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10 Tips for Polishing Up Your Blogs, Fall 2010 Edition

Alternative Furniture Polish
Image Credit: "Alternative Furniture Polish" by Annie B. Bond

As I started reviewing blogs for my Fall 2010 classes, a few things came to mind. Rather than just sharing them with individual students, I’ve chosen to write this post, so even more new bloggers can learn from these tips.

NOTE: Many of these tips apply to blogs in general, not just to blogs for my PR classes.

  1. Every post needs to be categorized. If you have had me for a course before, or if you have me for more than one course this semester, please rename your Fall 2010 blog categories to append your course name. For example, instead of “Reading Notes,” edit the category name to “Reading Notes COMM 4333.” For directions on how to rename your categories, see WordPress Support on Category Management.
  2. If your blog post titles are generic, edit your posts and change the titles to make them more descriptive. For example, instead of “TOW #2,” title the post with the actual topic you are discussing. Better titles will make your blog more reader-friendly. For directions on how to retitle your blog posts, see WordPress Support on Post Title and URL.
  3. Review the directions for Tracking Your Blog Comments. There should be just ONE post, and you will keep editing & adding to this post as the semester progresses. (Once you are done with this class, you’ll have no need to continue tracking your comments — this is simply to make it easier for your professor to read the comments you have written without lots of clicks.)
  4. Create a descriptive or interesting site title for your blog, different from the default of “Username’s Blog.” For directions, see WordPress Support on Settings >> General Settings.
  5. Remember the old commercial where we were admonished “never let them see you sweat”? The same goes for website addresses, or URLs. Never let your readers see a URL. Simply hyperlink from the relevant words in your post. And it’s best if your hyperlink opens a new window, so that your blog will remain open in the browser. For directions, see WordPress Support on Links.
  6. Make sure that your posts are thorough and “long enough.” Topics of the Week need to be a minimum of 300 words, and Blog Comments need to be 100 words each. Use your discretion on the PR Connections and Reading Notes. See Blogging Guidelines for more details.
  7. Always (ALWAYS) provide a citation of some kind when you are using content from another source. Not doing so is plagiarism, plain and simple. If the source is available online, hyperlink to it.
  8. Buddy up with another student blogger — either at your own university or at another — and proofread each other’s posts. Typos are never acceptable.
  9. Beef up your About page to provide your readers with a robust and professional profile of you, so they can know more about who you are. (Use common sense, though. No need to include e-mail, cell phone, residence address, etc.)
  10. To be sure your blog is easily readable by readers “of a certain age,” ask a professor from another class or another person over 35 to quickly review your blog. Some of the free WordPress themes are really difficult to read, especially the following:
  • Motion (pixellated white text on medium blue background)
  • ChaoticSoul (tiny white text on dark background)
  • Sweet Blossoms (extremely narrow column of text)

    • So, those are 10 of my tips as we start our Fall Semester. What other tips would you offer?

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    COMM 4363 (Corporate PR) Final Project Options

    The Cast of The Office

    For your final project, you will analyze a Fortune 500 or Inc. 500 company from a public relations perspective. The written portion of your project is due November 11, and your in-class presentation is due during Week 13.

    This project is worth a total of 300 points of the 1000 available; the blog/paper portion is worth 250, and the class presentation is worth 50.

    You will have the option of creating the written portion of the project as a traditional term paper or as a series of blog posts. Let your professor know your decision no later than Week Four.

    If you choose to do this project as a traditional term paper:

    • Use APA style for formatting and source citations
    • Include a title page and table of contents
    • Submit your paper [in the manner your professor requires]
    • NOTE: Another option is to write a traditional term paper of at least 10 pages, on any topic discussed in our textbook Reputation Management. I will write a separate blog post with more details on this option.

    If you choose to do this project as a series of blog posts:

    • Create one page (not post, but page) on your blog with hyperlinks to all the posts. Submit the URL of your page [in the manner your professor requires]
    • Cite your sources within the posts, and also provide hyperlinks to the original source if it’s available online
    • Use tags on your posts

    Required elements:

    • An overview of the company and what it does
    • A brief history or timeline of the company
    • Based on Grunig & Hunt’s models of PR, which model is the company using? Provide examples.
    • Describe the publics, including customers, of the company (or one of its subsidiaries)
    • Top challenges facing the company (including the current financial market)
    • Awards and honors the company has garnered in the past 10 years & how the company is using the awards/honors for promotion
    • An analysis of how the company uses and benefits from (or could benefit from) social media
    • An overview and critique of the company’s online newsroom
    • Career opportunities in PR, corporate communication, marketing, etc., within the company
    • Based on your research of this company, are you now MORE or LESS likely to want to work for the company? Why? Provide at least two paragraphs of a rationale for your decision.

    Also, choose two from the following if you are working alone on the project. If you are working in a group, complete five of the following:

    • For at least one news release, compare how the news release appears in the company’s online newsroom to how the story appeared when it was published in the media
    • One crisis the company has faced and how it dealt with it
    • Describe how the company is involved in its communities
    • Interview (phone or e-mail) a public relations professional within the company
    • Create your resume and cover letter as though you are applying for an entry-level PR position within the company
    • Another section of your choice, as long as you clear it with your professor by Week 9

    Important Dates

    • Week 3: Choose a company.
    • Week 4: Let me know your decision of whether you’ll do a traditional term paper or a series of blog posts.
    • Week 9: Last date to pitch an idea for a section in your paper to me (if there’s something you would like to write about your company that is not on the list above)
    • Week 12: Written portion of your project due
    • Week 13: Presentations in class
    Posted on

    Blogging Guidelines for COMM 4363

    Image Credit: "WordPress Schwag" by Peregrino Will Reign

    This post explains the types of content I expect you to write about in your blog for COMM 4363: Corporate Public Relations. (For information on how to start your blog, see Getting Started with WordPress.) This blog counts as a quarter of of your grade in the class, and it does require frequent “care and feeding.” Use your Blog Editorial Calendar, available in BlackBoard, to help keep you on track for which posts are due when.

    Please add a category for each type (listed below), and make sure each post is categorized appropriately. Each post for this class must have the category of COMM 4363 along with at least one additional category. (If you do not categorize your posts with the name of the class, it will be much more difficult for me to find them, and you cannot earn full credit.)

    1. Reading Notes – Create brief notes or key ideas from the reading assigned for that week’s class. Jot down 3-5 ideas that you believe are the most important & wish to remember. Be very brief, but write enough so someone who can’t read your mind understands what you mean and I am convinced that you actually did the readings. Remember to cite your source(s) when you paraphrase or quote materials from the readings; use a hyperlink to the book (either at the publisher’s site or at a bookseller like Amazon.com). Though these weekly assignments are due Saturday at 11:59pm, many students prefer to do their Reading Notes before they take their weekly RATS (Readiness Assessment Tests), which are due on Mondays.

    2. Topic of the Week – You will have a specific topic related to public relations writing to write about. You will have about 15 of these before the end of the semester. See our TOW list for your class. Along with the Reading Notes, the Topics of the Week are due Saturdays by 11:59pm.

    3. PR Connections – commentary, reflections and opinions about PR issues/examples that were not addressed in class.  These can be responses to other PR blogs you read, links to interesting posts or articles, embedded YouTube videos, etc. Ragan’s PR Daily is a great place to go for inspiration for PR Connections posts. You will write at least ten of these during the semester.

    4. Blog comments – whenever you comment on someone’s PR blog (whether it’s a PR professional or a PR student), add the comment to ONE post that you update throughout the semester so I can assess your online participation. You will need 25 comments during summer semester. Do this only for PR-related blogs. See Tracking Your Blog Comments for Nixon’s Classes for more information, including specifics on the formatting.

    5. Personal – optional category. Use it for any posts not related to public relations.

    You may add other categories and sub-categories of your choice. Please keep in mind that when I evaluate your blog I will pay special attention to the categories listed above, but I will not ignore other posts. I will perform a wholistic evaluation of your blog, looking for:

    • professionalism: Clear, correct, thoughtful writing
    • frequency: Sufficient posts in categories 1-3, posted throughout the semester. There will be at least two blog checkpoints during the semester.
    • linking: Identify other PR blogs (use PR Open Mic or my blogroll in my Delicious bookmarks as starting points) and link to them. Respond to others’ posts. Become a part of the blogosphere. Blogging should not be lonely.
    • readability: brief & concise writing style, use of white space, bold characters, images, bullet points

    SUPER-IMPORTANT: In order for you to get credit for your blog, I need to know where it is. Tell me your blog address by completing this Google Form; do this no later than the end Week Two of class.

    Questions? Just let me know.

    barbara_is_listening

    NOTE: Many thanks to Dr. Mihaela Vorvoreanu at Purdue University, who allowed me to use her blogging guidelines from her PRinciples class. They were so well-written that I made just a few tweaks for my own class. Dr. V knows that Blogs Matter.

    Posted on

    Topics of the Week for COMM 4363

    Need A Tow ? by XOZ.

    In our Corporate PR class at Southeastern University, we’ll all blog about the same general topic each week during the semester. Your TOWs of 300 words or longer are due (should be posted on your own blog) by Saturday at midnight at the end of each week.

    Every time you refer to a website or another blog, be sure to hyperlink to the post. And consider inserting graphics or videos to add visual interest for your readers.

    WEEK ONE

    • Describe which types of social media you currently participate in (such as blogging, podcasting, social networking, etc.), which platforms you use, and why. [NOTE: Since you are creating your blog after after Week One, you will go back and add this post in.]

    WEEK TWO

    • Why are comments such an integral part of blogs? What advice would you offer on writing effective blog comments? [NOTE: Since you are creating your blog after after Week Two, you will go back and add this post in.]

    WEEK THREE

    • Which Fortune 500 or Inc. 500 company have you chosen for your Final Project for this class? Why? Be sure to provide hyperlinks to the company’s website, blog, and other places it can be found online in your post.

    WEEK FOUR

    • “Social Media: Friend or Foe?” :: Listen to Shel Holtz, Mark Ragan and others discuss “concerns and objections around the adoption of social media communication channels.” Discuss the key objections a CEO might have to social media and how these objections might be overcome, based on what you learn in the podcast.

    WEEK FIVE

    • One Week of Twitter [Note: You will do the One Week of Twitter assignment during Week Four, and then write about it before the end of Week Five.]

    WEEK SIX

    • Provide a recap of your Interview with a Corporate Public Relations practitioner.

    WEEK SEVEN

    • Read at least a dozen posts at a public relations blog. Briefly review the blog and explain how public relations students or new practitioners can benefit from reading blogs. (Remember to link to the blog.)

    WEEK EIGHT

    WEEK NINE

    • Crisis Communication (Specific topic TBA)

    WEEK TEN

    • Corporate Responsibility (Specific topic TBA)

    WEEK ELEVEN

    • Public relations practitioners should become accomplished public speakers. Create a Top Ten list of presentation skills tips. You should include at least a few tips that are specific to using PowerPoint or other types of slide shows.

    WEEK 12

    • In WordPress, go into your Dashboard and take a look at your stats. What kinds of things does the Site Stats page tell you? How would PR practitioners benefit for monitoring their own or their company’s blog?

    WEEK 13

    • 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 14

    • [Optional] Embed a YouTube video into your blog and explain why you chose this specific video.

    WEEK 15

    • What are the top 10 things you learned about corporate public relations this semester? (Be sure to provide some commentary about each item on your list.) NOTE: This post is due before midnight on Thursday, rather than Saturday.


    Posted on

    PR Scavenger Hunt for COMM 4333

    Image Credit: "Myst Telescope" by Brapke

    For our first “real” day of class, we’ll have a short scavenger hunt to find useful sites for public relations writers.

    In pairs, look up your assigned site(s) below. (I have intentionally NOT hyperlinked to the sites in this post, to encourage independent searching skills.) Take specific note of the following:

    • Name of site
    • Types/categories of information you found there
    • One specific topic that you found interesting
    • How this site might be useful for PR Writing students

    Reply/respond to this blog post with what you have found. Then, if you wish, you can use what you found as the basis for one of your PR Connections on your own blog later.

    PR News Sites

    • PR Week
    • PR Tactics
    • Ragan Report
    • PR Daily

    Public Relations Organizations

    • Public Relations Society of America
    • International Association of Business Communicators
    • International Public Relations Association
    • Florida Public Relations Association

    Public Relations Blogs

    • Communication Overtones by Kami Huyse
    • PR 2.0 by Brian Solis
    • PRos in Training by Kelli Matthews
    • PR Communications by John Cass
    • Bad Pitch Blog by Kevin Dugan and Richard Laermer
    • PR Squared by Todd Defren

    Podcasts on Public Relations, Writing and/or Public Speaking

    • For Immediate Release
    • Inside PR
    • Quick & Dirty Tips: Grammar Girl
    • Quick & Dirty Tips: The Public Speaker

    Additional Resources

    • AP Stylebook
    • The Elements of Style by William Strunk, Jr.

    (Though this post is written specifically for my COMM 4333, PR Writing, students at Southeastern University, others — especially PR professors — might find it useful. Please feel free to adapt as needed for your own use.)

    Posted on

    AP Style Bootcamp :: Flagging Your 2010 AP Stylebook

    Get out your 2010 AP Stylebook, Post-It notes and a pen and get ready for a short bootcamp by Barbara Nixon. Learn what the five most important things to know about AP Style are, and even get a bonus at the end. Flag your book as you go along, pausing the Prezi below when you need to.

    If you have the 2009 AP Stylebook, then see the Prezi I created earlier this year for the 2009 edition.

    AP Style Bootcamp :: 2010 Edition on Prezi

    Want a PDF of the 5 Things and their page numbers that I refer to in the Prezi? Here you go:

    AP Style Bootcamp 2010

    Posted on

    Blogging Guidelines for COMM 2322

    Image Credit: "WordPress Schwag" by Peregrino Will Reign

    This post explains the types of content I expect you to write about in your blog for COMM 2322: Public Relations Applications. (For information on how to start your blog, see Getting Started with WordPress.) This blog counts as about a third of your grade in the class, and it does require frequent “care and feeding.” Use your Blog Editorial Calendar, available in BlackBoard, to help keep you on track for which posts are due when.

    Please add a category for each type (listed below), and make sure each post is categorized appropriately. Each post for this class must have the category of COMM 2322 along with at least one additional category. (If you do not categorize your posts with the name of the class, it will be much more difficult for me to find them, and you cannot earn full credit.)

    1. Reading Notes – Create brief notes or key ideas from the reading assigned for that week’s class. Jot down 3-5 ideas that you believe are the most important & wish to remember. Be very brief, but write enough so someone who can’t read your mind understands what you mean and I am convinced that you actually did the readings. Remember to cite your source(s) when you paraphrase or quote materials from the readings; use a hyperlink to the book (either at the publisher’s site or at a bookseller like Amazon.com). Though these weekly assignments are due Saturday at 11:59pm, many students prefer to do their Reading Notes before they take their weekly RATS (Readiness Assessment Tests), which are due on Mondays.

    2. Topic of the Week – You will have a specific topic related to public relations writing to write about. You will have about 15 of these before the end of the semester. See our TOW list for your class. Along with the Reading Notes, the Topics of the Week are due Saturdays by 11:59pm.

    3. PR Connections – commentary, reflections and opinions about PR issues/examples that were not addressed in class.  These can be responses to other PR blogs you read, links to interesting posts or articles, embedded YouTube videos, etc. Ragan’s PR Daily is a great place to go for inspiration for PR Connections posts. You will write at least ten of these during the semester.

    4. Blog comments – whenever you comment on someone’s PR blog (whether it’s a PR professional or a PR student), add the comment to ONE post that you update throughout the semester so I can assess your online participation. You will need 25 comments during the  semester. Do this only for PR-related blogs. See Tracking Your Blog Comments for Nixon’s Classes for more information, including specifics on the formatting.

    5. Personal – optional category. Use it for any posts not related to public relations.

    You may add other categories and sub-categories of your choice. Please keep in mind that when I evaluate your blog I will pay special attention to the categories listed above, but I will not ignore other posts. I will perform a wholistic evaluation of your blog, looking for:

    • professionalism: Clear, correct, thoughtful writing
    • frequency: Sufficient posts in categories 1-3, posted throughout the semester. There will be at least two blog checkpoints during the semester.
    • linking: Identify other PR blogs (use PR Open Mic or my blogroll in my Delicious bookmarks as starting points) and link to them. Respond to others’ posts. Become a part of the blogosphere. Blogging should not be lonely.
    • readability: brief & concise writing style, use of white space, bold characters, images, bullet points

    SUPER-IMPORTANT: In order for you to get credit for your blog, I need to know where it is. Tell me your blog address by completing this Google Form; do this no later than the end Week Three of class.

    Questions? Just let me know.

    barbara_is_listening

    NOTE: Many thanks to Dr. Mihaela Vorvoreanu at Purdue University, who allowed me to use her blogging guidelines from her PRinciples class. They were so well-written that I made just a few tweaks for my own class. Dr. V knows that Blogs Matter.

    Posted on

    WordPress 101 :: Getting Started With Your Blog

    Image Credit: "?" by Sublime Dharma

    Students in most of my classes have blogging as a component of their grades. Many of them have rarely even read blogs, no less written one of their own. In this post, I am combining many posts I’ve previously written to help them get started in WordPress.

    1

    Review the slides in my “Getting Started in WordPress” presentation below. In this presentation, you’ll learn

    • Blogging Do’s & No-No’s
    • Signing Up for Your WordPress Account
    • Setting Up Your Account
    • Writing Posts & Pages
    • How to Display Your Blog Comments (that you write on others’ blogs)
    Getting Started in WordPress

    2

    Watch some of the many FAQ screencasts provided by WordPress to help you with the step-by-step instructions. Here are a few of the best ones to help you get started on the right foot:

    3

    Read the blogging tips I’ve provided in various posts here at Public Relations Matters.

    4

    And though you may have a good handle on the technical aspects of blogging, remember that the technical side is only part of the blogging equation. Corinne Weisgerber, a professor at St. Edward’s University and fellow PROpenMic member, created this presentation for her Social Media for PR class. The emphasis? How blogging can help you create your personal brand online. Take a look. It’s worth the time.

    Blogging & Managing your Personal Brand

    View more presentations or upload your own. (tags: commenting identity)

    5

    Remember to let me know your blog address by completing this Google Form. If I can’t find your blog, I can’t grade it. Hint, hint.