...

Yes, PASSION! The greatest weapon you can possess in you professional arsenal is passion! Its influence effects everyone around you. If you're not passionate about the job and firm you are applying for, then there is little reason to apply for the position to begin with. My passion for SPJ's mission and the objectives that the communications coordinator position required is what gave me the true edge during my interview with SPJ's Executive Director Joe Skeel and Director of Communications Scott Leadingham. It set me apart from the other highly qualified candidates and got me the job.

You don't have to over do it but don't be afraid to express why you want the position you're applying for, why you want to work in that field/industry and what you do to further your knowledge (books, blogs you read). The more informed you are the more impressive you'll look.

And (if asked) it's OK to share other goals you plan for yourself; personally and professionally. Having aspirations makes you a true asset and influence in helping to build upon a firm or organization's business model.

So there you have it. These are the factors that helped me in finding my first great public relations job. I hope these tips have helped to give you a new sense of perspective and I wish you all the best in the pursuit of your job.

Happy "hunting!"

The Hunt: Concurring the Digital Realm

Last time we recovered the essentials to finding that first great PR job. This post will give you insight to cracking that ice-cold barrier of online job applications on the internet and the importance to social networking.

Concurring the Digital Realm...

And we have contact!

One problem may be that you find yourself lost in the vast void that is online resume applications. In a world where personal connections and references still hold influence, these applications are easily passed over - given they present little insight into how strong your talents really are. Getting past this phase is half the battle. What you want is to create a personal connection between you and the employer.

After filling out a firm's online form, take the time to learn the name of the position's branch president (or HR manager) as well as their contact email.

Once you do, choose this as your moment to introduce the quality of what you have to offer. Your email should reference both the position you are applying for and the fact that you have filled out the online application. Doing so will let the person know that you can both follow instructions and are willing to stand out of the monotony.

Treat your email as if it is a variation of your cover letter. Briefly explain why you want the position and why you are qualified. A bonus to sending an email is that you can include some samples of your work (but not overwhelmingly) that otherwise can't be attached to an online application. Use this time to attach your actual cover letter, resume, references, etc. A bonus to sending an email is that you can provide hyperlinks to some of your online work (i.e. portfolio, twitter, blog).

But the greatest opportunity in introducing yourself through email is that it provides you with the chance to show off your creative side. Use what you already know about the firm to your advantage. When applying for an entry level account coordinator position with Current Lifestyle Marketing, I used their quirky biography pages from the firm's website to create my own bio that I put into a word document and attached to my introductory email to the firm's president, Virginia Devlin. I also used the website's phrase, "creative thinker with analytical tendencies" as an opening line before the rest of the body of the email.

Within the next day I received both an email from Virginia and a phone call from Current's HR to arrange an interview with the company!

For an online job posting with New York Business Partners, a marketing firm in NYC, their leading headline was "Ninjas Wanted!" My response email included the headline "Ninja at Your Service" and the opening line "Not just a ninja!... But a half robot, space cowboy!" After a day I received an email requesting a preliminary interview.

Get Social, Networking that is!

Professionally, the way we present our brand messages is changing to include an IMC technique that involves a demand for consumer engagement. As the new staple, having a common knowledge of social networking sites is paramount.

To get socially engaged, look to create your own blog and learn new ways to promote it to friends and colleagues. Get LinkedIn and actively tweet on Twitter. While you are at it, join a social network; preferably one like PROpenMic that will help you to better develop your PR skills by interacting with industry professionals, professors and other young PR students like you. Whatever you do, make your experiences help to establish YOUR personal brand as something desirable to employers.

Many student practitioners at the university I graduated from question the effectiveness of being so involved online. This attitude seems perverse considering this is the most tech savvy generation to-date. Some students only participate in blogs because professor's have required it as part of class projects, and the lack of enthusiasm shows.

The question of whether being involved with social networks directly provides job opportunities is only part of the game. Every firm I've applied with has asked me about my experiences with social media and how I've used it to my advantage. So while the rest of your peers are pawning-off a very crucial part of where the PR profession is going, this is your chance to impress your future employers that what you have to offer are fresh, involved perspectives that will benefit you and the firm.
~

We've taken care of the online hurtle in the hunt for your great PR job. In my last blog entry, we'll look at "Interviews and the Secret Sauce." You'll be surprised at what it really takes.