PR is a stressful industry, but some moments are clearly more “sweat worthy” than others. It’s these moments, though, that really keep PR pros on their feet and teach invaluable lessons. After crowd sourcing some PR colleagues, here are some of the most sweat-worthy PR moments folks have dealt with and tips for overcoming them:…
Read more
Make no mistake. . .persuasion is an art form! As public relations professionals, we understand the vital importance persuasion plays in almost everything we do i.e. dealing with media, influencers, opinion leaders or just about any third-party “endorsers.” It’s THE key factor in our being successful. That said, there’s another area where we could spend…
Read more
These days, it seems that everyone and their grandmother is on Facebook. For PR pros, embracing social media often means connecting with clients. Team members start friending client staff, and vice versa, but are personal social media accounts really the best way to communicate? What are the risks? Whether you’re a social media super user…
Read more
Feeling stressed? Not enough hours in the day? You’re not alone. A few months ago, PR manager came in at number 5 on a CareerCast survey listing the most stressful jobs in America. – PR jobs vary, but most certainly aren’t the lives of wining and dining that some imagine. While unpredictable situations, crazy deadlines,…
Read more
“It’s not what you know, it’s who you know” No phrase better captures the importance of networking, not only in public relations, but in just about any industry. It’s an essential part of getting ahead, yet there are many ways to self-sabotage. For some shy folks in the biz, networking can be absolutely terrifying. But…
Read more
Memorial Day is the unofficial kick-off of the summer movie season, marked more and more by social media-infused promotions. The goal is to drive interest among the typically young, male movie fans with a fusion of traditional and digital PR and marketing, increasing the hype and the ticket sales. Beginning in 1999 with the “found-footage”…
Read more
On this past week’s episode of “Mad Men”, Ted Chaough, while trying to dream up campaign ideas for a margarine, riffs on the notion that various category brands can be viewed through the lens of the very popular, very silly 60s-era sitcom, “Gilligan’s Island”. The notion is that the seven ship passengers stranded on a…
Read more
A former colleague once told me that she “interviews recreationally” – that is, she actually enjoys going on job interviews even if she isn’t actually looking to make a jump. She interviews for sport – to see what else is out there, remain savvy about the PR marketplace, and stay competitive within the field. Assuming…
Read more
At our New York PR agency, we sometimes wish for some kind of client translation software to confirm that what we heard is what was actually meant. For example, we’re working on a proposal for a prospective client who told us, “don’t work too hard on it, we just want to see some sample ideas.”…
Read more
Every day we make (and occasionally miss) our deadlines. Catch the train by 8:30am. Get to the bank before 5pm. Submit this blog post by…well, you get the point. Today’s definition of a deadline is “the time by which something must be finished or submitted”, but it gets its name from an older and more…
Read more
by guest blogger George Drucker The excellent film and tremendous PR effort created on behalf of “42: The Jackie Robinson Story” which opened on screens nationwide a few weeks ago, inspired me as a PR professional. As a long-time Angeleno, and even longer PR practitioner, I have to take my Dodger baseball cap off to…
Read more
Work demands are always changing, but thanks to technology, we can be better prepared, more organized and more confident of doing our job efficiently. Here are some great tech tools for PR pros and others to consider to make work…well…work better. 30/30 Task management can be daunting. 30/30 simplifies it and even makes it fun….
Read more
In earlier times, a colleague would run into your office with a joke hot off the fax. Today, that just sounds like a set-up for a joke. Jokes and humor have always been part of a healthy workplace, but with the viral jokes and memes we see online, it just might be time to review…
Read more
In travel and tourism PR the goal is to promote the visitor experience offered by your client’s destination. From producing and supporting local events to leveraging influential personalities to tell your story, there are a variety of tactics you can use to get a place or property in front of the right people. So how…
Read more
“Gatsby’s in the zeitgeist once again,” someone recently said. It’s true that this great American novel of passion, illusion, recklessness and deceit, which chronicles the Jazz Age, is full of life and resonance today, and not just because Leonardo will portray Gatsby in the new movie. Published nearly a century ago and filmed five times…
Read more
The results are in: When looking for a unique angle to promote a client, sometimes it helps to ask for the public’s opinion. Including an omnibus-style survey, social media poll, or even a petition with a slight political bent in your campaign can significantly change the story angle, as well as help the news spread…
Read more
Every year, a new crop of college grads enters the work force with little experience, but as a recent college graduate, I’ve found that certain skills and practices from my college life can be put to good use in a busy PR firm. I’ve boiled it down to four key “must-do’s” for the transition from student…
Read more
PR pros tend to be wordy people, and we all have our favorites. Here are some of ours. You may not be able to drop them into your next client press release, but if they fill the bill without making you look like a sesquipedalian (given to or characterized by the use of long words),…
Read more
Trade shows and conferences represent an opportunity to reconnect with friends and associates in the industry; make new contacts; and be inspired by influential speeches and personalities. But, too often we view attendance as a group effort, or even a chore, sticking with the team we came with or those we know. Whether it’s a…
Read more
Remember field trips during middle school and high school? How could you not – a day away from your desk, a chance to (possibly) spend some extra time outside, and no classwork. The best and most important part of these trips, though, was the first-hand opportunity to get out and learn or experience something new….
Read more
Despite the cold weather in New York City, spring is here. For PR folks spring cleaning should mean more than just file purging. Consider a re-evaluation of your media contacts (although we know you do this more than once a year, right?) Here are some media list clean-up tips, to keep your lists up-to-date and…
Read more
Is your blog flabby? Is its content the equivalent of junk food? As with other spring rituals, getting your content in shape is a worthy exercise. Ask yourself these questions and then choose a shape-up plan that works for your particular blog. Is it carrying a “spare tire”? You need sharper editing. If you are…
Read more
In the public relations world, getting an exclusive is often a key part of a team’s overall strategy of securing the best coverage. But it is often a delicate dance between outlets, clients and agency and must be handled with a certain finesse. The definition of “exclusive” has even grown murky (see CNBC’s restrictive booking…
Read more
Once upon a time in any given workplace, you could say this to anyone, and they would know what you meant, “So the whole team bought into this silly idea just because the CEO suggested it, it was so ‘emperor’s new clothes.’” Today, if you were to say that to a Millennial, you would get…
Read more
Seeing really is believing, and for PR pros, a familiarization press trip, or FAM trip, is a staple for securing in-depth, first-hand coverage of a destination. A successful FAM trip will not only provide you with a way to show off your client’s tourist or business features but also give you a great opportunity to…
Read more
In the public relations world, every day is International Women’s Day, since women outnumber men and have for years (70%, according to the Institute of Public Relations). But for the rest of the world, March 8 marks a range of events designed to inspire women and celebrate female empowerment. Rich and diverse local activities connect…
Read more
When it comes to client work, one of the things we always ask ourselves is, “How can we help our client shine?” This is especially true if the client is in a less-than-sexy industry. However, a PR pro’s dream is for the tables to flip and the media to approach us. It’s not that hard…
Read more
While it seems like just a simple hello or good-bye, email salutations say something about you and your company. And given that they constitute your first and last digital impression, they should not be taken for granted, dismissed or trivialized. So what is the right way to begin or end a simple business correspondence in…
Read more
The prospect of business travel can cause anxiety in even the most intrepid PR pro. And, even though we can Skype and chat via FaceTime sometimes there is no substitute for “being there.” With this in mind, here is a guide to making that next trip for work, work as hard as it can for…
Read more
Merely watching the Oscars on your flat screen is so five minutes ago! As we in the PR business know, nearly every experience can now be enhanced with a combination of devices, apps and social media know-how. If you are, by some chance, ONLY watching the Oscars on one screen, get with the program! Here…
Read more
