Overcoming To-Do List Angst

Recently, I came across Daniel Markovitz’s article, To-Do Lists Don’t Work, and was immediately floored by the title. To-do lists don’t work? How could this be?! As someone who has been making lists since I was 10 years old (surprise, surprise), I was obviously shocked to learn that to-do lists could actually be a recipe for failure. Markovitz outlines five problems with to-do lists, some of which I agree may be detrimental to overall productivity – namely the paradox of choice and having varied priorities. But, I believe that with each disadvantage comes a solution that will keep to-do lists alive!

Jump Starting Your PR Career

With approximately 1,706,000 students at the bachelor’s degree level projected to graduate in 2012, there are a plethora of young professionals who are about to begin their job search and enter the workforce. But, with lingering economic woes from the 2008 financial crisis and heightened unemployment rates, many will be looking for creative ways to jump start their career. Using your college’s alumni network is a great place to start, and, as Boston College alumnus, I’m always willing to share advice with up and coming Eagles as they embark on their career paths.

Timehop – One Year Ago Today, I Was…

So much can change in a year, but it’s often hard to remember exactly what I was doing one year ago today. If only there was a way to travel back in time to see what I was working on, what I was interested in, who I was talking to, or even where I was going. Well, thanks to Timehop, I can now retrace my steps from one year ago, using my digital, social media footprint.

Public Relations; Balancing Stress with Success

Like many things in life, maintaining a career as a PR executive is a balancing act. Learning how to cope with the fast-paced atmosphere and tight deadlines while saving time to revel in  the success of a campaign is something we all strive to achieve. PR professionals are notorious multitaskers; and while juggling multiple clients, deadlines and launches simultaneously may seem to be just another part of the job, there’s no denying that it can get extremely stressful at times. At the end of the day though, it’s all worth it!

Social Media; Where Do You Turn for News?

It’s obvious that social media has become a pervasive way to gather news and information on trending topics, current events and interesting subject matter, but has it become the top source people turn to, or is it merely a supplement for more traditional news sources? Recently, TEKGROUP issued their 2011 Social Media News Survey report, which helps answer that very question.

How Socially Mature is Your Company?

There’s no denying that social media has become a key part of corporate strategy for businesses across almost every industry. In fact, the Content Marketing Institute’s recent study, B2B Content Marketing: 2012 Budgets, Benchmarks and Trends, found that 74 percent of B2B marketers currently use social media, and the use of almost every social media channel is set to increase in 2012 with YouTube increasing 47 percent, LinkedIn increasing 39 percent, Twitter increasing 35 percent, and Facebook increasing 30 percent. But how do you know where your company lies in terms of social media implementation and effectiveness?

LinkedIn for Lead Gen

What’s your favorite social media tool for generating new business leads? Well, according to Pardot, LinkedIn ranked highest at 32 percent, followed by blogging at 27 percent and Twitter at 15 percent. What’s surprising is that, while it’s clear LinkedIn generates more than twice as many leads as Twitter, more companies integrate Twitter into their marketing efforts than any other social tool. Wouldn’t more companies want to incorporate the platform that helps them generate more new business opportunities? Perhaps after reading this study, more will, but perhaps it’s just a matter of learning how to best use LinkedIn.

PR, Growth Amidst Lingering Financial Turmoil

The 2008 U.S. financial crisis still feels fresh for many industries trying to rebound, but PR is one segment that has seemingly put the latest economic downturn in the past. New data from Sageworks shows that the past two years have recorded strong growth for communications companies, including public relations firms, advertising agencies and media buyers.

Modernizing Business Cards

Everything from paperback novels and newspapers to roadmaps and phonebooks seems to have found a new home as a modern, electronic version of its former self. Yet, in our increasingly paperless world, there’s one thing that still seems archaic and hasn’t moved to an electronic form: business cards.

At conferences, trade shows and networking events, it’s almost inevitable that you’ll run out of business cards – or room in your pocket from collecting so many other cards! So, wouldn’t it be great if business cards caught up to our modern, electronic world? Well, we seem to be getting closer each day, especially with the advent of several pretty cool smartphone apps, some of which I saw being used a couple of weeks ago at Cloud Expo West.

How to Survive a Tech Conference

Last week, I attended SYS-CON’s Cloud Computing Expo in Santa Clara, California to support clients CloudSigma and Interxion. While the event was a complete success with steady crowds at the booths, quality conversations and ample product announcements, it was also four, fully exhausting days. Being on your feet all day, continually giving the same explanations and missing your regular routine can really wear you out. So, naturally, over the years, I’ve developed my “How to Survive a Tech Conference” guide. The following tips have gotten me through every conference, both large and small, from Interop to Structure, and beyond.