Start mid-May, 24 hours a week, pay commensurate with experience, and the possibility of becoming a permanent employee

Requirements:

• Open to college seniors, grad students, or recent graduates
• Must have held one prior internship in public relations or related field

The great thing about Clearpoint Agency is we encourage variety in your work load. You really will get hands on experience in many different areas. Duties for this position include office work, client account work, and Clearpoint Agency business work.

Office work:

• Answer phones
• Maintain publication archives
• Tidy up office (everyone pitches in with trash, cleanup, dishes, etc.)
• Filing
• Check mail
• Prepare conference room for client meetings
• Greet clients and partners visiting the Clearpoint Agency office
• Participate in internal planning meetings

Client account work:

• Write first drafts of releases, bios, pitches, etc. as skills and confidence allow
• Assist with event management projects
• Contribute to brainstorming meetings with staff and/or clients
• Develop media lists
• Research  – editorial calendars, competitor communication tactics, speaking engagements, award and tradeshow opportunities, etc.
• Monitor social media
• Create content and build followers for social media
• Write web copy
• Help develop media kit materials
• Work on award submissions

Clearpoint Agency business:

• Assist with research for new business pitches
• Assist with proposals and presentations
• Maintain portfolio samples
• Create presentation PowerPoints
• Research and develop award submissions
• Write content for Clearpoint Agency website, pull logos, etc.
• Monitor Clearpoint Agency social media
• Contribute to Clearpoint blog and social media content

Responsibilities and job tasks will vary and expand as employee’s skill level and confidence increase.

Pay: Pay will be commensurate with experience. In addition to college credit or paid compensation, Clearpoint Agency will also provide mentoring, career counseling and feedback on resume, portfolio, and writing samples. Clearpoint Agency will also occasionally cover expenses for networking and educational opportunities to further advance your career in PR and Marketing.

Hours: Office hours are 9 to 6 with an hour off for lunch

Location: Clearpoint Agency is located close to the beach at 511 Saxony Place, Suite 102, Encinitas, CA 92024.

Additional company information can be found at www.clearpointagency.com.

Interested candidates should send their resume and cover letter to Rachel Hutman at Rachel@clearpointagency.com by April 30th. Please include salary requirements. Only qualified candidates need apply; we are hard workers, and expect the same from candidates. We look forward to meeting you!

It seems that so far, most companies house their blog on the corporate website, but there are certainly pros and cons to both options. The majority of companies are also using a development platform such as WordPress or Blogger. Customization is expensive!

Onsite blog

A blog set up directly on your business’ website
Example: www.company.com/blog

Pros:

• Increase traffic to the main site, increasing Alexa rank
• Increases indexing of your website by search engines, which is especially valuable if site content is not updated frequently
• If blog is shared, tagged, linked to, etc. via social media, the website reaps the benefits
• Keeps your audience up to date

Cons:

• Harder to implement if custom building on site (and not using a development platform like WordPress or Blogger)
• Website might include restrictions on length of post, etc.
• Might lower the rank of other more important pages

Offsite blog

A blog set up on its own domain that links back to your business’ website.
Example: www.companyblog.com

Pros:

• Your business brand has two properties online
• Gives you two domains to rank twice for your keywords in search engines
• Easy and quick to install, especially if using WordPress or Blogger
• Very quality links back to main site
• Greater flexibility with design and coding
• Offsite is best if your blog will contain content that is unrelated or only slightly related to your main website

Cons:

• May take longer to draw traffic to the main site
• It can get more popular than the main site on search engines
• Could look less professional than an onsite blog
• Less control (based on the development platform — WordPress, Blogger, etc.)
• If blog is shared, tagged, linked to, etc. via social media, the development platform reaps the benefits, not your corporate website

Whole Other Option
Why yes, there is a THIRD option! You can have your cake and eat it too. If you have a prolific company (or awesome PR agency), you can have two blogs – one onsite and one offsite. This is a great option as it literally gives you all of the benefits, increased traffic on your site, high quality inbound links, multiple domain properties, etc.

Our research shows that in this event, it is best NOT to duplicate your content. That will just annoy people and search engines. Consider keeping company news on the onsite blog , and letting the offsite blog be a little more exciting. It could be commentary on the industry or opinion (food is delicious, banking is exciting, robots are fascinating!) anything that relates to the brand but is just a little beyond corporate news. This is a great example of a win-win.

So what about you? Which would you choose? Anyone daring enough to do both? The right answer depends on each company’s situation, and we’ve had clients successfully do both onsite and offsite blogs.Of course, blogs are like our babies, and we think they’re all beautiful. Just get blogging!

The big difference between Google+ and facebook is the targeting of information. Targeting means that your followers can be sorted into groups (called circles), so information can be shared with only certain groups of followers/circles.

FEATURES –
• TARGETING via “circles”— You can choose to share information via circles or public. Circles info is only shared with people in that circle. If they aren’t in your circle, then they can’t see it. “Public” is visible to anyone who’s added you to a circle, as well as on your public profile.
• PROFILE VISIBILITY — Choose visibility settings for specific profile sections. Profile information can be made public, private or in-between.
• MEASUREMENT — Google+ allows us to measure how your page is doing, and learn more on how your followers’ interactions affect your business and brand. Google+ also offers ways to improve the page.
EXTRA INFO –
• Google recommends directing customers to your Google+ page with a Google+ badge on website. This also extends organic search in Google results.
• Sparks is a great feature that is similar to Google Reader, except it brings content automatically based on user interests. Google+ will provide content to related articles, videos, photos, etc. based on the keywords that you search, or in this case ‘spark’
• The Hangout feature in Google+ are virtual rooms where people can video chat with people in their circles.
• Instant Upload lets you snap a photo on your Android phone and it’s automatically uploaded to Google+, but is unfortunately not available for iPhone users.
• Public profiles can decide if they want to be indexed by search engines. This helps you be as visible as you want to be.
ADMIN –
• Anyone can follow a page and put a page into their own circle – there is no way to stop people from following your company or adding your company to their own circle. However, these people can only see information the company wants them to see. So when the company makes updates, they choose if they want them to be public, meaning anyone can see, or make them private – only to certain circles. The private information and subsequent comments are protected within that circle.
• Pages choose what page followers go into what circles. So when they update information they can choose which groups of people or circles will be given the updated information. They can also view their page from each of those circles to confirm that the correct information is there.
• You can also lock a comment so it cannot be shared or commented on. When you lock a post, people you’ve shared your post with will no longer be able to re-share it with others.
• You can also disable comments.
• You receive an email of new comments and are notified of new activity on your page by a red box by your name – that looks like this :

FINDING PEOPLE-
• You can add people easily by name if they are on Google+. If they aren’t, you can put in their email to add them and they get an invitation to join. They can choose to join Google+ or have page updates via email inbox.
• When updates are sent out – the page chooses if they want to send info to people outside Google+.
Google+ does provide some valuable features that facebook just can’t match, yet. True, not a ton of people are on Google+ so far, but give it time. Google isn’t going anywhere and if you need the ability to target information, than Google+ is probably what you’ve been waiting for.

Pinterest board

From a business perspective, consumer brands can benefit from Pinterest because they can target their fans and ambassadors directly through fresh and relevant content. Such successful examples are Whole Foods and Nordstrom.

If you like staying on top of the social media game and have a visual consumer product, you probably should start “pinning”! One sticking point is that unlike other social media platforms, you need an invitation to join Pinterest. If you need an invitation, why not ask Clearpoint Agency and make your life easier? Don’t wait for weeks or even months to get on this hot social media site if you’re ready to start “pinning” and promoting your brand on Pinterest.com.

Here are some tips to freshen up your brand:

1. Research : Study your competition – take a close look at your closest competitors in your field. What are they doing well? What are they communicating that you aren’t?  What are their key messages? How do they market themselves? How can you better compete?  Take notes and keep track in an excel spreadsheet so you can compare easily.
2. Question: Create a questionnaire for your clients and partners – Ask your clients and past clients what they think of your business, services, products and customer support? What do vendors and partners think of you and your business? What do your employees think? What may be the most telling and hardest to hear – what do prospects that didn’t chose your business think? *Tip: Use Survey Monkey to create a free questionnaire that can be easily emailed out  to recipients.  Follow up with phone calls to get more detail.
3. Identify: Define your audiences and key messages. Take a close look at what your company is saying to its audiences. Look critically at your website and all collateral materials. Are you speaking with one, clear voice or sending mixed messages? It might be time to update your messaging or re-fresh it if new services or target markets have been added. *Tip: Have several key employees review it and compare findings. If you don’t have enough personnel, ask friends or relatives to review.
4. Clarify: Define what your key services are. If you set the net too wide you could be confusing clients. Focusing in on your strengths and proven track record in key areas will provide a clear, concise explanation of your services.
5. Announce: The public won’t know about your brand refresh if you don’t tell them. Submit press releases, conduct media relations, update your blog and email clients to announce your new site, messaging and direction.

The best part of your brand makeover?

Current clients will affirm they made the right choice choosing you and past clients could take a second look at your refreshed company. Your business will undoubtedly benefit from increased awareness among prospective customers and opinion leaders. A brand that tightly communicates your unique offerings and conveys your company’s personality in an honest and appealing way will help you to land the business with the right types of customers.

This year put a refreshed brand at the top of your New Year’s resolutions.  It might just be easier to stick to than that new diet or savings plan.

Leave us a comment about your plans for refreshing your brand in 2012.

We had three new additions to the Clearpoint family this year: babies Davey, Cameron and Philip! Counting these “newbies,” we had seven children at the party. They all received a special gift from Clearpoint Agency to entertain them while the adults played “White Elephant.” After much debate over East versus West Coast rules, the game got underway and there was plenty of gift stealing. The game was great fun, even for those who ended up with less than stellar gifts! We are already looking forward to revenge, ahem, we mean, a repeat game next year.

Between happy children, fun games, and delicious food, we were very grateful to celebrate another great year with the Clearpoint team. We’d like to wish all of our friends and clients a wonderful holiday filled with love and laughter!

The Clearpoint staff and Valerie Chereskin pose with their food donations for the holidays.

It’s that time of year, when business people everywhere start thumbing through catalogues to select the gifts for their clients. We’d like to suggest you use corporate giving as an opportunity to share your business values and culture. By thinking creatively, you can give gifts to your clients in ways that make a much bigger impact than goodie baskets.

Creative corporate gifts can come in all forms, but we’d like to focus on charitable giving. There are many reasons to incorporate charitable support into your corporate gift giving program:

• Help nonprofit organizations and people in need within the community you do business in
• Improve the reputation and perception of your company
• Get greater exposure for your company, products or services
• Share corporate messaging, values and culture
• Increase networking or leads opportunities
• Receive tax benefits

Clearpoint is a great example. Several years ago, we decided a better use of Clearpoint’s resources would be to support the community while showing appreciation to our clients during the holidays. Instead of giving large and expensive treat baskets to clients, we opt for cards and small boxes of candy as gifts, and use the rest of our gift-giving budget to donate to a charity in all of our clients’ names. We feel good about the change, and clients appreciate it too. Oftentimes, we buy the candy from a local small business or, as is the case this year, from local high school band students. This year, Clearpoint’s holiday giving is: 1) giving delicious treats to our clients, 2) donating to a charity, and 3) supporting a local high school – it’s the trifecta of gift giving!

Charitable giving is such a great opportunity to demonstrate your company’s dedication to a cause or community, and can be a powerful way to create awareness and good will for your organization with external audiences. Your internal audiences will appreciate it too. Supporting a charity is much more motivating for employees than boxes of client gifts that don’t relate to them.

Charitable giving also has its benefits to your tax return. Whether you donate money, products, or services, there is a good chance that a charitable gift can be a corporate write off. Just remember to check with your tax advisor if a gift will qualify as a deduction. A good rule of thumb is to work with nonprofits with the 501(c)(3) designation.

When choosing a charity, look for a cause that matches your corporate culture. If your employees really care about the environment, support an environmentally-conscious charity (Like Clearpoint’s lagoon support). Or match your services to your cause. If you sell sporting equipment, support your local little league team. These small steps go a long way toward expressing who you are as a company.

To get you started, check out our examples: in years past, Clearpoint has supported the San Diego Food Bank, the American Heart Association (AHA), CARE, and the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI). In addition, Charity Navigator is a good website to find a charity, and Wikipedia has a very inclusive list. Good luck, we look forward to seeing more businesses support charitable causes this season and throughout the year!

Hi friends, first, an overview: Social Boom! covers just about everything social. Ok, not everything, but the biggies: Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube, blogs, and even tips on writing. It’s a thorough review of the social media landscape and what you should do as a business person on each of the top platforms.

I thought it was a great book, definitely worth a read. If you’re a novice in business social media it might be a bit overwhelming, but just remember, small steps are better than no steps at all.

I’d call Social Boom! fairly high level, with helpful tactics. It was full of relevant and usual
information, including both precise “how-to” as well as “why-to” information. The book has several chapters written by guest authors including some favorites of mine such as Mark Schaefer and Mitch Joel. It was refreshing to hear tips from multiple industry leaders.

Here are a few key points I found especially truthful and useful, as well as some nuggets to pique your interest:

• “Business social media requires an investment: your time.” At least an hour a day. Thank you Gitomer for being open and honest about this! It is so true.
• “…with business social media, I can personalize it, and humanize it…” Be human, and be real. This is one point we often have to remind our clients – while it is business, it’s still social media. No one is going to like your Facebook page or share your information if you’re cold, boring and fact-laden. People like people.
• “Start (or restart) your business social media outreach with purpose, plan and design. And start (or restart) it with an understanding of what you want to achieve.” I find this especially insightful. Too many people start social media without a real vision of what they want to achieve…those are the profiles with
  meaningless fluff that give social media a bad name. Take Gitomer’s advice and
  have a plan.
• “Start with information, and then add insight.” Yes! Don’t just forward
  information, provide your personal take on it and make it more useful to your
  audience. Don’t just be a content aggregator, be a content creator.
• A 5.5-part process for starting your own Facebook business page
• The 15 imperatives of LinkedIn
• 7 ways to add value to your Twitter conversations
• How to build an audience on YouTube

Social Boom! was full of useful quotes and lists like these. A caveat on expectations: While I was expecting a book about social media for brands, the book really focuses on tools and techniques an individual can use. I still found it useful, but more for my personal use than for managing our clients’ social media. So, keep that in mind.

Jeffrey Gitomer’s Social Boom! was a quick, fun read, and inspired me to get my butt in gear for my own business social media. While I do it every day for clients, I’d been using
social media primarily for my personal life, I believe to my detriment. I was missing out on adding my professional insight as a PR and social media manager to the world of business social media. If you have smart things to say, I recommend you jump in, share your insight and personality, and get social! See www.gitomer.com for tips and how to get Social Boom!

How about you? Do you do business social media? What social media platforms are your favorites?

Getting into a print or online publication can be tricky, from writing an enticing pitch to trying to distinguish your press release from the hundreds of others sitting in the editor’s inbox. We drew from our own experiences with media relations to compile this list of tips to help you get published.

1. Be honest – Put your news to the test. Is it really newsworthy? Assess the entertainment value, proximity, prominence, timeliness, uniqueness and impact for the audience.
2. Read your target publications– It is crucial that you know what these publications and broadcast stations care about and how they address their audiences, that way you can tailor your pitch to make it more appealing.
3. Target the appropriate editors– And producers too. You will have a better shot at success if you send the tech piece to the tech editor, rather than to the lifestyles or calendar editor.
4. Write a good release– Keep it factual and interesting to get your point across clearly and concisely. Associated Press Style is never going out of style so learn it and use it! Answer these questions within the first three paragraphs: “who, what, where, when and why?” Put opinions in quotations only and never make outrageous claims you cannot back up.
5. Distribute the news through a reliable wire service– Make sure it gets to the appropriate audience, but don’t expect the wire service to do all the work for you! Send your news release with an individualized pitch to top editors/producers at your key 10-20 media outlets.
6. Master the art of a good pitch– Keep it short but compelling. No more than three paragraphs. Give information that is not included in the release. If you can capture his/her attention in the first seven seconds, you will also capture his/her audience.
7. If you really have a coup to announce, offer an exclusive angle to your number one media target– Or, embargo the news to the top three outlets that are likely to cover your announcement. Give them an early heads-up but ask them to hold the new until you are ready to release it widely.
8. Include relevant visuals– A photo of a prominent person, interesting art, charts and graphs help to make a release more interesting. They’ll also get you more space.
9. Don’t play hard to get! – After you’ve sent your pitch, follow-up by phone and make yourself available on a moment’s notice for an interview if the editor/producer is interested. Remember they are running on tight time schedules.
10. Remember that a good PR agency just might be your best tool – We know the editors, the audiences and the pitch process that will land a story and gain success. A Good PR Agency will help get you the recognition that you deserve.

As contradictory as it may sound, sometimes the best way to strengthen business relationships is to stop doing business! Invite your clients to a party, or out to dinner; spend time relaxing and chatting about anything other than work. Go to a sporting event, eat or enjoy some music…just have fun with them. People do business with people so it’s good to inject your individual personality and remind clients why they work with you.

A few weeks ago, we did just that. We hosted an Open House to thank our clients and partners for their continued support and to celebrate our new offices just blocks from Moonlight Beach in Encinitas.

In typical Clearpoint fashion, the party was beach themed with sunset-colored flowers, tiki torches, and a mellow, world-beat band setting the mood for the evening. We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again, we LOVE the beach!

We really wanted to focus on our new location, so guests enjoyed Mediterranean food from local caterers, local brews and fine wines, great music and each other’s company.  We also had the entire conference room filled with delicious bite-sized desserts from a local bakery. It quickly became one of the more popular stops on the office tour.

Special guest Denise Stillinger of the San Elijo Lagoon Conservancy.

We were also proud to make a special announcement.  In honor of our new community, combined with our fondness for marine life and proximity to the San Elijo Lagoon, team Clearpoint was inspired to donate money and PR services to the San Elijo Lagoon Conservancy. Clearpoint will help promote its 25th anniversary of protecting and preserving the natural resources of the lagoon.

Special thanks to Denise Stillinger, president of the San Elijo Lagoon Conservancy, who was able to join us to talk about the lagoon and current conservation efforts, in addition to accepting our donation. We can’t wait to get the word out about all of the great work the Conservancy does.

Clearpoint staff and guests all had fun while strengthening existing relationships, celebrating our new location and reconnecting with clients and colleagues in an inviting atmosphere. In fact, we received such positive feedback from party guests that we are hoping to make it an annual event. We are so appreciative of everyone who showed up to celebrate with us and we hope you enjoyed your chocolate lollipop party favors.

Kool & the Gang’s 1980s smash hit said it best: “Celebrate
good times, come on! Let’s celebrate!”

Check out the slide show below for more pictures from our Open House!