A blog worthy of reading...

Joyous Joys is the blog I have chosen to follow, read and love for my "Blogging for Journalists" class.

In a nutshell, this blog is written by a joyous woman who lives in New York City and writes of her favorite things of the day in the most professional way.

How I came across this blog was a result of networking! I reached out to my public relations mentor, Sam Sims, here in Okla. and asked him if he knew of any PR professionals in N.Y. who I could take to coffee, aka networking, when I visit in May. He gave me a few names, and I connected with a person who gave me Kate Forster's name.  We have spoken on the phone a few times and she has both helped and inspired me with the PR world.  Shortly after taking the next big step in our PR connection and befriending her on Facebook, I noticed she had a blog.

Her blog looks, sounds, and if blogs could smell, smells of joy.  Her layout is clean, professional and fun to read. She uses all the blog tricks: photos, tags and conversational topics. She does not make any money off of this nor does she want to. Once you get paid you have a pressure to write more with more restricting topics, so she prefers to have this as her fun, personal yet professional blog.

The only thing I saw as a weakness is how enthusiastic she is on her posts yet does not get many responses. I would suggest she follow blogs similar to hers and make the effort to comment on theirs so that in return, they will comment on hers. "If you scratch my back..." type philosophy.

I have learned you can be professional while still being yourself when writing on a blog. In the communications field it is all about being genuine and "Joyous Joys" does just that. I realized both her blog and mine are being used to not only express who we are and what we think for the sake of being human, but for the sake of a potential job! Our blog is a additional resume piece and a bold statement of who we are. So, if you are going to use your blog for professional use, make it one you love... make it your own "Joyous Joys!"

J'aime à apprendre

Dave Rhea came and spoke to my blogging class yesterday. Mr. Rhea works for The Journal Record as the social media blogger. I love The Journal Record Blog Hub because you can read various Oklahoma professionals blog about their opinions (this provides excellent reading for a hopeful business professional like me).

He said to be a good blogger you must:

• Love to learn- The passion to learn must be evident and expressed in a clear manner on your blog and in life.
• Wear many hats- The ability to do multiple things well is a trait needed in today's social media jobs.
• Be yourself- Express your thoughts and opinions on your blog but keep in mind the job you want. For example, it would not be a good idea to be vocal on your political or religious views if you hope to go into a corporate job but it would be acceptable if you were going into an artistic field. 

Learn it. Love it.

Blogging connects people

My sister took a picture of our Mommy reading my blog all the way in Houston! :) The internet and phones keep people connected, as do blogs.

Blog... success or fail? You decide.

"Don’t think you are, know you are. Stop trying to hit me and hit me!" -Morpheus, The Matrix


For my blogging class we have been asked to search the vast online world for an article on blogging tips. I found "5 Pop Culture Quotes for a Memorable Blog".


The quote above explains how the concept of "faking it until making it" does not apply to the world of blogging. 


Blogging is most successful when it is 

• transparent 
• engaging
• discussion-oriented
• honest
• interesting

As Morpheus once said... "there's a difference between knowing the path and walking the path." I know what to do, therefore, I need to do it... action beyond thought.

What I learned about blogging...

For my class assignment I am going to reflect on what I learned from an article entitled, "State of the Blogosphere 2011."

This article breaks down all the blogs over 2011 and tells who blogs, why they blog, and what they blog about... pretty much everything you need to know.

One could drown in the sea of pie graphs but the section that stood out to me the most was the breakdown of the blogging dos and don'ts.

The over all message was about being active with your blogging (responding to people, good or bad) and turning any response to a positive one. This reminded me of basics taught in my public relations classes. Engaging your audience, being genuine and responsive is what makes a successful blog.

The success of a blog can be determined by how you feel about it/what you gain emotionally or financially. I hope to connect with people, learn something, amuse someone and maybe even turn a slight profit one day.

First blog, here goes nothing!

I believe the first blog should set the tone and expectation of what is to come. So, here we go!

Today I attended my first Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) meeting at the Gaylord-Pickens Oklahoma Heritage Museum. The guest speaker was Cynthia Reid, the VP of Marketing for the Oklahoma City Chamber. She spoke about Oklahoma and how she did research/launched a successful campaign targeting the states on the west coast to consider moving here.

She mentioned how in the media, Oklahoma is known for bad weather and ignorant people. Oklahoma's problem is that we are too humble about our proud state! We need to take the example from the proud state of Texas. Everyone knows of Texas and people do not mind moving there. Why let Texas be the only state that people know of? We need to promote and discuss Oklahoma in a positive light!

The way I hope to contribute to this cause is to make sure that when I mention occurrences of life, to be able to really explain it in such a way that people outside of Oklahoma can understand the love that is here.

• Oklahoma is the biggest, small town. This is my favorite aspect of Oklahoma! Behind the accents are kind, genuine voices. People actually care about you and are unafraid to help a stranger. That is so rare these days!

• Oklahoma is the best kept secret. We might not be the Austin TX artists or musicians, but our local art and music scene has grown and continues to grow. You can enjoy the art and music scene of the Plaza District and the Paseo Arts District, the exotic foods of the Asian District and the downtown night-life of Bricktown. All of these are noteworthy places to explore.

• Oklahoma is growing. How many cities can say they are currently building the cities tallest skyscraper, moving a major highway to allow for more growth, maintaining a steady housing market, making national family-friendly ratings like when CNBC listed Edmond OK as No. 1 on its list of 10 Perfect Suburbs and enjoying a new basketball stadium for a newly bought, successful NBA team?

I have lived all over the world and continue to travel as often as I can and I can honestly say every time I had the option to move back to Oklahoma, I did. If you are here, be proud of it and explore Oklahoma, there is so much to learn and see! If you aren't from here, consider visiting. We have a lot to offer. If you're a business, consider Oklahoma the perfect place that is centrally located and continuously growing!

Explore OKC's digital magazine, VELOCITY.

I would like to end with my favorite quote regarding Oklahoma... "Well, I've never been to heaven
but I've been to Oklahoma."-- Three Dog Night.