PRBreakfastClub

I love PR. I really do. Yet, as much as I enjoy working in PR, there are definitely some parts of the business that concern me, and frankly have me worried about the state of the business in the future. One of those areas is how some in PR seemingly view their jobs with a saleperson’s mentality.

That whole, “Hey journalist, buy into this idea NOW! You gotta jump on this now, because I’m going to go after the next living soul I can find who will listen to my spin!” Or my personal favorite: “You owe me big for this hit.”

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“We’re humble enough to prepare, confident enough to perform.”- Tom Coughlin, head coach, New York Giants

It goes beyond saying that I was on top of the world seeing the New York Football Giants come out the winners in Super Bowl XLVI. The story is well known: At 7-7, the Giants needed to win out to get into the post-season. Well, the rest is history, as Big Blue rolled their way to Indianapolis and defeated the New England Patriots for their second title in four years. Read the rest of this entry »

Determining the next move in your career path is a tough decision especially when changing from agency to in-house communications. While yes it is all PR and based on the same principles, strategies and tactics the daily work style, skill set and environment can be drastically different.

Often times the attraction to an agency is the multiple clients, the variety of industries, the camaraderie of other communications professionals and even the swank office. Agency PR pros are talking to media daily and don’t typically have politics to deal with since they don’t directly work for the companies they represent.

If you are considering leaving time sheets in the past, for stability, security and routine make sure the switch it is a fit for you and an answer to what you are trying to leave behind. The pros of working in-house does typically include better health benefits, more opportunity for advancement and fewer barriers to implement new PR programs. Read the rest of this entry »

Wait, what?

Last week, Apple released its fourth quarter 2011 earnings, posting a profit of $13.06 billion on revenue of $46 billion. Earnings per share were $13.87, far exceeding analysts’ expectations of $10.08 per share. Fueled in large part by their stratospheric sales of the iPad and iPhone, Apple’s monstrous quarter brought bright smiles to shareholders but also started to illuminate the spotlight on a not so glamorous side of their business: outsourcing labor to China. Read the rest of this entry »

In these days of shrinking newsrooms, there is an increasing overlap between the worlds of PR and journalism. And old PR joke is reporters always hate PR professionals, until they need a job.

I have noticed that as journalism jobs are eroding, many reporters are turning to PR and public affairs positions with mixed results. There are so many unemployed PR practioners on the market, that there is fierce competition for these jobs. PR agencies are now looking for applicants who can do more than write well. They also have to be able to pitch, take pictures, do social media, and shoot and edit video. The video after the jump sums up my thoughts. Read the rest of this entry »

We hear a lot about external PR best practices these days. Articles, blog posts, podcasts, books and a host of other references talk about “5 Ways Media Training Can Help You and Your Clients” or “How to Become a Reporter’s Best Friend” and “Five Ways Being in PR is Like Running a Group Blog.”

These are all excellent references for us to read and digest, identifying meaningful bits and pieces of the advice and observations that we can put into practice to become more effective PR practitioners. As I gaze around the PR digital ecosphere there is one thing that has always stumped me about the subject of PR advice – why isn’t there more written about effective internal PR as the foundation for external strategies?

Seems logical that if you can’t get a grasp on internal PR, external campaigns would be a lot more difficult to execute. Read the rest of this entry »

A series of opinion pieces last week by Dallas Mavericks owner and billionaire business mogul Mark Cuban asserting that startups “should never hire a PR firm” got the PR world buzzing with outrage. But does he have a point or is it too general a brushstroke to paint that PR can “never” benefit a startup? Let’s look at the tape.

But, before doing so, it’s instructive to take a deeper look at what, exactly, Mr. Cuban said. In an op-ed for Entrepreneur.com, excerpted from his latest book, “How to Win at the Sport of Business: If I Can Do It, You Can Do It,” he lays out his “12 rules for startups.” Rule No. 11 states:

Never hire a PR firm. Read the rest of this entry »

In many fields including public relations, classroom knowledge can only take you so far. Internships are an important tool for getting the feel of the daily routine of a PR pro. But, a mentor is what separates a new professional in the fold.

I have reached a fork in the road of my career which takes me away from seeing my mentor on a daily basis. With that change I have been reflecting on the wealth of invaluable knowledge that I learned from my mentor. This knowledge is not just how to craft the perfect press release or pitch a reporter but how to conduct myself as a professional and the importance of being an eternal student of the trade. Read the rest of this entry »

The Guardian recently published an article arguing that digital news offers a choice in reading topics/sources, but that print “…offers something extra: stories that people didn’t know they wanted to read until they had read them.”

Although the article brings up good points about the importance of diversifying one’s reading material(s), I beg to differ. Read the rest of this entry »

Generally, the week between Christmas and New Years are filled with cheer and good spirit. However, with all the hubbub of the holidays, you may have missed one of the biggest PR disasters seen in the history of the video game industry. Read the rest of this entry »