Alyssa Nightingale of Nightingale & Nightingale explains what character traits make her an innovator

Alyssa Nightingale is the president/CEO at Nightingale & Nightingale, Inc. Nightingale oversees company operations and media efforts for all clients. She has received the following awards/recognition: * Nominated by readers of the LI Press For Best of LI 2010 as Long Island's Best Publicist; * Recognized by the Chamber of Commerce Regional Business Partnership as one of the "101 Volunteers of the Year," an honor that recognizes the difference citizens have made in the lives of others; * Awarded a Community Service Award from the LI Board of Realtors; and * Served as honorary vice chairman/PR for the U.S. Marine Corps Toys For Tots program. Among her career achievements are: * Long Island Business Best Award; * Corporate Award for Dedication and Commitment to Client's Business; * Business Of The Year Award of Excellence; and * Newsday and Long Island Business News have consistently ranked agency as one of the top LI Public Relations Agencies. Nightingale is affiliated with CBR, CBA, International Real Estate Federation, FIABCI, National Association of Realtors,New York State Association of Realtors, LI Board of Realtors and Society for Professional Journalists. What makes you an innovator? Innovation occurs when revolutionary ideas are applied in a successful manner to a specific situation or within an industry. I define an innovator as the person who can effectively create, lead and manage innovation. There are several traits I believe which lead to me being an innovator including: * Expertise and dedication to "managing perception" in an effective manner * Creativity: My ability to manage creativity in such a way as to help clients achieve positions of leadership within their industries * Commitment to excellence: I am driven to excellence and as our motto states we are committed to ensuring that our "Performance Matches the Promise * Leadership ability: I have developed a unique reputation for my approach to communications helping each client obtain maximum exposure within the marketplace. * Passion to achieve a goal * Instincts to know what is effective * Detail oriented: To ensure that finely-tuned expertise and effective, success-driven applications are applied to all public relations we undertake * Reputation: Our reputation is our most valuable asset so we constantly strive to ensure that any activity undertaken on behalf of our clients ensures that we are "uniquely successful" * Results: Our commitment is to deliver overwhelming results for clients. My focus is to bring the most up-to-date and state-of the-art communications techniques to the real estate industry. My philosophy is that if you really want something to happen, believe in what you are doing, commit to it and it can happen. I also have strong philanthropic commitment and truly believe that if you do one thing, no matter how small it may seem, you've done something significant to help. Any small step is the start to making a big difference. What motivates you to succeed? What motivates and inspires me to succeed is my commitment and dedication to my clients and their own successes and to providing outstanding value in helping them to achieve their goals. Our clients' successes lead to our success. I feel it is important to ensure that every program or project my company orchestrates is well-executed and results in an abundance of media support - from newspaper placement to television, radio and online. It is my goal to be considered a "special" asset to my clients and to the communications and real estate industries. I am committed to ensuring that my company's vision, strategy, tactics and execution techniques are unsurpassed. We are known for the suitability of our solutions when we are striving toward a particular goal, for our creativity and for the originality and execution of our ideas. How do you stay ahead of the curve? Today's audiences are subject to an overload of commercial communications from a wide range of sources. The only possible way to impact key audiences and win a significant share of mind is through the use of a message that cuts like a razor through the clutter to clearly position the company, product and brand in the minds of key audiences, prospects and customers in a special way. With every project undertaken, my approach is to excite interest for the causes by developing the "Big Idea" -- creating something so interesting and unusual that it attracts both the public's as well as the media's attention. Through detailed planning and thorough execution, the focus is to create innovative stories, events and programs providing the media with unique visuals to gain support for the efforts that we become involved with. The key to any effective public relations program is focus. Achieving high impact and measurable results can only come through a highly focused approach to public relations. I am dedicated to transforming and managing the perception of my clients; committed to their goals; and will do everything to ensure that our clients' public relations results are effective, efficient and that it adds value. I am not afraid to work extremely hard behind the scenes to ensure that our clients' goals are met. It is extremely important to be involved within the industry and the industries of our clients. I am a true believer in being proactive, instead of reactive, and to manage change which is taking place every day. Being proactive leads to new and powerful insights which enable our company to be far more specific than others in both identifying and achieving important goals. What excites you most about this industry? What excites me is the ability to make a difference, especially within the real estate industry, and to impact our clients in a positive manner. The impact of the results we achieve for our clients is a major motivating factor that encompasses everything we do. What impact has social networking had on your success? Social networking has introduced a new way for people to communicate and opens up new possibilities by creating innovative communication vehicles and tools. It is redefining the way we communicate and is extremely effective. We have been utilizing social networking and social marketing techniques for our clients and for our company. It opens up new avenues for business and creates new possibilities for communicating. In addition, I have found that it provides more conversations and opportunities for corporations to interact and distribute information expeditiously and effectively. The effective use of social networking allows corporations and executives to engage target audiences in new ways that were never before thought possible. Alyssa Nightingale is the president/CEO at Nightingale & Nightingale, Inc., Spring Harbor, N.Y.