PR Prescriptions

3 Simple Ways to Discover Diverse Audiences Online

As a public relations professional, I am responsible for 3.26 million things. Serving as a travel agent, staffing back to back weekend conferences, presenting corporate responsibility presentations from bean bag chairs…I’ve done it all in the name of client service. Want to know something else I’ve done in the name of client service? Diversify client [...]

#DCFashionBiz Recap – H St. NE: Fashionably Business

Two weeks ago, I presented my thoughts on social media to a group of artists and fashion entrepreneurs at an event sponsored by the Greater Washington Fashion Chamber of Commerce (GWFCC). A quick recap from that discussion is available below. Summary. Short. Sweet. Social Media: Defined as many things: Frustrating, Time consuming, Difficult, Effective, Necessary. [...]

With Diversity: Be Critical AND Action Oriented

This is a feature guest post for the public relations industry blog PRSA Diversity Today. Have you ever criticized a person or a company for their diversity efforts (or the lack thereof)? Possibly your own? If the answer is yes, I have one more question for you: What did you do after that? What did [...]

H Street NE: Where DC Fashion Meets Social Media

Monday July 12, 2010 all roads lead to H Street NE, where DC Fashion Meets Social Media! Join me for a discussion on the importance of marketing, public relations and the use of social media for fashion businesses. Learn how to develop key messages that specifically reach your target audience and how social media can [...]

New Project, New Adventure: Socially Diverse

Hi folks, It’s been a few weeks since my last post…here, that is. In my absence here at PR Prescriptions, I’ve been focused on jumpstarting a project that combines my interest in several areas: – Unique online conversations – the amazing, almost serendipitious connections social media can create, and – Diversity in PR and Social [...]

#Diversity in Online & Tech Arenas – Interview w/ @DigitalSista

August 23rd, 2010

*This is a repost of the latest content from the Socially Diverse Project.

Without a doubt, this has been my favorite interview to date. I say this for a few of reasons:

I had the opportunity to speak with the one and only @DigitalSista - Shireen Mitchell. I am so happy that Shireen agreed to take part because she (and unknowingly a few colleagues of hers) helped generate the first spark of the idea that became the Socially Diverse project.
Aside from being a great person to chat with in DC, Shireen is a truly accomplished individual and is starting get recognized for the decades of work that she has done in the space. I’m glad that I can introduce her to some of you.
I decided to hold onto the video clips for a bit and really get acquainted with some of the features in iMovie. Check out the video below. Let me know what you think about Shireen’s comments and the little tech upgrade I made via the video!

Hope you enjoyed the interview! Please let me know what you think.

Also, in case you were interested in checking out the recommendations that Shireen made regarding the next generation of women of color in tech, here they are:

Tiffani Ashley Bell - @tiffani - http://twellwishes.com/
Corvida Raven - @corvida - http://shegeeks.net

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If you are interested in doing an interview about your site, blog or community, please send me a note – james.walker [at] prprescriptions.com. Thanks!

3 Simple Ways to Discover Diverse Audiences Online

August 4th, 2010

As a public relations professional, I am responsible for 3.26 million things. Serving as a travel agent, staffing back to back weekend conferences, presenting corporate responsibility presentations from bean bag chairs…I’ve done it all in the name of client service.

Want to know something else I’ve done in the name of client service? Diversify client outreach.

The fact of the matter is that we all should be seeking out diverse audiences whenever we have the opportunity. When we include diverse audiences in our outreach, our messages can go much farther much faster, and they have the ability to make their way into networks that we may not be able to access easily.

So how does this all play out online? How can you discover diverse audiences online?

Say it with me: T W I T T E R.

Now, Twitter is not the uber solution when it comes to discovering diversity online, but it is a great place to start! Here are 3 simple ways to discover diverse audiences online:

1. Keep an eye out for Interesting Trending Topics.

I scan the trending topics from time to time. Occasionally, I’ll see something that really surprises me. To date, there has only been one trending topic that almost knocked me out of my chair: “West Indian”.
This was special for a few reasons. First, my family is from the West Indies, so I was simply excited. Second, this was a perfect example of a specific cultural group self-identify and gathering in a space that so often seems so White and Black…or excuse me “African-American”. I break more of my thoughts on the subject here.

2. Look beyond trending topics and hashtags for cultural context and additional search terms.

The West Indian tag was not just valuable for identifying people from that group. It provided insight into the Caribbean culture, but you had to look for the context in order to process it all. If you observed the tweets, you could tell which people were from certain countries, the languages they spoke, popular slang, favorite types of food, music that ties the group together, culture specific festivals, and the list goes on.
Those tweets may have been 140 characters, but the context packed into them could fill pages!

3. Be smart about cultural context and realize that your Twitter search can lead you to several great online resources outside the network.

When you’re doing research online, sometimes you just have to follow the yellow brick road – in this case, the links. Twitter is a great starting point, but due to its 140 character limit, the meat of the content is often found outside of the network.
Quick example: Essence magazine recently hired a white fashion director and people took to the interwebs to share their thoughts. At the time, I was looking for beauty/fashion bloggers of color for my latest project, Socially Diverse. I thought a search on Essence and the hiring of this director would definitely lead me to the bloggers I was looking for, and it did. My first stop along the trail was a tweet from Afrobella. From there, I arrived at her blog and Facebook fan page. With a few clicks, I was surrounded by a community of people of color who cared about fashion and beauty.

Finding diverse audiences online isn’t anything close to rocket science, but it requires some thought.

If you follow these three steps, you will be in great shape.

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This post is a part of the “31 days to a brand new blog” series (Challenge – Day 4). Click here for more info.

#31bnb Day 3 – The “About” Page

August 3rd, 2010

Day 3 Challenge – Tweaking the About page.

This could not have come at a better time. As I worked on my purpose statement (the Day 2 challenge), I began to realize a few things:

I’ve grown. As a person. As a PR professional. As a blogger. All good things.
Diversity in PR has become a big focus for me. I spent a lot of time talking about it online and off, then I started doing something about it.
The majority of what the challenge asks us to focus on is present on the “Who’s Blogging?” page. It’s the “About” PR Prescriptions page that is more troubling. The idea was that I would have an about page for me and one for this blog, but the latter no longer matches me or the mission PR Prescriptions is meant to fulfill. In short, its days are numbered.

I’ve done quite a bit of thinking out loud here, but that is how the creativity tends to flow. Thanks for coming along for a ride on the SS Thought Process. I promise a revamped About page in the coming days.

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This post is a part of the “31 days to a brand new blog” series. Click here for more info.