A few months ago, I went to a PRSA luncheon on social media. Being a Millennial, I thought I would be head and shoulders above the rest of the (Boomer) crowd. Afterall, I knew what YouTube was. I had a Facebook account. I’d connected through LinkedIn. The rest of the crowd would be impressed and amazed at my Web 2.0 prowess. They would ask me cute questions like, “What’s a wall post?” Glory would be mine.

 

I think it was about three minutes into the presentation when I realized how wrong I was. The moderator began by asking who was on Facebook. I proudly shot my hand in the air and looked around. So had everybody else. He then asked who knew of YouTube. Everybody. RSS? SecondLife? Wikis? Technorati? Flickr? Digg? Twitter? The Boomers kept their hands raised, while I sat there: face red, eyes wide and hand down.

 

I left that luncheon scared, embarrassed and motivated to get my behind in gear. If I was going to succeed in PR, I’d need to know about this stuff, whether I wanted to or not, and use it to my advantage.

 

The thing about Web 2.0 sites/applications is that they’re all easy to learn. The trick is learning why the heck people use them, and there’s not always a clear-cut answer. Probably the biggest mystery to me was Twitter. If you aren’t familiar, Twitter is a micro-blogging site. You set up a profile and update it with 140 character snippets that answer, “What are you doing?”

 

Don’t get me wrong, I’m a super cool girl. People to see, places to go, whatnot. But honestly, I don’t even care what I ate for breakfast. Why would anyone else? But I was confident I would get the hang of this thing, I mean, the old people had, why couldn’t I? So, I set up a profile, uploaded a picture, and made my background all pretty.

 

Though I’m not particularly sure what I posted first. It was probably something to the effect of, “I’m not sure what the heck I’m doing here, but hi?” I “followed” some co-workers, a few social media types, Ron Paul (I know, right?) and hoped for the best.

In public relations, there is no better feeling than landing a great piece of coverage for a client. At times, I am convinced that I’m even happier about securing a story or interview than my client is. Not to say that the client isn’t thrilled, but it’s just an unbelievable feeling that never seems to get old. Regardless of the size of the media outlet, from a large national newspaper to a small trade publication, the feeling of accomplishment is exactly the same. The fact of the matter (and this is widely under recognized) is that a story in a small trade publication may bring a client even more business than a story in the Wall Street Journal or New York Times. It’s all about the audience and the message.

This week, one of my favorite things in PR happened. Actually, it happened twice. I was contacted by two media outlets that I last corresponded with three months ago about doing stories (one television and one print) on one of my former clients, Sonicu. It all goes back to the age old saying, “Timing is everything.” The bottom line is a great story will get picked up, but not necessarily when you expect it to.

As put best by the president of Sonicu, it is “Interesting how seed planted a while back can still grow.” Throughout this weekend, he will be appearing on Indiana's most watched weekly business television program, Inside INdiana Business with Gerry Dick.  The first airing of the week’s show is on Friday nights at 10:00 p.m. CHECK IT OUT!

Probably one of the most important aspects of public relations is longevity.  Defined by the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, longevity is “1 a: a long duration of individual life b: length of life <a study of longevity>2: long continuance: permanence, durability.”

You want to work with a public relations professional and/or firm who you can stay with long-term not just because it adds stability and undoubtedly a continued stream of coverage – but also because you like calling one person, the same person, every time you need some PR assistance.

In my first job, I traveled across the country training businesses on how to use the computer software my company sold and supported.  Even years after I last visited a site, the managers or salespeople would call me asking for help with the software.  Why?  It was typically because every time they called customer support they reached a different technical specialist or their salesperson left their territory/region and they just wanted to talk to one person who understood their situation, not be passed around from person to person.

I was someone my former clients could call, no matter what, and they knew I would work to help solve their problem until they were 100% satisfied.

That’s what we do at Dittoe.  Every account manager deals with different clients, client contacts and media contacts on a daily basis.  Not only are we charged with telling our clients’ stories and getting them coverage in the media outlets they want to be in on a regular basis – but we work hard to ensure everyone we communicate with is happy.

Our clients know who their Dittoe account manager is.  We communicate with them multiple times a week and they know our mobile numbers – so even at 10:00pm, when someone gets an idea or a last minute decision is made, we’re on it.

I think our accountability and availability plays major roles in our longevity with many clients.  The proof is in the pudding…

We currently work with clients who were some of the first to try out Dittoe Public Relations back when Chris and Liza founded the company.  Clients don’t “come and go” here… they stay, and if they leave, they typically come back.

Longevity.  It’s a major key to the success of any company, whether you’re B-to-B or B-to-C.  You want to be good ole reliable.  You want to be the first name that pops up in your client’s mind.

“Failure is not an option.” Feels like I've lived my whole life by those words. But lately, I’ve begun to feel like it’s a flawed M.O., and I don’t think I’m alone.

 

I've mentioned before that I attended Butler University. It was my dream school. Busted my rear to get in there. Busted my rear, and sacrificed my physical well-being*, while there. When I graduated from Butler in May of 2006, our convocation speaker was James McBride. He’s the author of The Color of Water, a book that spent two years on the NY Times Bestseller list. Seems a guy that wouldn't know much about the topic of failure, eh? But that was exactly his point. McBride believed that fearing failure was, in itself, the ultimate failure, for if you feared what you didn’t know, you’d never push yourself to try the "impossible."

 

After graduation, my father came up to me, visibly irritated. “Who the hell encourages a room full of new graduates, and their parents who’ve scraped and sacraficed to educate them, to fail?!”

 

While my father may have** missed McBride's point, he articulates mine beautifully. Our whole lives we're taught that failing is bad. We play it safe because we're too afraid of what will happen if we step outside the lines to try what’s never been done before. But how are we rewarded? It seems that those people who do the “impossible” are the ones that reach their true potential, while the rule followers end up carrying out the dreams of others.

 

But as inspiring as pushing the envelope and risking everything is, sometimes we do fail. And it doesn't feel good. The inspiration for this post actually came from a blog post I recently read by Julie Wainwright. Wainwright was the CEO of Pets.com, the infamous company that suffered irreversibly after the dotcom bust. What's more, the very week Pets.com went belly-up, Wainwright's marriage of seven years did the same. She's had people laugh in her face upon introduction. She’s been called a loser and one of the biggest failures ever. On national media.

 

That's a hard burden to bear. But what her recent post and subsequent new venture smartnow.com, a Web site and community for women around 40, have taught me is that people can and do overcome mistakes and are often the better for it. Sure, feeling like a failure sucks. Failing sucks. But you know what sucks even worse than failing? The feeling of regret or what might have been. I can't say that I've been through something like Wainwright. I haven't even failed that much in my meager 24 years, but hearing the adversity that she overcame to become the woman she is today gives me the courage to say "Why not?"

 

There are of course times when failure is not an option*** but honestly, those times are few and far between. So I challenge you today to do something that scares the bejesus out of you, not with reckless abandon, but with a fearlessness and confidence that people will be given no choice but to respect. Chances are, you will learn something great, and if you fail, well, just remember, the opinions expressed (and advice given) by Laura Kassenbrock do not necessarily reflect those of Dittoe Public Relations.

 

* My average hours of sleep in college averaged five; the same as my average cups of coffee/day. And on many occasions, I swear I felt an ulcer coming on. I know, I know.  "Cry me a river, private school girl."

** OK, definitely. Love you, dad.
*** Bungee jumping, drug testing, defusing bombs (who are you, MacGyver?)

Have you ever used NO-AD sunscreen on vacation?  It's really good stuff... great value for the money too because the bottles are ginormous.  What makes this sunscreen really different than Banana Boat, Panama Jack and Coppertone is they don't advertise - hence the name "no-ad."

This company has relied on word of mouth marketing for years.  I first started using it when I was in middle school because I saw a friend with a hot pink bottle of 15 SPF.

While it makes for an interesting case study, NO-AD is also very unique.  Many companies are creating "word of mouth" marketing campaigns which rely heavily on social media sites like Facebook or MySpace, emails (like those sent out by Indianapolis-based ExactTarget), blogs (like your's truly here) and SMS text messaging.  NO-AD really relied on good, solid, old-fashioned word of mouth.

On the American Marketing Association's Web site, Marketing Power, they currently have a survey posted which I found to be extremely interesting.  They ask, "What is your most effective word-of-mouth technique?"  The responses are what got my attention:

• Social Media Sites - 22%
• Email - 54%
• Blogs - 16%
• SMS - 8%

Honestly, I voted for blogs.  I have experienced a great deal of success in gaining coverage for my clients in blogs.  Many blogs have a daily traffic snapshots reaching over 2.2 million making their online viewership greater than the printed circulation of the same company or other reputable media outlets in the same space.

I believe people are more likely to believe the word of a blogger than some group on Facebook or some email they've received.  Emails have a leg-up on blogs though... many campaigns are opt-in and all [should be] opt-out compliant.  To find a blog takes more effort than just checking your inbox - I'll give you that!

I am sad to see that SMS isn't appearing to catch on as quickly as I had anticipated.  I've yet to participate in any opt-in SMS campaign and I really don't think it's for me.  I equate it to receiving a phone call from a telemarketer right when I sit down for dinner.  There's never a good time to receive a random text message from a stranger... not for me, at least!

So what about you?  How will/would you vote?

This morning, I saw a video on Inc. magazine's website talking about "How to choose a PR agency." This was interesting to me, coming from the agency side, to look at what clients must think about in deciding to work with us. So I started thinking about each of the five "tips" given in light of Dittoe PR and our clients.

1.Use references.
Talk to friends and business contacts you know and trust to see what firms they think will be a good fit for your organization. I know we've gotten several of our clients through references and word of mouth. Since we're located in Indianapolis, it's easy for companies here to see our work and for Dittoe to attract the attention of more local clients.

2. Does a PR agency know your business?
Engage the PR agency in dialogue about your industry and business challenges. Ask them how they would likely approach your account. Dittoe works with a wide variety of clients but has particular expertise in the high tech industry. However, after working with several clients in the education industry recently, we've gained a great deal of knowledge about this industry over the past year. Similarly with working with other clients, we're continually learning as much as possible about the marketplace and various industries in order to be able to serve an increasing range of clientelle.

3. Test the chemistry between your company and the agencies that you’re looking at. Who do you think you’ll get along with best and be able to work well with? With any business partnership, it's very important to understand one another and be able to communicate well. Dittoe has a wide range of clients and therefore a wide range of client relationships. Some clients like to talk on the phone with us every day, while others will go days or sometimes even weeks between emails with us. It's our responsibility to understand our clients' needs and cater specifically to them, communicating in the method they prefer.

4. Be a partner. Make sure to let the agency know all the relevant information they might need in order to best tell your story. This is very important to a PR agency. Since what we do is "tell our clients' stories" essentially, it is critical that we have all the necessary information to paint a picture for the media. Clients who withhold information from us are doing themselves a disservice.

5. Define success. Make sure you and the agency have the same goals in mind. It is important for Dittoe to know what our clients expect of us and what will make them happy. That way, we can set our expectations - and help set theirs realistically. All clients usually say they want to be on Oprah, but unfortunately that rarely happens. Landing coverage like Good Morning America, the Wall Street Journal, and the New York Times is incredible and we're always so excited when stories like these run for our clients. Also, knowing where a client would most like to be featured is important. Some clients would actually prefer to be included in trade publications - written specifically for people in their industry - instead of national newspapers or magazines written for the general public.

Dittoe PR is very good at what we do, and we know how to achieve media coverage successfully for our clients. Anyone looking for a PR agency who would like national exposure should give us a look!

Recently, I've seen several YouTube videos of the Muppets singing various songs. On the Fourth of July, someone sent me the Muppets "singing" the Stars and Stripes Forever, and this past weekend I saw three others - the Habanera, Ode to Joy, and a classical music piece the name of which I don't know. All of these are hilarious and have made me wonder whether they might be part of some sort of viral advertising for a new Muppets movie. I definitely hope this is the case, as I love the Muppets and always enjoy their movies.

I've always found non-traditional forms of advertising to be very interesting. Viral advertising tactics such as using YouTube videos, mock websites, and other forms of social media communication are all inexpensive (or free) but can reach an amazingly wide audience. With the numbers of people using social media networking websites, thousands can come in contact with an item posted by a single person. The Tipping Point, by Malcolm Gladwell, talks about how ideas, products, messages and behaviors spread like viruses do. An example given is that of Hush Puppies shoes. At a time when this company was suffering and on the verge of going out of business, they experienced an unexpected rise in popularity and profit. A very small niche of urbanites who wore hush puppies (likely because they weren't popular) caused the popularity of these shoes to spread like wildfire. People started catching on - and once celebrities started wearing the shoes, the demand only grew more.

In my opinion, if you have a few people - who are widely respected and popular - with large social networks to help spread a message virally, you can reach a huge audience very simply. Once people start talking about something - the topic becomes part of the "buzz" - and it pops up everywhere.

In PR, having news about our clients "go viral" is exactly what we want. At Dittoe, we always hope that by generating some initial media coverage, this will stimulate discussion and that people will ultimately start talking about our clients on their own - and spreading awareness of their products and services!

Yesterday I had an experience at the mall which made me think about the fact that many of the skills necessary to be a successful retail salesperson are similar to those necessary to be successful at Dittoe PR.

As I was walking, I was approached by a salesperson with a lotion sample. Although I politely told him I wasn't interested in sampling his product, he continued to insist that I take the sample, all-the-while getting closer to me and more in my face. I decided to appease him, in the hopes of getting him to leave me alone after that. That was my first mistake. Once I took the lotion sample, he began to show me another set of products for nail care. Talking at a mile-a-minute, the salesman (who clearly cared FAR more about nail care than I, a woman, did) tried to convince me to let him demonstrate a nail smoothing product on me - "Just two minutes of your time." Yeah, right. He proceeded to smooth the top of one of my thumbnails with some sort of nail buffing product. Then, when I said "That's nice, but I really don't need the product," he went into a tirade about how my fingernails are like a business card. "Do you want your business contacts to see you with bad nails?" he asked. As I strained to keep a smile on my face and remain pleasant I thought to myself how my business contacts shouldn't care what my nails look like - they should base their opinions of me on how smart, professional and hard-working I am - and whether I get the job done well. Honestly, I don't care enough or want to spend the money to get a manicure each month - and I'd rather keep my nails cut short so I can toss a football more easily.

At this point, I started to get really annoyed and began to try harder to get away from the salesman. I hate being rude though, so I was still having a difficult time walking away. His tactics then changed to attempts to negotiate with me. He tried offering me the nail kit for half price, then offering me two nail kits for the price of one. The reality of the situation was that I wouldn't spend $5 for a nail kit - it's just not something I need, want or would even use. FINALLY I realized I would just have to be short with the man - tell him I wasn't buying anything, bottom line - and walk away.

To me, a good retail salesperson needs to resemble a good PR professional. He or she should be helpful but not pushy. Knowledge of the product, the ability to communicate and being trustworthy (which includes conveying accurate product and pricing information, especially in a negotiation-type sale) are all critical qualities to have.

At Dittoe, we pride ourselves on always being professional and pitching the media appropriately. The relationships we form with journalists and producers are largely based on their trust that we're providing them with accurate, relevant information. I know there are plenty of PR professionals who pitch using mass email lists and who don't do the necessary research prior to contacting members of the media. Going the extra mile by making ourselves familiar with new media contacts, the topics they general cover, and how they prefer to be contacted is what sets the account executives at Dittoe apart from these other PR professionals in the industry.

I always try to think about how I would react to something if I were the journalist or producer, prior to contacting him or her. By putting myself in someone else's shoes for a minute, it helps me to better understand what they want so I can get the best results for Dittoe and our clients!

OK, so is it bad that I'm already counting down until the Colts play the Bears on Sunday, September 7th at 8:15pm at the new Lucas Oil Stadium?

My excitement for this season is greater than it was last year when they were the reigning world champs.  I know... I didn't think it was possible, either!  Of course, you can imagine my excitement when I learned from MediaPost.com about Reebok's new commercial by Mcgarrybowen which features both the Manning brothers and other league stars like Chad Johnson, Vince Young and Brian Urlacher (all personal favorites of mine).

Of course, the commercial features several teams including the Colts.  By the way, where the heck are the Colts walking?  They look like they're in the swamps of Florida, not the fields of Indiana!? 

Check the ad out for yourself by clicking on the picture above and let me know what you think.  It gets me excited about football... not Reebok, but maybe that's because I'm a Nike girl all the way.  What about you?  Will you join the migration?

Last night, along with several of my co-workers from Dittoe PR, I attended a dinner with the Two Million Minutes team and some special guests. This client account of mine is unique in that we get to meet people involved in the film from all over the world. This week, the two Chinese students from 2MM, Xiaoyuan and Ruizhang, are visiting Indianapolis as part of their first-ever trip to the United States.

Since Xiaoyuan sat at my table, I got to talk to her about her education, extra-curricular activities and the comparisons between China and the United States. I was very impressed with her English, as I had shown up to the dinner expecting our entire conversation to be translated by a Chinese/English interpreter. We were, however, able to talk freely, and she understood many topics that were brought up.

We talked about all the media attention Two Million Minutes has received here and how our national PR campaign has brought a lot of excitement to Dittoe. I asked about what she was studying in college and learned that she is a business major but also likes the arts. As a violinist and ballerina, she certainly has artistic talent.  

My favorite part of the night was when Xiaoyuan was asked to play her violin for the group. She had been asked to bring it with her from China and was happy to play a couple of songs for everyone. Now, let me preface this by saying that she had told me she'd been playing since she was four years old (she's now nineteen). Despite hearing this I didn't realize just how good she would be. The first piece she played was a fun, Irish dance song which made me want to go dance a jig at an Irish pub. I love Irish music, so I really enjoyed this one - and everyone clapped along as she played. The second piece seemed to be much more difficult and involved. It was a classical piece, and I was just amazed by how fast her fingers moved and the wide range of notes she was able to play.

It was pretty eye-opening to hear about China directly from Xiaoyuan as well. She mentioned the "one-child policy" which dictates that families residing in urban areas may only give birth to a single child, in order to curb the population growth. She also talked about how much more crowded it was in Shanghai than in Indianapolis.

Despite living across the world in a very different place, she also mentioned being familiar with American television shows such as Friends and CSI as well as some of the same athletes from around the world whom Americans watch. She mentioned that she loved to watch Rafael Nadal play tennis, her favorite sport.

It was definitely an interesting experience having dinner with these visitors from China. I learned a lot, and I hope the other Dittoe girls and I helped make their first dinner in America an enjoyable one!

An expert is defined as a person who has special skill or knowledge in some particular field; specialist; authority. Every day I pitch some journalist or blogger on speaking with a client, an expert in mobile technology, networking, social media, 3PL, etc… who can provide a perspective relevant to a story or unique enough to qualify as a story in and of itself.

I suppose I’m expert violist, field hockey player and dog trainer since I do possess special skill and knowledge in each field – but I don’t go around claiming to know everything about any of these skills. I consider myself to be an amateur at everything I am skilled at since I don’t quite have the tenure required to be taken seriously as an expert. 

The people I promote each day are referred to as experts because they know their business better than anyone else, bar none. In many cases, the experts I work with are founders of multiple organizations and all of them have taught me so much about their business and industry.

I’ve come to learn so much about the experts I work with and represent. So much that it’s difficult to present media contacts with all of the reasons why they need to speak with someone in the first place. I wish I could just label my clients as experts with stickers on their Web sites or foreheads, whichever they prefer, letting the world know that they are skilled at what they do, the best in fact.

Unfortunately, we all can’t walk around with signs letting the world know who we are – unless you’re into wearing a nametag for the rest of your life. That’s why PR is so important. As hard as it is to get the attention of the media, when I do it is a major adrenaline rush.

After reaching out to someone numerous times over a period of time and receiving no response, no inkling of interest – to get that one phone call or email asking for more information and to speak with the expert is the reason why I come into work every day. That call or email is how I earn my nametag: a Public Relations Account Executive.

It's not every day someone tells you what a fantastic job you're doing for them. Fortunately for me and the rest of the team at Dittoe PR, we hear it more than most people.

Part of me was jaded by corporate America. At 25 years old, I came to expect I would never receive a hardy handshake, pat on the back or even a complimentary email after performing above expectation. Continuously striving for perfection and approval in the eyes of my supervisors grew old and I soon became disenchanted with my role in the company. Not a good sign, right?

I regularly write about how lucky I am to work at Dittoe, how this is my dream job, how Dittoe is truly the best Indianapolis PR firm... What you may not realize is, I mean it.

Today I received the best compliment I have received to-date from a client. After sharing some good news with them I received a one-word email that will have me smiling for the rest of the week: "PHENOMENAL."

"Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around." - Leo Buscaglia

Working at Dittoe has changed my life. No, I'm not going to get all sentimental on you but I am serious.  I thought I'd be doomed to a lifetime of working 9-5 at some job I hated. You know the feeling, waking up every morning wanting to call in sick, dragging yourself into the office and then spending your time counting down the seconds until quitting time.

Now I look forward to coming into work each day. I get excited thinking about the emails sitting in my inbox, messages in my voicemail and the ideas I came up with the night before to help bring more coverage to my clients.

Each day is another opportunity to ask, “What can I do now?" and provide the best service to my clients - the kind of service they've come to expect from Dittoe.

What's even more important is I want to work hard for my clients because they get excited when I'm successful and that excitement is what keeps me going. My hard work resulting in a "phenomenal" reaction is plenty reason for me to continue working my tail off here.

Please do me a favor today... when someone around you at work or even at home does something really well or impressive, tell them. It will make their day and encourage them to do it again.

Here at Dittoe PR we do many different types of public relations: We do Corporate Public Relations, High Tech PR and Media Relations across the board, but today I've decided to focus on PR for the Planet. I've already blogged about this once, but after recent conversation it seems the time has come for me to do it again.

Even if you're not an environmentalist, a tree hugger or whatever you'd like to call it, things are changing because of Global Warming and it's not for the better.

Here are just a few of the effects that Global Warming is having on our planet, according to National Geographic:

• Arctic ice is rapidly disappearing, and the region may have its first completely ice-free summer by 2040 or earlier. Polar bears and indigenous cultures are already suffering from the sea-ice loss.

• Glaciers and mountain snows are rapidly melting—for example, Montana's Glacier National Park now has only 27 glaciers, versus 150 in 1910.

• Coral reefs, which are highly sensitive to small changes in water temperature, suffered the worst bleaching—or die-off in response to stress—ever recorded in 1998, with some areas seeing bleach rates of 70 percent.

• An upsurge in the amount of extreme weather events, such as wildfires, heat waves, and strong tropical storms, is also attributed in part to climate change by some experts.

Hopefully these facts are enough to turn on that energy-efficient light bulb in your head and inspire you to do something to help the environment.  At a loss for what you can do to help? Here are some ideas:

§     Use less hot water- It takes a lot of energy to heat water. You can use less hot water by washing your clothes in cold or warm water (500 pounds saved per year) instead of hot.
§     Use a clothesline instead of a dryer whenever possible- You can save 700 pounds of carbon dioxide when you air dry your clothes for 6 months out of the year.
§     Reuse your shopping bag-  When shopping, it saves energy and waste to use a reusable bag instead of accepting a disposable one in each shop.
§ Buy locally grown and produced foods- The average meal in the United States travels 1,200 miles from the farm to your plate. Buying locally will save fuel and keep money in your community.
§         Reduce the number of miles you drive by walking, biking, carpooling or taking mass transit wherever possible-  Avoiding just 10 miles of driving every week would eliminate about 500 pounds of carbon dioxide emissions a year!
§         Start a carpool with your coworkers or classmates- Sharing a ride with someone just 2 days a week will reduce your carbon dioxide emissions by 1,590 pounds a year. eRideShare.com runs a free service connecting north american commuters and travelers.
§         Plant a tree-  A single tree will absorb one ton of carbon dioxide over its lifetime. Shade provided by trees can also reduce your air conditioning bill by 10 to 15%.
§         Be sure you’re recycling at home- You can save 2,400 pounds of carbon dioxide a year by recycling half of the waste your household generates.

For these, and other tips on how to stop Global Warming, visit: http://globalwarming-facts.info/50-tips.html

 

Yesterday, comedian and actor George Carlin passed away at the age of 71 from heart failure.  My first memory of Carlin was as the engineer and voice of trains on “Thomas the Tank Engine,” which was always on PBS when I was little.  As I got older, I learned more about the man and his comedic routines which pushed boundaries and eventually got Carlin arrested and thrown in jail.

Carlin’s “Seven Words” routine is groundbreaking.  By some people, it’s regarded as profane and lewd – but many people it’s simply thought of as comedy.  He told us in plain English how he saw the world around him and it was hilarious.

“… In America, anybody can be president.  That’s the problem.”

His “tell it like it is” stand-up act broke the mold of impersonations and slap-stick routines.  No one has even come close to the level Carlin excelled at.

I think we can all take a tip from Carlin, who recently reflected on how he ended up doing the kind of comedy which made him famous: “I was doing superficial comedy entertaining people who didn't really care: Businessmen, people in nightclubs, conservative people. And I had been doing that for the better part of 10 years when it finally dawned on me that I was in the wrong place doing the wrong things for the wrong people.”

So, are you in the wrong place doing the wrong things for the wrong people?

For me, I’m taking away a few things from the comedian:

• Laugh at yourself – never take yourself too seriously
• Don’t let sticky situations get you down
• Do what you love

Do you remember the difference between an adjective and an adverb? Yea, I don't either. I decided to get myself in check. So today, along with fellow Dittoe PR employee Meghan Howard, I thought I would brush up on some middle school grammar with one of my all-time favorite activities: Mad Libs. And if you haven't done a Mad Lib with a friend in a while, try one. It's a really great brainstorming activity*, which is something most of us need at 4 p.m. on a Friday. So here we go:

Well, it’s a HOT Friday here at the Dittoe PR office, and all of us are feeling a little crazy. Don’t you find it exciting to work when it is so annoying outside? I know we do. But alas, we must skip forward and get the word out on our fantastic** clients. Afterall, when your clients are as cool as ours, it’s really not that happy.***

It’s been a smelly day so far. Intern’s sunshine ran out of gas this morning, so he was tardy getting in. To make up for his joyousness he brought us McDonald’s breakfast flower pots. Who can be mad at a dog after he brings you America’s favorite ponytail? I know we couldn’t.

So now, we’re all coughing away: researching media opportunities and calling reporters, which is a little violent today, as most reporters are out of the office. They must be (****) on their shoe or sliding on their cat.

Over lunch, we all went to  Intern’s house (he has a fun 72 inch river) to watch our newest client's documentary.

Side note: Did you know that today is Summer Solstice? Yep, that’s right, it’s the blondest day of the year! So quietly head out of the office early today, and think of your Dittoe friends, shouting away at work on all of our AMAZING** clients. Ugly Friday to all!

* Riiiiiiiiight
** I wasn’t about to leave that adjective up to Howard and the hands of fate; I like our clients too much
*** Yea, should have picked that one myself
**** Content edited for absolute ridiculousness

This past week reaffirmed why I love my job so much. My amazing co-workers surprised me with flowers, a Starbucks gift card, a hilarious birthday card and a lunch out on my birthday. At first, I was down in the dumps about turning 26 but by Saturday I was still celebrating – after a crazy joint-birthday party with fellow 26 year-old Christy Oberley. This was seriously my favorite birthday since 21.

It occurred to me Friday night amidst the dance-offs, singing, jumping on furniture and odd drink concoctions that the people I work with are truly the hardest working, hardest partiers I have ever known. Each member of the Dittoe team, from Chris & Liza to our interns, is outgoing, funny, genuine and more importantly - the best at what they do.

Members of the Dittoe gang are high tech PR specialists, consumer PR experts and… party animals. It's quite a change from the corporate world I spent several years in! Change happens every minute of every day in this office. Clients have new ideas, new products, new services and Dittoe rolls with the changes making sure we can maximize our clients’ news to the very best of our ability.

When Oprah Winfrey’s producer calls Meg Charlebois we all celebrate with a quick dance in the middle of the office. When Good Morning America calls Liza we all scream in excitement [and maybe play a New Kids on the Block song as a tribute]. We truly work together and have fun together. We’re not in competition with each other to see who can get the best coverage – we work together to ensure we ALL get the best coverage for our clients.

You simply cannot work with a better group of people or with more amazing professionals. So, here’s to being 26 and working at Dittoe Public Relations – may we have many more celebrations!

Newbie. Novice. Greenie. Rookie. Call it what you will. If you’ve ever been new somewhere, and we all have, you know that it’s not easy. And it seems, to me anyway, that the older I get, the harder being The New Girl becomes. Maybe it’s because the older we are, the faster we feel we should acclimate to people and surroundings. Maybe the older I get, the more awkward I become. Yea, I’m going with Option B.

 

Anyway, a month ago, I started at Dittoe PR, and once again, I became The New Girl. If you aren’t familiar with Dittoe PR and what they do, the team specializes in media relations, and they’re damn good at it. In the months before I came, the Dittoe team had placed clients in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and on Good Morning America. I’d only ever pitched local and regional media, so during my second week here, when I had to pitch New York and national media, I felt … nauseous.

 

But the thing about Dittoe is that the team here cares for one another and their clients, and we all want to see each other succeed. So, before I made my first call or sent my first email, I got a lesson in media relations that rivaled any I’d received in my collegiate (and post collegiate for that matter) experience. You see, Dittoe isn’t your run-of-the-mill PR agency; they are the best. And they know that pitching the media doesn’t mean pitching every media outlet. It’s about pitching the right outlets, giving them the right information, and developing mutually beneficial relationships. It’s what Dittoe does, and it’s what works.

 

Now in my second month here, I’m proud to say that I’m getting the hang of this whole thing. I’m no longer petrified of big name editors, and in fact, I’ve found myself even joking around with some. Best of all, I’m happy to say that I’m at a place that is fostering me into the best, most efficient PR person I can be (in record time). So, I think I’m over being The New Girl. Now, if I could only find the paperclips…

We are expanding our office space and adding to our team with two bright and shiny interns (who will surely be dark and demented upon completing their internship in August). Wahoo! This means that I will be getting a new office space complete with a brand-spanking new desk that smells of rich mahogany and enough storage to store my many leather-bound books.

 

I’m so happy to leave my cramped quarters and stretch out my legs. I’ll even have a window to gaze out while I’m brainstorming ideas for getting coverage for my clients and thinking of blog topics (as you can tell from the direction of this blog, the lack of natural sunlight is affecting my creativity).

 

As for another expansion within our office, Meghan Howard’s “Kardashian” ripped her jeans yesterday because she stopped coming to my spinning class. I enjoy making fun of her for this because in reality she hasn’t gained any weight and she is one of the naturally thinnest people I know.

 

Why is it that people with no metabolism (like moi) really enjoy it when thin people have things like this happen? I feel like it is karma’s way of telling me to hang in there because skinny people can rip their jeans, too. Karma is a funny lady.

 

Anyways, back to the expansion—in the office, that is—I am really excited to have a tasteful and refined area to kick some “Kardashian” and take some names.

 

Stay classy, Indianapolis!

 

Ever had one of those days when it seems like nothing goes your way?  It's not like you're not trying hard enough or you're not doing the right things -- for some reason, you just can't win.

One summer during college, I worked at my hometown police department doing data entry for the magistrate.  Every day I sat down at my desk and did the same thing over and over again -- entering traffic tickets into the system.  Why didn't I go insane?  Well, I knew a lot of the people who received some of the tickets I entered into the system so that was entertaining, but more importantly it was something I did well.

I know... data entry is pretty hard to screw up, but being a fast typer not only allows you to do a heavier work load but to also leave early from time to time (which is a very important aspect of a summer job for a college student)!  Doing data entry for the Greenville P.D. was actually one of my favorite jobs while in school because I consistently exceeded expectation and never let down my boss or team.

Now, things are a little different.  Being a fast typer doesn't give you much of a leg-up in public relations.  However, I am extremely fortunate to have some amazing clients -- who make each day different than the last.  Some days exceed expectation while others leave me feeling slightly disappointed.  Those days that leaving me feeling down cause me to work harder the next day to generate some great coverage.

I have always liked the saying, "When life hands you lemons, make lemonade," but I don't think that really captures what we do here at Dittoe.  Lemonade is expected from lemons.  At Dittoe Pubic Relations, we take the lemons and make grape juice -- leaving our clients wondering how we did it.  Whether they know it or not, they work with us because of the grape juice.

A major component of what we do each day is build relationships.  In fact, you could even argue that the majority of good public relations professionals succeed because of their existing relationships and their ability to build their contact lists into much more than just names, email addresses and phone numbers.

Over time, PR executives begin to know their clients and their media contacts as much more than just CEOs, VPs and columnists.  It's inevitable -- bonds will be formed.

I've come to understand what types of coverage each of my client views as "solid," "dream come true" or "not what we were hoping for."  Each client is different -- as are their people, stories, products and/or services.  While one may be jazzed to be featured in a online review -- the other might prefer a review to run in a specific trade publication.  It's my job to determine what's going to provide my clients with the best amount of coverage AND keep them really happy with the services I provide.

It's almost like a marriage, really.  There are challenges and hurdles to overcome every once in a while -- but usually it's pretty smooth sailing because I want to keep my clients happy and they want to provide me with what I need to do just exactly that.

Yes, some marriages fall apart.  It's inevitable.  Not every company in this world is a perfect fit for Dittoe Public Relations.  Not only do our clients research us to find out why we're so successful and how we can help them -- but we research our potential clients to make sure their goals fit with our abilities. 

So why would a company or individual need a PR firm?  Well... think of it this way:  At my previous job I handled all of the public relations, which meant I cultivated all of the relationships on top of my other duties which included business development and marketing projects.  Here, not only does each account executive cultivate their own relationships for each one of their clients but we share contacts from time to time, producing hundreds, maybe thousands, of solid contacts who recognize the name "Dittoe Public Relations" when we call or email them. 

Remember, it's who you know.  At Dittoe we focus on public relations -- that's it -- not marketing, not advertising... just PR.  It's what we do and we do it well.  We cultivate relationships with members of the press on a daily basis because in the long run, they're the ones who are going to provide the "dream come true" coverage our clients are expecting.