Defacto 2011 PR Resolutions

Before we all checked out for 2010, we opened up a challenge to the readership of the PR Breakfast Club – to complete our list of PR New Years’ resolutions. Part of it was out of laziness on my part mixed with my inability to count, but the other part was to hear from you guys to see what you thought collectively that our industry should change.

After all none of us is as dumb as all of us put together, so without further adieu, here is the list of PR resolutions, crowdsourced from the PRBC community (click here to see the original post):

♦ Mantra for 2011 and every year after: Do good work, be easy to work with, and you’ll build a reputation of attraction with all you meet. And that will be your “personal brand” as well as speak well for your team – Steve Koenigsberg

♦ Do something every day for you–whether it’s exercise, meditate, try a new food, whatever. Make your life about more than just work. When you get good at taking care of your own well-being, taking care of your clients will be second nature – Chris Syme

♦ I have a couple to add. First, know what you don’t know. PR gets so competitive I think we pretend that we know more than we do and then we spin wheels trying to figure it out in short time. This year I want to make a list of things I don’t quite understand yet and then go learn them one by one – Paige Holden

♦ A resolution I have and would like to advocate is to (finally) stop using hollow metrics like “reach” and “impressions” as measurement crutches. These don’t have any meaning and perpetuate the assertion out there that PR doesn’t drive sales or is not strategic. We need get more comfortable with traditional marketing metrics as well as figure how to translate social media metrics into results that show the business value of what we do – Ted Weismann

♦ Always remember that doing is one thing, being effective is often quite another. Vow to be effective rather than to do things – Gina Kazimir

♦ Become an expert at something you don’t know how to do or aren’t good at. For me, that probably means a lot more practice with the flip cam – Teresa Magnus

♦ One would probably be to stop using my colleagues email addresses when forced to pitch crap. Somehow, they don’t like it, but they can’t figure out who’s doing it. J – PRDude

♦ Would add “Make Social Media Social.” As brands commit more resources to social media/digital PR, think that a goal should be to use them to, in fact, engage their audiences and demystify the brand for end users — neither of which are the norm – Chris Ehrlich

♦ Stress Crisis Management/Communications- I think we saw this year how badly some companies/people did in managing their crisis PR. Make it a point to tell your C-suite just how integral it is to have a crisis plan in place. On top of that, invest in media training and make sure your boss isn’t the next Tony Hayward – Jason Mollica

♦ Another resolution: Never stop learning. Doing some deep research into your company, clients and clients’ industries will make you into an expert in their subject matter. Don’t just memorize the key messages provided to you when you get a new client or start a new job. Learn everything you can about everything you can – Krowland88

Thanks again and here’s to a great 2011 – let us know if we forgot anything.

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