Public Relations

My First Six Months in PR or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Job by Heather Sliwinski

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About one week into my job, I wondered if I oversold myself during my interviews. I’m not saying I lied—no one should ever lie in an interview—but I had to question if I made it clear that I had zero PR experience when I landed my first position at a PR agency in August.

I took the advertising and PR classes in college, toiled at the obligatory unpaid internships in marketing and promotions and gained more than two years of marketing experience after graduation. With that said, I still didn’t know what a media list or subject matter expert was.

I had a lot to learn, not only about our clients’ businesses, but also the business of PR; I was terrified.

I had more than a few sleepless nights in the beginning, worrying about how I was going to tackle my projects. But in the past six months, I’ve embraced agency life and realized that, when it came to my early fears, there was more than met the eye:

Phone pitching is daunting.

I’ve never been a big phone talker. Calling up complete strangers (reporters) and telling them to cover a story idea made me feel like a telemarketer. I couldn’t believe that this was a common practice in PR. Why would a reporter care about me, someone they’ve never met, and my client, a company they’ve never heard of? Little did I know, with a good story idea, a knowledgeable expert and some flexibility, reporters do care.

Phone pitching is part trial and error and part knowing your stuff. I still get intimidated by phone pitching, but when we have a great idea, know our client’s expertise and go into the call with the intent of having a conversation, the results are always positive.

Plus, reporters are just people, too.

Media lists are crucial.

If you start with the wrong reporter, your pitching will get you nowhere. My first media lists were terrible. I relied on Cision to tell me who to pitch, rather than going to the source and figuring out who would want to cover our story. Having reporter history and past articles is great ammo for pitching and makes having an intelligent conversation with a reporter much easier.

My colleagues had me work and rework the early media lists, partly because I didn’t know Cision could be wrong (I would say it’s 50/50 on being right/wrong about a reporter’s beat). I feel that I am getting better at gauging who would cover a story, and I still edit, add and delete as I get on the phone with folks.

Seeing red doesn’t make you a bad writer.

My roots are in journalism: up until sophomore year of college, I thought I was going to be a reporter. I have adequate knowledge of AP style and proper grammar. I’ve been published in a few outlets. I thought I was a decent writer. When I started writing for PR, I lost most of my confidence.

My press releases, emails, media alerts, pitches—anything I wrote, really—came back with red ink all over the page. Seeing all the edits was definitely a blow to my ego. In time, I’ve seen that seeing red actually makes you a better writer. Considering I came from marketing, I wasn’t expected to know how to write a pitch. My writing style was much more focused on sales for marketing purposes, where PR is more about featuring news. My writing evolved. I learned to dig deep into a pitch and figure out where the story is, and I see less and less red as a result.

Social media isn’t the devil.

After coming from a few corporate cultures where using social media at work is frowned upon, I was excited to see that not only was I allowed to use social media at work, it was encouraged! The transition was difficult in the beginning. I felt a little naughty, checking Twitter for updates, retweeting during the workday and actually responding to messages between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m.

Social media is part of my job, and I’m expected to stay on top of the news, retweet important content and interact with journalists during the day. I’ve had a handful of pitches that have sprouted from a breaking news tweet or friendly correspondence with a reporter. You never know what future opportunity can come out of social media.

You always have something to bring to the table.

When I joined my agency, I didn’t know what a ProfNet was. I didn’t know how to use Cision. I didn’t know how to write an expert available pitch. I knew nothing about my clients. Having every task in your job be completely new can weigh heavily on you.

However, not knowing the PR ropes didn’t mean that I didn’t have unique skills to contribute. Being a relative news junkie, I was able to spot breaking news stories and find angles where our clients could comment. My background in marketing has lent to assisting one of our clients with a website revamp. Having knowledge of graphic design programs allows us to offer additional design services to our clients, if needed.

And, we all have ideas. I was reserved in meetings, reluctant to share my thoughts. What do I know? I’m the new kid—my colleagues are the experts. But, we all read different publications and have different skills, experiences and approaches to thinking. I try to share my opinion more now, since there is no ‘wrong’ in brainstorming. No matter your level of PR knowledge, the next big idea could be yours.

My first six months in PR were definitely a roller coaster. I’m still adjusting and always learning, which I don’t think will ever go away. If we’re lucky, we’ll keep adding new clients, changing the game all over again. PR is never dull, and much like snowflakes, no two days in PR are ever the same.

While the unknown of each day used to stress me out, I try not to waste my energy worrying about what I don’t know and instead revel in the small victories that make it all worthwhile: being ahead of breaking news to land our client in the New York Times, securing an interview with a Reuters reporter, watching our client on live TV at 7 in the morning.

Don’t you just love PR?

What were some of your biggest challenges when you started your first PR job? Did you recently transition to PR from another field? Share your experiences below!

Heather SliwinskiHeather Sliwinski is an account executive at KemperLesnik, a Chicago-based public relations agency, providing media relations and social media services to a variety of B2B clients. She has held positions in marketing and event planning for corporations, nonprofits and higher education. She earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism and mass communications with an emphasis in strategic communications from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Sliwinski is the blog co-chair for the PRSA New Professionals Section. Feel free to connect with her on LinkedIn or Twitter.

Where’s my news release? Dos and don’ts of PR distribution by Zaneta Chuniq Inpower

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The goal of every news release is to become accessible by its target audience through a selected medium. In current times, many articles may be published online via media websites and/or printed for distribution inside magazines, newspapers, newsletters, etc.

For those who have the responsibility of producing media awareness about a brand, product or client there are definite protocols to making sure that your news is read, heard and distributed successfully. As a new professional, it is important to safeguard your reputation as a PR professional and that of your company and/or business by keeping in mind these helpful tips when drafting and distributing your news release.

  1. Don’t blindly email journalists and bloggers
  2. Do use your own social media networks to distribute
  3. Do make your headline catchy and interesting
  4. Do take time to make the intro/opening engaging.
  5. Do write your news release to your audience. If its not relevant, no journalist or media source will pick up your release
  6. Do research for your pitch and have all your facts and information organized
  7. Don’t email journalists attachments! This may lead to an instant delete or even block from their inbox.
  8. Do spell check, then read your news release aloud. Any typos or grammatical errors will ultimately lead to your news being discarded and ruins your reputation as a PR professional.
  9. Do optimize your news release for SEO. Use necessary tags and relevant vocabulary for your news release to become searchable online.
  10. Don’t send any news releases that do not contain news!
  11. Don’t use fancy fonts, colors, font styles and other text attributes in your news release. Keep it simple.
  12. Don’t make your news release too long! Keep it under 650 words maximum
  13. Do include relevant links for background information. Make it easy for your journalist to conduct further research.

In summary, simply because a PR pro has submitted a news release to a journalist or editor does not mean that it will be printed or read! To help alleviate the pressure of playing the waiting game with media outlets and obsessively checking your Google Alerts or media monitoring service, the above tips will help you get your news to its desired audience.

Zaneta Chuniq InpowerZaneta Chuniq Inpower is owner and president of Chuniq PR, an independent media and marketing management firm. Additionally, she is the digital communications coordinator for Douglas J Aveda Institutes and Salons, editor  for Supreme Design Publishing and social media manager for COIN Handlers Management. Her personal interests include reading, international travel and culture and community revitalization. Inpower received her B.A. in advertising from Michigan State University. Zaneta Chuniq Inpower is a member of the Central Michigan PRSA chapter and is the PRSA New Professionals Section Executive Committee Blog Co-Chair.

Web Writing 101 by Elizabeth Rhoads

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Shortly after I had accepted my position as web content coordinator at Lycoming College, I had the opportunity to attend Neilsen Norman Group Usability Week in 2011. I’ve always considered myself to be a strong writer, but I never realized the notable differences between print and web writing.

The difference comes down to this: just because we can read at or above college level doesn’t mean we want to, especially when we’re online. Consider the atmosphere when you’re reading a book and when you’re reading something online. Usually reading a print piece lends itself to a quiet area, whereas online articles are often read on the go, with a lot of distractions.

Online content should be written with this fact in mind.

So, here are a few tips to transform your print writing into effective web content:

  • Keep all content between a sixth and eighth grade reading level
  • Use short words
  • Online text should be 50% less than the print version
  • Include information that people really need to know, rather than what you want to tell them
  • Break content into chunks (one idea and a maximum of three sentences per chunk)
  • Use bullet points – lists in bullet points are read 70% of the time (compared to 55% read in paragraph form)
  • Use a sans-serif font
  • Use size 10-12 font – don’t go any smaller, it’s hard on the eyes
  • Keep pages short, but if you need to make a page longer, include a summary at the top of the page, followed by descriptive subheading so that it’s easy to navigate

Remember, simple is better.  The simpler you keep it, the longer your audience will stay engaged with your website.

Elizabeth RhoadsElizabeth Rhoads currently works as web content coordinator for a small liberal arts college in Central Pennsylvania. She graduated from Susquehanna University in 2009 with a Bachelor of Communications. She is an alumna of the White House Internship Program.  Rhoads serves the PRSA New Professionals Section Executive Committee as programming director and chair-elect.

Cross-Trained: The Intersection of Marketing and PR

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Public relations practitioners new and old have been challenged to adapt to the new PR landscape that includes the understanding of the concept of integrated marketing communications or IMC, as we continue in the digital age.

Imagine a job in a manufacturing factory where every person only knows their individual function. Each one of those factory workers are limited in their understanding of how the products are made. With today’s PR landscape, every factory worker (PR practitioner) must be cross-trained in marketing to truly understand how the PR machine must function.

As a new PR pro, learning how public relations is not an independent study, but encapsulates all of the sciences under the marketing umbrella, including advertising and communications is critical. In this day, the traditional PR department or agency employs various marketing techniques that contribute to a greater PR influence.

The biggest challenge that new professionals face is within the changing PR landscape is learning more about marketing and how marketing directly relates to public relations. Below are four things every new PR pro can do to be cross-trained and propel their PR understanding to new heights:

  1. Read PR and Marketing News – New sites like Forbes, Fortune, Mashable and PR Daily are great resources on up-to-the-minute PR news and trends. Subscribe to their RSS feeds on your personal blog site, or follow their respective Twitter pages to receive news as it breaks. What are some of your favorite industry news outlets?
  2. Seek an experienced mentor – Last week we posted about the importance of PR mentoring for new and experienced professionals as January was National Mentoring Month. Exchanging best practices and experiences with a mentor is a great way to learn and grow.
  3. Practice, practice, practice – Knowledge is useless without application. Anything that you are learning, take time to study it further and put it into action right away. Remember all of those concepts that you learned in college that you never used? Implement all of the knowledge that you find and make yourself sharp.
  4. Engage with your PRSA section – This may seem like a dead giveaway, however PRSA New Professionals host a plethora of events and resources from a quarterly newsletter, blog, Twitter page, teleconferences and more. Get involved and make the most out of your membership!

What are some other things new professionals can do to sharpen their PR skills?

Zaneta Chuniq InpowerZaneta Chuniq Inpower is owner and president of Chuniq PR, an independent media and marketing management firm. Additionally, she is the digital communications coordinator for Douglas J Aveda Institutes and Salons, editor  for Supreme Design Publishing and social media manager for COIN Handlers Management. Her personal interests include reading, international travel and culture and community revitalization. Inpower received her B.A. in advertising from Michigan State University.

Intro to Government PR by Doug Matthews

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I’ll be honest. I never made a formal decision to get into government communications. Would you believe that I was actually a forensic science major for my first two years of school? Yep. I wanted to be CSI before David Caruso inexplicably made it seem cool. Now, how David Caruso and “cool” found their way into the same sentence is a subject for another time. Suffice it to say, I’m a bit of a nerd at heart.

It was a combination of life experience, timely opportunities and great mentors that guided me to where I am today, and I couldn’t be happier with the result. So here’s my first bit of advice: create your own opportunities, but don’t get so focused that you fail to see the new, unexpected ones that present themselves along the way.

I joke that I was “infected” with the public service mindset. I blame my parents. My father was a career law enforcement officer and police chief, and my mother was an emergency room nurse. The first “marketing” I ever did professionally was working at the city pool, getting families to show up for “Dive-In Movies”…in between fits of whistle-blowing and telling kids to “walk, not run” on the pool deck.

So, after an epiphany while sitting in Applied Calculus II (another interesting, albeit off-topic story), I left class and changed my major to advertising and public relations. I secured my first internship as a sophomore doing marketing and events for the county recreation department. (Another aside here: get as much job experience as you can before you graduate–it’s the single best thing you can do to differentiate yourself from the thousands of other job-hunting graduates entering the work force.)

I continued that work until graduation, with a short stint in between studying in London and interning with Fleishman-Hillard. It was during this venture into corporate public relations that I had my second epiphany. The assignments were interesting enough, and the people were great, but I had trouble finding satisfaction with the work I was doing. For me, there was a satisfaction and fulfillment that I got from serving the public that I didn’t get when serving a client or a private industry.

That’s something I love most about this career: the absence of a traditional “target market.” Sure, you’ll always have specific audiences for specific programs, but government service is a great equalizer. After all, everyone needs their garbage picked up, right? And every one of you expects the lights and sirens to arrive when you call 911.

There’s also unbelievable variety in what our team does. I mentioned garbage collection and public safety, but we also do engineering. We do public health. We manage parks. We build roads. The work we do truly touches the lives of everyone who lives here in Austin and I get to be a part of that. We help people understand, appreciate and connect with the products and services they have invested in as taxpayers. We help make good government.

In my role, I get to be both the PR pro and the media pro. We run an in-house agency, with teams spanning media relations, Web development, employee communications, project management, community engagement, marketing, events and interactive media. We have our own television station and graphic design shop. The opportunities for learning and development are limited only by your desire and willingness to expand your horizons. The work environment is what you make of it: there is more space to try new things and take risks than you might think!

We do, though, have to talk about the other side of that coin. When you sign up as a public servant, you do so with the understanding that virtually everything you do is public. The work you do belongs to the taxpayers, and they can be a fickle and demanding audience. Likewise, there’s always an undercurrent of politics. Ultimately, my boss (the city manager) works for seven elected officials, so you can’t escape it. You can, though, maintain a distinct line between political and professional communication.

If it sounds interesting, you can start by looking for internships in your local jurisdiction. I learned as much interning with Orange County Parks & Recreation as I did in four years of coursework. Get involved with the International City/County Managers Association or the City/County Communications and Marketing Association. Look into public administration and public affairs courses as a supplement to your normal coursework.

The work might not be for everyone, but for someone with the passion to serve, a love for the art of governing, and the willingness to wear virtually every hat in the haberdashery (or millinery), there’s not a better job on the planet. 

 

Doug Matthews is an 18-year veteran of local government communications, currently serving as the chief communications director for the City of Austin, Texas. He served similar roles for the Florida cities of Largo and Clearwater before becoming an adopted Texan in 2009. He holds a master’s degree in public administration from the University of South Florida.