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PROFESSIONAL SKILLS:

–Writing: You don’t have to be a novelist, but if you can’t write a decent letter, memo or, most importantly, press release, then you shouldn’t be a PR person. Despite the proliferation of email and instant messaging, the ability to communicate via the written word is something lost on many people who have grown up in the electronic age. We’ve all probably received emails and messages that come off as sarcastic without meaning to be so. There are no shortcuts to writing a professional communication, but more and more I’m seeing press releases and pitches penned by people who appear to have flunked English 101.

–Writing, Part II: “Writing skills are the most difficult thing to find. Once people can write, I feel that pretty much everything else we can teach.” – Jeffrey Sharlach, Chairman and CEO, The Jeffrey Group.

–Orating: Public speaking is not easy, and it certainly takes most people time to get comfortable in front of a large group of people. Nonetheless, PR people need to be able to articulate their thoughts and their company’s story in front of an audience, be it a group of employees or a swarm of media.

–Internet-Enabled: PR takes an immense amount of research, and PR people who don’t understand tools such as blogs, search engines, and premium search services suffer the consequences. Knowing how to find Google or Technorati is not enough – you need to understand how to utilize these resources as well.

–Multi-Tasking: I don’t mean the ability to talk on the phone and play solitaire. If you can’t pitch the media, pitch prospective clients, take part in crisis-control initiatives, and help clients formulate a strategy beyond PR, then you’re in the wrong game. Specialty PR is fine if you’re proven in the field, but a well-rounded PR person can handle everything from sales to client handholding.

The ideal PR person, in my book, is like what baseball scouts call a “fivetool” player: 1) hitting for average, 2) hitting for power, 3) running for speed, 4) arm strength, and 5) fielding ability.

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“Five-tool players get the key hits, big home runs, timely stolen bases, they throw out the tying run at the plate and make spectacular defensive plays,” Mark Bonavita wrote in The Sporting News back in 1999.

Ask yourself if you’re getting the key hits, hitting the big home runs, stealing a timely base, throwing out the runner at the plate, and making spectacular plays in the field. If you’re not, it may be time to relearn some PR basics and learn some new tricks. Or, perhaps, think about a new career.

By Ben Silverman (http://www.ereleases.com/prfuel/what- it-takes-to-be-a-pr-person/)

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Public Relations Specialist

A public relations specialist communicates with the public on behalf of an entity such as a company, organization, individual, politician, or government. He or she is also called a communication, media, or PR specialist. A public relations specialist spreads his or her employer’s or client’s message to the public, often using the media as a means to do so.

Quick Facts

In 2015, PR specialists earned a median annual salary of $56,770.

241,000 people were employed in this occupation in 2014.

The following industries employed the majority of public relations specialists: religious, grantmaking, civic, professional, and similar organizations; professional, scientific, and technical services; educational services.

Job opportunities have traditionally been concentrated in larger cities like New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, and Washington, DC, but in recent years there have been jobs scattered throughout the country.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts that employment in this field will grow as fast as the average for all occupations through at least 2024.

Many positions require some travel.

PR specialists may have to work overtime to meet deadlines.

A Day in a Public Relation’s Specialist’s Life

To learn about some public relations specialists’ duties, we looked at job announcements on Indeed.com. We discovered that on a typical day one might perform some of the following tasks:

“Develop press kit materials, including press releases, pitch letters, case studies, feature articles and trend stories”

“Research, execute, and coordinate projects to advance the company’s brand and public relations objectives”

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“Curate/produce news web page, which includes building features, finding artwork, posting other stories as necessary, resolving technical problems, and maintaining the design of the pages/articles”

“Assist in sharing PR results with internal communications”

“Develop and attend trade show press briefings, manage pressroom accommodations, and conduct post-show follow up”

“Cultivate and maintain relationships with regional and national media. Fulfill media requests for photographs, factual information, etc.”

“Coordinate scheduling and logistics”

Education and Certification

Although there are no standard educational requirements to get into the public relations field, employers prefer to hire job candidates who have graduated from college with a bachelor’s degree. Many who enter this field have majored in public relations, marketing, journalism, communication, and advertising. Employers also want potential employees to have work experience which can come from doing an internship.

What Soft Skills Do PR Specialists Need?

Those who want to work as public relations specialists should have these soft skills, which are attributes one is either born with or gains through life experience:

Verbal Communication: Your job requires you to be able to convey information effectively to the public, media, and other members of your organization.

Listening: You will also have to listen carefully so that you can understand what others are telling you and respond appropriately.

Writing: Since writing press releases is a regular part of most PR specialists’ job, excellent writing skills are essential.

Interpersonal: Your dealings with the media and public requires the ability to get along well with others. You must be persuasive and able to negotiate. In addition, as a PR specialist you will have to coordinate your actions with the actions of others, including your colleagues.

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Climbing the Ladder

You will begin your career maintaining files about your employers’ activities, fielding inquiries from the press and public, and helping to organize press conferences and other events. As you gain experience, you will begin to write press releases and speeches, and coordinate programs. Working in a small firm will provide a greater variety of experience than a job in a large firm will and you may begin having more responsibilities sooner.

As you become a more experienced public relations specialist, your employer may promote you to a supervisory position or you may qualify for one at another firm. Job titles at that level include account executive, senior account executive, account manager, and vice president.

What Will Employers Expect From You?

What qualities, in addition to experience, education, and the aforementioned soft skills, do employers want when they hire employees? Here are some requirements from actual job announcements found on Indeed.com:

“Expected to be innovative and current with emerging trends in the communication field especially social media and to participate/contribute on integrated teams”

“To perform this job successfully, an individual must have advanced working knowledge of the Internet, including utilizing the web to perform research and collect data”

“Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language, including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition and grammar, and AP Style”

“Exceptional public speaking skills are required, as well as the ability to conduct effective public presentations”

“Must be flexible in work schedule to accommodate occasional evening or weekend media requests, meetings and periodic travel”

“Must be current and knowledgeable about best practices in traditional, digital and other media with a willingness to continue learning as the industry evolves”

By Dawn Rosenberg McKay (https://www.thebalance.com/public-relations- specialist-career-information-524873)

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5 DIY Public Relations Projects

Public Relations can be a scary thing to take on if you’ve never done any. Whether you are an experienced PR pro, or if you’ve just begun getting your feet wet, these following tips can help you do public relations yourself, instead of hiring a PR firm/agency.

1.) Spread the word. You’ll need help from others, especially in the online world. You need to position yourself as a credible resource for information as well as an industry professional who knows what they’re talking about. Being personable and ‘real’ can greatly attribute to the success of your PR efforts. The word can be spread with a press release, commenting on forums, getting involved offline, and/or having a website.

2.) Start a blog. (Another way to spread the word.) The stigma that blogs carried a few years ago is slowly dissipating. Blogs used to be places where teenagers could rant and rave about their daily tragedies. No longer! Blogs are essentially a website that allows for creative writing and a more personal touch to the information being written. A blog can open doors, inviting consumers to come in and get to know you. The great thing about blogs is that they are easy to manage and personalize. With websites teeming with templates, you can create a blog that really relays who you are (or who you think you are), and there is little to no maintenance needed. You don’t have to be a whiz at HTML or CSS, unless you want something even more personalized. Some companies have started blogs, and made that their only website. Other bloggers or professionals online can even pick up your blog, spreading what you have to say around the Internet.

3.) Start a Podcast / Videocast. What a great way to reach readers (now listeners and viewers)! A podcast is simply an audio file you record with any information you wish to share with others, while a videocast is a video file. These two forms of media have evolved from the combination of radio,

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television, and the Internet. If you get a lot of emails with questions regarding your expertise, why not make a podcast, reading some of these emails and answering them? It is a quick way to reach thousands of listeners, providing information that may be of use. For some information on how to create your own podcast, visit About’s how-to.

4.) Read. This will keep you up-to-date. Read other blogs, read news, read anything! (Well, ok, not anything.) Read blogs in your industry, in related industries, and blogs on current events. This will help fuel topics for your own blog, and it can also give you a good place to comment, leaving a link to your blog, and getting involved in the online community.

5.) Offer more. This doesn’t mean you have to go over the top, and at times, it doesn’t even mean you have to do anything beyond your normal tasks. By offering more, your brand and company will carry a more significant meaning in the mind of the consumers, and mind space is the end goal, after all. Ways to offer more:

Make your site educational. You don’t have to sell your product all the time. If you offer educational resources to visitors, they may see you as a reliable source, and visit time and time again.

Make your site interactive. As consumers, we love choice. If there are links to click, places to move around to, and places to voice opinions, your site could become a hit.

Price competitively. And, on top of that, offer a product that you’ve worked hard on. Make a product better before launching another.

These are just a few of the numerous things you can do for yourself. PR online is different than offline PR, so know that you have to do some creative things to get results.

by Ashley Wirthlin (http://saigon.titocovn.com/sites/default/files/Files/ 2013/06/w5/PublicRelationsBook_0.pdf)

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Perks of Being a Public Relations Intern

Ah, the bottom of the totem pole: where everyone has to start. Working in a fast-paced, buzzing office with professionals to your left and right who know the industry inside and out is exciting and very intimidating all at the same time. However, at BIGfish, being the intern in the office definitely has its perks and is an incredibly meaningful opportunity.

A Clean Slate

As an intern, you enter the position with a clean slate. You’re just getting your foot in the door and learning how the real PR world works – not just what you read about in your textbooks. You’ll learn that your writing is never going to be an “A” the first time around, even though you’ve pulled that off so many times in college. You’ll learn that collaborating with the team comes with an abundance of benefits, even though group work in school was a nightmare every time. Additionally, you’ll get to challenge your creativity in a way a classroom cannot in order to come up with something new and unique for your clients.

Exposure

During your time interning, you’re exposed to a number of things you thought only professionals did. Sure, in your college classes you were assigned to draft a pitch for an editor at a top-notch outlet, but it was just that – an assignment. To actually send it, and if you’re lucky, get a response, is incredibly exciting. Pitching media outlets such as The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Boston Globe, NBC or Mashable is one of the coolest feelings as an intern, and I’m sure that feeling never gets old.

When you’re the intern, you get to witness exactly how everything works, the ins and outs of the industry and all of the work that goes into something

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seemingly so simple. You get to see the inner workings of everything PR because you are the inner workings. Pitches, media lists, tracking coverage, reporting (really everything that makes up a PR campaign) is something you have a part in as an intern at BIGfish – how cool is that?!

Freedom

As the intern, you’re free. You’re free to make the wildest suggestions and ask as many questions as you want because you are not expected to know everything yet. In fact, it’s encouraged. Your supervisors value your “outside” perspective and new ideas, and they want you to learn as much as you possibly can.

As an intern, you also have control over how much you learn and what knowledge you leave with. Everything you work on will teach you something new, and it’s up to you to pay attention, stay motivated and apply those skills later. You can go through your work mindlessly just to get the job done, but then you will not have learned anything substantial. You have the control. Own it!

Network

As the intern in the office, you’re the newbie, the millennial, the one with a fresh perspective; they’re just as excited to have you there as you are to be there. An internship is one of the first places you can start building your professional network.

Here at BIGfish, we love our team lunches and Tapas Tuesdays and, yes, interns are invited too! It’s exciting to talk with and be around the people who are in the shoes you want to be in. Most importantly, if you’re interning at a place like BIGfish, you get to have fun (but that’s true for everyone in the office).

By Karoline Etter (http://bigfishpr.com/perks-of-being -a-public-relations-intern/)

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10 Public Relations Career Tips:

How to Get an Internship

Getting an internship can be an important part of any career’s beginning. It is a way to show future and prospective employers that you’re dedicated to working and dedicated to the industry you are interested in working in, and it can show that you are able to balance school, life, and work together well. An internship can be a great introduction to the business world and a great place to meet mentors. (I personally have met two wonderful mentors through internships who have in turn developed into friends that I can turn to for help on matters personal and professional.) You will also gain invaluable experience as a student where you can make mistakes and perhaps even learn from others’ mistakes.

There are a few ways to get yourself prepared and tips to finding an internship that is a fit for you and one that you are fit for. Some can include the following:

Create a personal marketing plan. This should involve some things that go into a normal business plan, like your own S.W.O.T. analysis where you can analyze your internal and external strengths and weaknesses. Here, you can set a budget for your job searches, really define what you want to do with your degree or for your career, and how to get there. This is a great place to set goals and map steps to achieving those goals.

Get business cards. These are great tools to use at networking events and job fairs, and they serve as a quicker, smaller version of your resume so that people can get in touch with you. (Carry your resume with you at these networking events too, but know that business cards are an effective way to get your name and contact information in the hands of professionals.) Print you business cards on a paper or matte material so that the professionals you meet

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