Yesterday, I got to tell you all about the PR Dream Team.
If you missed it, click on that link above and go read it. I’ll wait.
Pretty cool, right?
We’ve been working hard on finding the right balance between content, experts, community, networking, and fun.
It’s ready for primetime and we don’t want you to have serious FOMO.
Though we are ready, there are lots of questions about the tools, how/when to engage, and how to use Slack effectively.
You ask. We answer!
Here is everything you need to know about how to get the most out of the PR Dream Team.
Slack, Slack, and Slack
If you belong to a private Facebook group (or groups), you know how effective they are.
There is everything from parenting and hobbies to professional speaking and just plain, old snarking.
They are sometimes a great use of time and other times a great waste of time.
The only think I cannot stand about Facebook groups is the rabbit hole.
I know I am not the only person who goes to Facebook for work, looks up an hour later and has no idea why I went there in the first place.
Then I close Facebook, only to remember, and the cycle begins again.
It’s great in the evenings. It stinks during the day.
That’s why I love Slack.
It sits as an app on my desktop and the only reason I go there is for work.
That’s not to say there isn’t fun in there and that there aren’t rabbit holes, but it’s far more efficient during the day than Facebook.
On the lefthand side, you see a column of boxes with letters in them.
These are all of the Slack groups I have—from Arment Dietrich and Spin Sucks to my mastermind and Inside PR.
Then, when you click on a group, you see all of the channels inside there.
See the PR Dream Team there? If you join us, you’ll have that channel.
(The others are for other projects so you may or may not also have them.)
When a conversation happens inside the group, you get a small circle notification (which you can turn on and off, at will).
When someone mentions you in a comment, you get a big, red circle.
There also are threaded conversations, which makes it ridiculously easy to follow brainstorms, advice, and more.
The best part, however?
You can upload documents in there and the search function is incredible.
We use it for document review internally because it connects with Google Drive (and other apps) and doesn’t take up memory on our computers.
You do have to download the desktop app (you can also get to it online) and visit it occasionally.
It’s like anything else—once it becomes habit, you’ll wonder how you lived without it.
Trust me, this is a habit you want to create.
I Can’t Use Slack at Work
Let’s say, however, you’re never going to create the habit or your IT team won’t allow Slack at work.
That’s OK!
The real reason you’re spending money on the PR Dream Team is for the content.
The ancillary benefits are, by far, the community, the networking, the advice, and the support.
But if you can’t have Slack, we get it.
That’s why, on the first Friday of every month, we send you an email with:
- The previous month’s goodies;
- Exclusive content available only to the PR Dream Team;
- A recording to all expert Q&As;
- Recordings of all webinars, online courses, and videos;
- A directory of the members; and
- Links to the conversations, if you want to check them from home.
While the Slack group will provide you more benefits, it is not absolutely necessary for you to join the PR Dream Team.
The Best Use of the PR Dream Team
Tomorrow I’m going to give you some case studies on how members have had the most success from the PR Dream Team.
The one thing they all have in common?
They participate.
When we have live content—webinars, Q&As, Facebook Live, and more—they show up.
If someone has a question, they are quick to not only provide help, but brainstorm, provide templates, or even have phone calls.
They study the member directory and figure out who they can introduce members to in their networks.
They go to the PR Dream Team first when they have a business need.
The content is used to learn something, evolve their careers, and change the conversation about PR in their own organizations.
They ask questions, themselves, and aren’t afraid to admit they don’t know something.
You can do all of this with—or without—Slack.
We make it easy.
All you have to do is commit to five or 10 minutes a day (except on days when we have live content—that’s an hour of your time).
If you do, you’ll easily get 100 times the value on your time.
Have More Questions?
We’ve been living and breathing the PR Dream Team for seven months now.
Sometimes I sit and watch the conversations in awe. It’s a pretty incredible community and we are very fortunate.
Because of that, joining seems like a no-brainer to us, but I know some of you like to kick the tires.
If you have more questions, let us know!
If we get enough of the same question, we’ll produce content around it—after we talk it through with you.
You can leave questions here in the comments, ask in our free Slack community, use any of the socials, or go old-school and email us.