Beauty and the 3geeks; Episode 4 - The end of an era!

Beauty and the 3geeks

Episode 4; The end of an era!

It has been a crazy 2 months that is for sure. Below is a quick recap, so just imagine a movie montage type show reel with music playing in the background whilst the highlights of my last 2 months are playing;

In episode 1 I introduced myself and the commitments I have running the not-for-profit; zero2hero, university and my new position as Social Media Manager at the digital agency 3geeks. I covered setting up the basics of a business ie: templates, spread sheets, documents, presentations and seeing to it that everything we are promoting our clients are supposed to be doing we are also doing.

In episode 2 I shared what it was like to brief and pitch to a “real” client and the preparation required leading up to it.

In episode 3 it was unveiled that we signed the client from episode 2 and that the challenge had only just begun. I also touched on what it was like to interview clients and produce case studies.

Phew! In my last 2 months working fulltime and studying full time has been a mammoth of a task. I have managed full time work alongside my degree quite easily over the last three years (until now). One thing University is unable to prepare us for is 'what it really takes'.

Previously managing a fashion store meant that I was doing full time hours however I could switch off at the end of the day. I have discovered is that there is a big difference when your job involves you being accountable for client accounts, KPI’s and also working in the social media industry. Unfortunately (and fortunately) Facebook does not sleep. In this industry it is expected that I am up late checking accounts and replying emails and that uni will fit around work not that work will fit around uni. This has required a realignment of my mind, diary and habits.

My position required a lot of work to get going and also the ability to find my place within a small business. Now that I feel as though I am in the swing of things the results have been showing up. In the last 2 weeks we have closed a few accounts and my week consists of managing all six of my client campaigns. This is the most rewarding part of my role. I love managing their social media strategies, although it is challenging at times it is fun and has plenty of rewards. I smile whenever an account clicks over another 10 likes ;) a little geeky but true.

Once upon a time I was a massive lover and advocate for Facebook, I now view it as just one of many tools to increase brand awareness, customer loyalty and target an audience. I have learnt so much in my time with 3geeks and I am looking forward to developing myself in the social media world plus the success of our first ever zero2hero Day. There is plenty happening and I have confirmed that there are definitely not enough hours in a day.

Final thought: Sleep faster!

Thanks for reading,

Ashlee Harrison

Beauty and the 3geeks

Beauty and the 3geeks

Episode 2; Would you recruit me?       

Good morning,

In episode 1 the focus of my placement at the digital agency; 3geeks, was to lay a solid foundation for their new social media department. With proposal and presentation templates firmly in place it was now time to test how effective they were. My boss and I had a meeting with one of Perth’s leading recruitment agency’s to discuss the potential of implementing a social media strategy. I had met the owner (aka the decision maker) very briefly before the meeting so I wasn’t walking in blindfolded however it was a big pitch and very different to presentations I had done in the past and also anything I had pitched at University.

The agency was already aware of the importance social media placed on the future success of most organisations however they did not have the resources or experience to fulfil on the strategy we were suggesting.  Our proposal (another PR technique I had been graded on many times before) included the management of their Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Linkedin and Youtube accounts. It was exciting and confronting to be talking to not only a “real” client but also a potential BIG client about managing their digital footprint on such a large scale.

At University we have been taught about budgets and timelines for supposed clients and it was satisfying to be proposing something in reality and for a client that actually invested in marketing or PR activities. The only clients we had come close to working with at Uni were charities and typically these organisations don’t have the money to spend on excess marketing, advertising and public relations therefore it was refreshing to be able to unleash our creativity with this campaign and still produce value for money.

(A Rolls Royce Camopaign).

The pitch went well (I felt) and my boss was happy so we crossed our fingers and waited for their response. They were happy with us BUT wanted to know what a step down from the campaign would cost them so requested we come back to them with a ‘Plan B’ proposal so they could choose.  This response was positive for me, we were proposing a 'Rolls Royce' of campaigns and they wanted to see how a 'Mercedes' would look.

After this pitch I had a completely new experience of what we call an “oral presentation” at University. Although the process was a lot more natural in this context it was also a lot more confronting and I was left waiting for a contract rather than a grade.

Overall it was an enjoyable experience and I learnt a lot! Working with my boss to ensure we were on the same page before, during and after the meeting was crucial. This is more important in a small working environment and is also obvious to a client. Therefore we worked together making sure we agreed on every part of our proposed campaign and did we land the job??? Episode 3 will answer all ;)

Final thought: don’t take them up on a coffee at the start of a meeting it’s too hot to drink until after the meeting is over.

Thanks for reading,

Ashlee Harrison

Beauty and the 3geeks... Episode 1; Set-Up

Beauty and the 3geeks

 

Episode 1; Set-Up            

Hello there,

I’m Ashlee Harrison and I started university at the “mature” age of 21, I place mature in inverted commas because three years ago I thought I was mature and too old to be commencing university for the first time. However, now I look back (a little wiser) and realise that I have so much more to learn. Looking back I am not sure how I ever thought I was too “mature” to be starting this adventure called full time study without compromising on my work commitments.

I have a career history that has been heavily focused on sales, real estate and marketing and in more recent years I have taken a detour into Public Relations (which I find is a glamorous version of sales in a way) and I am loving it. I have also spent the last four years starting and operating a local Perth charity; zero2hero, we focus on suicide prevention and increasing the awareness of suicide and depression in WA. I share all of this information so that you have the context from my choice of role for my PR Placement.

I have worked in a few different PR capacities, mainly through consulting, and have also co-ordinated many client functions and events over the past three years and when confronted with this placement noticed that nothing I had ever done before was going to quite cut it for both the PR Placement and also the beginning of my future career endeavours. 

Therefore, I chose to commence my placement simultaneously with the new position as Social Media Manager at a digital agency; 3geeks. 3geeks offer a HUGE range of services for any business in both online and offline marketing. I was approached earlier this year to head up their social media division, as this was previously a service the agency had to outsource. The role of social media manager includes; social media monitoring, channel implementation and set-up, account management and also prospecting. When I first accepted the challenge I wasn’t sure how it would look but knew it was a position and opportunity that I was ready to take.

In my first week with the company I drew on many skills that I have acquired during the years of both running zero2hero and also my PR and marketing units. I was required to prepare a presentation to pitch to a prospective client; this included the brief and written proposal…. Finally!!! I was using a document I had been asked to produce so many times as an assignment. There are definitely similarities between the documents used in the ‘real world’ and those we are taught to do at University however there are also some big differences.

As a digital agency specialising in marketing and advertising it is essential that what we produce is fully aligned with the 3geeks brand. My first power-point presentation would have been of a high calibre ie: well researched, easy to follow and overall a convincing pitch however it was definitely not at the same level of work that 3 geeks produce and was not in line with their brand therefore it was back to the drawing board. My manager was great at working through this with me and he definitely has a creative mind that can cut through the crap, which I enjoy working with.

Over the first week my main task was to set-up several standard documents required for any standard social media campaign and also review the content for social media on their NEW website. In doing this I found that I needed to complete a lot of work on my own personal social media sites as these weren’t up to date and no longer promoted me and what I am now up to. This then meant I had to conduct a complete overhaul on all of my personal social media pages…

1.       Tumblr

2.       Facebook

3.       Pinterest

4.       Linkedin

5.       Twitter

6.       Youtube

7.       Google+

8.       Instagram

Just to name a few ;) a couple of those I didn’t even use or see the point of until I started researching the numbers of people utilising any one channel and the opportunity it is to understand each of them when I am advising my clients. This meant I needed to research, edit and align my pages according to the target market, sounding familiar? It definitely was.

So in my first week the focus was getting ready and laying a solid foundation. Next task was to build something on it.

Final thought: I must keep a password log.

Regards,

Ashlee Harrison