Service Learning Project Debrief

     The service learning project I completed for English 312, a business writing course at UNC Wilmington, analyzes the social media and online presences of Wilmington Real Estate brokerage Nest Realty. I worked with two classmates asynchronously using Google Drive and Google Docs to complete most of our collaborative work.

     By working with a client, I learned how to apply my writing skills in a professional manner. I learned that messages need to be clear, consistent and courteous in the world of business. According to our course text, Business Communication: Polishing Your Professional Presence, writing for business means being “strategic, professional, and adaptable” (Shwom & Snyder, 2014, p. 9). In this project, I learned that organization is key. Early on, we were presented with an initial client video interview with lead broker Ryan Crecelius, in which he explained the character of Nest Realty and discussed the company’s goals.

     The course outcome I believe most applies to this project is “effective practices of design and rhetoric to compose and publish multimodal texts or business audiences”. I learned that rhetoric entails ethos (credibility), logos (reason), and pathos (feeling). In order to have an effective white paper, my team and I appealed to each of these elements of rhetoric. The elements of persuasion, or rhetoric, as noted by Aristotle are ethos, logos and pathos. Ethos is used to build credibility, logos establishes arguments, and pathos helps communicators to connect with audiences by appealing to emotion (Shwom & Snyder, pg 165).

     In our report for Nest Realty, we analyzed the company’s presence on social media outlets Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. We found that they had underutilized some platforms, like Pinterest or video forms like YouTube, Vimeo, and Vine, yet had an impressive presence and following on Facebook. Our report makes suggestions for improvement, like branching out to mastery of more than just one platform. For our report we included information from the client interview as well as comparisons from trends with similar brokerages.

      I expected to have more interaction with the client in this project. For example, we were not given feedback on drafts of our project from the client, nor were there open lines of communication between my group and the client. I think that being able to In addition, my group had some trouble collaborating solely online. One group member did not have consistent access to the internet, or own a computer, so dividing work fairly became difficult. Another issue I think all classmates could agree by me saying this course was not easy. I had never taken a writing intensive course online before and the work was demanding. Looking back, I’m glad that I chose to take it because I am now proficient in Google Docs, Google +, and Google Drive. I now know how to make a presentation (slidecast) with Google and how to create and publish video resume online.

     The skills gained in this service learning project will be useful in my career because I expect to practice professional writing as either a PR practitioner working with clients or in a sales job. Even if I land a job not focused on writing for business, I know that skills like working with clients, collaborating with peers online, professional strategic writing, and creating research based documents like white papers, will be relevant to any career I pursue.

References

Shwom Barbara, and Lisa Snyder. "Chapter 3: Managing the Communication Process." Business Communication: Polishing Our Professional Presence. 2nd ed. Pearson Education, 2014. Online.

White Paper - Social media analysis for Nest Realty

Link to white paper

In a video interview by our Business Communication professor with the head broker or Nest Realty in Wilmington, Ryan Crecelius, it was revealed that culture is a significant factor when it comes to agents and matching them with clients. I asked Mr. Crecelius how he describes their culture. He said, "I would describe our culture as being un-corporate, forward thinking, down to earth and fun."

I noticed that Asheville and some other cities in North Carolina and Virginia are home to Nest Realty brokerages, so I was curious if culture varied regionally? Crecelius said,"To a degree I would imagine each office / market has things that make them unique but essentially we are all built on the same Nest DNA."

I explored the Nest blog and really like the idea of the “Meet the Maker” series. One social media strategy I’ve learned is that posts should be duplicatable. I asked if Mr. Crecelius would you like to see different categories of series in the future. He said, "Sure, different categories would be great. It’s just a matter of finding the time. The “meet the maker” series content comes from our Nest Magazine that we put out twice a year. The goal for our magazine is to give readers insight into the cities we have offices in, what makes those places unique and to make them feel proud and to discover the town they live in. i.e 'Live Where Love Love'".

Using others' images: err on the side of caution

When creating multimedia presentations, such as slidecasts, it is tempting to simply pull photos from a Google search. But did you know not all photos in an image search can be treated as a free for all?

Use of copyrighted materials without permission can result in unpleasant results, like legal action against those who do so. That is why it's best to err on the side of caution. What do I mean by this? If you are going to make a mistake, make one that shows you were only being too careful.

That's where Creative Commons comes into play. Ever see a photo or material marked with "CC"? That's denotes the material has been licensed for open use by its creator, unlike copyrighted ("C") work that says "all rights reserved". CC images and material can even be modified (cropped, annotated, etc.)

Creative Commons can be searched online to provide you with material that is safe to use freely. In addition, fair use allows individuals to incorporate copyrighted material if it is used for analytic or educational purposes, rather than commercial. It's reassuring to know safeguards are in place, but one's best bet is to first peruse through material that is intended to be used by anyone. For more information, see Creative Commons' about page.

I'm working on a slidecast for my business writing course. We're analyzing how a local branch of a realty company uses social media. Below are some images from the Creative Commons database that I've found under the keyword "social media" and intend to use in my presentation.

Helpful Hashtags

#LiveWhereYouLove is Nest Realty Wilmington's unique hashtag, a spinoff from the commonly used realty phrase, "love where you live", that reinforces the company's culture and brand. 

This tag not only is recognized internally by brokers, but externally by clients as well. It is important to have creative hashtags to unify the target audience.

Note: To my knowledge, my use of the Twitter logo is ethical. Their brand assets webpage states that the actual logo should be used when referencing Twitter, rather than adaptations of the bird image. The logos are even available to download from that page. 

I should have provided the source from which I found Chernov's quotation. It was found in a document written in 2014 by Lauren Drell titled "Hashtags, infographics and videos! Oh my!" Her work includes a copyright note at its end.

According to "Measuring Fair Use: The Four Factors", fair use is determined by the intended purpose and nature of using the work, as well as the amount of non-original content. My purpose is to inform and motivate on a non-commercial scale. For this reason, I feel that my use is ethical.

An exemplary slidecast

Until taking this Business Writing course, I was unfamiliar with the term slidecast. So what is it? A slidecast is basically a narrated slideshow, or presentation that requires no speaker/presenter or audience interaction (one does not have to click through slides).

Take a look at this slidecast by YouTube user Billy Phillips, titled "Where's God? A SlideCast: Part One", below.

Impressive slidecast example:

Even if you don't agree with Phillips' point of view, you have to agree that his design and content choices are effective. Additionally, the rhetorical approaches of logos and pathos are convincing. 

Logos is applied when Phillips proposes data based in reason, as opposed to traditional or unfounded points. Pathos was applied in asking viewers to remember their childhoods. I also feel pathos was a part of the whole presentation, because I think people tend to have strong emotional ties to religious beliefs.

By posing rhetorical questions from slide one, Phillips engages audiences and holds their attention throughout the presentation. The question posed in the title, about finding God, is not answered in this presentation. Phillips holds his answer to the question in part two of this slidecast series. This move is a great way for him to intrigue viewers even more as well as increase the views for his YouTube channel and other videos.

I chose this slidecast as an exemplary presentation because of the captivating imagery, memorable arrangement, use of rhetoric, and meaningful content.

Establishing Credibility - How Nest Realty uses ethos to appeal to future clients

Nest Realty is a brokerage with multiple locations in North Carolina and Virginia. Along with my Communication for Business classmates at UNC Wilmington, I am working on a service learning project to analyze the social media presence of the Wilmington, NC branch.
To do this we will apply communication theory and examine rhetorical choices made in social media posts as well as website content. 

As you may know, ancient philosopher Aristotle described rhetoric as having three elements: ethos, logos, and pathos. This post focuses on ethos - where ethics are introduced and reinforced. Ethos is used to establish credibility by providing information like origin, mission and methods. 

So far, we have only looked at Nest's website and some company videos. The video below, from September, is titled "Work Where You Love". To some, it could just be an attention-getting title. However, this choice reveals just one simple way in which Nest is establishing ethos. 

How? Consistency. 

The company's slogan is "Live where you love" a twist on the commonly seen phrase "love where you live". Here, they further adapt the phrase which is echoed in the video's title. A simple step, but the decision stands out and shows just how focused the efforts of their marketing team are. Here's the video:

Nest Realty - Work Where You Love video

Not only does this video convince us (and future clients) that the people of Nest truly enjoy what they do, but demonstrates their credibility. Transparency is shown with the blooper reel at the end - who wouldn't want a down-to-earth and relatable agent to guide them in the long process or buying or selling a home?

Other ways the people of nest establish credibility are dressing professionally, mentioning years of experience, and using industry-specific language. 

In an interview video (not included in this post) with Principal Broker, Ryan Crecelius, my class learned that Nest values culture. Although not mentioned in the video above verbally, viewers receive nonverbal cues that the company's culture is coordinated and shared by those associate with it. We get hints of an environment that holds itself to high standards and a certain level of class.

The end result of our observations on this company will lead to the creation of a white paper (report with analyses and suggestions) for any improvements, but based on the strength and coherence of Nest's messages and brand coherence, I feel making suggestions for improvement will not be an easy task.