Below is a recent post I wrote for Brand Yourself about building and maintaining a professional online image.

Go to BrandYourself.com to check out great blog posts about personal branding.

8 Tips to Building and Maintaining a Professional Online Image

Maintaining a professional online image is a very important aspect of your career. Through a simple online search, an employer or client can find out what you like to do, how you blog and tweet and see the overall professional online image you portray of yourself.

Here’s advice and eight tips on maintaining your image as a professional online:

First of all, how often do you update your Facebook status? More importantly, how do your updates reflect your professional online image? The status “At the bar getting trashed tonight” does not sounds professional. Neither does the wall post from your friend talking about that last party.

Tip No. 1: Don’t use your status updates to share information about the actions an employer doesn’t need to know about, censor your wall posts and patrol the posts written by others on your own wall.

The photos you post also can impact how people perceive your online professional image. Although it won’t hurt your image if you have photos showing you outside of the professional setting, it will hurt you if your photos display you in a way an employer may see as inappropriate. Even if you don’t post unprofessional photos of yourself, your friends could still tag you in photos without considering how it could affect your image. Depending on your career goals, the type of photos considered appropriate will vary.

Tip No. 2: Never post pictures of yourself at a bar, party or other situation that may be inappropriate and inform your friends to ask for permission before tagging you in a photo.

Facebook users concerned with maintaining a professional online image also should be cautious about joining groups and fan pages. Groups such as “Party Girls” do not portray professionalism. The various applications on Facebook, such as quizzes and games, also can affect your image.

Tip No. 3: Try to avoid joining groups, fan pages and applications that are not relevant to your field. If you decide to join an irrelevant group, be sure it is about a topic you would be willing to discuss with a company CEO and your grandmother.

Setting your profile to private is one way to avoid professional online image issues. But, people often accept friends who they do not know well. Additionally, a potential employer may go through a mutual friend to see your profile.

Tip No. 4: Even with strict privacy settings, it is still possible for other people to get access to your Facebook account. Always be insistent on maintaining a professional online image,  even if your profile is set to private.

Your tweets and the conversations you join are a reflection of your professional online image. If you do not have your tweets set to private, watch what you tweet.

Tip No. 5: Build a professional online image by sharing ideas and information and adding knowledge to the community. Write relevant and useful tweets.

One of the social networks used less often by young professionals is LinkedIn. But, LinkedIn can help build credibility in a person’s professional online image. You should go beyond simply filling out a profile and take full advantage of the site’s features.

Tip No. 6: Request recommendations, join groups and answer questions of other users after creating your LinkedIn profile.

Participating in the blogosphere also can help build a professional online image. Blogging displays leadership and knowledge in your given field. As a blogger, you also should contribute to the community by commenting on other blogs. If you wish to be seen as a professional, you should not write about personal matters on your blog.

Tip No. 7: Strategically write blog posts that will showcase your skills and knowledge and comment on other industry-related blogs.

A personal Web site or online portfolio is a great tool to help build a professional online image. Not only does it show that you are serious about your career, but you also can include materials to promote your personal brand, such as recommendations and work examples.

Tip. No. 8: Create a clean, well-designed Web site focused on promoting your personal brand in your field to help build your image.

Professional online images take time to create and build. By following these eight tips, you can help build a positive and credible online image that can help advance your career.

Rachel M. Esterline works as an account executive for Central Michigan Life, the nationally award-winning school newspaper at Central Michigan University. She is as an account executive for PR Central, CMU’s student-run public relations firm and as a public relations executive with the Student Government Association. Additionally, Rachel serves on the executive board of the Public Relations Student Society of America at CMU and has completed a seven-month internship with her university’s public relations and marketing department. Rachel will graduate in May 2010 with a degree in public relations with minors in journalism and communication.

Ryan Paugh’s recent thoughts on relationships and career are downright blasphemous. I state my opinion with the utmost respect for Paugh. We’re friends. But I disagree with him.

Paugh views long-term relationships and marriage as restrictions for young talent. Young leaders, he argues, are limiting themselves by searching for responsibility they don’t need yet.

Restrictions are what life is about. You should never throw away such opportunities, but embrace what limits you.

I studied design in college and found that given the chance to design anything at all in the whole wide world, the canvas will remain blank. Told to design something with a right angle, or without connecting any lines, or including three circles and your mind will turn on. Constraints make you creative. Creativity breeds success.

I had lunch today with a young twenty-something leader in marketing and public relations who was doing just that. We talked about his future plans and I asked if he would ever consider leaving Madison.

“I’d like to leave, but my wife wants to stay here and her family lives here as well, so I think we will stay,” he replied.

It’s a compromise for him to stay. That was clear. But he will go far because he does not see that as a boundary. Despite limitations, he is successful and is creating change.

Paugh, however, argues that “leaders who are emotionally committed to another person typically can’t hack it.” Ridiculous. The very definition of leadership is being emotionally available to others. Life is about helping other people. A relationship is the sincerest form of such sentiments. Even Oprah has Steadman.

Much of the confusion has to do with the fact that changing the world is not the rainbows and teddy bears we imagine in our heads. It’s dirty grotesque work. It is work that is often sleazy and hard and tiring. Paugh romanticizes that it’s something different entirely.

He talks about relaxing with his friends watching football one weekend and trips to Cape Cod the next – things that just wouldn’t be possible with the ball and chain. The message seems to be that you can’t have a life, and be in a relationship, and change the world all at the same time. “Imagine your potential for greatness if you choose to take a rain-check on the nuptials,” Paugh urges. The reality is that as a leader, you support others, and at the end of the day, you need someone to support you.

For the record, I’m single. I’ve been a serial monogamist and I’ve been a serial dater. I’m a hopeless romantic, but I have no desire to get married and start popping out babies anytime soon.

And yet, as a newly minted Gen-Y leader, there isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t wish I had someone to come home to, someone that would understand and support and be there for me. Someone to share the success. It’s hard to be a leader and not have personal support, even with wonderful friends and family.

It is, of course, a personal choice to choose a family or choose a career. Neither is right. On one side, the young and married stand, happiness glazed on their faces, what ifs tattooed in their eyes. On the other side the young and powerful march forward, heads turned backward, looking at what they’ve left behind.

The happy medium between the two consists of the very narcissism Paugh uses to substantiate his argument. You see, part of being independent, part of truly loving yourself, is that you can love another, and perhaps more importantly, that you can allow yourself to be loved in return. It’s the latter that’s hard. But when you can do that, that’s when you can really start to change the world. Because you understand something so powerful, that it can’t be put into words.

Walk the line.

I’ve been working at Fahlgren Mortine for a month now. Here are 10 simple things I’ve learned so far:

1. Double check everything. And then check it again. Then, just to be sure, check one more time.
2. Turn in work “client ready.” Make sure everything is in the right font, color and size. Check on text wrap and images.
3. Someone is watching you…so be enthusiastic in everything you do and be memorable.
4. Network.
5. Don’t be afraid to ask questions.
6. Take extra opportunities (like going to that optional meeting that starts at 5:30 p.m.)
7. Pay attention to company culture and politics.
8. Jump at any opportunity to get experience.
9. Don’t be afraid to come in early or stay late when needed.
10. Realize you’ll probably make a few mistakes. Own up to them, learn your lesson and don’t obsess about it too much.

Rachel M. Esterline works as an account executive for Central Michigan Life, the nationally award-winning school newspaper at Central Michigan University. She is as an account executive for PR Central, CMU’s student-run public relations firm and as a public relations executive with the Student Government Association. Additionally, Rachel serves on the executive board of the Public Relations Student Society of America at CMU and has completed a seven-month internship with her university’s public relations and marketing department. Rachel will graduate in May 2010 with a degree in public relations with minors in journalism and communication.

With Twitter and other forms of social media taking the world by storm, the question is how PR people can use these new media outlets to help their clients?

Here are 3 top blogs that deal with the issue.

Lara Kretler’s blog deals with these very issues. She has a really fresh take on many social media issues. For example, in a recent post: ” Who Owns Social Media? (aka PR vs. Marketing vs. Advertising vs. Interactive). This is one argument that you really can’t win because there are good points on all sides. Ultimately, it comes down to who’s doing social media well, who’s measuring it, and who’s showing great results. I don’t think it’s hard to figure out where I fall in this debate – social public relations FTW – and I’m proud to see so many amazing, smart PR people leading the way in social media. Even Charlene Li, whose fantastic Altimeter Group Wiki is shaping up to be a top resource for social media pros of all stripes, includes a special section for social media PR firms. The jury’s still out on this debate but I think as time goes by, we’ll see PR continuing to take the lead on social. After all, it’s all about relationships.”

Over at Your PR Guy you can find information on bridging the PR/social media divide. ” Yes, Twitter is a union of advertising, PR and branding — doesn’t matter if it’s personal or product specific. Tweeting and building your followers and those who you choose to follow is important. Still confused?”  Hi quality posts.

The India Pr Blog has great content and is recognized as a top PR blog. In a recent post Bhawna Sharma says, “One of the ways I have used social tools successfully in my PR job is in the media relations bit – forming new contacts, pitching to journalists, getting fast information about the media, etc. ”

There is some great content out there on this topic. Let Bizzywomen know some of your favorite PR/Social media sites.

I wore blue jeans to work today…

Now before you go off in a big lecture about how I should always dress professional and dressing unprofessional could kill my career, let me get to the details.

First of all, I think professionalism and how you are perceived in the workplace are very important. There are many things I would never wear to the office, such as a tube top or mini skirt (especially considering I don’t own any!).

I’m not a style diva, but I am a cautious shopper. I even go as far as trying to buy closed-toe heels because a conservative employer might see it as “too much” and avoiding too much pink so I don’t come off as one of those girls who have no brains (have you seen Legally Blonde?).

On my first day of my internship, I wore a black suit. The next day I wore dress slacks and a button-up. But then Monique told me “wear jeans on Friday.”

What!? Jeans? In the workplace?

This morning I had a serious debate with myself about the situation.

Should I really wear blue jeans? Will I be judged as a “lazy Gen Y intern” or sloppy? Is it really acceptable?

After going back and forth, I put on a pair of dark jeans with a nice shirt. Driving into work, I kept second-guessing myself. Maybe I shouldn’t have worn jeans, I thought to myself.

I didn’t relax until I counted several others wearing jeans.

What do you think is most appropriate for an intern? Is it acceptable for an intern to dress casually when the other employees are? Should an intern always dress business professional, even if they are told jeans are acceptable?

Rachel M. Esterline works as an account executive for Central Michigan Life, the nationally award-winning school newspaper at Central Michigan University. She is as an account executive for PR Central, CMU’s student-run public relations firm and as a public relations executive with the Student Government Association. Additionally, Rachel serves on the executive board of the Public Relations Student Society of America at CMU and has completed a seven-month internship with her university’s public relations and marketing department. Rachel will graduate in May 2010 with a degree in public relations with minors in journalism and communication.

Background

I joined PRSSA when I was a freshman. This year, I was on the executive board. There is no doubt in my mind that PRSSA and PR Central, the student-run firm, have given me priceless experience.

Opportunity for growth

As the semester has progressed, I faced a difficult decision. At first, I was sure that I wanted to run for executive board again and serve as PR Central president.

But, the more I thought about it, the more I realized I wanted to freelance and pursue other professional avenues. I kept pushing that thought from my mind until I received two e-mails in one week that told me about two paid opportunities offering great experience.

Making the decision

The first thing I did was contact several mentors who have experience in varying areas of public relations. Two mentors told me that although PR Central and PRSSA are great experiences, there was more potential for me in freelancing and the other opportunities I had. Then, two other mentors told me to “follow my heart.”

I’m a very logical person, but my gut was telling me to take the tougher trail. Freelancing isn’t easy and the other two opportunities I was pursuing weren’t a sure shot.  With the support of my mentors, I made my decision to not be on the PRSSA executive board or in PR Central next year.

The results so far

Since making this decision, I’ve been offered the position of press secretary of the Student Government Association. As one mentor put it, this position will show a more diverse area of experiences. Additionally, I will expand my network to other majors and will get paid to do what I love.

I’ve also been offered a paid position as a manager for an upcoming corporate event. I still have the chance to be a leader because I will have the opportunity to hire about 15 other people to work with me.

One person in my network told me she has a few leads for me in terms of freelance work. I’ve also been given several great accounts for next year at Central Michigan Life.

Without a doubt, I am happy with the decision I made. I have enough leadership positions on my resume. And, like one of my mentors said, “Good leaders know when to let others lead.”

Rachel M. Esterline works as an account executive for Central Michigan Life, the nationally award-winning school newspaper at Central Michigan University. She is as an account executive for PR Central, CMU’s student-run public relations firm and as a public relations executive with the Student Government Association. Additionally, Rachel serves on the executive board of the Public Relations Student Society of America at CMU and has completed a seven-month internship with her university’s public relations and marketing department. Rachel will graduate in May 2010 with a degree in public relations with minors in journalism and communication.

I plan to write more about event planning soon, byt there are a few quick things I would like to note until I have time to write a post:

1. What can go wrong, will go wrong. The best thing to do is be prepared and stay calm. One guest complimented me on my demeanor. He said that demeanor shows a lot about a person and I showed that I can roll with things even when things aren’t quite right.
2. You don’t get to enjoy the event. I took about three bites of my food and I was back up again, checking on the buffet and going around the room. My job was to make sure things ran smoothly and enjoying myself was low on my list of priorities. Luckily, the waitress was nice enough to give me a to-go bag of all the food served. I enjoyed the food after the event.
3. The event will probably start late. You can’t control what time people arrive, even if you tell them to get there early. It helped that I built extra time into the schedule to help with this.
4. Event planning is harder than it looks. My friend Jena told me this last year after she planned this same event. I didn’t quite believe her until I was in her position. I’m sure some things I did was criticized by others. But until someone is completely in charge of planning an event, I’m not sure they have much room to talk. You don’t know the hassles and stresses of event planning until you’ve actually done it.
5. If you expect it to be simple, it won’t be. I bought 10 glass vases from the local dollar store. Several of them started leaking after being filled with water. You wouldn’t expect glass vases to not be able to hold water.

Rachel M. Esterline works as an account executive for Central Michigan Life, the nationally award-winning school newspaper at Central Michigan University. She is as an account executive for PR Central, CMU’s student-run public relations firm and as a public relations executive with the Student Government Association. Additionally, Rachel serves on the executive board of the Public Relations Student Society of America at CMU and has completed a seven-month internship with her university’s public relations and marketing department. Rachel will graduate in May 2010 with a degree in public relations with minors in journalism and communication.

I was just flipping through a book I read last December, The Confessions of an Ink-Stained Wretch: An Insider’s Secrets to Getting Press, and found some things I’d like to note for you on working with reporters.

John Persinos quoted Sun Tzu: “The battle is won before the fight, through preparation.”

I think this is true for anything; interviews, stories, resumes and cover letters, purchases.

But when you are pitching to a newspaper, you really need to do your research. Who generally covers stories on this subject? What beat might this fit under and who is the beat reporter? Who is that reporter’s editor?

A lot of times, this can be quick and easy research. Look at the newspaper bylines. Persinos suggests calling the managing editor if you can’t find specific information.

Relationships are important and they should go both ways. As I’ve said in a previous post, if someone doesn’t like you, they probably won’t help you out. If you work on technology accounts, build a relationship with the local reporter who covers technology.

After pitching a story, say via e-mail, follow up with the reporter. Persinos suggests writing a script that you can go off of so you know your talking points.

Persinos said, “Cultivating the press is a 24/7 effort that never ceases. It’s like going on a date: you first have to buy dinner and flowers, and make an effort at conversation, if you expect to score,” (p. 49).

I thought this was a very humorous way to put it, but I think it has some truth.

Another note Persinos made was to make personal contact like sending hand-written notes with relevant articles to the reporter just because they will find it interesting.

Rachel M. Esterline works as an account executive for Central Michigan Life, the nationally award-winning school newspaper at Central Michigan University. She is as an account executive for PR Central, CMU’s student-run public relations firm and as a public relations executive with the Student Government Association. Additionally, Rachel serves on the executive board of the Public Relations Student Society of America at CMU and has completed a seven-month internship with her university’s public relations and marketing department. Rachel will graduate in May 2010 with a degree in public relations with minors in journalism and communication.