Mastery Journal By Ashley Rae @ashleyraemasteryjournal-blog - Tumblr Blog

The end of a journey.

My final class of my yearlong journey of mastery in Public Relations has come and gone. I can’t believe I will be graduating with a Master of Arts Degree on June 3rd, it honestly feels like just yesterday that I was starting my journey.

The final project and thesis course seemed to be my biggest challenge yet. I ultimately learned how much I have grown as a person and professional in the field of public relations. The first week offered the biggest challenge out of any; we were required to submit our first draft of our thesis paper. Looking back at all that I have accomplished with my capstone client absolutely amazed me but at the same time left me extremely sad. Unfortunately, I was not able to see my capstone client reach the success that we set out to achieve due to personal family issues. I at first felt like I was defeated because something that I worked so hard for abruptly ended without warning. While writing my thesis however I was able to reflect on the success of my studies and what I was able to achieve. Learning about branding, search engine optimization, the different public relation theories, and how they are applied to real life situations and so many other areas I realized the great amount of information I was able to obtain.

Although I was not able to see my first client reach the success we dreamed of, I have full faith in myself still. I believe any future client I am able to work with I will take all the skills and information I have learned over the past year and have great amounts of success in the future whether it be through pursuing a career within a firm or working freelance with my own individual clients.

Online Media Room

I have come to the end of my eleventh class. This has proven to be one of thee hardest courses I have taken throughout my mastery journey and can understand why it is saved till the end. I have reached that stage where I am in absolute panic about being done with school because I have one month left but also I am extremely happy to start a new journey and then however I sit and think what will I be doing with all this time I used to use for school work. I had a similar feeling after receiving my Bachelor’s degree because it took me quite sometime to receive it online. One think I do know is it will be an interesting new journey that is for certain.

This class taught me quite a bit. One of thee most important things I learned was content and content strategy. I also thoroughly enjoyed that it brought all of what we have been learning from the months past together so it made even more sense as a public relations representative why such factors mattered and what particular situations they mattered for and not just for ourselves but for our clients as well.

Unfortunately this class was one of thee more stressful classes I have faced since I have been in school. Not only did my hard drive die on me the information was unrecoverable from the beginning of school so I was having to redo much of my work that I had done in the past. I already have time constraints in my life and then add the extra work on top of it; it was a bit of a tailspin. I did however like to go over some things and relook over some areas of my clients’ approaches in areas of interest. In the end it seems to be working out just perfectly.

I found adding information on to not just my website but my clients website has been a tiny bit of a challenge. I want it to look one way then you save it and it turns out and entirely different way. I was taught how to build websites as a graphic designer so it’s a bit of a kick in the butt doing it with word press or challenge I should say. I stubbing my toe as I go along the way but I appreciate the feedback I get from my classmates and professor it has been greatly appreciate.

I hope that the next class will give me the wisdom I need to say yes I have done it; I am a mastery of public relations.

Good Luck! Soon…. Happy Graduation!

Reputation Management

When entering each new course on my journey to mastery I always like to look at them with a set of fresh eyes. Wipe the slate clean and shake off all the stress from the last class I just left and start anew. Unfortunately when approaching this particular class I wasn’t able to start quite like that. I actually did the exact opposite I panicked. You see because this is my one of three classes and I’m done yes I said it done. I have reached completion of mastery level in my field of choice of public relations. I can’t actually believe I am even typing those words to be honest.

The class I took on this month was Reputation Management Strategies. This course was set up a little bit uniquely compared to the other courses I have taken. At first quite an adjustment but it worked quite well for the coursework we took on each week. All of our assignments we went through I feel deemed very valuable in some way shape or form to helping us in our future I don’t think I could actually choose a favorite because of that factor. I do like that we retouched on some aspects that were mentioned in previous courses it was a nice refresher to have.

Of all the knowledge and topics covered over the course of this entire course I feel that crisis management will be the most beneficial/helpful in the field of public relations. I also feel how the professor taught by example of real life events to teach each topic will allow us to apply each and every topic thoroughly and properly in the field. I look forward to learning what I can in my final two month of mastery and doing the best I can in the public relations field.

Events Marketing and Production

This is our 9th month of school that means only three more left and we are done. Yippee! I think I am actually more terrified than excited at this point because I won’t have a teacher or friendly classmates looking over my shoulder and reviewing my work that I do and giving me great advice on what I should or could fix on my projects. I so far I have had a wonderful experience with school. Granted when I started this class I thought I was a bit in over my head and might need a break because I had personal family stuff going on that it was just all too overwhelming for me however I pushed right on through like I always do at look at me final week and I am heading into the last three classes.

This class was fun and interesting we got to learn a couple different variations of things. I personally think week one was the most important part of the entire class we learned the 5 event W’s that are…

· Where will it be held?

· When will the event be held?

· Why?

· Who will be the stakeholders?

· What is the event to be developed and presented for?

We also learned about the key elements of each of the seven P’s of event marketing…

· Events are considered the PRODUCT

· Promotion

· Price

· Public Relations

· Place

· Positioning

· Promotions

Along with those two important areas we learn the 5 ways to engage potential …

· Get personal

· Get social

· Build a community

· Make it mobile

· Maximize productivity

Other areas we were able to touch on was analyzing a webinar, creating our own webinar on a topic of our choosing, creating an event of our choosing to support our capstone client, creating a flyer to promote the event of our choosing, interview someone in the business who can give us insight into the public relations field. The interview had to be probably my most favorite part of the entire class because I was able to talk to my close friend Joshua Scarver who is a business consultant, rapper, and has his own manta or lifestyle that has exploded across social media which is DWYD- Do What You Desire. Do What You Desire is just what it means living a life of what you love doing not living to just live. I went back to school so I could live a DWYD lifestyle. And I would like to wish that on everyone who were reading this. Until next time positive vibes being sent towards you.

Market and Consumer Research Analysis

Our seventh-month in school was focused on market and consumer research analysis. This month seemingly was the most beneficial and fruitful towards helping us with zeroing in on the most important information needed to help us with our capstone project for the business we have choose to help and represent. There are several reasons why market and consumer analysis class was the most beneficial and fruitful.

First we are learning to optimize brand strategy and positioning for the company. In doing this we conducted quantitative and qualitative market research, which helps us identify where, the brand stands compared to its competition. Secondly we identify or better understand the target market for the business. By understanding the correct target market you can then focus your efforts on that specific market for campaigns therefore gaining faster results, improved efficiency, and greater performance.

The third aspect to focus on is messaging and communication. Businesses often have a problem with talking directly at the consumer instead of with the consumer so they can better understand what the consumer actually is looking for.

The fourth aspect I have found important is innovation. Each brand has to adapt to the innovation of the consumer, which means you need to adapt to their desires, needs, and interests.

The fifth and most important aspect is to access your company and the competition around you. The business not only needs to know the competition around it but it needs to understand how to access itself in order to stand above the competition around them.

By combining all of the five steps I have broken down and learned this month I have a better understanding of what is needed to move forward with the company I have choose to work with. I at first thought taking on the challenge of a do it yourself Jewelry Company was possibly thee scariest business to take on but after taking this class my mind has been put at much greater ease. After doing the consumer research survey and discovering much of what I thought to be true is in fact true and people are more drawn to do it yourself jewelry because it is more personalized and meaningful it put my mind at ease and I cannot wait to see the business grow as the continuing months of school continue.

Social Media Metrics and ROI

This class has been one of thee most important classes to date. We find out how to collect data from Google analytics and how to choose the correct keywords to draw people to your site. One of the most important areas we discovered and studied extensively is what KPI (key performance indicator) and ROI (return on investment.)

First I’d like to mention the seven steps to finding the right keyword

1. Brainstorm: who is your target market? Geographic region/ demographics, listen to customers, sales people, friends relatives, online forums, blogs, competitors

2. Categorize: create sets of keywords based on product or service

3. Research: use keyword research tools, start with a seed phrase from a category

4. Compile: export spreadsheets and re-categorize if necessary

5. Winnow: or also known as remove, pick the non relevant and extremely low search count phrases

6. Determine competitiveness: high, fairly, non competitive

7. Choose: number of searches, relevancy to your website, competitiveness level

The next subject we come to his SEO or better known as Search Engine Optimization. SEO is designed and distributed so that it is easy to categorize by means of using a search.

Key performance indicators are measured by fan growth, response rate, and engagement rate.

Specific

Measurable

Actionable

Relevant

Time Bound

Why Analytics Important?

ROIs (return on investment) are the benefit to investor resulting from an investment of some resource. A high ROI means the investment gains compare favorable to investment cost.

Online marketing is becoming the way of the future for business to promote them self. For businesses to understand whether or not their advertising campaign is a success they need to track their ROIs. From the information provided the business is able to see where they should adjust in advertising so they are drawing in more customers.

All in all if you want to make your presence known on the web you have several steps to go through first and several steps you need to follow after if you want your business to be successful in an online presence.

Social Media and The Power of Business

We first saw social media launch in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg in his Harvard dorm room with Facebook. You can literally say that social media went from a fad to a phenomenon and it triggered the birth of a new reality on the Internet. Now social media literally is at the tips of your fingertips no matter where you are and no matter what time of day from desktop, laptop, tablets, and smart phones you are always connected to the world that we call social media. No one originally believed that a single application could make such a change then the Internet began to grow even more. Now we have Twitter, Instagram, Google +, Pinterest, Snapchat, LinkedIn, and so many more applications that give us even more reasons to stay connected with each other. The best part of all of this businesses were able to start reaching more and more people as the social media age exploded, and it doesn’t plan on slowing down anytime soon. You are able to reach you target audience at the click of a button and it explodes across the world. It literally is the best way to do business. Digital marketing is the way to go because the percentage that that someone can reach a customer on Facebook is exponentially higher chance than putting an ad on a billboard or in a newspaper. Visual data will enhance social media exponentially because the brain processes images and videos at a rate of 60,000 times faster. The percentages of Internet advertising will ultimately make up nearly 25% if not more of the entire ad market by this year. In the end marketers will use content that is very dynamic to deliver highly personalized experiences to the right audience at the right time. Social media is the answer!

F.L.Y

First Love Yourself

Last year I had something very traumatic happen to me. Basically I lost myself who I was, what I loved, all sense of being of what I was before this event. I couldn't live my life like this after all I have a beautiful little girl I have to take care of who is six years old. In January of this year I started EMDR which started intensive PTSD treatment for War Vets coming back from war. It was becoming somewhat of a success but yet my attackers are still out their till this day so I live with horrible flashbacks and nightmares. One day while in counseling my counselor said to me you need to learn how to FLY again, I of course looked at her utterly stunned then asked what she meant by this she said you need to learn how to first love yourself again. Trust me this isn't the first traumatic experience in my life and I can understand why it hit me the hardest but I took it to heart and this is why I am now dedicating my life to this organization. The premise of the FLY organization is focusing on the dedication of building ones self esteem. It’s main focus is to provide individuals with daily, weekly, monthly reminders that it is important to first love yourself and focus on oneself instead of fitting into today's social norm, to find what makes you happy, what brings you joy in life, and helps you make your dreams a reality. And also to focus and aid in the prevention of self harm and depression.

Legal Aspects Of Media Review

When first starting this class “legal aspects of media” which is my fourth class on my journey to mastery I was actually really excited. Legal studies is another area that I have always been thoroughly interested in especially when we are presented with fake cases or real cases that we thought should have been a different verdict. The first case we were presented with included an old case involving intrusion analysis; this particular case took us back to the OJ Simpson trial and was by far my most favorite case we got to approach. I still remember from when I was in high school. It was extremely exciting to learn how intrusion relates to public relations and what you have to do to submit a FOIA request, which is part of the Freedom Of Information Act. Going into week two of the class was a tad bit more challenging for me and was on the subject of defamation. Having heard the word but never truly understanding what it meant brought forth a bit of a challenge for me. Although learning how it will directly relate to my job in the public relations field was also very beneficial. The copyright week of studies was one I took on with actually great happiness. I already have a Bachelor’s Degree in Graphic design so I was well aware of the copyright infringement laws put in place and this week was a great refresher course for me to jump into. I forgot some aspects of it and gained a little bit of new knowledge. Regulating Commercial Speech the final week of this course was certainly interesting. It taught us a lot about the importance of advertising and when it is right and wrong to advertise in certain locations. The particular case that was presented to us in our final project was a bit of a tricky one but I ultimately feel that I answered wisely how the case should be played out. All in all legal aspects of media let me grow, learn, and refresh in every aspect needed to continue on my journey and I really appreciated all the positive feedback and inspiration from the other classmates and from the teacher.

One of the biggest reasons I came back to college was to in a sense find myself again and help people like me. In previous posts I have mentioned wanting to start my own non-profit organization based off the acronym F.L.Y. (First Love Yourself)

I feel this song put out by recording artist Hailee Steinfeld is a great way to prove to all of us woman out there young and old that it is important to love yourself.

The lyrics itself that she sings are so empowering and we all need to know the most important part of living is to love yourself and not worry what other people think of us. We are unique, we are beautiful, we are an individual, and we are our own self!

“(I love me) Gonna love myself, no, I don't need anybody else (Hey) Gonna love myself, no, I don't need anybody else (I love me) Can't help myself, no, I don't need anybody else Anytime, day or night (I love me) Gonna love myself, no, I don't need anybody else (Hey) Gonna love myself, no, I don't need anybody else (I love me) Can't help myself, no, I don't need anybody else Anytime that I like (I love me)”

Learning to write for interactive media

Writing for interactive media is my third class to becoming a master in my field of study of public relations. My journey so far has been amazing and it feels as if it is zooming by so quickly. I can’t believe that I will already be starting my fourth class this next Monday. For this course it took me a bit by surprise but in a good way because it mixed everything up each week and didn’t focus on one particular area of writing. I feel in doing so it greatly enhances us as writers and helps us understand what types of situations and scenarios we will encounter as we enter the public relations field after graduation. The different types of articles and writing styles were presented to us each week which, first started with week one where we focused on writing a how to article, we then moved onto a press release for week two, I especially liked week three writing for a live event, and our final week we focused on writing a profile piece on a newsworthy individual. I think by writing and learning about each type of writing style it makes us stronger writers no matter what field of study we are going into. The course was everything I expected it to be and more. The only thing I wish would have been different for me in this course is getting more feedback from my fellow classmates. I felt like I wasn’t getting enough constructive criticism and had to learn more on my own what areas I had to focus on more over others with my writing. As I expected some areas that we focused on were easier for me than others but it was nice to be challenged and pushed outside of my comfort zone. We all need that extra push I believe in life because it makes us a better person not just better in our field but in the end I learned how to be a better writer because I learned my strengths and weaknesses each week. I am looking forward to the new challenges that the next classes are going to bring.

Building your brand

To build a brand is one of thee most important aspects of any business. First step is to know what kind of brand you want to build and what you want to stand for. You then what to consider several factors after you have made this decision. These factors would be trust, authenticity, transparency, being heard, and being responsive, and along with having valid affirmation. If you take a look at each one of these factors you will be able to build a strong basis for your brand.

All factors tie into each other one by one as you go down the list. The first factors being trust and authenticity are two of thee most important factors of any brand. You build trust with your audience by providing straightforward information, which is concise, and factual. You are authentic by clearly stating your values of your brand and not deviating from those values. Any deviation from your core values of your brand will make the audience become suspicious and ultimately you will lose their trust in your brand. The next factor to be transparent is all about full disclosure with your intended audience. With the abilities of the Internet being at our fingertips anywhere we go this is another very important factor because you must always disclose relevant information across all social media platforms in a consistent and clear credible manner. The factor of listening and responsiveness as well both tie into each other. We must first listen to the audience, which simply comes down the audience providing you with feedback about your brand. After receiving the information provided by the consumer you then move onto the responsiveness factor. You have heard what your audience has to say now how will you respond to their concerns or suggestions. The shorter amount of time it takes you to respond will provide your brand with more credibility. The final factor of affirmation, which ultimately ties every factor, mentioned above into one. You want to make sure to check several platforms in order to confirm that your brand is being shown in a credible, trustworthy and without criticism manner on any forum that you encounter or research.

#brand identity #brand foundation

Mastery Journal Timeline

Download this song: http://smarturl.it/CollbieGypsyHeartDA or stream it: http://open.spotify.com/album/5nB5tR7ntrEpHbpCS7iHN9 Taken from the new album GYPSY ...

INSPIRATION

Music has always been my escape from life. I wear a bracelet everyday that says Music Is Life. This song brought whole new meaning into my life when it first came out. It talks about conforming to society and how you don’t have to try... you simply are beautiful the way you are. No makeup, No special clothes, No standards you have to meet. Just be you. First Love Yourself! This song is what inspired me to want to start a non-profit organization with the name of FLY- First Love Yourself. Loving yourself is what matters not what everyone else thinks of you. Be an individual. Be unique. BeYouTiful!

Rachel Platten - Fight Song Fight Song EP is now available on iTunes! Download it here: http://smarturl.it/FightSongEP Follow Rachel Platten: Twitter: https:...

INSPIRATION

I have been through so much in my life and so many people have told me that I am the strongest person that they have ever met because of the things I have been through. A tragic event took place last year that basically tore me down to nothing. I have been wondering on a path that I didn’t know where it was leading to. I didn’t believe in myself anymore, let alone believe what anyone was saying to me, that I was this strong woman and I could survive anything. Then this song came on the radio one day. It has been on replay almost every day. A constant reminder and it is truly my fight song. I am learning to love myself again and learning to be strong again even if I don’t truly believe I am where I used to be just quite yet I know I will get there someday.

I have chosen to use my business logo to represent me. I started my graphic design business back in May of 2006. I had been in college for graphic design for only six months but absolutely loved what I was doing and wanted to make something grow from it. I now specialize in the following graphic design areas with my business which include designing of business cards, brand identity, editorial illustration, custom tattoos, postcards, direct mailers, promotional advertising, murals, custom paintings, fliers, pamphlets, brochures, creation and redesign of logos, customized invitations, cards (birthday, wedding, etc. ) and my favorite area by far is photography restoration, manipulation, and enhancements.

You can find my website at www.solitary-design.com or my Facebook page at www.facebook.com/SolitaryDesignLLC

My Feedly Account. I have focused on topics such as gay rights, marriage equality, mental health issues, and self esteem because it most closely relates to my non-profit organization that I want to establish.

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Mastery Journal By Ashley Rae