To Write is To Write

Alphabet Bash, Networking Tips

I recently attended the first annual Alphabet Bash, and my friend Leah and I made it on the website.  This premier networking event was a collaboration of the Minnesota chapters of PRSA, IABC, AdFed and AMA. It was a wonderful event held at one of Minneapols' newest nightclubs Trocaderos, and one that was very instrumental in building many good relationships between communications professionals in the Twin Cities.  Here are some networking tips from this year's event. I am very much looking forward to next year's.

Drive Traffic to Your Blog--Like Big Time Traffic!

BlogBurst launches tomorrow.  Don't know what BlogBurst is yet?  Well, stop reading this and click through the links to check it out.  It will be a great way to increase traffic to your blog.

Here is some media coverage of BlogBurst by Pluck and the official Burst Blog.

NewCommunications Forum 2006--Educate Yourself about New Media Strategies

The 2006 New Communications Forum, being held in Palo Alto, is right around the corner!

Attendees to this event will learn about how blogs, wikis, podcasts and other emerging tools, technologies and modes of communication are affecting organizations and how communications professionals from across the spectrum are harnessing these tools to engage in market conversations, deepen and strengthen relationships with key audiences, gain new insights into their audiences' perceptions and behavior and achieve bottom line results.

Pre-Conferences Boot Camps will be also happening!  These are meant to be "101s" on blogs, wikis, podcasts and vlogs to prepare attendees for the discussions during the conference.

This is the 2nd Annual New Comm Forum, developed by Elizabeth Albrycht of Corporate PR and Jen McClure of the Society for New Communications Research, and looks to be a very informative and exciting conference!  I wish I could go!

Happy New Year!

I am excited about this new year!  It is my priority to take my freelancing life to a different level this year, and I will have many things to do to make this happen.  My hope is be able to go full-time freelance in 2007, so this year, I will be pounding the pavement to bring myself to that level of PR/writing freelance work.   

Mostly this year, I will focus on networking with people in the PR industry that I work with currently or have worked with in the past.  I am determined to get more involved in PRSA and IABC in order to better network and get the word out about my availability for freelance work.  I also need to reorganize and spiff up my portfolio and better develop my capabilities language in order to communicate my abilities with potential clients.  And I have also committed myself to more frequent blogging to continue to build my presence in the blogosphere.

This new year should also prove to be an interesting year for all things business and new media.  It will be interesting to see how business continues to adapt and embrace (or disregard) blogging, podcasting, the use of wikis, vlogging and RSS. 

Steve Rubel from Micro Persuastion posted about the new Fortune 500 Business Blog Index that highlights the F500 that are blogging and those that aren't.  He makes the important point that the F500 are not the innovators in the blogging world, but instead it is the small to medium-size companies that are imploring new technologies such as blogging are reaping the benefits.  Check out Stormhoek's  success story with blogging.

So, here is an exciting and productive 2006!  I will hopefully see new and exciting developments in my career and will have the opportunity to able to help others reach their business goals with  public relations and successful communications strategies and tactics.

Tags:

Freelance Public Relations Business Blogging Corporate Blogging Fortune 500

Goals

I've heard now that some of my blog readers who have been reading my blog for a while are confused as to what it is turning in to.  As I have been changing its focus, I don't blame anyone for wondering why the content is changing. 

Today, I wanted to clarify a bit by posting about my freelance goals and goals for this blog.  First, my ultimate goal with my career is to eventually have a sustainable and successful freelance PR and writing business.  I love, love, love public relations and truly believe in the benefits of utilizing public relations in business.  And with the advent of blogs, blogging, podcasting, vlogging, wikis, and my obsessive desire to understand and use blogging and the Internet in the world of PR, I want to use this blog as a tool to highlight my skills and knowledge of public relations and to, ideally, assist in bringing freelance work my way. 

Because of this, I send folks interested in public relations and business blogging to this blog to learn more about it and how it can benefit their business.  Therefore, readers will notice more information on the world of public relations and the tools that are utilized in PR.

In addition to PR freelancing, I have goals of becoming a writer in more of the journalistic sense.  Utlimately, I would like to land some travel writing gigs along with doing some writing on other topics as I have highlighted on my About page.  I have a very strong passion/desire to travel and explore other cultures around the world and would like to be able to bring some of my travel experiences to others that may not be as fortunate as I am to travel to these areas.  Also, I have dreams of writing memoir--travel and otherwise.  I have many stories to tell that seem to get shoved aside by my day-to-day life.  Therefore, I will use this blog to highlight my journey on working toward these goals as well. 

Now, I have thought about changing my blog name several times to something more appropriate to the PR aspects of this blog.  But, ultimately, this blog is about my journey into freelancing (whether that is in the PR arena or on the journalistic side), so it is going to stay as is (or at least it will until something/someone else convinces me otherwise). 

So, does that clarify things a bit?  I hope so.  If anyone has suggestions as to the content of the site, please let me know.  I would love to hear from you!

Tags:

Public Relations Writing Freelance Freelance Writing Freelance PR

Gotta Love Big Groups of (Business) Women

Thursday's eWomen Network Luncheon proved to be exhilarating, inspiring and definitely a worth while venture!  The luncheon was much more than the presentation by Jean Peterson and Mary Lower.  Although, that was a treat to hear their presentation on "Heart Attack Marketing & PR." 

The networking aspect of the luncheon was the truly amazing part.  There was four round tables of women business owners all eager to network, expand their own businesses and help other women do the same with theirs.  There were many women in the marketing field, some artists and many in the business of selling products, such as purses, jewelry, nutruitional products, and women there selling their own services, such as massage therapy, skin treatments,  life/career coaching and .  Plus, I am sure there were women there with other services that I did not even get to the opportunity to meet.

In the beginning, there was informal networking.  However, the true networking came in when we were all seated, immediately following lunch, when each women at each table had the opportunity to speak for one minute to introduce herself to the others at the table, describe her business, what she was looking for from the luncheon and what she could provide the other women at the table.  We did two rounds of this.  One round was done at the table we originally sat at.  Then, all of us counted off by fours and switched tables to then network with another group of dynamo women.

I met several women who I believe would benefit from strategic public relations and publicity, and I am hoping that I can provide that to them.  I exchanged cards with several women and plan to follow up with them.  I also feel as if I can provide several of them with contacts from my own network that can help them with other aspects of their business.

Overall, I left very excited about expanding my network, hopefully filling my pipeline and inspired to ramp up my own efforts to build my freelance PR consulting business.  I would definitely recommend that other women check out eWomen Network.  I plan to check out another networking event and then join eWomen Network.  Membership and the events require an investment.  However, the benefits seem to be many.  I will have to report how things go as I move forward with follow-up.

Accelerated Networking Luncheon

Tomorrow, I will be heading to an Accelerated Networking Luncheon put on by eWomen Network.  It is being held at the Minneapolis Airport Marriott over the lunch hour and will be my first networking event I will attend through eWomen Network.  The luncheon includes informal networking times and a program entitled "Heart Attack Marketing & PR." 

Now, I am hoping to be able to network with other local women in order to build my freelance PR/writing business.  My hope is even to make a connection with the speakers, Mary Lower, Chief Storyteller of Sterling Cross Communications, and  Jean Peterson, President of Starmaker Marketing , in order to perhaps partner with them on projects, if the fit seems appropriate. 

Since this will be my first networking event, I am not quite sure what to expect.  However, I did receive a preparation e-mail from them today advising me how to prepare.  They advised me to prepare as I will have the opportunity to introduce myself, explain what services I offer and explain what my specific needs are within the upcoming 30-60 days.  I will also have the opportunity to distribute my business cards and browse the display tables of other women's business offerings who are also attending the event tomorrow.

I am very excited to attend tomorrow and hope that I will be able to expand my network to include some local women who can help me advance my freelancing work as well to be able to help other women grow their business.