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Public Relations Final Project and Thesis

It has truly been a journey, and I am excited to finally make it to the finish line. The Public Relations Final Project and Thesis course was honestly the easiest course of the Public Relations Master’s Program. It was an attribute to everything I have learned over the past twelve months. My initial goal was to begin to create a public relations campaign focusing on launching a natural hair care line; to test three new natural hair care products; and, to graduate with a Master’s Degree in Public Relations from Full Sail University.

I am still in the process of completing the last goal stated, but the first two have changed in terms of subject. I’ve decided to obtain my tax preparer license and build a campaign strategy designed to gain clients and create brand and service awareness.

I am confident in my abilities to execute any campaign successfully because of the skills I have gained over the past twelve months from the prestigious professors at Full Sail University.  I understand how effective research, setting SMART goals and creating exciting content can aid in developing a solid campaign. I also understand the need to constantly asses a brands reputation and to prepare for random crisis’s that may occur.

Overall, I am grateful for to those that time invested in my education. I plan to take the knowledge I have gained to become a PR professional and continue to build from here. I am excited to see where this new knowledge will take me and aid me in reaching my dreams of becoming a successful entrepreneur and helping those around me.

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The Online Media Room

Writing mastery journals have become the most insightful part of the Public Relations Master Degree Program. I have honestly grown to love reflecting on my original objectives and evaluating how they have aligned or changed over time through growth.

My threeoriginal objectives were to gain a better understanding of what an online media room is, create a website for my clients’ hair line which hosted an online media room for any press releases that occur and to identify five high quality online media room practices to incorporate into my clients’ brand. I can proudly say I have accomplished all three of my objectives.

This course provided me with several great examples of companies that excel at content marketing and optimizing search engines to create more buzz for the company and their products or services. American Airlines press room still stands out in my head as a top contender due to the vibrant pictures and bold blue headings on the site. Where Nintendo was least effective due to poor navigation and use of search and browsing features.

The assignments given during this course showed me the importance of considering my audience when curating content. While working on my final assignment I noticed how anal I was on making sure that the content would keep the audience’s attention. I concentrated mostly on the media mix and making sure all text would be visible, but not overcrowd the images needed to complete the story being told.

Overall, I can say that I have learned many things throughout the Online Media Course. Especially through the peer reviews. I have gained great feedback on my Capstone Campaign through the weekly discussions as well as the course instructor that has allowed me to improve on my writing techniques as well as content development.

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Reputation Management Strategies

When I created my Mastery Journey my goals were initially, to create a survey to assess if my mission aligned with how my audience views my company. From the results of the study, I would identify 2 weakness using the SWOT analysis and then I would come up with strategies to improve on my weaknesses. Thank God I was not emotionally tied to my goals because the content offered during this course provoked me to be creative and realistically assess the threats my client may face every day.

This course taught me that it would be in my client’s best interest to create a crisis communication manual to help in the event a crisis occurs. I also learned how crucial it is to manage my client’s reputation on social media and through the company’s website. The concept of a dark site was introduced to me during week three, and I was able to bring a new tool to my client that I believe will benefit the company by allowing them to take control if a crisis occurs and keep it separate from the day to day business.

I know that these concepts will benefit me in my Public Relations career because I will be able to be an asset to myself as well as any company I join by being able to be a resource that can focus on how to prevent things from going off track. And also, by being that voice of reason, that understands that things may happen beyond anyone’s control that could affect myself or my client, but it always helps to try to stay prepared for the unknown. Overall, the course helped me to become a more prepared public relations specialist and influenced me to become more aware of internal and external threats that my client may encounter.

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Events Marketing and Production

Thus far, Events Marketing and Production was my favorite course. My original goals were to attend two networking events and introduce myself to the coordinators, host an event to showcase my client's new hair collection using social media to raise awareness, and research new event trends to possibly generate new event ideas that will keep my audience interested. I was pleasantly surprised to find out that my goals were perfectly aligned with the content of the course.

My favorite assignment was completing the Event Planner template for the Lace Seminar Event. I had the idea in my head for a while, but the template helped me to get my ideas out of my head and into an organized plan. I discovered I am very thorough in creating agendas for the staff and attendees.

I struggled the most with creating a webinar. I loved the topic I used, but I could have done better with the presentation. After reading the feedback from my classmates, I realized that I needed more multimedia and to slow the pace of the webinar down. This is the first course that I took the feedback given the reassessed my own work.

Overall, I think I found my niche through this course. Although I may not like to go out often, I know how to throw a good event and I love doing it. I love completing every step necessary to host an event and I love seeing the smiles on attendees face during the event. I learned that I was overthinking a lot of the components of event planning, which caused me to stray away from planning any this year. Next year I plan to reintroduce myself to event planning and discover more ways to host creative events for my clients.

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Media Relations

Prior to beginning the Media Relations Course, I had generated three generic goals based off of the information given in the course description. The goals were to identify the top media firms in the world, identify the best ways to engage with the media as a PR professional and to interview at the least two media specialists in Chicago to gain a better understanding of the media world. As the course concludes I realize that my goals were surprisingly well aligned with the content of the course.

My first goal to identify the top media firms in the world was accomplished during Week One when the professor provided the class with links to Reporter and Correspondents by state, Top 100 Television Markets and the US Newspaper list as resources for Week One readings. The assignment for week one was to create a media list of journalists whom I believed would be interested in my campaign. After developing the media list, I was asked to carefully draft five targeted pitches to five journalists from the media list created. This assignment taught that there are different ways to communicate with different journalist and successfully completed my second goal. I was not able to interview two media specialists, but I am now able to successfully identify and build a media kit.

Overall, I learned that it is important to take advantage of different media outlets because it can broaden the reach of the targeted audience. I will definitely continue to perfect my elevator pitches because I learned that you never know when the perfect opportunity will arise to promote myself or a client. I will also continue to research more media kits until I find a style that adequately represents myself and the brand I work with.

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Market &Consumer Research Analysis

My initial goals for Market &Consumer Research Analysis were to identify the top competitors in the natural hair care field, come up with strategies to better position myself in the natural hair care market and to research natural hair care consumer needs. These goals changed slightly once I became aware that I would have to create goals for a client of my choice. I chose Hijrah Samiyah, C.E.O., and Founder of Hair God Extensions, LLC. Since completing the course, I was able to create a social media campaign on Instagram for my client which has so far resulted in the brands’ page gaining 797 followers.

I learned that it is important to do secondary research for the market you are planning to enter to gain a better scope of the potential buyer, competitors and the demographics of the potential buyer. I also learned how useful the poll feature offered through Instagram can be. I was able to show my client a new way to engage with their Instagram following and gain knowledge of their wants as consumers of the brand. The most challenging part of the course was beginning the Case Study that will be submitted at the end of the Program. However, the way Professor Ginger broke down each section made it easier to understand and complete.

Going forward I plan to continue to use polls through Instagram to interact with my personal Instagram following, and I will encourage future clients to use it as well to gain a better understanding of their followers. I will also continue to use the spreadsheet given during week one to help plan an effective social media marketing campaign. The spreadsheet was heaven sent. It was easy to complete with the client and helped me teach them how to create SMART goals.

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Social Media Metrics & ROI

Initially, I had three goals. The first was to utilize my Microsoft Office skills and develop reports to track hair sales and social media metrics. The second goal was to launch a campaign on Instagram and Snapchat for my sister's hair extension line and monitor how well consumers will receive the new products. The last goal was to increase the marketing budget of the hair extension line to see if the return on investment would increase. 

The course did a great job at meeting my initial objectives. I believe that I was on the right path as far as what I hoped to be able to do once this course was over. I now understand the importance of planning social media campaigns and have tools that will help me to measure the return on investment from social media marketing efforts. I've always wanted to work with my sister to help her grow her business, and I now know the key metrics to monitor that will show me how well I was able to help her achieve this.

I was a little off with the last goal to increase the marketing budget. After meeting with my sister and discussing the game plan of completing my Capstone Project, I realized that I am now responsible for the majority of the marketing task, which erased the majority of the marketing expenses. I am responsible for designing and updating the website which removed the highest marketing expense. 

Overall, this has been a very informative and helpful course. I loved the last discussion board and how it allowed myself to make significant connections between social media marketing,  business growth, and political campaigns. Social media is reshaping the way business is being done, and it has become vital to emerging markets as well as businesses that have existed since the beginning of time. 

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Innovative Public Relations Tools and Resources course

This was an amazing course! I set three goals to accomplish during the Innovative Public Relations Tools and Resources course. They were to create a job post that outlines what I am looking for to continue building my team, learn how to network through social media and learn how to track statistics on Facebook. I accomplished 2 out of 3 of the goals I set and learned so many other new things that I know will help me to be successful with social media marketing.

 The first week began with critical thinking as the discussion topic. I was forced to think outside the box and consider how the messages released from my brand can be interpreted in many different ways. I took key points from the critical thinking discussion such as beginning with the right approach when creating a Public Relations campaign and becoming self-aware.

 During week two I completed one of my goals, which was to learn how to track statistics on Facebook. I also learned how to track the traffic of my website through Google Analytics and set up a social media schedule using Hootsuite and the social media app Later. I will definitely continue to use all of the resources given to me during week two. I have already introduced them to my clients and it has made posting to social media so much easier. I also learned better ways to network on Social Media and how to use a Social Media playbook to ensure that my team is using social media to its best advantage.  

 Overall this course exceeded my expectations. Each week I was given resources that will help me to become a better social media professional and promote my brand. The assignments were easy to understand and complete but also challenged me to think more critically.

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(via https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CUnGMNbjags)

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Legal Aspects of Media Review

Legal Aspects of Media was my most difficult course thus far. This was my first taste of legal work and I must admit it initially threw me for a loop. It pushed me to read the toughest pieces of material I have ever seen, but also pushed me to think critically and form opinions about topics I would usually look over.

 My favorite assignment was the press release I did for RAW Chicago Artist’s Fashion and Live Art Show. I was able to interview close friends of mine and promote their work through the press release, while also creating awareness of Chicago brands. This assignment also taught me how to structure a press release properly and effectively.

 I think that learning about copyright infringement on social media and how to properly search for copyright registration cards as well as fill out the copyright form will be very helpful to me as a communication professional. I believe this because social media consumes a large portion of my day and I am now aware of the legal trouble I could get myself and possible clients into by simply reposting a picture that I don’t own.

 The knowledge I acquired this month has prepared me to handle potential legal issues in the communication industry, by making me aware of the potential legal issues that could arise in the communication industry. I was unware of how large the damages could be for proving defamation. Or how someone could sew me for $50,000 and win if I repost their pictures without permission or giving proper credit. Going forward I will definitely be more cautious of how I communicate on social media and about others through social media. Due to lax regulations and network liability social media users are liable more than ever for their mistakes on social media.

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Writing for Interactive Media Course Review

My original goals going into the Writing for Interactive course were to record myself practicing protective hairstyles and write a product review of the hair products I used, find a new social media interactive media app for apple users and write a review of the app, and also to identify a new writing technology to check the punctuality of my work and write a review on how to use the app and any special features. I was not successful at accomplishing any of these goals because this class taught me to write for my audience and these goals were more so personal. 

I needed to find newsworthy topics to be successful in this course, which required stepping out of my comfort zone and attending events in Chicago. I interviewed people that I’ve never met before and learned how to share their ideas and voices through storytelling.

I plan to continue to utilize outlines given each week as I continue to write press releases or event reviews of other events I will attend. I plan to focus more on promotion and distribution. I noticed during this course my only form of promotion and distribution were social media. I plan to do research on other ways to engage and attract an audience for promotion and distribution purposes.

Overall, I feel that this course enhanced my writing style and forced me to discover a new part of the world. I was given writing tools and examples to give me a blueprint on how to write a newsworthy and effective story. But most importantly it taught me that it is impossible to have an intriguing story to tell if I do not get out and interact with the people in the world.

Good luck to all of those I interacted with throughout this course! All of your stories will be remembered and all of your advice is valued.  

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Mastery Journey

I went into this class with 3 goals, which were to launch my natural hair care brand through social media, use PR strategies to help my sister grow her social media network and also use PR strategies to help my grandmother grow her food pantry’s social media presence. I did not complete the goals specifically, but I did learn strategies that will help me once I am ready to launch my natural hair care line and I was also able to heighten awareness of my grandmother’s community about her food pantry through posting videos of myself volunteering on my IG and snapchat.

My favorite assignment was creating the PSA. I was able to connect with my younger brother and cousins to address the bullying epidemic that is plaguing our youth. This was the first time I ever produced, shot and edited any type of film. This assignment forced me outside of my comfort zone and showed me another creative ability I didn’t think I possessed.

I think that the strategies given during week 4 will be the most beneficial in my PR career. The strategies were Building Brands on Social Media, Creating Online Relationships and Developing an Influencer Strategy. The Public Relations field has changed drastically due to the creation of social media branding and these strategies gave me helpful tips to grow my brand and create and maintain healthy social media relationships. 

The knowledge I gained during this month has prepared me to work with professional in the public relations industry by exposing me to new efficient writing and marketing techniques like PSA and Press Releases. Both of these writing techniques are used widely in the PR field and I now know how to correctly assemble them.

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This weeks inspiration came from myself. I painted this picture last year in hopes of forcing myself to be more confident in my life decisions. Since then I have pushed myself everyday to "Be Fearless" "Create My Own Sunshine" "Just Live My Life" and "Believe in Myself". Hopefully it will inspire someone else to do the same.

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If you are not familiar with the woman in this picture, she is known in the music industry as Cardi B. I absolutely love her and I have been following her story for the past year by watching her on the reality television show Love and Hip Hop New York (Scott, 2016-2017). This modern day Cinderella is my inspiration for the week because she is living proof that your dreams can come true if you continue to work hard. Just last year she was an exotic dancer now she is performing her hit record "Bodak Yellow" (2017) worldwide. https://instagram.com/p/BZGxO2zhghL/ , 2017 Scott, M. (2015-2017). Love and Hip Hop New York. Atlanta, GA Cardi B. (2017). Bodak Yellow

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