Public Relations and Reputation Management Online Course
This month’s entry will be a reflection on the Public Relations and Reputation Management online course at Full Sail University. Initially, when I first heard the name of the course, I figured it would be on the importance of reputation and protecting your brand. I expected to learn about who and what not to associate yourself with in order to maintain a positive reputation.
This course met all of those expectations. Within the first two weeks, we renovated our ‘About Me’ page, learned the similarities and differences between journalism and PR, and the importance of ethics. I especially liked the assignment to renovate our ‘About Me’ page from text to video. This assignment stood out to me because for years, the about me page on my website was all text, with the exception of one headshot. I appreciate the video format (along with some text) because this allows your visitors to put a visual to your face and those professional experiences you’re describing in the text.
Additionally, I thought the 4-3-2-1 discussion board was a nice, interactive assignment as well. The “4” represented four online influencers covering topics similar to ours. Once we identified those influencers, the “3” in the assignment was for students to pick three out of the four influencers, and comment on any recent post. Next, the “2” represented the two tweets we had to post, sharing the content we had just commented on. Lastly, “1” represented one influencer to send a personal, yet professional message to.
Overall, I can honestly say I benefited from all content and lessons given to us this month. I’ve always enjoyed learning about public relations because some of the rules and ethics go hand in hand with journalism. Going forward as a professional, I now know how to promote myself, promote a brand and promote a story.