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Category: Career changing

This blog is all about career changing – and it’s even changed as my idea of a good career has evolved!

What Happened?

Welp, it’s like this…

See, I was in the insurance field. And I was working as a business analyst a lot of the time.

This … stank.

But I knew I could leave if I could find something or other to do in its stead.

I had always loved writing. But could it be the centerpiece of my career changing? I was not sure, to start.

Career Changing in Stages

You know, the United States is supposed to be a freeish society where you can more or less be anything, if you work hard.

Now, we all know that that conveniently forgets issues of class, race, economics, etc.

But one thing that is absolutely true about this ideal is that there is no one and nothing tying us to land or city. Even a farm can presumably sell the old homestead, go elsewhere, and buy a new homestead.

So, you would think that career changing would be a snap, eh?

Yet the truth is that is just kind of is not.

A Snap That Took Years

First of all, I had to get out of the company where I was working. And then, I had to do some work to start to build a reputation. But the truth is, I had little to no plan and I really just started freelancing.

I was fortunate to get a few clients and I was suddenly kind of busy. Some of them I liked. Others? Not so much. But I was making some degree of cash.

In the Meantime…

NaNo started to happen, and of course Untrustworthy happened.

And now, here we are.

The Top 10 Pet Peeves About Job Seeking

Welcome to My Top 10 Pet Peeves About Job Seeking

Pet Peeves? I got ’em. And, in 2024, yes, I am out there, pounding the virtual pavement. Again.

Adventures in Career Changing means, well, a lot of job applications. Beyond networking, education and research, there are just sometimes some forms to fill out. I have filled out – I have no idea how many. And they come as a bit of their own special Dantean circle.

#10 – Keeping the Company’s Identity a Secret

I get that there are legitimate reasons for keeping quiet about company identities. They might not want to tip off competitors that there’s an opening. Or maybe they don’t want the person currently in the job to know that they are being replaced. I recognize this. I get it.

But it’s also a bit of serious unevenness. You know who I am. And you get to look up all sorts of stuff on me. Yet I don’t get to do anything even remotely like that where you’re concerned. Where’s the fairness in that?

#9 – Multiple Job Postings, While at the Same Time Penalizing Job Seekers for Multiple Submissions

This goes along with the previous one. When you don’t tell me who you are, and you post the same job on, say, Monster and Dice, how, exactly, am I supposed to prevent a possible double submission? What happens when you also distribute this opening to a half a dozen recruiters? Yep – I end up with multiple submissions. And guess who gets blamed for that? Hint – it’s not the prospective employer.

Also, there is just nothing like going through a half an hour with a recruiter on what looks like an awesome job – but it turns out that I have already applied for it. Ewps.

#8 – You Make Me Fill Out a Form Even After I Gave You My Resume

I know that you have laid off your entire clerical staff, and you likely did so in 2003 or earlier. I am also well aware that you are looking to get my resume into a pigeonhole pattern so that it can be readily compared to others that are in the same pigeonhole pattern. Because taking 25 seconds to scan my resume with your eyes is just too much time. Sorry, not sorry.

Okay, perhaps that wasn’t very nice, but every career counselor I have ever known has said to spend hours and hours and make it a mondo-perfect document. But the reality is that resumes are barely glanced at.

Hence, rather than creating exciting visual presentations (unless you’re in the arts), the focus is on keywords. And I’m fine with adding keywords.

I also get how badly you want uniformity. But – surprise! There’s software that will do this! So, instead of making me jump through this particular hoop, could you invest in a system such as that? The beauty of your software doing that, rather than me doing it manually, is that you can also do some filtering. Buy yourself a good system, and you’ll get a lot more done.

#7 – S…l…o…w Sites are Recurring Pet Peeves

I know, I know. The server is down. No one’s been able to fix it since Employee X left three months ago. Whatevs. But in the meantime, I am supposed to be putting my best foot forward (and all the time, I might add).

I’ve had employment counselors who’ve essentially told me my site has to look sharp every, as I never know if a potential employer will be looking. But stuff happens, and my budget is, I guarantee, nowhere near as large as yours is.

You want me to apply and not get frustrated while doing so? Then fix your damned site.

Because a super-slow site is just plain not a good look.

#6 – Ignoring the Fact that I Will Not Relocate

If it’s available, I always (always!) check the box that says that I will not relocate. And I will not. There is no coaxing me. There are no perks to sending me to Minneapolis (or wherever). I ain’t goin’. And it is all over all of my applications, profiles, etc. This is one of my really annoying pet peeves.

Yet I am still called by recruiters who tell me about some awesome, kick-bun opportunity and everything sounds wonderful and then, oh by the way, where is it? And it’s in Plano, Texas. I live in Boston. That’s a helluva commute, don’t you think?

I recognize that your job is to get a person into an opening at some company. And I further understand some people who will change their minds with enough incentives. I also know that there are folks who rent apartments briefly. But really – at the very least – be up front, immediately – with the location, and stop wasting both of our times.

While I’m here, seriously, LinkedIn, get your act in gear, and make it so that it’s easy to indicate both a reasonable close commuting distance plus universal work from home. A company need not be in Boston if I can work from home. But if I have to come in, it must be.

How hard is this to figure out. Bueller?

#5 – Vagueness (a Persistent One of My Pet Peeves)

Oh, man. You can’t be bothered to say anything meaningful about the position? Then how the hell can you honestly expect to get the right people in? I know that, a lot of the time, HR is the one writing the job description. But, truly (and this goes quadruple for large organizations), the job description should be a part of the company’s overall records.

And so, when HR (or whoever) writes up the job description, they should pull the basic framework of it from their records. And said records should be updated, perhaps every year, with things like new software versions and anything else that’s fairly major that might have changed.

Case in point. I used to work in data analysis. And this should have a basic description, which should include the system(s) being used, the version(s) of software and the general day-to-day activities.

So, is the opening more report creating, or report running? Will I train people in how to read it? Will I perform analysis to help senior management interpret it? Or am I supposed to just churn out whatever the system spits out? Of course, the upside to all of this is, I get to have ready-made questions in the event of an interview.

The Wonderful World of Engineering and Designing/Drafting

For my husband’s most recent job search, I noticed a number of issues. He is a designer. Not. An. Engineer.

And he cannot magically become an engineer in five minutes or even five months. You need, at minimum, a BS in it. Or, at least, be well on your way to getting yours.

Yet job descriptions, LinkedIn, and recruiters could not get any of that straight.

#4 – Requiring Salary Expectations Way Too Early in the Process

I have seen, on several occasions, vague job descriptions requiring some form of salary expectation mentioned up front. So, I get that you want to weed people out early, and waste less time. I get that, and I do appreciate it. However, this is so early, it’s not funny.

Plus, if I don’t know who you are, I have few ways of figuring out whether my # is anywhere near jibing with yours. And I change my expectations, depending upon what, exactly, you want me to do. The application stage is a lousy time to ask about money – on both ends.

And for women in particular, I might add, it is one of the reasons why the glaring salary gap (by gender) persists.

At least there’s salary transparency in a lot of places. But when there isn’t, you are asking me to give up my own real bargaining chip.

#3 – Requiring Me to Waste Time Updating Preexisting Information Manually

A rather large employer in my area (Boston) uses a resume management system with both a resume piece and a manual piece. I filled out the manual piece in – no lie – 2008. It remains that way, even as I provide an updated resume. What to do? Do I erase the entire shebang, and just send in the resume? Or do I update? Something else? It provides a distorted picture of where I’ve been.

Make up your mind: resume or manual entry? Or, better yet, just take my resume and be done with it. I suppose this is the corollary to #8.

#2 – No LinkedIn Functionality is One of My Bigger Pet Peeves

While I suppose this is not strictly necessary, it’s awfully nice to have. And, in particular, if you’re advertising the job itself on LinkedIn, why can’t I just apply by connecting you to my profile there?

#1 – Security to Beat Fort Knox

Of course, I want to maintain my own security. I certainly don’t want anyone else to be able to mess with my profile. But why, oh why, do you need me to change my password every other month, to some wacky combo of letters, numbers, special characters and, I dunno, cuneiform?

I swear, the security on some of these apps ends up more complicated and Byzantine than I have for my bank account!

Huh, maybe I should just change banks. Harvey’s Money-o-Rama might no longer cut it.

And Now for Two Three Dishonorable Mention Pet Peeves

Ugh.

A – Seemingly Endless Questions

And the pet peeves continue! Because apparently, you do not trust me enough to self-select out of the running because I don’t know Software version infinity plus one or whatever. But, really, folks! Save something for the interview! Because I guarantee you, you will not get every single thing answered beforehand.

And, spoiler alert – if you have too many requirements, then guess what? You won’t find anyone who can fill them.

B – Interviewing Too Many People

Screen on the phone. Then screen with your resume software. Screen with your keyword searches. And then screen with your well-written job description. Screen with your HR people calling. And screen with a Zoom interview. Screen with your published salary range. Finally, screen with a little social media investigating.

And then your decision (or in-person or Zoom interview) process can be for 1 – 5 people who can do the job. And decide amongst them based upon the intangibles.

Yet I have been in interview situations where there were a good twenty people in the in-person interview stage for one position! Sheesh! You are wasting everybody’s time. And, frankly, behavior like this makes me wonder about you as a company, and about you as a manager. Do you always hem and haw like this? Do you know naught of efficiency?

C – Personality Tests and Cognitive Tests

Whoever invented these needs to be placed into a very small, windowless room, and made to take these tests, over and over again—in order to get food or sunshine or companionship. For the rest of their days.

Yeah, they stink (and don’t worry, I have far earthier words for them).

A writer’s (or any marketer’s, for that matter) ability to match pictures is not related to writing ability. A designer’s ability to pick the “correct” personality from the multiple choice quiz that you give? That doesn’t relate to their abilities, particularly when they aren’t customer facing. Ever.

Oh, those personality tests. Would you run over your own grandmother for a Klondike bar? Do you know the way to San Jose? Are we not men? Where is the love? Who are you (who, who, who, who)? Black air and seven seas, all rotten through; but what can you do? How low can you go? Why does the sun keep on shining? When can I go swimming again?

Or whatever the hell it is you’re asking about. For a test where you claim, “there are no right or wrong answers”, there sure seem to be a lot of exclusions based on the answers. If employment is hinging on the answers, then guess what?

It means there really are right and wrong answers.

Don’t worry, I’ve got good things to say about the job search process. And I’ll post them. But for right now, these are the real stinkers. Got any pet peeves you’d like to share?

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The Top 10 Positives About Job Seeking

Ready for My Top 10 Positives About Job Seeking?

Job Seeking. Sigh. In 2024, I am back on this bandwagon, so here I go again with this top 10.

Adventures in Career Changing means job applications.

Beyond networking, education and research, there are just sometimes some forms to fill out. I have filled out – I have no idea how many. And while there are problems with many of these forms, there is also some good out there, along with other aspects of looking for a job these days.

#10 – Following X or Bluesky for Job Seeking

There are all sorts of Twitter X or Bluesky streams which showcase any number of openings. Company streams, in particular, can be a good source of leads. Make sure to watch for perhaps a week or so in order to determine whether the content is being updated frequently.

#9 – LinkedIn, Land of Job Seeking Opportunity

For power users of LinkedIn, there are numerous ways to look for work. One good way is to check their job listings, and apply through the site. Some openings allow you to apply directly via your LinkedIn profile. Others send you to a company’s website.

But make no mistake; companies (or at least they should) check the traffic sources for the job applications they receive. And so by going to a job application directly from LinkedIn, you show that, at least in some small way, the biggest online networking site in the world matters.

But instead, you should apply directly on the site if you can. Why? Because applying through LinkedIn is often just a means of showing an interest only. Sometimes, it can’t be helped. But if you have a choice, apply on the company website every single time.

#8 – LinkedIn Skills and Endorsements

If you’ve got an account on LinkedIn, surely you have seen these by now. So fill in your skills profile! And make sure to endorse other people as well. A lot of them will reciprocate.

#7 – Scannable Resumes

Gone are the days when most resumes were eyeballed, at least to start. Because your resume is far more likely to be read by a machine before a human. So get your resume loaded up with relevant keywords! Why? Because you’ll make the first cut, that’s why.

However, much like with regular old search, keyword stuffing is a lousy idea. If you’re job seeking for a career in marketing, then larding up terms like marketer, marketing, market research, etc. can often be too much. Yes, you want to match well. But you also don’t want to turn your resume into an obnoxious laundry list of terminology.

#6 – Personal Websites

The good, the bad and the ugly are out there. My own, for instance. I leave it to you to decide which category it falls under.

At least this site is completely functional and current. And it comes up quickly, plus you can readily find everything on it. Finally, Google ranks it fairly well. I know I can improve it. But it’s nothing to be ashamed of.

#5 – Clarity

Job descriptions can become very precise these days, as employers can (in part, in some instances) select software and versions from drop-downs to better communicate their needs to the job seeking public.

One special form of clarity is now the law in a lot of states—salary transparency. May it become the law of every single state, and soon!

I truly love salary transparency, and a lot of people do, too. In fact, there are plenty of people who will not apply to a job that does not list a salary range. I love this idea, although in all candor, I don’t always practice it.

But salary transparency, bottom line, saves time.

#4 – LinkedIn Recommendations

Unlike endorsements, these require a bit of prose. But they can be rather powerful. At the very least, you don’t want to be a job seeker who doesn’t have any. So ask! And not just your boss or former boss. Ask your coworkers as well, and offer to reciprocate.

If the person you ask doesn’t think they’re good at writing, offer to write the recommendation for them and have them, of course, adapt it as they like and post it or not if they wish. And the same in reverse. If you’re uncomfortable, ask the person to write a rec for you and then you can enhance it or take out bits as you see fit.

#3 – Blog

Just like this one, a candidate can use a blog to provide more information or get across personality without having to overload a resume. Savvy employers will look candidates up on social media. Why not give them something good to find?

Something better than Facebook rants, voter rolls, etc.

#2 – LinkedIn Functionality

For jobs advertised on LinkedIn, for some of them, you can apply by connecting them directly to your profile. What could be easier? But beware, as that’s not too specific to jobs, and hiring managers don’t like that.

And functionality changes over time. One thing you can do is inform a company that you’re interested in them (via LinkedIn). You can also, although I believe you currently need to have the paid version of LI, tell them if theirs is one of your top choice jobs/companies.

#1 – Being Able to do Job Seeking Online

Finally, of course, a lot of the job search still must happen in an old-fashioned manner. Interviews will, for the most part (except, perhaps, for quickie phone screens, particularly where relocation is at issue), be conducted on screen. Some may still have to be done in person.

A lot of networking will still happen at events and not on LinkedIn. But a ton of it can happen in cyberspace. It makes the search far easier and faster than it ever has been.

And God bless the developers of Zoom. An initial interview pulls maybe an hour out of your day—instead of a good four or more.

Got any of your own gems you’d like to share?

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A Day in the Life of a Social Media Marketer

A Day in the Life of a Social Media Marketer

What does a social media marketer do all day? There’s more to social media marketing than Community Management.

Job titles vary, and nothing seems to be settled yet in terms of prescribed, expected tasks. The Bureau of Labor Statistics doesn’t really have a listing although they do acknowledge that social media is out there. They seem to be more or less placing it under Public Relations-style work.

However, a review of recent job postings reveals what social media personnel are mainly expected to do on the job, whether they’re called Social Media Marketers, Inbound Marketers, Social Media Specialists or something else.

Platforms

Tasks related to platforms. This is what most people think of when they think of Social Media Specialists, and it includes:

  • Blogging – either creating and maintaining one, or encouraging the business or engineering sides to create or maintain blogs, or commenting on and keeping blogs active. May also include polishing prose, suggesting topics and performing research
  • Facebook – creating and maintaining a fan page or pages. Possibly make an account (or more than one) to communicate with users and potentially also find rogue fan sites (e. g. those not created by the company). Perhaps to have them shut down or changed (usually at the behest of the Legal Department)
  • Twitter – creating accounts and maintaining them, tweeting to followers, reciprocally following as necessary/desired and possibly also helping to design a background or logo for the company’s Twitter account(s)
  • LinkedIn – creating and maintaining the company’s profile on LinkedIn, plus adding job openings as necessary
  • Sharing and bookmarking services (these have changed over time) – create and maintain accounts. Make sure that blog posts and any company articles and press releases go to these services, and keep track of all mentions of the company and its products on these services
  • Articles and Press Releases – working with the Public Relations Department. Release non-secret information in the form of articles and press releases as circumstances permit
  • Podcasting and YouTube – working with the PR Department and if there is a Media Relations Department at the company. Create and release appropriate content as circumstances dictate
  • Community Management – create, moderate, manage and promote any online communities owned by the company

More Tasks

Other possible tasks include:

  • Search Engine Optimization Efforts – in conjunction with the Webmaster, work to promote the site’s Page Rank on Google and other search engines, though a variety of activities including but not limited to article marketing, the addition of backlinks from quality resources and helping to select the best keywords for the site
  • Analytics – reviewing Google Analytics 4 (or Yahoo Analytics or Omniture or whatever the company is using). Help the Webmaster reduce bounce rate, increase loyalty, and increase the number of new users and page views
  • On-Site Advertising (if applicable) – work with the Marketing Department and the Webmaster. This is to increase overall online advertising presence or decide on advertising for the site (e. g. banner versus skyscraper, etc.)
  • Strategy – this is probably the biggest task for a Social Media person. Although it’s generally more of a manager’s job. Strategy should be defined and covered with the Board of Directors (or owner if the company is small). Small changes such as adding a link here or there probably don’t have to be a Board vote. But major decisions on direction should be. This can also encompass working with Marketing, such as to determine better ways of presenting and delivering content.
  • Meetings and the Like – apart from the ones above, the Social Media Specialist should find him/herself as a part of many different teams, potentially assisting with advertising, marketing, public relations, media, and web design

Social Media Marketer: Takeaways

There’s more to it than just the tools. What a real Social Media Marketer does is far more strategic and analytical and design-oriented. Twitter, etc. are only the beginning, and may be replaced by the next new thing(s) in time.

But well thought out strategy, carefully observed analytics and usable, pleasing design are timeless pieces of the Social Media Marketer puzzle.

And Later Still…

Social media marketing now can also encompass email marketing, or content marketing and management. It veers into the land of SEO as well. There’s nothing perfect about it, and it keeps on changing.

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Reinvention

In Which I Turn Myself Inside Out With Reinvention

Reinvention for fun and, hopefully, some profit? Well, kind of. At least, that’s the idea.

Moving Onward and Upward

Reinvention is such a lonely word, isn’t it? We are so used to being one way, and the world is used to it, too. But then there we go, screwing it all up.

I mean, changing it up.

Oops, I mean, improving ourselves.

Well, but what if we liked everything just the way it was?

Ready or not, changes are going to happen. So we may as well embrace them.

Changes

For quite a while, Adventures in Career Changing ended up somewhat stagnant. At the same time, I was running a blog for independent writers called Lonely Writer. The numbers for that other blog were not so great, and they fell off dramatically after I graduated in the summer of 2016. Furthermore, it was costing me some bucks. Hence I decided to simply not allow that URL to renew when it came up again.

Instead, I decided to combine the two works, back here, on Adventures. Because career changing, for me, has also been about writing.

As a result, a lot of the Lonely Writer has simply been republished here.

Cosmetics

You may have noticed me making some housekeeping changes. There is a lot more color. The theme is considerably livelier. But beneath the surface there is another change, and it is not merely a cosmetic one. For these changes also contain adding the Lonely Writer videos, updating what I post here, and what I put on Facebook as well.

And then there’s Twitter (or Twitter for Lonely Writer). Plus of course there is still a YouTube channel, although I may eventually figure out a way to rebrand it.*

Some things cannot be changed (such as the audio in preexisting YouTube videos). But for the most part, I have changed anything that can possibly be changed.

*Just about ten years after graduating, and I still haven’t changed it. Heh, ewps.

Reinvention and Going Pro… ish

These transformations are folding Lonely Writer into my professional social media brand.

But please do not worry! What is free is still free! Rather, I want to introduce you to what I can do. So, that is another purpose behind this particular blog post, all right?

I can blog about virtually any topic, and I can write landing pages. I can create WordPress sites, and I can develop and manage them. See, I can get you started on social media platforms. And I can help you with SEO.

As a freelance blogger, my job was to write about maritime law one day and ad retargeting the next, and then about real estate a few days later. And I can still do that, of course.

Reinvention: Takeaways

In the old, pre-Internet days, people like me would put out a shingle.

So, here’s my shingle.

Almost Six Years Later…

I have worked in regular jobs and not so regular ones. Yet through it all, I have been writing! So, maybe there’s something to this after all?

And why am I reposting this a few weeks after Valentines’ Day? Because self-love is important. And reinvention is a part of that.

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Social Media Marketing by Liana Evans, A Book Review

A Look at Social Media Marketing by Liana Evans

Social Media Marketing by Liana Evans was a book that I might have read a little too late in the semester. In all fairness, I read this book toward the end of my first social media class at Quinnipiac (ICM 522).

Hence it felt like I already knew a lot of what she had written, but that was likely more a function of timing than anything else.

Sorry, Li.

Been There, Done That

So the Liana Evans book is interesting. However, I had just read a ton of other works about very similar work, strategies, and ideas. Therefore, it ended up being maybe one book too many. Plus it ended up an optional read, anyway.

Furthermore, other works seemed to have said it better. So these days, books just do not get published fast enough to take proper advantage of trends and new insights. Hence blogs, in general (although not always!) end up more current and relevant.

What Was the Best Thing I Learned from Liana Evans and Her Book?

Possibly the best takeaway I got from the book was when Evans talked about online communities, particularly in Chapter 33 – You Get What You Give. So on page 255, she writes –
• You need to invest your resources, such as …

    • Time to research where the conversation is
    • Time and resources to develop a strategy
    • and Time and staff resources to engage community members
    • Time to listen to what they are saying, in the communities
    • Time and resources to measure successes and failures

• Giving valuable content
† It is similar to a bank account
• Don’t bribe the community

And ~

  • Rewards come in all fashions
    • Research who your audience is
    • Give your audience something valuable and/or exclusive
    • Don’t expect you’ll know everything
    • Listen to what your audience says
    • Admit when you are wrong
    • Thank your community

Finally, much like we’ve been telling people for years on Able2know – listen before you speak!

Rating

Review: 4/5 stars.

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The Karmic Wheel Turns

Social Media Karma

What is the Karmic Wheel? Alas, the Examiner is no more, but the Karmic wheel keeps spinning anyway.

I was once contacted by a friend, Phil Butler, to write an article for the Examiner.

Now, Phil and I had known each other for a few years. We met through LinkedIn.

We have never actually seen each other, in person. He’s not even on the same continent as I am. Yet I wrote the article all the same. It was on an article called Food Addictions and Treatments.

Now, did I expect fame and fortune from all this?

Well, I’d be lying if I said it wouldn’t be nice. But do I honestly think that empires will rise and fall based upon my one little article?

Of course not.

Karmic Wheel Spinning

But I think it illustrates the point I have made about collaboration. That is, sometimes you just up and do something for someone. And you do it because you just, well, want to do something for someone.

So that ends up a reward unto itself, is it not?

I think the article is the kind of thing that people have got to write about. And it continues to shock me that other writers wouldn’t touch the subject matter with a ten-foot pole, as if it would give them cooties to talk about addiction. As if being at all sympathetic with people who are ill would, somehow, mean they were condoning those lifestyle choices or admitting that they, too, were imperfect.

Hey, I will shout it from the rooftops – I’m imperfect!

And if I’m not mistaken, the sky did not just come crashing down.

Go forth, and I hope you’ll collaborate, and do things for others. And the karmic wheel will turn for you, too.

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Quinnipiac Assignment 11 – ICM 527 – Continuing Program Evaluation

A Look at Quinnipiac Assignment 11 – ICM 527 – Continuing Program Evaluation

This week, we continued studying the evaluation of public relations campaigns as a continuing program evaluation.

Ethical Issues Regarding Evaluation

As is true for any presentation of numbers, there are ways to spin findings which can lead a reader to believe one thing or another. You can use numbers to make a case. And some numbers, if suppressed or deemphasized or just plain omitted, could alter organizational decision-making. This only gets into telling the truth with numbers.

All bets are off if a strategic planner or any sort of analyst out and out alters the figures they have to present,. Or if they didn’t get accurate or truthful numbers to begin with.

Cans Get You Cooking

But even if the analyst is completely honest about results and figures, there are still issues with emphasis and language. For the Cans Get You Cooking campaign, the initial purpose had to have been to increase the sale of canned goods. Instead, they labeled the campaign as a success for leading to an increase in awareness of canned foods.

Awareness is a perfectly legitimate (and objective) goal for a campaign. But they seem to have swept the goal of increased sales under the rug. This was in favor of the one, demonstrable, favorable outcome – a boost in awareness.

On page 125, Place notes

“The role of ethics in public relations evaluation was described by participants as inherently associated with truth and fairness. For some professionals, this meant conveying evaluation data accurately and truthfully to organizational leadership or clients. For other professionals, this meant measuring whether the most accurate story or brand image reached an organization’s publics.”

Upshot

Professionals, fortunately, realize that others can misinterpret their words, even if they are reporting accurately on the numbers. If a campaign increases, say, signups for a class by five over an initial figure of five, then how do they report that?

Is it a report of a new five signups, or does the professional state that signups have doubled? Both are mathematically correct, but there is an exciting spin to the latter which may be making it look more significant than it truly is.

The Real Warriors and Okay 2 Talk Campaigns

A review of both campaigns revealed good attention to detail. Both campaigns seemed to be rather carefully planned.

The Real Warriors Campaign was designed to encourage active armed services personnel and veterans of recent American military campaigns (since 9/11) to seek psychological counseling and other help for post-traumatic stress disorder, e. g. ‘invisible wounds’. Primary research included focus groups and key informant interviews. All of the campaign’s goals were awareness-based.

The goal was to decrease stigma felt by veterans seeking mental health assistance.

Measurements

The measurement of the effectiveness of the campaign included the distribution of campaign materials, website visitors, and social media interactions, plus news stories. This is good for an awareness campaign, but where are the actions? Where are the increased numbers of veterans seeking help?

A far more germane measurement would be to show an increase in personnel hours for armed forces mental health professionals.

Or perhaps there could be a measurement of the hiring of more counselors, or agreements with more civilian counselors. Without naming names or otherwise violating privacy, the number of patients in treatment is easy to tally. So can the number of appointments made, even if some of the appointments were never kept. Another objective measurement of success would be a decrease in suicides and fewer calls by veterans to suicide prevention hotlines. The campaign shows none of that.

OK 2 Talk

As for the OK 2 Talk Campaign, that campaign’s goals were to create awareness and also to launch a safe social media space. Tumblr was their chosen platform as it allowed for anonymity. It seems to have also been chosen for a demographic match although that is not spelled out.

Metrics

The measurement of the effectiveness of that campaign was a lot more closely aligned with its initial goals than the Real Warriors report showed. For example, the OK 2 Talk report gave objective figures regarding engagement on OK2Talk.org. The page views are not necessarily indicative of much. It is the content submissions which seem to better reflect engagement.

On the Tumblr blog, they encourage visitors to anonymously post about how they are feeling. The blog makes it clear that they will not post everyone’s writing.

However, there are several well-written or illustrated posts showcasing various viewpoints. OK 2 Talk intelligently shows all kinds of posts. This is even those where the writers clearly need help or are just reblogging messages put together by creative professionals.

The Continuing Program Evaluation Campaign

The campaign report shows the number of content submissions and the number of clickthroughs to a ‘get help’ screen. There is also a statement regarding ‘thousands’ of comments but no specifics. They could have shown this more clearly. But that does not truly matter.

Showing the number of clickthroughs to the ‘get help’ screen was an objective and direct measurement of how the campaign is going. It answers the question, ‘did it work, or was it just a colorful and fancy waste of time?’ with ‘yes, it did’, and far more effectively than the distribution of materials ever could.

Smith Says…

As Smith notes on page 335

“Guesses aren’t good enough; Hard work and cost aren’t measures of effectiveness; Creativity isn’t, either; Dissemination doesn’t equal communication; Knowledge doesn’t always lead to acceptance; and Behavior is the ultimate measure.”

In particular, Real Warriors should have remembered that dissemination does not equal communication. After all, the distributed campaign materials could have gone right into the trash. Yes, the campaign’s stated goal was awareness. But the campaign can only really measure it with some form of observable action. Without some demonstrated actions, Real Warriors seems more like a lot of paper redistribution.

The two campaigns have similar goals, and both have the valiant ideal of helping the mentally ill. But it’s only OK 2 Talk which is showing objective and relevant results.

Relating it all back to the ILSC

For the Institute for Life Sciences Collaboration, deciding what to measure, and to make sure it is being accurately measured, are important steps to take. It is pretty easy to count website visitors using Google Analytics or the like. But a better measurement is actual engagement like blog comments, Facebook comments and shares, and LinkedIn comments. This will tie directly to awareness objectives.

For objectives on adding high schools to the Small World Initiative, good measurements include the number of times that educators click through to a ‘get information’ page. The ILSC should add one to a revamped website. They can also expect such inquiries in the comments and messaging sections of a possible future ILSC Facebook group.

A similar vehicle for obtaining such inquiries could be a possible future LinkedIn group for the ILSC, and its topics.

Measurements of the campaign reaching donors could be a look at the number of visits to a donations page. It would also be the percentages of site visitors who went all the way through the online donations funnel. Knowing where they stop (if a visit does not lead to a donation) would be extremely helpful information to have.

More About the Continuing Program Evaluation

For the website, Google Analytics should be used to tie back to visitor acquisition. If Facebook turns out to be the most popular place for visitors to come from, then the ILSC should concentrate there. A surprisingly small amount of money (e. g. $20.00 or so) can boost a post and reach even more people.

This measurement is useful for all types of objectives, as it helps to define where to best concentrate the ILSC’s social media time. There is little use in devoting substantial time to LinkedIn if the publics don’t come to the website and don’t donate any funds.

Awareness needs to be related to action, for it is action that will get the SWI out of its funding gap and help keep the ILSC going for years to come.

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Quinnipiac Assignment 10 – ICM 527 – Program Evaluation

Quinnipiac Assignment 10 – ICM 527 – Program Evaluation

Let’s do a program evaluation. This week’s readings were about evaluating a strategic plan and program.

Key Concepts

As Smith said, on (Page 331), “Program evaluation is the systematic measurement of the outcomes of a project, program or campaign based on the extent to which stated objectives are achieved.”

With a plan in place and measurable, clear objectives included in it, the next question is whether anything is working. This comes from figuring out how to measure results and what’s ‘good’ or at least adequate.

In Module 8, we studied Cans Get You Cooking, where the idea was to increase awareness of cans’ use in cooking via cooking shows and blogs. However, another objective was increased sales (after all, why bother with such a campaign if sales don’t increase?), and in that respect the plan was unsuccessful. According to Companies and Markets, the purchase of canned goods declines because of improvements in the economy.

When consumers have more discretionary income to spend on foodstuffs, they purchase fewer canned goods – no matter how well-crafted a campaign is. There was increased awareness, yes, and under that criterion, the campaign worked. But under the criterion of increased sales, it did not.

The Case of the Traveling Goalposts

It seemed a little as if the goalposts were moved in that campaign, that increased sales became a less attainable goal. Awareness was a far more readily attainable goal, and so they presented awareness as the premise behind the campaign.

These moved goalposts are the difference between what Smith refers to as awareness and action objectives, on pages 332 – 335, with the third type of objective, acceptance, straddling a line between both of the others. For the Cans Get You Cooking campaign, it seems as if the attainment of the awareness objective was the only cause for celebration.

Smith makes a compelling case on page 334, that creativity, effort, and cost don’t count as measures of effectiveness. All of those facets of a campaign are on the side of the organization. But measures of awareness, acceptance, and action are all effects felt (and acted upon) by publics. By definition, creativity, etc. should not have anything to do with the effectiveness of a campaign.

The Eight-Step AMEC Social Media Measurement Process

Jeffrey (Page 4) outlines, “The Eight-Step Social Media Measurement Process

  1. Identify organizational and departmental goals.
  2. Research stakeholders for each and prioritize.
  3. Set specific objectives for each prioritized stakeholder group.
  4. Set social media Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) against each stakeholder objective.
  5. Choose tools and benchmark (using the AMEC Matrix).
    • Public Relations Activity
    • Intermediary Effects
    • Target Audience Effects
  6. Analyze the results and compare to costs.
  7. Present to management.
  8. Measure continuously and improve performance.”
Quinnipiac Assignment 10 - ICM 527 - Program Evaluation
Avinash Kaushik, author of Web Analytics 2.0

What’s it Like?

This process compares favorably to methodologies learned in ICM 524 – Social Media Analytics. In that class, we read Web Analytics 2.0 by Avinash Kaushik. On pages 29 – 32, Kaushik outlined his Step 3 – Identifying Your Web Analytics Soul Mate (How to Run an Effective Tool Pilot) (average time: 2 years) Evaluate the following –

  • Usability
  • Functionality
  • Technical
  • Response
  • Total cost of ownership

Also –

  • Get enough time
  • Be fair
  • Ask about data sampling
  • Segment like crazy
  • Ask about search analytics
  • Test site content grouping
  • Bring on the interns (or the VPs!)
  • Test support quality
  • Reconcile the numbers (they won’t add up, but it’s fun!)
  • Check the daily/normal stuff
  • Sweat the TCO (total cost of ownership)

What Kaushik said, and what Jeffrey said, are similar. Because measurement is an objective activity. This is why objectives need to be clear and measurable. Five percent is measurable; better exposure (in general) is not.

For both authors, the idea is to have specific objectives and then act on them, whether those objectives are to launch a strategic campaign or select a web analytics vendor. Then, once they choose the vendor, get the yardstick in place, and use it.

Kaushik further reminds us that, while our intention may be to select a vendor and essentially ‘marry’ it, we still need to be evaluating the evaluator. If it’s not performing up to our reasonable specifications, then it’s time for vendor divorce court.

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

On page 7 of Jeffrey, it says, “Shel Holtz, principal of Holtz Communication + Technology (www.holtz.com) defined a KPI as a ‘quantifiable measurement, agreed to beforehand, that reflect the critical success factors of one’s effort.’”

This puts KPIs on a par with what we have been calling objectives. Wanting to ‘get better’ is one thing. But it’s vague and subject to weaseling.

Wanting to improve recognition of the Institute for Life Sciences Collaboration  (ILSC) and its missions by 5% as is measured by surveys taken during the second quarter of 2016 is a measurable key performance indicator. Therefore, anyone who can read numbers will be able to determine whether the KPI has been met.

Program Evaluation Re: Applicability to the ILSC

Beyond just recognition measurements, there are any numbers of KPIs to measured. These include the number of schools served by the Small World Initiative by a certain date, or increasing donations by a particular amount, subject to a clear deadline.

The ILSC

Currently, the ILSC website in particular seems to be just something people threw together. But it’s without any sense of how to deal with technological and design changes, or scalability. Keeping measurements out of the mix means the ILSC website can be started and then forgotten about. And it seems a lot like that’s exactly what happened.

However, a website cannot be a flash in the pan, as that can cause the publics to feel the organization behind it is also fly by night. Particularly when asking for money, an organization needs to give forth the impression of trustworthiness and solidity.

Adding Key Performance Indicators and measurements means there needs to be a sea change in how the ILSC views the website. It isn’t just something you throw together in an afternoon, for some temp hired for a few weeks to handle and then never see again. Instead, it needs to be an integral part of the organization.

Program Evaluation: Takeaways

While the organization’s work is (generally) offline, there still needs to be room for the website in the minds of the organization’s board members. One facet of their thinking has to include how to best use the website and social media, to better communication the ILSC’s mission and goals, and to communicate with its publics.

The website has got to have a place in those conversations, and it currently does not. That has to change.

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Quinnipiac Assignment 08 – ICM 527 – Communication Tactics

Quinnipiac Assignment 08 – ICM 527 – Communication Tactics

Let’s start with key concepts for communication tactics.

As Smith says on page 227, “A communication tactic is the visible element of a strategic plan.”

Smith mainly talks about more traditional means of communicating with publics, dividing the methodologies and strategic communication tactics into working with organizational media, the news media, or utilizing advertising and promotional media. Some of this applies pretty seamlessly to social media, whereas other aspects do not.

Organized Media and Communication Tactics

With organizational media, the questions are of the type of organizational control and ties, e. g. is the media internal like a company newsletter, and is it controlled? Is it for a targeted media (targeted buyer personae) or the mass media? Is the communication via popular media (e. g. The New York Times) or trade media (Variety)?

Do the communications go only one way, or are they interactive (the hallmark of social media)? Is the media publicly or privately owned, and what type is it, e. g. print, electronic, or digital?

The question of popular versus trade media applies well to social media. Is a message intended for Google or a mainstream blog, or is it being disseminated in a closed forum or a specialty Facebook group?

Smith goes on to bring up planning and various events for communications, such as special events (an art exhibition’s opening, for example) or contests. Planning involves putting together print publications such as press kits, electronic communications like podcasts, digital media like websites, and social media, like blogs or wikis.

Special Mention

One tactic deserving of special mention is creating a ready to broadcast bit of media for a news outlet, such as a news fact sheet or a video B-roll. Smith explains, on page 276,“One of the most frequently used categories of news media tactics is direct information subsidy – information that is presented to the media more or less ready for use.”

For news producers facing deadline pressure and needing to fill a ravenous 24 hour news cycle, ready-made media is most welcome.

Applying These Communication Tactics to the ILSC

Putting together ready-made press information would be a great way for the Institute for Life Sciences Collaboration to get more positive press. A reporter looking to prepare a piece on the HIV crisis in Ghana is not necessarily going to have the time to gather the best images.

They may not be able to find the most articulate patients for a story focusing on the ILSC.

Maybe the ILSC just provides names and contact information. Even so, that can make the difference between a story not being written at all, versus one that is not only written, but shows the ILSC in the best possible light.

The same is true for the Small World Initiative. Rather than making a reporter dig to find the contact information for educators, why not provide it for them? It’s up to the reporter, of course, to decide whether to pursue the story at all. But why not lower one of the hurdles?

Case Study Tactics

We looked at three case studies this week, “Giving Tuesday”, “Cans Get You Cooking”, and “Search for Amazing Women”. 

Giving Tuesday

Giving Tuesday was all about a campaign to take advantage of the spending momentum that annually swirls around Black Friday and Cyber Monday. It dovetailed well with increased giving impulses. These tend to coincide with the holiday season and the end of the calendar year.

The 92nd Street Y and the United Nations Foundation found the following from their research: (Page 2).

“Our initial secondary research showed us that in 2011, Americans gave almost $300 billion to favorite causes, but total dollars donated had yet to rebound to pre-recession levels. People were spending, though: Holiday retail sales were increasing at a rate of 3.3 percent a year. And we know that people are willing to give if asked.”

Social Media

The campaign, which was communications on social media which spread the word, was a success. According to the case study, “on #GivingTuesday, nonprofits raised amounts up 63 percent over 2013 on five major donation-processing platforms.

Based on initial results from Blackbaud, U.S. online giving was up 36 percent among its clients, compared with #GivingTuesday 2013 (to $26.1 million), and it saw a 15 percent increase in the number of nonprofits that processed online donations.”

Cans Get You Cooking

For Cans Get You Cooking, the idea was to increase awareness of cans’ use in cooking via cooking shows and blogs.

It was a well-coordinated online marketing campaign in particular, which (Page 3) “implemented campaign’s Search Engine Marketing initiative, targeting consumers on Google already searching for ‘what to make for dinner’ or ‘easy recipes,’ among hundreds of other key word/phrase triggers, driving them to CansGetYouCooking.com, where they were exposed to campaign messages, the 30-minute special with Kelsey Nixon, canned foods recipes and much more.”

After reading the case study a few times, the thing I could not find was anything about sales. There was more interest in buying canned goods, but there’s nothing in the study about any actual increase in purchases.

I was able to find a survey online (A Look Inside America’s Cantry) but still nothing about dollar figures.

Older Surveys

I was also able to find a survey about the sales of canned fruit from 2011 through 2014 inclusive, and the numbers did not fluctuate significantly. And according to Companies and Markets, the purchase of canned goods declines because of improvements in the economy.

When consumers have more discretionary income to spend on foodstuffs, they steer away from canned goods. This is true no matter how well-crafted a campaign is, or how companies use said campaign. It seems that Cans Get You Cooking was least effective where it really counted. 

The Search for Amazing Women

The Search for Amazing Women was an effort to draw a defunct competitor’s customers to Christopher & Banks; a clothing store catering to women aged 40 – 60. The campaign included using Facebook to target key demographics (age and gender). These included military wives and professions traditionally dominated by women. For example, nursing, teaching, and dental hygienists.

Competitors were also targeted, as were mentions of breast cancer (men can get breast cancer, too, but women make up a good 99% of all diagnoses). A look at the Christopher & Banks website reveals that the campaign is ongoing, which fits in well with page 3 of last week’s Vocus article, which mentions creating and maintaining a steady and consistent presence and not just dabbling.

But Did These Communication Tactics Work?

Did it increase sales? According to the campaign, not only did sales go up, but the number of qualified leads increased.

On page 3, the campaign notes its results were as follows.

“Created new brand-loyal customers through the contest: 2 grand prize winners and 6 runners up were non-customers. Since being named Amazing Women, the winners have posted pictures of themselves and friends at CB stores and shared CB promotions on Facebook. • Added 4,656 qualified prospective customers to the CRM database for future marketing efforts, with the goal of converting them to active customers. With this group added prior to the critical 2014 holiday season, the company achieved their holiday sales goals.”

Unlike the Cans Get You Cooking campaign, the Search for Amazing Women showed demonstrable and actionable results.

Applications to Other Coursework

In most of our other ICM coursework, we talk about reaching buyer personae and even about identifying them, but the nuts and bolts often seem to be left out. This week’s readings were not only about plans, but how they worked out.

The Search for Amazing Women targeted its key demographics with real out of the box thinking. After all, women posting on Facebook about breast cancer might seem to be a viable market. But of course they need clothing.

The Cans Get You Cooking campaign went in a different direction. This was by working with Kelsey Nixon and adding some celebrity appeal. It added the kind of authority behind messaging mentioned in last week’s Vocus reading.

The less than successful nature of that campaign seems more to do with the improving economy. That is, versus any fault on the part of the strategic planners responsible. Sometimes a great campaign just falls flat or has unexpected results.

And the Giving Tuesday campaign piggybacked on its public’s natural generosity impulses to create a successful campaign.

Communication Tactics and Takeaways

My other courses have outlined theory. This week’s readings, in particular, demonstrated practice. The road map has arrived.

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Quinnipiac Assignment 03 – ICM 527 – SWOT and PEST Analyses

What are SWOT and PEST Analyses?

SWOT Analysis – Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats/PEST Analysis – Politics, Economics, Socio-Culture, and Technology

In both Smith and Williams, we learned about SWOT analysis. In our other readings, we also looked at PEST Analysis.

Key Concepts

SWOT and PEST Analyses
Swot analysis (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Smith, on Pages 47 – 49, refers to the following players who are external to an organization:

• Supporters
† Competitors
• Opponent
† Advocates – you stand in the way of their goal
• • Dissident – opposition to positions you hold or actions you have taken
†† Anti – a dissident on a global scale
• • Activist – similar to anti (is also seeking change) but tactics go beyond discussion
†† Missionary – self-righteous activist
• • Zealot – single-issue activist with a missionary fervor
†† Fanatic – a zealot without any social stabilizers.

Williams, however, was more concerned with how to apply SWOT internally, particularly with reference to communications. For Williams, it’s more about looking at company goals and objectives, or at specific internal and external issues.

Then the question is about the second step of SWOT analysis, which is to apply it to how to communicate that.

E. g. if a company is applying an analysis to its overhead, its strength might be in owning a building, its weakness might be that the building is in an area that is in transition and losing its cachet, that could potentially also be an opportunity, but the threat could be that customers would not visit the building in person if they felt the neighborhood was unsafe.

Communicating those findings presents the strength of being able to quickly pinpoint the issue. It adds the weakness of perhaps not being able to act decisively until external factors play out some more. And there’s opportunity in the form of investing in an area where rents are suddenly taking a nosedive.

Whereas the threat could be that too much investment in a possibly dying area might hurt the company’s reputation.

Applicability to Current Events

The more I read about SWOT and PEST analyses, the more I realized they can apply to pretty much anything. I decided to take a look at Quinnipiac in the context of the White House’s College Scorecard, which was released on September 12th, and is thereby current although not really an ‘event’, per se.

The scorecard puts together basic data on various collegiate characteristics, including size, location, and the programs on offer. Then the program pulls out colleges and compares them. I looked up Connecticut four-year-programs and found Quinnipiac is third-best for salary after graduation.

The program could potentially be the subject of a SWOT analysis, that Quinnipiac shows strength in how its graduates earn after they leave, but a weakness in terms of price, as it lists QU as third-most expensive.

Opportunities

Opportunities include showcasing the school as coming up better than U Conn for salary after graduation. Threats are from schools like Yale, which comes out as less expensive but with a far better graduation rate and a better salary after graduation.

The point of the exercise is that the data are mixed, as for a lot of organizations. If you dig deeply enough, most organizations will have something you can place into each of the four buckets. No organization is perfect and without threats or weaknesses.

PEST

As for a PEST analysis (politics, economics, social-cultural, and technology), the scorecard remains applicable. Politics applies because of not only how the scorecard itself was put together (deciding what to emphasize could very well have been at least partially a political decision), but also because of how public institutions are funded.

Quinnipiac is a private institution, but there can still be an affect if public universities are funded (or not) due to political dealings. This can determine whether public institutions can compete effectively with Quinnipiac.

Economics certainly applies in terms of budgeting but also due to financial decisions such as how much to charge for tuition and what to pay professors – and whether to offer more expensive full professorships or instead pay adjuncts. The social-cultural part applies as Quinnipiac is a part of Hamden itself. How the school conducts itself makes a difference in the fuller community.

Is the campus safe? Does it recycle? Are the students loud? Finally, the technological aspect applies as the school cannot adequately function without working, up to date technology. Even for students who go to the campus and attend classes in person, there is a dependence on technology for everything from interlibrary loans to how tuition is calculated and collected.

Internal versus External Environments for SWOT and PEST Analyses

I see the two as being equally important to analyze and research as an organization can feel an affect either way. For the ILSC, for example, because part of their work is done in Ghana, external threats include the possibility that the government of Ghana might not be as stable as believed.

Internal weaknesses include the fact that the organization’s website doesn’t seem to have a setup for regular updating. Both can affect the very existence of the organization. A strategic planner should be researching both kinds of problems (and positives as well) as they can decide the fate of an organization.

Organizations looking to thrive – or at least to stay in business – need to look at both. No one can afford to ignore external in favor of internal, or vice versa. And no organization can afford to ignore PEST and SWOT analyses.

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