6 Ways To Discover A Great PR Client

When working at an agency, clients come and go. There are good clients, bad clients, mediocre clients, and there are great clients. At PRowl PR, we have been fortunate to have a history of retaining great clients. 

After working with PRowl PR for the past three years, I have noticed that there are certain traits that really make a great client stand out. I think this article from Maven Communications puts it best:

1. The client is open to exploring initiatives that they’ve never done before because...
2. The client trusts your expertise and respects your professional recommendations. 
3. The client is on board with adjusting the campaign to keep the results aligned with the business objectives of the company. 
4. The client pushes you to continually be innovative. 
5. The client’s campaigns are intellectually stimulating… 
6. And also intellectually demanding. 

Next time you are meeting with a potential new client, be sure to keep these six traits in mind and hopefully you will discover your next great PR client. 

Tips for Effective Client Monitoring

There is no greater feeling than finally landing the perfect placement for a client. After working hard, pitching, and drafting releases, seeing your clients name in print or on camera feels like the ultimate success. When working with lower profile clients, such as a startup company or a small business, you may find that you pitch to smaller publications. This can often make it harder to monitor your client's notable mentions. Here are a few tips to help you master client monitoring:

• Subscribe: If you know that you frequently pitch clients to certain small papers or magazines, it's a good idea to buy a subscription to those services. This will insure that you get the news first, delivered right to your doorstep. If you find your clients fall into certain niches such as culinary arts or music, having those subscriptions will also help you stay up-to-date on industry headlines.
• Search often: Make it a part of your morning routine to Google search your clients name or the name of a client's products. Look closely at what the top 10 or so results are, and of course make notes of any mentions you see so that you can present them to the client.
• Google Alerts: Google Alerts allows you to get the lastest on any term or topic delivered right to your inbox. Make an alert for your clients name, any products they have, or anything you've recently pitched the press about.
• Watch TV: If you've been pushing to get a client mentioned on a certain TV program, be sure to watch the show to see if your client gets a mention. Even if the show doesn't bring up your client, it's go to know what they are talking about so that you can pitch them more effectively later!
• Surf the hashtag: Hop onto Twitter and search your clients name or product as a hashtag. If people are talking about it in detail, take a screen shoot of the buzz! You may even find links to articles online that didn't show up in your google search, like the link to a small blog's post.

Monitoring for clients is just as important as pitching. Even if you aren't seeing the results you want, keeping a close eye on the progress you're making allows you to refocus on time, instead of just disappointing the client.

Have you had to do client monitoring at a job or internship? Did you use other methods to monitor clients? Let us know!

Jean Madeline Hosts Heart 2 Heart TODAY!

Stressing about this year’s Valentine’s Day look for tonight's date? Looking to freshen up your look to score a last-minute Valentine? No need to worry! Jean Madeline Aveda Institute has you covered.

Today only, now until 4 p.m., all Jean Madeline Institute campuses will be hosting the first Heart 2 Heart fundraiser. Jean Madeline Institute students will be offering a Valentine’s Makeover special, which includes red and pink makeup and a hairstyle of the customer’s choice for the entire day.

Guests can also enjoy complimentary heart-shaped donuts, donated by a local Philadelphia Dunkin' Donuts franchisee.

All proceeds will be donated to the American Heart Association. Students will be dressed in festive attire and show off trendy looks clients can use as inspiration for their own. Don’t wait until the last minute! Stop into your closest Jean Madeline location to look great and feel even greater after supporting such a worthy cause.

End of the Semester Recap

Yesterday was PRowl's last staff meeting of the semester. Although everyone will still be busy working on client projects over winter break, many projects are winding down and coming to an end. These past few months have been incredibly busy with the addition of two new clients and several new staff members.

In the beginning of the semester we signed returning contracts with TUTV, Temple's student-run television station and the Department of Strategic Communication as well as welcomed two new clients, Jean Madeline Salon and Institute and Visit Bucks. On these accounts, students had the opportunity to write strategic communications plans, pitch the media, develop a social media manual, host several successful events ranging from the StratComm Social to the upcoming event, No Nonsense Networking, and help create and produce new content for a TV station.

In addition to finishing old projects and starting new ones during yesterday's meeting, we also said goodbye to a graduating staff member, Shari DaCosta, who has been with the firm for over a year, working on several accounts. The staff wishes her the best of luck on her future endeavors and plans. The 2012-2013 firm director was also announced during yesterday's meeting and a big congratulations goes to Samantha Wanner, who has proven that hard work and dedication can pay off in a year's time.

Thank you to the current staff members, previous staff members, clients and our supporters for helping this firm grow into the success that it has become. Here's to a great fall semester and an even better one in the spring.

Building Your Brand Online

It is an entrepreneur's job to take a risk to put themselves out there in order to establish their own business or venture. In order to do so, they must make their presence known. In "10 Ways For Entrepreneurs To Build Brands Online", Benjamin Lang discusses how using the internet and its variety of resources has proven to be a useful tool in a time when social media is the premiere method in attracting clients. Below are a few of Lang's pointers:

• A Custom Short URL-If you often share links on social media sites like Twitter and Facebook, a custom short URL can be very useful in making your name known. Whenever your link is retweeted or shared, people will see your personal short URL and associate it with a certain brand, that is, your brand.
  
• Social Email Signatures-By making your preferred social media site part of your email signature, you will make it easier for the public to get a hold of you personally and learn more about your company.
  
• Guest Posting-By posting on other blogs, you will be able to tap into that blog's clientele and gain a more broad range of potential clients, as well as build relationships with blogs that can advertise your company in the future.
  
• Newsletters-This is a good way to gain followers. By sending out monthly newsletters filled with interesting topics and future plans, you will catch the eye of your readers, who will in turn forward your newsletter to their friends, thus providing you with a ever-expanding network.

Would you use these suggestions to build your brand? Do you have anything to add? Do you think the Internet is the best way to build a potential clientele?

To read the rest of Benjamin Lang's pointers, click here.

The importance of media training clients

The following blog post was written by '97 Temple Alum, Jason Mollica.

In public relations, we are taught that preparation is key for any crisis or situation that may need our attention. But, it is equally important on how we train our clients. One of the integral parts to keeping a client prepared is media training.

How your client looks and sounds on television or comes across in a newspaper story can go a long way to showing they are credible. I entered public relations after a long career in television and radio. Taking that experience, I've been able to assist clients in making sure they are well prepared for the media.

Television can make or break you and your client if they are not prepared. Here are five examples of what you can teach your clients.

Rehearse: Just like you would practice the piano before a concert, it's important to think over answers to possible questions from a reporter. Teach your client to review his talking points prior to any interviews.

Don't Fear the Camera/Microphone: That light on top of the camera isn't from an interrogator. It's there to help make you look better. Remember, most reporters don't want to make your clients look bad. They want the facts. There's nothing to be afraid of.

Be Concise: Don't give rambling answers. In television, soundbites run approximately 10-20 seconds. You need to get your message across in that amount of time. If you go longer, you risk having your message cut up.

New Media Awareness: Platforms like YouTube and blogs are very prevalent now. Newspapers use blogs to supplement their normal coverage. Some papers even turn their print reporters into new media journalists. Make certain your client is aware of any additional avenues a reporter may be using to tell a story.

Don't Want to Read It? DON'T SAY IT: This seems simple enough, but there are people who feel the need to tell a reporter more than necessary. If it's not something that needed to be revealed, damage control is necessary. Stick to the talking points!

Using these tips will not only assist your clients, they will also prove you are looking out for their well-being.

Jason Mollica is a 1997 graduate of Temple University's School of Communications and Theater. Since then, he has worked in television and radio in Philadelphia and New York City. Upon leaving the industry in 2005, he began a career in public relations and marketing. He is currently the public relations manager for Carr Marketing Communications in Amherst, N.Y. You can follow him on Twitter, @JasMollica and read his blog at http://oneguysjourney.wordpress.com

Don't Forget: TU Relay For Life Tonight!

Tonight almost 800 students will crowd the Pavillion at Temple University to walk for a cure and support the fight against cancer. As PRSSA guest blogger Alison Curran mentioned in her post "PRSSA and PRowl Walk for a Cure" earlier this week, Temple University's Relay For Life unites individual students and student organizations to walk laps with peers, cancer survivors and their supporters.

Here are a few important details to know about tonight:

• Online registration (click here) closes at NOON today, but you can register at the door between 6 and 8 p.m.
• The Opening Ceremonies start at 8 p.m.
• Doors close at 11 p.m. and no one else can enter the building (you of course will be allowed to exit without re-entrance though)
• Activities throughout the include 3v3 basketball tournaments, water pong, magic tricks, live bands, "Mr. Relay" and more!
• Closing Ceremonies start at 5 a.m. and the event will end soon after

Join PRSSA and PRowl tonight to support the fight against cancer at Temple and warm up for Relay For Life of South Philadelphia (a PRowl client) on Saturday, June 10!

TUTV Student Organization Filming Recap

Yesterday (March 3), PRowl Public Relations assisted client TUTV (Temple University Television) with an event to promote the March 16 launch of TempleTV.net, the channel's interactive online platform. One of our largest audiences for the launch campaign is current students on Philadelphia's main campus and abroad. When doing our research in the planning portion of the campaign, we found that Temple University has more than 300 registered student organizations on campus, with a total membership reach of 15,330 students.

In order to engage these students and get them excited for the website launch, PRowl planned a four-hour event where student organizations were invited to film a clip welcoming all visitors to TempleTV.net and introducing their organization to Temple's global community. On the upcoming March 16 launch day, these student organization "welcome" messages will rotate on the homepage. Every time a visitor enters the site, a new student organization will be there to greet them.

After a lot of e-mails and attending meetings to talk to student organizations, we got a great turnout of 58 organizations throughout the day. Students were invited to either share a message about what their organization does, or demonstrate their mission through a creative act. There was even more creativity than we expected! Singing, dancing, guitars, keyboards, flags, acting scripts, and other props appeared in the room throughout the day, and we were happy to have them!

Thank you to all Temple student organizations that stopped by. We look forward to sharing the messages we got yesterday with visitors who enter the site around the world on March 16!

Searching for New Clients

The new year is a great time to reorganize your business. At my job at a small public relations firm in Philadelphia, we are evaluating our current clients. Here are some tips to consider when evaluating whether to keep clients or not:

- Is the client missing payments?

- Are you doing more work than what is appropriate for your payments?

- Are there problems with communication between you and the client?

- Does the client have unrealistic expectations?

If the answer is yes to any of these questions, you may want to consider not continuing with the client in future. If you decide to terminate a client, you will need to replace it with a new client. How do you look for new clients to replace the previous ones?

- Read the local paper, especially the lifestyle sections. These sections may mention or profile new businesses that are opening or offering new services. These are perfect for new clients.

- Read local blogs and additional publications. The Philadelphia Business Journal highlights new businesses, for example. Blogs, like local papers, may list new businesses opening in the area.

- Explore your area. Simply walking around to see if anything new has opened is a simple way to locate opportunities for new clients.

There are many ways to look for new clients. These are just a few suggestions. Do you have a surefire way to find a new client? Share it with our readers!