Guest post by Susan Daniels

Being in public relations today is by no means an easy task. With the internet becoming an increasingly popular avenue for spreading the word about a business, event, or product, PR specialists have to be more on the ball than ever before. In fact, the position now practically requires a PR specialist to also be a novice web developer.

Unfortunately, very few PR specialists received training which included social media and web development, and now may need to seek additional training through an online college class or two. The way in which the public interacts with businesses and organizations has changed dramatically. The common public has greater connectivity than ever before, and no longer does it look to the newspapers or TV news anchors for the latest information. Instead, individuals get online and find the information they want and need themselves without having to wait until the next day or the 5 o’clock new for the latest events.

The way an organization looks on Facebook is just as important as their in-person reputation with the local community, and PR specialists need to be well aware of the various types of technologies they will be dealing with on a day-to-day basis. But who has time to sit down in a web development course when there are meetings to be had, appearances to be made, and press releases to be written all throughout the day?

Very few PR specialists do, and that’s why taking an online college class may be the most ideal.

An online college class affords current professionals the opportunity to enhance their skills on their time and at their own pace. No need to worry about making it to class on time or striving to keep up appearances with professors and classmates in addition to all those you have to do so with on a day-to-day basis. After a hard day’s work, you can come home, change into your pajamas, pour a cup of hot tea, and continue with your course work.

What continuing education offers public relations specialists is the opportunity to learn the ins and outs of the internet, computers, and basic programming. While a PR specialist doesn’t need to worry about becoming an IT specialist as well, they do need to have a basic understanding of the internet and web development so that they can help protect and promote their organization’s image. Over 90 percent of consumers research a business or organization online before giving it their patronage, and you can bet that if they see that a company’s in-person image isn’t consistent with its online image they won’t give it their business.

Online reputation management is just as important in protecting a company’s brand as is traditional reputation management. Public relations specialists need to know how to do basic website manipulations, how to interact with social media sites, and how to properly manage a company’s various websites. They don’t need to be a HTML or CSS guru, they just need to know how to work with these types of media and information sources so that they can provide a more well-rounded promotion of the company they work for.

Receiving the education needed to work well with social media sites and basic websites will help PR professionals more thoroughly enhance the images of the companies they work for. In fact, having the knowledge of web development will also make PR specialist more enticing to employers, and in this job market, being in high demand at the expense of taking an online course or two is definitely worth it.

About the author
Susan Daniels is an internet marketer for 43a.com. In her spare times she likes to write guest posts for marketing related blogs.

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or How never to teach marketing

Disclaimer: this post was written last Saturday during class. But as I was blogless at that time, it’s only know being published.

Two weeks ago, a student of the Romanian American University(RAU), Tourism Economy department, had a wonderful weekend. Finally, inspiring professors (two of them actually) and some really cool things to actually bother researching. Something fresh and new and not lost in the mist of centuries past. Then the new head of this private institution stopped by to tell us how things were changing: an increased level of education, more asked from the students. Anyway, it sounded impressive. So impressive I bought it, most of it anyway.

Then this weekend came. I was looking forward to my Marketing class. I mean, it’s marketing, I love it, it should be wonderful! Well, I’m currently in the middle of a disaster. The class is boring, it only speaks of old concepts and dusty theory. Where are the cool tricks, the case studies, and the engaging presentation? It’s marketing for God’s sake! This is one teacher that should know more about giving students what they need and want.

Well no! First of all, we have the no longer applicable theories. Telling someone working in marketing and PR for a B2B software company that B2B implies door to door sales and little promotion? How does that apply in our case? Yes, it is a way different kind of marketing than B2C, but have you watched IBM lately? Or other IT companies focused on B2B alone? Who’s selling door to door only? Have we forgotten the internet? How about incoming phone orders?

Moving on, why is Kotler the only recommended author? I get the idea these people treat his work as the Bible. Yes, he’s great; we all know it, but come on! Give a girl a few options! Or at least mention his latest works!

And then the cherry on top: a definition by the late founder and image of this University! OK, he counts, I understand, there are little mourning shrines on each floor. But if you recommend learning two definitions by heart, why to you stress the fact his should be one of them? He’s really not that big in the Marketing field.

And if this wasn’t enough, the year Marketing started being studies in Romanian universities needs to be remembered! Who cares, there was no marketing in Romania! Do you think the Communist party had a marketing plan and a budget to sustain it?

I wonder when exactly we will learn more than just a few theories during the 3 to more than 5 years we spend in Universities getting our BA, Masters or Doctorate. When will we love being in school as we’re convinced is useful. When will all professors know how to engage students? At least a few of them!

Speaking of a change when you have no one to back it up with is just wishful thinking. Besides, if we speak marketing, you might catch up on a little trick called word of mouth. I will never recommend this university to anyone. I wouldn’t recommend any of the private universities to be honest. But RAU is a special case. They take pride in their admission system, in their collaboration with American Universities. When will the substance behind all the flashy ads kick in?

I for one am totally disappointed. And two professors are not enough to make me feel the 3 years spent here were worth it. I just want to get it over with. And probably in about 10-15 years I will no longer have such a sour taste in my mouth when thinking of graduating here.