19 tools to craft engaging social media content

This article originally appeared on PR Daily in September of 2017.

Creating stellar social media content takes time.

You have to decide what type of content to create along with how you can customize your social media posts for each platform—and find time to craft several visuals, videos and more.

With the right resources, you can save time and create outstanding pieces of social media content in minutes.

Here are 19 tools you can use:

1. Turn blog posts into engaging videos with Lumen5 .

By analyzing the content of your blog post, Lumen5 automatically creates a video storyboard for you. It recommends relevant images and videos, which you can easily use by dragging and dropping onto the respective frames.

Price: Free or $49 per month

2. Carry a pocket TV studio with BIGVU Teleprompter .

If you often retake your videos because you can’t remember what to say, use BIGVU Teleprompter. It displays your script as you record your video, so you can easily refer to it. With its web video editor, you can also spice up your video by changing the background and adding captions.

Price: Free, $8.99 per month or $49.99 per year

3 . Easily make excellent videos with Animoto.

Animoto helps you turn your photos and video clips into video slideshows with minimal effort. It’s one of the few video tools that let you easily create square videos, too.

Price: $16 per month, $42 per month or $64 per month (Annual subscriptions are up to 50 percent cheaper)

4. Quickly craft social media videos with Rocketium.

With Rocketium, you can create videos for social media or advertising in minutes. Easily switch between different video orientations, and Rocketium will automatically resize your media files and captions accordingly.

Price: Free, $19 per month, $49 per month, $149 per month or enterprise pricing (Annual subscriptions are at the price of 10 months.)

5. Create an explanation video in minutes with Animaker.

Animaker makes it possible (and easy) to create animated videos with impressive effects without needing any technical skills in creating animations. It also has over 40 templates you can use to create your animated video.

Price: Free, $12 per month, $25 per month or $49 per month (Annual subscriptions are slightly cheaper.)

6. Make audio clips from your phone with Anchor.

Anchor is a social media platform for audio. With its app, you can easily create audio recordings and videos that are great for sharing on social media.

Price: Free

7. Create simple visuals for social media through Canva.

Canva is one of our favorite design tools for creating social media graphics. You can create high-quality graphics quickly using its library of templates, layouts, and design elements—even on the free plan.

Price: Free, $12.95 per user per month or enterprise pricing

[RELATED: Join us in San Jose for the Brand Storytelling & Content Marketing Conference at Intel.]

8. Simplify graphic design with Crello.

Crello is a new graphic design tool that is very similar to Canva. Its advantage is that it offers more than 10,000 free design templates, 11,000 design elements and 65 million stock images.

Price: Free (Some design elements are $0.99.)

9. Design engaging content through Adobe Spark.

Adobe Spark is a design tool that complements Canva. It offers several unique features such as resizing, color palettes, and more. Apart from templates that you can remix, Adobe Spark has a feature that suggests design styles to you.

Price: Free (with branding that can be removed for a limited time)

10. Double your online engagement through Stencil.

Stencil was built to help create social media graphics faster. Apart from its web app, it also has browser extensions that can grab an image or text from any website you visit and convert it into a beautiful graphic to share on social media.

Price: Free, $9 per month or $18 per month

11. Create easy infographics, reports and presentations with Piktochart.

Piktochart is one of the most popular design tools for creating infographics. With the free plan, you can create an unlimited number of images and choose from over 4,000 icons and images. Use these 18 Piktochart hacks to help you save time and create better infographics.

Price: Free, $15 per month or $29 per month (Annual subscriptions are 17 percent cheaper.)

12. Build infographics, charts and maps through Infogram.

Infogram offers over 35 types of charts, 500 types of maps and a plethora of images and icons to help you beautifully visualize your data.

Price: Free, $25 per month, $79 per month, $149 per month or enterprise pricing (Annual subscriptions are up to 24 percent cheaper.)

13. Turn your data into graphs and charts using Google Sheets.

You can use Google Sheets to quickly turn analytics and data into visuals.

Price: Free

14. Record GIFs via GIPHY Capture.

GIPHY Capture enables Mac users to record anything on your screen with just a few clicks, which it then turns into a looping image.

Price: Free

15. Visually communicate through CloudApp.

You can use CloudApp as your go-to tool for grabbing a screenshot and adding annotations or recording a video of your screen (or yourself). You can also use it to create GIFs.

Price: $9 per month, $10 per user per month, $19 per user per month or enterprise pricing

16. Turn anything into a GIF using gifs.com.

Not only does gifs.com enable you to quickly create GIFs, you can also add many effects, such as captions, stickers, padding and more.

Price: Free or $7.99/month to remove the watermark

17. Harness the power of remixing with Studio.

With Studio, you can tap into the design skills of its community. Apart from creating original designs, you can remix existing designs from users, which is especially useful if you want to add a quote or statistic to an existing image.

Price: Free

18. Design quotes and graphics on the go through Typorama.

Typorama makes it easy for iOS users create stellar graphics on your mobile device. You can create images in several sizes, which you can then use for an Instagram story, Facebook cover photo, Twitter post and more. (WordSwag is a great alternative to Typorama on Android.)

Price: Free, $4.99 to remove the watermark or $5.99 to unlock everything

19. Craft beautiful product mockups and videos with Placeit.

Placeit lets you to showcase your digital product and designs in realistic environments, helping you save the time and money that would have been spent on a photo shoot.

Price: Free, one-time purchase, $29 per month, $99 per month or $199 per month

With the right tools, videos and infographics that used to take hours to create can now be done in minutes to share on social media.

What’s your favorite social media content creation tool, and how do you use it to create social media content quickly?

Alfred Lua is a content crafter at Buffer. A version of this article originally appeared on the company’s blog.

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Certainty as a Service, and The Consumer Opportunities Enabled by a Home OS — Geek Estate Mastermind Newsletter #43

Last week, Greg went deep on “Certainty as a Service”, as a follow up to his piece the previous week on certainty for all. When reverse engineering the components that add up to a sum of certainty that Opendoor and Zillow are selling into the marketplace, he posits they revolve around a few core concepts; inspect, warrant, cash, carry, and float, which make up the ecosystem of certainty as a service.

Greg and I both believe Certainty as a Service (CaaS) will be a major topic of conversation in the months and years ahead as practitioners strategize how to compete against iBuyers.

I dove into the “Home OS” opportunity, an iteration of my previous thinking on the history of a home. We all know operating systems are the core of every computer, phone, and, soon to be car. Eventually, software will control the home as well. A few of the major consumer opportunities that will be enabled as a result are security, inventory management, a financial dashboard, partial ownership, and a home services marketplace.

Weekly Radar Sample

ADVICE ABOUT ADVISORS
Elie Finegold, who is a real estate and technology entrepreneur and advisor (EIR at MetaProp), posted The Advisor’s advice about Advisors. As someone who has been on both sides of this equation many times, there are some critical pieces of advice Elie shares. Notably, the importance of respecting an advisors relationships and having an agenda sent in advance. I’m always surprised with how many entrepreneurs don’t have a strong answer when asked: “What do you need help with?” – DM

WE DONT NEED NO EDUCATION
More stories are surfacing about the success of graduates from coding schools who seem to find well-paying careers at unbelievable rates. I was lucky to office out of General Assembly when I lived in New York and the quality of most of these schools is top notch, even online. Besides, “According to LinkedIn’s analysis of its 500 million users, emerging online educational platforms like Udacity, FreeCodeCamp, and General Assembly have each placed more full-stack engineers into jobs this past year than any American university.”  -GF

Mastermind Member News

• GeoCV partners with Halstead for 3D home tour that will blow minds.
• The Information mentioned Ribbon as a startup shaking up home buying.

As a reminder, the purpose of the Geek Estate Mastermind is two fold:

1. Curate the world’s most innovative and diverse community of real estate creatives, doers, and pioneers.
2. Make our members wildly successful in their careers building real estate companies.

If you want to read the entire newsletter, and future weekly editions, please apply for a Mastermind membership below.

Apply for Membership

The post Certainty as a Service, and The Consumer Opportunities Enabled by a Home OS — Geek Estate Mastermind Newsletter #43 appeared first on GeekEstate Blog.

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Top Signs You Are a Travel Addict

Updated: 8/29/2018 | August 29th, 2018

The travel bug. Chances are if you’re on this website, you’ve got it (or will soon). If you’re always dreaming of far-flung adventures, pining for a change of scenery, or incessantly adding things to your Bucket List then I have some news for you: you are a travel addict.

And there is no cure.

Once you are infected with the travel bug, it never leaves your system. It only gets worse. You’re going to be hooked for life!

But that’s ok because you’re not alone! I have the bug – and everything I do revolves around travel. Travel is always on my mind, and I’m constantly planning my next trip. Sound familiar?

In case you’re worried you might be infected with the travel bug, here are some signs you might be a travel addict too:

You start all your stories with “When I was in…..”

You’re always asking friends to go on trips.

You’ve watched everything related to travel on Netflix.

Anthony Bourdain will always be your spirit animal. (RIP)

You’ve also seen every episode of No Reservations and Parts Unknown.

You read guidebooks for fun.

You plan trips you will never take.

Google Flights is your homepage.

You’ve signed up for every flight deal newsletter in the world.

You always ask people “Where are you from?” even when you can tell by their accent.

You wear flip-flops in the shower.

You take toilet paper everywhere you go out of habit.

Google Translate and XE Currency Converter are two of your most-used apps.

You have more than one currency in your wallet (just in case).

You keep a packed suitcase handy.

You have a travel playlist on your iPod.

You speak in airport codes, not city names.

You have more SIM cards than you can count.

You can tell where people have been by the cheesy logos and sayings on their shirts. (Same Same = Thailand, Yellow Star = Vietnam)

You have elite flyer status on multiple airlines.

You attend travel conferences multiple times a year.

You don’t have paintings on the wall — you have maps.

If you haven’t been anywhere in a few months, you get the shakes.

You can breeze through airport security with your eyes closed.

You spend two hours each day reading travel blogs and travel websites.

You subscribe to multiple travel magazines.

No matter how often you travel, your bucket list is always getting longer, not shorter.

When you think of prices, you value things in terms of how many days in your next destination it costs. “That TV is 10 days in Paris! Let’s get this one — it’s only 5 days!”

You don’t do cash back. You do points.

You have a collection of luggage tags that have been gifted by friends and family over the holiday.

You pretend you are a travel writer.

When people ask you about your hobbies, all your answers contain the word “travel.”

Some people cry when they leave home. You cry when you have to go back.

When people ask you your profession, you say vagabond.

You filled your first passport before the first year was over.

You have trips planned for next decade – just for fun.

You keep your used guidebooks in your bookcase as a badge of honor.

You have a map tattooed somewhere on your body.

You plan your next trip while on a current trip.

People you haven’t spoken to since kindergarten randomly message you on Facebook asking you for advice about their upcoming trip.

You write a travel addict post.

Book Your Next Trip: Logistical Tips and Tricks

Book Your Flight
Find a cheap flight to your dream destination by using Skyscanner or Momondo. They are my two favorite search engines. Start with Momondo.

Book Your Accommodation
To book a hostel for your next trip, use Hostelworld. If you want to stay elsewhere, use Booking.com as they consistently return the cheapest rates. (Here’s the proof.)

Don’t Forget Travel Insurance
Travel insurance will protect you against illness, injury, theft, and cancellations. I never ever go on a trip without it. I’ve been using World Nomads for ten years. You should too.

Need Some Gear?
Check out our resource page for the best companies to use!

Want More Information?
Be sure to visit our robust collection of free destination guides  for even more planning tips!

 

Want to meet other travel addicts? Come join our awesome travel Facebook group, The Nomadic Network! It’s an online community where you can meet other travelers, share tips, and get advice. Check it out today!

The post Top Signs You Are a Travel Addict appeared first on Nomadic Matt's Travel Site.

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30 jobs in the PR and marketing world

Anything that sets you apart in a field of qualified contenders is helpful.

So, in a sea of job applicants—especially when they’re vying for that plum job you’re angling for—what skills will make waves with hiring managers?

[RELATED: Get the skills you need to become a trusted advisor to leaders.]

In her piece for Monster, Sally Buffalo asserts: “These are the 9 skills that would make any hiring manager happy.”

Here is a sampling of the skills included, along with her explanation and our elaboration:

Critical thinking

Managers are busy, and many would prefer not to get involved with a problem if it can be remedied without them. Making an executive decision—after careful analysis, of course—will help you gain your leaders’ respect.

Buffalo states:

Critical thinking is the ability to make good decisions, and take appropriate action to solve problems. All employers everywhere value this ability, which also encompasses analytical skills like gathering and evaluating information.

Creativity

Whether it’s discovering new ways to pitch a story, crafting a unique social media post that earns engagement or writing a blog post that tackles a topic from a fresh perspective, these creative endeavors are essential for successful communications. Tired, ineffective tactics won’t cut it.

Buffalo states:

This word can really do a lot for a candidate’s profile. Creativity, as it pertains to the working world, means having a knack for coming up with imaginative and original ways to solve problems or create new value. This is about more than just innovation. This is about seeing something that isn’t there, then making it appear.

Data management

Scads of data are available to boost your communications efforts and your organization’s bottom line—but they are useless if you don’t understand them. Being able to make sense of mounds of metrics and identify what’s working (and what can be ditched) is an incredibly useful quality for employees.

Buffalo says:

Understanding, researching, translating and compiling data are increasingly valued abilities in many industries. The amount of data companies collect and manage has exploded in recent years and employees need to be comfortable working with all that information. Data can be any type of information that has meaning and needs context: A study your company commissions on a specific area of industry analysis, a spreadsheet containing your company’s lapsed customers, or even a report on how a single post on a single social media platform performed.

In her “5 skills that will impress every hiring manager” piece for The Muse, Becky (Fisher) Karsh takes this idea a step further by including an understanding of Excel.

In-depth knowledge of that facile Microsoft tool can make you a highly desirable job candidate.

Karsh shares:

What’s the most important tool in your quantitative analysis arsenal? Excel. While you can learn how to use it on the job, many jobs don’t want (or don't have time) to teach employees how to do it. So, if you come in knowing how to proficiently use Excel—and I mean really use it—you’ll save your employer tons of time and be much more marketable as a new hire.

Got your interview skills sharpened, résumé polished and those skills locked down?

The Colorado Health Institute seeks a communications specialist in Denver.

It summarizes the position:

The Colorado Health Institute seeks a thoughtful communications professional to help us expand our readership and community impact through social media, website content curation, targeted news releases and application of website analytics. The position might also include design of publications and informational graphics, as well as writing and editing.

Not the job for you? See what else we have in our weekly professional pickings:

Communications senior specialist—Cargill (Minnesota)

Senior strategic communications manager and Infosys managing editor—Autodesk (California)

Chief marketing officer—University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (Illinois)

Communications specialist—Devereux Advanced Behavioral Health (Pennsylvania)

Social media strategist—Lynn Hazan & Associates (Illinois)

Fashion PR intern—Agentry PR (New York)

Social media and communications associate—International Food Policy Research Institute (Washington, D.C.)

Public relations manager—Greater Los Angeles Zoo Association (California)

Communications manager—JLL (New York)

PR Middle East – EMEA—LaLiga (Spain)

Public affairs assistant—The Royal Society (United Kingdom)

Director, marketing and communications—College of Agriculture, Biotechnology and Natural Resources (Nevada)

Content editor—Amazon (Washington)

Sports communications internship—American Junior Golf Association (Georgia)

FIFA global brand senior manager—EA Sports FIFA (Canada)

Digital communications manager—Methodist Health System (Texas)

Network communications and media specialist—The University of Vermont Medical Center (Vermont)

Media officer—British Veterinary Association (United Kingdom)

Community engagement manager—The Gazette (Iowa)

Digital marketing and social media coordinator—MSC Cruises (Florida)

Managing editor, communications—GM Financial (Michigan)

Vice president, external relations—University of British Columbia (Canada)

PR and communications director—UNIQLO (New York)

Marketing and communications specialist—SmithBucklin (Illinois)

Communication and event specialist—ETSU (Tennessee)

Operations and communications coordinator—Cushman & Wakefield (Kentucky)

Communications and marketing specialist—Los Alamos National Laboratory (New Mexico)

Director of marketing and university relations—Vincennes University (Indiana)

Communications and social media manager—National Italian American Foundation (Washington, D.C.)

If you have a position you’d like to see highlighted in PR Daily’s weekly jobs post, or if you’re searching for career opportunities, RaganJobs.com is the perfect place to find or post high-quality job openings.

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Dunkin’ tests dropping ‘Donuts’ from its name

Dunkin’ Donuts is testing a change of name and brand—to the dismay of some fans.

The chain has removed the word “donuts” from its marquee in several locations, though those baked confections remain on the menu. The chain has plans to modify stores nationwide, but it insists the name change itself isn’t necessarily permanent.

Business Insider reported:

The name change doesn't come as a surprise — the Massachusetts-based coffee empire began testing the name Dunkin' at a handful of Massachusetts locations late last year, according to Eater.

The Dunkin' concept is part of a major rebrand that includes a new store design, drinks like nitro infused cold brew, and digital kiosks to order at. The first Dunkin' concept was opened at a Quincy, Massachusetts, location. By the end of the year, the new concept will be at 30 locations in Boston and 20 nationwide.

The Dunkin' concept isn't necessarily a permanent change — while it will be rolling out to about 50 stores, Dunkin' Donuts said in a statement that it doesn't plan to make any decisions regarding the branding until later this year.

On LinkedIn, marketers and industry insiders have voiced skepticism.

Anne Higgins, owner of SpeedPro Imaging, wrote:

Being in the Sign business, I will gladly take the business of re-branding their signage but why? Just leave the name alone. It's what people know and most people don't like change. It's like IHOP changing the "P" to "B". That went over like a lead bomb! Don't change what is not broken!!

On Twitter, others wonder how complete the rebranding might be:

So Dunkin is dropping “donuts” from its name but keeping the logo DD? https://t.co/OOqhDw12Y5 pic.twitter.com/zGZr9Q5iwk

— Alyson Shontell (@ajs) August 27, 2018

[RELATED: Craft engaging stories that inspire audiences, build brand loyalty and more.]

Others seem less ruffled by the news:

Dunkin' Donuts is dropping the Donuts and people are freaking out...I've only heard people call if Dunkin'. They are literally changing the name to what everyone calls it...

— Thomas Everett © (@Thomas_Everett) August 27, 2018

Many are comparing the move to IHOP’s recent rebranding adventure (read PR stunt), when it purportedly—and vociferously—changed its name to the International House of Burgers to sell more, well, burgers.

Rebranding as PR stunt? Just when you think nobody could possibly one-up the #IHOB misfire, along comes the Donuts-free "Dunkin." #branding #PublicRelations #Brands https://t.co/M9heTfGnil

— Michail Takach (@michailtakach) August 28, 2018

IHOP reported success from the move and an increase in burger sales by 75 percent. However, many saw its faux rebranding as annoying—and social media users are sharpening their knives for the reimagined Dunkin’.

It's bad trust me it's just bad https://t.co/aBLN72uhPH

— Hannah Thoreson 💃🏼 (@h_thoreson) August 28, 2018

Im triggered. #DunkinDonutsForever https://t.co/ngAC546NGq

— Chris Stewart (@CStewartTheNow) August 28, 2018

Even back when Dunkin Donuts was originally called Mister Donut, it retained the “donut.” Keeping the donut 🍩 in the name keeps the franchise accountable for making good donuts, as those are the focus! Maybe.

— college rock 🛸 (@cryptolectic) August 22, 2018

They literally invented the word “Donut”. They should keep it forever.

— Dave Iarocci 🐺 (@IarocciDave) August 22, 2018

I’m old school. I like the old version . Some things should not be tampered with

— paul loffredo (@LoffredoPaul) August 22, 2018

Hmmm. I think @dunkindonuts would be better off without the word "Dunkin'", to be honest. It makes no sense and it's really not appealing. Donuts, though, is fine.

— Michi (@cbn2) April 2, 2018

Despite modifying the marquees on a few dozen stores, the brand hasn’t changed its social media handles nor promised to roll these changes out nationwide, leaving consumers to wonder just how big the change is or whether it’s a phase—or, worse yet, a stunt.

What do you think of the doughnut chain’s rebranding efforts, PR Daily readers?

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Tofurky and Good Food Institute sue to block Missouri’s ‘meat’ label law

Missouri became the first state to regulate how marketing pros use the word “meat”—and plant-based brands are fighting back.

The “Missouri Cattlemen’s Fake Meat Bill” was signed into law on June 1 and went into effect on Tuesday. It prohibits organizations from calling products “meat” that aren’t derived from animal sources.

CNBC reported:

Clean meat—also known as lab-grown meat—is made of cultured animal tissue cells, while plant-based meat is generally from ingredients such as soy, tempeh and seitan.

The state law forbids "misrepresenting a product as meat that is not derived from harvested production livestock or poultry." Violators may be fined $1,000 and imprisoned for a year.

A similar argument is unfolding on the federal level.

Plant-based organizations and groups are pushing back against the new law.

[FREE GUIDE: 3 helpful tips for your crisis comms prep]

Fast Company reported:

Tofurky CEO Jaime Athos filed the suit along with several other disgruntled parties, including the Good Food Institute, American Civil Liberties Union, and Animal Legal Defense Fund. The coalition hopes to overturn the law, which they say threatens the rights of the entire plant-based industry.

The lawsuit alleges that the ban infringes on the First Amendment as well as “denying fair and honest competition in the marketplace.”

In a press release, The Good Foods Institute’s senior media relations specialist Matt Ball wrote:

Like similar moves to censor plant-based milk labels, this law has nothing to do with consumer protection. Indeed, the Missouri consumer protection agency has no evidence that consumers are confused by the labels of plant-based products. No one buys Tofurky “PLANT-BASED” deli slices thinking they were carved from a slaughtered animal any more than people are buying almond milk thinking it was squeezed from a cow’s udder.

Rather, the Missouri law’s explicit aim is to protect current meat producers from competition from plant-based and clean meat companies: “We’re just trying to protect our product.”

… “Missouri is putting its thumb on the scale to unfairly benefit the meat industry and silence alternative producers,” notes Stephen Wells, Animal Legal Defense Fund’s Executive Director. “This law violates various constitutional principles, including free speech – which should be a concern for everyone, regardless of diet.”

Fast Company reported:

The Missouri Cattlemen’s Association, which supported the statute, said it’s not terribly concerned with plant-based companies such as Tofurky. It takes bigger issue with newer science attempting lab-grown meat, which it believes needs to be disclosed to the consumers once available. According to an Israeli startup called Future Meat Technologies, which just got a large investment from meat giant Tyson Food, that reality isn’t too far away; “clean meat” produced from animal cells may be in restaurants by the end of 2018.

That assurance offers little comfort to organizations who could stand to lose large amounts of money changing product packaging and marketing messages, especially if other states follow Missouri’s lead.

“The meat-substitute market is expected to reach $7.5 billion-plus globally by 2025, up from close to $4.2 billion in last year, according to Allied Market Research,” USA Today reported.

The ability to draw parallels between real meat and the plant-based products that emulate animal offerings are how Tofurky and other organizations appeal to consumers searching for options in their diets.

USA Today reported:

Ernest Baskin, an assistant professor of food marketing at St. Joseph's University, said consumers use the word "meat," when applied to non-animal protein, as shortcut to understand how they eat the food they see on supermarket shelves.

"There’s a segment of consumers that doesn't have to eat alternative products, but wants to," he said. "In those cases, putting those options together in front of consumers gives them the thought that 'Hey, maybe these two are similar. Maybe I can substitute."

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How to make the most of your PR internship

You landed it.

Months of cover-letter revisions and tapping into every LinkedIn connection have paid off: You’ve landed the elusive PR internship. This is the opportunity of a lifetime, and you’re going to gain more experience in the next few months than you have in years of schooling.

[RELATED: Get the skills you need to become a trusted advisor to leaders.]

You want nothing more than to thrive and grow in this new position, but how? From one intern to the next, here are a few tips that I have picked up along my journey:

Take notes.

If your office does not supply notebooks, invest a few dollars to buy some. I carry mine wherever I go to jot down things from impromptu to-do tasks to colleagues’ book recommendations. Write down what you’re told. Don’t be the intern who has to ask someone to repeat something; it could be perceived as your failure to listen.

Working on your writing.

Clear writing is crucial in public relations. You might write a byline for a client or a speech for an executive, so work to improve your writing throughout your internship. One key is using the correct grammar and consistent style, so follow the AP Stylebook. It will tell you everything from the correct way to write a date to which numbers to spell out versus using numerals. It’s updated every year, so have the most current copy at your disposal.

Another method is by reading critically. In the morning I pour myself a cup of tea and browse Medium and The New York Times and note words and phrases that I can inject into my writing. I also look for passages that are a chore to read, where further edits could have been made. Learn from other writers’ successes and mistakes.

Be accountable.

You are responsible for everything you say, do and write during your internship. You are new to the field, which means today’s work will underpin your future reputation. Use that to your advantage: You start with a clean slate and can create a positive image for yourself in the industry.

You don’t have to be the perfect intern and know everything, but if you don’t know something, avoid saying simply, “I don’t know.” Instead, follow up with an action item or an indicator that you will use the moment as a steppingstone, such as, “I’m not certain on the answer to that question, but I will look that up and get back to you right away.” This shows you are eager to learn more and will add to your knowledge bank.

Compete against yourself.

Try not to compare yourself against other interns; people have different skillsets and abilities. You might be great at editing, while the intern two desks down may be everyone’s go-to for creating briefings—and that’s OK. You can’t control other people, but what you can control is your progression. At the end of every day, evaluate what you can improve on tomorrow. Pick a few things to focus on—something as broad as time management or as specific as finding more tailored publications to pitch contributed content. See your shortcomings not as stopping points or places to avoid, but rather as opportunities to improve.

Be bold.

No one can read your mind, so ask confidently for what you want.

I learned about press briefings on my second day and was fascinated with the idea of hearing a client and a journalist interact in real time, so I sent a note to the team asking to let me attend future briefings. I have since been invited to sit in on calls and edit briefing documents, which also exposed me to the preparation side of things. Your superiors want to see you thrive and prosper in your PR internship, so be clear about what you want and what will help you succeed.

Loren Pickard is an intern at Communiqué PR and is studying communications at University of Washington. A version of this article originally appeared on the Communiqué PR blog.

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