As part of #BeMyGuest (a month of guest blogging), today I bring you a guest post from Laura Click. Enjoy!

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Imagine you’re in a crowded bar. The music is pumping and the atmosphere is electric. You spot a guy (or girl) across the room that catches your eye. Your pulse quickens. You want to meet this person, but how do you strike up a conversation without feeling awkward?

Sound familiar?

If you’ve ever tried meeting new people in a bar, you know how difficult it can be. A bar is crowded. It’s noisy. How do you connect with people like you? And strangely, this analogy applies to social media as well. While many have deemed Twitter and Facebook to be a “virtual water cooler”, I tend to think of it as crowded bar.

While social media can be an incredibly useful way to develop relationships, it can take a bit of work to cut through the noise and find the right people to talk to. And, once you find those people, how do you get to know them without tossing out the cheesy pick-up lines?

Social media offers the incredible opportunity to connect with people we never thought possible, such as industry leaders, potential employers and even our favorite celebrities. However, the real value of social media occurs when online interaction translates to relationships “in real life”.

As with any solid relationship, it does not develop overnight. Whether you want to connect with business prospects, colleagues, mentors or simply other totally awesome people, it’s important to invest time in cultivating relationships.

So, how do you get started? Here are some tips to developing relationships online (sans pick-up lines):

1. Listen. If you’ve identified some people you’d like to get to know, follow them and listen to what they have to say. Their posts can give you a great insight into the person’s interests and ideas.
2. Introduce. If you want to connect with someone, introduce yourself and say hello. After reading about the person, you can mention something that you have in common or compliment them on something you saw on their blog. This is a great way to start up a conversation.
3. Retweet. Retweeting is one of the best ways to compliment someone on Twitter. Essentially, it’s like forwarding an e-mail message. It allows you to share someone’s tweet with your followers. So, if you like what someone had to say, retweeet it! Oftentimes, they’ll send you a thank you in response.
4. Reply. As you follow people, respond to posts that interest you. Using Facebook, you can “like” or comment on posts. Sending an @reply on Twitter is a simple way to show you’re listening to what the person has to say.  Over time, this may lead to a more in-depth discussion or even a conversation offline.
5. Comment. If the person has a blog, join the discussion and comment on their posts. This is a great way to provide value to the blogger, while also highlighting why you are someone the blogger should get to know. And, you might just learn something in the process.
6. Repeat. Because of the large scale of social media, it’s important to repeat the process. It can be hard to grab someone’s attention if the person has thousands of followers or fans. Continuing to participate will help the person recognize you when finally do make the ask.
7. Ask. After you’ve communicated with the person for a while, it will be much easier to suggest meeting the person for coffee or even having a phone conversation. Because you’ve taken the time to get to know the person a bit first, they will be much more likely to oblige.

This approach has worked well for me. After getting to know someone online, I’ve not had anyone turn down the chance to meet up for coffee. And, because of that, I’ve met some fantastic people in the process.  Yes, there’s a little risk. And, there’s always the fear of rejection. However, I think you’ll find that once you’ve done it, you’ll be glad you did.

How do you develop relationships online? What have you done to connect with people you’ve met online?

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About Laura
Laura Click is a marketing and public relations professional in Nashville, Tenn. She works in state government by day, and is a blogger and marketing consultant by night. You can find out more about Laura at www.lauraclick.com, or by following @lauraclick on Twitter.

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As a Tennessee alum, I knew I had to post something on PRettySocial about Lane Kiffin’s departure from UT football. However, while I love football and the Vols, I wasn’t the one for the job. So this morning, I bring you a guest post from PR pro & sports fanatic, Mike Schaffer…

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When I heard that Lane Kiffin was bolting from his position of head football coach at the University of Tennessee, as a non-alum and not even much of a college football follower, I thought “Wow, this moves around as much as Jay Leno!”

And after his refusal to answer questions at his final press conference in Tennessee, he came across looking like a jerk.  (In the industry, we call that a PR FAIL! Even when the answers may be uncomfortable or worse, you must address the issue at hand.)

However, to all the Volunteers out there, DO NOT WORRY!

Let me count the ways:

1. He was there one year.  Steve Spurrier lasted longer as the Washington Redskins coach.  And Washington completely forgot that era of awfulness.  He will be a nugget in the glorious history of Volunteer football.
2. Sure, the Vols made it to a bowl game.  But it was the Chick-Fil-A Bowl.  That restaurant isn’t even open on Sundays.  And they lost.  Seriously, though, it’s not like he set the world on fire.  The team competed, but  were not in the upper echelon of the NCAA.
3. His record was only 7-6, and 4-4 in the SEC.  Read: He’s no Bear Bryant…not even a Vince Dooley.  Nick Saban had infinitely more impact in the conference than Kiffin.  UT will find a coach that is interested in being the coach of UT…not someone that wants to coach everywhere but where he currently is.
4. He flopped horribly in the NFL.  After finishing 4-12 in his first year, Al Davis WROTE a letter of resignation for him to sign.  Seriously, if Al Davis thinks you aren’t worth it…enough said.  (For the record, Kiffin survived that off-season, but was axed with a combined NFL record of 5-15.  And filed a lawsuit.  Brilliant!)
5. While he was an NFL coach, he was rumored to be interested in college jobs.  He made it to the top of the mountain and couldn’t handle the heat.   Let’s face it, USC is THE football team in Los Angeles, the #2 market in the country.    Every move he makes will be scrutinized by the media.  And it won’t be pretty.
6. Throughout his coaching career, rules violations have followed him around.  In just one year at Tennessee, he registered numerous NCAA violations, mostly on the recruiting side.  Furthermore, USC is under some hot water right now, that is about to boil, so Kiffin will have to deal with that mess.
7. At USC, Kiffin will be replacing a LEGEND in his prime in Pete Carroll.  Sure, USC’s best days may have been a few years back, but Carroll was going nowhere.  What sane person would want to do that?  Sure, Carroll caused a lot of the trouble that Kiffin will be dealing with, but he is beloved on campus.

There you have it – 7 Reasons to Forget Lane Kiffin.  There’s ALWAYS a next year.

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Mike Schaffer is the Director of Social Media for BWF Communications in Washington, DC.  He is the author of The Buzz by Mike Schaffer and founder of #SportsPRChat on Twitter.  Through his career in sports PR, he was worked with NFL, MLB, ATP, PGA, NCAA, NHL and WNBA teams, leagues and active and retired athletes.   Follow him on Twitter.

This post is part of the Guest Blog Grand Tour over at Life Without Pants – an epic journey of over 75 guest posts. Want to learn more about Matt Cheuvront & see how far the rabbit hole goes? Subscribe to the Life Without Pants RSS feed & follow him on Twitter to keep in touch!

“Personal Branding” has become an idea I wish I could delete from my memory. I get it, really I do – I understand that, especially in this day and age of technological innovation and public communication, we need to consider the things we do and say, and realize that our information is not private online. But we have gotten so caught up in this concept of Personal Branding that it’s starting to take control of our lives.

We’ve become obsessed with maintaining and promoting a positive (personal) brand image – saying the right things, keeping up appearances, being careful not to offend, and dancing around issues. We’re an indoctrinated culture of “personal branders” who are so focused on always being at our best that we lose track of what really matters most – being ourselves – being real and honest with ourselves and each other – speaking what’s really on our mind even if it means we make a mistake from time to time.

I’m 24 years old. To me, at this age, I’m far too young to even consider being “right” all the time. I know I’m not, I know I’m just your average guy who can say stupid things, get frustrated, and retaliate when someone rubs me the wrong way. I’m human – and as far as I know, so are you. That means it should be OK to be vulnerable, OK to be wrong, OK to screw up and say the wrong thing from time to time.

The minute you stop being yourself in favor of being something you’re not in an effort to shape your personal brand is the exact moment that you lost the point of “personal branding” in the first place. There is NO right or wrong in the personal branding world. Your personal brand is YOU – whatever that means, for better or worse, you are who you are and once you embrace that and run with it, everything else will fall into place.

The Internet allows us to share ideas and discuss opinions easier than any generation that has ever preceded us. Use that to your advantage. We have tools at our disposal that no one ever has, so get out there and LEARN something – you don’t have to be perfect, no one expects you to always be on your “A” game, and it’s OK to be wrong and ask questions. Let your Personal Brand evolve and develop around YOU, don’t force yourself to model behavior after a cookie-cutter idea of what people think is “right”.

These are the years in our life where we are supposed to screw up and get things wrong. We go to high school, graduate college, and get thrown into the fire of the “real world” – which, come to find out, college doesn’t really even prepare you for. Do you honestly think you’re supposed to have it all figured out already? Do you really think a mistake here and bad decision there is really going to have a long-term effect on what people think of you forever?

I don’t. I’m open to failure and mistakes because I know they are an inevitable part of growth and success. This realization has allowed me to effectively speak my mind without regret – because at my age, the PR I create for and around myself and my “brand” is a work in progress, not a final product.

What do you think? Are we too young to be worrying about our Personal Brand? Are you as tired of hearing about “personal brands” as I am?