Tag Archives: agencies

Is Your Media List for Sale?

Hands writing grocery listNothing irks me quite like receiving SPAM touting the fact that the e-mail sender has media lists for sale. Now, I’m not talking about companies like CISION and Vocus, which are tried and true media databases. What I’m referring to are these “companies” that are selling already-formulated media lists. Let’s see, you can buy a family/parenting list – or, how about a technology list?

Let me just say this: You can buy a media list but the relationships aren’t for sale.

Supposedly, these media lists are for people that can’t afford a publicist. I understand a publicist can be pricey, but you are paying for more than their media lists. You are paying for their knowledge, guidance, relationships, creativity, strategic planning – things that a pre-made media list lacks. Just because you purchase a media list, doesn’t mean that you’ll magically get publicity from it. Continue reading

Happys Flacks=Productive Flacks

Businesswoman WorkingAs I spend more and more time gaining experience in the PR industry, and as I continue to befriend other flacks and get to know them professionally, I’ve managed to catch a “glimpse” so-to-speak into a wide variety of PR agencies.  Large, small, public, private, corporate, and consumer, it’s astounding how different every firm is.

Unfortunately, as much as I get to know about all of the things that my acquaintances love about their companies, I also tend to see the negative side as I cross into the “confidante” territory.  One unsettling trend that I’ve started to see more often is agencies who don’t value their employees and treat them as replaceable hit machines who are expected to treat their job as their entire lives.  This is by no means the standard of the industry, but it’s something I see more than should ever be the case. Continue reading

FIT Vol 4: Big Agency vs. Small Agency

Difference
(CC) flickr // Javier Kohen

If you’re currently looking for a job in PR, you probably don’t have the luxury of choosing exactly where you want to work. And if you only have one or two internships under your belt, you might not have enough experience to know the differences between a large and a small agency, which means you don’t know which environment suits you. That being said, I think it’s important to know what you’ll be getting yourself into when you land your first position. Since I’ve worked for both a large (close to 50 people and multiple departments) and a small (less than 10 executives working on a handful of accounts) agency, I’ve formed my own opinions on the pros and cons of each situation, based on what I’ve observed and experienced. And since we all come from different walks of life, I’ve consulted my fellow #prbc-ers to get their take on the situation so that I can give all the other entry-level flacks out there a heads up. Continue reading