3 Years in Business & an Advent of Thanks

March 2003 - Began online dating and using the internet to make friends

March 2006 - Turned 30

September 2006 - Made the decision to leave the Vermont marketing agency world and began the four month fast track to figuring out what my new life would entail - did this by networking and meeting with anyone and everyone

December 2006 - Got my first client - G's Restaurant at The Sheraton in Burlington helping promote their Celebrity Chef Nights
AND spent my last days and month as an employee

January 2007 - National Life Group and The Inn at the Round Barn Farm signed on as clients

March 2007 - Began collaborations with Shark Interactive and began my first client work in social media with Green Mountain Power

April 2007 - Registered Rachel Carter PR with the state and opened a business banking account with the Key4Women program
AND met The Mitch!

May 2007 - Created and launched website - www.rachelcarterpr.com

June 2007 - Began 3 blogs (the Vermont Music Blog is now retired, but Vermont Vibes and this one are going strong!)

July 2007 - December 2007 - Business focus on marketing myself, building relationships, and networking

2008 - Business focus on establishing my accounting system and developing and experimenting with my brand

2009 - Continuing my branding experiment and honing my services based on client needs and my own time and energy levels

December 2009 - CELEBRATING 3 YEARS IN BUSINESS!!!

In honor of the first three years, I will spend the holiday season giving thanks and recognition to all those who helped me get to this point. Be sure to tweep with me on Twitter and fan with me on Facebook to keep tabs on all the gossip and buzz!!!

PS - In case you didn't know, The Mitch and I are engaged!

Bravo Farewell Travels: Select Escapes

As my Generation X life deepens into my 30's, I plan my wedding where I'll be a bride at 35, and make plans to travel in my mature years instead of attempting to raise a family starting in my 40's (don't judge - I'm helping to promote a sustainable population). I am increasingly realizing the stars are aligning very nicely with my plans and the travel resources at my fingertips. The Mitch and I can't wait to begin our traveling days with our month long wedding tour of England and we both can't wait to finally see the world, not just look at it in picture books.

While picture books have planted the seeds, independent travel websites are foraging the new way into thoughtful and exploratory travel. Created by some of the world's best travel writers, the fall of traditional media has awakened an entrepreneurial spirit of a solid collection of travelers who previously made a living as travel writers.

Some of my favorite people, work, and interactions in my dozened career as a public relations professional in Vermont has been with a wonderful group of travel writers I have worked with in various capacities throughout the years and I absolutely love how I am now seeing them publishing their own terrific websites. What's even better is I am bookmarking these sites to be my most cherished resources when my traveling days begin - which is not too far in the future.

Suggestions to other Generation X travelers and globetrotters all around - find yourselves some favorite travel writers and follow them, connect with them - there is no better way to learn than from an honest third party endorser who has been there and has the intellect to talk about places, experiences, and cultures you have yet to see.

I previously wrote about Steve Jermanok's Active Travels and you can read my blog post here. And now I will writer about another favorite travel writer...

Susan Farewell has been a wonderful media contact for a once green PR chickadee and helped me understand how public relations can actually work and I will forever be grateful. I look forward to evolving media relationships as the lines of PR and journalism and merged into something very new as social media continues to power its way through the savvy, quick, and unforgiving yet compassionate consumer.

Susan's online travel magazine - elegantly entitled Farewell Travels: Select Escapes is a beautiful display of her work and skill at bringing you deep within the experience she is sharing. From romance to culinary, health to adventure, Select Escapes is easy to navigate, simple in design, yet comprehensive in information - exactly what a website should do yet it is uniquely Susan abound with friendliness, ease, and solid style. The added bonus of some exceptional video work makes this a website where you forget you are staring at a computer screen.

While over a cup of tea with a travel writer a few years ago, I mentioned The Mitch's and I's England wedding tour dream before we were even engaged and was told to rent a canal boat. And when I clicked under the romance tab on Susan's Select Escapes website - the first story I see is spending a week on a canal boat in France. In all my research I have done, the only two times a canal boat was mentioned was by travel writers - they are the best resources for travel, no questions asked. Forget those lengthy websites that weaken your eyesight and find yourself a few solid ones where you can actually - travel.

Worthwhile Travel Experiences and Destinations - www.farewelltravels.com
Authentic Active and Adventure Travel - www.activetravels.com
Organized Cultural Tours for Discerning Travelers - www.culturalcrossroads.com
Family Activities, Events, and Attractions in Northern Vermont - www.findandgoseek.net

Do's & Don'ts of Social Media

Much of what I have been teaching and training clients in as well as sharing with attendees at presentations can now be seen in so many business building resources. I was just glancing through the latest Business Vision magazine produced by Key Bank for small business and entrepreneur clients. It is identical to statements I have been making and have written about previously in this blog. Now you can see this information in language written directly from one of the country's most respected financial institutions for small business owners:

DO observe and read other social media sites.
This is what I mean by engaging - learn by examples of how others are doing it successfully.

DON'T blatantly promote your company on a social media site. At least 90% of your posts should be relevant to the conversation.
So all the idiots that post ridiculous spam comments on my blogs - knock it off! To those who actually comment on the post - keep it up!

DO use search engine optimization (SEO) to increase the traffic to your blog or website. SEO tools help you find keywords your prospects are using in search engines. Google offers a free SEO tool, and how-yo articles.
Don't worry about the expensive design updates to your website - it's most important you ask a web designer how they can market the website for you. For the short term, talk to a web marketer about optimizing your site. Two Vermont SEO marketers I suggest are Off the Page Creations and Performance Web Solutions.

DON'T give up. It takes time to build your site. Staying engaged in the social media scene increases your chances of opening doors to new opportunities.
In Rachel Carter PR words - "Chill." When you move to a new town, it takes time to make friends and build relationships. The same is true for social media because while it is online, it is also the most natural way of connecting since the old school livelihoods of neighborhoods. So be real and make some new friends!

5 Reasons Corporations are Failing at Social Media

I came across a fantastic blog post a few weeks ago and felt I needed to share it with my readings. Written by Amy Mengel from her blog Mengel Musings, the post - 5 Reasons Corporations are Failing at Social Media - conveys my thoughts exactly and exemplifies a lot of what I have been talking about at recent presentations.

Kudos Amy - always great to see other PR/social media peeps out there with similar philosophies and thanks for the great information!

Upcoming Open Houses!

Newsflash!!! With the chilly fall weather comes the season of open houses and I wanted to take a moment to suggest a few to blog readers...

The first is an official Burlington area Tweet-up and is taking place this Friday, October 30th from 8 to 9 am at the new, hip, and tweeterrific bakery, August First and is followed by an open house at Office Squared - the new co-working in Vermont workplace. After delicious treats at August First today I took a tour at Office Squared and highly suggest getting in touch with owner Jen Mincar to check out the opportunities to rent work space as needed - such a fantastic concept for all us home officed biz owners! Click here for the invite to the Tweet-up.

The second open house event takes place the following Friday, November 6th from 5 - 7:30 pm and is a great chance to tour the newly renovated suites at the Green Mountain Suites - formerly Hawthorne Suites - as well as enjoy complimentary beer, wine, and hors d'oeuvres around a colossal fireplace. For those of you who are part time business operations in Vermont, both of these open houses are great options for you to know about.

And, speaking of events, let's not forget the Wine & Swine event taking place on November 12th at Gardener's Supply in Williston - this one is in a category all of its own...

Attending Events!

Some people are extroverted and some people are not. Both types of people enjoy being entrepreneurs, however not both types of people enjoy attending events and doing the networking thing (or as I used to call it, cruising with intent). Here are my Vermont PR tips as to why attending events is important and how to maximize event attendance if you are not an extroverted person...

Why Event Attendance is Important:
1.) It is another form of marketing yourself; but just like using social networking and finding newsworthy items to use in news editorial, it's not direct marketing. Attending events are another place to help share your brand, not your services. In other words - share who you are as a person.
2.) Attending events keeps your presence in check and keeps you on people's radar.
3.) It is also important to understand that attending events is not to land business from giving out a business card. Attending events is to help build relationships and it is best to NOT talk about your business but to share positive news of others in the industry.

Tips on Attending (Especially if You Are Shy):
1.) Find an extroverted friend in a similar industry or with similar clients and hang out with them! DO NOT go with another shy person!
2.) Attend events that personally interest you - not just ones you think you have to attend.
3.) Look into the event before you go - who attends, what news surrounds the event, and what news surrounds those who attend. Then you will be prepared with some conversational pieces.
4.) Wear something that starts a conversation - a shirt with a message, a groovy scarf, a fun tie - don't try to just blend in, show a little bit of your personality with some form of flair which can be great conversation starters.

A recent event I attended was the Vermont Hospitality Council's Gala at The Essex. My fiance is a gem and actually enjoys attending work related events which turns many networking types of events into dates for us - it makes it much easier to be a person then than "Rachel Carter PR." Below are a few photos from the events. More photos can be seen on Facebook and for the 2009 award winner, please click here.

Collaboration: Apples to Ipods

Collaborations are increasingly becoming an integral component of successful public relations work - especially in a state like Vermont where relationships, transparency, and integrity own the way a company relates to the public.

In addition, collaborations relate very importantly to the newsworthiness of something. Pretend you are a furniture maker living in Northern Vermont who enjoys fishing. Which would be more meaningful to you?
a.) An article on the newest furniture polish and its eco-friendly attributes
b.) A blog post written as a first hand account by a guy from Southern Vermont who visited a Vermont resort for a fishing outing and took a furniture making class where he tried the newest furniture polish and then shared a link on his blog to its green attributes.
(please note the social media plug)

Anyway, here is a case study of sorts on a recent Vermont collaboration:

Vermont Department of Tourism & Marketing wants more Vermonters and tourists alike visiting Vermont apple orchards.
Vermont Department of Agriculture wants more Vermonters and tourists alike visiting Vermont apple orchards.
Small Dog Electronics wants to continue to be known as the leader of Apple products both in Vermont and beyond.
Woodchuck Draft Cider wants more people (of legal age) to know about their product and to have appropriate settings to taste it.

The common denominators of Vermont, apples, and similar demographics made for a great opportunity for collaboration. Small Dog Electronics and Woodchuck Draft Cider sponsored the Vermont Tourism and Vermont Agriculture "Apples to Ipods" promotion where 20 or so wooden apples were distributed throughout apple orchards in Vermont and when someone finds a wooden apple, they trade it in for an Ipod. A kick-off event held on September 15th brought on a few more collaborators - the event was held at Shelburne Orchards and Shelburne Farms cheese was provided as a snack. People could pick apples, taste apple and cheese treats, chat with folks in the Vermont Tourism and Agriculture industries, and a Woodchuck Draft Cider tasting was held in a designated area. The event and entire Apples To Ipods promotion was low cost, responsibilities were spread across the collaborators, and the publicity not only came from different collaborators, but was far more newsworthy by involving multiple groups, rather than just one product or experience.

Here are some photos from the kick-off event...










And if they haven't all been found yet - keep looking and enjoy those apples!!! Mmmm.