New Year, new you, new pr

Let’s be honest, we make ourselves so many promises come January 1 then fall short within the weeks to follow. Hey I get it - life gets busy, Holidays are over and we fall back into our normal routines.

As a Public Relations student I always tell myself I’m going to blog more and read more and attend more networking events but never do. Being a student is tough. We go to school full time, work insane hours for little money and somehow have to manage time for eating and getting an episode of Grey's Anatomy in every week.

If you can take away one thing from me today, let it be that you can sleep when you’re dead. Never pass up on opportunities to improve yourself, never go to bed early and miss out on late night organization meeting, or skip a networking conference because it’s a little too much money and your friends all have plans that same weekend. This is your time to prove yourself as a professional. This field is continually changing and it’s important to always stay one step ahead of the rest.

Here are some PR “Resolutions” you should consider for the New Year:

1. Read more industry-related content:  How else are you going to learn about the field unless you know the latest? Take 30 minutes each day to stay current in your industry whether it’s a trade publication or a blog, just do it. Shonda Rhimes can wait.

2. Learn a new research tool: Make it a goal this year to learn new technology, Google Analytics as complicated as it is, is a powerful tool. Google also has free certificates. Who doesn’t love bragging about that on a resume?

3. Test a new social media platform: Social media is incredible and constantly changing. Not long ago were the days Twitter didn’t exist… I know, right? We know Facebook and Twitter are great, but venture onto new platforms. You never know professionally what may be successful until you try.

4. Further segment your audience: Remember when you used to accept “friends” on Facebook just to increase your number of friends even though you had no mutual friends and they lived in a different country? Yeah, avoid that.

5. Hone your writing skills: Don’t get me wrong, spell check is great but at this point in your life if you still have to ask Siri how to spell necessary you should reevaluate your life choices.

There are 1440 minutes in a day, don’t let a single one go to waste. Cheers and Happy New Year.

Tawwney Sayre is a senior at Grand Valley State University studying Advertising and Public Relations. She is an Account Associate at GrandPR and a proud member of PRSSA. Tawwney is currently a Marketing intern for Baker Holtz, CPA’s and Advisors. She has past experience in Marketing for Campus Dining, Cat Footwear and the Grand Rapids Griffins. When Tawwney is not working you can find her watching a hockey game or surrounded by friends. Tawwney plans to graduate in April and believes the world is her oyster and can’t wait to discover what her future has in store.