GRADUATION 2013

Wow!!! This day came and went by so quickly. 18 April 2013-Another day to remember. After all the ups and downs my friends and I went through, you would swear we were studying for our Masters in Drama-lol. The good thing is that we can say we actually learnt some stuff.

Graduation was awesome. I had so much fun and felt so proud. The guest speaker Eran Eyal was very inspiring. The ceremony was a bit long but none the less, very motivating and beautiful, plus it was live-streamed, which I can admit made me feel on top of cloud nine.

The 3 years did not feel like it went quick though, as many may feel. I am glad I finally have a qualification behind my name. It might only be a National Diploma (ND) in Public Relations (PR) from Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT), but next year the same time, I will be going through the same process, but graduating with my Btech-which means I get to wear the ‘hat’. That is the achievement I am looking forward to -the one that really counts, especially since we were advise that the ND is falling away in the next year or two. To be honest this didn’t make much of a difference to me because I always envisioned myself gaining a degree.

Currently I am actually contemplating applying for the Maters Programme for next year. I would like to do 50% course work and 50% thesis. I feel that since learning never stops and why not get that out the way since I have been studying full time for the past 3 years. I get to work full-time again, which I am looking forward to. Oh my word-earning a salary again would be great. I can’t wait.

I have waited and worked so long for this qualification but one thing I have learnt and believe is that qualifications don’t define you. The higher the qualification does not mean you are better than anyone-else. It does not determine your attitude and personality but it can influence. At CPUT they always advised us as Public Relations Practitioners (PRP) going out into the real world shortly that we must remember to remain humble. They say as a PRP, when working with big brand names, that for some people the success and titles and positions can go to their head.

Regardless in 6 months’ time, I would have completed by degree in PR which is step 2. (Step 1 was my ND in PR).  

In conclusion-to the real world of PR I say ‘TEAM BRING IT!”’          

LISTEN UP - A POEM WE ALL SHOULD NEVER FORGET

This poem I found online and felt it was too beautiful not to mention. Please read it, remember it, listen and accept because it is true.

“You are unique”

I want to tell you today. You are unique and very special. Never compare yourself to another person. Never desire what he/she has. You have your own unique place. For no two individuals has travelled the exact same path, the same journey at the exact same time. No two individuals have the exact same talents, the exact same gifts, the exact same thoughts and mind. No two people have the exact same interpretation of their life and journey through it.

God did not create copies. He made you unique. The place where you brother/sister is, may not be where you are supposed to be. Pray and let God direct you to where he wants you to be. You want to grow spiritually, you want to move forward in life, you want to reach your destiny and yet you are obsessing with what others have achieved, missing out on where God wants to guide you to. Think about this today folks. I am telling you that God has an absolutely beautiful stunning place for you. That place of love, peace and prosperity, it is for you to reach out and touch His hand today. Let Him lead you to your destiny.

Let go and let God lead you. Let go of hatred and envy. Let go of jealousy and greed. Let go of sins of the past that God has forgiven you for a long time ago. Let go of guilt over things that happened long time ago, let go of fear and shame. Let go and let God lead you today. God does not treat us like our sins deserve. God is always full of love, grace and mercy.

ARE COMPANIES WASTING THEIR TIME WITH SOCIAL MEDIA

 Simple question, therefore it should be a yes or no answer right? However in this case-my answer, from what I have researched and experienced is ‘it depends’.  It depends on the company itself, their products and clientele and if it is suitable for social media as many people and companies are jumping on the social media bandwagon but it does not necessarily means it is for everyone and that you will get your desired results.

According http://www.cnbc.com

“36 percent said their goal was to acquire and engage new customers, 19 percent said to gain leads and referrals, and 17 percent said to boost awareness. Facebook was most cited as the hardest to maintain social-media platform, according to the survey”.

The above statement clearly proves my point that it is not for everyone and that there are advantages and disadvantages to social media. I can admit it is a great tool for communication among other things, but there is con’s as well when it comes to social media.

Business Advantages include:

• Help build your brand as you can post events for people to attend
• Using the network as a platform to get assist with job hunting
• Sites are free, user friendly, and easy to start up/create an account/profile
• Convenience as it is at the touch of a few buttons for instant access-(Smartphones, Wi-Fi), especially with latest technology
• Connect with people, potential and current clientele and engage with them for feedback, as well as advertise new products. This helps build your image, brand and reputation.
• Quick Turnaround: If you plan and strategize correctly, it can have positive results and almost instantly-become viral.
• Search Engine Ranking: When you do it the right way it brings large amount of backlinks that also impacts your search engine ranking.

Business Disadvantages include:

• By using the incorrect platform and not strategizing, you can ruin your brand and reputation
• Inappropriate broadcasting can result in the company not reaching their desired target market
• Time consuming especially for advertisers and marketers.
• Impact on worker productivity negatively. Employees may waste valuable time sitting on these sites and gossip and when bad things happen at work, they vent it out on Facebook for example.
• Can’t be measured as people are aid to like profiles and pages and people create fake accounts.

According to http://www.cnbc.com

“About 61 percent of small businesses don't see any return on investment on their social-media activities, according to a survey released Tuesday from Manta, a social network for small businesses. Yet, almost 50 percent say they've increased their time spent on social media, and only 7 percent have decreased their time”.

But not everyone has to have it. It would be to your advantage to hop on this social media bandwagon as a company, but it depends if you are going to manage it correctly etc. Not all companies have a social media account and if they do some don’t bother engaging with clients and updating their profile which adds to their reputation as these accounts can make or break a company’s reputation.

For many there has not been proven ROI but for some it has helped in other ways. Some people think it is all about the freebies to give away to attract clients. Some companies think by having many likes it is a good sign, but people do that for different reasons- a lot for freebies if they can stand a chance to win then they don’t even pay attention to the actual company etc unless they are given freebies or something. Just by liking a page it does not mean you support them or buy from them, therefore social media is not as handy as it may seem, especially it cannot be measured.

I personally see it more for what it originally was created for and the meaning in the name-social, meaning engage and connect with family and friends all over the world.

Therefore the choice is yours.

HOOTSUITE VS TWEETDECK

Social Media has taken the world by storm. There are so many social networks out there for individuals to join, for personal use and or for business. Companies and or individuals need to manage these networks, should they have profiles/accounts and this is where the two of the most popular options are available-Hootsuite or Tweetdeck.

According to http://www.tweetdeck.com “TweetDeck is an app that brings more flexibility and insight to power users”.

According to http://www.hootsuite.com “Hootsuite is an app that is the leading social media dashboard to manage and measure your social networks.”

These apps are social management tools…

Both these options have the following similarities:

• Apps that help you better organize and manage your social networks on a dashboard, where the different profiles are separated by tabs or columns
• Monitor trends, mentions and hashtags
• Both services also offer mobile apps for iOS and Android devices
• Social Profile Integration
• Schedule your post
• Link Shorteners

Differences

Tweetdeck:

• Free service
• Has desktop applications for both OS X and Windows
• Only includes social networks Facebook and Twitter
• Customise filters
• Monitor and manage unlimited account
• Direct/real time posting

Hootsuite:

• Free service option or you can pay monthly fees for added advanced features
• Works from inside your Internet browser
• Track brand mentions
• Includes multiple social networks such as Foursquare, Linkedin, Facebook, Wordpress, Twitter, Google, Myspace, etc.
• Monitor and manage 5 accounts
• Functionality to create teams to work on projects
• App Directory can be used to connect to more profiles such as YouTube, Flickr, Instagram, etc.
• Basic analytics to create custom reports
• The option to auto-post from your WordPress blog to your social networks
• Targeted messaging: Send private messages out to targeted audience groups on selected social profiles straight through the HootSuite dashboard.

Both these apps are great but it depends on you and your needs, as there are clearly pro's and cons for both services. Certain features may force you choose a particular service

In my opinion I would recommend that you try out both services first before jumping to any conclusion from what you read and hear. You might disagree. Hootsuite has a 30 day trial. I think that Tweetdeck is easier to manage and I can see business people using Hootsuite, since it gives the option of multiple networks and can assist with team projects and analytical reports, etc.

Regardless, at the end of the day, the choice is yours.