An end to the beginning

It’s hard to believe that not only my internship has come to an end but so has my time of studying, hopefully.  What an incredible journey it has been, over the past six years, I have studied architecture, quit university, come back to university and now, I’m finally about to graduate.  The last three years of studying Public Relations though has truly been the best, and reassures me that I have finally chosen the right career path. My 20-day internship has given me a valuable insight into the world of public relations and has given me the opportunity to build relationships and gain vital knowledge that has equip me for the rest of my career. During my time at PPR I was able to utilise and build upon the foundations taught at university.

During my time at PPR I learnt several key things that I can carry into the business world. Some of these things I already knew before starting, but working as an intern really highlighted these things. I would like to share with you and future interns to help improve their intern experience.

Ask Questions: I learnt very early on in my intern that the best way to get work or be invited to events is to show interest and ask questions. I realised by asking questions about colleague’s clients, work and upcoming events that they would realise my interest and quite often I was asked to help them out. This happened to me in the first week. With a background in architecture I was very interested in one of my colleagues clients, Finbar, who are Perth’s leading apartment developers. After showing my interest in this client I was invited to attend a meeting with Finbar’s Chief Operations Officer Ronald Chan and his marketing director. It was a fantastic experience to share my ideas for Finbar in this meeting, something that wouldn’t have been possible if I didn’t ask questions.

Meet your deadline: Completing a task before the deadline is a great way to show colleagues that you are a hard worker and are eager to learn.  Be sure though to fully fulfil the brief and to complete work to the best of your ability. After all you’re there to learn and improve your skills. It’s also important to show initiative and ask whether there is anything else you can follow up with, which will shape your colleagues opinion in regards to your work ethic.

Always say ‘yes’: This was definitely something I knew before hand, but saying ‘yes’ at PPR opened up so many doors and opportunities for me, and highlighted to me the importance of always being open to opportunities. Saying ‘yes’ allowed for me to attend various events, including the opening of a gymnasium where the premier was a guest, sit in on meetings, venture into the city to carry out tasks for colleagues, activations and attend media filming and interviews. It’s really amazing to see the opportunities you’re presented with when you just say ‘yes’. By doing so I have been able to use many of my PR skills including writing, interviewing, event planning, communicating and my ability to network.

Overall my experience at PPR was amazing and it taught me so much in regards to the PR industry. I was proud of myself for completing something that was so far out of my comfort zone at the beginning. Each day I was challenged in some way or anything, but this has only helped me face my fears and develop my skills and understanding of the PR world. I am so grateful for the opportunity I was given and I now feel ready to take a leap into the world of PR and start my career.

Good luck with your intern.

Georgia 

The snowball effect

Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, WordPress, Myspace, Flickr, Google+, and blogger are just a few examples of social media in today’s society. Social media has revolutionised the way we interact with our colleagues, family and friends.  Communication is key in PR so it’s no wonder that some of the top PR companies have adapted to sociological change.  Social media ensures that the brands message keeps circulating, creating brand exposure and grabbing the attention of key influencers within that circle. Essentially it’s a snowball affect in the form of tweets and re -tweets. The bigger the snowball, the bigger the snowman and the more people that are exposed to your brand.

During my intern I have been working with social media analysts, learning that different clients want different outcomes from using social media, what McDonalds uses social media for is very different to what Finbar use social media for.  This week I was asked to research food bloggers in Perth to invite them to a McWrap activation, A common trending topic it was interesting to see how certain bloggers target specific audiences and palate types, while other bloggers focusing on food types and targeting their content to a certain demographics.  The way you construct your tweets, when you publish it and what you #hashtag inevitably work together to gain likes, re-tweets and interest. This activity was juxtaposed to the next job I was asked to do which was to research blogs in the construction industry.  Although I had an understanding of this industry – due to my previous architecture degree – I was amazed when I came across ordinary mums and homeowner’s blogging about their recent renovations. I think that with the hype surrounding renovations shows such as Reno Rumble and The Block more people are inclined to blog about their experience too. This was juxtaposed to corporate companies who blogged in a more formal manner about construction updates, and design tips.  I found it really interesting to see how social media can be used communicate in different mediums, and once again reaffirmed to me the importance of PR and social media.

 Having an extensive knowledge of social media has helped me utilise this tool to promote campaign messages and communicate between stakeholders. I truly believe that this knowledge of social media and PR is thanks to PR Techniques and Media Relations specifically. I feel that there is a strong presence of social media at my placement, where they even have their own Instagram page where client updates, events and exciting news is posted. And like a snowball again, this gains attention through likes an follows, the snowball grows and becomes a snowman and without knowing it the organisations Instagram page has almost become a platform for promoting themselves as a organisations, where their key messages and qualities are conveyed.

I look forward to hearing about your experiences with social media. 

Thanks

Georgia 

:)

Building and Maintaining Relationships

‘Building and maintaining the relationship,’ it might seem to simply to some, yet the mechanics of it are quite diverse and complex, or so I have realised this week.

Strong business relationships with the client and their stakeholders are the key to success in PR, without them you have no clientele and no work. But like any relationship you must be willing to share, give and support not just take.

I have come to realise that the best way to build a relationship and maintain it is to develop more than a business relationship. I don’t mean this in a sense that you hang out on the weekend. I mean that you as the practitioner understand the client’s life and get to know them. Remember their passions, milestones- babies, illness, promotion- it may seem simple but it’s the little things that count.  

This will help you to understand what makes your client ‘tick’. I recently attended a meeting with one of Perth’s leading high-rise developers. It became evident to me that the client was very laid back and liked to listen and enjoyed us providing him with a list of suggestions for certain campaigns. He was not the sort of man to express what he wanted. This was refreshing and allowed for us to get creative with our ideas.

When building and maintaining a relationship with a client is it important to understand what medium to use, when its right to email, phone or attend a face to face meeting. I don’t think there is anything worse than building a relationship via email. I don’t think it sustainable and I think you become a face behind the screen and nothing else. Hence why I choose to phone over email in most circumstance. The minute you pick up the phone, you become a person, you have a personality, tone and emotion. During the week, my understanding that phoning was more beneficial then email really became evident when I had journalists getting back to me straight away and remembering my name and who I was when I called at a later date. I found that building this relationship gave me a ‘one up’ over other. So much that at the end of the week, one of my colleagues asked me to get some contact details for a journalists, who she was unable to get contact details for. I rather surprised myself when within 5 minutes I was able to fulfil her request. Saying this I think sometimes its beneficial to use email. For example when fact checking or asking a simple question. There is no need to bother your client with a phone call. Of course when the need is there, you get out of the office and go see your client face to face. One of my mentors visits his clients on a weekly basis, just to touch base.

Being seen is so important in building and maintaining this relationship and developing yourself as a respectable and trustworthy PR. This week alone I have attended multiple outings. I helped in the activation of the McWrap Patch, attended a opening and assisted in the filming for a cook off between Kymba from 94.5 and The Standard head chef Chase Weber. You never know what advantages showing your face might bring. In this case we got to eat this delicious dish that will be on the menu for Breast Cancer Care WA long table lunch.

It is important that we build and maintain these relationships with Grunig’s and Hunt’s PR Theories in mind. I believe that two-way communication is important in PR. Not only does it allow for a balanced and mutual understanding but it also allows for your message to be expressed.           

As an end thought I would like to leave you with a quote from Tony Robbins “To effectively communicate, we must realize that we are all different in the way we perceive the world and use this understanding as a guide to our communication with others."

 

Thanks

Georgia

 

 

 

Sifting Through the Rubbish

On a daily basis we are exposed to millions of adverts, stories and information about the world and ourselves via a range of mediums. I don’t think that it has been until now that I realise the effort and work put into constructing this information for the world to see. We almost become oblivious to it, like it’s apart of everyday life. We wake up and the paper is in your mailbox. You don’t think about the people who have created it, or those who has crafted their images and writing to suit their clients needs and wants. This is a very selective process, one which takes times and effort. During my first week I learnt about this process and the skills needed to ensure that work is crafted to the highest standard, in order to give the client the best possible chance of receiving coverage. Some might ask how? It’s simply, or rather complex. You learn to sift through the rubbish.

On my second day I was asked to write a press release for a client who is opening a new gymnasium. In order to do this the steps are as followed

1. Research about the client and the new gym.
2. Produce ‘word vomit’ as my mentor likes to say.
3. Now its time to refine your writing skills.
4. Repeat step 3 multiple times until you believe all the refining is done.
5. Produce press release to the client
6. Repeat step 3, again until given the ok.

Something I thought would be a quick process, soon turned into a process that consumed half of my day. You see in step 1 its all about sifting through the rubbish and realising what is the essence of your story. This process is very much a form of art, because this information will form your story and your title.

Step 2 has to be my favourite. Now you must regurgitate that information and vomit it up onto the page. Hopefully following a pyramid structure. When I look back on my first go at writing the press release for the gym opening, it was all over the place and some key elements of the story were being lost. This is where Step 3 came in.

Step 3 is where you start shaving away at parts of the apple so to speak. Removing bits from here and changing words from there. This is where writing really becomes an art form. You learn to hone your writing skills. And this does take time. I’ve learnt that only practice will make me a better writer and maybe this is why I’ve been asked everyday this week to write a media release for a client, after all writing is a core foundation to PR.

Step 4. Yes, this step can be monotonous and tedious at times, but its essential to ensure the best possible coverage. It can be the simplest of thing during this process that can make the world of difference, to whether your story gets coverage or not. For example the title “Harper Family to Open New Gymnasium at St. Fredrick's Grammar” is far less appeal than “WA Premier to Open New Gymnasium”. No ordinary citizen would know who the Harper family is, but EVERYONE knows who the WA Premier is. Instantly your story has newsworthiness and coverage. And you now have a happy client.

So for us as PR students I encourage you all to practice your ‘sifting through the rubbish’, your writing and your refining, after all it is these skills that along with appealing and captivate photos that engage people and hopefully bring your client coverage.  But for now, what do you guys think is the most important skill in PR?

Georgia