There is no easy way to say this, so I am just going to come out and say it: public relations is complicated.
I’m a PR professional (and have been for a while now) and I have to say that what I do on a daily basis is far more complex and multi-leveled than the work PR professionals did 10 or 20 years ago. To illustrate this point, let’s take a look at what I do during the course of a single day in PR.
No doubt that a successful communications program makes us, and more importantly, our clients, happy. But keeping a client happy along the way – 
from the start of a project through potential bumps and bruises to completion – can be tough. The reality is that client service is about more than results and deliverables. It’s about open and honest communication, trust and value.
Having worked at a number of agencies, I’ve seen how other folks manage client relationships and know that Spectrum’s approach is something that sets us apart. It’s the reason our organic growth rate is as impressive as it is. We get business, we keep it and we grow it. And as our clients leave for new ventures, they take us along for the ride.
Without giving away the farm, here’s a look at what I see as the most important means to successful client relations above and beyond getting great results:
OK, I read AARP, The Magazine. I am older than 50, and have been reading it for a few years, let’s just leave it at that. (It took me nearly six months to get AARP to stop sending me junk mail life and auto insurance offers. Yes, anything’s possible, but that’s another blog.)
I normally wouldn’t publicly admit all this but for the fact that the current edition (April/May 2012) includes a story “The War On Cancer: More Americans Are Surviving. Here’s Why” that made my inner voice scream, “John, you know you can’t let this go without comment!”
Author Tom Slear sketches out a well-written review for the lay person, nimbly escorting the reader through years of cancer research progress, from President Nixon’s War on Cancer to targeted therapies available today. AARP and Mr. Slear seize on the latest revelations by a Virginia Commonwealth University researcher that more cancer survivors are living longer today and that nearly half die from causes other than cancer. The National Cancer Institute estimates more than 12 million cancer survivors today.
So what’s the problem?
Over five full pages, the author quotes prominent cancer researchers such as Richard Schilsky, MD, of the University of Chicago, with whom my firm Spectrum has worked in the past, and societies such as the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR, a long-time Spectrum client). Readers are made to perceive that it’s but a three-way partnership among academic cancer centers, medical societies and government money that brings the public breakthrough treatments such as Gleevec in 2001.
Mr. Slear credits Gleevec to research “that emanated” from the work of Dr. Brian Druker of the Oregon Health and Science University in Portland.
But Gleevec didn’t just appear thanks alone to academic researchers funded by the government. This practice-changing, life-saving compound was born in the labs of an industry reviled by many and badmouthed by more – pharmaceuticals.
On May 17 I will be joined by Spectrum’s longtime client and partner RESOLVE as we present at the PRSA Health Academy (#prsahealth) in Philadelphia. The presentation (“Media Integration: Reach Your Audiences on a Nonprofit Budget”) will discuss RESOLVE’s partnership with Spectrum to plan, launch and manage a successful social media program on a non-profit budget. We are talking a true shoe-string budget, one we had to stick to.
For those of you attending the PRSA Health Academy this year, I highly recommend joining this discussion (plus, I don’t want to speak to an empty room…). But for those of you who can’t make it, I thought I would provide a few pearls of wisdom to guide you if you’ve found yourself in the challenging position of managing a social media program on a tight budget.
In my (almost) seven years of working at Spectrum, I’ve spent three years as a remote employee. To be honest, I didn’t know how long this remote gig would last, but I’ve fallen into my routine and I’ve really made it work. While it’s true, remote working isn’t for everyone, I have found that I’m less distracted, more productive and deliver a higher quality of work in my home office then when I’m in DC for my monthly visit.
It turns out that I’m not the exception. In today’s world, more and more companies are instituting remote working policies because they’ve found it fosters work/life balance of employees and also increases the overall productivity of the company. In fact, a Microsoft Telework survey found that 60 percent of respondents said they are actually more productive and efficient when working remotely because less time is spent commuting and there are fewer cubicle “drive bys” causing distractions.
There are many stereotypes of remote workers–we’re introverts, socially awkward, don’t own any real clothes besides pajamas–and most of these are not true. But I do have to come clean on this beautiful March Madness Friday and confess that I occasionally:
Some say the Irish are lucky. Others insist their “luck” is simply an ironic affront.
So what about the luck of the public relations professional? In celebration of St. Patrick’s Day, we’re taking a look at how much luck has to do with media relations. After scoring a big hit, sometimes I can’t help but wonder if it was just my lucky day. I have to remind myself that a great deal of strategy, timing and thought went into the carefully crafted pitch email that sparked the reporter’s interest.
Personally, I think it’s a little of both. Kind of like a game of Monopoly – you need to have the strategy and skill to win, but a lucky roll of the dice can certainly do the trick. Here’s my take on the luck vs. skill debate, through what I’m calling the four “I’s” of media relations:
