Press Release PR

The PR industry has taken a bit of a knock in recent years. Whether it’s bogus PR agencies who promise the earth and run off with a client’s money, or jobsworth PR professionals who think that they’re on an even par with God himself when it comes to their own importance, many businesses and individuals raise an eyebrow whenever PR is mentioned. Yet it doesn’t need to be this way…

When a PR campaign or account is run properly, it can be one of the most effective business tools that a company or business could ever have, at a reasonable cost as well. On top of that, the PR company or agency involved can make a name for themselves that will have long-lasting and positive effects – after all, get a great PR campaign right and you can pretty much write your own check for the next one. And still there are “PR professionals” out there that seem determined to undermine the good work that the rest of the industry puts in. Yet it’s all so easy to avoid, as I always say to both contemporaries and peers.

A few months ago, for example, I spoke at a seminar for Corporate Communication students at Seneca College in Toronto, Canada. One of the topics that I chose to speak about was the apathy that surrounded the PR industry, and what we as PR professionals could do to change it. My key points were that it isn’t brain surgery or rocket science – it’s simple, obvious facts, yet still they’re being missed or ignored. You want to be a good PR professional? Ask yourself the two following questions:

• Do you treat each client as your only one? It doesn’t matter if you’re a small boutique PR agency or a large public relations conglomerate – you wouldn’t be who you are and where you are without your clients. So treat them with the respect they deserve – listen to their suggestions; keep in touch with them regularly; resolve their issues; and offer their mailroom guy the same courtesy as you would their CEO.
  
• Are you approachable, or are you blasé? There are way too many PR people and companies that, for some reason known only too them, are so full of themselves that they feel they’re above anyone else. They won’t respond to media queries about their client’s news, or they feel that they are so important that they don’t need to follow up any press releases or promotional content – the news outlets should be coming to them and be grateful for an audience.

This is just insane – how do businesses with these ethics survive? Apart from the fact that there is absolutely no professionalism being shown, this is other companies’ futures that these types of “PR professionals” are playing with. A bad PR agency can bring down a client with a wrong word or news story (I’m not exaggerating here!), and yet they can move on while the client’s business is in tatters. And unfortunately this happens more than it should – no wonder the PR industry has such a negative view from the outside.

Make sure you aren’t part of this malaise – offer a great service to all your clients large and small; treat them as you’d want to be treated; and remember – their success will be your success.

Copyright © 2008 Press Release PR. If you wish to reprint this article, please list an author credit as “Danny Brown / Press Release PR” and link the credit to http://www.pressreleasepr.com