Last Day at Blithewold…. For Now!

A few weeks ago was my last day at Blithewold and needless to say I’m pretty bummed about it. I met so many new, amazing people, I learned so much, and I got to go to a beautiful mansion every day for work. Luckily for me, Tree asked me to come back and work there in the fall! After much consideration, I said yes, I would love to come back.

Why the internal debate about going back to Blithewold? Well it was tough for me because I majorly suffer from FOMO (Fear of Missing Out). I’m always looking for the next best event, connection, or opportunity. I naturally seek out new and exciting projects and learning opportunities. A whole second semester at Blithewold would mean missing out on that many more other internships. However, the benefits of staying at a position longer than a few months are very tempting.

One, I would be the HBIC, meaning that I would be the head intern in charge. This past semester, the other two interns were graduating seniors and I was just a lowly sophomore. Now, no matter who else Tree hires, I’ll still have been there the longest and therefore have the upper-hand. Not only will this increase my leadership and delegation skills, it will allow me to move on from the menial tasks such as event posting (not that this practice isn’t extremely important, it’s just very tedious for the poor intern who gets stuck doing it for days on end). Secondly, Tree and I had a long discussion about where I see myself going and what I want to get out of this internship. She is taking the time to listen to my goals and objectives and incorporate those in the types of projects she has planned for me next fall. I’ll be able to work on larger, more long term projects and I’ll also have more independence because I already know what’s going on.

The major project I’ll be working on in the fall will be heading the charge on redoing the entire, official Blithewold website. This will be no easy task, let me tell you. It will be a lengthy process, as all employees, volunteers, board members, etc, have an opinion on what the website should and should not be. It’s something I’m really excited to embark on and I think I’ll learn a lot.

So goodbye Blithewold, but just for now!

Social Media Marketing – Integrating All Your Platforms

Social media is probably one of the most important tools that marketers use on a daily basis. It provides two way communication with their target market, allows for instant feedback from consumers, and it’s free. Using social media effectively can be very tricky. I’ve learned a lot about the do’s and don’ts of social media marketing, especially the integration of multiple media platforms, from my internship at Blithewold.

To like Blithewold on Instagram Click Here!

When I began at Blithewold, they already had an established Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and YouTube page, but they didn’t have an Instagram. For those who don’t know, Instagram is an image based social media platform, within which users can easily snap a pic, choose a filter, type a witty caption and share the picture with all their followers within seconds. I thought Instagram was an important platform for Blithewold to use because the mansion and grounds have such visual appeal. Between the historical beauty inside and the acres of greenery and gardens, picture sharing is a key strategy to attract more visitors to Blithewold. I pitched the idea of creating an Instagram to my boss and she was all for the idea and gave me the go-ahead to do it all on my own.

My first task after creating the initial account was syncing it up to all of Blithewold’s other social media platforms, specifically Facebook and Twitter. This was really crucial to do in order to gather the already present following for Blithewold and direct them to the new Instagram account. Since Blithewold’s Facebook and Twitter pages were already well established with several hundred followers, syncing them to the Instagram page would automatically expose these followers to the content on Instagram.

The next key step in making the new Blithewold Instagram account successful was education. Much of the staff at Blithewold is on the older side, making them a little slow to catch up to new technologies such as Instagram. I sent out an informative email highlighting the basic steps on how to create a post, gave everyone the username and password for the account, and told them to come to me with any and all questions! Within that first week, I had at least a dozen emails and questions about how to use the account, and it was a little rocky at first but pretty soon people started to get the hang of it. Two of the horticulture staff are very frequent posters and we also have one of the volunteers who posts a lot of pics of the events. That is another key to social media marketing – frequent and interesting posts. Posting often creates a presences and will generate more followers and likes. The Instagram account has been up and running for about a month and a half now and it has just over 200 followers, which is pretty good I think. Obviously, it needs more promotion, but 200 followers is a solid base of traffic to such a new account.

Implementing this social media marketing platform at Blithewold taught me that 1. Synchronizing all social media accounts will streamline the market communications and make a more cohesive social media presence, and 2. Posting frequently and with interesting and interactive content will both draw in your audience and keep them entertained. There’s many different forums and books with advice about how to implement social media marketing within your business. It is debatably one of the hardest things to do successfully, but once you do it is an interactive, cost efficient, profitable form of marketing. One great book with innovative and interesting advice regarding social media marketing is 500 Social Media Marketing Tips: Essential Advice, Hints and Strategy for Business: Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Google+, YouTube, Instagram, LinkedIn, and More! by Andrew Macarthy. This book can be skimmed for a few tips in a few minutes or read in detail to implement an in depth plan. Either way, it’s a great starting point if you don’t know where to begin and it covers all facets of social media platforms. Social media marketing is immensely important and if implemented right, can create huge financial gains for your business.

 

Company Spotlight: Blithewold Mansion, Gardens, and Arboretum

This semester (Spring 2014), I’m a marketing intern at Blithewold Mansion, Gardens, and Arboretum, a 45-room English-style manor, formerly home to the Van Wickle Family, filled with family heirlooms and framed by a series of lovely gardens and arboretum on Narragansett Bay. Aside from the historical and natural beauty of Blithewold, the non-profit organization has taught me so much about marketing and communications for a small, historical landmark.

At Blithewold, my boss is Tree Callanan, Director of Communications and Visitor Experience. This title doesn’t even begin to cover the vast amount of responsibilities Tree has, which is good for me as an intern because it means I get exposed to a variety of tasks and experiences. Tree is essentially the second in command to Karen Binder, the Executive Director. Blithewold has probably only two or three other full time staff members with another six to eight part time staff members. The rest of Blithewold is run entirely by volunteers, and trust me there are plenty of volunteers. The volunteer staff at Blithewold is phenomenal. Without them, Blithewold would not function as a nonprofit.

I’ll summarize a few of the highlights of the countless tasks and project I did at Blithewold throughout the spring semester:

• Rebuilt entire Blithewold blog through the use of WordPress, CSS, and HTML
• Began the reconstruction of the entire Blithewold website
• Implement QR code technology with webpage connections in various exhibits throughout the mansion
• Assist with purchasing/buying goods for the gift shop
• Merchandise and create displays for the gift shop in order to promote and increase sales
• Write informative and concise press releases and event updates for the website and newsletter

Blithewold is an amazing organization and I am proud to be a member of their fantastic staff that preserves and promotes such a beautiful, historical landmark.

The Benefits of an Unpaid Internship

Of course everyone wants to make money. Especially as a business major, the bottom line at the end of the day is how much are you making? Sometimes though, particularly in the case of internships, looking at the long term benefit of an experience can be much more beneficial than an hourly wage.

Here’s my list of the top 5 benefits of an unpaid internship:

1. Experience, experience, experience!
2. Excellent networking connections
3. A window into the working world that could be your future
4. An instant boost to your resume
5. Relevant work experience to apply to future jobs

Jennifer Conole, my career advisor through the RWU Career Center, quoted a statistic that students who participate in internships (paid or unpaid) will earn, on average, $4,000-8,000 more annually at an entry level job than those who do not have any work experience. When weighing the benefit of an $8.00 minimum wage job versus making literally thousands more per month in your future career, trading in that part time summer job for an unpaid internship doesn’t seem so bad anymore, does it?

Of course, who wouldn’t want a paid internship? But if one is to be realistic, there are more opportunities for unpaid than paid internships in our current job market. Nearly every company is willing to take on interns, however, many companies, especially smaller ones, do not have the funds to pay an intern for their work.* This is unfortunate, because many times interns have more opportunities to excel and have their voices heard in smaller companies.

Overall, interning throughout your college career is extremely important, especially as a business major. The job market is so competitive and in order to make yourself stand out, it’s necessary to have more than just a good GPA and some extra curricular activities. Experience matters! Whether it be paid or unpaid, an internship is most definitely worth your time.

Now how about you tell me which you prefer, paid or unpaid?

*How, may you ask, is this legal? According to the U.S. Department of Labor, unpaid internships are legal as long as the intern is receiving college credit. Click here to learn more!