Karen Snir is a junior majoring in public relations and minoring in Spanish. Karen says she views this internship is a great step forward. We agree. There’s nothing like learning by doing, and that’s what we offer college interns- a chance to apply what they learn in the classroom.

So far, Karen has helped out with promoting some events for one of our Lakeland non-profit clients, and she has increased her knowledge of press release writing. She’s a no-nonsense hard worker who comes in each day and gives us her best effort.

Originally from Re’ut, Israel, Hebrew is Karen’s first language. She also is fluent in English, and is conversational in French and Spanish. She loves to apply her worldly knowledge to her PR work.

Although she grew up in a small town, Karen always has wanted to see the world. Her family relocated to Washington D.C. when she was 13, and she attended a public school in Maryland for a year. From that point, she dreamed of returning to the U.S. to earn a college degree.

Karen isn’t just a student; she’s also a teacher. She teaches Hebrew at Temple Emanuel in Lakeland in her spare time, and she belongs to Kappa Delta Sorority, in which she takes part in a number of philanthropic activities.

When she isn’t studying, teaching or volunteering, Karen loves to travel. She visits different states during each of her school breaks, and she has visited more than a dozen countries.

“I love learning about other cultures,” she says. “I am hopeful that my education and experience will give me an advantage when the time comes for me to seek full-time employment.”

After college, Karen says she hopes to combine her love of language, culture and public relations to find a job in the international relations field. For now, she is focused on graduating from Florida Southern while having gained as much real-world experience during the process as possible.

That means that people increasingly are as likely to become Facebook fans with their local car dealership or favorite restaurant as they are to catch up with their 10th grade English teacher or high school girlfriend.

A lot of people ask the question, “Why?” when they hear all the buzz about social media, said Lorrie Delk Walker, president of Lorrie Walker Communications, Inc., a public relations firm in Tampa and Lakeland. That question is easy to answer when reading studies of how Generation Y communicates.

David Fallarme recently wrote on The Marketing Student blog that while Baby Boomers communicated via written letters, telephone calls or face-to-face meetings, Generation Y uses myriad social media outlets, including Facebook wall posts, private messages, instant messages and texts.

“If Generation Y isn’t already part of your client base, they soon will be,” Walker said. “So businesses need to communicate on their level.”

That means learning to use these outlets appropriately is paramount. For all the creative ways there are for businesses to use social media to their advantage, there are just as many ways to use it incorrectly.

“If not done right, social media can hurt you more than help you,” Walker said. “For example, if a restaurant sends out 14 tweets in a day and not one of them has anything to do with the restaurant, that’s not beneficial.”

Walker recalls a Lakeland barbecue restaurant that posted tweets about getting to work late, what a busy day they had ahead of them and what the weather conditions were.

“That provides nothing of value to a potential customer,” she said. “Tell me that you offer catering, or that you have pulled pork as today’s special, and that gives me a reason not only to follow you, but to actually give you my business.”

On the other hand, too much good information can have the same effect as useless info, Walker said. Businesses should not overload people.

“I think people are willing to become fans of businesses on Facebook or watch their YouTube videos if they aren’t nagged about it every 5 minutes,” she said. “If I’m going to follow a used car dealership on Twitter, I don’t want them sending me information about a new car on their lot or the latest service special 30 times a day.”

Businesses looking to jump on the social media bandwagon might consider consulting with a marketing or public relations company that understands how social media works for some guidance.

“It’s better to get it right the first time and build a following that sticks with you, rather than go through trial and error, anger people, and constantly lose followers,” Walker said. “Those people who quit following you aren’t going around talking you up in a good way to their friends.”

With that said, marketing businesses that cater to specific niches are popping up everywhere to assist industries in using social media effectively.

Auto Dealerships
Showroom Logic helps car dealerships market themselves on the Internet, specifically through Facebook and Twitter, said Mike Annable, Showroom Logic’s co-founder. Dealerships want sales leads, and these outlets provide a way to communicate with people who are in the market for a vehicle.

“Social media enables people to find products and services without feeling as though they have to deal with a pushy salesperson first,” Annable said. 

If a person in Tampa wants to buy a used car, they can search for a dealership on Facebook and become a fan, or find a dealer on Twitter to follow. Dealers who work with Showroom Logic have mechanisms in place to automatically update their Facebook and Twitter accounts each time they get a new vehicle on the lot.

“If the person sees something they like, Twitter and Facebook gives them an outlet to communicate with the dealer,” said Dave Ingold, IT/marketing manager at Park Auto Mall in Pinellas Park who uses Showroom Logic’s services. “If not, they simply keep looking without feeling pressured by a salesperson.”

Showroom Logic enables dealers to spread out their posts. If a dealer gets 10 new cars on the lot and wants information posted on all of them, it will be done automatically over the course of hours, not minutes, Annable said.

Real Estate
Real estate agents are another group always in search of marketing outlets, and Snap Tours in Lakeland has created a way for agents to market themselves and their listings on 39 social networking sites.

Snap Tours offers a complete marketing package for agents to create virtual tours, branded e-mails and brochures. With just one click, Snap Tours converts photos, information and the agent’s personal brand into video, said Michael G. Barrett, the company’s creative director.

Gate Arty, a Lakeland Realtor, said the Snap Tours technology is “vastly superior” to other virtual tour Web sites.

“It’s just a better quality product overall,” Arty said. “I like the multi-functional aspects of it.”

Restaurants

Social media outlets also are an obvious marketing tool for restaurants, Walker said.

Lakeland residents who follow Black & Brew Coffee House and Bistro learn of summer specials, weekend live music and new menu items via Twitter.

Subs ‘n Such in Lakeland offers specials to followers who mention Twitter when they eat at the restaurant.

“Yesterday, I saw where they offered a 12-inch sub at the 8-inch price if you told them you saw the offer on Twitter,” Walker said. “That’s a great way to advertise your business, and to measure the success of advertising via a particular social media outlet.”

Learn More
If you are in need of Lakeland or Tampa public relations services and social media advice, please visit www.lorriewalker.com for more information, or call (863) 614-0555.

© 2009 Lorrie Walker Communications, Inc. Authorization to post is granted, with the stipulation that Sinai Marketing is credited as sole source. Linking to other sites from this article is strictly prohibited, with the exception of herein imbedded links.

In addition to providing information on the services offered by the public relations agency in Tampa, the new Web site, which launched March 1, features a blog that will provide information on various public relations and journalism topics, as well as updates on the company’s accomplishments.

“As we approach our second anniversary, I felt it was time to do a slight redesign to make our blog dominant on the site,” said President Lorrie Delk Walker. “Our blog is where we will share industry information and keep potential and current clients apprised of what we’re doing.”
Chuck Welch, a Lakeland-based blogging and Web design expert, spearheaded the redesign, which includes a Twitter feed and the ability to subscribe to the blog through an RSS feed or via email.

“In a sense, it seems early to embark on a redesign when the company is just approaching two years in business,” Walker said. “But what started out as a freelance writing business for me has quickly grown into a boutique public relations firm that assists small businesses in promoting themselves.”
For that reason, Walker felt it was time to create a site that more accurately reflected the services offered by the PR firm, she said.

Over the course of the next several months, small businesses will find helpful information on promoting their businesses and insight into other successful small business public relations campaigns.

Lorrie Walker Communications, Inc. provides Tampa editing and writing services to companies in need of articles, press releases, newsletters, brochures and Web content. The company’s writers have a wide range of experience writing for weekly and daily newspapers, as well as local, regional, state and national magazines.
LWC also assists businesses in promoting themselves through various public relations efforts.

“We specialize in bringing attention to your business by helping you get your name out there and keeping it in front of the minds of consumers,” Walker said.

Learn More
If you are seeking help in the area of public relations in Tampa, FL, please contact Lorrie Walker Communications, Inc., (863) 614-0555, or visit their Web site: www.lorriewalker.com.

About Lorrie Walker Communications, Inc.
Lorrie Walker Communications, Inc. is a public relations agency based in Lakeland, FL that provides services throughout the central Florida area. We offer quality writing and editing services and provides customized public relations packages for small businesses.

Our clients turn to us to cut through the clutter of “fluff” writing and jargon to write compelling copy that accurately conveys their message. They rely on us to provide creative avenues for getting their message out to their market demographic in a fashion that sets them apart from their competition.

We specialize in bringing attention to your business by helping you get your name out there and keeping it in front of the minds of consumers.

If you don’t see your specific needs listed in our services section, talk to us. We may be able to accommodate you. If you request a service we don’t provide, we are happy to recommend a professional who does.

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© 2009 Sinai Marketing and Lorrie Walker. Authorization to post is granted, with the stipulation that Sinai Marketing is credited as sole source. Linking to other sites from this article is strictly prohibited, with the exception of herein imbedded links.