Tag: collaboration

Advertising, Communication, Google, Marketing, Productivity, Social Media

Social media content planning made easy with this collaborative Google Sheets template (great for one man schoolPR shops!)

Jessica Johnston

If you’re a one man schoolPR shop, you know how important it is to find ways to work smarter, not harder. One of the easiest ways to do that is to collaborate with key staff members who can help you develop great content. Share the love, right?!

Last summer I developed this Google Sheet and employed the help of our district content specialists, instructional specialists and instructional technology specialists to plan social media content for the summer using the themes below. (I try to update the themes regularly, so you’ll see different hashtags in the document linked above.) It was awesome to have a diverse range of posts and it really made my job a lot easier to have quality, targeted content ready to go.

Motivational Monday
Technology Tuesday
Wellness Wednesday
Thinking Thursday
Focus Friday
Safety Saturday
Stay in School Sunday

It’s no secret that I love all things Google, so a Google Sheet felt like the obvious choice for this task. Plus, it’s so easy to give access to staff who can help me and I know the document is always live and up-to-date. I even built in a little character counter to keep our posts “Twitter friendly.” It’s simple and basic, but it works!!

Do you have a social media content planner that is working for you? Share it in the comments below!

Branding, Culture

3 presentations you can use with students, teachers and leaders for building better brands

Jessica Johnston

How many of your students, teachers, and campus/district leaders truly think of your school or district as a brand?

Although school PR officials understand this, our students and staff members rarely think in terms of branding when it comes to K-12 education. When we say “branding” – they see McDonald’s, Starbucks and Nike. The reality is – we are all working together to build our school and district brands, but we’re also building our personal and leadership brands in the process.

Below are three presentations I developed to use with students in our communications classes and with staff members at our annual district professional development conference to help start those branding conversations. (Please feel free to make a copy to use for yourself!) Here are a few points I like to make during these presentations…

  • Many of us were taught not to “toot our own horn” … that it’s rude to brag, but if we don’t tell our story, no one will!
  • Your NAME is your brand. What do parents think when they see your name on their child’s schedule? Do they fist pump or cringe?
  • If you are unsatisfied with your personal or leadership brand … take this opportunity to RE-BRAND! Companies do it all the time – you can, too!
  • Invest time in your teacher website. If you want to be taken seriously as a professional, then write a professional bio! This is often the first thing that stakeholders will read about you.
  • Understand that PR is EVERYONE’S job – not just mine. Each of you can impact our district brand, your campus brand, and each other’s brands. Use that power wisely!