Saw this on PR Daily.

20 holiday gift ideas for writers

By Dee Ann Adams

I like:
6. A massage to ease a sore neck and back from typing all day.
11. Fingerless gloves.
12. An Amazon gift card.

Merry Christmas to my fellow WAHMs! 


Click here to see the full list.

Interesting social media stats

Read these interesting stats today...

Anyone who works in social media will tell you that a robust brand presence is more important than ever. 

Independent studies are corroborating this notion. Take a look at this infographic from Lab 42 and these key findings:

• 82 percent of people surveyed say that Facebook is a good place to connect with brands, but only 35 percent feel brands listen to them more on Facebook.

• Half of those surveyed find that a brand’s Facebook page is more useful than its website.

• 75 percent of those surveyed say they feel more connected to a brand they like on Facebook.

Need someone to help you monitor your social media pages and build relationships with your customers?  Contact me at lori at lbpublicrelations dot com. 

What children’s books teach us about PR

I thought this was cute.

What Children's books teach us about PR by  Julai Whipple

She mentions “The Monster At The End of This Book,” by Jon Stone - which I have read.

PR Lesson: Be fearless. Go forth. Identify people you’re afraid to talk to, and do it. Nobody is “out of your league.”    

Reminds me of media pitching. It can be intimidating at times!  Thanks for the encouragement Julai!  

Julia goes on...Who do you really want to work with? Contact them today. It’s not that you’ll never be scared when you break new career ground; but if you’re not at least a little bit scared, it’s probably not worth doing. Whatever you do, keep turning new pages. If you’re brave, you can handle whatever comes next.

Here's the full article.
 

Twas the night before Kindergarten

My first born starts Kindergarten tomorrow!  I've made it five and a half years of being a work-from-home mom!  

It was five-and-a-half years ago that I officially stopped working outside the home and concentrated on building my PR freelance business. 

Once again I'm thankful to my clients for the opportunity to work from home and still be available to have my kids with me during the day.  Because I work from home, I haven't missed seeing any milestones, I've been able to attend play dates, visit the library and even hit the grocery store when it's not so crowded as well as start dinner at 3 p.m. 

Of course, with the birth of baby number three this year, I've ensured a 3 a.m. wake up call to work for another five years!  That will be a decade of waking up at that hour to work!  Calm down grey hairs!  

Thank you Lord for blessing me and my business. Here's to another chapter in my life as a work from home mom with a school age kid.  Hello car-pool line.

Scientists seek next wave in power generation

I love working from home! I live in Dallas. 

My client is based in Colorado Springs and was doing research in Houston. 

 So I pitched the Houston Chronicle and they wrote a story!

Click below if you are interested in how researchers are using the power of the ocean to generate electricity. http://fuelfix.com/blog/2012/08/06/scientists-seek-next-wave-in-power-generation/

Five ways public relations can help grow your business

Ladd Biro, principal of Champion Management, was recently featured in the "Small Business Buzz" column in the Dallas Morning News.

He provided "Five ways public relations can help grow your business."

I really appreciated tip number 5:

5. Maintain a steady drumbeat

Even the best PR campaigns rarely produce overnight results. Map out a six-month to 12-month plan with specific goals. Over time, you'll break through the clutter and distinguish your business.

Read all of Ladd's tips here. 

 

 

10 tips for success from female business owners

Alayna Frankenberry featured 10 tips for success from female business owners on today's PR Daily.

I practice tip number two frequently!  I know my clients and PR firms who hire me for contract work know how grateful I am for their business/support!

2. Be grateful.

Sharon Armstrong is an author who owns her own consulting business.

“I’ve had my own business since 2000,” she says. “My best tip for success is to remember to thank those who help you grow your business. Never forget! And thank folks in a personal way, if possible.”

Read all the tips. 

I have been blessed with the opportunity to learn a new newsletter program.  I just created a newsletter in Demandforce for a client who uses the program. 

About Demandforce:
We provide small local businesses--like salons, auto shops, chiropractors, dentists, and veterinarians--with affordable and easy access to the tools and platforms that large enterprises use to communicate with customers, build a strong online reputation and leverage network marketing.

If you use this program and are in need of a communications expert to help you create engaging newsletters for your clients, please contact me at lori at lbpublicrelations dot com. 

The many ways motherhood prepares you for PR

Cute article by By Michelle Rash. 

 The many ways motherhood prepares you for PR

1. Juggling many tasks
2. Reacting quickly in a crisis
3. Working 24/7
4. Staying flexible
5. Answering tough questions

 Read the full article here.
     

12 habits of successful social media pros

Great post by By Becky Gaylord.

My favorite?

 9. Blog

It’s nearly impossible to be effective with, on, and around social media without blogging. This is a vital way to stay engaged with your audience and to maintain and build a social presence. Pros blog. Period.

See the rest here. 
 

Dentists & Facebook

There is a wonderful interview with Dr. Zuckerberg, father of Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg who is a practicing dentist in New York.

He was asked, How important is it now for dentists to have an online presence? Is it a practice maker or breaker?

"You’re really limiting the ways you can attract new patients if you’re not online and participating actively in social media. You’re also limiting the ways you can reinforce your relationships with your existing patient base. You really can’t do proper internal and external marketing without a social-media or electronic presence, and the real question is, why wouldn’t you?"

Dr. Zuckerberg encourages dentists who are already putting in many hours a week running the business side of a practice and providing clinical care and don't have time to post on their Facebook page, to hire a firm that specializes in web-based marketing strategies to find things on the Internet that you think their patients will be interested in, and that firm can post those things to your page for you.

Lori Bittenbender can help you and your practice build relationships with patients and have an important presence on Facebook.  Contact me at lori at lbpublicrealtions dot com. 

8 ways PR is like parenthood

Love this article By Lorra M. Brown about how being a parent is much like working in public relations.

Click here to read the full list.

U.S. News & World Report Ranks PR Specialist As #41 In Best Jobs for 2012

Reviews and Advice

"A public relations specialist job requires writing skills, critical thinking ability, fast turnaround, patience, a thick-skin mentality, and creativity," says Corbett, who also adds that you should be able to demonstrate real accomplishments and have broad networks. And wallflowers need not apply - public relations specialists must have an outgoing, self-confident, and friendly personality.

Click here for the full report.

Using Pinterest Yet? 13 Tips for Gaining Business Exposure for Your Clients

I know Pinterest will by another useful marketing tool for my clients.

Here is an article about using it for business.

From the article...


Here are some tips to get your client business exposure on Pinterest:

1. Don’t Just Put Up a Page – Like any other social networking site, don’t just put up a page and walk away. You need to be able to curate it and put interesting pins on your page that will entice your followers. In addition, the more interesting the pin the more likely it will be repinned, which helps with search engine optimization (SEO).

2. Update Sites Every Week – Update them at least weekly, if not daily. Otherwise people lose interest and stop coming back.

3. Create Links Back to Your Web or Other Sites – Make it as simple as possible so that people can click on links easily and purchase or view products or services in other places.

4. Link Pinterest With Other Social Networking Sites – By doing this, your followers on other social networking sites will know your activity on Pinterest and will be able to make more personal connections with you.

5. Have a Daily or Weekly Theme – This will help entice your followers to keep coming back and keep piquing their interest. For instance, have a “yellow” day where everything you post on that day is the color yellow.

6. Don’t Only Promote Your Product or Service – Be sure to promote other brands that you like. By just promoting your product or service, you are being too commercial.

7. Follow Early Adopters – They often have an interesting perspective on new sites.

8. Use Back Links to Take Followers to Your Web Site – This will help increase your SEO and also draw attention to your Web site.

9. Need a Focus Group? – If you are interested in a particular demographic—say, for example, people who like to sew—check out their boards on Pinterest and see what interests them. This will help you target them better.

10. Use Keywords and Hashtags – This also improve SEO.

11. Enable Your Community to Add – Your followers can actually add pins to your boards, which makes your Pinterest page more interactive. This also helps with SEO and the engagement of your followers.

12. Use the Boards Creatively – You can use them for team building with your staff and you can also have a board on office things you need to purchase.

13. Have Fun – If your pins are humorous, they will be repinned more often than those that aren’t.

You know you're a WAHM...

You know you are a pregnant work at home mom when you help coordinate a news segment for a client while in labor!

I also sent an email from the hospital the next day for my client and the reporter to coordinate things together while I enjoyed my new baby boy.

My client, Amy Kott-Hovland, was recently interviewed by Roni Proder of CW33 on "How to save money and time at the salon." Watch the segment to learn: What you can do in between highlighting services. How to quickly cover a few grey hairs. How to trim your own split ends and bangs. The easiest way to extend the life of your color and save on shampoo.

Here is the segment.

Social media linking Las Vegas doctors, patients

Here is a great article about social media & physicians.

It used to be that having a website was as high-tech as it got for physicians interested in reaching out to their patients or the public at large. If the site had things such as electronic medical forms, informational videos and online appointments, you had something fairly sophisticated.

But oh, that was so 30 seconds ago.

People now expect some form of two-way communication through social media in nearly every sector of society, and physicians are trying to address that desire by chipping away at the traditional doctor-patient relationship.

It makes good marketing sense because even doctors are trying to run a business. This is a way to get the word out and keep patients, who are among the best sources for referrals, engaged in the practice.

It also leverages what Facebook does so well, which is to create a community, albeit through cyberspace, for those with common interests and concerns.

The bulk of the information on these pages consists of links to medical websites and articles of interest based on practices' specialties. Many of the postings are aimed at showing the more personal side of practices, from items about their involvement with different charities, to photos of the office staff on crazy-Christmas-sweater day.

Read the full article.

I handle the social media for two physicians. Need help with your social media? Contact me!

Five Facebook Tips for Small Businesses

...with Facebook becoming the place you just have to be for businesses of all sizes, a little marketing know-how comes in handy. Paul Gillin recently spoke to Mark Schmulen, general manager of social media at the small-business-focused e-mail service provider Constant Contact about how to go beyond the Facebook wall and make the social network a practical and measurable small business marketing platform.

“When we look at what platforms our small business customers are using for social media marketing, 94% of them are on Facebook,” Schmulen said. However, “Most small businesses are doing Facebook without knowing why they’re doing it.”

That’s the herd mentality at work. While it’s pretty easy to create a Facebook page, the task of convincing visitors to create persistent relationships through the “Like” button and to engage in conversation requires different skills. Forrester Research has estimated fewer than 15% of people who click a Like button ever visit the page again. Getting that repeat traffic is the special sauce of Facebook success.

Here are five tips that Schmulen recommends:

Five Facebook Tips for Small Businesses

"A DIAMOND is but a piece of coal ... that stuck to the job."

(Author Unknown, but I LOVE it)

I've been freelancing for more than 5 years now! 5 years!

I thank God for my clients, learning experiences, successes and the ability to be at home with my kiddos. I started freelancing just before the first child was born and now she'll head to Kindergarten later this summer.

Stick with it mamas! All those who work at home or outside the home.

BEST OF 2011: 20 things every PR pro should know how to do

Do you have one foot on the PR banana peel?

If you’re like me, part of you is in “the old world” of PR and the other foot is sliding into the new digital landscape: excited, nervous, learning, kicking, and screaming.

Despite the changes in the industry, PR pros must remember the basics.

The following 20 items and links will serve as reminders and resources.

Keep reading.

11 New Year’s resolutions for PR and marketing professionals

As we prepare to ring in the new year, let’s take a few minutes to reflect on what’s most important as a marketer or PR practitioner, particularly as the media landscape continues to evolve.

Below are some reminders and/or resolutions related to our practice. These are simple rules. And the best part: they’re fairly easy to incorporate into working life, yet as guiding principals can make a big difference.

Keep reading.

Yeah me! I finished recording my receipts for 2011. Spending an extra 10 - 30 minutes many days in December really paid off.