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A Dozen FAQs About Blog Assignment, Spring 2011


Image Credit: "street art vienna" by a_kep

Students have been asking lots and lots of questions this spring as they get started with their blogs. Virtually all of their questions are answered here in my Public Relations Matters blog.

How do I know what I am supposed to blog about?

How long are my blog posts supposed to be?

Where are we supposed to find lists of other blogs to comment on?

I still don’t understand what to do to track the comments I write on other people’s blogs.

I don’t know how to do something in WordPress. Where should I look to find the answer?

I created all the categories you told me to, and they still don’t show up on my blog. Why?

  • The categories will show up in your category widget once you have at least one post written in the category.

So I just have to have all the right amount of posts and comments before the end of the semester, right?

  • That’s part of it, but there are also weekly deadlines for the Topics of the Week (that’s why they’re called Topics of the WEEK). And you have interim deadlines as well, so that you can evenly space out your posts throughout the semester. Your Blog Editorial Calendar will help keep you on track. It’s not overwhelming if you keep up with it every week.

What’s this Blog Editorial Calendar that is due, and how to I create one?

  • See Creating a Blog Editorial Calendar. You will create the Blog Editorial Calendar in Excel, then submit it in BlackBoard by the due date. (NOTE: If you already maintain another calendar to help you keep organized during the semester, you can add in the elements that go in the Blog Editorial Calendar into that. Then photocopy it, highlight the Blog elements and turn it in in class on the day it is due.)

What do I need to have done for the Blog Checkpoints?

Where am I supposed to get ideas for the PR Connections?

  • These can be about any aspect of PR that you would like to discuss. Some students like to choose a theme based on their interests: nonprofit, entertainment, sports, fashion, etc. Others read Ragan’s PR Daily and find ideas in there. If you’re stuck for an idea, ask a classmate, then ask me. (I’d much prefer for you to come up with your own ideas, but I can assign some if necessary.)

How will you evaluate the overall blog at the end of the semester?

  • See the draft of the rubric. (The points may be different in my different classes, but the categories of what I am evaluating are the same for each class. I will have the proper rubric available for each class by the middle of the semester.)

Can I see some examples of outstanding blogs from your previous semesters?

Other questions? Just let me know.

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Everything I Need to Know About Blog Post Length I Learned at Starbucks

Students in my PR classes have been asking the age-old question “How long does my assignment (blog posts, in this case) need to be” in the last few weeks. Though I’ve described it in class orally, and wrote about it here in my blog, it wasn’t until I made a Starbucks analogy that it finally clicked with many of them. I made a low-tech infographic with chalk (remember chalk?), and snapped a picture of it before I left class today.

So here it goes: Everything I Need to Know About Blog Post Length I Learned at Starbucks.

Image Credit: "Starbucks and Blog Posts" by Barbara Nixon

Trenta-Size

The Trenta is Starbucks’ newest cup size, designed for iced drinks only. It’s huge. (Well, not really. It’s 31 ounces. It’s slightly smaller than the size of a Big Gulp.) For my students’ blogs, their Topics of the Week should be the longest posts in their blogs. They need to be 300 words minimum.

Venti- or Grande-Size

Venti and Grande are Starbucks’ medium sized cups. (But don’t order a “medium” at Starbucks. The baristas will look down on you if you do. Trust me.) The PR Connections (commentary about of PR-related topic of their choosing) don’t have a specific length, but somewhere between the 300-word minimum of the Topics of the Week and the 50-word minumum of the Blog Comments is a good place to aim.

Tall-Size

This is the Starbucks’ size that has always baffled me. In whose measuring cup is the smallest size made the “Tall”? Anyhow . . . Students will be writing comments on a variety of blogs (from their peers and from PR pros) throughout the semester. In previous classes, they didn’t like that I told them that the comments needed to be substantive. They wanted a number. So here it is: For Blog Comments to “count” for a grade in their classes, the comments need to be 50 words minimum.

So in a nutshell, or a Starbucks cup, there should be a variety of lengths of posts in my students blogs, ranging from the Trenta (Topics of the Week) to the Tall (Blog Comments), with Venti or Grande (PR Connections) snuggled nicely inbetween.

Hope this helps!

(PS — This is a Trenta-sized post, for what it’s worth.)

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Topics of the Week :: #COMM4633 #SPC4350 Social Media for PR

Image Credit: "Desert Island" from Esquire Magazine

In COMM 4363 and SPC 4350 (Social Media for PR), we’ll all blog about the same general topic each week during the semester. Your TOWs should be posted by Saturday midnight at the end of each week.

Some weeks have more than one topic listed; choose one of the available topics on those weeks.

If you have a topic to suggest, please add it as a comment to this blog post.

If you are unsure how to get started writing these TOWs, many times you can use this three-pronged approach:

  1. What did you learn?
  2. What surprised you?
  3. What do you want to know more about?

WEEK ONE

Which types of social media you currently participate in (such as blogging, podcasting, social networking, etc.), which platforms you use, and why.

WEEK TWO

Why are comments such an integral part of blogs? What advice would you offer on writing effective blog comments?

WEEK THREE

Is social media monitoring ethical? Provide commentary and discussion on both sides of the issue, and offer your personal viewpoint.

WEEK FOUR

Adam Vincenzini asked on Twitter and on his blog for people to share their definitions of “social media” with him, in 140 characters or fewer. Read through the list of definitions that were shared with Adam. Pick a few that resonate with you and discuss why these definitions “work” for you. Develop your OWN 140-character definition of social media.

OR

Write a post related to your assigned chapter in Groundswell. Provide links to several of the examples mentioned in your chapter, or to new sites that relate to the chapter. See if you can find a YouTube video or SlideShare presentation and embed it in your post. (Remember to link to the book, either at Amazon.com or at the publisher’s website/blog.)

WEEK FIVE

Which Super Bowl ad was either your favorite OR least favorite? And in your discussion of the ad, be sure to discuss the publics that were targeted in the ad. (Be sure your readers can tell if you liked or disliked the ad.) If you missed the ads during the big game, no worries. I will embed them in this blog when they are available.

OR

After reading Search Engine Visibility, an Edelman Insights paper by Steve Rubel and others at Edelman Digital, react to it using the three-pronged approach (discussed earlier in this blog post).

WEEK SIX

“Social Media: Friend or Foe?” :: Listen to Shel Holtz, Mark Ragan and others discuss “concerns and objections around the adoption of social media communication channel.” React to it using the three-pronged approach (discussed earlier in this blog post).

WEEK SEVEN

What is this Foursquare thing that we keep seeing in our Twitterstreams? How could companies benefit from it? And what are some of the potential dangers of using Foursquare (and other location-based services) for individual participants?

OR

Participate in a public relations or social media Twitter chat. Petya Georgieva provides a list of 13 possibilities at her Higher & Higher blog. (I highly recommend #PRStudChat, but you are free to chose from any of the 13 options.) Before you participate in the chat, be sure to read Shonali Burke’s tips for how to make the most of a Twitter chat. After the chat, briefly describe the purpose and intended audience of your chosen chat. React to your own participation in the chat using the three-pronged approach (discussed earlier in this blog post).

WEEK EIGHT

Since our focus for this week is podcasting, write this week’s TOW on something related to podcasting. Potential areas for discussion include: what would drive an organization to choose a podcast as a way of connecting with its publics, the importance of shownotes, technology you can use for podcasting or how PR majors can benefit from listening to PR podcasts.

WEEKS NINE & TEN

Create a profile at PR OpenMic, a social network developed by Auburn University’s Robert French. Connect with me there as a friend so that I know you have joined (do this before Spring Break). Then for your topic of the week, describe what PR OpenMic has to offer to PR students and recent grads. Be sure to discuss at least three or four things you encounter at the site, and provide hyperlinks to the specific areas in the site for your readers.

WEEK ELEVEN

Watch my interview with Martin Waxman. Use the three-pronged approach to react to the interview. What does Martin have to say about the need for traditional PR skills?

OR

Set up an account at Diigo, a social bookmarking site. Create social bookmarks to at least 20 sites; these could include classmates’ blogs, PR blogs, your university, your favorite musical artist or actor, etc. In your Topic of the Week, share a link to your Diigo account. Discuss how college students (especially those working in groups) could benefit from social bookmarks. Be sure to include a link to your Delicious bookmarks in your blog post. Optional: how could an association, like the Florida Public Relations Association or the International Listening Association, use social bookmarks to benefit its members?

WEEK 12

Watch my interview with Kneale Mann. Use the three-pronged approach to react to the interview.

OR

One of this week’s readings concerned widgets and badges. After briefly describing the difference between a widget and a badge, offer suggestions on how one specific organization you are a part of (or wish to become a part of) could benefit from using widgets or badges.

WEEK 13

Just what is it that makes a simple little video like “David After Dentist” become a Viral Video? Also, embed at least two of your favorite videos that went viral and explain why you chose them.

WEEK 14

This week’s topic was inspired by Adam Vincenzini’s Be My Guest month: post something by a guest blogger. Connect with another blogger (it can, but doesn’t have to, be someone in your class) and exchange blog posts for the week. (You don’t have to write something new . . . share your favorite post you’ve written this semester.) In your own blog, make it really clear that the post is written by another person, and link to your guest’s blog.

WEEK 15

Be My Guest Part 2: Post something from a different guest blogger. (See Week 14)

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Creating a Blog Editorial Calendar

Image Credit: "Fondo de escritorio. Calendario del mes de abril" by Trinamita

Just like with most publications, blogs should have Editorial Calendars. Why? Editorial calendars will do the following:

  • Fulfill a requirement for the Blog assignment in my classes 🙂
  • Help you realize the scope of your work on the Blog
  • Keep you on track for deadlines
  • (And once this class is over), Editorial Calendars help ensure that your readers are receiving fresh and relevant content on a regular basis.

To create your calendar, use the template provided: Blog Editorial Calendar Spring 2012. Be sure to see the second tab of the calendar for an example of a few weeks of what your calendar might look like. The more detail you include in your calendar, the better. Submit the calendar using BlackBoard.

Some tips:

  1. Be as specific as you possibly can in your descriptions for the posts. For example, rather than just saying TOW #1, type in the actual topic after you type TOW #1. With PR Connections, you can be general for now by indicating when you need to post them, but update the calendar for yourself when you choose the specific topics.
  2. For your Blog Comments, put in reminders to yourself to include a certain number of comments by specific dates.
  3. Though your blog has specific due dates for most posts, you can post them before they are due. Take a look at your OWN calendar, and schedule your blog writing so that it fits around other assignments and commitments.
  4. Include the due date for your entire blog.
  5. If it helps you, feel free to color-code this editorial calendar. Put TOWs in one color, PR Connections in another, etc.
  6. See 5 Benefits of an Editorial Calendar for additional tips.
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Groundswell: An Overview (plus a bit more)

In Week 3 of my Social Media for PR classes, we’ll be discussing what PR students need to know about social media (in general), then have an overview of Section One in Groundswell by Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff. The slidedecks that accompany my presentations are below.

7 Things PR Students Need to Know About Social Media NOW

Groundswell (Overview)

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SEO News Release Assignment

Image Credit: "scrabble" by ren_reyes

The Assignment: Optimized News Release

As we have seen, news releases and the messages they contain increasingly end up on the Internet where they get indexed by search engines. Since these messages have become searchable, it is important to include words and phrases Internet users would use intuitively when searching for content related to that message. Having read Edelman’s position paper on the issue and having discussed search engine and message optimization in your blog, it is now your turn to take a news release and optimize it.

For this assignment, you will need to identify a set of keywords/keyword phrases for use in your optimized news release. Use free tools such as Wordtracker, Google Insights, Google Adwords, or Microsoft’s AdCenter Labs to do so, or use your Radian6 or CustonScoop account. You may also want to check  Twitter Search to get a sense for the natural words and phrases people use to talk about your type of topic.

  1. Accurately reflect how people talk & search (natural language)
  2. Face little competition from other keywords

Once you’ve decided on your keywords, strategically incorporate them into your news release (see the Edelman position paper for tips on how to do so).

Deliverables (in one file):

  1. The original news release (that you wrote in a previous course or as part of an internship)
  2. Your revised & optimized news release with the keywords highlighted in bold print
  3. A short paper listing the keywords/keyword phrases you decided on and explaining why you chose them and how they fit the two keyword requirements outlined above. Include screenshots of the visuals generated by tools such as Google Insights to back up your argument.
  4. A Twitter pitch for your news release of no more than 140 characters. Use a separate page for this pitch. Your pitch should incorporate at least one of your keywords. Since this is not an official news release, do not send it out over Twitter. For tips on writing effective Twitter copy, check out this example.

NOTE: Many, many thanks to Corinne Weisgerber at St. Andrews University, who gave me permission to use her assignment for my class. I have made only minor tweaks to her original assignment (which appears at her Social Media for PR Class blog).

UPDATED INFO BELOW (as of 2-22-2010)

FAQ About the SEO News Release

  • How do you create a SEO release?
    • A SEO news release is just a “regular” news release, but with keywords chosen & used in the headline/lead/body to help ensure that search engines can index it easily, which leads to making it easier for people to find it. For this class assignment, be sure to put the keywords in bold so that I can see what they are.
  • What do you use to get a higher rank?
    • Choose good keywords.
  • What topic can we do?
    • Use any topic you want. As the assignment stated, you can reuse an news release you wrote for a previous class. The key here is that the news release needs to be one that you actually wrote, not one that you have found online.
  • How do I use Google Insights?
  • How do I make a screenshot?
  • How do you want us to submit the assignment?
    • Make ONE document using Word (or PDF), with multiple pages. Name the file with the following naming convention: YourLastName SEO NR (for example, Nixon SEO NR.docx.) Southeastern U students should submit the assignment in BlackBoard.
  • This is all so confusing to me. Help!
    • Follow the directions and do your best. This assignment is a small one, as far as points go (50 of our 1000 in the class). It’s designed to give you a taste of SEO, not a deep dive into all of its nuances.
  • Do you have anything else that will help me?
    • Yes. See the presentation below by Corinne Weisgerber.

    • News Release Optimization
    View more presentations from Corinne Weisgerber.

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Social Media Trade Book Review

21:365 :: Stack of Social Media Trade Books
Image Credit: "21:365 :: Stack of Social Media Trade Books" by Barbara B. Nixon

For my COMM 4633 & SPC 4350 Students

One of our assignments this semester is for you to read and review a trade book on social media. In class, you’ve already been assigned to a Public Relations Trade Book. Your book review is due in class during Week 10.

Your book review will take the form of a five-minute presentation in class. For your presentation, create a professional-looking PowerPoint presentation of no more than ten slides. Rely more on images to tell your story than bullet points. (We’ll discuss more in class about how not to create a “Death by PowerPoint” slidedeck.)

Your presentation should include:

  • Opening slide should include an image of the book’s cover
  • Short bio of the author(s) of the book (perhaps with a photo of the author)
  • What did you learn by reading this book?
  • What surprised you in this book?
  • What do you want to learn more about, now that this book has piqued your interest?
  • Would you recommend other students to also read this book? Why or why not?

Optional:

  • Consider uploading your book review to SlideShare and embedding the slides in your blog.
  • If you’re using Twitter, search for the authors of your book there and connect with them. You may be surprised how willing most of them are to reply to you when you @ them.
  • Leave a comment about your thoughts on the book on the author’s blog.
  • Post a review of the book on the book’s page at Amazon.com.
Tips on Creating Your PowerPoint:

Questions about this assignment?

barbara_is_listening

(PS: If you prefer to listen to your book, rather than read it, you may be able to choose your title as a free option at the Audible website.)

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Social Media Monitoring Report

Image Credit: "Prospector" by Tony Oliver

For COMM 4633 and SPC 4350 Classes


This assignment gives you an opportunity to learn how to monitor blog and other social media content in a way that provides similar insight offered by more traditional environmental scanning methods.

Many people will discuss your client or organization and its products/services on their own web sites or on social media sites, outside of realm traditional media. Just as it is important for you to know what the media and your community are saying about your organization and its products/services, it is important to know what is being said in social media sites like blogs, social networks, and message boards. For this assignment, you will

  1. monitor the online conversation that has occurred about an organization or brand of your choosing since February 1, 2011,
  2. create a table for your data, and
  3. write an analysis of the conversation with suggestions for action.

You might find bloggers who are blogging about your client organization or brand, people who are creating Web sites about it, message board members who are discussing it in forums, Twitter users who are twittering about it, social networking users who are commenting about it, or online video producers who are posting YouTube videos about it.

Let me know by Week 4 how you choose to complete the project (individual or teams) and which organization you are choosing in class. Teams will collect much more data, but write one cohesive report. NOTE: The first person (or team) to “claim” a Fortune 500 company or large non-profit organization “gets” the company. No duplicates, please.

Step One: Complete Background Reading

See these resources for advice on social media monitoring.

Steps Two-Four

See the complete assignment below:

Social Media Monitoring Report

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Webinars for Social Media for PR

For my Social Media for PR classes (COMM 4633 and SPC 4350)

In addition to our in-class meetings, we will learn from professionals in the social media space each week this semester. Be sure to view or listen to the webinar by Saturday at midnight each week; we’ll discuss the webinars during the following week in class. For many of the weeks, the webinars dovetail nicely with our theme for the week. A vast majority of the webinars will come from Hubspot’s Inbound Marketing University.

Week 1: Social Media and Building Community | Inbound Marketing University

Week 2: How to Blog Effectively for Business | Inbound Marketing University

Week 3: SEO (Search Engine Optimization) Crash Course to Get Found | Inbound Marketing University

Week 4: Twitter for Business | Inbound Marketing University

Week 5: Business Uses for Facebook & LinkedIn | Inbound Marketing University

Week 6: Viral Marketing & World Wide Raves | Inbound Marketing University

Week 7: Passion-Inspired Video & Other Creative Content

Week 8 & 9 Social Media Time Management:

TBA

Week 10: PR for Inbound Marketing | Inbound Marketing University

Week 11: Social Media for Big Business | Inbound Marketing University

Week 12-15: TBA

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Tracking Your Blog Comments

Image Credit: "Rome visit, June 2008 - 79" by Ed Yourdon

In addition to writing your own blog posts, you will also comment on others’ blogs; these comments will count as 25% of your grade on your blog. Aim to comment on two blog posts each week; you will need 20 comments before the end of the semester .

We’ll discuss writing effective blog comments in class. Kipp Bodnar provides tips for How to Be an Awesome Blog Commenter; read these.

Aim to include a variety of blogs that you comment on, ranging from your classmates’ blogs to those of PR professionals. (For a great way to find new and interesting PR blog posts to comment on, subscribe to Ragan’s PR Daily. Or, visit my social bookmarks for PR blogs.)

To track your comments so that I can easily find them, create (and keep adding to) two blog posts that you will title “Blog Comments: Peer” and “Blog Comments: Professional.” In each post you will include:

  • Comment # (keep a running list)
  • Title of blog post you commented on, followed by the author’s name
  • Hyperlink to the blog post
  • Date of your comment
  • Your complete comment (copy and paste)

See Amber Sakis’ blog and Rachel LaFlam’s blog for some great examples of how to track your comments. (NOTE: For this semester, it’s important to divide up the peer and professional comments for easy tracking; in previous semesters, comments were blended.)

NOTE 1: In order for the comment to “count” as part of your grade for this course, it needs to be a minimum of 50 words long — a few sentences. Comments such as “I totally agree” or “Thank you for sharing your thoughts” are nice, but they do not count for credit in this class. You are welcome (and even encouraged) to write comments of varying lengths, but for class credit, 50 words is the shortest I’ll accept.

NOTE 2: Do not post each of your blog comments as separate blog entries; make two pages and keep editing/adding to them.

And whatever you do, make sure your blog comments aren’t whack.