Building a Relationship with Your Local Print Shop

Sure I’m only in college, but I’ve already encountered problems with getting assignments printed at my local print shop. I shouldn’t blame them for the confusing margin settings, using only particular software programs, and having older equipment. I shouldn’t expect any print shop to conform to my needs. They are doing me a service, so I should conform my publications to their specific settings.

 

I recently took a tour of the Eagle Print Shop at Georgia Southern University, and they were able to show us why customers must follow such particular guidelines when submitting an item for publication. Some may have tight budgets and limited resources, so you need to find out what those are before sending something to them.

 

On the blog Design Matters, a post entitled Online vs Local Printers expresses how this issue can be easily settled. The author’s opinion is that although sometime more expensive, using a local printer is the better option because you can build a relationship with your local printer, meaning they will take the time to meet your needs and do the job right.

 

With all of the confusion and frustrations you may encounter at your local print shop, you must remember that they are helping you, so it’s in your best interest to build a positive relationship with the print shop in your area. If you are planning a career that will require you to design and create regular publications, here are some things to remember before sending something off to be printed.

 

·         Visit your local print shop to introduce yourself to the owner or manager.

·         Ask questions about the basic formatting of specific items.

·         Find out the cost of individual items or bulk.

·         Don’t assume a print shop will have the program you need. ASK!

·         Find out their specific preferences, such as labeling items on your jump drive.

·         Be prompt. Bring items to print shop as far in advance as possible.

 

 

Do anything to make your local print shop’s experience of working with you a pleasant one. Building a good relationship with your local print shop as you pursue a career in public relations could be an extremely important aspect of the ease in which you complete a publication task. If they hate to see you walk through the door, then they are not as likely to be overly helpful in a speedy print job. Your willingness to work with them and conform to their settings could result in their willingness to help you in an emergency.

PR Communications

I have recently started checking out new blogs (well, they’re new to me), and my latest find has sparked my interest. It’s a public relations blog entitled “PR Communications” with the subtitle, “John Cass, a marketer, writes about corporate blogging, PR, marketing, social media, and the Internet.” Sure, the title alludes to what John’s focus is, but his posts are incredibly helpful for anyone in PR who likes receiving tips about new software, social media, leadership roles, and news in the corporate world.

 

I am fairly new to blogging, so my skills could definitely use some improvement. I’m still learning some of the basics, like what sort of keywords should I not target, how to add quality in business blogging, and this blog answers these questions. He also incorporates other sites and blogs within his posts. John not only gives tips and good blogging techniques; he also makes comments on other business blogs and provides readers with a hyperlink to locate them. The format of his blog also makes it easy to navigate and see everything clearly.  

 

This blog clearly targets the many aspects of public relations communication, but I like how John applies the field of public relations to the various topics of his posts. I have really enjoyed gaining a new sense of awareness about blogs and their often valuable information. John Cass’s blog has certainly been helpful to me, and I hope to be just as informative about public relations in my own blog in the future.

Article Review: Admiring the Organization

This past summer, Denise Bortree and Richard Waters studied the relationship between volunteers and nonprofit organizations using the four relational quality outcomes originally proposed by Linda Hon and James E. Grunig a decade ago. The relational dimensions are trust, commitment, satisfaction, control mutuality. According to Hon and Grunig, trust is a critical factor in the volunteer’s decision to help an organization advance its mission. Commitment ultimately results in the volunteer’s relation to the organization’s mission. Satisfaction was proven to be a powerful variable used to predict an individual’s willingness to invest time and resources in the organization. Lastly, control mutuality seeks to evaluate which side has more power in the relationship.

 

After studying these four concepts and conducting their own research, Bortree and Waters tested a fifth dimension of the volunteer-organization relationship not found in the work of Hon and Grunig. The concept of admiration, meaning the degree to which one likes or approves of the behavior of the partner, would provide a way for organizations to assess how key publics view an organization. This addition to the four outcomes contributes to the quality of the relationship. “The presence of admiration in the volunteer-nonprofit organization relationship would likely improve the volunteer’s perception of the relationship. Volunteers seek out organizations that they admire and expect that their donation of time and their work be valued by the organization” (4).

 

As a public relations major, I am very interested in learning about the different aspects of the field. Public Relations involves the management of relationships between an organization and its significant publics (4) just as the nonprofit-volunteer relationship was studied in this journal. These relational quality outcomes could most definitely be applied to a PR professional’s practices. Although it should have come as no surprise, I was amazed how the relationship between nonprofit organizations and volunteers was so important.

 

There have been several instances that I volunteered, but my efforts varied among the different organizations. The American Heart Walk is a perfect example of how far a nonprofit organization has come over the years. I am always willing to solicit donations and serve within a community for The American Heart Walk Association because they make volunteering so easy, and they make your personal time and efforts feel much appreciated. However, other nonprofit organizations are less organized and no as appreciative of your service. This article helped me see why it is so important to gain strong relationships with your public and maintain them.

 

Now that I am more aware of nonprofit organizations and their role in being effective communicators with volunteers, I would like to learn how other organizations seek to maintain strong relationships. The concepts in this article are certainly useful guidelines for public relations, but I am interested to see how large corporations seek the admiration, commitment, and satisfaction of their key public. I will be following Kraft Foods Corporation as well as the Humane Society of Statesboro, GA in two upcoming projects, so I will be looking for the relationship attitudes of both organizations to see if their relationships to their public and volunteers are strong and effective.

 

Bortree, D., Waters, R. (2008). Admiring the organization: a study of the relational quality outcomes of the nonprofit organization-volunteer relationship. Public Relations Journal, 2, 1-17   

PR Publications

As communicators, PR practitioners must listen to their publics in order to gain or maintain their support. Effective communication is essential. According to the Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2008-2009 Edition, it states that although employment is projected to grow faster than average, keen competition is expected for entry-level jobs. In this post, I would like to discuss how the practices in my PR Publications class have aided in preparing me to enter the PR workforce by becoming an active communicator in social media and using resources such as In Design, just for starters.

 

Getting involved with social media on the web is Huge for PR these days. It is a fairly new concept to express your ideas, chat with friends and co-workers, and upload your resume, all online. Almost everyone knows about Myspace and Facebook, but a few weeks ago my professor introduced me to Twitter. Twitter is a service for friends, family, and co–workers to communicate and stay connected through the exchange of quick, frequent updates or answers to questions. Twitter might be pointless and a waste of time to some, and it could be. But I relate Twitter to my Facebook use in that it can be very multi-functional, not simply entertainment. In the few weeks that I have been on Twitter, I have made some very important connections with people than genuinely care about helping me begin my business career in public relations.

 

Although communicating on Twitter and other social media has made a big impact on

preparing for my future, using programs like In Design can also enhance your career possibilities. The programs in Microsoft Office are very valuable tools, whatever your profession may be. But In Design is an extremely creative program with a thousand and one options. In my PR Publications class, our most recent assignment was creating a business card and letterhead for ourselves. As with other newer programs, navigating through In Design was tedious at first, but after catching on, the program offers so many possibilities. It makes designing a flyer or business card so much easier and gives the designer more opportunities to be creative.

Directions to Real World: Just Around the Corner

I’ve been struck by a bolt of ‘real world’ lightning. It hit me the other day that I am just a few months away from graduating, just a few months away from beginning an internship, and only a few months away from starting my career in public relations. I’m very excited about experiencing all those nervous, anxious, and determined feelings that getting a job entails. But I’m even more excited about not only how my work in PR will be very fulfilling, but how beneficial it will be for the public. I strongly desire a career in public relations that will be respected and respectful of others.

Ready, Set, Tweet!

So, i’m learning about other social networks in my PR Corporate and Publications classes, and I recently joined Twitter. I, along with other students who are venturing into this networking site, initially thought that Twitter was just a constant update of ‘followers’. But I have discovered over the past week that Twitter can be much more valuable than just checking out your friends’ profiles, like on facebook. Sure, much of it simply lets your ‘followers’ know what’s new with you or how your day is going, but Twitter is already serving as a great networking tool for me. I’m still learning, even the basics, but this site gives you opportunities to make important contacts that could impact your career. I am already following a few big names in the business world, and I am hoping that networking on Twiiter will be an advantage for my future in public relations.