So You Want To Be In PR?

When it comes to the consensus of public relations professionals, one of the few things that we all can agree upon is that hardly anyone outside of the communications industry understands what it is that we actually do for a living (especially our relatives). Even our industry had to have a national dialogue to define the term “public relations.”

Most of the general public confusion is due in part to the role of the PR professional being so varied and stretched across multiple communication and publicity functions. Are PR people spokespeople, marketers, staff writers, event coordinators, or social media specialists? The answer is yes, and then some.

While many in our profession happily specialize in just one of the previously mentioned disciplines, many others (like me) are multi-tactical, cross functionary strategists that are required to do a lot of communication related things, and that makes the position hard to define.

To illustrate this point, I’d like to share what a typical day for me resembles in my role as director of communications for a DC-based trade association.

A Day in the Life

7-8:30am: On the commute into work I begin the mind numbing process of whittling down and reading/responding to what will be a plethora of emails I will receive throughout the day (some are carryovers from the previous day). I also begin mentally planning out my assignments for the day and prioritizing projects that are in process.

8:30-10:30am: I’m in the office but still responding to various emails, in addition to scanning through newspapers, trade pubs (online and print), the internet, and social media sites for association/issues related news items, industry trend stories/news, or significant member company related news.  Following, I evaluate the daily reports from our media monitoring service, then the fun part starts – updating division heads and executive staff of news they should be made aware of.

10:30 am-12 pm: This is usually my prime media pitching time as I distribute already approved news releases, or follow up with media outlets that were previously pitched news stories or sent releases. This is also the time I draft and distribute new pitches or return non priority reporter messages/calls.

Also, somewhere between 8:30 am to noon, I participate in Comm. Team meetings with the Director of Digital Communications and the VP of our department. During and after these meetings is prime time for creative thinking and coming up with new ideas and strategies for telling the association’s story or communicating its messages.

12-1:30pm: I spend this time updating the association’s social media communications typically, editing and/or drafting numerous written pieces such as: e-blast communications, news releases, internal departmental memos, marketing copy, meeting minutes or blog posts (I’m the red ink guy). I also use this time to update the organization’s website copy or evaluating website traffic data.

1:30-3pm: Meetings with various division heads to discuss what’s new or updates on specific issues, prep for media interviews, and occasional crisis communications as opposition groups, activists or concerned consumers outfits like to issue statements, negative studies, or invites to press conferences around this time of the day. As a result, I’m usually busy researching an issue, preparing a statement or responding to investigative media. Also during this time, I’m typically shooting down an onslaught of request from vendors looking to work with us.

FYI – The emails never stop coming throughout the day.

3-5pm: During this period I attempt to wrap up as many projects/assignments as possible (as they are almost always due by COB). I also spend this time trying to update and/or clean up the media monitoring reports so that they are ready by month’s end. This also is when I review a number of association produced materials, or products to ensure quality control and brand consistency/standards. And when called upon, I work with our affiliate groups on a number of communication needs (media relations, editing, issues management, etc.).

Then there's the impromptu meetings I have throughout the day with the VP of Comm. to give debriefs, status updates or participate in quick strategy sessions.

So as you can see, despite lacking "the sexy," it’s a pretty busy day and can be rather intense on occasion.  While each and every day does not look exactly like the example I’ve provided (new priorities pop up and the time frames aren’t so concrete), it does offer a pretty accurate reflection of what I do on behalf of the association. But it's all public relations related.

I sometimes wonder what it would be like to singularly focus on media relations or social media, or if I would get bored operating in such a targeted lane. My average day working at an agency was a helluva lot different from role in in-house communications (maybe one day I’ll doing something on a typical agency day).

Now that I’ve peeled the curtain back and let you look in, do you think you’re cut out for PR work? Or if you’re already working in the profession, how does your day stack up against mine?

PR By Numbers

Public relations is not rocket science. But, by the same token, it’s also not as easy as delivering intra-office mail. The craft of public relations takes talent, knowledge, great instincts and a nose for communicating. So pardon me if I get extremely irritated every time someone belittles my chosen profession or reduces it to a job that anybody with a high school diploma and a copy of “PR for Dummies” could accomplish.

I don’t know about other PR professionals but I take offense with some people who claim to be practitioners (hello Mr. Party Promoter) as well as with those who jump into the PR game on a whim following a career in the media. Now don’t get me wrong, not all media professionals make for bad PR pros. Some of the professionals who crossed over from the media side have turned out to be pretty good in public relations. I’ve actually had the pleasure to meet and work with some of the converts that have made a name for themselves as skilled and knowledgeable practitioners.

But admittedly, it can be a little disconcerting when a person in the media thinks they can do what I do because they get calls and press releases from PR people all day or they think they can pick up the intricacies of PR from a day of job shadowing at an agency (I’ve actually seen this happen twice). In all fairness, I could never do the reverse and go apply for a job as a beat writer with a major daily or as an on air reporter without the experience, training or education (despite the fact that I talk to and deal with reporters everyday).

With that said, imagine the horror I experienced when I saw a press release from a former journalist that started her own PR agency (surprise), announcing the launch of a new and cutting edge service – Do It Yourself Public Relations. Now it wasn’t bad enough that this “PR pro” hopped over to the profession after 15 years as a reporter and editor because, as she put it, she’s “seen her share of press releases – both the good and the bad,” but now she’s trying to convince every John Q. Public with a business that they can do it too. It’s just that easy!

Now this is not the first time we’ve heard of this concept, despite the aforementioned press release positioning it as a new idea. This radical proposal of do it yourself public relations (patterned after the “For Sale by Owner” concept of the real estate industry) was more notably championed by a company called – The PR Store. Under the premise that businesses could do their own PR on a modest budget, The PR Store opened a bunch of locations/franchises around the country (ala fast food chains) that would offer “small business owners an accessible, affordable and effective marketing resource that kept them in control of their marketing without having to do all of the legwork.” They honestly wrote that in their promotional materials for the company.

In actuality, what The “PR” Store boiled public relations down to, was a packet of marketing/press kit materials that you could place an order to have produced by walking up to a counter. In full disclosure, I once applied for a job at their corporate HQ in Charlotte as a Public Relations Manager. I know there’s some irony in that, but I applied for two reasons: one to see if I could possibly affect change from the inside and somehow legitimize their business model and two, to see if I actually could “sell something” I theoretically didn’t believe in. Could I tell the story of an organization that I thought was hurting the profession I love? I never got to answer that question, because I never received an interview.

But back to this concept of do it yourself public relations – I think it’s a mistake (unless you were previously in PR or you have a son who’s a PR pro…hi mom). There’s a reason PR people get paid for what they do…it’s because they have the experience and the know how to get results. As a business owner, you wouldn’t attempt to handle your own legal affairs, or build your own office space or store front, so why would you get out of your lane and do your own PR. There are reasonable ways to contract that effort out to professionals or cost-effectively hire someone in-house to handle that task.

Back to this press release touting do it yourself PR. In the release, it indicates that small businesses don’t have to hire anybody to do their PR but could get the job done by visiting a Web site and getting all the free counsel they could use. If conducting public relations was as simple as this or if it was able to be condensed into one tactic, in some Bizzaro universe I could buy into this. But knowing what I know about the realities and complexities of how an organization communicates and all the different aspects of a business that is attached at the hip to PR, this could never be a winning business model.

In the end, I wish more time had been spent on crafting that press release than on the effort to convince small businesses they can do “public relations” themselves. Clearly, there’s at least one small business that could’ve used the expertise of a seasoned PR pro before distributing a certain press release.

Intern Wanted! Must Have Social Media Experience

If you are a CEO, VP of Communications or a small business owner and you’ve uttered any variation of the following, “we need to bring in an intern to handle our social media,” then it’s clear that your organization is NOT ready and this new form of communicating is not for you.

After all, you wouldn’t let an intern respond to a crisis situation, handle a delicate client inquiry, craft your PR/advertising campaigns or pitch the media on behalf of your organization, so why turn over the reigns of your social media communications outreach to the least vested and least experienced person at your organization?

Social media outreach is not something that is conducted within a bubble. It is your organization’s public face and sometimes it is the first experience an individual may have with your brand. It has to be handled in a strategic and responsible manner and it has to be taken seriously by leadership.

While interns carry the reputation of being more adaptive to embracing new technologies and trends, or can sometimes be a great resource to mine for creative ideas, the fact remains that their experience is limited. Additionally, they know the very least about your organization and how it operates. So again, why put them on the frontline?

Right now I know what the aforementioned CEO, VP of Communications and small business owner might be thinking, “that internets, Spacebook, Myface and Twittering thing is for college kids with too much time on their hands, so why not get a college kid to handle it? Besides they would only be talking to their peers anyway.” Wrong on all counts!

When it comes to social media, the median age of users are as such:

Myspace – Age 26
Twitter – Age 31
Facebook – Age 33
LinkedIn – Age 39

Given this data, it hardly makes sense to try and make a 20-23 year old relate to these demographics, especially without the steady and keen hand of a seasoned communicator guiding them and the messaging.

I’m a strong proponent of an organization’s PR/Communications department owning the social media function. I believe it’s just a natural fit, since communication and engagement is at the core of effective social media outreach. And besides, any modern day PR pro that doesn’t have social media in his or her toolbox is lacking and incomplete. But I would never in my wildest dreams think to hire an unproven intern to implement my company’s social media communications.

But yet, that’s what’s happening everyday. In my work with the Intern In Michigan program, whose primary goal is to grow the number of internships within the state of Michigan as a means of attracting and retaining young professionals, I see dozens of organizations every month looking to hire an intern to handle their social media communications or worse, to implement it. I have nothing against employing interns, in fact I tout the benefits of hiring interns on a daily basis, but what I don’t condone is hiring interns to handle important communications functions. It’s best to remember that they are in training.

So the next time an organization thinks to hire an unpaid intern to speak for them through social media, they should keep in mind the following quote from Oscar Wilde: “Experience is one thing you can't get for nothing.”

So hire a professional.

Take My Junior Staffer…Please

Recently, I was in DC for an interview with a major association. I was having a one-on-one with the VP of Communications and as I normally do in such situations I inquired if the organization handled its PR totally in-house or if they also contracted an outside agency. Having worked in an agency as an account lead, the question allowed me to segue into talking about my experience in that capacity. The VP told me that the association “used to” contract the services of a very big and well known PR agency (name omitted on purpose).

He went on to let me know that the selection of this particular agency was a board/executive team decision. They wanted big results and so they went after a big name with the experience to get big results. I next asked the VP what happened to the relationship and whether or not this “Big Name” agency was able to deliver results. The VP informed me that the results were pedestrian at best and not at all what the association was expecting for the $240K they were shelling out annually (for the math impaired that’s a $20K/mon. retainer). He further indicated that they were unresponsive, inattentive and failed to take advantage of key opportunities to position the organization.

There was one particular incident when he needed to speak to a principal about a crisis communications situation that had arose. The VP thought that paying the $20K per month retainer would at least get you access to an agency leader. But he found that out to be a very false assumption. When he called the agency to seek the counsel of a principal (the same principal that was very active during the pitch meeting) he was blocked by that person’s gatekeeper. The gatekeeper informed the VP that the person he sought was unavailable because he was busy with another client (a major credit card company with lots of commercials on TV).

Because that major credit card company paid millions annually for the agency’s services, it not only got more attention, but the attention of the higher ups. Unfortunately, the associations meager $240K per year did not warrant getting that kinda luv. I asked him, Well what kind of attention did it get you? His reply, “They gave our account to some junior staffer practically fresh out of college with limited experience.” As a result of that treatment and the apparent lack of results, the association decided to discontinue the relationship with the agency and bring all of the PR in-house, hence the reason I was being interviewed for the Director of Media Relations position.

Now, I don’t know how it works at everybody else’s agency, but at the smaller agency I worked at, this association would’ve been a premium client and at the larger agency I worked at, they still would’ve been able to get some top exec handholding for $240K annually. I was astonished by what I had heard. At either agency I worked for, I don’t think the practice of putting a junior staffer on a significant account would’ve been implemented. Or would it?

When I say junior staffer I’m talking account assistant or account executive. I believe anybody from senior account executive on up should be able to lead an account and/or an account team. I myself was leading small to mid-sized accounts from the time I came in the door as an account executive. But should I have been doing so? I knew the frustrations of the association as it pertained to the “bait and switch” because I had been involved in a few. The bait and switch refers to an agency principal being heavily involved in the new business courting and the pitch meeting, but once the account is secured it gets turned over to another staffer to lead and conduct the work.

On the surface this might seem disingenuous or even shady. But so long as no promises were made, that a principal would be “leading” the account or actually doing the work, it was all above board. Many times, I walked into those new biz pitch meetings knowing that I’d be leading the account. So I would try to kill any potential future concerns before they were born.

This might sound crazy but I somewhat agree with the practice of people other than the principal, handling the work and managing the client relations. Depending upon the scope of work and the amount of the project fee or retainer, it may not be the best use of agency time or resources to dedicate a partner to doing the work. There actually is such a thing as you get what you pay for, but that something you pay for should still net you some kind of return. So long as the person leading the account is knowledgeable, qualified, results oriented and attentive to the client, it shouldn’t matter to the organization spending the dough.

Quick antidote: I once led the account for a mid-sized Detroit-based law firm (20 employees). This law firm paid a very modest retainer, but still wanted the attention as if they were paying $240K. For that modest retainer I did a lot of hand holding with the law firm’s president and I generated some pretty decent results. But he wanted a lot more results for the money he was paying. I informed him, that it wasn’t a lack of understanding or ability on my part, but rather that the work necessary to get more results required an increase in account hours, hence a bigger retainer. He didn’t agree with my reasoning. To this client it appeared to him that if he had a partner, as opposed to some account supervisor handling his account, the results would be different. So he proceeded to end around me until he finally got an agency partner on the phone. In the end, the partner calmed his nerves, got the retainer increased and then sent him back to me. Go figure.

Bagging A White Rhino

Ask any PR pro what he or she considers a public relations success and they will begin to rattle off politically correct responses such as: measurable ROI, lasting mutually beneficial partnerships, managed expectations and meeting company objectives, perfectly implemented strategic communications….comprehensive inertia…20 points of light…blah, blah, blah. And with the exception of comprehensive inertia and the 20 points of light, they wouldn’t be wrong. These things are very important ingredients when creating a successful PR campaign.

But if you got these same PR pros together amongst peers and you asked them to answer the same question off the record, many may tell you candidly that a public relations success is getting the “Big Hit,” or at least a part of it. It’s what gets some of us energized and motivated when we’re conducting proactive media relations on behalf of our employer or clients. How can I make the biggest splash and have the greatest impact that will positively influence the bottom line?

In the world of public relations the “Big Hit” could be many different things, but the one thing it definitely is not – is common. It could be getting your client on Oprah’s couch for an in-depth one-on-one; landing your organization on the front page of the New York Times in a glowing editorial; having a famous celeb name drop your product as he is being interviewed following a championship win; or throwing the event to end all events and it attracts coverage from the crème de la crème of national TV outlets. The Big Hit.

I see the Big Hit as the equivalent of being in South Africa and netting a White Rhino in a trophy hunt (apologies to PETA). It’s the thrill of the hunt and the satisfaction that ensues when you’ve finally bagged your quarry. It’s a career highlight that earns you long-time professional props. And don’t get me wrong, clients (if you work for an agency) and organizational leadership (if you’re in-house comm) both like the Big Hit too. For clients it gives them the warm fuzzies about paying the retainer and actually getting something out of the deal that they couldn’t do for themselves. It also buys agencies a lot of good will when the Big Hit is gone and the phones stop ringing as much. For the in-house comm team the Big Hit makes execs and the board happy.

This brings me to CBS’s hit reality TV show, “Undercover Boss.” Without a shadow of doubt “Undercover Boss” is the whitest of rhinos and the biggest of the PR hits. For those unfamiliar with this program, the show follows high-level chief executives as they slip anonymously into the rank and file of their companies. Each week a different executive leaves the comfort of their corner office for an undercover mission to examine the inner workings of their own company. While working alongside their employees, they see first-hand the effects their decisions have on others, where the problems lie within their organization and get an up-close look at both the good and the bad while discovering the unsung heroes who make their company run.

This is the best PR - money didn’t buy! Not only is it a 43 minute advertisement for the company (complete with branding, messaging and product highlights) but also it shows an organization in a more humanizing light and it’s done in a compelling narrative. Participating CEOs move from being anonymous, uncaring decision makers, to compassionate family men that love their companies. I only wish that I could’ve bagged this one for a client I represented.

And if you think the Big Hit doesn’t pay dividends, according to Brandweek, 7-Eleven and White Castle (both appeared on the show) saw bumps in brand awareness following their CEOs going undercover on the show and have settled at levels slightly higher than before their episodes aired. Hooters, whose episode was the closest thing to critical that the otherwise corporate-friendly show has aired, had a surge then dropped back to previous levels.

Back when I was working at an agency, I hunted my own White Rhino. One of the clients whose account I oversaw had launched a unique product in the US. If you Google the product name you’ll see my handy work (circa 2006). The coverage our account team secured during the launch was admirable, but I wanted the Big Hit. After learning that one of the product uses was for crime scene investigations I thought, wouldn’t it be something if we could get this product used/featured on the hit drama CSI?

And the more I thought about it, the more I wanted it to happen. I had an account executive track down a phone number to the production company. From there, we tracked down the show’s technical advisor/producer. I actually reached him and talked up the product. After exchanging several emails worth of product info and pictures, plans were made to ship a sample to the advisor. Our team and the client were ecstatic at the possibility. I informed my account team that when this opportunity was a done deal and finally in the books, I would be quitting the agency. My work would be complete and I was going out on a high note. I meant it too. But unfortunately, while I was working out the details of my soon to be PR coup, the client decided to discontinue the retainer due to budgetary constraints. In the end, I didn’t get to bag my White Rhino…but a guy can dream.

Alright PR pros, what’s your White Rhino?

Gladiator School

One day I was participating in a very informal job interview at a Royal Oak, Michigan coffee shop. The person sitting across from me evaluating my credentials had a copy of my resume in hand. She began to read off the places I had previously worked, but a couple of employer entries caught her attention. “Oh, I see you have agency experience. More specifically, I see that you worked at the ‘Puppy Mill’ for XX year(s). Impressive,” she said.

I thought to myself, Puppy Mill? How so? Later that day I looked up the definition of the term:

A puppy mill, sometimes known as a puppy farm, is a commercial dog breeding facility that is operated with an emphasis upon profits above animal welfare and is often in substandard conditions regarding the well-being of dogs in their care. Hmmmm.

It wasn’t the first time that I had heard the expression puppy mill used in describing working at an agency. It was the third time in five years of working in Michigan that I had heard the reference. In fact, because of the oddity in the usage of the term, I was originally going to name this post “Puppy Mill” but after giving it consideration, I believe the title I chose to be more appropriate. Besides, I didn’t really care for the characterization of being a dog, despite me considering myself an Alpha Male often leading a pack of one.

Also puppy mill is somewhat of a derogatory term when you think of it. Its right up there with “sweatshop” and “shark infested waters,” both of which I’ve heard used when describing working at an agency. But “Gladiator School”…yes, that would be more appropriate. And when I say “Gladiator School” I’m not talking about the type typically associated with the height of the Roman Empire or the story of Spartacus, but rather the one related to America’s penal system. I’m talking kill or be killed…Gladiator School.

Now for those, who have not experienced the correctional industry up close and personal, or seen one episode of HBO’s “OZ” or MSNBC’s “Lock Up” series, a Gladiator School is a less-than maximum security prison (Levels two, three and four in the Federal System) where prisoners are said to get their first real taste of prison life. Within a Gladiator School, guards sometimes use violence to control prisoner behavior, forcing inmates to "snitch" on other inmates under the threat of moving them to the most violent sections of the prison. A gladiator school also may refer to a facility that engages in the practice of setting up prison fights for the benefit of others. In a nut shell it’s an environment that thrives on a survivalist mentality: only the ‘strong’ shall survive.

It’s a grim association I’ve placed upon agency life, but I happen to believe it. And though some may disagree, I also believe that only the best of the best in the public relations industry have faced and survived the Gladiator School. If you take a look at the credentials of the top tier PR pros more than likely you’ll see that they’ve all done a stint at a public relations firm at one time or another.

Additionally, PR agency experience is highly coveted by hiring managers in the world of in-house corporate communications. Why? Because agencies are typically a very fast paced, hardcore grind environment. If you can survive and “make it” at an agency, you can make it anywhere. I’ve been on countless job interviews where the hiring manager made some variation of the following statement, “oh, I see you have agency experience. That’s good because things operate very fast here.”

In translation, what they were really saying is, “Survived Gladiator School huh!? I’m sure you had to shank a few people and spend some time in the hole to make it to Account Supervisor.” And they wouldn’t be that far off from the truth (lol).

Agency experience is also attractive to recruiters from other agencies. Knowing that you didn’t melt from the heat of a busy agency environment can be very seductive. I’ve had multiple agency recruiters engage in competition poaching, trying to lure me into their fold. It happened twice in Michigan and once in Chicago.

When it comes to agency life, there are two things I’m certain of: It’s not an easy environment and it ain’t for everybody. During a total of five years at two different agencies, I’ve seen a lot of things take place. Some people don’t make it past the probation period, while others stayed too long to the point of burn out. I’ve seen people crumble under the weight of the workload and others reduced to tears by overbearing supervisors. You definitely have to be built a certain kind of way to survive and advance. And I’m not specifically talking about kill or be killed or shanking people in the back but definitely incorporating an element of prison survival (life on the yard) to your routine.

It’s funny, I recently read a New York Times Magazine article describing the work offices of the publication, Politico as a fast paced, tough and challenging environment that only the “fearless, fast and ruthlessly competitive” survived. That’s pretty much what agency life is all about.

In saying all that, if I had to do it all over again, I would. I went into the Gladiator School, took on the baddest on the yard, didn’t break and I never had to use my shank. I like to think of myself as the Val Kilmer character in the movie “Felon.” He was tested every now and then, but mostly he kept to himself and nobody bothered him. For up and coming PR professional hopefuls and recent graduates, I think working at an agency is imperative. Not only is a good test of your mettle but also is a good way to test whether or not this profession is right for you. Watching Samantha Jones do PR on “Sex and the City” is a not an accurate litmus of what the profession is like. You have to get your hands dirty and if you can’t join an agency as an Account Assistant, you definitely need to do an internship at one.

There came a time when I left the smaller Michigan PR agency to test my resolve at a much larger agency in Chicago. On my start date, I had just gotten off of a plane and caught a cab downtown with suitcase in tow. I didn’t even have a place to live yet. As I entered the front door of this impressive new agency, the front desk receptionist took my suitcase, which was filled with a week’s worth of clothes, and placed it into a hall closet. She indicated that I needed to be in a morning meeting/call with one of my new clients, the insurance giant, Allstate. To be fair, I was late starting my first day of work, so I had to skip the early morning orientation (due to snow I missed my flight from Detroit and had to catch a later flight). When I walked into that Allstate meeting, it seemed that all eyes were on me and there was an anticipation of what I’d be bringing to the account team as Associate Director of Engagement Marketing.

Normally, in these types of situations, I like to listen and take notes before I comment. But almost immediately a question was thrown to me and I was asked for my take on the approach being taken on a major project. The group around the table and the client on the phone awaited my response. I smiled internally to myself.

Once again, it was time to start sharpening my toothbrush on the floor…welcome to day one of Gladiator School.