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Are you holding yourself back?

Nearly weekly, I hear of someone I know that has lost their job. Many in the same industry I work in. For me, it has forced me to take a good look at myself and reevaluate things I had once taken for granted. Am I working hard enough? Do I take it to the next level or am I just meeting the status quo? Am I doing what it takes to ensure I have a job tomorrow?

At first thought, the answer was, of course I am. But, as I have recently seen people close to me lose their jobs, I took a closer look and recognized the things I see as making or breaking my future.

• Recognizing and acknowledging my short comings- no one enjoys hearing about or seeing things you don’t excel at. But, when you put it into perspective, this is how you grow and become a better version of yourself. No one is perfect and as long as you walk around acting as though you are, you will never truly achieve your goals or know what you really are capable of. When you struggle with something, do it more, not less. How else can you polish your skills than to practice?

• Taking advantage of opportunities to enhance your skills- regardless if it is something you enjoy or not, don’t turn down opportunities to take on a challenge or participate in something out of your comfort zone. Taking initiative is not only a great way to show your boss you care, but a chance to better yourself and help you find things you may never have realized you were good at or had interest in.

• Communicating effectively- no one can read your mind and you can’t be angry at someone for not seeing your side if you don’t express it. You won’t get your way every time, but by expressing your feelings, you will be doing your part in a constructive way. No matter if it’s a personal or business relationship, communicating your position effectively is key.

• Maintaining objectivity- it is so easy to lose your ability to be objective when you lose sight of what you are trying to achieve. I have allowed my own objectivity to sway when my personal perspective clouded a business decision. It is such a hard thing to do, but necessary to grow and truly be fair to others who are affected by your decisions.

• Seeing value in others- don’t look at others’ success with resentment or jealousy. There are so many things we can learn from others if we allow ourselves to. Even if you don’t particularly like someone, they undoubtedly have a skill or a different perspective that can help you grow or enhance what you are working on. Take a step back and look at what they are contributing before you criticize what you think they arent doing.

At the end of the day, you have to ask yourself—what is it worth to you? Can you put aside petty issues and come together with your team to help your company get to the next level? Or are you satisfied with the status quo? Personally and professionally, some of the greatest things I have learned have been from the hardest times in my life. Ultimately, the best way I have found to help others is to strenghten your own skills and humble yourself first. Recognizing you don’t know everything and can stand to learn from those around you is a moment you know you are on the right track and quickly see things change around you for the better.

'PR' Stands for Public Relations

I was once in a meeting with some experienced marketing professionals creating a marketing plan. As part of the overall strategy they wanted to ensure that a ‘PR’ was used as part of the plan implementation. I sat there confused as over and over again they referenced writing a PR and sending a PR. Being the resident PR guy, I was completely stumped and knew I’d struggle to succeed with the objectives I was assigned unless I could get on the same page as my colleagues. Finally I said, “Why do you keep saying ‘a PR or the PR?’ Do you want me to create and then and send out our PR strategy?”

You know how a dog tilts its head to the side when it’s a little bit befuddled? Well, that is the same look I got from my friends that morning, only with slightly less drool.

One especially seasoned marketing pro who happened to be the manager of the project looked at me and said, “No, we’re talking about a press release.”

There it was! It was all clear to me then. When my colleagues referenced ‘PR’ they were talking about a press release and not public relations as a whole. Apparently they didn’t understand that public relations is crucial part of any good marketing strategy but instead thought it was just an announcement document.

Although the first letter of each word in press release is coincidentally P and R, ‘PR’ is far more than just press releases.

A press release is an essential tool to the public relations practitioner and his/her clients. It is probably still the most widely used tool to disseminate information to the media quickly and effectively. But public relations, like advertising, is more than just one tool and is another key way to communicate with potential consumers and mold public opinion. The tools of advertising are familiar, like the TV commercial, the radio spot, the print ad and the billboard but the tools of PR are just as, if not more important and are less familiar. Some of those tools include the press release, the case study, the media brief, social media strategy and media outreach.

The next time you reference a PR, please correct yourself to say ‘press release’ and save the acronym PR for when you are referencing public relations.

Strategic PR Gives Companies Amped Word-of-Mouth Advertising

A lot of folks say that the best way to advertise is by word-of-mouth. In certain cases this just might be true. My parents owned and operated a successful hamburger joint in Vernal, Utah for over 35 years without ever paying a cent for advertising. They were able to do this because they produced a great product and people in the community spread the word about where you could get the best tasting hamburgers in town. Their business thrived, on word-of-mouth advertising alone, for decades.

Sure, this works great if you are a small hamburger joint in Vernal, but what if your business exists in the realm of modern technology? Word-of-mouth is, more than likely, not going to work the best for you. Technology is a vast world where everything is happening at just under the speed of light. Good technology products and services are a dime a dozen. Focused, strategic PR is the only way that your company’s voice will be heard above all of the others. True, it differs from traditional word-of-mouth as it will cost your company some cash, but it carries tremendous validation and provides a lot of bang for your company’s buck.

Say your PR agency is able to secure you a briefing with, for example, The New York Times. In a way, this is word-of-mouth advertising on steroids. The New York Times is read by millions of people around the country each day. People put tremendous value into what the publication’s editors and writers think and say about products, services and the world in general. Your company will get more ROI out of a briefing with The New York Times than it ever will from traditional advertising methods.

When you feel that your company is at a place where it needs PR council in order to take it to the next level, make sure you pick an agency that adequately meets your company’s needs. Remember, they will be deciding the “mouths” that will spread your company’s “word.”

The Two-Year Mark...

It’s been almost two years since I jumped into the world of agency PR and joined the team at Snapp Conner and I’m happy to say that it’s been a great experience.

Making the transition from broadcasting to PR wasn’t too difficult since I was really just moving to the other side of the fence. Rather than receiving story ideas and pitches, I’m now the guy doing the sending and pitching and so on. However, it hasn’t always been easy.

Here are a few discoveries and thoughts I’ve had along the way, some may be obvious others may not be.

• Being pitched a story and trying to pitch a story are two very different things

• Just because you think your product/service/story is great doesn’t mean everyone else will

• It’s not enough to know everything about your client, you need to know about their competitors too

• Leaving a voicemail really doesn’t mean much

• There are several ways to write the same thing

I’m sure there are other things I’ve noticed and learned along the way, but these were the first to come to mind as I wrote this. It’s nice to be at a job where after 2 years you still feel like you are learning new things.