By Nicole Egan

I recently graduated Iona College with a Master’s degree in Public Relations. Although I was taught many lessons in each of my classes, one of the most important lessons that I learned wasn’t found in my textbooks. Regardless of the subject matter, every single teacher stressed to us the importance of networking and how this will affect our future.

The administration, as well as the faculty, reinforced the idea that networking is a vital skill that every student should be involved in. Internships, teachers, sites like LinkedIn, etc. are all great ways to network and can be instrumental for future jobs for yourself, friends/family, or provide great opportunities for your business. Everyone you encounter in all walks of your life can somehow play a role in your life – now or in the future.

I’ve noticed the power of networking outside of the classroom at my job here at Robin Leedy & Associates where we help our clients engage in social networking PR, as well as traditional media relations. Whether I’m networking with editors of magazines or bloggers, it’s all about the relationships you can build. You never know who whose path you’ll cross, so it’s important to treat everyone respectfully and not burn any bridges. Returning calls and emails promptly, is just one way to show someone that their communication means something to you – even if just to say, “Thanks. Happy to help you.” It takes only a few seconds or minutes of my life, yet that communication could someday be very important to me.

The value of networking is immeasurable, and to me this lesson was worth the cost of my graduate school tuition. If you want to join my network, you can find me on LinkedIn. I look forward to networking with you!

By John Whitcomb, Social Media Manager, Robin Leedy & Associates

At Robin Leedy & Associates, we are always reviewing the latest in social media/online tools for our clients, helping to assess what may be useful for a particular personal health (OTC) or beauty brand. Many new technologies and methods are emerging to help companies engage directly with their potential consumers…some will likely prove useful…others, just hype. Here are a few we have our eye on now:

Google Buzz

For businesses, Google Buzz is looking to become another social network – like Facebook and Twitter – where companies can find their customers (existing and new) and talk to them directly. One advantage to Buzz over the others is that since it has the Google powerhouse behind it, it will be indexed by the search engine and can help impact Google search results. One disadvantage is that in order to use the tool you have to be a Gmail subscriber, so it just means yet another email account to manage, etc. For a bit more info, you can check out this short demo of how the Buzz tool works:

Foursquare

This is a new, cool tool that uses “geotagging” to create local communities around stores, restaurants and other businesses. It works with a process called a “check-in,” which basically means the user is telling the system “I am at a certain location or I will be at a certain location.” The user is then able to search for other users (friends, colleagues, consumers) who have checked in at that location and read reviews and see comments from other users, or interact with them.

Each location /business receives a profile that can be updated with information and also show recent reviews from other users who have “checked-in.” This is obviously great for restaurants, stores and other permanent locations (e.g., Starbucks gives users who frequently check-in a badge labeled “Starbucks Barista” and offers them badge discounts and special offers at their locations), but clients doing special events, trade shows, etc. can use this technology for on-site communication to users in their temporary event market!

If you would like to discuss these new platforms or how to integrate them into your own marketing strategy, email us at jwhitcomb@robinleedyassociates.com or aomahoney@robinleedyassociates.com.

By Alyson O’Mahoney, EVP/Partner

I will admit it…I’m a Facebook junkie. However, I think because I approach this social network as both a marketer in the space (RL&A has created and continues to manage several successful Facebook pages for clients), and female/consumer/mom/wife/stalker, I find it so interesting to see what is going on in this space on both fronts. Yet, with all the cool ways you can use Facebook, what appeals to me about it as both a marketer and consumer is probably the simplest thing of all….how you can use it to build authenticity.

Since I’m using Facebook for our clients and I use it personally for connecting to friends/family/companies, I find that I’ve become a fan or friend of MANY brands, services, organizations, causes, etc., so I get lots of updates and shared content in my newsfeed on a daily basis. The ones that resonate most with me out of all of them are those that feel believable:

• Jillian Michaels, trainer on NBC’s The Biggest Loser (love that show), who I will swear on a stack of Bibles writes her own status updates (not her publicist or PR machine),
• Lady Gaga (who does her own Facebooking vs. her agent or record company)
• and, even, “the monkey” of our Anti Monkey Butt Powder page (www.facebook.com/antimonkeybutt).

There aren’t endless sales gimmicks posted to get you to buy Jillian’s latest fitness CD, or Lady Gaga’s “Bad Romance” on iTunes or cases of butt powder, but there are really voices communicating with fans of each of these brands, answering questions, reading comments, giving helpful info or just talking to you…like a friend….and isn’t that what Facebook started out to be?

It is hard to put an ROI on authenticity, but when it comes down to making choices in a cluttered consumer environment on Facebook (or at store shelves), I will listen to those brands who use their own voice (and, on occasion, plug their own products, but that’s okay, because they are my friend now…get it?).

So if you are thinking of doing a social media effort on Facebook, my advice to you is to be authentic, or, frankly, be quiet.