INK PUBLIC RELATIONS

What do you do when you have secured coverage for your client in newspapers across the country via the Associated Press; scored hits in top-tier publications such as USA Today, CNN.com, San Jose Mercury News, BusinessWeek, Forbes.com and MSNBC; achieved visibility on broadcast outlets nationwide and garnered prestigious industry awards from the likes of PC Magazine? You take it to the streets. In search of reaching untapped audiences via non-traditional PR methods, INK is recruiting a few good foot soldiers to join the magicJack army.

Your mission will be to raise awareness of our client’s namesake device via a guerilla marketing campaign. By stretching the limits of creativity, you will execute “anything but ordinary” tactics to raise awareness of the magicJack among key audiences (young, hip, cool types). How fun is that? And at the end of it all, you get to put lots of “hot buzzwords” (social media, viral marketing, blogosphere, etc.) on your resume. Check out the job description below and send the resumes in!

But first, check out this classic clip from the Bill Murray classic, Stripes. When I think of creativity and the Army…it’s Stripes.

Stripes
I love it when he says, “RAAAAZLE DAAAAAZLE”!

INK PR – magicJack army
The magicJack army is an internship program at Austin-based INK Public Relations (www.ink-pr.com which will raise the noise level around the magicJack communication device in ways that traditional PR methods could not. Interns will be chosen based on their creativity, independence, and understanding of marketing communications to participate in a summer program.

Job Description
8 to 10 hours a week
Conduct guerilla marketing plan with guidance and preparation help from INK PR
Contribute to campaign with individual ideas for stunts, tactics and outreach
Implement campaign and monitor results
Conduct local events and stunts to raise awareness of magicJack among key audiences
Provide detailed documentation of all aspects of campaign

Job Requirements
8 to 10 hours per week
Ideal candidate will be a Jr. or Sr. at the University of Texas, Austin with a desire to establish hands-on experience within the field of Marketing/PR
Preferred College: Communications or Business
Interest/experience with marketing/PR a plus
Candidate must be self-motivated and willing to set and meet personal deadlines and work with little direct supervision
Candidate will be creative with excellent verbal and written communication skills
Excellent organizational skills, attention to detail, high energy level and ability to manage and monitor multiple projects/deadlines required

Interested applicants please submit resume to Adrienne Huebner at adrienne@ink-pr.com

There are not many things I consider more fun than celebrating milestones. My friends and family will confirm that it’s not a birthDAY in my world, but rather a fun-filled fiesta month of celebration. And with a thriving company and new daughter, there is always cause for celebration.

Professionally, my baby, INK, turned 5 on January 12. Not being one to let milestones go by without a celebration, the whole team enjoyed a wonderful sushi dinner at Nobu at CES in Las Vegas – and continued the celebration with an outstanding trip to that largest consumer electronics show in the world on behalf of our clients the Bluetooth SIG and magicJack.

The INK team at CES 2009 in Vegas, celebrating 5 years of amazing miletones.

Personally, my baby, Georgia, will turn one on May 22. I’ve been planning her party this weekend and also clapping all day long as she practices that other big milestone she just passed – walking.

These are the big ones – the birthdays, anniversaries, and big moments in life that mark a step closer to independence. But these big ones have me thinking of the “small” ones too. What about the day that reporter at the Wall Street Journal said “Yes, I’d love to speak to your client, that’s a great idea”; or the time your client said, “You’re right, that’s exactly how we should tackle this campaign.” Or when your colleague gets recognized by the an industry guru for being great at what she does. These are all important milestones too and should be celebrated.

If you pay attention, I bet you could find at least one milestone a day that means you’re growing, learning, achieving. Now that’s cause for celebration. Go ahead, think about it and share one here. We’re happy to raise a glass.

As any good Type A personality will relate, I need to get all my little duckies in a row when I set out to accomplish something. If I venture into unfamiliar territory, I believe in seeking out an expert to guide me to  my destination.

Upon taking in a stray mutt that played me for a chump by morphing from forlorn, terrified stray to hell hound that was too crazy for the devil himself, I enlisted the help of the “Dog Father,” Lee Mannix. Among dogs, dog trainers and men, Lee is, in one word… ALPHA. Any dog with too much drive that finds its canine-self cast in the silhouette of Lee’s sizable, cowboy hat donning shadow will sit down and shut up (and do just about anything else he says). Lee is the owner of the Lee Mannix Center for Canine Behavior and a nationally recognized expert in dog behavior and aggression issues. I witnessed him make an angel out of my devil dog, command an entire field of about 20 dogs to lie down at one time (an accident occurring when he happened to raise his voice – they all just respected him that much) and even make my hubby (possessed of the gift of the gab thanks to his Irish heritage) speechless. Now my dog, who was once on maximum security lockdown is a free woman and will soon enter her first agility competition.

No longer chasing men’s naughty bits, Lucky is relaxed, well-behaved and a force of reckoning on the agility course.

When I made the decision to take up running, I did not hesitate to put my other dogs (the ones that wear sneakers) under the direction of Austin’s best running coach, Gilbert Tuhabonye. Gilbert, a former NCAA All-American, leads the immensely successful Gilbert’s Gazelles training program for runners of all levels. No matter what stage you are at, Gilbert will make you stronger. He got me in shape to run my first marathon with a 3:33:03 time qualifying me to run the Boston Marathon in 2010.

INK takes the same approach to our work. We have developed a valuable network of experts and tools to ensure we do our job better, for us and our clients. By working with top notch producers of multimedia assets such as Webbed Feet for video and images as well as industry experts like Sam Whitmore’s Media Survey on emerging media trends; and employing coverage tracking from Critical Mention and Meltwater, and intelligence tools from Cision and Factiva, we have the weapons in our arsenal to deliver the breadth of services expected of a large PR firm while providing the level of deep attention and expertise of a small dedicated PR agency. If you don’t think we do it, just ask. I bet we do or know who to talk to get it done…(very well, I might add).

What about you? Who helps you get the job done?

Thanks to Gilbert and the support of my fellow, Gazelles, I crossed the Austin Marathon finish line with a smile and hope to do the same in Boston next year.

That I spend too much timing thinking about/fretting about/worrying about what to write in a blog post and should just write the dang blog post (thus this blog post ).

That I so love public speaking and want to do more of it – thank you Central TX PRSA for reminding me of that and UT Austin adv/pr class, I look forward to talking with you in two weeks.

That the reason I love public speaking is similar to the reason I love twitter – the opportunity to talk with people whom I would not otherwise have had the opportunity.

That the other reason I love twitter is that EVERY DAY (thank you Chris Brogan, Todd Defren, and yes, even you Evil PR Guy) I am inspired to do a better job at my profession and at my humanity.

That I don’t think @oprah and @aplusk are ruining Twitter – don’t we all have the right not to follow them? Follow those who inspire you and ENGAGE with you.

That working all the time is hard work, but working at something you love makes it all worthwhile.

That when you’re the best fit for the client, you get the client (welcome BlueAnt!).

That two weeks is a LONG time for @poloskey to be gone.

That at the end of the day, work is where the head is, but home is where the heart is – and I am very lucky in both regards.

What did you learn this week?

Two hours – a good chunk of time to make a point, or twenty.

I’m talking with the Central Texas PRSA chapter tomorrow morning in Waco on the topic of social media and will try to keep my points in that 1-20 range (I’m kidding – I’m a PR purist – of course there will only be 3 key messages ).

What do I have to say on social media you might ask? After all, I only joined twitter last November, my Facebook friends are those people I actually personally know and blogging is a fairly new tool in my arsenal as well. While all of that is true, it doesn’t make my experience any less valuable. I’m not a “social media expert” (nor do I want to be) – I’m a PR expert and use social media technology to do what I’ve always done – communicate with my (and my clients’) key audiences. From that perspective, I’ve got lots of fun stuff to share on how these great tools have made those conversations richer and made me more effective in my profession. I dig PR, I dig what these tools are doing for PR, and I dig sharing what I’ve learned with new people. And if all goes well, I bet I learn a little something along the way too.

Watch out Waco, me and my (less than) 20 points are on the way!

If you’ve got a tip, trick or trend you’d like me to share with the audience…you know what to do (use that little white box right there, yep, right there below this post…)

Alright faithful readers – I am on vacation. And in a deal with my Husband, I have promised to cut my ties (no Blackberry, no twitter, no Facebook, certainly no email) for the entirety of our time in Germany. He had to give up fantasy baseball – it is going to be a fabulous little vacation.

I am interested to see what happens while I am gone – I am looking at this as an experiment. I will update everyone when I get back.

Till then, peace out.

When you’re growing up, it’s inevitable that a parent or teacher will repeat a witty idiom to you and expect that you know exactly what it means.  Or even better yet, expect that you’ll be able to apply it right then and there to your current life.  Some that stick out in my mind more than others that were always being said as a kid include: money doesn’t grow on trees (no kidding, leaves do!) and don’t put all your eggs in one basket (are we having an Easter egg hunt?) and bigger is not always better (this seemed to be a favorite said by parents of the shorter kids in class).  But as we get older, it’s crazy how much these idioms really apply to our real lives.   As we’re coupon clipping for ourselves or trying to balance out car payments, mortgage payments and social engagements, we really start to realize that money doesn’t grow on trees (although how great if it did).  Some more than others are starting to realize that they really shouldn’t have put all their eggs in one basket, especially with the current economic situation.  And that brings me to my last point of bigger is not always better which believe it or not, can refer to much more than the smallest kid in class.

I’ve been lucky enough to fall into INK after college and avoided having to ever tell a first job horror story.  There are so many reasons for this, but one of the main reasons is that INK is a boutique agency – five women (six for a short time with our one great intern) who bring real meaning to the idiom that bigger is not necessarily better.

Everyone at INK takes pride in their jobs and tries to understand our clients almost as well as the clients know themselves.  I’ve always valued my relationships in my life and a smaller team enables us to do this at work, too – each one of us is fully involved in our accounts and builds strong relationships with the clients themselves as well as the analysts and media with which we are helping to write their story.

It also makes for a very enjoyable work environment (and I’m not just talking about the Pottery Barn décor) with the sense of work/life balance; it’s refreshing to know that part of a daily routine can be glancing through top stories in the New York Times, catching CNN Headline News over coffee, checking out Ed Baig’s most recent tech column and still be following US Weekly’s RSS feed or a quick read through the home page of People.com for a celebrity update.  Or that the same INK ladies who know almost every detail of Obama’s clean energy speech in order to better understand how a clean tech client fits into the stimulus package, can still make time to update the rest of us on what drama ensued on the Celebrity Apprentice or describe how their brackets aren’t doing too well in any of the three NCAA March Madness pools they’ve entered this year.

Newshounds

Not only can we still read our favorite blogs, be die hard sports fans and obsess over LC’s latest fling on the Hills, but we can actually apply them to our jobs (okay, maybe not so much The Hills).  This is one of my favorite parts about PR – you’re encouraged to be a newshound.  It’s actually beneficial to us to pick up all those magazines that come through the door each day and spend a few minutes flipping through  the pages.  You never know when you’ll discover a new gadget column which is screaming for the latest Bluetooth device or see a great story about consumers and brand identity in Fast Company which becomes the inspiration for a new pitch campaign.  And you can even find out that a particular journalist moved to a new publication and also started a blog and his updates can now be followed on Twitter.  More importantly, you don’t only have to read blogs or magazines that are completely relevant to a particular client or industry because you may find inspiration in the oddest of places.

One of my favorite examples of this was a few years ago when our director of social media and UT alum Blair Poloskey led the way for INK to run with sponsorship between the University of Texas and the Bluetooth SIG to demonstrate Bluetooth technology to fans at home football games during the season.  INK was able to see a bigger overall trend here with more sports teams using technology to reach their fans and secured a story in the Sports Business Journal – a different type of publication from the wireless or tech pubs with which we had become most familiar.

So as a client, friend or colleague, maybe INK has brought meaning to the idiom bigger isn’t always better for you, too?

Sunday night I enjoyed my weekend guilty pleasure – watching Celebrity Apprentice. It is my weekly chance to tune out and turn on the TV. While the team execution of the challenges are usually entertaining – and I enjoy analyzing The Donald’s “hair” as much as the next gal – I would not normally call the show thought provoking, at least not until this episode.

For those of you who are non-watchers, here’s the gist: both teams were tasked with creating a viral video for big brand detergent, All. Both teams thought about using “little people” to catch that elusive online audience attention. Both teams lost. You can probably infer quite a few lessons from that  description alone, but here’s what I got out of it:

It’s the audience, stupid! While one of the videos was funny (love you Jesse James!) and one of them was more horrible than a midnight infomercial running on Cinemax (talking to you Clint Black), neither, according to the client, spoke to the buying audience of All detergent. (I slightly beg to differ as I am the target demographic and found the “Jesse James Dirty With Midgets” video quite funny, but still, I totally see the client’s POV here as it was a stretch for sure.) This is the equivalent of trying to get USA Today to write about your client’s B2B enterprise software tools – an attempt to pitch such a story wastes your and the reporter’s time; if your pitch was successful the resulting story would likely not advance your client’s goals; and through all of this you will manage to damage several relationships (agency/client, agency/reporter) at once. Think about who you are communicating with and if they wouldn’t be open to the conversation (or can’t even figure out what the conversation is about) then you’re probably headed down the wrong path.

If you can’t stand the (viral) heat, get out of the kitchen Why exactly did All want a viral video again? Just because other big brands are doing it? Not a good reason. They didn’t seem ready to go somewhere provocative or edgy or even funny. What they really wanted was a commercial, just distributed online. Essentially All really needed to question its motives and determine what it hoped to get out of the project. The marketing team could also stand to take a closer look at the above – would All’s target audience (working moms, busy moms, professional moms, “moms who consider themselves women first” (that’s a direct quote – don’t even get me started, too busy to pontificate as I have to go be a woman AND a mom) even respond to a viral video? Counsel your clients – that’s what they hired you for. Don’t let them make choices on tactics without a clear strategic goal in mind. Make sure it fits their audience and communication objectives AS WELL AS their brand.

So easy to smell your “hidden” agenda This one is for Trump himself. While I am not a proponent of DUI (come on, people, is anyone really?), I was open-mouth shocked at his so blatantly obvious ax to grind with Khloe Kardashian. Some might argue that he’s Trump, he can get away with doing whatever he wants even when it’s rude, unforgiving and all for his own end, but I would say as a rule of thumb in PR and life itself – people can smell a skunk. Don’t be false, don’t have a hidden agenda, don’t try to manipulate the situation to your benefit – and counsel your clients to do the same. If you have a good story to share, there will be a reporter interested in talking to you. And if you’re authentic and transparent (the buzzword of the year, but it’s true), you will be a success in the communication world.

What lessons have you learned from the entertainment world lately?

We’re on the prowl for a savvy, part-time office manager to take on duties including the following: general accounting, office upkeep and library maintenance, vendor relationship management, basic online research, clerical support including updating databases and minor document editing. Experience in a similar position a must; experience in a similar field a plus, but not required. Our goal for this position is to alleviate some of the must-do office management so we can spend more of our time at what we do best – great PR for our clients. If interested, please send resume and salary requirements to Kari Hernandez, kari@ink-pr.com.

There are a lot of people out there with rules. I don’t want to pick fights (so I won’t name specific names) but there are lots of “I won’t follow you if…”, “I won’t read you if…”, “If you are advertising, get out”, “You can talk to me, but don’t pitch me…”, “You can pitch me, but don’t talk to me…” rules and regulations for ’social media.’ These people are making ‘the online’ a less than appealing place for beginners. You know who they are? They are the ripped/toned/sculpted bodies at the gym that make me want to run around Lady Bird Lake rather than lift weights in their precious house of worship. I totally understand – they get how the machines work…for them. They have clearly mastered dieting…for them. They would probably be happy to tell me how they did/do it…and expect me to want to do the same. But really, what works for them will not likely work for me. I feel a lesson coming on!

For every constructive advice driven post I read from folks about how they use twitter, blogging, 12Seconds, or whatever to connect with their audience, there is a snarky post written highlighting peoples’ missteps or how someone did it ‘wrong’. I got news for you people – there isn’t really a ‘wrong’ but there is a whole bushel full of ‘different.’ Different does not automatically mean wrong. Should you auto-follow – hell, I honestly have no idea. Is auto DMing good or bad – well, it isn’t my cup of tea, but that doesn’t mean it might not have some value for someone. Should you tweet three times a day or twelve? Should you blog every day? Should you comment? Should you digg? Should you re-tweet? How many re-tweets is too many? Look folks, this is the “messaging service we didn’t know we needed until we had it” and I honestly don’t think it should be this complicated. I can give advice (and I know I do this in excess, and often) but my last piece of advice is almost always: however YOU are comfortable using it is right. You might not always make everyone happy – in fact, I think it is kind of a sign of success when you start to piss people off – but if you find value, then keep on keeping on.

INK has three tenets for “social media” – and right now, I am talking about number two: One size DOES NOT fit all. And while we preach this to our clients to re-iterate that going after a space just because someone else did or someone else saw success is not always the best idea, I think it bears repeating for other leaders in this space. I am not condoning gaming the system to stockpile followers, but there are no hard and fast rules. This space is new and it is still evolving – just stick your neck out and get to participating – because you might find the better way. And if we all just follow the rules, it will become a boring, stagnant, USELESS space in no time.

I like the cut of this bird's jib

*the title is for my husband, who will likely not read this, but still…