PR Start by Nick Lucido

These are my links for June 30th through July 8th:

• PR Profiling – Richard Edelman’s response to the NyTimes piece on PR. It’s a well constructed counter-argument.
• The Reality Of PR: Smile, Dial, Name Drop, Pray. – One of the more interesting articles arising after the NYTimes article. There is something to be said about industry connections as that is valuable, but there is more to PR than solely that fact.
• Leadership in Tough Times – It’s good to understand what’s going on at the top, and Richard paints a great picture showing leaders in the current state.
• Spinning the Web – P.R. in Silicon Valley – NYTimes.com – Great read, though it’s not particularly positive toward PR in general. It should be taken with a grain of salt
• Strategic Blogging and Some Tactics to Nail It – I thought of PRSSA blogs for this. You can apply it to so much more, however. This is a great list and the comments are adding to it.
• 10 Social Media Tools – Best Kept Secrets – I’ve heard of some of these, but I will definitely try out the others.

This morning as I was going through my e-mail inbox at work, I happened to see this article on an intern who resigned from her company. Basically, Jenavi Kasper worked at an advertising agency in Phoenix for three weeks and quit because she had higher expectations for working there. I’m not kidding. I recommend checking out the comments on the post — some defend and some attack. I side with the latter.

First, I’ll add that as a fellow intern, I can’t say I can relate to Jenavi. In my four work experiences since I’ve been in college, I’ve had four incredible experiences that have taught me a lot of public relations. Then again, if I were in her shoes, I would do things a little bit differently.

So, here are my points as to what Jenavi did wrong. I hope you can find some value in learning from these.

• Give it time. Somewhere in the comments, it was mentioned that she only worked three weeks (two days per week, at that) at the agency. That’s one business week and one day. It’s important to remember how agencies operate: they hire when they win business, fire when they lose it and are always in a state of adapting to a new balance of clients. Interns should spend some time learning and asking questions before they join in on this cycle be the most beneficial to the agency. That takes time and patience. It seems as though neither were present in this situation.
• Her expectations were way off. I’ve now worked at three public relations agencies and I’ve been able to do some pretty cool things. However, I’ve also answered phones, moved boxes, delivered fliers to 100+ people in person… you get the picture. Sure, she had to do some not-so-sexy things, but that’s the business. To put it quite frankly, if you’re basing your expectations on what you see on TV, you’re crazy. In PR and advertising, especially entry level, you’ll be doing research, compiling lists and putting together reports — not pitching clients and designing a new campaign. I could go on about expections, but I could talk about it for a year.
• Why did she not ask for more work? From the post, it sounded like she came to work, got her assignments, completed them and waited for someone to give her more. In fact, she should have asked for more assignments. Even better — think one step ahead and anticipate the needs of your team. This will help your get respect and ultimately, your team will trust you with bigger assignments.
• Trying to get bad press for your ex-employer is presumptuous and could backfire. When she wrote this blog about her old company, she added at the end: “So be careful. You don’t want to end up being called out on a blog, do you?” I think this really speaks miles for itself, so I’ll hold out on saying what I really feel about this. She hurt herself so much more than she could ever hurt the company, and while social media is a great tool for learning, it’s a great tool for ruining your career, too.
• The field is crowded. Big agencies get hundreds, if not thousands, of applicants for summer internship programs. If you don’t want to do some administrative work, I can guarantee that the next person will.

So, what do you think? Do you think this is an isolated case? What else could she have done differently?

Photo by w00kie on Flickr.

Entering data into Excel. Creating a media list with 1,000 reporters. Tracking online conversations for a client. Copy/paste jobs. If you’re an intern, chances are you’ll have to do some not-so-fun jobs this summer. Even though you might think some tasks are mindless, the details are important to any project.

Here is a list a ways to be more detail oriented:

1. Listen. No, seriously, listen. Are you listening to me? Listening is more than just acknowledging you heard it. Listening is a physical process that take conscious effort. Check out Pick The Brain’s guide to active listening.
2. Confirm the details. Something I like to do is when I get an assignment with certain deadline information is repeat that right back in an e-mail. Sometimes, the sender will make a type-o and when they see the date, it might help them to correct it. Also, you will have the deadline information in writing so you’re off the hook if the deadline is wrong.
3. Check your work. Then check it again. And, just for fun, check it one last time. It’s so easy to turn in a project as soon as you’re done without checking it, but you really need to look it over before you turn it in. Another suggestion might be to have another co-worker check it.
4. Write stuff down. Going green is great, but it might be easy for something to slip your mind if it’s not written down. Whatever system you use, make sure there is a way to check on it in case you mentally forget it. I know I will never be rid of sticky notes.
5. Take breaks when you’re feeling overwhelmed. If you are frantically trying to finish a project just to finish it, chances are you will make some mistakes. Make sure to take a mental break by reading something or going for a walk before you get back to work. Or, check Twitter.
6. Ask for feedback on your work. This should be a given, but make sure you’re asking for feedback and then ask when the entire project is complete.
7. Practice makes perfect. You’ll make mistakes. And that’s fine. Keep practicing and keep asking questions — you’ll be able to grasp the details soon enough.
8. Ask why. When you completely understand the scope of the project and strategy of it, chances are you’ll be able to do better work. As interns, we’re often assigned tactics — make sure to ask how this fits in the scope of the entire project.
9. Don’t get distracted. Having another e-mail account up, listening the music and having a conversation with a neighbor are all ways for you to get distracted during your work. When you’re working on a project, turn off the outside noise and concentrate. Yep, that means turning off Pandora, too. I’ll be the first one to admit I like having these side distractions, but you can get better work done without them.
10. Have a good attitude. You’d be surprised how much a better attitude can help you focus on your work. Even if you’re not doing the glamorous work that you thought you’d be doing (hint: PR isn’t all glamour, if any), an attitude adjustment can help you get where you want to be.

How do you keep focused on the details? Any tips to add?

Photo by mixedmedia on Flickr.

These are my links for June 12th through June 23rd:

• Get into a healthy, work-minded routine – College life is not a healthy lifestyle. Heather points out some very important things, and it’s worth checking out
• A Powerful Guide To Active Listening – While this article may not be about listening in the social media realm, I think it perfectly qualifies as great advice.
• Should You Fear the FTC’s Sponsored Blogging Crackdown? – The short answer to the question in the title: No. It all comes down to ethical disclosure. It’s a good read, nonetheless.
• Search Ads Should Be Bought By PR Firms Too – Great case study and example on how PR really should be taking over SEO and SEM.
• Five tips for finding a PR job in Washington, DC – Here’s a great list of places to find a PR job in DC.
• Podcamp Boston 4 – Thinking about heading out to Boston. I’ve heard of this event before and am interested in checking it out.
• What’s the Best Way to Pitch Bloggers? – What’s the best way to pitch bloggers? It is a common question and this list is pretty solid, but you do need to remember to disclose your relationship with the client for whom you are pitching.
• Why My Blog Gets No Comments? – Is a lack of comments a bad thing? Not necessarily. But having comments certainly increases the overall engagement of your blog.
• 10 Techniques to Get More Comments on Your Blog – How to get more comments on your blog — great suggestions and advice for all bloggers.
• A Collection of Social Network Stats for 2009 – This is a great piece to keep checking during the year as the content will be updated as more information becomes available.
• The New PR: How to Write Effective Press Releases in the Age of Twitter – This is such great advice to improve your press release right away. If you’re not doing this now, what are you waiting for?
• PR interns shouldn’t pitch the media on your behalf – As an intern who has had experience in pitching the media, I’m on the fence with this. I’ll be honest — I’ve pitched things I haven’t completey understood before, and as much as I hope it didn’t show, I’m sure it did. Then again, how will the interns get experience?
• So you think you can intern? PerkettPR launches contest for first-ever internships at digital PR agency – Check this out if you’re looking for an internship! Sounds like a really cool opportunity.

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Last week, I packed my bags and took some time off work to attend a retreat for the newly elected for the PRSSA National Committee. Besides learning so much and getting close to nine other people I’ll be working with during the next year, I also learned an important lesson.

Getting to know people in person is so much more effective than getting to know online.

This shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone, should it? However, we continue to move more and more online. Between social media, online conferences, conference calls, video chats and everything else, the human connection is, for the most part, lost online. Unfortunately, it seems more and more is moving online to save costs, among other reasons. I still think it’s important to do things offline. If you missed it, check out this post from the Arment Dietrich team on banning inter-office e-mail.

With building a team, even though it may not be the most cost-effective way, I think it’s so important for your team to get to know each other in person.

And here’s a picture of my new team, courtesy of Flickr:

So how do you keep things offline? Do you notice a difference when you work with people in person vs. working with people online?

These are my links for June 8th through June 10th:

• Wikipedia Articles Appear in Google News Results – This article is why I think PR people should stay off Wikipedia. I think a lot of people won’t like that Wikipedia is up there — personally, I do. It gives me the information I need to understand the depth and background of most events.
• Get The Most Out Of Your PRSSA Membership This Summer – My second post on the PRSSA Blog. No, I won’t do this for every post, but I hope you’re all making the most out of your membership for the summer. Check out my tips on how to do that.
• 3 Critical Time Management Techniques You Shouldn’t Forget – I really like this because the tips are simple, yet effective. Try them out.
• Search Engine Visibility and PR – An Edelman Digital White Paper – Anything coming from these guys is a must read. I’m looking forward to checking this out and I recommend you do the same.
• How Do Journalists View Follow Up Phone Calls? – Most journalists prefer receiving (relevant) PR pitches via email, but how do they feel about follow up calls? This has been one of the most popular topic suggestions on the blog to date, so I figured I’d take some time to explore the topic further.
• An articles article: ‘A’ versus ‘an’ – Great tips on something that we might forget. It’s always a good idea to read these refresher articles on how to write.

There have been many discussions why public relations professionals should stay off Wikipedia. Some agree, like Todd Defren here, and some don’t, like Shannon Paul here.

I believe a PR rep has no business editing a Wikipedia article. Now, I’ve got a lot more support with some news from today. According to an post from Mashable today, Wikipedia will now show up in Google News. That’s right, Wikipedia is sort of becoming a media outlet. I believe they won’t be the ones to break the news, but they sure will be a trusted source of information for those seeking more about a recent event, such as the Air France crash. Now, people have the power to change the news. I trust ethical practitioners, but I think this could be abused.

With that knowledge, do you think a PR person should edit a Wikipedia page? Here’s an example to show you what I mean. From watching 30 Rock, I can pull this example out fairly quickly. Say a company in upstate New York, which happens to be on a river, dumps some toxins in the river and causes the children to turn orange. As the story breaks, the unethical PR team for that company immediately edits the Wikipedia page and removes blame from the company. This is a bad thing.

I’m not trying to say all PR pros would do this. I believe there are a lot of honest an ethical PR teams out there, but there’s aways one bag egg in the bunch.

Todd recommends in his post to engage in discussion for the page you’re trying to correct. I’m sure there are a lot of “facts” on Wikipedia pages that are inaccurate, so it’s an important duty for the PR practitioner to promote the facts. It’s also important to separate facts from perceptions, and when your company is not popular, chances are you have more problems than not being able to edit Wikipedia.

Those are my thoughts. What do you think? Am I off-target on this one?

Photo by crunchytoast on Flickr.

On this blog, I talk about the public relations industry and how to get in. One thing to remember is that there is no mathematics formula to land a job or internship in the field; many times, it’s the combination of a lot of things. I’d like to bring you some content that might not be entirely related to public relations, though I think the advice is great for anyone.

Here are my top three blogs not relating specifically to public relations, though I think they are extremely helpful to anyone.

Zen Habits: I love this blog for a lot of reasons. Mostly, I feel like this blog knows about my life. The blog talks about how to be productive, stay motivated, find time to be healthy and balance your time. The advice is practical and manageable. My favorite post is Get Off Your Butt: 16 Ways To Get Motivated When You’re In A Slump. I’ve taken the tips, but for the full description, check out the post.

1. One goal — choose one goal and stick with it until you accomplish it
2. Find inspiration every day
3. Get excited with the little and big things that happen
4. Build anticipation by setting deadlines for yourself
5. Make sure your friends and family know about your goals
6. Commit publicly by posting it on Twitter and your blog
7. Thing about it daily
8. Get support from friends
9. Realize there’s an ebb and flow — and learn how to use it to your advantage
10. Stick with it
11. Start small. Realize you can’t change everything at once.
12. Build on the small successes
13. Read about it daily. Subscribing to these blogs help
14. Get help when you need it
15. Think about  the end goal when the going gets tough
16. Think positive

Pick the Brain: Again, this is another great motivational blog. If you’re like me, these posts are a nice break between public relations blogs and news. I know I’ve recommended this blog before, but I really can’t recommend it enough. Check it out — it’s hard to choose one post in particular.

Dumb Little Man: I recently discovered this blog and it’s full of great things. The blog aims to teach readers about ways to save time, money and effort. Some of it might seem straightforward, but I really like the way the blog thinks. It’s especially helpful and applicable for those in the workforce. My favorite post is on how to work more effectively. Check out these four steps:

1. Switch off distractions
2. Minimize interruptions
3. Set a timer
4. Take regular breaks

What do you read in between the regular stuff? Feel free to share in the comments!

Photo by whossein on Flickr.

• How Twitter Will Change the Way We Live – “Once just a fad, Twitter is developing into a powerful form of communication. What its growth says about us — and the future of American innovation.” I find traditional media writing about new media fascinating. While reading, it seemed to me this was common knowledge already.

• PRSSA Blog – A Preview of the Coming Year – My first post on the PRSSA Blog! I’d appreciate any comments, suggestions or advice you might have.
• 10 Great Social Sites for Resume Building – Great list of places to build your online community and a better resume.
• Making commercials for the web – Seth does a great job reminding us that what’s posted on YouTube shouldn’t be the same as what goes on TV. Great list of tips, too.

• Microsoft Bing's focus on decisions is smart — but not a Google killer
  I think this is a great article. It shows Microsoft is smart and Google isn't the only one who gets the Internet. It will be interesting to start seeing some of the results.
  (tags: microsoft bing socialmedia)
• Attention GM: Here are the top 5 marketing ideas for your reinvention
  For the first time in.. well, forever, I disagree with what DM Scott has to say. I must say that while I think he is absolutely brilliant and he provides an analysis that is seemingly plausible, it is a very shallow analysis from someone outside the industry. Most of his points are a lot easier said than done, unfortunately.
  (tags: GM generalmotors marketing socialmedia)
• Time Spent on Twitter Soars by Over 3,700%, Facebook up 700%
  My favorite part of this article is that it validates Zuckerberg's law – -that people will share twice as much online as the year before. I know it's true for me. These are great stats to have.
  (tags: twitter facebook socialmedia statistics)
• Why Getting Your Z’s Is So Important
  I'll be the first one to admit I need to improve my sleeping habits, but this is a great reminder of why it's not a good idea not to pull that all-nighter. Thanks for the reminder.
  (tags: sleep health energy)
• Media Relations is Evolving, Not Dying
  I couldn't have said it better myself. More and more often, PR folks seem to be charged with the task of directly created content the consumer will see. Blogs, Twitter, Facebook and everything else allow a company to directly communicate with their fans and buyers, so it's no wonder public relations is changing.
  (tags: publicrelations mediarelations socialmedia)