You are currently browsing the tag archive for the ‘linked in’ tag.
By: Samantha Scott, APR
Grand Poobah / Owner
By now I assume most of you reading this are familiar with LinkedIn® and the power it offers businesses, but are you familiar with how to fully leverage all of its features? We use LinkedIn® for our business, but also leverage it for our clients. In our newest eBook we offer 5 easy tips to help you fully optimize your LinkedIn business page.
Formerly an “online resume” of sorts, LinkedIn® offers quite a lot to businesses, as well as individuals, now, but you have to know how to leverage it. It starts with creating a business page. If you’re not familiar with this part of LinkedIn®, I encourage you to visit their FAQ page for details.
LinkedIn® can be an excellent resource for businesses as well as the individuals that work for them. You can share company news, make connections and add to your communication network, if done properly. Overall, the concept is simple. Provide content and keep it current. Download our free eBook to learn our 5 tips for optimizing your page and if you have questions after reading it, feel free to contact us. info(at)getpushing.com or (239) 221-2858.
By: Annette Venditti
Communications Ally
The new year is nearly upon us and we suggest taking some time away from opening gifts and eating sugar cookies to create your 2013 New Year’s Goals & Resolutions list for your personal and business needs. Each new year is the perfect time to focus on that “to-do” list that is still not done and add some creative items as we move into the new year.
We have put together 13 suggested Goals & Resolutions for 2013, so feel free to borrow these ideas as well as add a few of your own personal favorites:
1. Get Healthy: Personal & Business – We all know one of the first items on everyone’s list every year is to get fit and healthy for the long-term. Keep this one on the list for your own personal health but try a take on getting your business healthy too. How do you do this? Take a good look at your office space and determine if the layout and items in your office are supporting or hindering a healthy and productive environment. Ask your team about ways to improve working conditions like updating office chairs and adding healthy food and drink options for all to enjoy in the new year and beyond.
2. Review & Refresh: Set Goals – Review business goals you set in 2012 and determine what has been achieved and not achieved. Then, set new goals. Create a plan for these newly revised goals with your team to take ensure these goals are met and delivered in a timely manner. Record and track this list as you and your team work on them and follow-up after each is completed to discuss results, lessons learned, etc.
3. Stay Accountable: Support your staff in developing and putting systems in place. Make sure everyone is held personally accountable to making any approved changes that will keep the team motivated and highly productive. Remember to celebrate success often and review, but also measure the one’s that flop to learn how to change the process in the future.
4. Tools & Assets: Revise & Refresh – Have you read your website lately? How about your Facebook page or printed hand-outs/information packets for cultivating new business? Review all your current assets to revise and refresh them over a scheduled period of time so they will be ready for your next big meeting. Don’t forget about updating staff photos and business cards as we do look different after a few years go by and that scratched out, re-written title on your business card is just not good anymore.
5. Measure. Monitor. Reward. - Set up a procedure with all tasks and projects to consistently measure, monitor and reward those involved. These can be used as quantitative date or analytics in your final client report too. Putting checks and balances into place is a great way to see how things are going and to see what worked and what needs to change the next time around.
6. Explore New Media & Technology - Ask your staff – and yourself – to read and research new media and technology on a consistent basis. Things change rapidly and there are always new and better tools and solutions for doing business for you and for your clients.
7. Make The Right Connection: It doesn’t matter who your audience is, but you need to know to whom you’re selling to and make a point to connect with the right people, not just people in general. Most consumers and B2B buyers alike respond to content and ideas that speak to their interests, so take time this year to make that personal connection and let them really know who you are too.
8. Are You Listening? - At every meeting with staff and clients alike, keep in mind the most important concept is listening. Make it your mission to listen more than anything else next year and then use what you have learned to speak and clarify your points and understanding of the task at hand. (You might also review our recent blog on the passive act of communication – listening, too!)
9. Planned Escapes - Everyone needs a physical and/or mental health break during a busy work week. Try setting aside time to grab lunch with co-workers or meet after work for a early evening stop before heading home, just leave your work discussions at the office. These scheduled mini-breaks are proven to keep our minds and bodies in a more relaxed state allowing us to return to work refreshed with increased levels of productivity. On a personal note, make time for a couples or family “stay-cation” over the year, a week or weekend away with your loved ones will be sure to add years to your life and substantially increase your happiness and productivity levels.
10. Pay It Forward: Giving Back - Are you and your business involved in your local community and with your local non-profits? If so, keep up the good work and if not, this is the year to pay it forward and use your successes to reward those who are in the most need. Find organizations that matter to you personally and contact them to find out how you and your business can contribute and volunteer.
11. Seek Answers: Get Educated – Are there areas of your business where you and your staff are feeling you need more information to become better and more efficient? Take the time to commit yourself and your team to continuing education in your specific field of business. Check into local seminars and groups where you can join and share in discussions and feedback. Don’t forget about online media for more educational tools and group discussions.
12. Expand Your Network: Personal & Business - Are you and your business taking full advantage of business networks like LinkedIn? If not, this year is the year to create a LinkedIn page for your business and yourself where you can make connections with individuals and organizations who may work in the same profession or live nearby. These connections will afford you valuable insight into creative solutions and ideas for increasing productivity, new work tools and networking resources for cultivating and meeting new, potential clients. You will also find this business networking platform adds to your social circle as well as you will find new friends within your connected circle.
13. Big Picture View: Don’t get trapped in the tasks themselves and end up forgetting about the big picture. Be sure to schedule meetings during a project and allow updates on each aspect so there is no loss of view or vision for the end goal. Sometimes walking away for a moment allows our brains to stop and breathe so we can then easily see the issues and solutions
Go ahead and start building your 2013 Goals & Resolutions list today! If you need help with any of your 2013 goals, feel free to contact us. We’re just an email or a call away.
By: Susan Frantz
Online Communication Assistant
It’s beginning to feel a little bit spooky over here at PTE! Since we are in the Halloween spirit we thought we would share with you some “scary facts” about Social Media
3 Spooky Social Media
Negative reviews really impact the consumer.
Did you know that about 80% of consumers will change their mind about purchasing, booking, scheduling, etc. if they see even a single negative review? This is why it is so important to constantly manage all of your social media channels in order to respond promptly and address what ever issues the negative reviewer might have.
Social media leads to lead generation for B2C and B2B.
You may already know that Facebook is the largest and most effective social media channel, but did know that 77% of B2C marketers have gotten customers through Facebook. For B2B companies, it was reported by marketing charts that 65% companies who used LinkedIn acquired customers. This is scary good news.
Tweet it out.
Twitter is one of the fastest growing social media outlets. 8% of the United States uses Twitter with 460,000 people creating a new account daily. There are 200 million members of the “twittersphere” and 24% of those users are checking their tweets several times per day. With numbers like these it’s no wonder that 72% of U.S. companies are tweeting!
We hope these spooky facts have helped you to understand just how global social media is. One small review can affect what millions of people are seeing, and one fan can help to draw in multiple more.
References:
We are excited to share we’ve recently expanded our team! Please join us in welcoming, Susan Frantz!
Susan is our Online Communication Assistant. She will coordinate social media and online communication efforts on behalf of PTE’s clients in Florida and around the country. From Facebook to Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest or YouTube, she’ll work closely with Alex to service all of our clients’ online communication needs.
Prior to joining Pushing the Envelope, Frantz worked in the marketing field for a variety of industries including retail and sports management, most notably the Orange Bowl. She is currently studying at Florida Gulf Coast University to obtain her Masters in Business Administration and already has her Bachelors in History from Rollins College and Masters in Education in Sports Administration from the University of Miami.
Want to congratulate her on the new gig? Shoot her an email at susan(at)getpushing.com or call (239) 221-2858!
By Sarah Reaves,
PR Intern at Pushing the Envelope, Inc.
#1 – Resume
Interactive, color, POP! Not the three words that come to mind when you sit down to write a resume.
Communicating is essential in PR so when you can interact and share your creativity through your resume it will (hopefully) up your chances of getting the job.
Fortunately, PR gives you the opportunity to get creative and interact with your audience (i.e. your future boss). I used Photoshop to create my resume but I understand that Photoshop is pricey (especially on a college kid’s budget) and takes some getting used to. I have access to Photoshop via FGCU’s Mac lab but don’t worry if you don’t have the luxury of an on-campus Mac lab. I made almost the exact same copy of my resume using word art and text boxes on Microsoft Word. I wouldn’t suggest adding sparkles or rainbow borders, but a little color doesn’t hurt and definitely stands out. In order to land my previous internship with the Minnesota Twins I added a simple gray baseball in the right corner of my resume and my internship coordinator still talks about it. Bosses see numerous black and white resumes so when they finally come across one with color or one that catches their eye they will appreciate the extra effort.
#2 – Resources
Social media is one of the fastest and easiest resources to network and put your name out there to future employers.
By no means will I ever (ever, ever, EVER) be the “queen of social media” and I don’t aim to be. The Internet and I don’t always see eye to eye, but I’ve learned that online resources are crucial in PR.
It sounds effortless but keeping your LinkedIn, Twitter, Google+, Facebook, etc. profiles current is vital because you never know who is posting a new opportunity or who is looking to hire. They are also great places to post a new blog post or one of your recently published news releases. It gives employers the chance to sample your work. You can turn your social media account into your online professional portfolio.
I know it is easier to delete the annoying e-mails of who added you to their LinkedIn network, who is following you on Twitter, etc. but take a few minutes to do some research. These people are adding/following you for a reason and the saying “it’s all about who you know” might be true. They might be your next boss or could have connections to that internship you’ve been dreaming of landing. Never take your resources for granted and stay on top of who is who in the social media world.
Don’t forget that future employers will probably check your Facebook profile too! Be conscientious of what you post and what kind of viewing capabilities you allow visitors. Not everyone needs to see your sorority pictures or otherwise…
#3 – Real World Experience
Okay, so I may have cheated on this “R” because obviously the key word here is “experience”. I cannot stress enough how important real world experience is. Internships are like a test drive of real life. I consider my internships as bridges. They are my connecting link from college life to the real world.
I can honestly say that I would be lost in PR if I didn’t have internships. I know they are time consuming, but you only have 4 years to intern before you are thrown into the real world. Paid internships are almost unheard of, but even if you can squeeze in 5 hours a week you’ll be better off. Soak it all in while you’re there. I know how it feels to have to pay rent, buy books, groceries, etc., but you can make it work. Last year, I saved my birthday and Christmas money to get me by while I interned with the Twins over spring training. It’s tough but it is possible and definitely worth it.
Hope this helps you if you’re looking to get an internship or even if you’re already in the real world!
Visitors’ Thoughts