The Fruit of my Creativity

I wish I had known when I was in college that I would dig graphic design so much, but with lack of guidance I decided to minor in Criminal Justice. I thought if anything, I'd really enjoy the classes.

But I've always fancied dabbling in graphics. I haven't used Photoshop since college, so the fruit of my creativity comes strait from Microsoft Publisher. I know, graphics folks are cringing when they read this, but I wanted to share my latest "ghetto-design" that I'm pretty darn proud of.

http://thebrunchingbloke.blogspot.com

Not too shabby, eh? I also came up with the name for the blog!

Check out some of my other designs here.

Dogs, Frocks and Foot in Mouth

Do y'all like to dress up your pets? I find it interesting to see all these dogs in pretty decked out frocks. The other day I saw this wiener dog and he was dressed just like his hipster owner. I remarked, "wow - that's a pretty cool hipster pup." I do have to admit that he looked pretty snazzy in his lumberjack button down and straw hat.

Then, all hell broke loose. The human hipster distorted his face, looked completely appalled and then (in all caps, of course) loudly said "HE'S NOT A HIPSTER, HE'S THE SCARECROW."

Whoops.

The moral of the story is assuming something about a pet is like assuming a woman is pregnant.  Don't go there.

Wow - These Guys Get It! A Look at Social Media Success.

These companies & brands

fully understand social media,

and use it to their full advantage.

How are you leveraging your social media?

Take a look at these bright ideas…

«Extremely Diverse – The hotel focuses on art, cuisine, travel, local history, pop culture and other topics that may be of interest to their target audience. Both visitors and residents of  Dallas would find it most advantageous to follow The Adolphus.

«Highly Interactive Content – The hotel does not simply self-promote, however gives its readers the ability to be “in the know” about the hotel’s happenings and current events in Dallas.

«Shared Discussion – Their audience connects through shared discussion of their common interests, which is ultimately a goal for any brand or company participating in social media.

«Trend Setters – With all the options for Brides, The Adolphus wants to keep an interest in that market. Each month, on Facebook, the hotel features a different wedding to really showcase their beauty and services as a wedding venue.

«Highly Interactive Content – Their audience is highly interactive, both with Embroidery Online (EO) and with each other.

«Builds Community – EO asks lots of questions and encourages people to interact with their page. They show a genuine interest in what their fans have to say, and many of their fans frequently interact on their wall. Fans even post questions for other users. EO has created this central hub for anyone that loves, or wants to learn, embroidery.

«Trend Setters – They always post the latest trends and are quick with industry news. Fans know, and truly utilize, EO’s fan page for the latest news or to find out more information.

«Quick Turnaround – EO is quick to respond to their audience on both Twitter & Facebook, and creates goodwill among their fans.

«Genius Creative Content – Skittles gets people talking.  It offers fun, creative content that will leave their audience with positive thoughts and a general yearning for their candy. 

«Bold & Innovative – They have created an energetic community. Their momentum drives people to want skittles, and to potentially post how much they love skittles. They push the envelope, and everyone is buzzing about them.

«Amazing Online Presence – Not only does Skittles have an amazing number of fans and followers, they have fantastic interaction. Social Media should not only be measured by how many people follow, but how they interact. That is the ultimate goal of any brand.

«Photo Sharing – Skittles has gone beyond the encouraging “Hey – post on our wall!” and has a weekly contest for their Facebook fans. Anyone who posts a photo on their wall is eligible to win the “Rainbro of the Week.” Fans love putting their photos on Skittle’s wall, and it creates great return when fans are featured.

 Social Media needs this connection between you, the brand, and your consumers. Remember these five simple rules:

Personalize, Engage, Promote and Entertain

«Personalize: Maintain a human voice. Establish & nurture relationships. Share relevant content.

«Engage Your Audience: Encourage your audience to contribute content. Provide instant customer service, keep up with your brand and what people are saying about you. Be quick to respond to both positive and negative feedback.

«Promote: Be a trend setter. Cultivate brand awareness. Manage your reputation.

«Entertain:  Add value to your content. Build a  community for your fans. Show  them why your “friendship” is important to them, and important to you.

Kids, Kiwis & Canines!

I'm very excited about this placement Party Animals received in the July issue of Kiwi Magazine.

If you're ever needing some pet party planners, or even some ideas, check out Party Animals!

Advertising is Selling the Milk, PR is Promoting the Cow

FreeDigitalPhotos.net

To anyone not in this industry, there can be a lot of confusion between public relations, advertising and marketing. My professor in college gave us this catchy little tagline to quickly clarify the difference: "Advertising is selling the milk, PR is promoting the cow."

This saying quickly became a favorite and I included it on all the PRSSA materials when I held my presidency, and it helped a lot of students understand the very basic nature of PR.

Now with social media (wow - is this dating me?!) where does that fall in this tagline?

I would propose to say "Social media is talking about the milk, the cow and the farm" - and it's a whole lot of fun!

What do you think? How do you use social media for business?

Cross your T's, Twitter!

It's important to have both a Facebook and Twitter presence for your business. They are both very different outlets and you should be taking full advantage of them. A lot of folks like to incorporate both tweets & Facebook updates together, but in my opinion this is a bad thing to do. You want to have people follow you on both social platforms, but you don't want to feed them the same information twice. My suggestion is to rewrite your posts for each outlet - especially because twitter talk is so different from normal lingo.

The "F's" of Facebook:

• FULL MONTY: Facebook updates can provide your fan base with a lot of info - you can post photos, events, questions, links and video. And you want to do ALL of these, do not leave a stone unturned.
• FEED: You shouldn't overwhelm your followers on Facebook. Your fans want to hear from you, but not be bombarded with useless information - which is how they feel when they read your updates more often then from their BFF from college.
• FASCINATE: Engagement is key. You don't have to have a lot of followers to have excellent engagement - just interested fans. And you're in charge of keeping them interested! Facebook is a little more challenging when it comes to enchanting your audience, so it's especially rewarding when you succeed. 
• FORTIFY: Ask questions, and not just to poll kind. Your fans want to be part of a community and give you their knowledge and insight. Make sure you continuously give them the opportunity to do so.
• FLOURISH: Always respond to your fans when they write on your wall or updates. Even if it's just a click of a "like" button, make sure they know you are listening.
• FILL A VOID: Offer your fans something no one else does. For Hydrant, I update my fans about social media trends AND fun pet facts. My favorite segment is "Word at the Hydrant" where I give random pet facts. Make your page fun, think outside of the box.

And let's not forget the "T's" of Twitter:

• TEMPT: Tweets have to be done in 140 characters or less, make your followers want MORE! You can include a link with more information - short tweets usually see more engagement and clicks than long ones. And make it interesting, you want them to wonder and therefore click on your link: "Cross your T's, Twitter! LINK."
• TANTALIZE: You can send out more information than on Facebook, and get away with it! Twitter is happening so quicky, in bulk, you can get lost in the tweet clouds. Stay grounded with useful information and lots of interactions with your followers. Engagement is key, both TO others and FROM others.
• TRANSLATION: Twitter has special speak, get with the lingo! Know the basics: 
• RT is Retweet: Sharing a tweet someone else posted and giving them credit
• FF is Follow Friday: Showcase the people you enjoy hearing from most
• WW is Woof Wednesday: Showcase your favorite furry friends and organizations!
• # is a hashtag: use this to make a topic and it creates a link to the topic. "I love living in this beautiful city! #austin" so "austin" becomes a link, and when clicked anyone who hashtag's Austin will appear in a feed. 
• TWINKLE TOES: Twitter has the great capacity of being light. You don't have to put as much thought as Facebook, it's okay to update more frequently and even better to interact often.

How do you use Facebook and Twitter? 

What My Large Mexican Family Taught Me About Social Media

Photo by Visual Photos (not my family!)

I had a whole lot of family members visiting this weekend. In addition to my boyfriend, myself and my parents, we had my aunt & her family of four, another aunt and her family of four, my uncle's family of four and my grandparents. This is just half my family, by the way!

It was a mission getting all 17 of us got together (give or take a person or two!) for our various meals around Austin. So while I sat back and watched, I thought of how these restaurants or retail shops could capitalize on our invasion and get some free publicity.

If I was working at a restaurant and 17 people came in, you bet I'd take a quick photo and post it on Facebook & Twitter. Why aren't these businesses doing that? Talk about quick, free promotion. Not just with a big crowd, but anytime anything fun, unique, weird or funny happens. I bet a lot of people new to Texas have no idea what sizzling fajitas look like, or a slab of brisket cooking on the grill at a local BBQ spot. What about a really cool looking beverage? Or a guest that's wearing a funky outfit, or better yet - a tee shirt with your logo on it!

In addition to the exposure, it's really important to cater to ALL customers - big crowds and single people. Something I really hate is bad customer service, and with peer review sites like Yelp and City Search, you would think the managers of these establishments would keep an eye on us - that's a potential 17 bad reviews! And we had some pretty bad service, but I won't point any fingers.

So restaurants and business, keep in mind how taking a quick photo and putting it up on social media sites is a great way to catch people's attention, without blatantly self promoting. Encourage patrons to like your page on Facebook, tag these photos and leave comments.

What do y'all think? What opportunities have you capitalized on using social media?

Come Together on a Magical Mystery Tour

I'm pretty stoked with this flyer and upcoming event my partner and I are planning. 

I'm not a design person by profession, I don't even have Photoshop - so these moments when I put together pieces like this one make me proud! 

We wanted to put together an event that shows what Party Animals can do, and bring it all together with a really fun theme conveying something we both love.

I do it in my white spandex...

I love a good ad, this one is right up there.

We're celebrating Jack the Pug's Birthday, Doggy Style!

Media Contact:

Lisa Rodriguez, Party Animals

lisa@partyanimalsatx.com

@PartyAnimalsATX on Twitter

Birthday Parties Are Going To The Dogs

Jack the Pug’s Birthday Shindig at metrodog and he’s invited everyone

Austin, Texas – Dog owners and party goers are in for a real treat on March 26th. Jack

Adkins-Stowell is celebrating his fourth birthday, doggy style.

Party Animals will be hosting the event on Saturday, March 26th, 2011 at metrodog. An all day affair with specials and a rescue group, the party itself will run from 7pm-9pm.

The Pug Rescue of Austin will be at the event, and because it is Jack’s favorite organization he’s donating a portion of the proceeds from the party to this rescue group.

There will be pup-cake and doggy gift bags provided by It’s Pawsitively Irresistible,

Peticures from Midtown Groom and Board, Jack-a-Ritas by Treaty Oak Rum and a photo booth by Monika Kelley Photography. 

“Jack’s birthday is this month and of course he wanted to have a huge birthday bash at his store with his sister Sophie,” said Alex Stowell, co-owner of metrodog and Jack’s human. “Party Animals has been so kind to work with Jack on everything he wants and more!”

About Party Animals

Party Animals is a full service pet party planning company based in Austin, TX. Experts in the pet community, they put together fantastic events that has everyone barking about for months.  For more information, visit www.partyanimalsatx.com or join the pawty on www.facebook.com/partyanimalsatx

###

To request images, a fact sheet or to receive any additional information, please email bark@partyanimalsatx.com.

4 Things Holli Holliday Taught Us About PR on Glee!

First I want to say I don't have cable, so it's takes me a while to catch up on television. Yesterday, I saw the November 2010 Glee episode with Gweneth Paltrow and it inspired me to write about the correlation of Holli Holliday and Public Relations.

Here's how I break it down:

• Holli Holliday is the "cure for the common class," and she represents the Public Relations agency.
• Mr. Schuester represents the company or brand - "I'm the teacher - it's my job to know more than they do."
• Glee club represents the consumer

1. Mr. Schuester is stuck in his old songs (old ways) and when the students bring up a new, fun song he says things like "I found another Journey song we haven't done yet!" - This represents your ideas, and how your ideas may have been incredible in the beginning (the pilot episode ROCKED the Journey songs), however sometimes you need to keep an open mind to what's new and fresh. 
2. Buttering the floor - Your PR agency knows what is out there, who your competitors are and why you shine through. They take the horse blinders off and see the big picture. So while you may be slipping and sliding, and potentially falling on your bum on a buttered floor, your PR agency is gracefully sliding through. 
3. Ms. Holliday listens to her students, your PR agency will listen to you. She told Mr. Schu, "You don't know what they care about the most: themselves. They change their mood, they change their facebook status." You have to listen to your consumers - don't just make your brand about you, make it about them, and then they won't stop talking about you.
4. While the students love Mr. Schu, they also loved what Ms. Holliday brought to them - something different and innovative. In the end, Holli Holliday and Mr. Shu put their ideas together and made a big splash finale - and everyone was Singing In The Rain!

Snazzy new transformation - You to Page in 3...2...1...

I wanted to share with everyone how Party Animals went from 100 to 121 in less than a month on Facebook - and for our small niche local business, that's a good number!

There are a lot of tutorials out there on the new Facebook Fan Pages. But I wanted to share my quick "Wow - this kicks-doggy-butt" synopsis of it all and why it's the best for small businesses marketing.

And, viola! Your page is now being navigated by your business. Now, you can't interact with fans or other "human" pages, which is both a good and a bad thing. I'd hate it if every page I fanned was always commenting on my photos - creepy! But, with this snazzy little tool, you can connect with businesses that can help grow YOUR business!

This is Teeny's Friends page, they are a local non profit organization that gives toys to needy dogs in the community. I love this organization, so I interact whenever possible. This builds our relationship, adds interactions to Teeny Friend's which helps their SEO & indexing, and now all of their fans can see Party Animals exists. win-win-win-#winning! 

So there you have it, my super quick, über cool new way to maximize your Facebook Fan Page!

Our awkward first date...

...is what I feel my first post will basically be. At least I don't have to worry about you getting that "emergency call" half way through.

I want to briefly introduce myself and tell you why I hope we make it to a second date. 

I'm Lisa. I moved to Austin in late 2009 and I hope to never leave. Currently, I'm a Public Relations Associate for Snackbox PR & Design Agency, Pet Party Planner with Party Animals and Creative Director for Hydrant - Off Leash Marketing. The last two businesses being my startups. That's enough for my self-promotion.

Why do you want to see me again? Well, I'm going to try and make this interesting for you. I write a fun, pet blog - Haute Dog in the City - and now I want to write for the Humans! Let's chat about PR, social media and marketing. Let's watch some fun advertisements. Let's virtually party crash some events. Let's see what @CharlieSheen will tweet next. Let's just have fun together. 

What do you say?