Core Values: More than just words

The core values of Eisbrenner PR have intrigued me since I visited the office last year with Wayne State University’s PRSSA Chapter. I used to think the term core values was a “pie in the sky” idea – a goal companies pushed for, but didn’t ever achieve. I thought it was strange when the president, Tom Eisbrenner, talked about being the Disney of PR. The office was definitely fun, but needed some work if it was going to be a theme park.

After some explanation, it started to make sense – they wanted to exceed client expectations and have a blast doing it. At the time I wasn’t sure it was possible. Now, I have no doubt.

I thought I’d share the core values that make this place tick, and the reason why clients stop by the office just to hang out and chat:

1. Individual curiosity spurs innovation ­- ask questions and learn something new. In fact, be so curious you help others learn something, too.
2. Emphasize the positive in everything - look at everything as an opportunity to change and make a difference. Yes, things happen we don’t like, but thinking positively will drive you to success.
3. Be motivated to discover what’s next - Celebrate success, but don’t be so caught up you forget there’s more right around the corner.
4. Treat the world with respect - respect others, respect the environment and respect yourself. Think the golden rule on this one.
5. Work hard and have fun - put in your best effort everyday and enjoy it. Sometimes you’ll need a rubber band gun or Kooshball fight to break up the day, but that’s what it’s all about, right?

There they are, the driving forces behind client work, the Facebook page, this blog and everything else at Eisbrenner PR.

And, if you thought I was kidding about the fun, check out what happened on April fool’s in 2009, I can’t wait to see what they have up their sleeves for this year!

Questioning your way through the learning curve

One of my biggest fears about working in public relations was not knowing how to do everything I’d be asked to do. I heard there was a large learning curve between graduation and entering the professional world, and I was nervous I wouldn’t be able to adjust.

I’ve truly appreciated Eisbrenner PR’s encouragement to ask questions and learn. In fact, I was provided basic questions to ask for every project, which helped eliminate my nervousness and fear of the curve.

I thought I’d share the questions with you, so when you’re interning or taking your first steps as a professional, you can overcome your fear, too. Here are three questions you can ask for each project.

What is the purpose of the project?

Understanding the purpose of the project will help you better meet your client’s expectations, allowing you to critically think about the strategy and approach of the assignment. The purpose helps you define the audience, medium, style and formatting. A 300-word newsletter article for employees will be much different from a 300-word press release for a major news publication, and knowing that from the beginning will keep you from spending time making changes you could’ve avoided.

How long should this project take?

I’ve talked about tracking time before, so I won’t cover it again, but being aware of budget and time will keep you on track. Knowing how long a project should take helps organize your schedule by blocking out enough time to complete longer projects, or completing shorter projects first to make sure you meet your deadlines.

When is this project due?

At Eisbrenner PR, you work on a variety of teams - each may have you working on several projects. Due dates help you know the teams expectations, and provide a way to prioritize your work.

Sometimes asking questions can cause anxiety, but they’re imperative to making sure your work is done right. You won’t overcome the learning curve without asking questions. So, go ahead, ask me anything, I love to share what I’m learning.

Agency: Is this the life?

I recently asked a friend majoring in public relations what she wanted to do after graduation. During our discussion, I found she was confident of one thing - she didn’t want to work for an agency.

When I first started my PR classes, I didn’t want to work for an agency either. I talked about getting a job in corporate PR for a large financial firm; however, the last few months at Eisbrenner PR have completely changed my perspective. Yes, I’ve heard horror stories, as I’m sure you have, but when put into perspective agency life isn’t terrible.

Here are my thoughts on the top three frustrations I’ve heard from students about working in a PR agency:

I don’t want to log my time. In college, I was perplexed about where all of my time went - tracking my time has made me aware of where I spend it, and how I can become more efficient. It has already helped me eliminate procrastination and improve my organizational skills. Admittedly, keeping track of every moment of your day is not exciting, but just think of all the time you’re saving for dance parties and koosh ball fights.

I can’t handle working for more than one client. I didn’t think I’d like working for multiple clients, and honestly, I wasn’t sure I could handle it. This internship has made me realize how many “clients” I’d already been managing in my life. I had to manage a job, four to five classes, two student organizations, church, friends, family and countless other responsibilities. So, when you think about it, agency life really isn’t much different than the balancing act you pull off in college.

I don’t want to work long hours. If you ask any PR professional about their schedule, they will tell you it’s anything but regular. Agencies, like other PR jobs, often require working a few extra hours, but the rewards are definitely satisfying. There’s something about seeing a published article, hosting a successful event or receiving an enthusiastic thank you from the client that makes a late Friday night worth it.

What are your anxieties about working at a PR agency? Has a recent experience changed your perspective?

2010 Intern Resolutions

The potato head and I’ve made it through 2009, and we’re excited for 2010. Over the last several months we improved our skills, but realize we still have room to grow.

Check out a few resolutions we’ve made for 2010.




Time is money

If you’ve ever worked at an agency for even a short period of time, you know keeping record of your time is vital. Every 15 minutes is documented to ensure efficiency and proper billing. Writing down where I spent my time in 2009 helped me realize how inefficient I can be. In 2010, I’d like to improve my time management skills, both personally and professionally. I plan to accomplish this through looking back to see where I spent the most time, and trying to think of ways that I can speed up the process, while still doing my best work.

Follow up and follow through

My parents used to tell me not to start something I couldn’t finish. This childhood lesson carries over into the professional world.

In 2009, I found myself passing on a finished project to the next person for review and crossing it off my list. I’d become frustrated because I didn’t hear back about how it went. So for 2010, I plan to track my work through the editing process. First, I’ll write the name of the project, then set a date for when it’s due. I’ll place a slash through it when it’s completed, and make it an x when I know it was delivered to the client. A few days later, I’ll check to be sure the client was satisfied, and finally cross it off my list.

This process may seem a bit tedious, but it’ll help me meet my deadlines and keep open lines of communication with my teams.

Speed is good, but accuracy is better

I wouldn’t say public relations is about rushing, but there are definitely times where it seems that way. Clients often request a project on the spur of the moment, which makes you write under pressure. What I learned in 2009 was just because they need it quickly, doesn’t mean you sacrifice quality.

I’ve found the projects I rush to finish only make their way back to my desk for extra editing, but if had I taken a little more time at the beginning to be accurate, it would’ve finished much more quickly. In 2010, I’m going to focus on becoming much more attentive to my work, this way I can save myself from looking foolish with a bunch of simple mistakes.

These are just a few things I’m focusing on this year. Can you think of anything I should add? What’s on your list of resolutions?

Part three: The PR elevator speech

What is an elevator speech?

The elevator speech is the idea that in the short time spent going from one floor to the next, a person can share the important highlights of their company, product or service.

Let’s practice by creating a public relations elevator speech.

As I look back at the last couple posts, and read discussions across the Web, there are a few key words that repeat: communicate; trust; relevancy; organizations; and publics.

When I put them together, I came up with this statement:

“Public relations communicates relevant information for organizations to build trust with the groups that are important to its success. This trust creates relationships that promote understanding between the company and those who interact with it.”

This statement is still a lot to swallow. I think adding clarifiers that fit the context of a conversation help it work more smoothly.

For example: “Public relations communicates information about new products and management changes, to build trust or confidence with a company’s investors, employees and customers that will promote understanding between these groups and the company’s decision makers.”

What do you think? I plan to try it over the holidays with family and friends. I’m hoping they might finally understand what I do.

Part Two: Who's on First, What's on Second

Definitions are easy, right? Wrong. As I stated in my previous posts, defining PR is not as simple as looking it up in the dictionary, or referring to the premier professional group, the Public Relations Society of America.

Merriam-Webster.com defines PR as “the business of inducing the public to have understanding for and goodwill toward a person, firm or institution,” while PRSA states “Public relations helps an organization and its publics adapt mutually to each other.”

Neither definition is very helpful, and could leave the reader completely clueless about PR’s practical application. So, to help us get our arms around these definitions, let’s ask a few of my favorite questions:

Who?

PR involves a variety of groups or “publics” including employees, vendors, customers, investors, the community, government officials and let’s not forget the media - this list isn’t comprehensive, but I think you get the idea.

What?

This is probably one of the hardest questions to answer. Clearly we all communicate, but when it comes to PR the bigger question is what is being communicated. PR informs audiences about the items of importance to them. It can help the publics understand a situation, product or service, and allows the company to learn what those publics are saying.

When?

Timeliness is next to godliness in PR. In order for information to reach the audience, it has to be delivered and received at the proper time - announcing new witch costumes for Halloween on Nov. 1 screams “bad timing.”

How?

There are a variety of traditional and nontraditional channels for sending and receiving messages. Traditional media, such as, television, radio and print, and social media, including social networks, blogs and wikis are just some of the tools PR uses to communicate. As technology evolves so does the way PR reaches people. PR has to adapt to ensure all audiences are being reached where they are most accessible.

Why?

This is my favorite question. Good communication makes for great relationships, and PR is all about relationships, whether it be building, maintaining or growing – relationships are the key.

Now that I’ve answered these important questions, I’d like to bring up one key factor that relates to every aspect of PR: relevancy. Whenever answering any of these questions, you have to consider if what you’re sending is relevant to who you’re sending it to, and if the method it’s sent by is the most appropriate avenue for the targeted public. Failure to communicate in a relevant manner, will almost always guarantee a failure to build relationships.

Writers have spent countless pages explaining what I’ve outlined above. Understanding the who, what, when, how and why of PR is vital to creating a clear and concise elevator speech. In my next post, I will reveal what I’ve developed from working through this exercise. Is there something I’m missing? I’d appreciate your input, so we can have the best explanation possible.

Part One: The public relations elevator speech

Every student inevitably gets asked the question, “what do you plan to do with your degree,” which can be overwhelming to answer, especially for public relations students whose degree offers seemingly limitless opportunities. This versatile nature has made a single definition difficult, creating frustrations for students who are attempting to explain their degree.

As noted by the comments I received on my last post, family members are often the source of these frustrations. They understand what a doctor or accountant does, but they just can’t wrap their head around why anyone would choose PR. For example, a friend of mine received the following note from her grandpa after graduation:

Although this letter is funny, it’s a perfect example of the dilemma that we face. I think if we work together we can answer this question without compromising the integrity of our profession.

Let’s start by talking about what PR is not.

PR is not advertising. While PR and advertising can be equally creative fields, they serve completely different roles. The way I see it, advertising buys to sell. They purchase time and placement to create repetitious visibility to directly result in sales. PR receives third party endorsements, which builds awareness and trust often indirectly impacting sales.

PR is not marketing. Many people assume PR and marketing are almost identical, most likely because of the word “promote.” Marketers work to promote a product or service and PR focuses on promoting the company. PR only promotes a product or service when it’s new, relevant or innovative, and will help to build the company’s image.

These definitions should help us to remove a few of the common misconceptions about PR. In my next post, I will discuss the key components of a public relations definition.
Are there other things that confuse your friends or family about PR? If so, what are they, and how do you distinguish the difference?

So, what is it PR students plan to do with their degree?

I can remember the first time someone asked me what people do in public relations. It felt like an eternity before I spoke. I fumbled my way through a definition that was barely understandable, and then quickly asked, “what do you plan to do with your degree?”

As a student at Wayne State, I didn’t have a firm grasp on what PR practitioners did. Like a high school athlete dreams of going pro, I was a college student focused on being the president’s speechwriter. I’m confident I wasn’t the only one with a misunderstanding of the PR profession. In fact, some of the most popular sessions at the Public Relations Student Society of America 2008 National Conference were on event planning and working with celebrities. This year’s conference has even added sessions in fashion and entertainment.

For some, telling a student that PR isn’t just event planning is like telling a child there is no Santa Claus. The same thing is happening today with social media. Students are hoping if they play with Facebook and Twitter long enough, they might become the director of new media of a large company.

I believe the problem with this perspective is it misses the point of public relations altogether. Speechwriting, new media and event planning are very important aspects of public relations, but they are only pieces to the puzzle. Everyday my understanding of what a PR practitioner does is challenged and reshaped, which is partially why I’ve had such trouble explaining public relations in an elevator speech.

One thing I’ve learned is whatever PR students plan to do with their degree; it has to be flexible enough to include the changing environment of communication.

What was your first understanding of public relations? How has it changed?

In my next post, I will make an attempt at creating my public relations elevator speech.

The 3r’s of Resume Writing: Readability, Relevancy, Results

If you’re anything like me, your life is a whirlwind of random jobs, organizations and projects. You’ve collected enough trophies, ribbons and certificates to cover your bedroom walls and you feel like the only thing between you and an internship or job is a white piece of paper employers call a resume.

The problem I struggle with is narrowing the whirlwind of my life into a neat portrait of ideas. While preparing to apply for Eisbrenner, I compiled a list of questions to ask myself to make sure my resume is clean, concise and impressive. Here are a few of the questions I developed.


Is it relevant?

Relevancy is as important to your resume as it is a press release. My resume was filled with items from high school and early college that were dead weight, including jobs that weren’t relevant to public relations. They didn’t hurt me, but they certainly weren’t helping either.

Is it easy to read?

Visual appeal speaks volumes. Headings, bullet points and proper tabbing help to make reading your resume much easier. I broke my resume down by experience, professional development, honors/awards and education, and used bullet points to list skills and accomplishments.

Is it adapted to the audience?

Public relations has a lot to do with understanding your audience, and so should your resume. Do some research and get to know the company and person to whom you’re applying. Eisbrenner had a list of resume and interview tips I received on an agency visit that I used to tailor my resume and prepare for the interview.

Is it results driven?

This was one of the hardest questions to answer. I provided numbers where it was possible, and made sure to use verbs to describe my responsibilities. At first I wanted everything to have a number, but eventually I realized quality is just as important as quantity. Sometimes it’s not about the number of press releases you have written, but the news article or interview that came as a result.

What are you doing to have the perfect resume? I’d love to hear about it in the comments below.

Staying competitive in the job market

The public relations industry has always been competitive, but it may be now more than ever. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, “[the] employment of public relations specialists is expected to grow by 18 percent from 2006 to 2016, faster than average for all occupations.”

Don’t let this statistic fool you! The report followed up by saying “keen competition likely will continue for entry-level public relations jobs, as the number of qualified applicants is expected to exceed the number of job openings.”

What does this mean for students and recent college graduates? Two words: get busy!

Here are few things I focused on that I feel have helped me stay competitive:

Lead - Employers are looking for more than just four years in a college classroom. Start leading in campus and community organizations. I served as president of Wayne State University’s PRSSA Chapter, and I gained experience I couldn’t have received anywhere else. I learned how to manage projects, hold meetings and build relationships.

Write - You’ve heard this over and over again, but writing is the absolute, most important skill to have for your career. To gain experience, I wrote for our PRSSA newsletter, guest posted on blogs, drafted press releases for local companies and wrote essays for scholarships. Each of these different writing styles have helped me improve my writing.

Read - You may be thinking you have enough to read with your textbooks, but it’s important to spend time reading outside the classroom. A broad reading list has helped me to stay on top of changes in the world and the industry. I like reading the New York Times, Detroit News, Detroit Free Press, Mashable, CNET and PRWeek. And, when I have extra time I add in a book, like The New Rules of Marketing and PR.

Build Relationships - Ever heard the phrase “it’s not what you know, but it’s who you know?” This is partially true. The relationships I’ve built with past employers, classmates and professors have proved extremely beneficial. I continue to build relationships by attending tweetups, conferences and PRSA Detroit events.

Nothing about getting an internship or job is scientific or fool proof, but you have to work hard if you want to be the best candidate. What things are you doing to stay competitive?