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South Shore PR is thrilled to announce our first-ever internship call-out! As a local northwest Indiana business, we are thrilled to offer a PR internship opportunity to a current or incoming college student. If you ask any PR professional about this. In that case, they will tell you that the internships they completed in college were some of the most impactful and practical knowledge they learned during their college careers. South Shore PR President Jackie Thomas credits her PR internships during her undergraduate degree as the most beneficial of her education. This will be a comprehensive internship where interns will gain hands-on experience, from strategic planning to execution and more! Here are just a few of the areas where you’ll gain experience:
So, if you’ve read this far, we are going to assume that you might be interested in this opportunity. Please note that this is a paid internship. This is what we are looking for in our intern:
Company Overview:
South Shore Public Relations is a boutique public relations and integrated marketing firm that plans, develops, and executes communications strategies for a diverse range of clients. We pride ourselves on delivering creative solutions and exceptional results that exceed client expectations while delivering the highest levels of customer service.
Position Overview:
South Shore Public Relations is seeking a motivated and enthusiastic public relations and integrated marketing Intern to join our team. This internship offers a hands-on opportunity to gain valuable experience in the fields of public relations and integrated marketing while working closely with seasoned professionals.
Responsibilities:
– Assist in the development and implementation of marketing and public relations campaigns.
– Conduct market research and analysis to identify trends and opportunities.
– Draft press releases, social media posts, blogging, and other written content.
– Support and maintain relationships with media contacts and influencers.
– Assist in the organization and execution of events and promotional activities.
– Monitor media coverage and support reports for clients.
– Provide general administrative support to the marketing and public relations team.
Educational Experience:
– Gain practical experience in integrated marketing and public relations strategies.
– Learn how to effectively communicate with media outlets.
– Develop skills in writing press releases, social media content, blogging, and other promotional materials.
– Gain insight into the planning and execution of marketing campaigns and events.
Qualities We’re Looking For:
– Honesty: Integrity is essential in our industry, and we value honesty in all our interactions.
– Self-Starter: We seek individuals who are proactive and take the initiative to contribute ideas and solutions.
– Motivated: A strong drive to succeed and a passion for marketing and public relations.
– Willingness to Learn: Openness to learning new skills and adapting to evolving industry trends.
– Comfortable Talking on the Phone: Effective communication is key, and the ability to communicate confidently over the phone is highly valued.
Requirements:
– Currently enrolled in a college or university program, pursuing a degree in marketing, public relations, communications, or a related field.
-Strong written and verbal communication skills, with keen attention to detail.
-Ability to multitask, prioritize workload, and meet deadlines in a fast-paced environment.
-Proficiency in Microsoft Office suite (Word, Excel, PowerPoint) –
-Passion for storytelling, media relations, and staying up to date on industry trends.
– Proficiency in social media platforms.
– Ability to work independently and collaborate within a team environment.
– Availability to work 15-20 hours per week.
-Must be willing to work in the South Shore PR office located in Michigan City, Indiana.
Application Process:
Interested candidates should submit a resume, cover letter, and writing samples demonstrating their communication skills. Applications without writing samples will not be considered. Please email South Shore President Jackie Thomas: Jackie@southshorepr.com
Hours Per Week:
15-20 hours per week, flexible schedule. Occasionally, evenings or weekends may be offered to support client events.
Here is Your First Lesson:
Even if you don’t meet ALL of the requirements, but you meet most of them, apply anyway! Read this article from the Harvard Business Review about applying when you don’t meet all of the requirements here.
Please reach out as soon as possible, as spots are limited!
South Shore PR is Hiring! Read More »
While social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram have become essential tools for brand promotion and customer engagement, one platform often overlooked is LinkedIn. Neglecting this powerful platform meant for the business community to network online can be a costly mistake for organizations looking to leverage professional networking, establish thought leadership, and connect with potential clients, partners, and donors.
LinkedIn is the world’s largest professional network, boasting over 900 million members across more than 200 countries and territories. This diverse community offers businesses and nonprofits an unparalleled opportunity to connect with potential customers, partners, investors, donors and like-minded professionals. By building a robust presence on LinkedIn, organizations can showcase their expertise, share valuable content, and engage with their target audience in a professional setting.
Establishing Authority and Thought Leadership
One of the key advantages of having a strong LinkedIn presence is the ability to establish authority and thought leadership in your respective industry or cause. By consistently sharing insightful content, participating in relevant discussions, and showcasing your organization’s achievements and expertise, you can position yourself as a trusted voice in your field. This, in turn, can attract more followers, generate leads, and ultimately drive business growth or support for your nonprofit initiatives.
Accessing a Vast Talent Pool
LinkedIn is an invaluable resource for talent acquisition and recruitment. With its powerful search filters and access to millions of professional profiles, businesses can easily identify and connect with potential candidates who possess the skills and experience required for open positions. Nonprofits, on the other hand, can leverage LinkedIn to find passionate volunteers, board members, and subject matter experts who align with their mission and values.
Building Meaningful Connections
Beyond networking and talent acquisition, LinkedIn provides a platform for businesses and nonprofits to build meaningful connections with their target audience. By engaging with followers, responding to comments, and participating in relevant groups and discussions, organizations can foster a sense of community and establish deeper relationships with their stakeholders. This level of engagement can lead to increased brand loyalty, improved customer retention, and potentially even collaborations or partnerships.
Targeted Marketing and Lead Generation
LinkedIn’s powerful advertising platform allows businesses and nonprofits to reach highly targeted audiences based on factors such as job titles, industries, locations, and interests. By leveraging sponsored content and targeted ads, organizations can effectively promote their products, services, or campaigns to the right people, increasing the likelihood of generating quality leads and driving conversions.
Professional Content Curation
LinkedIn’s content publishing capabilities make it an excellent platform for businesses and nonprofits to share thought leadership articles, whitepapers, case studies, and other valuable content. By consistently delivering high-quality, industry-specific content, organizations can position themselves as subject matter experts, attract potential clients or supporters, and foster engagement with their target audience.
Accessing Valuable Insights
LinkedIn’s analytics tools provide organizations with valuable insights into their audience’s demographics, interests, and engagement levels. By analyzing this data, businesses and nonprofits can refine their content strategy, tailor their messaging, and make informed decisions about their marketing and outreach efforts.
How to Build a Strong LinkedIn Presence: The Basics
To fully unlock the power of LinkedIn, businesses, and nonprofits should adopt a strategic approach to their presence on the platform. This includes:
These basic steps can help you reach a relevant and engaged audience to help with the promotion and growth of your business or non-profit. All of this is something that South Shore PR can help you with; we know the ins and outs of LinkedIn marketing and know how to get the best results for your specific situation. Get in touch today!
Email newsletters are an essential tool for any business or organization looking to establish a strong online presence and build lasting relationships with its audience. They are your most important marketing channel because you control whether or not you reach your customers (and they can choose to ignore you or not). Previously, we’ve talked about why you should be sending emails to your customers (Read here) and how to send an email (Read Here). Today, we’re going to help you pick an email service provider.
Sending regular emails to your customers requires quality software and services to back it up to make sure your emails don’t end up in SPAM folders or blacklisted. Choosing the right email provider will ensure the most important metric for email marketing – deliverability. If your customers are not receiving your emails, you’re not reaching them. All of the services we recommend in this post will have good deliverability. We do not have any partnerships or incentive agreements with any of the providers below.
One thing you should never, ever try is to send mass emails from your inbox or roll your own newsletters to thousands of people. That’ll be your first stop in SPAM Town, and it’ll be very hard to recover.
With so many email newsletter providers available in the market, it can be overwhelming to choose the one that best suits your needs and budget. In this blog post, we’ll explore some of the most popular email-sending services available and help you make an informed decision on which provider to choose for your email marketing needs.
1. Mailchimp
Mailchimp is probably the most popular and well-known email service provider. They offer a comprehensive suite of features, including customizable email templates, subscriber management tools, and automation capabilities. It is user-friendly and easy to navigate, making it a popular choice for businesses of all sizes. One of the best things about Mailchimp is that it offers a free plan that allows users to send emails to up to 2,000 subscribers, making it a great option for those just starting out or on a tight budget. With its array of features and affordable pricing, Mailchimp is definitely worth considering for your email marketing needs. However, once you get more than 2,000 subscribers, you will have to start paying,
2. Constant Contact
Constant Contact is another well-known email service provider that offers a variety of features to help businesses manage their email marketing campaigns. Some of the key features include email templates, list management tools, and social media integration. One of the great things about Constant Contact is that it offers a free trial, which allows businesses to test out the platform before committing to a subscription. Additionally, Constant Contact offers a 60-day money-back guarantee, which gives businesses peace of mind knowing that they can cancel their subscription if they’re not satisfied with the service. Overall, Constant Contact is a great option for businesses looking to streamline their email marketing efforts.
3. Aweber
Aweber is known for being reliable and user-friendly. It offers a variety of features, including email templates, subscriber management, and automation. These features make it easy for small businesses to create and send professional-looking emails to their subscribers. One of the best things about Aweber is that it offers a 30-day free trial, which gives businesses the opportunity to try out the service before committing to a subscription. This is a great way to get a feel for the platform and see if it meets your needs.
4. Sendinblue
Sendinblue is an all-in-one marketing platform that can help businesses of all sizes with their marketing needs. It offers a wide range of features, including email marketing, SMS marketing, and chat tools, all of which can be used to create effective and engaging marketing campaigns. One of the best things about Sendinblue is that it offers a free plan that allows users to send up to 300 emails per day, which is perfect for small businesses or those just starting out. For larger businesses, there are also paid plans available that offer more advanced features and higher email-sending limits. Regardless of the plan you choose, Sendinblue is a great option for businesses that need a multi-channel marketing approach and want to engage with their customers across multiple platforms.
5. Mailerlite
Mailerlite is another email service provider that offers a user-friendly interface, email templates, and automation features. It is a great option for small businesses and bloggers due to its affordability and ease of use. It offers a free plan for up to 1,000 subscribers and allows you to send up to 12,000 emails per month. Mailerlite also offers a range of features, such as segmentation, landing pages, and pop-up forms, that can help you grow your email list and engage with your subscribers.
South Shore PR recommends either Mailchimp or Mailerlite. We work most commonly with both of these preferred platforms for our clients. However, we have experience with many different platforms, including niche nonprofit platforms such as Network For Good. We are well-versed in email platforms here at South Shore PR. Whichever email platform you choose, make sure it works for your organization, is easy to use, and, most importantly, you understand how to get great results.
Email Marketing 101: Choosing an Email Provider Read More »
TL:DR: A media kit essentially tells advertisers and potential partners how they can work with you and what you can offer them. It does not usually include pricing (that’s a separate rate card, a topic for a future post).
A media kit is essentially a collection of promotional materials that provide information about an individual or business to potential collaborators, sponsors, and advertisers. It is an effective way to showcase your work to the world and can help to attract new clients, advertisers, customers, and sponsors.
Typically, a media kit includes a variety of information, such as a biography of key stakeholders, a list of services or products offered, statistics about key individuals or business’s online presence, testimonials from satisfied customers, and contact information. It may also include examples of previous work, such as articles, blog posts, or videos, as well as information about collaborations and partnerships.
There are several reasons why having a media kit is necessary. It can be essential in establishing your credibility as an organization. Potential clients or sponsors want to know that they can trust you and that you have a proven track record of success. A well-designed media kit will help to establish this credibility by showcasing past successes, highlighting relevant experience and expertise, and providing social proof through testimonials and endorsements.
By showcasing your work and experience, a media kit can help to appeal to potential clients who are looking for someone with your specific skills set or expertise. It helps to communicate the unique value proposition of an individual or business and what sets you apart from competitors in their industry.
If you don’t have a media kit, you are missing out on a chance to share your story and celebrate your wins as an organization. Businesses are interested in partnering with individuals or other non-profits that have a robust online presence and a large following. By providing detailed information about one’s online reach and engagement, as well as examples of previous collaborations, a media kit can help attract potential sponsors and collaborators.
Finally, a well-designed media kit helps to save time and streamline the process of presenting to potential clients, sponsors, and collaborators (and crafting your pitch is something South Shore PR can help you with!). Instead of having to gather information every time you pitch someone, a media kit can provide all the necessary information in one place, making it easier and more efficient to reach out to potential collaborators and secure new business. When working with a new client, you can send them the media kit before your call so they can get some background.
Your media kit should be on your website and be easy to find. It will primarily be looked at on a computer or tablet, so it should be accessible on your website. Some marketers might put it behind a sign-up wall to grow an email list, but you can just provide the downloaded version as well. Your media kit should have its own page on your website. You should also have a quality printed version available to send to organizations that may want to work with you.
Media kits may seem outdated in this fully digital age, but at the end of the day, you still need to sell yourself, and an excellent media kit is the perfect way to put your best foot forward. A well-designed and informative media kit will guide people, enterprises, and non-profits on how to best work with you (and it’s also a great way to show what you don’t do).
A Publication – Whether in print or digital, a publication needs to show how it can work with advertisers and partners.
A Public Figure—If you’re doing the speaking circuit or you’re a known public figure, a media kit will help media organizations understand how to work with you.
Start-up Business—A media kit is an opportunity to tell your story to outside investors and stakeholders; it helps sell you as a business.
Mature Business – If you’ve been around for a few years, a media kit is a great way to show who you are as a company, who the key figures are, and how people might want to partner with you.
Non-Profits—Having a media kit is essential for non-profit organizations, as it helps communicate your mission, leadership, and how outside organizations can collaborate with you.
South Shore PR Client Example:
Other Examples:
What is a media kit, and why do you need one? Read More »
