#prgrad

By Brittany Witter

I wanted to make this particular post extremely interactive. 

So let me ask you.. What do you think it takes to be a successful PR professional?

Do you need connections? Do you experience? Can a person that is an incredible write survive in PR with out any industry experience? 

What is the most powerful tool is a PR professional's bag of tricks? 

People have so many different opinions on what PR actually is, so there must also be endless opinions on what it takes to survive such a high paced industry.

In an article posted on Bulldog Reporter the topic of seasonal pitching was reviewed, using remarks from “PR university” panelists. Tying your event, announcement, or launch pitch with seasonal holidays has always helped the potential success of a pitch.  This article goes into greater detail on how to better utilize this time of the year when leveraging media coverage.

 Being mindful of post-event opportunities is an important aspect as well. Post holidays issues open the media up to the “follow up story” ie – children’s health the day after Halloween or the shopping season to come the day after Thanksgiving.  Even if your original pitch was timed to the holiday itself, with some creativity and awareness of the news cycle, those pitches can be re-purposed if not originally covered.

 Another interesting point was to tell the story you can’t tell until it’s over.  Offering a journalist or media outlet a “behind the scenes” view of an event or initiative can allow for unique coverage of how the event went as a whole, from setup to breakdown.  While pitching the event itself is the most active approach and should always be the main initiative, remembering the post-event story offers another opportunity for coverage.

By Colin Sullivan

An article on PR News examined Amazon’s recent press release for the newest generation of its Kindle.  Using social media to get out its messaging, the company sent out a series of 14 tweets, each highlighting new aspects of the recently launched device.  While it is accepted industry-wide that using social media can create a considerable amount of buzz for a launch, this approach has many PR practitioners scratching their heads.

While bringing your press releases and other news announcements to the public attention via social media may seem like an “ahead of the curve” move, reviewing the actually process leaves much to be desired as far as messaging is concerned.  Matthew Schwartz, group editor for PR News, suggests adding quotes from Amazon’s executives may give some atmosphere to the announcements.  While this step may enhance the tweet itself, I still find the suggestion falls short of what the public now expects from companies promoting a product.  Linking to internal webpages that further the conversation and expose more messaging regarding the exact content of each tweet may supply visitors with the level of follow up we expect in 2013.

In an industry like public relations we focus on building relationships everyday. We communicate, it’s want we do best, and it’s what we study and master in school. But at the end of the day what matters more in this industry, the stills you study or the relationships you build?

Personally I believe that one hand washes the other. You need to build relationships and obtain internships so people get to know who you are and what you are about. But you also need to make sure that you know how to build those relationships. The business is about connection, without a doubt! But you need to know how to present yourself and your company to make that very first connection, whether its and interview or a career fair.

Some may disagree and think its all about who you know and not your degrees, or vice versa.