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. Continue reading
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. Continue reading
Public Relations practitioners are busy. We all know this and we all live this every day. With all the juggling that PR pros do it is easy for professional development to fall off of the radar. But to advance in your career you must have the personal drive to squeeze that luncheon on to the calendar, read industry blogs during breakfast and seek out the counsel of PR peers. Continue reading
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. Continue reading
PR: The land of content and the home of the brevity.
I thought that perhaps it might be a good time to visit the subject of brevity in PR. We live in a world with increasingly strict space limitations and tightened engagement protocols to grab attention. From writing content to posting tweets to email media pitches to blog posts to writing news releases, the maturation and digitization of the Information Age has spawned an enormous number of people vying for attention and doing everything they can to be noticed. Continue reading
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. Continue reading
In public relations, we are taught that preparation is key for any crisis or situation that may need our attention. But, it is equally important on how we train our clients. One of the integral parts to keeping a client prepared is media training.
How your client looks and sounds on television or comes across in a newspaper story can go a long way to showing they are credible. I entered public relations after a long career in television and radio. Taking that experience, I’ve been able to assist my clients in making sure they are well prepared for the media. Continue reading
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. Continue reading
I recently wrote a blog post about the death of Andy Rooney and how PR and social media pros would be wise to learn the art of storytelling by observing how he had the innate ability to take the simplest of topics and weave a creative story that taught us a lesson about life.
I had the opportunity on Tuesday to participate in ConnectChat where our Editor-in-Chief Nathan Burgess touched on many topics surrounding the PRBreakfastClub blog including a brief discussion on how the blog comes up with story ideas. A transcript of the blog can be found here.
Jason Mollica pointed out during the chat that often times inspiration for a blog post comes from odd places and as PR and social media practitioners, our observation skills must be keen and sharp because you never know when an event, encounter or news story will spur us to cultivate it into a post where we can draw a parallel to our profession. Continue reading
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. Continue reading