One of the big trends in resumes is to use bullet points. Used sparingly, they can help attract eyes to key points. But unfortunately, too many resumes suffer from bullet point overload.
Using bullet points in every section, including profile, skills, education, certifications, job roles, etc., etc., is a sure-fire way to confuse eyes and create visual fatigue fast.Your page can quickly look like it’s promoting polka dots instead of you.
Traditional media advertising (newspapers, magazines, radio) is about push marketing. It’s all one way. Unfortunately, many businesses attempt to transfer this approach to social media.
Social media isn’t about push advertising. It’s not meant to be used for only tweeting about open time slots for a hairdresser. Or only tweeting about real estate open houses. If these are all you’re using Twitter for, you will end up with few followers. If I’m not interested in making a hair salon appointment, or visiting a real estate open house, I’ve got no reason to follow you.
I hear it almost every day. Organizations and businesses say “We need to start doing social media!”
Ugh. That sounds like you want to join a stampede-like crowd akin to the wildebeest migration across the plains of Africa. “Everybody’s doing social media, so we need to, too!” Stop looking at social media as doing. Start thinking in terms of what it truly represents. Here’s what you should be thinking when considering social media . . .
It’s a dreaded question. It makes any communications professional shout UGH! (silently, of course!).
Here’s the question: “Do I work for free?”
Here’s my answer: “Sure, I can do communications work for your business for free, as along as I can come to your business and get all kinds of stuff for free too.”
Most organizations build email and traditional mail marketing lists. But fewer organizations build social lists. It’s time to rethink your list building in the social media era.
Twitter is an ideal platform to build social lists. You can make your lists public or private. And you can build as many lists as you like.
If you haven’t started to check out Pinterest, I highly encourage you to take a peek. I’m sure you’ve already heard that Pinterest is visually-oriented. People are putting it to all kinds of uses to ‘show’ with images rather than ‘tell’ with text.
I don’t proclaim to be a Pinterest expert (actually, nobody can really call themselves an expert on this newbie social media platform just yet). But I can definitely see its value for sharing content.
Check out the various boards I have started on my Pinterest account, and especially my growing collection of social media infographics. P.S. Pinterest is still by invite only. If you’d like an invite, just leave me a comment on this post!)
When was the last time you did an audit of the communications effectiveness of your Facebook fan page? Organizations and businesses often go to great lengths to create and maintain a fan page. Yet most overlook one important aspect: Can your fans, non-fans or potential supporters/donors/customers easily reach you?
The answer is often no. Sure, your fans can post on your wall and comment. And you’ll get a notification. If they dig around your fan page under your Info tab, they may even find contact information. But seriously, this all adds up to far too much clicking and too much searching.
There is a better way.
Facebook has announced that its new Timeline will be rolled out for pages (brands, companies) effective March 30. You can actually play with your existing page in the Timeline format now, but not publish it until you’re ready.
Most importantly, Facebook has issued its guidelines for what you can do with your cover image on your new Timeline page. There are restrictions, sorry to dash your hopes that you will soon be able to publish big ‘SALE’ graphics on your business or organization Facebook page.
Here are Facebook’s new cover image guidelines for Timeline pages for brands:
Holding a media conference immediately sounds cools. And, hey, it seems so simple. Announce a date, time and invite the media. But I’ve attended many poorly staged events over the years, and listened to countless reporters return to the newsroom and describe a particular media conference as a big waste of time.
Before you ever begin to schedule a media conference you need to consider the pros and cons. Is a media conference right for your announcement / event and your organization? Today’s podcast takes a closer look at what you need to consider BEFORE you move forward.
Podcast: Download
There are a ton of differences between reporters in small and large markets. Here are the nuts-and-bolts quickie differences:
