BE BOLD OR GO HOME

Get your #2 pencils out cause I've got a pop quiz for you!





Did Perez Hilton achieve his successful blogging site Perezhilton.com by:








a.) Delicately commenting on Hollywood gossip and stars

b.) Becoming a grammatically correct and beautiful writer

c.) Boldly speaking his mind and constantly pushing the limits.

Answer is.....


C!

An awesome fellow blogger, Copyblogger, declares in a recent post that blogging boldly is the way to keep people interested and coming back for more.

Audiences want to be entertained. So dilly dallying around your point, novel descriptions of what you ate/did last night/saw at the movies/your crazy dream, random uninteresting news, and not letting your personality show in your blog are sure ways to lose your audience. Try to avoid them at all costs.

Check out Copyblogger's site for more info on the subject.

COMING SOON: List of sites and blogs that excel at keeping readers around.

Until next time,

Sloane and Chelsea

Top 5 List of Twitter Need-to-Knows

Everyone has heard of Twitter. Not everyone knows how it works. Here is a list of the Top 5 things you need to know if you're a person who's curious about using Twitter.

1. Show Twitter the love. When I say love, I mean the real thing. No passive aggressiveness, no fighting, no complaining, no yelling, no hating. Think of you and Twitter in an endless honeymoon stage. Spend hours learning as much as you can about Twitter. Become enthralled. Enthusiastic. Excited. Enlightened. The more time you spend with Twitter the more you'll understand about Twitter. In return, Twitter will give love back to you. See how that works? Who said relationships are hard?

2. Show your profile some love. Spend an hour or so showering Twitter with presents. Presents that come in the form of designing your personal Twitter page. Make sure one of those presents is a profile picture because otherwise you'll just make Twitter seem sketchy to everyone else. If you have trouble drawing stick figures than maybe consult one of your artistic friends who could help you out. There's always the Internet as well for those questions. And, Twitter of course. That's a good Tweet right there--"Anyone know how to easily create your own profile for Twitter?" And speaking of Tweets...

3. Filter your Twitter thoughts. It might seem really easy to quickly type a 140 character Tweet that you've just thought of. Well, hold that thought. Make sure it's one of your "I should write that down somewhere" thoughts and not one of your "Um...good story..." thoughts. Food, for instance, falls in the "Um...good story..." category. Unless you did something AMAZING with it, like build a workable desk out of apples or write a press release for Frito Lay using only potato ships shaped into words, then chances are no one cares about your food intake.

4. Channel your frustration into Twitter success. Don't get overwhelmed by your Tweet Deck constantly telling you every other second that 375637856378563 people have just updated their Twitter and there's no way you can read every single one. Half of those updates probably aren't even worth your while anyway. So. Focus on the ones that are. Then go back to those OFTEN. ReTweet those people. If they have blog they reference, follow it. Become a Twitter companion. The more REAL friends you have, the better your life is, right? And when life gets tough, you lean against those friends. So don't take your frustration out on Twitter.

5. Never underestimate your Twitter knowledge. You don't know a lot about Twitter. "Yes I do!" you exclaim, "I spend 4 hours on Twitter every day!" Well, while you're on Twitter, Twitter headquarters, who, by the way, is the top social media company in Fortune 100 companies, have put their thinking caps on to come up with even better ways to use Twitter. Make sure to check their links, pages, whatever else they offer on their site to see what they're up to. And don't forget to keep up on the web outside of Twitter. You don't want to become a Twitter addict, just a Twitter genius.

Until next time,

Sloane and Chelsea

Social Media consumes InPrint once more--Book Review

I've been talking a lot about social media lately. It's not the only part of PR, but it is a huge part, and the capacity to which a PR pro understands and practices it, either makes or breaks their client's success. 

Here at Blueprint we like to stay updated on current trends--whether they're tech trends, news trends, fashion trends, blogging trends, topic trends (Swine flu immediately comes to mind for that one), and the list goes on. That's part of the job, after all, staying up to date with pretty much everything and everyone. So, last Friday I found myself at Barnes and Nobles looking at the newest fiction novels when my "maybe I should check out the marketing section and see what's new" sense switched on. Next thing I know I'm walking out with 8 books on PR and Marketing skills. 

Yes, I sometimes go overboard, especially in bookstores. But I believe in the power of the written word, be it online or in print, and these particular books jumped out at me as a way to become even more of a PR pro (If that's actually possible...). 

Either an employee at Barnes and Nobles strategically placed amazing, intelligent, extremely helpful, perfect, books on the shelves so that I would automatically look at them first, or I'm just an incredible PR-book-picker-outer. So far, the ones I've read are filled with tips, hints, ideas, theories, quotes, history, case studies, and just the right amount of humor to rock the PR pro's world. 

I'm currently in the middle of "Putting the Public Back in Public Relations" and it's the first time I'm having a hard time putting a non fictional book down to be productive. That's saying a lot. I've been highlighting up a storm, crazily writing notes, and nodding in agreement with just about everything Brian Solis and Deirdre Breakenridge discuss. 

My point for this post: If you're looking at either getting into PR, hiring a PR pro, or simply wanting to know more about PR, this is the book that will answer your questions. I'm not divulging any of their topics or information solely on the fact that you will have incentive to go buy it. 

Happy reading and happy Friday everyone! 

Until next time, 

Sloane and Chelsea

Twittering, tweeting, tweet, twurped.

Yesterday someone must have Tweeted "Social media skeptic alert: PR Pros believe in social media choosing, not full on delusion. Attack!" Everywhere I turned there was an article, reference, or conversation about social media use. 

While I by no means think social media is overrated (hello...this IS a blog I'm writing on, not a typewriter) I stick by my original thought that it can be taken to a level deemed, let's say, Not Necessarily Necessary. 

Before you start waving numbers and success rates in my face, remember that I am indeed a Public Relations professional, and in this industry you HAVE to acknowledge the trends that help clients take on a new aspect of meeting their consumer and marketing needs. 

I also acknowledge when it gets carried away. I mean, do we really need to know that Ashton Kutcher is angry at his next-door neighbor's early morning construction? Maybe some of you do. But no matter your take on the subject I'm sure you'll find this take on the hype amusing.

Blog comments, tweets, and texts can wear out their welcome sometimes, wouldn't you agree? 

Now that you've had your laugh for the day, make sure to check back to our website to see how we might carefully choose the best social media aspect for you. Because if you haven't noticed, we're well in tune with the subject. 

Not had enough of social media? Check out this Wall Street Journal Article about Twitter's founders. 

Now, enough with social media for a while!

Until next time, 

Sloane and Chelsea

The Truth Behind Social Media

While reviewing PR Week I stumbled across an interesting opinion of the social media hype currently taking over the world. Twitter is obviously the current front-runner while Facebook, Myspace, Linked in, blogging, texting, and on down the list, take a close second place. 

You're aware of this already, we know. You don't live under a rock. But did you know that the current hype is actually NOT current, but ever present? 

Confused? Let me explain: Remember when computers became popular? Pagers? Cell phones? AIM? Texting? Internet on cell phones? Or more recently in the past few years, Myspace? Facebook? Gchat? And now jump all the way to Twitter.... caught on yet? 

Social Media is like an old habit that keeps popping up whenever you start to get over it. It's frustrating, isn't it? 

This article in PR Week talks about how every person, business, university, whomever, jumps on the next big thing that's considered social media development no matter what. Why? Because they're afraid they're going to get left behind, lose business, and ultimately fail. 

This isn't always the case, but it's difficult for people to determine whether or not they should invest their time and money into a new development, and they'd rather take their chances then risk losing out. 

How to get around this social media pickle? That's what we're here for! We can test, strategize, and determine which social media aspect is best for your business. You may not need the short blurbs of Twitter, but you may need the witty banter of a blog. 

Successful and savvy PR professionals know how to make their clients succeed...this is our specialty! So let us take on the Social Media frenzy while you get back to business. 

Check out the PR Week article to find out more. 

Until next time, 

Sloane and Chelsea