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Putting more hours in the day

I hear so many journalists/bloggers that complain about how PR people don't understand what they cover. How PR people don't take the time to read what they write about. How PR people should pitch people on a more personal level.

I totally agree with all of this. My question is, however, when? When are we supposed to have time to read every single blog that may someday apply to one of our clients, read every publication known to man, and still take the time to cultivate these personal relationships, write thoughtful pitches that hit the nail on the head and grab people's attention at the same time? It's kind of a lose lose situation for me because I'm one of those people that has EXTREMELY varied interests/talents, and a client base to match. I represent all kinds of clients, from enterprise to snack foods and I am still searching for an effective way to get organized enough to do all this reading that I need to do while also creating thoughtful and effective PR plans for my clients, forging meaningful relationships with them and doing the same on the other side with media.

I sometimes joke with my friends about how PR is the profession for people who are amazing at doing nothing. But that's not true. If you do your job correctly, it is one of the toughest jobs around. It requires a lot of time, patience, intelligence, social grace and organization that I don't think a lot of people can bring together. I've seen several people start in PR, try it for a little while and then give up, most often blaming their departure on other people, unfortunate events (or CES - but who wouldn't want to give up after spending three days there?! :) ) but the fact of the matter is, people in PR aren't given nearly enough credit for the hard work and long hours that they sometimes put in. They are constantly fighting to maintain a reputation being brought down by lazy, thoughtless spammers and they most often serve as a scapegoat for the misunderstandings that take place every day among the public, their colleagues, the media and their clients.

So, this is a salute to all those brave enough to do it! Keep trucking and don't let the man get you down :)

In PR, honesty is the best policy

Even though he wrote the words several weeks ago and I am just now getting around to reading them, Bernard Gauthier wrote maybe the simplest, yet most amazing advice/insight for the world of PR I've ever read.

I think that people in PR can learn a lot about their industry from "The Tale of the Boy Who Cried Wolf." If you have nothing to say, don't say it, otherwise when you actually do have supremely interesting news to offer, people will already have blocked any contact from you as Stale-sy McOldNews.

In an attempt to make something old sound new, PR tactics often resort to some really denigrating tactics. Folks in the media are just as bright as the next fellow, and the extravagant use of BOLD ITALICS will certainly not change that.

It is the job of a PR exec to create news where news does not exist. But simultaneously, if the created news is boring or outdated, that function becomes obsolete and an absolute hindrance. It does make me wish, though, sometimes for some clients that practically publicize themselves. It would be nice to do Apple's PR ... dontcha think?

ROI and educating the client

In a lot of the industries that our PR firm works with, it is difficult for me to really detect the direct benefit that PR has for their business, due to the middle man coming between the media coverage and the company making sales. For example, if a medical technology company makes a device, they are not generally the focus of the media coverage. Sometimes, the users do not even find occasion during the interview to mention the name of the actual company. So does this increase sales for the client? What is a good way to measure something like that?

This article really intrigues me because a lot of time in PR, people don't take the time to really think about the significance of one clip v. another. It's not just the more you get, the better. It is quality over quantity in my book. Targeting v. mass attack. Strategy should come into play. All important things to remember.

Finally, a break in the complaints!

I read the Bad Pitch Blog every day, among other PR blogs, and it is quite disheartening to see all of the negative reviews that journalists and bloggers everywhere give to PR reps. It is my theory, and of course, feel free to disagree with me, but journalists tend to get a bad taste in their mouths from a couple of terrifying PR interactions and as a result, are overly sensitive to all future relationships. I agree that mass mailings and mindless pitching should stop, but the whole point of public relations is to create a symbiotic relationship where journalists get the information they need to print riveting pieces and publicists get the coverage they've promised their clients. It doesn't need to be such an acidic relationship. That's why things like this make me so happy.

In a more perfect world, journalists would be more understanding of an agency executive's heavy account load, account executives would have a lighter account load to better serve clients and account executives really took the time to do their homework and read, research and write a great pitch every time.

Professional Blogging

Although I contribute fairly regularly to three other blogs, I noticed that I was in need of some compartmentalization. I have developed an interest in industry blogging, and that is where this blog comes in. This blog serves to track and muse about PR industry news, connect with other bloggers on the same topic and hopefully open another forum and channel that will create an understanding in the world of PR, that in my opinion, is certainly lacking at the current moment.

I am very new to this whole process of professional blogging, so if anyone reading this has ANY suggestions, whatsoever, please feel free to comment or contact me. I hope to attract a lot of readers and forge a lot of relationships here.