I started my own publicity agency in 2003 from my bedroom with watermelon pink walls, where I took on my first client: Myself.
The first step in marketing: editing my profile on my AIM account where I painstakingly chose colors and fonts to display my insightful views on life as I knew it, through quotes from modern day philosophers like Britney Spears, and list all of my ‘bestiez and our inside jokes. I knew the magnitude of what order to list my friends’ initials and the chaos that would ensue when I moved Arielle last after we got into a fight over whose mom would drive us to the movies.
Then MySpace went viral. I made sure to sign up so that I could upload photos of myself wearing my new VonDutch hat so everyone would know I was practically Paris Hilton and my music selection was up to date so anyone on my profile could enjoy Ashlee Simpson’s “Pieces of Me.”
Facebook was a real game changer for the Jackie Salo Publicity Agency. I ended things with MySpace Tom and began documenting every moment of my life to keep fans at ease. Every time I signed off Facebook for a quick break, I would have to decide whether to honor these monumental moments with a status, album, mupload or wall post. It would be an injustice to society if I didn’t share as much of my life as I possibly could with my Facebook fam.
When my friend suggested I join Twitter, I did so grudgingly. “It’s like so narcissistic to think that the entire Internet wants to hear my thoughts and that pound symbol thing makes me uneasy,” I told her. I discovered and embraced Twitter for what it truly is – a mechanism to send out 30,000 press releases on myself a day.
The Jackie Salo Publicity Agency continues to grow and now names miniature dachshund Winnie Salo as a client.
Jackie Salo is a freshman majoring in journalism.