PR Tactics 2 Speaker- Trish Skram

On October 4, 2011 Trish Skram, the new media and Public Relations manager for Mercy Medical, came to speak to Ann Knabe’s PR Tactics 2 class. Trish is from Madison and told the class that she came to Whitewater because of the small class sizes. Trish graduated in 2006 and double majored in Speech with an emphasis in Public Relations and in Marketing. Trish is also the owner and brand visionary of PR Gal and a professional blogger for the Gazette. For the jobs that she has, Trish blogs about current events, tips and tricks on certain subjects, conducts interviews, writes about her opinion on certain issues, and manages different twitter accounts.

While attending UW-Whitewater, Trish had a job at the aquatic center as a lifeguard. Through that job, Trish learned of an internship through Mercy Medical. With the connections that she had at the aquatic center, she was able to get an interview which lead to her receiving the internship. She only had this one internship while at UW-Whitewater and has stuck with Mercy Medical since then.

Trough her job, Trish realized that she needed to start blogging, not only for work, but for the personal experience. Trish set up her own blog and has her own website. Through blogging, she was able to attract the attention of employees at the Janesville Gazette who ended up asking her if she would write for them. Trish also created a personal blog strategy. If it doesn’t grow her network, help to better the PR/communications industry, or let her talk about what she knows and loves, she doesn’t blog about it. Through her experience, Trish has also found what some hot topics are when it comes to blogging. Trish stated 8 main ones that have helped her generate conversation on her page.

The 8 are:
   10 Best/Worst Tips and Tricks
   How To
   Lists 
   Interviews (video or blog style)
   Economy 
   Technology/Innovation  
   Local and Regional News
   Opinions

Trish uses blogging and twitter in her jobs to promote and to gain a trusting relationship with readers through her posts relating to the field. Trish also uses twitter and blogging to answer any questions that the reader might have in hopes that it will generate positive feedback and recognition of herself, Mercy Medical and the Gazette. Trish also said that using such social media sites is all about branding. Facebook, twitter, and blogging help you put yourself out there to your readers and hopefully they will gain a positive image of you and your organization. Trish also said that she used blogging in the work place as a way to help generate SEO results when people are searching for specifics on Google. In her personal life, Trish also uses blogging and twitter as self promotion, branding, and a way to write about what she is passionate about and gain insights and knowledge from others.

Most of Trish’s speech dealt with advice and tips on blogging that can be applied in a PR student’s life.  Trish started off her speech by giving us some statistics on blogs. She said that 55% of corporations use social media to seek job applicants and that 77% of internet users read blogs. This is definitely important to students when we are looking for jobs. Having a blog on our resume and frequently posting will help us stand out from other applicants. Trish also gave students 8 tips to building a brand (whether it be personal or for a company) with a blog.
-What do you want to get out of your blog?
-Know your competency
-Listen and learn about your audience
-Add a personal touch (photo, humor, tasteful jargon)
-Be positive
-Encourage Engagement
-Research Keywords
-Be Consistent

In the end, I feel that Trish’s main points when it comes to having a blog were that it will only help you in the long run if you keep it updated, stay positive and are yourself. It’s extremely important to be able to talk about what you’re interested in and leave room for people to generate feedback.