Orange Slices

By David French

My partner Robb and I recently adopted our fourth rescue Doberman, Eli. He’s two-and-a-half-years’ old, so we knew that among our daily responsibilities we’d be adding vigorous exercise to expend puppy energy, plus a training regimen. But we didn’t immediately pick up on anxiety issues that caused him to be hyper-protective and aggressive. A few days after we brought him home, he nailed Robb.

The agreement with the rescue organization was that, in the event of a bite, he had to be returned and quarantined for 10 days. And, as he was a rescue, he couldn’t be adopted by anyone else.

As we were struggling with whether to take him back, we received great counseling from a noted veterinary behaviorist. She gave us a specific training protocol to make Eli calmer and help him trust and defer to us as the alpha members of his pack, while allowing him to do the job for which his breed was created—vigilance and protection. Part of the training is acknowledging his alerts to perceived threats, but then stepping in: “You can relax and be confident that I’ve got this situation.”

What does this mean for clients?

I’ve drawn several parallels to this experience and our interaction with clients. Like the behaviorist, we aspire to be the experts to whom clients turn for counsel. But that doesn’t mean we demand attention or take control. Just as the behaviorist instructed us, our goal is to command trust and confidence. We may be award-winning creatives, Pulitzer Prize-worthy writers or supreme strategists, but if we lack the client’s trust and confidence in more than our output, none of those capabilities will ever contribute to a long-standing relationship and real, meaningful results.

Technical proficiencies are table stakes; every client expects and deserves the very best in execution and implementation. But technical proficiency alone engenders only confidence in the work product. It is RLF’s culture that the sort of deep trust and confidence I’m talking about comes from being truly invested in the client’s business, acting as if it were our own.

How do we do that? We foster partnership. We favor being forward-thinking and proactive, rather than maintaining the status quo or, worse, being reactive. And we’re there when they need us around the clock, on weekends and holidays. Clients benefit from having much more than a responsive, capable vendor; they have expert counsel invested in their success.

I’m happy to report that based on our trust and confidence in the expert—and in ourselves—we took Eli back. We’ve got a lot of work yet ahead, but his trust and confidence in us is growing. I believe if we maintain our commitment to create the same relationship with every client, we’ll be as we hope for Eli: vigilant, protective and effective for the long term.

By Michelle Rash

I had been a mom for a little more than three years when I made the career switch from reporting to PR. Now, 18 months later, I realize that many of the skills I need to fill my role as “Mommy” to a very precocious and adorable daughter are also beneficial in my job.

While I am sure that many of my parenting skills help me at work (and vice versa), here are five of the most significant:

Juggling many tasks

One of the first things any new mom learns is how to do multiple things at the same time. Feeding a baby while brushing your teeth, sorting the laundry and checking email  – no problem! Now that my daughter is older, juggling often involves keeping her entertained while cooking dinner and making sure her soccer uniform is ready for that evening’s game (and checking email of course).

In PR, we often have that same need to balance various tasks while doing them all well. Our clients often have different needs and priorities and it is essential that we can move seamlessly from pitching the media about one client to monitoring social media for another, while responding to urgent emails from a third.

Reacting quickly in a crisis

As a parent, I often need to respond quickly to the crisis du jour, either real or imagined. That means finding the right solution for the problem – from healing a scrape with a band-aid and a kiss, or hiding invisible monster traps at night to help my daughter fall asleep.

While the challenges are quite different, working in PR requires that same ability. Whether it’s bad publicity, potential legal problems or a tough legislative environment, my job is to think quickly and creatively to generate the best possible outcome for my client.

Working 24/7

It’s no secret among parents that once the baby is born, the good night’s sleep is gone. It may be staying up all night with a crying infant, taking care of a sick preschooler or worrying about a teenager, but parenting is a 24-hour a day job. And while you may not always like the hours, you accept them as the nature of the job.

The same can be said of PR. I have needed to catch pre-dawn flights for early client meetings, stayed up late to meet a deadline, and dealt with a client crisis on a Friday night.  When you take on the job, you accept that it will not always be strictly from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Being flexible

While never knowing exactly what the day will hold is one of my favorite things about both being a mom and working in PR, it also requires some flexibility in scheduling and an acceptance that everything on the day’s to-do list may not get done.

Before becoming a mom, I was definitely a planner. While I still have that tendency, I am now more comfortable with going with the flow. Otherwise, I might risk missing a last-minute opportunity to secure some great media coverage for my client or a special moment of blowing dandelion fluff and making wishes with my daughter.

Answering tough questions

Like many preschoolers, my daughter is very inquisitive and we have definitely hit the stage of the “Why” question, which on any given day can run the gamut from “Why do some people have brown hair and some people have blonde hair?” to “Why is ice cream cold?” I have to be prepared with an honest, easy to understand answer, no matter what the question.

Similarly, in PR, I am often asked tough questions – from clients seeking more information before making a decision to journalists weighing whether to use a client as a source. I must respond as openly and honestly as possible, providing them with the information they need in a timely manner.

As my daughter gets older, and her needs, wants and interests change (I anticipate that the teenage years will bring on a whole new set of challenges), I expect to gain even more skills and insight that will help me to both grow as a mom and succeed professionally. But for now, I am prepared to keep juggling multiple tasks, reacting to crises and answering tough questions – at home and at work. Are you prepared?

By Mark Tosczak

Believe it or not, a lot of businesses – perhaps most businesses – are still not active in social media. For those of us in the fishbowl of marketing and public relations, this may seem like an astounding assertion, but it’s true.

In my own life, I think about friends and neighbors who own body shops, chiropractic practices, are partners in law firms or physician-owners of medical clinics. I can also think of a number of sizeable companies that have stayed mostly or entirely away from social media due to resource limitations and regulatory concerns.

To all of those businesses, big and little, I have a message:  It’s time.

Even if you’re not active in social media, your company already is, whether you like it or not. Customers and prospects are talking about you on Facebook and Twitter. News outlets, if they are covering your business in print, over the air or on the Web, are almost certainly also tweeting the story, sharing it on Facebook and posting it to LinkedIn.

Are you listening to this online conversation?

Companies like Facebook and LinkedIn, whether you like it or not, have plucked your company’s name and address out of public databases and put up pages about your firm, pulling information from search engines and other sources – sometimes soliciting input from the public.

Is that information even accurate? Have you checked?

Chances are, your employees are talking about you, your competitors and your industry. They’re talking about if they like their jobs or bosses – or hate them. Your sales force – maybe even if you’ve told them not to – is probably using social media in some fashion in their work.

Do you know what they’re saying? Do you have a social media policy or a way to enforce it?

Even if your business is not active on social media, chances are that some (or all) of your competitors are. They may be reaching out to customers and clients (maybe yours?) and recruiting employees (maybe yours).

Do you know what your competitors are saying and doing online?

Here’s the bottom line:  Your company may not be ready to tweet, link to or friend people, but you need to start working toward the day when you are ready. And a first step in doing that is to start listening online to the conversations that are already happening (even if you’re not a part of them).

There are a number of robust, commercial applications out there for monitoring social media for specific topics and keywords. But as a first step, consider some free services. Start with Google alerts and then add some of the many free tools that are available, and you’ll start to hear how people are talking about your brand and your industry.

Photo courtesy of Alan Cleaver.

By Jennie Klahre

The Bachelor, ABC’s popular reality television show, has been helping people find love since 2002. And this season is no exception as lovestruck contestants recently introduced the Bachelor, Ben Flajnik, to their families on the “hometown date” episode.

Contestant Courtney Robertson takes the Bachelor to her hometown. Photo courtesy of ABC.

But while many have loved, loved and lost, or just simply lost this season, everyone has had the opportunity to learn.

For example, contestants this year have learned how to make an appropriate entrance onto the show (preferably on a horse or with your grandmother at your side), how to compare any activity to falling in love or getting married, and how to spend more airtime crying than talking to the Bachelor.

You can also learn some equally important lessons from the show. They may not be quite as riveting or dramatic, but they are more useful in public relations, especially when it comes to pitching media.

Use your time wisely

With The Bachelor

Host Chris Harrison has warned many a Bachelor contestant this season to use her time with Prince Charming wisely. The contestants are vying for the attention of one man, so it’s important they be interesting and memorable. This generally means:  Avoid trash talking the Bachelor’s other girlfriends during one-on-one time, attempt to make intelligent conversation rather than commenting on the pretty ocean, and divulge every personal life detail (like that time you were dumped via text message). After all, if you’re unable to impress the Bachelor with your sparkling personality while shark diving off the coast of Belize, it’s pretty safe to conclude you aren’t worthy of his time.

With reporters

While public relations professionals don’t generally have to gain the attention of reporters by jumping 500 feet out of moving helicopters, they do face the challenge of standing out in a crowd. As reporters juggle tight deadlines and limited time to report and write stories, PR specialists must make their email and phone pitches quick and enticing. A good pitch will grab the reporter’s attention and persuade him or her to ask for more information. On her blog, Erica Swallow, a contributing writer for Mashable and CNN, urges PR professionals to “limit the PR jargon and just be a human.” So, don’t get lost in the details while writing a pitch, but instead focus on hitting main points and ideas. Clarity and conciseness will go a long way.

Don’t burn bridges

With other Bachelor contestants

Bachelor contestants are notorious for passive-aggressive cat fights, trash talking and backstabbing – either because they are too infatuated with the Bachelor to think straight or because they think it will put them on the fast-track to stardom.  When contestant Emily O’Brien told the Bachelor about her on-camera tiff with contestant Courtney Robertson this season, it didn’t go over smoothly. The Bachelor reminded her that she’s on the show to win his affection, not Robertson’s. While this is true, I also would have told her that grudges and the stress they bring are rarely worth it.

With reporters

It’s always important to be honest and professional with reporters, both in and out of the office. Cultivating relationships through effective communication is important because it helps both parties do their jobs a little better. Reporters have go-to sources they can call for information and PR specialists have media professionals they can reach out to with story ideas. Stirring up bad blood will only make things more difficult in the long-run because reporters have a network of connections. So, avoid negative exchanges, take the high road if you are being treated unfairly or disrespectfully, and don’t say anything you might regret later.

Accept and move on

To the Bachelorette

If you don’t get a rose from the Bachelor, it’s time to move on. While contestants have been known to sob hysterically, make a dramatic exit, or even almost faint, life does go on after the show ends. As Robertson said this season, “Ben’s not the only guy in the world.” And she’s right. There’s always The Bachelorette, a spin-off of The Bachelor, for the losers other women.

To the next story idea

If a reporter can’t use a particular story idea, don’t sweat it. Not every pitch will be a perfect match for every news outlet. The reporter may be going in a different direction with a particular story or may be too close to deadline. Avoid taking a rejected story idea personally and simply move on to the next opportunity. Learn each publication’s niche and tailor your pitch to fit a specific topic that’s covered.

As the contestants head off to Switzerland next week, the stakes will be even higher and the goal of finding love (in a hopeless place) will be that much closer. Hopefully a few lessons will be learned along the way – be they learning to ski on fake snow in San Francisco or pitching media outlets successfully. Either way, it’s important to keep your eye on the prize… er, rose.

By Caroline Nobles

Social media professionals and sports fans alike are eagerly awaiting Super Bowl XLVI this Sunday night. Debates have already blossomed around the showdown between the New York Giants and the New England Patriots. Will the event be a rematch of Super Bowl XLII or a sequel to the game in 2007?

Whether you’re hosting a Super Bowl bash or curling up on the couch to watch the Patriots, Giants or the highly publicized Volkswagen commercial, social media will certainly be abuzz with Super Bowl fever. As many of us are professional and personal users of social media, we can learn from athletes and teams using the same channels. What are they doing to get results, and how can we do the same?

Photo courtesy of emma.kate's Flickr photostream.

Be engaged and active.

Athletes and teams who use social media successfully are constantly adding and updating content. They talk about upcoming games, chat with other athletes, promote special events or banter with rivals. Their goals may differ, but successful users are continuously linking, updating, following and talking.

Think outside the box.

When NBA superstar Shaquille O’Neal announced his retirement from basketball, he didn’t follow the norm and hold a press conference. Instead, he posted a 15-second video to Tout, thanking his fans and informing them he was stepping down from the game. Last fall, to engage people via Twitter in the Battle for the Golden Egg between Mississippi State and the University of Mississippi, Mississippi State painted #HAILSTATE in one end zone. “Hashtagging” the end zone was an innovative way to marry sports enthusiasm with social media. Generating ideas and tactics that might be slightly outside your comfort zone just may provide the inspiration needed to start conversation.

Follow athletes in and out of your sport.

Athletes follow other athletes via Twitter in their own sport and outside of their sport. There are always opportunities to learn from others in and out of your field. Eli Manning, quarterback for the Giants, doesn’t only follow his teammates on Twitter;  he also follows NBA star LeBron James, quarterbacks Drew Brees and Aaron Rodgers, and ESPN reporter Rachel Nichols.  Use social media to keep up with colleagues, competitors and industry news. Untapped ideas, pitching opportunities, marketing tools, story ideas and other useful content is always available.

Promote yourself.

Sports teams and athletes use social media to talk about themselves, their products and their brands. With the Super Bowl quickly approaching, players on the Patriots and Giants aren’t talking about The World Series. Sports bloggers aren’t blogging about the U.S. Open. No, athletes, writers, reporters and sponsors are tweeting, posting, liking and blogging about the Big Game. So, use social media to your advantage and promote yourself. Promote a new product or brand through Facebook or YouTube. Blog about awards or recognitions your company, client or product earns. Launch a Twitter campaign to increase website awareness. The possibilities are endless.

Avoid the penalty flag.

While many sports figures maintain a professional image when using social media, there are athletes who abuse the privilege.  Once you start using social media, you place yourself in the public eye. A seemingly innocent status update or tweet may be misinterpreted and result in the loss of a client or sponsorship. Champion dropped its endorsement deal with Rashard Mendenhall, running back for the Pittsburgh Steelers, after an ill-timed and controversial tweet. Proofread and edit your content, and don’t post in frustration or anger. Maintain a professional image – one that demonstrates your expertise and mirrors your values.

Set goals and break records.

Whether you’re trying to break into the social media scene or become more engaged, set reachable goals. We can’t all be like Tim Tebow and set a record of 9,420 tweets per second. We can, however, set objectives such as tweeting at least three times per day, posting links and updates to Facebook once a day, blogging two to three times per month, and building our LinkedIn connections. Consistency is the first step to a winning effort.

No matter how you spend your Super Bowl Sunday, social media will play a key role in event coverage. Make a conscious effort to observe how other athletes and professionals use these online tools to generate coverage and awareness, and decide what strategies and tactics you can employ to get the most out of your social media.

How do you plan on using social media on Super Bowl Sunday?

Caroline Nobles is an assistant account executive who can be reached at @carolinenobles during the game.

By Emily Browder

Before day one of your first internship, did you envision yourself as Anne Hathaway in “The Devil Wears Prada?” I.e. fetching coffee, endlessly making copies, filing papers and reporting to a demanding, outrageous boss?  Well, in reality I hope that none of you will ever have an experience like that!

According to the National Association of Colleges and Employers, behind communication skills, internships are ranked as the second most important quality employers look for in potential candidates. In a communications field, that means internship experience is an important component in securing a job.

As the internship coordinator at RLF, what’s my advice to you based on this fact? Make yourself more marketable in a tough economy by landing several internships prior to graduation. This proves that you have initiative, builds and boosts your portfolio, provides valuable references for the future and gives you much needed interviewing experience. Not to mention, by having several internships you will have a better feel for your job interests/abilities and be better prepared to make an informed decision about your future career path.

Below are some tips for current interns and students seeking internships.

Tips for current interns:

1.  Proactivity. Think of ways to make your supervisor’s life easier. Whether it is raising your hand to volunteer for a task or thinking one step ahead, a proactive intern will be appreciated (and remembered).

2.  Engagement. If the goal of your internship is to learn and gain real world experience, be engaged and ask questions. Asking questions is a great way to learn about the industry. 

3.  Resourcefulness. While asking questions is important, try to find the answer yourself first. Look at previous, similar work to gauge a template or trend.

4.  Proof everything. Proof everything, again. Think about the assignments in your internship as an assignment for school. Turn in only A+ work because you never know if your internship could turn into a job offer (or at least serve as a reference).

Tips for finding an internship:

1.  Network. Network. Network. People often say, “It is all about who you know” and, well, they are usually right. Personal or professional connections can help put you in touch with the right person within a company and lead to a job offer.

2.  Career center. I am a huge advocate of working with the career counselors/career service center at your college or university and sharing your career goals with your professors. They have inside experience that can be extremely valuable when it comes to getting you connected with the right people in your desired industry.

3.  Google. Research the career pages of company websites in the area you hope to work. Most companies will have an email address where you can inquire about employment opportunities or submit a resume online.

4.  Social media. Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn are good resources for finding potential employment options or information about companies of interest. For example:  RLF posts on Facebook and Twitter every semester when we start interviewing interns.

Over the past few years, college graduates have been faced with a dismal job market after graduation. The ever-so-competitive work environment leaves many college graduates accepting internships, instead of full-time positions, after walking across the stage. The reality is that internships are extremely beneficial on a variety of levels. Besides a new standard in job market demands, internships can help solidify the direction for your career. In my opinion, it is never too early to start gaining internship experience and I promise you can never have too many, either.

At RLF, we are proud to offer a fulfilling and versatile internship program with outstanding compensation. We offer spring, summer and fall internships with 10 to 12 interns per year.

Please feel free to send your resume and writing samples to me if you are interested in applying for a summer position – ebrowder@rlfcommunications.com.

By AK Brinson

A few years ago, I fell in love with aluminum Christmas trees. I must admit, at first I was surprised by my love for these gaudy items of holiday cheer.  As a PR practitioner with expertise in furnishings and home décor, I’ve always prided myself on my good taste. A “find your style” quiz from HomeGoods.com proclaimed me an Elegant Classic – someone with a refined sensibility and an appreciation for beauty, things that are well crafted and family heirlooms.

But as soon as I purchased my first opulently blingy aluminum tree, my refined sensibility was discarded faster than Aunt Edna’s fruitcake.  I bought an eye-catching, bright white tree for my house and decked it with ornaments in bold hues of red, green, pink and blue.

And much to the chagrin of my co-workers, I brought a shocking pink tree into the office and filled its branches with ornaments in silver, white and Tiffany blue. This year, I agreed to appease the grinches and set up a smaller aluminum tree (this time in classic green) in the front lobby.

I eventually made peace with my obsession for tacky tannenbaums. They were to be my guilty pleasure, something that would surface once a year to remind me that all that glitters need not be gold. So imagine my surprise when perusing MarthaStewart.com to see a post written by Martha herself about her love for fake, sparkly, colorful aluminum Christmas trees! Oh, the relief! The validation! If the domestic doyenne herself lauded faux fir, I must be doing something right!

The moral of the story is this: To thine own self be true. Build your brand on your strongest assets and proceed steadily in a consistent direction despite the grinches and naysayers. Try to be all things to all people and you’ll likely end up being nothing to anyone. But if you can firmly establish your identity and stick by it, your brand has a much better chance of meaning something to the people who matter.

By Emily Thomas

It’s December. We’re officially less than 20 days from Christmas, and our free time is consumed with festive activities – and from attending parties to baking treats, social media is playing a key role in the season.

Facebook and Holiday Parties

Attending a holiday party? You likely received your invitation via Facebook. “Join” the event, as in RSVP “yes,” and your projected presence will be shared on your news feed, which may influence another invitee’s decision to attend. If you become friends with another attendee after the event, your news feed will announce that the two of you became friends after attending the same holiday event.

In an effort to synergize your social agenda, you can also link your Facebook calendar to your smartphone calendar. How on Earth did you manage your holiday social calendar before Facebook?

The Modern Day Wish List

Remember the days of circling your most coveted items in the Sears catalog, then sending your hand-written wish list to Santa?  Maybe as you got older, you emailed your loved ones a wish list in the form of an Excel document, complete with URLs of where the gifts could be purchased. Those days are long gone—with the development of online wish lists, like Amazon’s Wishlist—you can add your most desired items from around the internet to one central location. Like a wedding registry, your friends and family can then shop the list by entering your email address. Final step? You can share your wish list via Facebook and/or Twitter.

It’s also a popular practice to share individual items on your own page or, for those who aren’t fond of hinting around, on the pages of your friends and family.

Liking/Following = Holiday Discounts?

These days, seemingly every legitimate company has a Facebook fan page and/or Twitter account, and many will offer special holiday promotions to their fans and followers. Keep that in mind when you’re completing your holiday shopping!

Pinning: The New Kid on the Block

The new kid on the social media block, but quickly gaining popularity, is Pinterest. Pinterest is a network of online pin boards where each user can pin interesting items from around the web. Users can browse categories to view other users’ pins. Of course, with the holiday season upon us, a hot pinboard topic is anything and everything relating to the holidays. From recipes, decorations and party ideas, to coveted gifts, Pinterest users find inspiration everywhere.

Just like our various and sundry forms of communication, the way we celebrate the season has evolved. We turn to social media instead of the catalog, pen and paper. In exchange for dusting off your grandmother’s old cookbook to scour for new recipes, we hit up online pinboards. Maybe this year you’ll choose to send out e-cards instead of splurging on hard copies and postage. Whatever your M.O. for celebrating the season this year, remember to slow down, take the time to enjoy your loved ones and keep in mind that some traditions are worth keeping.

By Aleasha Vuncannon

RLF Communications recently spent two days with 400+ destination marketers at the VA-1 Tourism Summit in Richmond, Va. VA-1 is an annual event for Virginia’s tourism industry to network, share destination marketing trends and discover new strategies.

RLF attended the conference as part of our ongoing work with the Chesapeake Convention & Visitors Bureau. We captured many valuable takeaways from the event, including opportunities to leverage current travel trends. The Virginia Tourism Corporation’s research team led one of the conference’s breakout sessions and shared five ways destination marketers can win travelers’ love and money in 2012.

1.  Create and reinforce local, authentic messaging

Consumers crave to reach out, experience something distinct and slow down when traveling. Destination marketers can fulfill these desires by focusing on value and reinforcing a local message. From shopping to dining, consumers want to experience a destination’s culture and personality. There’s a unique opportunity for marketers to help travelers on this discovery. For example, when developing itineraries and creating tips for things to do, offer this advice as a guide with only three or four must-dos. Leave the rest for visitors to discover on their own.

 2.  That promotes experiences, not products

Trip Advisor’s 2012 travel forecast indicates a renewed interest in cultural trips with consumers looking to fuse precious downtime with enriching experiences. And, they want to share these experiences through social networks. As marketers, it’s critical that we speak the same language by effectively communicating what consumers want to feel and experience, and deliver on that promise.

 3.  Communicate your message at the right time

Weekend trips are becoming more popular over traditional, seven-day vacations with consumers taking several small trips each year. In fact, according to Trip Advisor’s 2012 travel forecast, 90 percent of its survey respondents plan to take two or more leisure getaways next year. Vacation planning time averages one or two months with 25 percent of trips planned in less than a week!

The success of travel flash sale sites such as LivingSocial Escapes and Gilt Groupe Jetsetter echo this trend and offer excellent examples of how companies appeal to recession-fatigued consumers looking for last-minute getaways. Destination marketing organizations should follow suit and look for ways to bundle packages or offer exclusive discounts to key audiences.

4.  And with the right media

Consumers today are social and mobile, and they consume media simultaneously. It’s more critical than ever to maintain an integrated presence across print, broadcast and online media to maintain brand awareness among target audiences. Social media is a must, but it’s not enough to merely maintain a presence. Marketers need to engage consumers with ongoing dialogue and compelling content.

5.  Don’t meet, but exceed expectations

Travelers continue to see destination marketing organizations as a partner before, during and after their adventures. There’s a unique opportunity for marketers to embrace this supporting role and exceed travelers’ expectations. Consumers are vocal about sharing experiences, and this includes the good, the bad and the average. It’s our job as marketers to help them spread what’s awesome about a destination.

By Monty Hagler

WORLDCOM Public Relations Group – America’s Region Annual Mtg from RLF Communications on Vimeo.

The above video shares remarks from Jeff Cole, director of University of Southern California’s Annenberg Center for the Digital Future. Jeff spoke at the recent WORLDCOM Public Relations Group conference in Hawaii that I attended, and I thought it was an informative, insightful talk (and follow up conversation) about how digital media is reshaping communications. I was particularly interested in his view that tablet computers are going to replace virtually all personal computers, and what that means for how we create, view, share and process information.