| |
| |
|
PR Information |
|
|
|
Can Newbies Avoid The Pitfalls?
Yes indeed! If you are a young person who has decided that a career in public relations will be your Caviar and Champagne in life, here are four situations in which you do not want to find yourself: 1. You confuse the basic function of public relations with sub-parts that make up the whole like publicity, crisis management or employee communications. 2. You feel unsure in approaching public relations problems, then uncertain about what counsel to give your employer/client. 3. As the years pass, you rely on career-long misconceptions about public relations but forge ahead anyway advising the employer/client ineffectively sometimes with damaging, if not dangerous counsel. 4. You realize too late that you have gone through your entire career without a firm grasp of what public relations is all about. Newcomers can avoid those pitfalls by grasping early-on The Rosetta Stone of public relations, i.e., a guide to understanding the discipline and its core strength. Namely, people act on their perception of the facts; those perceptions lead to certain behaviors; and something can be done about those perceptions and behaviors that lead to achieving an organization's objectives. Which is why, when public relations goes on to successfully create, change or reinforce that opinion by reaching, persuading and moving-to-desired-action those people whose behaviors affect the organization, it accomplishes its mission. NO organization - business, non-profit or public sector - can succeed today unless the behaviors of its most important audiences are in-sync with the organization's objectives. And that means public relations professionals must modify somebody's behavior if they are to help hit the employer/client's objective and earn a paycheck. All else are but means to that end. And here's one way to get there: -- identify the problem or challenge A bonus: you are using a near-perfect public relations performance measurement. I mean how can you measure the results of an activity more accurately than when you clearly achieve the goal you set at the beginning of that activity? You can't. It's pure success So, as a beginner, can you expect to avoid the four pitfalls listed above? Yes, and here's why: -- With proper preparation, you will not confuse action tactics with the basic mission of public relations because you will know precisely what each is and just what fits where in the public relations problem solving sequence. -- You will feel more confident about providing counsel to the employer/client because the public relations problem at hand can be clearly identified allowing you to select solutions that obviously fit into the action sequence outlined above. You will identify your target audiences because you will know exactly who your employer/client wants to reach, and the necessary action tactics will then be self-evident. -- You realize that you have gone through your entire career WITH a firm, successful grasp of what public relations is all about. Of course, on the way you will also nurture the relationships between your target audiences and your employer/client's business by burnishing the reputation of the organization, its service and products. You will do your best to persuade those target audiences to do what your employer/client wants them to do. And while seeking public understanding and acceptance of that employer/client, you'll insure that your joint activities not only comply with the law, but clearly serve the public interest. Then, you will pull out all tactical stops to actually move those individuals to action. And your employer/client will be pleased that you have brought matters along to this point. But when will that employer/client of yours be fully satisfied with the public relations results you have produced? Only when your "reach, persuade and move-to-desired-action efforts have produced that visible modification in the behaviors of those target audiences you, and they wish to influence. In my view, this is the fundamental premise of public relations, its central, strategic function and the basic context in which you must operate in your pursuit of a successful and satisfying public relations career. Please feel free to publish this article and resource box in your ezine, newsletter, offline publication or website. A copy would be appreciated at bobkelly@TNI.net. Robert A. Kelly © 2005. Bob Kelly counsels, writes and speaks to business, non-profit and association managers about using the fundamental premise of public relations to achieve their operating objectives. He has been DPR, Pepsi-Cola Co.; AGM-PR, Texaco Inc.; VP-PR, Olin Corp.; VP-PR, Newport News Shipbuilding & Drydock Co.; director of communications, U.S. Department of the Interior, and deputy assistant press secretary, The White House. He holds a bachelor of science degree from Columbia University, major in public relations. Visit: http://www.prcommentary.com; bobkelly@TNI.net
MORE RESOURCES:
Hey, Cleveland Browns: You've got mail! (And PR woes), writes ... - The Plain Dealer - cleveland.com
PR - Google News |
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
6 Essentials for Doing Your Own PR: Guest Author Today's issue of Lean Marketing Champions features tips on doing your own PR from one of our authors and PR goddess, Paula Gardner.1. Publicity: Show a Reporter You Care by Inviting Them to Fact-Check Just like a financial planning client fears not having enough money for retirement, reporters fear getting their facts wrong in print.Inaccuracy isn't tolerated in newspapers or magazines. 7 Tips to Get More Mileage Out of Your Online or Offline Publicity You worked hard to get a story on your business in a popularwebsite or your local paper. Don't let your efforts ends there --here are seven tips to help you maximize your online and offlinepublicity: 1) Reprint, Reprint, Reprint! A favorable article on your company or products is marketing gold- it implies that the publication or website has given itsendorsement. Publicizing Your Company Got a huge need for publicity and a tiny publicity budget? You don't need to have a Madison Avenue-sized advertising budget to make your name known. Here are five ideas to help you promote your company: 1. The Key to Great PR The Key to Great PR is PerseveranceBy Paula Gardner of Do Your Own PRI regularly seem to come across businesses that have pinned their hopes on one press release. They tell me how they sent it out with excitement in the pits of their stomachs and then felt the hard cold flop of disappointment when they didn't get an army of journalists on the phone the very next day. Photographs - Ten Tips For Getting Good Shots Photographs are essential for getting good publicity in the print media, especially magazines, newspapers, internal newsletters and even websites. Taking effective photographs often requires patience and practice but is a valuable skill to acquire. Levines Laws For Pitching With Panache Excerpted from "Selling Goodness- The Guerrilla PR Guide To Promoting Your Charity, Nonprofit Organization, Or Fund Raising Event"Whether you are making a pitch over the phone or in person, whether to a newspaper or magazine journalist or a reporter or producer in the electronic media, there are fundamental rules to follow. To some extent, they coincide with universal rules that apply to all human relations-courtesy, honesty, respect, integrity-but some of them are relatively unique to media relations, such as the advantage of having a topic that grabs by the collar and won't let go. Dont Expect to Bump Oprah From A Magazine Cover "I want a pony, a tree house and the fastest bike in the world.""I want the G. Not Getting the PR Results You Want? The reason might be this simple: as a business, non-profit or association manager, you're too focused on communi- cations tactics and not on a workable blueprint for dealing with those important outside audiences whose behaviors most affect your department, division or subsidiary.If this sounds familiar, the blueprint I refer to provides the tools required to persuade those key external stakeholders to your way of thinking. Publicity - Tips on Dealing With the Media You thought of it, you researched it, you wrote it. So you own your story. Marketing-Minded Financial Planners Piggyback on Topic A to Get Free Publicity That big story the media pursue each day is what I call Topic A. And even if it doesn't seem to have anything to do with financial planning, it often lead to huge media visibility for you. Get PR Off the Bench Something that results in your most important outside audiences doing what you need them to do should not be warming the bench.But that's exactly what's happening at organizations that allow their public relations people to play games with tactics like newsletters, press releases and brochures instead of aggressively pursuing the major benefits PR can provide. PR for Brand New Managers Just promoted to manager?Here's something you need to know.Whether you are now a business, non-profit or association manager, your road to success really means achieving your new managerial objectives by altering perceptions. Business - How to Build it Using the Media Have you ever noticed that when someone is interviewed on radio, television or in the newspapers about a particular subject, it tends to be the same people? You may even be saying - "Why don't they ever ask me?"Well the reason is - they don't know about you. If they did know that you were an expert on a particular subject, then there's a good chance you'll be asked from time to time. What to Do When the Reporter Calls: Five Tips for New (and not-so-new) Business Owners New business owners often miss out on publicity opportunities because they think it's a nuisance to talk to reporters. In fact, publicity can be far more valuable than advertising. Take the High Ground With Quality PR Quality public relations does something positive for business, non-profit and association managers about the behaviors of the key external "publics" that most affect their operations. In other words, it alters individual perception that leads to changed behaviors among their really important outside audiences. Media Training: Exposing Reporter Tricks -- Three Tactics Designed to Get You A reporter's job is to get the most accurate and interesting story he or she can. Whether journalists make you look good or bad in the process is inconsequential to them - their loyalty is to their story, and their goal is to elicit the most dramatic quotes possible from you. The Press Pack Is Chasing You - Give Them Room There's good news for public relations execs, marketing professionals and even one-man-band entrepreneurs: journalists are surfing your sites looking for news.It's true - while some PR people spend months trying to win over cynical reporters in order to wrangle a company profile or CEO interview (and get nowhere), an army of journalists are proactively hunting for facts, figures and interview candidates. How To Create A News Angle Think of a triangle. On the left, imagine the story you want to tell. A New Idea For Venture Capitalists Obviously, it hurts when a promising business project you backed financially goes down the tube.But while you point to many possible causes, seldom do you attribute the wreckage to a lack of effective communications that might have modified the behavior of sales prospects in a positive way, thus averting a money-losing shutdown.
|
| home | site map |
| © 2006 |
