The PR Closet

Scroll to Info & Navigation

Last Monday, I launched a series called PR Tools and touched upon several tools I thought were great for our day to day media monitoring, so today’s post is dedicated to the social media professionals/community managers. Would it help if you could monitor your Facebook page, Twitter feed and blog from one dashboard? Want to receive alerts every time your brand is mentioned online so you can respond quickly? Need help identifying the demographics and preferences of your online audiences? Well, then, allow me to share with you PR Tools: Social Media Management, Non-Paid.

Facebook Insights – If you aren’t using Facebook for your brands, then you should be. Once you have a page set up and have at least 30 “Likes,” you can begin to utilize Facebook’s free analytics platform, Insights, which provides measurements on your page’s performance. Using Insights is kind of a no-brainer, but I am shocked to learn that a lot of people on the platform still don’t utilize this tool. You can find anonymized demographic data about your audience, and see how people are discovering and responding to your posts. I utilize the tool to experiment with different types of posts to see what my audience responds to best.

Google Analytics – Another tool I use almost daily, Google Analytics is an easy to use reporting platform where you can decide what data you want to view and customize your reports. Google Analytics not only lets you measure sales and conversions, but also gives you insights into how visitors use your site, how they arrived on your site, how much time they spend on the site, when you are seeing the most/least traffic, etc. Standard membership is free, and Premium membership is an annual fee of $150K. That is not a typo. Only brands with big budgets should consider Premium membership.

Feedly – I used to live and die by my Google Reader, but since it is being retired July 1st, I switched my Google Reader feed over to Feedly, and am much happier. Feedly is an RSS feed that helps me keep up with all of my favorite websites and blogs in one place.

HootSuite – A  popular platform in the social media circuit, HootSuite is a management system for organizations to collaboratively execute social campaigns across multiple networks from a single dashboard. Used by 79% of the Fortune 100, HootSuite makes it easy to target markets with the right message, and gather actionable data to optimize your outreach campaigns. Visit HootSuite Enterprise to register for your free demo. You can subscribe for no cost, but there is a paid version as well.

Klout – Do you know what your Klout score is? Measure your social influence on this platform that aggregates your entire social presence and then uses social media analytics to rank users with an official score from 0-100. The higher the number, the more influential you are.

Social Mention – Social Mention is a social media search and analysis platform that aggregates user generated content from across the globe into a single stream of information. It allows you to easily track and measure what people are saying about you, your company, a new product, or any topic across the web’s social media landscape in real-time. Social Mention monitors 100+ social media properties directly including: Twitter, Facebook, FriendFeed, YouTube, Digg, Google etc., and you can create alerts for free.

Topsy – I just started using Topsy, and I am already a big fan of this social listening platform. It provides deep, comprehensive analyses of hundreds of billions of Tweets and web pages gathered from millions of unique websites, blogs and social media services. Topsy leverages these social conversations to index, analyze and rank content and trends. You get instant access to conversations from moments ago or even years ago, which allows you to discover new data or info, quantify it, and make strategic business decisions related to your social media strategy.

Like I mentioned last week, you don’t have to utilize every tool. I suggest signing up for the free demos and learning how each of them function to see which ones meet your needs best.

Have any other free social media management platforms you want to share info about? Let me know here or on Twitter at @ThePRCloset.

Tune in next Monday for PR Tools: Social Media Management, Paid Platforms.

I'm starting my internship with a fashion PR firm tomorrow and am completely clueless on what to wear on the first day. Any tips?

Asked by
Anonymous

Check out my FAQs, where I answer this question. Good luck!

What do I include in a social media internship resume?

Asked by
Anonymous

Well, what were your responsibilities? Who did you support on the team and how? What clients or brands did you work with or for? Did you execute any social media campaigns? If so, what were the results? Did the brand acquire more fans or increase sales as a result? These are all answers you want to think about and include on your resume. Overall, you are PRing yourself, so you want to include the highlights of the position that demonstrate your effectiveness in the role and any accomplishments. Hiring managers also love those social media buzz words like KPIs, fan acquisition, ROI, SEO, SEM, etc. Finally, tailor your resume for the job you are applying for. If you are applying for a Community Manager role, put those experiences at the top that relate. If you are applying for an e-commerce job, SEO knowledge might be more valuable, and so on.

Hi! I just completed an internship at a Fashion PR firm in NYC and my supervisors told me to "keep in touch." How can I keep the connection open with this company?

Asked by
Anonymous

You can check in every 3 months or so and give your former supervisor an update as to what is going on with you, but after you ask how they are doing and maybe congratulate them on a recent campaign or make note of a launch you saw that you know they worked on. I know most internship supervisors dislike when a former intern just reaches out to talk about themselves or when they send “what can you still do for me” emails, asking for more favors, etc. However, when you make the connection a dialogue, it goes a lot further. Also, make sure you have something to say. If you don’t have any updates, wait until you do so that the conversation can be more fruitful. 

Hi! I'm a junior in high school and am really looking into beauty PR. I wanted to start a youtube channel and become a beauty guru, but do you feel that that would help or hurt my career in PR?

Asked by
Anonymous

There are a million YouTube channels out there with people claiming to be “beauty gurus” but they have absolutely no experience working in beauty and no credentials or credibility, so I ask you, what are your credentials? PR aside, why would or should people tune in to your channel to watch you? Maybe you should work in beauty for a few years and then start something like that so you actually have experience to back up what you are saying. Back to your question, I don’t think a channel really matters when it comes to your PR career, although you may not be able to speak as freely about products on your channel if you represent a brand that could be a competitor to the brands you want to talk about on YouTube. If you simply love beauty and just want to share that passion, it could be a nice outlet as well. Go for it if you really believe it is the right move, but I would spend your time now trying to get internships and working in the industry a bit.

A well known recruiting firm is looking for an experienced PR Account Supervisor with beauty experience. Candidate should be at the AS level now or at the Senior Account Executive level for the past couple of years.  The position is with a boutique NYC agency. 

Interested and QUALIFIED candidates should e-mail resumes to bonnie@susanharris.com. Please reference this job listing on The PR Closet.

Good luck!

As part of the SPOTLIGHT ON…EDITORS Series, I am honored to introduce you to Carolyn Hsu, an accomplished editor and beauty blogger whose blog TheDailyObsession.net (a lifestyle site that covers topics from beauty to fashion to travel ) has become my personal daily obsession ever since I started working with her a few years ago.  Carolyn is not only the co-founder and editor of The Daily Obsession, but she is also the voice behind The Hsu Closet, a personal style blog that spotlights her current cravings. As you can imagine, Carolyn spends a lot of time working with publicists, so she spared some time (which she clearly doesn’t have a lot of) to speak to me about her career path and how we, as PR pros, can work better with bloggers. Meet Carolyn…

Name:  Carolyn Hsu

Position and company:  Editor/blogger: TheDailyObsession.net, TheHsuCloset.com, Freelance beauty and travel writer, Freelance digital consultant 

Describe your job in one sentence:  Creating digital content (both editorial and for brands)

Where did you go to school?  University of Washington

What was your major?  I doubled in Economics and International Relations 

First internship?  I interned at a marketing/management consultancy in Seattle called MI Group

First job?  I worked in digital marketing for Microsoft right after college

Did you move in order to pursue your career?  Microsoft actually relocated me to NYC from Seattle because they were growing their digital marketing and media team out here since so many of their clients were East Coast based. While I was working there full time, however, I had already started The Daily Obsession and being in New York gave me the opportunity to grow the blog in a way that would not have been possible had I lived somewhere else. Being in New York allowed me to go to events, get my name out there in the industry, and network with people both on the brand side as well as other bloggers and editors. Eventually, I transitioned into the beauty/fashion/luxury industry full time, and that would not have been possible (being able to interview with certain companies, networking with the right people) had I not already been in the city.

Favorite part of your job?  I love always being on the bleeding edge of what’s new. Of course when it comes to blogging and finding interesting content to write about, I always try to find out what’s coming out, who are emerging talent, and what the next great thing is. But even when I flip over to the digital marketing side (I consult for a number of luxury brands), I’m also always thinking about what’s innovative in the digital space and how to connect with the brand’s audience in a new way. 

Least favorite part of your job?  I feel like I’m always on deadline. And my overflowing e-mail inbox. 

Biggest accomplishment so far in your career?  I entered the world of fashion and beauty through a rather untraditional way. I didn’t intern within the industry, nor did I even work in fashion or beauty when my career first took off. In fact, it wasn’t until I already had 4 or 5 years of work experience that I realized where my passions really lay, but I didn’t want to sacrifice all the time I had already put in and start over again in the beginning. In some ways, I consider being able to have made a lateral move (I started my first “real” job in fashion as a Senior Manager) into to be one of my biggest career accomplishments. That and having kept my blog going and growing for over seven years. 

Biggest lesson learned to date in your career?  You have to have good people skills and be able to work across a wide variety of personalities to succeed in the industry. 

Best work advice?  Pay attention to details — yes the exciting thing is the “big idea” but the nitty gritty is where it gets executed, and to do your job well, you have to pay attention to those little details. If you’re a writer or editor, things like typos and incorrect grammar are not ok, even if they seem minor. 

How do you prefer to be pitched?  What constitutes a good pitch? I prefer a personalized e-mail over a mass template even though I understand that is not always possible. What really annoys me, however, is when I respond to a pitch and all of a sudden the publicist is nowhere to be found. In order to do a good job pitching, a publicist needs to know who s/he is talking to and understand how the brand would be a good fit for the outlet that s/he is pitching.

In your opinion, what can publicists improve upon in general?  There are some great publicists out there, but there are also a lot that could stand to do a little (or a lot) more research before pitching.

Events or in person meetings?  I like both. I like events first and then in person meetings after a relationship has already been established.

One piece of advice you have for publicists reaching out to bloggers is… don’t offer a “high res image” (at least, understand that most blog graphics only require a “low res image”).  Most, if not all, beauty bloggers rely on trying the product in order to create the content for their review since they are writing from a first person POV.  For beauty PR, if you can’t send a sample, then offer to send a mini or a lab sample, but if you don’t have anything, don’t pitch bloggers who are mostly writing product reviews. 

In this industry, the most important thing is… your reputation.

In order to succeed in this industry, you… must network.

If you weren’t a blogger, you’d be… a luxury travel writer/editor (dream job).

How can my readers follow you?  On twitter at @tdailyobsession or @carolyn_hsu

As publicists, we juggle a multitude of responsibilities that make our jobs quite challenging, and therefore, rely on great PR tools to help cut through the clutter and make our jobs a bit easier. The problem is that a lot has happened since the days of relying on hard copy Burrelle’s clippings to monitor media placements and PR tools have evolved to a point where the clutter has become the tools themselves.

That said, I have surveyed a number of my PR pals (and my team, because, let’s face it, they are using these tools way more now than I am) about the best tools out there, and have compiled the list below based on our collective experiences using these tools to take the mystery out of what to use and why.  Allow me to share with you PR Tools: Media Monitoring…

360 MediaWatch – A broadcast monitoring service, 360 MediaWatch is a favorite in our office.  They turn around digital files in 15 minutes or less, charge less than their competitors, and messenger us DVDs in a flash.  They are a small company, making them easy to work with and incredibly responsive at all hours.  Furthermore, they do not charge for pulling data or stats (viewership, ad value, etc).  Critical Mention and MetroMonitor are also great broadcast monitoring services.

AllMedia – Speaking of Critical Mention, their team understands how the importance of broadcast affects our PR/marketing strategies in traditional news coverage, blogs, social media, review sites and forums.  With that in mind, they created AllMedia to help communications professionals understand the relationships between these mediums and the influence and effect they have on each other, so that we can ultimately create the right strategy for each.

Cision – True to their tagline, Cision “has your story covered” as the leading global provider of PR software and services including media monitoring, media list building, press release distribution, and media analysis.  I still use Cision to this day to build media lists, research media outlet stats, etc.  I know it seems like a given, but it is worth the mention. Get a free demo at cision.com.

Google Alerts (GAs) – You are probably already using them, but GAs are emails sent to you when Google finds new results – such as web pages, newspaper articles, or blogs – that match your search term. You can use GAs to monitor anything on the Web, and signing up is easy to do and free. A lot of publicists have issues with the accuracy and reliability of these alerts, so many have switched over to the free service Talkwalker Alerts, which allows you to import your current GAs.  Similar to GAs, searches can be filtered and you can still get alerted instantly or just once a day via email. Which service is better is just a matter of preference.

HARO – Stands for Help a Reporter Out, which is exactly what it was created to do by connecting news leads (press/writers) with sources (publicists). You have to do some digging to find your leads, but the topics are categorized and pretty easy to follow—and you can sign up for free.

Netvibes – A real-time, personalized dashboard that is part tracking tool, part analytics, Netvibes allows you to not only monitor client mentions, but also publish social media updates. Netvibes lets you deep dive into the analytics, as well as create customized dashboards for presentations and general reporting. There is a free trial, but the final price tag is a bit hefty for smaller brands.  If you work for a number hungry exec, the ROI is there.

PRWeb.com – The newswires that some PR pros still use ignore bloggers, social networks and other important media, not to mention they are costly. For all-round awareness and coverage at a fraction of the cost, you need to sign up for a free account at PRWeb, which will distribute your news to search engines, journalists, & news sites like Yahoo!  And of course using PR Newswire to distribute releases still works as well.

Tribe Dynamics – Want to identify the new influencers that fit your brand?  This new social listening software could be the answer to all of our ambassador management prayers, helping PR pros manage and measure media outreach as well as social chatter.  The focus is on digital health, beauty, and fashion bloggers/influencers, which is right up our alley, and the platform is easy to use and affordable to subscribe to—and the Founders are two brilliant guys who couldn’t be nicer.

Who Represents – A database of talent representatives for Hollywood actors, professional athletes, and musicians alike, Who Represents is a subscription based site that provides info on who represents talent or who is represented by a certain agent or publicist.  If you have been in PR as long as I have, you are using this already, I am sure.  If you’re a PR newbie, you will be.

Of course, these are just a few of the many wonderful PR tools out there, and you must make sure that when you add a tool to your toolbox, that it will actually help you build your brand the right way and meet your needs. Not all tools are right for everyone.  Some may need a hammer; others, a wrench…

Next Monday, check back for PR Tools: Social Media Management & Measurement.

Have any PR tools you love, but weren’t mentioned? I’d love to hear about them at @ThePRCloset.

(Photo credit: ifyougiveamomahammer.blogspot.com)

Push the Envelope PR is a boutique PR agency specializing in fashion, beauty, baby and lifestyle brands. They are seeking interns to hire ASAP, per their post below:

Dynamic boutique public relations agency is hiring interns who are ready to roll.

Welcome to luxury and pop culture PR heaven with amazing opportunities for hard working, career-minded, experienced persons to support savvy PR team. Clients are fashion, beauty, home and baby accounts.

You will:

  • Have campaign involvement
  • Be pitching editors and placing stories
  • Learn a lot

You must:

  • Have excellent writing skills, creativity, be detailed oriented, very organized and able to work independently as well as part of a team
  • Be hip and connected to what is new and why
  • Know magazines, blogs and celebrity driven outlets
  • Be in or a graduate of a college program for PR, Marketing, Journalism or have valid PR experience

Great if you:

  • Have previous agency experience
  • Are knowledgeable with design programs such as PhotoShop and Adobe ImageReady
  • Impress us with your energy, drive, sense of humor, communication, conversational and selling skills and talent

Positions available for interns who can dedicate 2-3 days beginning May for the semester or on-going.  Non-paid, school credit for time can be arranged.

Please email resume, cover letter and writing sample to info@pushtheenvelopepr.com

image

image

Name: Jamie Krell

Age:  32

Company: Self Employed  

Describe your job: I appear on a variety of television shows including: The Today Show, The View, Access Hollywood, E! News, EXTRA, The Talk, Good Day LA, etc…to feature beauty, fashion and lifestyle brands. Although an average TV segment is about five minutes, it actually takes countless hours of producing and preparation. From coming up with a segment topic and theme to researching and finding the best brands, products or styles that work for the segment to writing it up, taking photos, pulling looks, booking models, styling outfits, returning samples and being well-versed to delivering all the proper messaging for the brands. It’s similar to an editor choosing their favorites, except I curate segments and share what I’ve put together on national and regional television platforms. 

Where did you go to school? University of Arizona 

What was your major? Interdisciplinary Fine Arts Studies (Three majors combined: Retailing and Consumer Sciences, Studio Art, Theatre Arts) 

First internship? I was an intern for the costume designer of Friends. 

Did you move to NY/LA/any city to pursue your career? If so, do you think you could have gotten the job you have without moving? Two weeks after I graduated college I moved to LA and started working at E! Entertainment. I started as a production assistant and worked for a variety of shows at E! and Style Network until I ultimately became a producer. I was there for almost 5 years. Then I moved to New York to work in PR. 

First PR job? I was hired to develop a broadcast division at a major beauty and fashion PR agency in New York City. Since I had been a former TV producer, the transition made sense in my career and I was up for a new challenge.   

Favorite part of your job? Developing relationships over the years with hard-working, like-minded women in the business. So many of them have become friends and we root for each other and support each other as we grow.  

Least favorite part of your job?  Never shutting off. I’m trying to work on that…

Favorite brands (brands you think are launching great PR campaigns)? Right now, the solid brands I like with strong PR behind them are T.J. Maxx, Drybar and Tom Ford Beauty. 

How do publicists work with you? What will/won’t work as a pitch?  The process works two ways. Publicists pitch me with new items and ideas for each season, all year long. I also reach out to them and share the segments/projects that I’m working on to see if they have anything that fits. If they do, they send me info and samples and we take it from there. 

As far as pitching goes…those mass, mega, email blasts don’t really do it for me. I appreciate a well thought out pitch, someone who gets right back to me with the information I need or takes the time to pick up the phone or meet in person. And most of all, I appreciate a publicist who sends me a note or emails me right after a segment to say thank you. I always remember those people.  

How do you prefer to be contacted/pitched?  Once a relationship is established, the absolute best thing a publicist can do is send me the products to test and try. Or if it’s a fashion segment, I need to go into the store and pull or receive samples so I can see everything in person. Getting an email with a press release is not enough. I can’t go on TV and share something with millions of viewers if I have not tried it. Publicists that go out of their way to make sure I have the newest products and launches are the ones I always call first. 

Biggest accomplishment so far in your career? Being called by EXTRA to style a fashion segment and shoot it WITH Jennifer Lopez herself at the Grove in front of 7,000 people. A week after we shot it, a picture of us appeared in The New York Times style section with a reference to the looks I put together. It’s framed in my office, of course. Shooting with Barbara Walters and Regis Philbin would be at the top of my list too! 

Best work advice? The costume designer of Friends told me one day that my job was to sweep the floor. She recommended that I sweep the floor better than anyone else had before.  I never forgot that and I try to apply that philosophy to everything I do. No matter how big or small the task, I want to do the best possible job. 

You can’t live without your…magazines! They give me such great inspiration and ideas for television segments.  

In order to succeed, you…need to say yes. Say yes to meetings, drinks, dinners, lunches, anything and everything…especially when you’re first starting out. Meeting people is key. And then of course, you need to work hard, be consistent and overly prepared. 

If you weren’t doing this, you’d be…doing something in a creative field. Maybe event planning, fashion design or a chef (I love to cook!) 

How can my readers follow you?

Twitter @jamiebkrell

Instagram @jamiekrell

Blog www.jamiekrell.com

I am starting college this fall and have been looking into my prereqs for my public relations major which includes a foreign language requirement. As a girl who definitely wants to enter the fashion industry post graduation, would French or Italian be more useful? (I am also a dual Italian citizen although no one in my immediate family speaks Italian) Thanks!

Asked by
Anonymous

That is a great question, but a hard one to answer. Both will serve you well, as Paris and Milan are fashion capitals of the world. I would lean towards French, as there are so many French fashion and beauty brands, and I myself have often kicked myself for not knowing French working in this industry, but you have to ask yourself if you might want to learn Italian because it is also part of your heritage? That is equally as important. Again, either will benefit you long term, as any foreign language is a bonus for you both personally and professionally.

I'm a bit of a late bloomer getting into the PR game, but I LOVE it! I don't have a degree, but am considering applying for the PR Certificate Program offered by MediaBistro. Would that, paired with some internship experience combine to make a good starting off point from an education perspective??

Asked by
Anonymous

It is a good start, but try to take courses that require classroom attendance as well, not just online ones. PR is so much about interacting with other people, working in teams, etc, so you need some interactive classes as well. The best way to learn is via the internship, but they are hard to come by, so learn the fundamentals first and take it from there. Good luck!

Name: Casey Carter

Age: 27

Position/Company: Social Media and Digital Marketing Manager, SoulCycle

Where did you go to school? American University

What was your major? Print Journalism and French

First internship? My first internship was during my senior year of high school at Baltimore Magazine.  Since it’s a smaller publication, I had the tremendous opportunity to help out in a variety of departments, including assisting the Style Editor on photo shoots, fact checking, attending events, etc.  They even let me write a couple articles for the magazine – my first bylines!

First PR job? Less than a week after college graduation, I piled into a U-Haul with a friend and made the move from DC to NYC to work as an Account Coordinator at Creative Media Marketing, a boutique beauty PR agency. I had a couple PR internships during college (the Australian Embassy and APCO), so I figured this would be the best way to break into the industry.  I was thrown into the trenches on day one and immediately learned what it meant to work in the fast-paced world of NYC PR.

Did you move to NY to pursue your career in social media? My dream was to move to NYC and land a job “a million girls would kill for” in 2007… a magazine editor.  When an offer letter came in from a job in PR instead, I figured it would be my ticket to NYC (most of us need a job to live here, right?) and also be able to work with magazines.  

Fast forward a couple of years and social media started to become “a thing”, but the PR agency where I worked at the time wasn’t receptive to my ideas of including social media as part of our PR strategy. My former boss was working at Attention, a 20-person social media start-up agency (which quickly grew to 200 employees), and lured me in by saying employees were paid to play on Facebook.  As a social media devotee, this was all I needed to hear. I made the jump from PR Agency to Social Media Agency and in the last year, made the move in-house and couldn’t be happier.

Favorite part of your job?  Have you ever heard the phrase “The work you do while you procrastinate is probably the work you should be doing for the rest of your life?”  This is how I feel every day. I get to do the work I love the most for the brand I love the most.  I hadn’t worked out in years, but fell head over heels for SoulCycle just days before I learned about the job. For me, it was fate.

Least favorite part of your job? Figuring out boundaries.  Whether it’s for work or for play, I’m connected 24/7. Social media is the last thing I do before I go to bed and the first thing I do when I wake up, but sometimes, you need to turn the iPhone off and breath or you’ll go crazy.

Favorite brands? What Tough Mudder is doing in social media right now is amazing.  Even if you’re not participating in one of their events, their social media content is inspiring!

Who were/are your mentors?  Jessica Goldberg, Social Media Manager at Barney’s NY.  She was my first boss out of college and then the one who brought me into the social media world years later.  There have definitely been times where we butted heads while working together, but ultimately, she has taught me more about work and life in the last six years than I ever thought possible.

Best work advice? “No job is too small” – Elizabeth Cutler and Julie Rice, co-founders of SoulCycle.

As a social media manager, you can’t live without your… iPhone and lattes.

In order to succeed in social media, you… need to be okay with not working 9-5.  Think about when people are on social media the most – it’s probably when they’re not at their 9-5.  You need to adjust your schedule accordingly.

If you weren’t a social media manager, you’d be… a travel writer.

How can my readers follow you or your brand? www.soul-cycle.com or on Twitter at @soulcycle. Follow Casey at @CaseyCulture.

There has been a lot of talk about mentoring lately, particularly when it comes to female mentors and mentees.  Sheryl Sandberg, COO of Facebook, kick started this conversation again in a big way when she covered the topic in her book Lean In and basically said that she thinks the concept of mentorship is overrated and that women rely too much on mentors.  Sandberg argues that the current emphasis in corporate America on women finding mentors who coach you wastes everyone’s time. For women in senior level positions like herself, she says being asked to be a mentor “is a total mood killer” that she seems to find annoying.  For the mentees, she suggests a “do it yourself” approach, saying, “We need to stop telling them, ‘Get a mentor and you will excel.’ Instead, we need to tell them, ‘Excel and you will get a mentor.’”

I personally, yet respectfully, disagree with Sandberg, and think this is the wrong way to look at mentoring. I preface all of this by saying that I have had incredible mentors along the way and attribute much of my success to their guidance combined with my own drive and hard work. This is not to say that you have to find a mentor to succeed, but it can be quite beneficial if you do, particularly early on in your career when you need some solid direction.  This is precisely why I started the blog—to mentor aspiring beauty & fashion publicists, and this is why I am partnering with a dear friend and PR pro to launch beauty PR workshops this summer.  I feel I owe it to my mentors to pay it forward.

This past week, I attended a Cosmetic Executive Women (CEW) Young Executives Networking Event and the theme was mentorship. Very accomplished women spoke about how they got to where they are because they were mentored, and have now taken on their own mentees.  There was definitely a feeling of camaraderie in the room—a sisterhood of women who wanted to help other women.  So that brings me to my favorite mentoring networks that you can look into as a mentor, mentee or both:

CEW Mentornet is the beauty industry’s only online mentoring program.  It allows you to connect and build relationships with other beauty professionals.  Mentors/advisors can exercise their leadership, sharpen skills, share their knowledge, ideas and experiences, and inspire others who are looking to develop their careers in this industry.  Mentees can gain valuable career guidance, learn new skills, help set future career goals, and expand their network.  And because CEW Mentornet is online, you don’t have to be NY based to reap the benefits.  CEW is an incredible organization of highly accomplished beauty industry professionals—there is no organization out there like it for what we do, so to be a part of CEW is truly invaluable and a great honor. (For more info, click here).

The New York Women in Communications Foundation Mentoring Program is one I have personally been involved in for a few years now.  As a NYWICI mentor, you can share your professional expertise and experience to help others learn, grow and succeed.  Based on a personal profile you fill out, NYWICI matches mentors with a mentee chosen from NYWICI’s student and young professional members.  The relationship is structured by you and your mentee so it best meets your collective needs, and can include in-person, phone and/or e-mail communications based on your availability.  NYWICI provides you with training, coaching and support to ensure your mentoring experience is a rewarding one. (For more info, click here).

Again, these are just two of my favorite mentoring programs, but you can look into women’s leadership & mentoring programs in your area as well—and keep reading The PR Closet!  The point is that if you want to develop this type of connection, there are plenty of opportunities to do so.  As Michael Gould, CEO of Bloomingdale’s recently said: “10% is securing the mentor—90% is what you do with it…”