Vermont Public Relations Firm Newsflash!

Guess there are enough things worthy of note that I will use my blog as an outlet to post a Rachel Carter PR Newsflash. This is also because I do not use a newsletter service. With the huge influx of their popularity among businesses, I have also seen the popularity of them shrink among consumers and I do not want to feed into this trend.

First item of note, I am taking a real and honest vacation. It is VERY hard to do when you run your own business because nothing gets covered by anyone else and when you take a day it's usually double to make up. But since the holidays cause many people to take time and many businesses close their doors (or force employees to take vacation days as horrible as that is), I feel it is one of the only times, if not the only time, I can actually take time and not drown when I return. So, I am CLOSED! Rachel Carter PR will reopen on Monday, January 5th! Of course that doesn't mean I don't have a few odds and ends to wrap up, but the office is closed and that feels good!

On a different note, I think part of my "vacation" is due to my celebrating my first two years in business! Wahoo! I am where I guess I thought I would be. My marketing and finances are set in place and my niche audience has been honed with a variety of deliverables developed, so I guess you could say things are going well! I look forward to starting my third year as a small Vermont public relations agency continuing my commitment to working only with Vermont businesses and organizations in a variety of capacities - from consulting to retainer-based long-term public relations programming; from small business PR plan development to mid-sized organizational PR training. And even in this recessional, financial, global drama, this corporate hippie rocks on!

And of further news, my fabulous St. Michael's College intern from fall semester is unable to come back to to scheduling - gotta love the drama of time. So, I have an opening for the spring semester and am looking for an intern for my highly regarded Rachel Carter PR Internship Program. I am looking for a Vermont college sophomore, junior, or senior with interest in entrepreneurship, public relations, marketing, or journalism and studying in a related field. Self motivation and varied interests and background are key! This internship is very flexible and can be done for credit or simply for experience. Come join the successful line of interns who have worked with me! Here are where a few have gone on to:
- marketing position on a cruise ship
- executive position in high level financial firm
- account executive at New York advertising agency
- vice-president of marketing at international bank
- marketing manager at Boston based technology firm
Come join the ranks! To apply, email me at rachel@rachelcarterpr.com as to why Rachel Carter PR interests you (more info is at the website - www.rachelcarterpr.com), what you are looking to get out of an internship, and attach your resume!


Guess that's the news coming out of the Charlotte farmhouse which houses Rachel Carter PR. Other than that have the Happiest of Holidays, the Most Festive of Festivities, the Sweetest Greetings of the Seasons, and all that pizazz!

Two HUGE Communication Mistakes

It amazes me that many business people continuously make two very disrespectful mistakes. These mistakes would be not communicating a thank you and non-responsiveness to emails. It may be from a lack of customer service training or basic business etiquette skills, or just plain time constraints, but none of these are any excuse for not thanking someone when they have done something for you or for not responding to emails.

Let's start with thank you's:

If someone does something for you whether you ask them to or not, send a thank you note! Jeez, did your parents not teach you to send thank you notes for all the ugly sweaters you got at Christmas? Whether it's an email or a card you mail, take the extra two minutes and show your gratitude (in writing!) - what comes around goes around and that's not just a saying, it's very true. Just think what happens when you get thanked for doing something - you feel appreciated and you're more apt to do a favor again. Everyone needs favors and everyone should give favors - thank you's help this interaction between people, businesses, friends, and strangers continue in a positive cycle. So, if you're one of those people who always seems to forget to say thank you - knock it off!

And now the email responses:

I can't tell you how many times I email a business as an introduction for a potential collaboration or even someone I have blogged about and never hear anything back. This is so rude! I was taught from my first job onward that you respond to all emails in a 24 hour period. Even if that email is "Thanks for contacting me, I'll keep your information on file." Or "THANK YOU (ahem - see above) for writing a positive article about me - it is much appreciated." Now, as I am in the business of spamming the press at times, I understand that PR people to them are sometimes like fleas on the family dog, but those times when I get a simple email back acknowledging they got the email - man do my spirits soar. But I am not talking about the press here, I am talking about other business folks who just ignore emails. Even a "I cannot respond right now as I am swamped but will get to it soon, or please follow-up with me in a few weeks." When it comes to the ignoring, I just don't get it. Why, especially in a small marketplace like Vermont, would you not want to build your network by communicating with people? That is how business gets done - the more people who know what you do the more your marketing dollars are going to pay off. You can't just expect that article that ran or the ad you bought to drive your business - you need to stay top of mind. And a huge way to counteract that is to be non-responsive when people email.

I guess this was more of a gripe, but also a lesson in business etiquette - send thank you's and don't ignore emails. Simple. Period. Try it for a while and I think you'll start to see a big difference. There are larger things at work than the sphere you rotate in.

Peace to All...

Holiday Networking

The holidays may be the last place someone thinks of when thinking of networking. Either because you want to go spend time with family and NOT think about work at all or because you dread your family so that you want to keep conversation as minimal as possible.

I understand, believe me. It may not seem so to some, but I am a huge fan of putting work aside and enjoying family and friends without thinking about the insanity of running a public relations firm in Vermont. But this Thanksgiving taught me an important lesson about networking...

Sadly for my family, my grandfather passed away the day before everyone gobbles up turkeys. A leader in quality control and an innovator in computers, he lived a very complete life and was able to say goodbye to his children which is always a blessing. So last week there were more family members than usual in the vicinity of my mother's feast and all came out to my parent's home in the Berkshires for Thanksgiving.


Perhaps as a need to keep conversation light and because as I get older, I enjoy family company more and more, I babbled away about funny stories that stem from my work. Stories that are not about what I do and who my clients are, blah, blah, blah, but rather little tales that come out of the eclectic and varied work and situations I get myself into. This of course resulted in laughter and the usual tales that people share after an amusing story sparks their memory. Many, to the delight of all, also led into fun memories of my grandfather. This is to be expected, especially if the family is as colorful and talkative as mine.

But then something happened which I did not expect - these stories also sparked discussions of my uncle's golf partner who owns a business in Vermont related to one of my clients and my grandmother's travel friend who manages an organization that collaborates with a potential client. I think you see where I am going. You never know....

I certainly wasn't being the annoying niece yapping away about how awesome my business is and prodding for networking contacts. But I also wasn't being the tired business owner trying to steer all conversation away from my work (which I sometimes do). I was instead being a funny daughter sharing my experiences and listening and learning from others, and gaining a few new contacts along the way.

And this, my loyal readers, is something you should all think about doing over the Christmas holidays! Rachel Carter PR approved!

The Power of the Open House

When done right, an open house or even a series of open houses can really help in publicizing an event or concept, without having to rely on the media and by targeting people directly. To exemplify this, I give you a case study on Lund Family Center:

Lund Family Center is an organization that has been in the community for 118 years and its services have evolved to meet emerging community needs over that time.
Today, Lund Family Center offers a comprehensive treatment program for pregnant or parenting young women with substance abuse and/or mental health issues and their children; Vermont's oldest and largest private non-profit adoption agency; and a comprehensive family resource as a Parent/Child Center.

Many people in the greater Burlington area only think of Lund as the maternity home they were familiar with when growing up and many more are unaware of the comprehensive services the organization offers. The most common response Lund gets when someone visits is, "wow, we had no idea that you do so much and that you are having that big of an impact!".

Taking that into consideration, when Lund celebrated their momentous occasion of moving back into their expanded and completely transformed residential building at 76 Glen Road in Burlington last fall, they needed to look long and hard at how to share that knowledge with a community that gets news and information from a variety of sources, many of whom will never have the opportunity to actually step foot in Lund Family Center. While their roots at this site go back to 1890, Lund bid farewell to the 1960s maternity home building design and officially opened a new chapter by designing a space that meets the treatment needs of the families they are serving today and the families they plan to serve in the future. The new building enhances their ability to provide services to children and families and expands the capacity to annually help create new beginnings for an additional 25 Vermont children and their families, serving more than 80 children and their families each year.

So, this fall, Lund implemented a series of open houses - for board members, supporters, neighbors, community members, businesses, and all other folks they have in their wide network of contacts. I learned about it as I helped provide some PR services for Lund a few years back when I worked at an agency to help publicize the contribution they received from Senator Jefford's to be able to reach their capital campaign to begin the renovations. I went to one of these open houses last week and while I was amazed at the beautiful job they did with the renovations, I was equally impressed with how well the mothers and expectant mothers did with organizing the tour and lunch and fall of the people who attended to learn more about Lund Family Center.

In my professional opinion, I'd say open houses are back in! Plan far in advance, be creative about what is at your open house, and network with your networks!

And in addition - Congratulations Lund - you are great addition to the greater Burlington community! www.lundfamilycenter.org

Potential Work & Technological Explanations

Are you a one person business stressed by the insecure financial times?

Are you a business person stressed by the emergence of all the new media/social networking/online marketing terminology?

I have found two websites referred to me by two well-respected professionals that I would like to pass on to you:

The first one is www.sologig.com. This is a website that offers freelance, contract, temp, and consulting short term work in the Greater Burlington area, hence the name Solo Gig. It has a pretty broad spectrum of potential work and looks promising for a lot of folks. So, if you are finding work turning up a bit short or need to have one or a few extra part-time/short term "gigs" that stay (for the most part) within the self-employed tax structure, definitely check out www.sologig.com from time to time to keep your options open.

Second, do the terms RSS feed, Facebook, Twitter, SEO, an metatag make you shudder in lack of comprehension? Fear the unknown no longer!!! Check out the website www.commoncraft.com. Common Craft is a website that simply provides explanation. Explanation in very simple, non-technology jargon helping you make sense of phishing, twittering, and googling. Give it a try - www.commoncraft.com - and remember to be patient in learning anything new!

Good luck all!

Tears of Hope

Were shed last night - I have never been prouder to be an American than I was last night watching both John McCain and President Obama give their speeches. Thank you.

Freedom

I wish I was not so insanely busy today and could spend time browsing the internet and following the election. But, in order to embrace my freedom that I hold so near and dear to my heart, I must continue the PR work for my Vermont clients and meet their deadlines. But, I did sneak away to go vote and had a little bit of time to reflect and feel that energy that is whipping around at the dusk of change for this country. Several of my friends have posted very though provoking blogs and have been feeling this sense of freedom that is swirling about this election.

I myself have some very strong opinions of this country and of politics in general and over my 32 years of life my sentiments have gone very quickly from optimistic to pessimistic to angry to sad. Seeing the results tonight one way or the other will not give me a sense of hope. Unfortunately I think this country is in a much deeper despair than one person can affect, but I will cross my fingers that it is a start - a start to at least bringing the focus back to the people who live in this country because things are bad.

I think of how I started my business almost two years ago. I did it for one primary reason and dozens of secondary reasons. The primary reason was to have as much control over my destiny as possible because what I saw when it was in the hands of others was sickening - everything from jobs to wages to benefits to expectations to taxes to a washout of the American Dream I spent my childhood dreaming about.

Of course if it wasn't for the glimmer of the American Dream that remained, I would not have been able to start my own business. I simply hope this election will be the beginning of some major shifts in the way this country operates and can start to replace despair with hope in people everywhere - from sea to shining sea.