Out with the Old, in with the New

[Due to unforeseen circumstances, the following blog post has been published in hindsight and was originally written for publication on Friday 18th October 2013]

Hello, all!

I hope your placements are going smoothly. I see some of you have already finished -- congratulations! I can just about see the end of my placement over the horizon.

In today's day and age, social media has taken the world by storm. Blogs like Marcia's have been cropping up left, right and centre, and are vital for many industries as means to get information out that traditional news platforms might not cover. Over the last few shifts with Marcia, we've been doing a lot of brainstorming and thinking about where we want her blog Style Voyeur to go. The blog industry is a tricky one, and while blogging is fun for the most part, it is also incredibly time consuming, and time is an important resource if you're earning your income elsewhere. When I first saw Marcia at the Women In Media panel discussion earlier this year (as mentioned in my first post), she brought up some of the challenges she faces in regards to blogging for Style Voyeur:

• Sleepless nights -- this was her biggest frustration with blogging, and it is just part of the bigger picture: the need for newsworthiness. Certain events need to be blogged about the day they happen, otherwise others beat you to it and you lose newsworthiness. Blogs are often competing with each other for the best coverage, and while certain events or issues naturally garner lots of coverage, blogs will have better leverage if they are the first to get their stories out. As such, and especially during busy periods in the industry, bloggers will find themselves losing sleep over how much needs to be covered, photographed, written, interviewed, researched, and finally published. While this is done all the time in newsrooms around the world, we often forget that blogs are...
• One man bands: Marcia highlighted this as a blessing in theory, but a nightmare in reality. She, and many other blogs owned by just one person, are constantly competing with large media corporations, who can have multiple people working on a story and all the resources and talents available to them. While it is great to have all the power in making executive decisions, hiring extra hands is difficult because:
• Marcia's voice (style of coverage), expertise and taste in visuals is difficult to teach
• Her blog is not her main source of income (in fact, it's not even a source of income), and therefore it will not sustain employing additional team members
• Blogging is much more time consuming than it looks, particularly when they contain multimedia and quotes from interviewees. It can and sometimes is as credible and thorough as the news stories you may find in traditional media platforms. This ties into the two issues stated above.
• It is not commercially viable: Marcia earns no money off Style Voyeur, and given the time, effort and resources that go into maintaining the blog, it is soon coming clear that the outcome of having a successful, competitive blog that supports her career as a stylist and vice versa is difficult to sustain. 

After lots of brainstorming and discussion, we came to the conclusion that Marcia's biggest obstacle with Style Voyeur was the fact that it was not commercially feasible. If it were, many of the struggles she's facing maintaining it would not exist. Oh, the things one can do with money! We decided it was time for her to reinvent the wheel, so we then came up with a long-term strategy to turn Style Voyeur into a commercially viable business, which I'll be sure to delve into in my report.

After all the research I've been doing into the landscape of blogging, it got me thinking about how much the internet has changed the environment brands and businesses operate in. Everything in this day and age is evolving too fast to keep track of, and in the case of blogging, there will come a time where it isn't enough to just keep up -- bloggers have to try even harder to stay ahead of the game so they don't get left behind. This concept can be adopted into many industries I imagine, especially ones as innovative as media or the arts. As digital natives and current graduates, there hasn't been a crazier, more ever-evolving time to be out in the workforce than right now.

I hope you're all enjoying your placements so far,

Nicole

Second Shift; First project to tackle

On the second day of my internship I was assigned a new task, Research (which I had never expected to be so time consuming and difficult). For several shifts at my internship, a majority of my day would be spent on research for a upcoming project Linc had planned to action.The project was to create an online portal or magazine, that offers services, products and content that would be related to the over 50’s and who we also call the “Baby Boomers”.

The project was solely targeted at baby boomers, which are not only the wealthiest and most willing to spend generation but baby boomers also make up for  majority of the Australian society. Another reason to invest time on baby boomers was that from previous research, it was shown that although it is known that this market segment are willing to pay and invest for goods not much marketing and advertising is targeted at them although they are becoming more internet savvy and increasing the usage of the world wide web.

The research I had to conduct was based solely on researching Australian bloggers preferably from Western Australia that had blogs with information that would attract the attention to these over 50's. The topics could range from current affairs, sports, finance , travel , health and wellbeing, life and style and events. The key focus was to ensure the content on the blogs are information that the over 50's would find beneficial and would want to have access and use on a regular basis.

Whilst researching, I had to ensure that my target market could relate to the content. For instance, I wouldn't suggest a blogger who focuses on the nightlife scene of Perth such as clubbing or the latest bars to my target market. Instead I would suggest bloggers that would discuss topics such as the latest or the types of fine wines in Perth wine industry. These kind of topics would be more relevant to my target market and would be of interest to them.

Through my research, I was briefed alot on how to understand clients and to always think from the clients perspective. In other words to always think outside the box especially when it comes to researching for the target. I also learnt the essentials of keyword searching when using the world wide web. With this project I learnt alot especially the copious amount of research needed for each project and how it wasnt just a one day type of task. It could take up to days, weeks and maybe even months. I also learnt how valuable time is for a Public Relation consultant, considering how they are paid by time.

The power of Facebook

Shine Communications has given me the task to write pregnancy blogs for Mercy Care’s Family Planning unit, with the intension of the blogs being uploaded onto their Facebook page. The idea, is that each week, day or consecutive hour, a blog enlightening Mercy Care’s target audience about pregnancy will be uploaded, giving them advice and insight into the world of pregnancy and newborns. The target audience read the blog, hopefully find it interesting and useful, and if the blog is successful in its purpose, the person will return to their Facebook page to read another. Thus, the target audience is interested in their Facebook page and will now think of Mercy Care every time they need advice on pregnancy, thus mission accomplished. 15 blogs all up I’ll have to write, ranging from ‘how to deal with morning sickness’ to ‘how to prevent sibling rivalry’.

Being a 20-year-old university student, I already know how fantastic Facebook is, but this new task has now opened up my mind to the true power that Facebook now possesses. How this basic process, of simply uploading a blog onto a Facebook account every day, can potentially bring in new clients for a business.

Facebook seems to have a continuous flow of traffic between the accounts of the general public and organisations across the world, making it the perfect opportunity for all types of businesses to get involved and let Facebook do the broadcasting. So I did some research to see what businesses are actually taking advantage of this excellent marketing opportunity, and of course, how much impact Facebook really does have around the world for businesses.

• A total of 150 million people visit Facebook pages every day
• There are over 11 million Facebook users across Australia
• 90% of marketers use social media channels for business, with 93% of these rating social tools as “important”
• 43% of marketers have noticed an improvement in sales due to social campaigns
• The most popular social networking tool for marketing is Facebook – being used by 92%, followed by Twitter (84%), LinkedIn (71%) and blogs (68%)
• 23% of Fortune 500 companies have a public-facing corporate blog
• 58% of Fortune 500 companies have an active corporate Facebook account, 62% have an active corporate Twitter account
• 53% of small businesses are using social media, 88% believe exposure is the biggest benefit 

So, who needs to pay advertisers for their businesses to appear in the paper, on the radio, or on the television, when you can get a flourishing flow of activity from consumers on your very own Facebook page, for free?

Facebook mistake!

This week was a week of uploading blog posts I wrote that had been approved as well as writing more blogs and focusing on 32dsg’s website content.

I usually upload Facebook posts about upcoming events, working off my events calendar, however this week their Facebook page was devoted to a competition we were offering for two tickets to Perth Fashion week. I think I have mentioned before in one of my previous posts that I have been made an administrator of one of their clients Facebook pages. Not realising I was on the client’s Facebook page (thinking I was on mine), I ‘shared’ the competition on their page. This has NOTHING to do with them or their target audience and therefore was a big mistake. Luckily one of the girls alerted it to me and I was quickly able to take it down. It just outlined the fact that social media while it is easy to use, free and global, it can be extremely dangerous. Luckily this was not such a massive blunder and was easily fixable but you can see how quickly something can turn into a crisis if it is not handled correctly. I may be able to ‘blame’ it on Facebook since it said I was on my own page when I ‘shared’ the post (not realising I had to click another button to say- switch to your personal page), however this would never stand if you were to argue your case in a crisis. Technology may fail you, but ultimately it is your fault in the end. You controlled the mouse and you pressed enter.

After that mistake was quickly rectified I continued with my work. I uploaded my Sharing Healthy Conversations article- choosing the best photo for the subject (one with the most important attendees included). I had to fix the lighting on the photo first and crop it so that all the focus was on the people in it. I had to link all the important peoples names to their personal pages (usually linked in accounts) and make sure everyone’s names were spelt correctly.

I continued to work on companies that are similar to 32dsg and an events list for their Facebook posts. After looking over what needs to be included in the report I was quite pleased to see that we need to write about our companies competitors. Because I have been looking at what other companies there are similar to 32dsg I have in fact been researching their competitors. I have also been looking at what they are doing differently and how we could incorporate some of these positive attributes into our company as well. By collating all this information 32dsg can take the best of their competitors traits and add them to their list of expertise.

It has been interesting for me to look back at the events the company or the people who work for the company have been involved in organising. From the Breast Cancer Foundation’s illumination campaign to the Grand Prix ball, the people working at 32dsg have a diverse range of skills and networks. It’s a privilege to be around such successful worldly people. The collation of events data that I have been looking at, I will be putting into succinct descriptions to put on their website under the events section. This is quite an important job (in my opinion) since ‘case studies’ or previous experiences are important for those wanting to use the company to see.

My blog post on the Perth Baby Expo got approved at 4:45pm but I wanted to stay until it was up online, linked and positioned well. I stayed on after everyone left however I like things to be done and to be done without rushing. I don’t think I will ever mind staying behind to finish up and do a good job. Once you’re at work, what’s another 40 minutes? I also got to write another post for a Frasers Restaurant lunch that the 32dsg team went to this week. It got approved right away (showing how much better I must be getting with my writing skills) and I put that one up too.

You can read all my blog posts on:

http://32dsg.com/blog/

And my news article on:

http://32dsg.com/?post_type=news

Thanks for reading guys!

Xx

Martine 

Blogs Blogs Blogs – can’t seem to get away from them!

Hi all, hope everything is going well for you!

So, BLOGS. They seem to be popping up everywhere don’t they?! We’re asked to write them for university courses and often businesses rely on them to boost their reputations. For example, the beloved discount website ‘Scoopon’ has just recently moved into the blog life which you can check out here. However, what benefits is this giving them, if any? I’m not too sure if a pointless blog about funny websites or photos is actually adding any real value for organisations? On the other hand, I think creating online two-way conversations is a must. According to Jones, Temperley and Lima (2009)…

“how a company is perceived and the image their audience has is not only shaped by their communication efforts but is a product of conversations taking place online. These well managed and orchestrated online conversations can help companies to build and maintain presence, reputation and brand image.”

Due to the fact that Sunset’s Events brand awareness as an events company is not very well known, this year’s PR focus has been on online means such as updating of their website, social media activities and the introduction of an online blog. During my internship, I worked on all of these tasks. One of the main challenges I faced was having to research and find content to put in the blogs. I was told to research literally anything on the web that was ‘interesting’ and would get people talking. This proved to be a very difficult task! You can check out the Sunset Blog and some of the entries I worked on here.

The blog mainly concentrated on getting important info out there and also demonstrating to the public the work ethic and team that is Sunset Events. In my opinion, blogs such as ‘Totes Boges Yoges’ which expressed the work ethic and team environment as well as ‘Get some Southbound in your system!’ which provides helpful info are good blogs that help to achieve the objectives set out. However, I’m not too sure if blogs such as ‘Procrastination Grouch Monday’ are really necessary or if they have a positive outcome for the organisation? What do you think?

Having worked on and been a contributor of the ‘Southbound’ facebook page as well as the ‘Sunset Events’ facebook page, I was able to witness firsthand the real impact social media can have for an organisation. The pages have been very successful for Sunset in getting important information out quickly and also in developing a strong online presence. These PR tools have so far been successful for Sunset Events and their image (which was previously unknown) has now made an impact online through social media. It is in my opinion that creating an online presence including online conversations can be very beneficial to all organisations. From my work at Sunsets, I have to come to the conclusion though that blogs may not always benefit and organisations should only choose them as a tool if they have someone who is willing to work on them constantly to create a HUGE presence.

If anyone else has any experience within social media and blogging then please feel free to share!
Until next time,

Melissa
Curtin Bentley Campus

BLOGGING!!!

Hello guys,

Hope you're fine and that your internships are going on smooth...
Well, My internship is fine just that in Mauritius there is the influenza A with 6 deaths up to now and there is the seasonal flu (got it thrice, since I'm on Internship) which is tolling up!

So, coming back to the topic i wanted to share today, is the blogs- a new form of media, easily shared, connects people around the globe and which diffuses every news!

During my internship, the project manager has been discussing a lot about the blogs and its consequences. I guess we are far in our lectures concerning the blogs compared to TOTEM where it is now that they are taking this new form of media into consideration.

During my second week on internship,we had our Friday meeting where we talk about the current news, the PR activities to be done and the pending work along with new trends in PR.
So, we raised the importance of blogs in PR where we found that many organisations nowadays depends a lot on good coverage from blogs compared to the traditional ones.

Many companies such as McDonald's have been severely criticised by bloggers for their food, treatment of employees etc.. And this would have little or less effect was it on a traditional media such as newspaper.

But nowadays, blogs has expanded in such a way that there is no control over them.
Firstly, anyone can post anything, regardless of his age and can stay anonymous.
then, news is spread at a wildfire rate where millions of people worldwide are connected compared to newspaper or TV.
Thirdly, videos can be posted on the net within seconds such as terrorists attacks, or launching of a product etc...
Blogs has become so vital in organisations that nowadays many companies employs people or PR officers to tracks blogs that talk on their companies.
However, these are in vain............!!!! i feel that the more you will chase them, the more they will have to talk. It is good to monitor, but due to the thousands of blogs present, companies will not be able to respond to every comment.

Another issue about blogs is the responsible journalism!!! Blogs do exists and they do diffuse news alike to traditional media but in a more timely way, with pictures and videos and most of all........often BIAS!

We tend to lean towards news that are sensational with lots of pictures and videos etc, But i think that we are the one to make our own conclusion regardless of the number of blogs, and news they diffuse.

Blogs, along with many more Trends will continue to exist, but we need to take only information that are important and facts that will make us deduce our own conclusion.
Blogs as well as traditional media are there to inform or manipulate us???

Share your views
Sabrina

Good Blogs

I have come to plug!
For those of you who check out blogs regularly, you have to look at http://www.theperthfiles.blogspot.com/ Its a funny take on Perth life, written by one of the consultants here at PPR, so it has some intersting reflections on topical issues and what is going on in the media. John Cooke is our resident new media expert, and seems to spend all his time surfing the web and twittering. Good job hey? Hint: John loves a good comment, and he will be a great contact for you in your career.
Also, I'm not sure if you know, but there is a huge conference coming up in March for marketing professionals. There will be amzing speakers and great networking opportunities. With the expected huge ticket price, I'm not sure many of you fellow students will be able to afford to go, but you can see the buzz at the blog site http://blog.amms09.com.au/ Hint: Post a few comments to get your name out there and start a dialogue with what could be future contacts!
Cheerios,
Krish
Bentley