As PR agency professionals we rely heavily on digital communication, but face-to-face interactions like “deskside” meetings can be invaluable. A well-executed media tour, or series of one-on-one meetings with journalists, can establish genuine, long-term relationships. While the media might not become your new weekend brunch besties (although maybe down the line!), deskside visits help you…
Read more
If you’re a PR agency professional, you know efficiency and organization are crucial to everyday life. However, it can be challenging when you have several clients to manage, meetings to attend, multiple pitches under way, and new business to pursue – and a personal life! Thankfully, it’s 2015 and we can embrace technology that makes…
Read more
This weekend marks that most Hallmark-esque of holidays, Grandparent’s Day. While the day may have been created to sell more cards, the sentiment is a good one. It’s true, your grandparents may not use a smartphone or follow you on Instagram, but the odds are that advice you’ve received from them is applicable to the…
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
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
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
Does this sound like you? After two days in an intensive client “deep dive” replete with late night and early morning sessions, you board a plane for more meetings with an out-of-town client, and on day four you return to your office to prep for a new business meeting, leaving Friday to complete your “day…
Read more
I once asked a PR colleague whom I respect enormously to tell me the most important aspect of managing accounts and account teams in a PR agency and he said simply, “making smart decisions.” If you stop and think about it, this is true from the moment your day begins. You choose the right time…
Read more
Popular Mechanics, the venerable bible for science and tech geeks for over 100 years, has made some predictions about the coming 100. Some of the most startling are actually near-term predictions, and many have interesting ramifications for the PR world. Let’s take a closer look. People will be fluent in every language. With Google and…
Read more
In a recent Seattle Times piece, Allison J. Head announced her qualms about new workers. Like many young PR folks today, I am a child of Google. As long as there’s been internet, we’ve had questions and Google’s had the answers. However, not every on-the-job dilemma can be solved by the master search engine. Here…
Read more
No matter whether you’re too old to write to Santa, celebrate something completely different or just want world peace, pretend someone could give you some gifts to make you better at your job or to make your job easier, what would be on that list? We took a crack at it. Pitch-perfect The computer program…
Read more
Ever feel like you have five different people talking to you at once and no clue whom to answer first? At the busy PR firm where I work as an intern, I answer to three or four account managers. And while we could look at the negatives – Am I going to disappoint someone? Have…
Read more
Currently 5.9 million people work from home. While 37% of people feel more productive working in an office and 50% of bosses still oppose working from home, more and more people are expected to do so in coming years. How can telecommuters best convince employers that they are working not shirking from home? Here are…
Read more
by guest blogger Lauren Silverman September is nearly here, and that means one thing: Back to School! Even if you haven’t set foot in a classroom in years, there are always new PR tools and skills to master. Here are some of my favorites. Refresh your writing – Strong, succinct writing makes both pitches and…
Read more
It just works differently for different people! For example, I could never leave the office for a few days with an outgoing email that says! “I will be away from the office with little access to email, so I will get back to you on August 30.” That message actually fills me with anxiety! So,…
Read more
by guest blogger Lauren Silverman In PR, tangible experience is just as important as classroom experience (if not more). Real-world opportunities build skills and provide an integral part of any career path. It is important to know at the outset that internships are a two-way street and it’s the intern’s responsibility to maximize the experience….
Read more
by guest blogger Lauren Silverman In PR, it’s not uncommon to wear a few hats over the course of the day; one minute you’re a writer, the next an event organizer, and you’re always a juggler. Balancing work for multiple clients and managers requires not only the right organizational skills, but good communication with higher-ups….
Read more
Daylight Saving Time ends this weekend as we turn the clocks back and gain an hour. And we all know how valuable an hour of quality sleep is to mental and physical well-being. But you don’t have to take your hour in sleep; you can do other productive things with this “gift of time!” Here…
Read more
A busy working mother promises her grade-schooler a homemade delicacy for the school bake sale. Having been shamed by the “stay-at-home” moms, she is crushed when she can’t follow through on her promise and instead purchases a pie which she artfully “distresses” and, voila – her secret is safe and her daughter delighted. This is…
Read more
The days of bragging about how little sleep you need are so five minutes ago! The benefits of 7-8 hours of sleep are now well-documented and include everything from increased productivity to weight loss. The real issue, especially for Type A PR people is how to get those restorative hours. Fortunately, we work with…
Read more
“PR is a fast-paced business.” While this is true (and true in other businesses as well), we sometimes move too fast for our own good. Deadlines, either client, media or self-imposed, often find us sacrificing the well-thought out for the “let’s just get it out”… I am not advocating that we adopt everything espoused by…
Read more
