David Curl's MASTERY JOURNAL from another world!

Back in October 2014, when I created a Mastery Timeline, I wrote that my goals in the final month of my journey were to “understand all the elements it takes to become a public relations professional.” My strategies were to make sure that I had all the necessary resources and feedback from the instructors to present the best possible thesis paper to demonstrate a complete knowledge of public relations, also read the book, Those Difficult Talks for PR Pros by Alan Cohen. I never got around to reading the book, but I did succeed wholeheartedly with the first strategy. Information from every course in the class was gathered into a final thesis paper that proves I am capable of handling a job in public relations. We had to assemble all the pieces in two parts, in two weeks, to be able to get it all in there. I think by the end I had close to one hundred pages, if you count appendices. It is a paper I am very proud of and will consult time and again. I hope I was able to satisfy the instructors, along with the heads of the PR department. 

I was surprised I could do it, but it was great to go into our Wordpress blog sites and fix any problems associated with the SEO and Readability. It looked daunting at first, but once I got the hang of the fixes, it became like a game, turn the red dots green. I now have a fully optimized site on the web that will work well with, and be found better in, online searches. This is invaluable stuff, and I would never have figured it out on my own. Thank you professors! I eagerly await working on future websites and reaping the benefits of knowing how to make a supremely powerful one.

I should also mention that we worked on our resumes, cover letters, and client pitches. The cover letter and pitch were the hardest parts of the month for me. They are something I will be doing much of in the near future, and I know they will improve over time. 

My original goal for this month was to understand the full importance of an Online Media Room (OMR), and to help the media obtain the best information on my clients. Did I hit this goal? Absolutely, and we learned to do this by creating an actual OMR for our public relations blog. I used Wix.com to create a new website for my client Tim Tyler, that can be accessed from a button on the main menu bar of my own site, davidcurlpr.com.

The site itself is full of information specifically for journalists, yet also for the average fan of Tim Tyler just browsing his site. It contains press releases, a media kit (including photos, a video new release, and promotional video), a video campaign snapshot, current news, infographics, reviews, and testimonials. There are also links to Tim’s social media sites, artwork, and podcasts containing a live interview and state of the comic book industry.

By creating an actual OMR, I learned just how essential having one is for my client. Keeping the aforementioned content categorized for journalist shows professionalism, and that my PR team is actively trying to assist them in creating the best articles possible for my client by supplying them the best possible content. It is a place within a website that should be visited first when looking to do any type of story on Tim.

My favorite assignment this month in Reputation Management Strategies was the creation of the Crisis Communications Plan (CCP) we made in weeks three and four. We did it in two parts, and the creation of it showed just how much work goes into planning ahead of a crisis. It’s an incredibly resourceful idea to include all the media resources (local, state, and federal) pertaining to many different crises into one strategic guide for my client. I like having a Crisis Communications Team that is prepared to act when it is needed, and having the CCP enables this. The time it saves during a crisis outbreak, and how good it will make my client look professionally, is invaluable. Without one, he could lose control of time (how long the crisis lasts), reputation, and money. Learning how to create one correctly is an important asset to have.

There were two topics this month I felt would be the most helpful to me as a public relations professional. The first was described above in the Crisis Communications Plan, and the second would be the Dark Website. A dark website is a piece of my client’s main site that is hidden from view of the public until it is needed during a crisis. It contains all the information relevant to the specific event, including contact information, and updates. If done right it becomes the home base of the crisis and everyone will know to go there for the most factual and up-to-date information. Having one shows that you have anticipated a crisis and are quickly able to get news out to the public. I don’t want anyone to have any doubts whether I am prepared to help my client and am ready to assist in any situation, which makes these two of the most important tools to have in my public relations toolbox.

When it comes to hitting my original objective for this month’s course, I feel I hit it squarely. The Course Goal on my Timeline stated that I wanted to understand all it takes to run public and digital events, such as press conferences and web chats, and we did that this entire month in the form of a live event. We had to design, write, and present a live online webinar, which is similar to a press conference in that you can take questions from attendees. Getting through my first webinar really helped make it easier to do others in the future. From designing slides that are engaging, to writing a script, to practicing my presentation, learning how to communicate to my publics via an online event is an incredibly powerful tool to use. 

Another useful too that will be of the utmost importance is the Event Proposal. This month we had to assemble a hypothetical Event Proposal that had my client, illustrator Tim Tyler, attending a live Wizard World comic book convention in Orlando, Florida. The proposal included topics such as the Venue it is being held in, the entire Budget to get him there and home again, a Promotional Plan, a Program showing what he’ll be doing every day at the event, an Evaluation in the form of a questionnaire to determine if his time spent there was productive, and an Inspiration Board to motivate Tim to use the event to his advantage. This was such a big help for me, because I used to attend these types of conventions myself, but I was never organized and had a plan to work it to it’s full potential. If you follow an Event Proposal, you should be busy and productive the entire show, and it should be able to grow your fan base and get attendees to stay in contact with you online.

We also studied crowdfunding on the site, GoFundMe.com. I learned that if a person is well prepared to be an active participant in his crowdfunding efforts, he will be rewarded not only by reaching his money goals, but by receiving a bigger “push” from the host website (GoFundMe.com). I looked at several of those fundraising pages and could find out what made them succeed or fail. It usually came down to not having a video or more photos to inject some personality in the project, or that fundraisers didn’t show they were going to spend the donated money once they got it. Keeping people involved in the project is extremely important here.

Mack Bolan,The Executioner, series by Don Pendleton and Gold Eagle books have always catered to my love of the action genre. Gil Cohen’s cover art is amazing, too!

The course goal from my Journey to Mastery Timeline for this class was to specify market research tools from articles in Entrepreneur.com and the Journal of Market Research. Fortunately for me, we covered most everything they mentioned, from creating a Brand Positioning Statement for my client, constructing his Buyer Persona, and creating research questions that we will use to conduct either a focus group or survey; and we got to put those things to practical use.

I think that was the most important thing I learned, how to create a survey that will help me find faults and positives about my client, artist Tim Tyler. I think that getting this feedback will help me determine what i need to do to give him a better online presence and initiate him to a new fan base, the Young Adult (YA) market. Without learning how to do this correctly, I may never have figured out how to correct any of his weaknesses. Another thing that was important was the difference between Qualitative and Quantitative research, and how using each of them will provide me with a wealth of information I will need to be successful in my campaign.

From the moment I started writing about my client’s Buyer Persona, I started to find out things about him that I could immediately use to set him apart from others in his field. One thing that set me on a different path was finding out that Tim’s artistic style and stories are reminiscent of another mega-famous comic artist. This particular artist is no longer working in comics, but has made a name for himself in video games. By using the techniques give to us this month, I was able to find out a wealth of information on him and apply it strategically to Tim. This will come in hand when I finish my first promo video for him.

As far as meeting my original objectives on my Master PRD timeline, I hit it right on the head. What I had for plans was pretty general, but I did manage to accomplish exactly what I said I was going to do. My first strategy for this month was to research as may social media metrics as possible in the time allowed, and we managed to cover Google, Facebook, and Twitter Analytics. We also watch various Lynda.com videos on tracking our social media efforts. So all in all, I completed all three of my goals. 

It’s hard for me to say what helped me the most, because everything we covered from SEO to creating a Social Media Plan will help my brand be the strongest it can be. Everything we learned this month I didn’t know existed before I took this course, and I’d definitely be a weaker professional without it. Reading and understanding the data in analytics for my site helps me realize what I’m doing right and what’s not working at all. It’s great to have a set of metrics that inform me so well, and allows me to target specific publics form my work. When I create my future strategies, I’ll know just what I need to do to gain followers and keep them engaged. 

Overall, though, we want to build both long term and continuing relationships with our followers, so it is important that we measure the outcomes and outputs of our social media. It is helpful that we know how our products are doing in the short term by using metrics; but when we measure our long term relationships, it lets our clients know effective their public relations programs are doing by identifying strategic publics for them, and using communications tools like Twitter and Facebook to find out what their wants and needs are.

Great advice from the “Master” himself! 

My original goal for this class when I started back in October 2014 was “to learn how to tackle blogs, Twitter, Facebook, and other social media in the most effective manner.” I can only say we did that this month and to a greater degree than I thought possible. Back then I had no idea how things would be coming together to cohesively work my brands out into the public. This month has my sites set up as solid as concrete and I couldn’t be happier.

One of the first things we did was create a brand video promoting who we are and what type of work we do. I made a decision early on that I wanted to try something different and not just stand in front of a camera and tell the audience what I’m all about. I wanted to show them in a more visual way, so I used simple animation and tried to achieve a Terry Gilliam look while I read one of my own stories aloud called “Frenzy” (which I forgot to add in the credits) and then get stalked by the actual killer fish in the story. I thought it would sort of humorous and suspenseful to let people know what type of writer I am. Anyhow, I ran out of time to get the fish in, but I did include its creepy growls. Note: I did add the fish a few days later. It was a different way of making a brand video, but I thought it was pretty neat. 

My favorite part of the month was joining Hootsuite and scheduling events to appear on my top social media sites. Using it I feel like I have total command over all of my conversations with my publics, all from one place. Until I pay for an upgrade, I can only follow my three most important sites: Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Having a “control center” like this enables me to save a lot of time and post to multiple sites all at once, even schedule dates and times for future posts. This is so important moving forward.

Another nice thing we did was to download some PR apps to our iPods and write a review on the one we thought was best. I chose the CamCard to use because in the professional world I get asked for a business card so man times. This app will help me because it will allow me to share my own digital business card and then take a photo of someone else’s. The app, using OCR (Optical Character Recognition), will divide and store his information neatly. It’s going to be a great help and come in very handy for my contacts. I posted the review on my personal page http://davidcurlpr.com. Everything we did this month can be applied right now. As a writer, I can immediately set up my platform and connect with others around the world to promote my brand right now. This was probably the most productive month I’ve had so far, and I’m getting the idea of how my social media works together. Innovative PR Tools and Resources has been extremely helpful answering questions I never would have found solutions to on my own.

        My favorite assignment this month was the Research Case Study Presentation video we did in Week 2. One of my strengths during my time at Full Sail has been making videos, but that’s not the reason I thought this was a great assignment. When you put together a presentation like this, you have to get more involved in the cases in order to get across the look and feel, as well as being clear on the facts. You search for photos, summarize facts on slide cards, and write a script. This adds more depth to what we are learning, and as a result, the subject of defamation has stayed with me more than the other lessons.

        I felt like the most helpful topic this month was copyright. In public relations as well as my writing career, dealing with copyright will probably be the thing I’ll have to deal with most. So, knowing all I can about how to get my own and not infringe on anyone else’s is crucial.

        Learning the legal aspects of media was so important because it helps me to be on the lookout for future trouble, specifically if someone tries to attack my reputation or violate any of my copyrights. I now know I have ways to protect myself and an obligation to right the wrongs said or done against my reputation, services or products. It also helps to know that I need facts, and proof, to back up my claims about a product or service. I never want to be misleading in what I state about my work, and I don’t want to deal with the hassles, or lawsuits even, that I’d incur from consumers if any of my claims were false. If I do go to court, then I’ll have factual information to back up my case.

David Curl

Public Relations M.A.

        The four types of articles we covered this month, the how-to, the press release, live event, and profile, were strong enough to give me a solid foundation of the work I want to produce. They represent the majority of articles written online, so it was a great relief to understand how to write them properly and most effectively. I think the press release is most important for the work I want to do in public relations, as I know I’ll be writing enough of them. That was the one week I really wanted to focus in on and get right. When I work in the comic book field, there are many publishers in need of good PR work, and getting out solid press releases will help them spread the word about their upcoming books. They’ll do my own PR business good when they are done correctly, and their importance is not lost on me.

        I would have like to learn a little about writing good opinion articles. Yu see so many of them on blogs, but it would show good professionalism on my behalf if I knew how to write them effectively, and not just produce rambling thoughts about a subject. It would make a good discussion board assignment!

        Writing opinion pieces is an essential tool in a blog site. I think they accord the reader a good sense of what the author is really like on a more personal level. Being likable and getting across what I want to say in a clear and effective way will be a big part of my PR and writer’s platform. Like I said earlier, press releases will be the next biggest thing I’m going to try and get really good at, because they are essential to PR. I do plan on writing how-to, live event, and profile articles as well to keep my readers informed and the site fresh. 

SAC: 4.3 Discussion: Mastery

These three photos represent current projects I’d like to finish so I can add them to my resume. They are “visual triggers” to remind me of my goals. Dinosaur of the Dead is graphic novel I’m currently working on. I’ve been asked to contribute an 8-page story for The Dead Crew comic, drawn by Tim Tyler. And I’d like to add Vantasm to a book of short stories I want to publish that I wrote during my time at Full Sail University.

Reference:

The Art of Visual Storytelling: Mastery Journal Assignment

Inspiration and sound advice from a true master! 

(Created in Photoshop)

Rod Serling Photo Reference:

        The course goal from my timeline for this month, was to learn all I could about the tools necessary to implement a public relations campaign. From creating a Public Service Announcement to setting up a website on WordPress, the tasks we had to perform this month went beyond what I had expected to learn so early. Most of the questions I had concerning how to operate several social media accounts were answered, and then elaborated on, opening new pathways I didn’t know existed that will help me bring my brand to a larger audience.

        Hosting a page on Bluehost and choosing an original domain name for my own public relations company, started to build confidence in the work I did right away. I’ve had some experience building sites in the past, but never used WordPress before. The look I got from the Blaskan theme was sharp, like any other professional site. It shows that if you choose carefully, you can really give your brand a polished look. This theme was encouraged, but I love the League Gothic and Helvetica fonts. I’ve used them before, but never together like this. They really went well with the maroon, black, and grey color scheme.

        I have several social media accounts that are just kind of out there, and I spend a lot of time going back and forth trying keep things updated and wondering who, or if anyone, was checking them out. My Facebook and Twitter were sort of sloppy and I’d end up spending more time on one than the other. Before we were taught about Social Media Management tools like Hootsuite, and statistics services like Google Analytics, I had no idea there was a way that I could monitor all my sites from one place and see who was visiting them, and from where. Watching this traffic is invaluable if I intend to find my target audience and grow my business. Engaging this audience from one place like Hootsuite allows me to see everything as a whole and saves me time and headache going back and forth every day to several accounts. That is a blessing indeed.

One of the best writers in comic book history, Boisterous Bill Mantlo! A living legend and inspiration!