Here’s my vision of what is one small component of what makes up a great PR professional: entrepreneurial spirit.
To me, entrepreneurial spirit is vital to making it in this business. An entrepreneur is a fighter. He is someone who is always looking one—or two—steps ahead of both the competition and his peers, and is actively finding a way to make the often difficult and impossible happen. And with flair. And gumption. And great success. Continue reading
Throughout your career as a PR professional at an agency, you will always have clients that you love and clients that you hate. Ones that have a product or service that you feel really passionate about and love promoting, and some that make you scratch your head and say “How are they still in business?” Regardless of how you feel towards your clients, your job is first and foremost to help them. It’s important to put aside any personal feelings and do the best you can- it will only help you in the long run through the experience you’ll gain and the reputation you’ll gain at your agency.
That being said, doesn’t a company who is looking to actually become a “client” have a certain responsibility as well? Continue reading
It’s no secret that clients hire us for our contacts. That our relationships are often the bait that gets them to sign on the dotted line. But at the end of the contract, the course the agency’s relationship with the media has taken while representing said client has lasting benefits or consequences for both parties. Continue reading
Before I start this post, you should know more about my PR experience. While I was in college I interned in both fashion and book publicity. I was an active member of PRSSA, attended regional and national conferences, and held executive board positions. I did anything I could do to learn more about PR, from attending school workshops to conducting informational interviews with different companies. I was, and still am, a sponge when it came to PR. Looking back on it now, these experiences taught me what sectors of PR I thought I wanted to work in. After all that’s what college is for right? Continue reading
We’ve got another one folks — a letter to the editor, oddly enough in the (oh so dear to my heart) “Dear Editor” format. The writer? A “PR Gal” who would prefer to remain nameless.
Dear Editor,
This isn’t working out. The whole You-Me-Client trio. This fable we laughingly call a relationship.
I’m done. Simply put – this is the worst relationship I’ve ever been in and I’ve dated some losers. I’m sick and tired of living in fear of you, quivering at your number on my caller ID, and getting panic-stricken at the sight of your e-mail address rolling into my inbox. Continue reading
It’s been over five years since I first entered this biz. In that time I’ve worked in a single small agency. We don’t do a lot of office birthday party type celebrations but we’re all family. There are a number of benefits to working in such a firm – the office manager doesn’t bean count days out, part days may not even count against your vacation/sick days, we’re all relatively familiar with each other’s clients, etc.
There are, however, a number of dangers of working in such an office. After speaking with some flackery brethren at various events it seems a number of these are recurrent themes among small firms.
Some of these come with the territory and are difficult to fix. Others can be easily fixed. Continue reading
Hey NYC-area folks — we’re doing it again! Come celebrate with us and the rest of your media / communications brethren on surviving another year on the front lines. This time we’re getting together at Jack Dempsey’s in midtown on December 29th after work. Please RSVP at the Socializr.com page for yourself and any others in your party if you’ll be attending so we can warn inform the venue of how many we should expect. Any questions – drop me a note. Continue reading
Some call it semantics. Others, being particular. You might call it wordsmithing. I consider it one of the few (errrm. . .many) ‘little’ things that grate on my nerves. So what is this insipid little nudge? I’ll call them this PR pros favorite ‘four letter’ words.
They dominate press releases. Taint headlines. Muddy pitch waters. And, I would find it unimaginable, that they don’t leave reporters wondering what clown slapped these terms together on a piece of paper and dumped them into their Inboxes.
Allow me to break them down for you: Continue reading
I had a great discussion the other day with my friend, Arik Hanson, whom many of you that frequently read this blog may know. Arik recently started his own PR/social media consultancy, and from seemingly every indication, his business is thriving.
I pointed this out to Arik, noting how in control he seems to be of everything. Arik then made a comment back that I frankly wasn’t expecting, but it completely makes sense, and shows that he is absolutely on the right track toward a very long and successful business; Arik told me: “Things are going well now, but I never want to get ahead of myself. I’m trying to keep everything under control.” Continue reading
Over the weekend, I helped a fellow PR professional, Mary*, put together her portfolio. We selected the best writing samples, placements to use, and possible interview questions that she may be asked. For most of her campaigns, she worked in teams. In addition to heading certain components of the campaign, Mary wrote all press materials. Yes, the team collaborated to create the key message points, but press kits, pitches, press releases, fact sheets, suggested questions and media letters were all created and fine-tuned by Mary. Continue reading