A New PR Definition??
Today has been a lazy Saturday for me, I know right?
Considering I have so much coursework to hand in, I kinda need to get moving.
However, there was no way I could NOT have given my two cent piece on the news of PRSA’s new PR definition. For those who are unaware of what I am on about. The Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) are planning to re-define the meaning of Public Relations.
PRSA started an initiative called “Public Relations Defined” in hopes of modernising the definition of public relations. Through an open and collaborative effort, PRSA and its industry partners are providing a platform for public relations, marketing and communications professionals to add their voice to a new definition of PR.
In all fairness, PR is a new profession in comparison to other’s for example Law. Some may agree that it hasn’t quite established itself as a profession amongst other professions. Hence the reason why it made an effort to re- defined itself.
On the other hand, every PR professional knows that no two days are the same. Media changes, there is always something new out there. Public Relations is a profession that always need to evolve in order to tailor messages and so forth so perhaps this is a good thing??
Here are the three CANDIDATE definitions:
DEFINITION NO. 1:
Public relations is the management function of researching, engaging, communicating, and collaborating with stakeholders in an ethical manner to build mutually beneficial relationships and achieve results.
(Read the annotated version here.)
DEFINITION NO. 2:
Public relations is a strategic communication process that develops and maintains mutually beneficial relationships between organizations and their key publics.
(Read the annotated version here.)
DEFINITION NO. 3:
Public relations is the engagement between organizations and individuals to achieve mutual understanding and realize strategic goals.
This new “initiative” has raised a lot of concern for some professionals with most agreeing to candidate #2
On a blog, one person commented:
“I can’t help writing this, folks. Can you really hear yourself using these words to describe what you do? If I described my job this way over dinner with my family, they’d make me pick up the tab. And regarding def #2, whenever I hear someone use the word strategic, I roll my eyes and think: Reaching.
None of these definitions are what I would hold up as a calling card for cogent, concise communication. We’re the folks who write in plain English, right? These definitions sound like something the company legal counsel and HR vp edited the life out of. “
Fair point right?
Such Thing as Wisdom
“A person can have a spot in your heart but no place in your life. Choose wisely so that you can walk in your purpose.”
CIPR Student Rep for Sunderland
I have been nominated to represent my fellow students of the University of Sunderland as a offiicial CIPR Rep (Yayyy!!). This is great news for me as I am completely fond of the work and ethos that the Charted Institute of Public Relations (CIPR) stands for.
I hope to make a great representative not just for the board but also for the students in my class and in the Northeast. I recently attended the “official” meeting for students in Russel Square London where the CIPR Headquarters are based and met lovely, like-minded people as myself who also had a passion for PR.
It’s great that I was able to become a rep within my final year as I have the opportunity to be actively involved in decisions that will affect my career. I gather that if I am effective within my duties, optimistically I may land that dream role in PR.
And let’s be honest, graduate jobs do not come easy especially in the economic climate we are in. Hence the reason why it is so important for us (meaning students) to make the most of our lecturers and their contacts (if they are kind enough) their history and background in the communication industry. It’s vital to not only get that 1st class/ 2:1 degree but also to have the hands on experience to ensure employers that we are the best out there.
I have already witnessed how the PR industry can be quite cut throat however saying this I have also been apart of a community that has helped me repeatedly. If you are a student (or not) and is interested in Public Relations, check out www.cipr.co.uk for more information. You can also get a year membership for £35 in which you receive PR week (weekly magazine) you get money off academic books, work experience contacts and more.
You can also join the conversation (http://conversation.cipr.co.uk/) loads of debates and articles that you can site and reference in your essays!
Pictures of the CIPR Student Rep gang will come later…
x
An Undergraduate Mother. Tad Bit of Motivation. Just a Tad
So I am very aware that I have not been blogging lately. I have had a very (emphasis on very) hectic year. As some of you will know, I became a mother to a beautiful baby boy; which by far is my most outstanding achievement. My last post showed that I was in my second year of my degree and this post now signifies how my hard work and dedication has truly paid of because I am now in my final year at Sunderland.
Nonetheless, I cannot begin to explain how hard it was to get through these past months and how grateful I am for the help and time my tutors at Sunderland University has dedicated to me. The amount of ears have listened to me and not to forget the shoulders I have drenched with flows of emotions. The greatest acknowledgement for me, was how my ability was tested through my pregnancy. I was amazed to realise just how determined, passionate and focussed I was in completing my degree in Public Relations. Another discovery was the lack of faith many had in me.
(8 months pregnant at Uni. Walking around with 7lbs load took its toll)
In some strange way, having my son gave me internal power (not in a superhero way) I feel as if I can do anything, regardless of how impossible it may look. I also take the time out to approach people, say good morning to a stranger, greet someone with a smile. All the small things we take for granted in life can make another person’s day.
I went back to university when my son was a few weeks old to collect some work in which I completed at home. When he was three months I applied for internship programmes in Marketing, Social Media and PR. I was so successful in doing this, that I had to turn down some work. I also had another placement back in Sunderland in Marketing and Research in which I brought my son to every day.
(Baby at 6 months. He fell asleep in company’s bath which was on sale. Lucky to have an employer to accept both of us on Marketing internship)
I am not doing this to brag and to say how amazing I am. I am doing this because I met so many young girls who were in similar positions as me who did not have any good examples of how to keep going. I have become of help to some young women through my experience in which I share tips, advise and give them academic help. It is so hard to keep going when everyone is telling you to stop. But if one has the right mind, put in effort, a bit of sweat then surely, it will pay off.
To be able to stay positive, not knowing what tomorrow may throw at me, not knowing if mentally I could make it to another month has made me stronger. I have become a more confident person, a more compassionate person. I am in love with life. But before everything and anything, I am a mother. I thank God for that blessing every day.
By all means I know my journey in education is not over, being in my final year will only get more challenging but without a shadow of doubt I know I can do it.
And I will do it well.
(My joy, my life- together now.)
Making it through Social Networking
Again, I have another inspired post.
I have been on Twitter, tweeting away, I looked at one of my follower’s profile and noticed that she was following someone who I was interested in. So I clicked away from her profile onto that person’s and began following them, then noticed he was following someone whose name I recognised. So again…I clicked away from his profile and onto her profile and realised she was an author who I quoted in my essay.
I then decided to tweet her, letting her know how amazing and intellectual I found her work. Not expecting her to tweet back as she has thousands of followers, I began following some other people from the industry. Little did I know, I had a response from her, letting me know how appreciated she felt from receiving my tweet. That made my day.
Gone are the days where you couldn’t meet your most desired person so easily, now all you have to know is their name and Google will do the rest. This was not my first experience in getting someone to acknowledge my presence but it was still as important. I am not the first person to have used social networking sites to get noticed and I can certainly say with confidence, I won’t be the last.
People all over the world are using this simple and awarding device to get their work out there.
This little fella here, is the perfect example. Justin Bieber took to YouTube to show of his musical talents. The Canadian singer who also plays the guitar and piano got recognised by award-winning singer Usher who has now signed him to his record label.
Jessie J is another great example. Although she had a record deal previously to her social networking days. I remember watching a video of Jessie J not knowing anything about her. I genuinely liked her vocals. Then about 2 months later people began sharing her link from videos all over Facebook and now she is in the charts with her music ranking at #2 on the playlist.
My point is, employers are now looking at Facebook and Twitter as a means to know more about their potential employees. While they are people out there trying to get noticed by employers. Not to forget the people out there who are taking matters into their own hands by being their own boss on social networking sites. For example new mothers who have created weblog on their experience can generate a great traffic which may bring in revenue from advertisers such as Johnson.
This is a great revolution that not many people are making the most out of. You can make it through social networking!
Reasons for Business to Incorporate Social Media.
Social Media has taken off by storm. I don’t think 5 years ago people could have imagined how enormous, powerful and effective (did I mention inexpensive) social media would become. Come to think of it, I didn’t know such phrase “social media” existed. And I certainly did not expect that I would be getting assessed on my very own social media weblog.
Truly its amazing how one person can have such invention. However, it is still shocking that business are not grabbing this wonderful opportunity to showcase themselves as well as their goods on-line. This is the time and space to utilise social media platforms to get brand images out to the public.
Here are some reasons why you should put your business online
1. Your Brand can hit the Big Time
Just like that small town girl who had dreams of hitting Hollywood, well so can your brand. The marketers three P’s the right product at the right price in the right place. If you have the right product that people are looking for and at the right price then surely if you are on-line you are at the right place. You no longer have to spend a huge amount on advertising or marketing. Your customers can find you and will come to you at their convenience. It is accessible, measurable and always available.
2. You can get accurate customer feedback
Due to the anonymity of the web, people are more likely to tell the truth on-line than they are face-to-face. With great feedback you will be able to target messages more appropriately.
3. Multimedia
With multimedia, you can showcase your brand/products, with video tutorials, music, HD pictures and etc. This can add value to your brand/products. It’s a great way to attract new customers as well as to inform and persuade them on they type of business you have.
4. Customers are everywhere!
Unlike the real world where your business may be stationary for example in an office space on the High Street. On-line is a virtual world, where anyone and everyone can access YOUR goods globally! You can also target an open audience.
5. Increase Public Interest and Awareness
YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, MySpace the whole lot! These social networking sites provide you with a lot of potential customers. Put your information out there, get the public talking and becoming familiar with your brand.
6. You can make money off making money
If your website has a lot of richness to it, then it can generate trafficking which will have advertisers interested. This is a great way for you to make money from making money.
Dear Social Media Nerds…
This post is to encourage all my wonderful, social media nerds who are just like me (okay, maybe not exactly like me) to continue social networking!!
Nonetheless, this post will be looking at the 15 Most Popoular Social Networking Websites that are loved all around the world. Upon researching this topic, I was in amazement to see the great variety of social media sites and the reach they have achieved.
Statistics derived from eBizMBA Rank, Alexa Global Traffic Rank and U.S Traffic Rank from Quantcast and Compete
Feel free to check them out…
1 | facebook
2 - eBizMBA Rank | 550,000,000 - Estimated Unique Monthly Visitors | 3 - Compete Rank |2 - Quantcast Rank | 2 - Alexa Rank.
Most Popular Social Networking Websites | Updated 5/10/2011 | eBizMBA
2 | twitter
17 - eBizMBA Rank | 95,800,000 - Estimated Unique Monthly Visitors | 35 - Compete Rank| 7 - Quantcast Rank | 10 - Alexa Rank.
Most Popular Social Networking Websites | Updated 5/10/2011 | eBizMBA
3 | MySpace
34 - eBizMBA Rank | 80,500,000 - Estimated Unique Monthly Visitors | 20 - Compete Rank| 25 - Quantcast Rank | 56 - Alexa Rank.
Most Popular Social Networking Websites | Updated 5/10/2011 | eBizMBA
4 | Linkedin
47 - eBizMBA Rank | 50,000,000 - Estimated Unique Monthly Visitors | 61 - Compete Rank| 50 - Quantcast Rank | 29 - Alexa Rank.
Most Popular Social Networking Websites | Updated 5/10/2011 | eBizMBA
5 | Ning
143 - eBizMBA Rank | 42,000,000 - Estimated Unique Monthly Visitors | 180 - Compete Rank | 120 - Quantcast Rank | 128 - Alexa Rank.
Most Popular Social Networking Websites | Updated 5/10/2011 | eBizMBA
6 | Tagged
225 - eBizMBA Rank | 30,000,000 - Estimated Unique Monthly Visitors | 382 - Compete Rank | 151 - Quantcast Rank | 141 - Alexa Rank.
Most Popular Social Networking Websites | Updated 5/10/2011 | eBizMBA
7 | hi5
479 - eBizMBA Rank | 27,000,000 - Estimated Unique Monthly Visitors | 983 - Compete Rank | 392 - Quantcast Rank | 62 - Alexa Rank.
Most Popular Social Networking Websites | Updated 5/10/2011 | eBizMBA
8 | myyearbook
617 - eBizMBA Rank | 12,000,000 - Estimated Unique Monthly Visitors | 522 - Compete Rank | 293 - Quantcast Rank | 1,036 - Alexa Rank.
Most Popular Social Networking Websites | Updated 5/10/2011 | eBizMBA
9 | Meetup
635 - eBizMBA Rank | 8,000,000 - Estimated Unique Monthly Visitors | 644 - Compete Rank | 732 - Quantcast Rank | 528 - Alexa Rank.
Most Popular Social Networking Websites | Updated 5/10/2011 | eBizMBA
10 | bebo
655 - eBizMBA Rank | 7,000,000 - Estimated Unique Monthly Visitors | 944 - Compete Rank | 434 - Quantcast Rank | 588 - Alexa Rank.
Most Popular Social Networking Websites | Updated 5/10/2011 | eBizMBA
11 | mylife
865 - eBizMBA Rank | 6,000,000 - Estimated Unique Monthly Visitors | 118 - Compete Rank | 688 - Quantcast Rank | 1,789 - Alexa Rank.
Most Popular Social Networking Websites | Updated 5/10/2011 | eBizMBA
12 | friendster
955 - eBizMBA Rank | 5,000,000 - Estimated Unique Monthly Visitors | 1,920 - Compete Rank | 643 - Quantcast Rank | 301 - Alexa Rank.
Most Popular Social Networking Websites | Updated 5/10/2011 | eBizMBA
13 | myHeritage
1,097 - eBizMBA Rank | 4,800,000 - Estimated Unique Monthly Visitors | 707 - Compete Rank | 595 - Quantcast Rank | 1,989 - Alexa Rank.
Most Popular Social Networking Websites | Updated 5/10/2011 | eBizMBA
14 | Multiply
1,136 - eBizMBA Rank | 4,600,000 - Estimated Unique Monthly Visitors | 2,446 - Compete Rank | 677 - Quantcast Rank | 285 - Alexa Rank.
Most Popular Social Networking Websites | Updated 5/10/2011 | eBizMBA
15 | orkut
1,303 - eBizMBA Rank | 4,500,000 - Estimated Unique Monthly Visitors | 2,219 - Compete Rank | *1,630* - Quantcast Rank | 59 - Alexa Rank.
Most Popular Social Networking Websites | Updated 5/10/2011 | eBizMBA
Any surprises there? I’m quite shocked to see that Myspace is still up in the top 3. I remember when Myspace was #1. It goes to show how social trends change. Facebook has been in the top place for quite a while now. It makes me question whether our Facebook social trend will change and what it will be next. Somehow, I doubt it will change- well perhaps, not any time soon.
My predictions for late 2011/2012 is that Twitter will slowly take over Facebook. However, Facebook will never loose as people have already established relationships, uploaded thousand of pictures, videos and etc on there. It will be time consuming and of a bother for people to start all over again.
Man on Street Vox Pop- What is PR??
The power of YouTube is enigmatic! I absolutely love social networking because of this.
I am able to laugh, cry and explore all sorts of emotions when using this platform. Then I am able to share it with all my friends of Facebook and right now on WordPress.
I saw this video on You Tube which had me rolling on the floor in laughter within the first 30 seconds because it was ridiculously funny… and so inspired this post. Not only was this short clip funny but it was also informative as a student to see how the general public perceived public relations and the relevance it plays today
within society.
Take a peep…
Take a look at part 2…
Celebrity Public Relations- A facade!
…”So boy meets girl, girl falls in love and the rest is history. “
What’s wrong with this statement??
If only life was so easy eh?
Here’s a short clip of the “wonderful”, “glorious” world of public relations….*notice the speech marks* Watch it till the end. Surely PR cannot be this easy. This clip also reminds me of an argument on how “truthful” public relations can be. It’s also a shame that Public Relations stunts have become so obvious (- such a cliché). If my job could be that easy then someone needs to kindly and quickly show me where I can sign up. But saying this, I rather not be involved in creating an illusion based on fakery just to generate publicity in order to make money.
Swiftly moving on, watch this clip and let me know what you think!
