Working in a PR company has its challenges. Apart from having to always up to date with the latest media trends and stakeholder developments, you have to manage what I think is a very challenging career. So many things are involved in the career of a PR practitioner and I'll mention some of the few I've learnt to adapt in during my internship.
Relationship with the media. For example, one must always make sure that a relationship with the media is not one where you’re in touch only when you need publicity. One must develop a relationship with the media and this can be through different ideas like a weekly update on what your clients’ industry is going through. I’ve seen this at the PR firm where I’m interning – consultants are constantly making sure that they don’t pick up the phone only to find out whether the media will be attending an event. You need to always be in the mind of a journalist to make sure that your relationship is warm. You never know when you need to manage a crisis.
Time management. Another challenge of the PR consultant is how to manage a minimum number of clients. It always helps to make sure you have a clear idea what your tasks are for the day or the week. It’s easy to get caught up in the activities of one client and completely forget the other clients. For this, one of the consultants in the company keeps an open diary on their desk and makes sure that every appointment, ask or meeting is noted down. Deadlines are a very big challenge and one thing I’ve learnt is to always negotiate an internal deadline. Clients might want their work in two days so make sure that internally, you have agreed when you can realistically complete the work.
Research and reading. Most PR consultants here do a lot of reading on new trends in the industry as well as new media platforms. It could be the latest blog, newest magazine as well the latest celebrity. Never dismiss the value of new media opportunities. Some of the guys here get Google Alerts every morning in their inboxes about new websites, new YouTube videos and events. There’s also a lot of time spent on reading about the PR industry – learning from other companies helps a lot in making decisions that impact on your clients’ business. If there’s one thing people do around here, its read and they read a lot.
Think outside the box. There’s no formula on how you can come up with great ideas but it helps sometimes to just take part in what they call a brainstorm. This is where ideas are shared – they can be both good and bad ideas but everybody is expected to come up with something. I think one of the secrets to thinking outside the box is to combine ideas. The best inventions are actually combinations of things that already exist. The light bulb uses glass and electricity. So why not combine an existing media platform with an existing activity, e.g. have a cooking competition on a TV station for a company that produces cooking products. Sometimes, the best ideas are really the most basic ideas made to look very exciting!
I have to run off now, time management!
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