Category Archives: Marketing/Communications
Public Relations and Law
Public relations is one of the most versatile majors you could have. Many students decide to go to work straight out of college to work in an array of industries. A common trend in terms of continuing education, however, is go to business school. However, public relations and law is one pair that could also be extremely beneficial.
- Understanding a code of ethics: public relations involves representing various people and companies, so understanding the rules and codes of ethics for the general industry and for your specific client is essential.
- Linking PR and corporate/communication law: you can learn to represent your client in more than one way; you can learn the boundaries that public relations has, and how to represent your company in the event that those boundaries are broken.
- Knowing what’s constant: having the basic knowledge of the law helps understand the foundations on which you can work in this industry that is constantly evolving.
- Becoming a lawyer with public relations expertise: Though you might view a law minor or degree as something that fortifies your public relations degree, you might discover that you enjoy the law aspect, and then you can use your public relations knowledge to enhance your law knowledge.
It doesn’t matter which way you look at it, public relations can be paired with almost any graduate degree. You can go into medicine, engineering, business, continue with communication, and even law. They’re all great graduate degrees to have under your belt, and can be great paths to further your public relations education in any way, shape, or form. Law, however, has a special connection. If you enjoy public speaking, research, and representing others, law might be something you want to consider.
Top 10 Do’s & Don’ts of Networking Etiquette
Networking is a topic that never fades, especially for PR industry. As a PR professional-to-be, you want to know how to behave well and make connections in job interviews, career fairs, networking events and any other networking opportunities. Here are the top 10 do’s and don’ts you should think about.
DO’S
- Research. Know the event’s topic, the attendees, the dress code, the location, and even the food situation. Get prepared for everything and plan your timing.
- Nametag. Wearing a nametag helps people remember your name, but be sure to place your nametag on the right side of your body.
- Firm Handshake. A firm handshake indicates your confidence. A good rule for a proper handshake is to make hands web-to-web. Remember, one to three handshakes is enough.
- Unique Introduction. See yourself as a brand. Prepare a “30 second commercial” to quick introduce yourself and express your goals. Tailor it to the event you’ll attend.
- Conversations. Spend more time listening. Give feedback that corresponds to the other person’s interests.
- Direct Eye Contact. Show your interest and sincerity by keeping an eye contact in the “eye-nose” triangle. Nobody enjoys being stared at.
- Natural Body Language. Relax and smile. What’s more, you’d better make your arms open, which means you’re open to the conversation and not in guard. A drink in your left hand help you manage it properly.
- Graceful Exit. When the conversation starts to ebb, you should realize it’s time to end it. Exit the conversation naturally and gracefully by “It’s been a great pleasure talking to you. May I have your business card?” People will appreciate your appropriate wrap-up.
- Exchange Business Card. To show respect, please accept people’s business cards with two hands. Look at it for a few seconds and offer a compliment about the design. And always be ready to present your business card, so you’d better prepare a handful with you.
- Follow Up. The real networking starts after the networking event. Now that you have the person’s business card, you can send a hand-written thank-you note to him or her and then an email to continue your conversations. Think about what you can do to maintain your relationships with people from a PR angel.
Knowing the do’s helps to avoid the don’ts. You will find it self-evident not to do the following DON’TS:
- Attend a networking event without knowing your goal.
- Talk more about yourself than listening and asking questions.
- Belittle the person’s company or work unconsciously.
- Look down at the floor instead of into the person’s eyes.
- Hold your arms tight in front of you.
- Jump into a conversation awkwardly.
- Keep talking without noticing the other person’s feeling.
- Ask for favors more than you can give back or without any appreciation.
- Fail to follow your promise to people.
- Contact them only when you need their help.
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Media Relations 101
One of the most important skills of a public relations professional is media relations. If you don’t know how to interact with the media, you are toast, finished. At the beginning of most entry-level jobs in public relations what you will be doing mainly is “pitching and placing” or calling various media outlets and pitching them your news story so as to hopefully get coverage in their publication. In order to be successful you need to know how to approach the journalist and how to tailor a good pitch to that specific journalist.
For my media relations course we were given an assignment to prepare us exactly for that type of situation. We had to call various journalists and ask them about such things as their work habits, what makes a good story, what they like and dislike about their job and what they like and dislike about working with PR practitioners.
These are important question because being a PR professional is a “people person’s” kind of job. You are developing working relationships with journalists, but they are not friendships. It is very important to remember that, however close you may think you are with a journalist. At the end of the day, it is their duty and job to report the news, regardless of whether or not it portrays your company or client in a negative light. The key to developing these relationships is to know how journalists work and what they need.
After interviewing various Boston-area journalists, my group members and I found these factors to hold true across the board:
- Know what is newsworthy. Don’t even think about calling a journalist before you are sure you have something that is worth covering. A good story will have at least one, if not several of these factors: prominence, interest, proximity, timeliness and consequence.
- Know who you are talking to. You cannot make the same pitch to every journalist. What publication do they write for? Are they a hard or soft news reporter? Are they a columnist? What kind of things do they normally cover? Where are they from? Does the news item resonate with this journalist in particular?
- Know their deadlines. Don’t call a journalist when they are close to their deadlines or you are sure to get chewed out on the phone. The only exception to this is if you have breaking news, even then, be prepared for some attitude.
- When you follow-up make sure you don’t end up sounding like a broken record of “Did you get my email?” Hunter PR, a consumer product public relations firm in New York City, made a satirical youtube video addressing this called “Stuff PR People Say.”
If you can make a journalist’s job as easy and streamlined as possible, and most importantly not waste their time, you will be well on your way to being a media relations pro and successful PR practitioner.
