Remember how, in the “old” days, folks would “call on” others and, if they weren’t at home, they’d leave their calling card behind?

I haven’t been able to find an academic reference to it, but it makes sense that the modern-day practice of exchanging business cards stems from there. And even in this highly electronic day and age, there’s still room for business cards, as I’m sure you’ll agree.

But are you maximizing the use of your most basic calling card? And that’s nothing more than your email signature.

We all suffer from email overload – I’ve long since stopped counting how many emails I get in a day. Even when I’m not working or on vacation, I use my BlackBerry to delete unnecessary emails from my inbox, in an effort to keep on top of the traffic (sigh, it never stops!).

But I also know that when I send an email out, it’s a unique way to remind others of what I do, particular affiliations I have and things that are important to me.

Here are three tips to maximize your email signature as a marketing tool:

1. Proclaim yourself.

You normally include your contact information in your e-signature, right? Why not include hyperlinks to all the relevant data you think people should have access to? For example, these could be your website, blog or Twitter handle.

Job hunting? Make sure you include a link to your updated LinkedIn profile or VisualCV. Do you have a business to promote? How about linking to your Etsy site or another storefront?

If it’s in your signature, it’s right there for the recipients to click through to, yet you’re not hitting them over the head with it.

2. Add a visual touch.

Go one step further and add some visual pizazz to your e-signature; and a terrific way of doing this is by using a program such as WiseStamp.

What’s cool about this is that you can actually embed the hyperlinks rather than simply include them, and you can also include select social profiles such as Twitter, SlideShare, etc. at the bottom of your signature. For example, here’s mine:

3. Put a shortening service to work for you.

Working on a special promotion? Use a URL-shortening service such as tr.im, bit.ly, ow.ly (or several others) to draw attention to it just above your signature block. For example, I used this as a way to raise funds around my birthday: “Why I’d like you to know how old I am: http://tr.im/K6Yi.”

Granted, it’s not often that a woman is proclaiming her age for all and sundry to hear, but if you use short but sweet copy and a dedicated URL, it’s an easy way to add to your marketing mix with almost no effort.

What other ways do you use your e-signature “real estate” to market yourself? Please share by leaving a comment below.

Image: Rich Bowen, Creative Commons

This kind of news is too delicious to keep to one’s self, so here goes: we’re thrilled that renowned writing coach, Ann Wylie, will be visiting Washington, D.C., early summer to do a half-day workshop for IABC/DC Metro on the wonderful world of writing.

Ann’s a fixture on the speaking circuit, at the stratospheric level, that is. She’s won more than 60 communication awards, including 2 Gold Quills, has been designated an “IABC Recommended Speaker” for her top ratings at IABC International conferences, and serves as the Public Relations Society of America’s national writing coach.

If you subscribe to her newsletter, Revving Up Readership, you know just how terrific she is. Or, you may have caught her at one of IABC’s or PRSA’s international conferences… and she probably left you wanting more. New or senior communicator, Ann’s tips are timeless and workshops enthralling.

And *we* get her to ourselves for a bit. W00t!

Date, etc., tbd, but we’re looking at late June/early July, so please check our website often for updates. Space is likely to be limited for this premier event, so once it’s announced, make sure you sign up quickly.

As founder of the #measurePR Twitter chat, I was invited to, and participated in, #chatmixer last night (party image, David Domingo, Creative Commons).

The idea was to bring together folks who routinely participate in specific chats, in an online/Twitter “mixer,” in an effort to widen their Twitter circles (would that be Twircles?) – hence the choice of #chatmixer as a hashtag. Truth be told, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect, though Justin Goldsborough, Heather Whaling and Valerie Simon were meticulous in their planning.

Turns out, I enjoyed myself thoroughly. It had a great party feel to it, and the last time I can remember the feeling of Twitter being such a party solely due to an effort like this (i.e. not related to an offline event) was the “kindness party” last year. I don’t even remember who organized that, except that Kim Wells brought it to my attention, and I had a whale of a time.

A chat is born

Anyhoo… during the course of #chatmixer, a new chat was born: #cookchat. (I cannot wait for that one.) And a few different people mentioned they were interested in starting chats as well.

This can be a very smart thing to do, especially from a marketing point of view.

But as with all bright ideas, you should play devil’s advocate and batter the heck out of your bright idea before you launch it. Better you find the holes in it & mend them before anyone else does, right?

First, read these excellent posts on participating in (by Jeff Hurt) and running (by David Spinks) a Twitterchat.

Now, just as when designing a PR strategy, here are three questions to ask – and answer – when launching a Twitter chat.

1. What gap will this chat help to fill?

If you look at What the Hashtag?! (now part of What the Trend™), you’ll see it’s currently tracking 9,900 hashtags. While not all of those are chats, that gives you a sense of just how many hashtags are out there.

Image: skipnclick’s Flickrstream, Creative Commons

The primary reasons people participate in chats are, first, to learn something and second, to extend their networks. So if your chat is to be successful, it must fulfill these two desires.

If you look at this handy-dandy spreadsheet that Robert Swanwick created to track regular chats on Twitter, you’ll see a few chats that are fairly similar, as well as those that are quite unique.

There’s certainly nothing wrong in several people having the same conversation, albeit with different hashtags – it happens all the time. But if you want to give your chat a shot at succeeding (more on what this means in a bit), try to make it unique.

This is what Sarah Evans did with #journchat, what Kellye Crane did with #soloPR and, I’d like to think, what I’m doing with #measurePR.

What do the people you want to reach want to talk about? If you can answer that question – particularly with an answer that no one else has come up with yet – you’re off to a good start.

2. What will make this chat attract its target audience?

The quality of a chat – which is what will determine the perception of the chat and hence its profile – is dependent on who participates. You can design a great chat, but if you don’t have engaged, thoughtful and thought-provoking participants, it might end up being a one-hit wonder.

How do you bring the right people to the table?

Figure out what time of day and how often you’re going to hold the chat (this is particularly important if yours is not the only chat of its kind around)… and sustain it. Don’t set yourself up for failure; if your other commitments preclude a weekly chat, make it bi-weekly (or monthly, if you dare).

Whatever you decide, be consistent, since that is what will build your audience and community.

What you’re essentially asking people to do, as you build your chat community, is give up something else – work, family time, a movie, pizza – to devote their attention to your chat. Over and over and over again.

So make it easy and desirable for them to attend – that will go a long way in making it worth their while.

3. How will this chat become recognizable and identifiable?

Let’s face it, we in the social media sphere have the attention span of gnats. And I say that with no disrespect to gnats (image, Kaptain Kobold’s Flickrstream, Creative Commons).

Like anything else in the branding space, repetition rules. So once you’ve figured out the name and aim of your chat, brand it well.

I’d go so far as to say, message the heck out of it.

Choose a smart, easy-to-remember hashtag that’s as short as possible; you want to make the most of those 140 characters of Twitter-estate. Register it on WTHashtag and add it to your bio.

Brand your chat frequently, but consistently. Because if you don’t, someone else might, and that will leave you considerably unhappy.

Which brings me to success – what does a successful Twitter chat look like?

It could be the dominant player in its niche with thousands of participants; it could be an extremely engaged conversation that leads to genuine discovery for a small but passionate group.

It could be the place where thought leaders in your field congregate; it could be people pitching you to be “on your show”; or it could be the generic use of your hashtag in conversations with a related theme.

Whatever the measure of success, you’re going to have to define it based on why you set out to build it… and if you really want to be successful, define this at the outset. I haven’t yet come across a Twitter chat that’s being sustained purely for fun, even if it was launched impulsively; if it builds, there’s a great deal of time and effort being put into it.

So figure out what you want to do with the chat, as well as what you want the chat to do for you (and it’s ok to want the chat to do something for you, that’s what business is about).

When you begin at the end, there’s a much greater likelihood you’ll get there.

What do you think, am I off the mark or on the money? If you’ve implemented successful tactics in launching and maintaining Twitter chats, please share them in the comments section below. All 9,900 hashtags (and growing) and I will thank you.

When I read through Liz’ post, these words of Gloria Steinem when told she didn’t look 40, as relayed by Mollie Katzen, struck a particular chord with me:

“This is what 40 looks like.”

What an incredibly empowering phrase.

I celebrated my 40th birthday this year with as much pandemonium as I could muster. My community was incredibly generous, helping me raise money for a cause particularly dear to my heart. And then I had an absolutely amazing time in London, UK, as part of my belated “birthday blowout.”

Complete strangers have been exceedingly kind to me, such as the British Airways employee who, as part of the rigorous screening on our way back to the US after my delayed b’day celebration in London, cocked her head at me and said, “… are you trying to make ME feel old?” (when I told her the reason for our trip).

Still, as a woman who’s no longer on the “right side” of 30, I can’t help but wonder sometimes…

… am I over the oft-referenced hill?

Was my grand proclamation of my age this year a set up for encountering ageism in the workplace when I don’t hold all the cards I think I do now?

Truth be told, I don’t know. Perhaps these words will come back to bite me some day. But this I do know, 99% of the women I encounter really do grow better as they age.

Perhaps it’s a question of “growing into my skin,” as I told a former boss of mine 10 years ago, when she asked how I was adjusting to life in the US after moving from India.

But if I could turn back the clock, I would, right?

No. I wouldn’t. Whatever I’ve been through, whatever I’ve done, have made me who I am today, and have put me in exactly the right place at the exactly the right time.

You can call that new-agey, if you like, but that is really how I feel.

I’ll say it loud and I’ll say it proud. This is what 40 looks like.

In perpetual motion

You’re also probably wondering why I chose a photo that’s a bit fuzzy to illustrate this post. I did so because it captures me in motion, and that’s what our vacation (which was wonderful) felt like.

We were in perpetual motion, as we took in the Globe, Abbey Road, Lord’s, Abbaworld (awesome!), some great restaurants and the whole point of going to London in some very crappy weather – to see Elvis Presley in Concert as my “milestone birthday” celebration. (After all, when you’re in one of the world’s most vibrant cities for five days, you want to do as much as you can.)

It’s also how I think of life today. Ever since getting back to the U.S., I’ve slowly been getting back to my “real” life, which was blissfully suspended for a week. And real life in the 21st century moves very, very fast. The kind of thing we say we want to get away from… which is why we go on vacation, right?

Kinda sorta. While we were traveling, I did keep my Blackberry close at hand, but I didn’t send too many emails from it (at least, I’d like to think I didn’t, though my colleagues at IABC/DC Metro are probably snorting right now).

So while the vacation was meant to be a getaway, I didn’t really “get away” as much as I could have… but was that a bad thing?

The 2.0 vacation

Because of my BB, for example, we were able to minimize how much paper (directions, addresses, etc.) that we carried with us while we were traipsing across the city. A green vacation… after a fashion!

And I was able to stay in touch with my Twitter peeps thanks to Ubertwitter. One of them, Howard Riefs, introduced me to the fabulous Tom Aikens, who very kindly made a reservation for me at Tom’s Kitchen (which you really have to go to when you’re next in London). The best eggs benedict I’ve eaten in a while, not to mention the best loo sign ever. Check it out:

They also told me how much postage I’d need to mail in some bill payments that I’d forgotten to drop off in the mad rush before we left. Staying connected helped me find one of London’s three remaining post offices (or so someone said) and take that load off my mind.

Because we had mobile connectivity, we were able to find some really dinky record stores – the kind that only take cash – that my husband’s been dreaming of going to.

And I was able to meet up with friends like Richard Bagnall and Ved Sen, and meet IRL tweeps such as Kristin Wadge, Russell Pearson, Bryce Keane and Sheema Siddiqui (the latter of whom organized a #shonalitweetup – love it!)

Whether we like it or not, hyper-connectivity is part and parcel of our lives, especially for those of us who live in the social media plane. Yes, that’s sometimes tiring, even irritating… but it can also be incredibly helpful.

So while it’ll take me a little time to get back into full 2.0 work mode, I’m grateful to the 2.0 world for adding dimension to a vacation that was a once-in-a-lifetime event for us.

You might call it a 2.0 vacation.

I wrote earlier about why I’m participating in #HAPPO, so I won’t bore you with those details again (but if you need a refresher, the post is here).

Since today’s the actual HAPPO “event,” I thought I’d aggregate any DC-area HAPPO pitches I could here, to make it convenient for recruiters and folks with job openings to connect with them.

So if you do find someone below you’d be interested in talking to, or think one of the folks featured here could fit a bill you know about, please leave a comment or contact them directly, not me (but why not leave a comment anyway?).

Good luck, HAPPODC-ers!

Heather Mahoney

Heather (@Heather_Mahoney) attended the University of Maryland, College Park, graduating with honors in Communication (PR specifically). She’s involved with UCA, NCA, and PRSSA/PRSA. Published writer/editor for two publications; interned for Brotman Winter Fried and CBS Radio. A current reporter for The Scene Bisnow. Now, she’s looking for a full-time entry-level position in PR, specifically for a large publicity firm. She’s a fresh young professional simply looking for a place to allow her talents to shine.

Emilie O’Toole

Emilie’s a senior public relations major and business administration minor at Boston University, searching at the intersection of government, public affairs and communications for her first job. She’s a highly motivated and creative communicator looking to sink her teeth into a career in public relations. She’s an idealist, looking for an opportunity to make the world around her a better place through creative thinking, strategic planning and most importantly, action. Check out her full HAPPO pitch here or her resume.

Ashley Marshall

Ashley Marshall is a highly energized, self motivated, communications professional with experience in various avenues of public affairs, public relations, and television production. A recent graduate of Georgetown University with a Masters degree in corporate communications and public relations, Ashley completed a public affairs apprenticeship at one of Washington DC’s K street public affairs firms, Adfero Group. She had the opportunity to work with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Microsoft, The American Institute of Architects, and many congressional offices on Capitol Hill. This experience provided her with many transferable skills such as written communications, new media, web-based research, website development, developing communications strategies, advocacy campaigns, and Internet advertising analysis. Reach her at http://www.untaintedpr.wordpress.com.

Eli Baratz

Eli is interested in entry-level and intern positions with a PR firm in public affairs. He’s a 2007 graduate of Indiana University, BA in Telecommunications, BA in International Relations. Read his #HAPPO pitch here, and contact him at 317-626-7674 or elibaratz (dot) eli (at) gmail (dot) com.

Kim Allen

Kim is a recent PR professional, and loves the PR game. She’s looking for an entry-level position and to build a stronger networking base. And more then anything, she would love to relocate from Indiana, in fact she would consider that a requirement. Here’s more on Kim.

Andrew Elwell

Andrew is a senior at The George Washington University majoring in political communication and graduating in May.  He has experience working in communications with nonprofits and in an agency setting, as well as journalism experience.  He enjoys running, listening to bad pop music and constantly checking his twitterstream. Read his #HAPPO pitch here.

Laura Peck

Laura (@peccolina) is an organized, fast learner with great people skills, who loves to creative brainstorm. She’s graduating with a degree in public relations with minors in english, sociology and international studies from Penn State. She took the initiative to help co-found Penn State’s first student-run PR firm, Happy Valley Communications. Her extracurricular experience along with my education & internship experience make me a great addition to any team. For more, check out her blog.

The Afternoon Edition

Ann Marie van den Hurk, APR

I am an award-winning Accredited Public Relations (APR) professional with more than a decade experience leading all areas of integrated public relations planning and implementation including: digital media, issues/crisis management, media relations, organizational change, advocacy, events, and publication design. I am knowledgeable, skilled, realistic, and principled. I have a strong foundation in all areas of integrated public relations planning and implementation. I can design a plan through research then make it happen while doing it on time and within budget. My passions lie in doing good and have spent my career in nonprofits doing just that. Learn more about me that a resume can’t say: http://bit.ly/9CwaIL

Therese Pompa

Therese Pompa has five years of Marketing and PR experience.  Therese is diverse in her skill set and has an understanding of the connection between PR, Social Media, and Marketing; thereby allowing her to see the big picture when implementing a strategic plan. She has a strong attention to detail, is a creative thinker, a keen observer, sees the big picture and will go above and beyond until success is achieved. Learn more about her #HAPPO journey here.

Paula Newbaker

HAPPO-potomuses crash Internet!!!  To avoid such PR pitfalls in the future, view www.paulanewbaker.com. I’ve been doing this a few years, so you can check out my case studies and other samples for ways in which I can help you.  Strategic communications, PR, media relations, content-providing and writing, broadcast producing … I’ll even do your voice over work. Says Maury Tobin of Tobin Communications, “There are strategic thinkers and there are creative thinkers, but what makes Paula atypical is that she is smart when it comes to both approaches.”

Erica Lawton

Erica Lawton is an up-and-coming professional in the communication industry who is looking for opportunities in the DC area.  She graduated from Bryant University in May 2009 with an Honors BA in communication and minors in business administration and political science.  She is currently a master’s candidate at American University and will graduate with an MA in Public Communication in August 2010.  Her academic background and internship experience makes her an excellent candidate! Read more about Erica and #HAPPO here.

Faith Dow

I’m an Online Content Editor and Community Manager seeking to combine social media with marketing. I’m greatly interested in advocacy work surrounding access to technology and broadband internet. My writeup on #HAPPO is here.

Image (right at the very top): Blake Patterson, Creative Commons

Why bother with PR?

One of the things that yours truly focuses on in her, er my, “day job” is the business use of public relations – or, in other words, why bother with “PR” if it’s not going to impact business indicators? Far too often, I see and hear people assuming the raison d’être of “PR” is to “create buzz.”

I won’t belabor the point here but in a nutshell, it’s not. Effective PR is designed – and implemented – with a view to helping an organization achieve its business objectives. In other words, it really is about managing the relationships between an organization and its “publics,” and thus impacting the bottom line.

Which is why I’m excited to be a part of Social Commerce Camp DC this weekend (Saturday, Feb. 20); a free educational event that is geared towards small businesses and entrepreneurs who want to grow their businesses and are looking for the tools to get them started.

Now, it’s a half-day event so no, you won’t be writing an encyclopedia on small business after attending, but what you should definitely walk away with is an understanding of how to use “social” to jumpstart your business (or kick it into high gear). And yes, PR is a part of that, and that’s what I’ll be focusing on.

Here’s the agenda

• 8 – 9 am:  Continental breakfast , registration and networking
• 9 – 9:45 am: Social Media 101 for Small Business, with Shashi Bellamkonda , Social Media Swami, Network Solutions
• 10 – 10:45 am: Creating a Killer Social User Experience with your e-Commerce Site, with Steve Fisher, browncoatsmovie.com
• 10.45 – 11.15 am:  Check your Twitter account/ blogging time
• 11:15 am to 12 noon: PR Tips and Best Practices for Small Business – Shonali Burke (me!)

Major props to the sponsors: Mayer Brown, Network Solutions, Kikscore and  MyBusinessAssistant.com.

Will I see you there? Remember, it’s free, so come on out. You can register here.

Image: Daniel Broche, Creative Commons

Cross-posted from Women Grow Business, of which I am editor.

Even though I’m not looking for a job myself, I’ve been helped countless times by both friends and strangers (who then become friends… what a wonderful world!) when I have been in the market – and the least I can do is pay it forward.

So when Arik Hanson and Valerie Simon asked me to be a part of a wonderful initiative: “Help a PR Pro Out” or #HAPPO for short, where several of us PR pros are going to do our bit to help our colleagues in the job market make excellent connections – and hopefully, find a great job – on February 19 – of course I said “yes.”

You’ve probably already heard the buzz online, but if you’re still getting up to speed, here’s the 4-1-1 on the HAPPO website itself.

Today’s #HAPPO Focus: Michael Clendenin

Specifically today, I want to tell you about a good friend and an excellent communicator, Michael Clendenin. Mike was most recently with Freddie Mac (yup) and is now in the job market. Having known and worked with him in a volunteer capacity at IABC/Washington (he’s on my current board of directors too) I can tell you that not only is he one of the most patient people around, he’s a really smart guy too; and whether it’s through sheer persistence or the luck of the Irish, invariably manages to pull the proverbial rabbit out of a hat when most needed.

Please – if you have, or know of, a senior-level communication position in the DC market, will you contact Michael? Or leave a comment below so that he can get in touch with you. And thank you in advance for your time and thoughts!

And now I’ll let Mike speak for himself. Please help this PR pro out!

To set the stage, though (remember I used to be in the theater business), here’s what our deck (which is what the kitchen door opens out onto, and the way we get into our backyard, and where the dogs… you know…) looked like this morning around 7 am EST, followed by Lola Elizabeth (don’t you know bassets always, ALWAYS, must have middle names) looking out of the window longingly. And once you’ve had a gander at the photos (more here), do enjoy the video.

And as I write this – the deck is covered again. Sigh.

Happy #snowmageddon!

I never got around to posting it the last time, though a few of my Twitter friends enjoyed it – and this time around it seems it’ll snow for quite a while before we can enjoy another canine romp through the white stuff.

Until then, for your viewing pleasure, here you go (and check out those abs on Lola the basset). Stay safe!