#rezvidal

Ladies and gentleman, this is the last mastery journal I will post. I say that because my degree program is nearing its end. I graduate August 4, and I am excited. Thank you for joining me on this journey.

My final class was Public Relations: Final Project and Thesis. The class sounded like it was going to be simple. I figured I would compile the final results of my capstone project and put together my thesis. I was right, but there were some key lessons that helped me add something extra to my website. These lessons focused on web optimization and ease of use. This was reminiscent of my first bachelor degree (Technical Writing), but the application was practical and immediately useful.

One of the assignments required me to edit my website based on best practices and usability. I adjusted my fonts and topic placements. I adjusted the color scheme, and I was inspired to compose a new music track: Dark Nebula (Space Vampires), because of the movies I watched when I first studied basic web design. 

The class was an overall success. I am much more confident about public relations than I was before the program. I can put together a social media marketing plan better than I previously could have imagined. My new knowledge even allowed me to network while at the Tampa Bay Comic Con. This was exciting because I found a like-minded musician who is trying to build awareness for local artists in Pasco County, FLA. 

I am also encouraged by some of the outstanding work and design my classmates implemented in their projects and assignments. The hands-on approach to learning the material was excellent. The program is not perfect, but it beats a strictly traditional classroom setting.

I can without a doubt call myself a public relations professional. My work speaks for itself. I worked with multiple real clients throughout my program because others saw the results and growth for my primary client. I consider myself fortunate and blessed to have the guidance from my professors and mentors. I am blessed beyond words for the support of my wife and five daughters. I am grateful for this opportunity to develop my PR skills and portfolio.

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Media Relations was an interesting class. While I expected to be more involved with the creative process, I did not realize how significantly dependent upon my client my results for this class could be based. This provided a significant challenge, but I am pleased with the overall results. 

In addition to being a student, I am a father of five beautiful daughters, I work a full time job, and I produce music and DJ. My primary client for school is a DJ. His schedule varies drastically from mine, and, based on his schedule, we were unable to meet until the last minute.

This provided substantial challenges since the editing process was extensive. While I am happy with the results, I am not happy with the overall commitment I am seeing during these developmental phases of our campaign together. I am sure things will turn around; however, this leaves me a little concerned.

The take away is to develop contingency plans that can meet the necessary obligations. In a real world scenario, the client would assume the risk by not being punctual. In this situation, it affects my grade.

The class was exceptional. It met my expectations, and I learned a lot of the crucial pieces for the press kit and methods of representing my client. I dare say it exceeded my expectations. I hope things improve with my client’s availability, but only time will tell.

I encountered different and additional difficulties with uploading my work to YouTube based on technical requirements. That was difficult because all of my work has fit before. YouTube requires some videos to be under 15 minutes. That is alarming while you are working on an assignment. I plan to find an alternate solution for future classes.

Social Media Metrics and ROI more than met my expectations for improving my PR and marketing abilities. I had a fundamental understanding of the importance of tracking metrics in marketing and PR campaigns, but I thought the process would be substantially more difficult. Let me clarify. That does not mean everything was easy.

It is so easy, even a ______ can do it.

If you chose “Caveman” for your answer, you are wrong, and that is okay. I often found myself scratching my head, attempting to measure results for embedded sources that offer different challenges for setting goals and tracking conversions. I searched through a multitude of sources online to find ways to track embedded SoundCloud plays versus native plays on my website, and I found an almost complete answer in a blog post by Simo Ahava. I say almost because Google has made updates since Simo wrote his post. That’s not his fault. Simo went in depth into Google’s Tag Manager, explaining custom code and the code’s functionality. It took a while to grasp, but I finally got it. It is a worthwhile read.

What is the benefit of this metrics stuff?

So—let’s say you write a marketing proposal for Company A, and it gets approved. The owner provides you a budget, and he expects results. He may not be tech savvy, but he understands dollars and cents. How are you going to show him results? That’s right—metrics.

Won’t the results speak for themselves?

The results don’t always speak for themselves. Perhaps Company A released a flawed product, and sales went down as a result of you not knowing how to listen to what is being said on social media or review the metrics. It might damage the company’s reputation, and it will likely cost you your job.

Some risks can be avoided?

Instead, by incorporating metrics and listening, you determine there is a problem, notify the owner, and he expands your budget to handle customer feedback, engagement and suggestions. While sales may go down, the damage can be mitigated, and the company can survive what could be a PR disaster.

It was worth the work.

While I may not be an expert at making custom code for measuring analytics, I can effectively use the metrics to help establish and refine goals, measure the progress of my strategies, and make adjustments as necessary. Yes, it (the reward of gaining the knowledge and practical application of learning to effectively use metrics) was worth it, and I plan to keep refining my skills in this discipline.

What do you think?

Let me know how you use metrics and Google Analytics in your business? What resources have you found helpful?

Cheers!