I’ve been working for the past three years at The State News, Michigan State University‘s newspaper. It’s  a particularly interesting time to be at a newspaper, especially with a public relations background, but I’ve found that the skill sets in a sales job translate well into a public relations job.

Here are 10 ways you can make a sales jobs just as valuable as a public relations internship:

1. You learn client management. In sales, you work with clients and you learn how to work with them. This transitions well for public a public relations career. Managing client expectations, learning how to communicate with a client and knowing when you shouldn’t be selling are all key things to develop while in sales.
2. You learn communication skills. Though you’re not writing press releases, you learn how phone conversational skills, how to communicate clearly and effectively, and how to write precise messages — all of which are important in whatever line of work you go into.
3. You learn time management. You can never get good enough at managing your time effectively; working in sales is one more way to enhance this skill. You learn how to balance your client work with your administrative work.
4. You learn how to motivate yourself and others. I think attitude plays a huge part in how you’re perceived in the office. There’s no better way to develop motivational skills than when you work in sales, especially if you take on management positions.
5. You learn how to explain. Though it might sound silly, you really learn to explain why. For me, it’s why my client should be advertising, why a recession is an opportunity and why it’s important to distinguish between competitions. As a public relations counselor, you’re always going to be explaining why. Knowing why for yourself will always be helpful.
6. Pitching new business will become a breeze. In an agency, corporate or nonprofit setting, chances are you’ll have to pitch to start a new campaign or program. In sales, you’re always looking for new business and pitching becomes a breeze. It’s the presentation and communication skills that develop here.
7. You learn the correlation between work and money. Part of sales is working partly or solely on commission. This means the more you work, the more money you make. The bad part is the less you work, the less you make. Sales will train you to always be on top of your game and looking for the next opportunity.
8. You learn teamwork. In college, we’re trained to hate working with people, but working in sales, you’ll learn to trust your team even though you’re probably competing with them.
9. The failures will happen and you’ll figure out how to deal with them. I’ve been hung up on, cursed at and insulted during cold calls and prospecting, but you’ll develop a thick shell from these “failures.” In your career, you’ll make mistakes, and it’s OK. Make sure sure you’re learning from them.
10. The customer isn’t usually right, but you learn how to make them feel like they are. And in the process, you learn how to show how valuable you are.

For me, sales has filled in the gaps of my internship experiences. I’ve also had a blast working with the people I do. Oh, and let me know if you’re interested in advertising with The State News.

Is there anything to add on this list? What other kind of experiences fill in the gaps of a PR education? Anything else help you in your career?

Photo by tofslie on Flickr.

During a recent MSU PRSSA meeting, Kelly Rossman-McKinney, CEO of Rossman PR, came in to talk about how to write a communication plan and important principles to execute the plan. Personally, it was extremely helpful and it served as a reminder that we are in a completely strategic field. Doing something just to do it won’t get you anywhere (for an example, look on Facebook for all the companies who have a Facebook page but don’t do anything with them). The video summary of what she talked about is right here:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V_gEevOykqw&hl=en&fs=1]

Kelly talked about her eight-step approach when it comes to strategic public relations. Whether you are running a political campaign or fundraising for a nonprofit, these principles apply. Better yet, try and create a communication plan within a student group or current place of employment. Here are her steps and strategies:

The eight-step approach to strategic public relations planning:

1. Background/situation analysis: State who the client is, where the client stands today, why they are seeking public relations services and how the agency understands the mission of the client.
2. Goals and objectives: State the goals and objectives; remember that goals are broad while objectives are specific and measurable.
3. Research: Perform some qualitative and quantitative research to help you executive and complete the campaign.
4. Target audiences: Name the key internal and external target audiences that should be part of the campaign.
5. Messages: Illustrate the key and secondary messages that will best motivate your audience.
6. Proof points: Stats, stories and facts to support your stance.
7. Communication tools: What mediums will best deliver your message? Print newspapers, online media, Facebook, etc.
8. Evaluation: Have you been measuring the success of the campaign?

After you come up with all of these steps and plans for a campaign, it’s important to keep a strategic focus. The next list is a set of questions you should be able to answer clearly and concisely.

Principles of effective communication:

• Credibility: Is your messenger credible – is he or she a trusted and respected source of information – with your audience?
• Context: Is your message in context with reality and the environment in which your audience is located?
• Content: Is your message relevant to your audience? Are they interested?
• Clarity: Is your message simple and straightforward? How far will it travel and how long will it last?
• Continuity and consistency: Repeat your message for audience penetration.
• Channels: What channels/tools of communication are you using? What value are they to your audience?
• Customer benefits: What’s in it for me?
• Caring, compassion and concern: Does your audience know that you care?
• Capability of audience: Is your audience capable of understanding the message? Will they take the time to listen/read/watch it?
• Call to action: What is your audience supposed to do now?

All in all, it was a great meeting and a great presentation. Another online resource I found is from Dave Fleet, who has a great (and free!) e-book on writing a strategic communication plan here.

Any other tips for writing a communication plan? Any resources you’d like to share?

Update: As I’m writing this, CNN projects Obama as winner of the 2008 Presidential Election.

This evening, I was inspired to write a blog post from two speakers at our PRSSA Chapter meeting. Kelly Rossman-McKinney of the Rossman Group and Daniel Bergman of the College of Communication Arts & Sciences at MSU spoke to our Chapter about the presidential election. As with many other meetings this semester, the discussion turned to social media and how each campaign used it.

I’m not here to critique each campaign. I think each side learned about what works and what doesn’t when it comes to social media. But here is what I learned from this election:

• People don’t like to be shouted at. They like to have a discussion. With all of the mudslinging in campaign ads and messages pounded into audiences, how effective can it be to actually change public opinion? My generation is independent and rebellious, and we don’t like to be told what to do. We do like to see what our friends are up to on Facebook and Twitter and what they’re thinking. Engaging an audience is key to success.
• People don’t like to be lied to. They like to check their facts. I think in this election more than ever, people are looking to clarify what the candidates are saying. Web sites such as Fact Check allow visitors to get a third-party confirmation, therefore giving it more credibility. More generally, there have been plenty of times when I said to “Google it” after a candidate said something in a speech. A while ago, these resources were not available to voters so the credibility of these negative ads were high- but that probably won’t work as well anymore.
• People don’t like to have decisions made for them. They like to participate. People blog. They tweet. They write notes. They discuss. They share. And the list goes on, but moreover, they have a presence online. To be successful, it is important that you’re giving people positive things to talk about and share online.

Social media allows for all of this. While younger people are primarily the ones using these tools, my generation will eventually become the older generation. This generation knowledgeable with social media will continue to grow and grow. Is social media going to change while this growth occurs? You betcha (sorry, I couldn’t resist). Even so, the importance and impact of the Web in learning and conversing will be here to stay.

I believe this is a fundamental shift in not only presidential elections, but also in how any organization communicates to its publics. It’s not a fad. It’s here to stay. And it’s dramatically changing the world as we know it.

I think it’s a good thing. But what do you think? Are there any negative effects to this evolving world of social media?