Keeping Up with the Trends

Let’s face it. If you’re in PR, you probably have an interest of what’s hot and what’s not in every industry. Fashion, food and beverage, beauty, tourism, event planning—you name it, it’s got a trend. And in PR, it’s our job to know what these trends are for our clients. Luckily for us, we have so many resources to research the latest trends that it makes it easy to find what we’re looking for. In fact, we have so much information at our fingertips that we have to weed out the info that’s irrelevant to our client.

Here are some tips you can use to make your research much easier:

• Know Your Competitors: If you are representing a chef who specializes in Southern cooking, don’t check out what chefs who specialize in Italian or French cooking are doing with their restaurants or cuisine—the more efficient search would be to see what Paula Deen is cookin’ up with some butter.
• PowerPoint is Your Friend After All: Instead of typing up extremely long reports, use PowerPoint to create organized slides of your findings. You can summarize your findings much easier in bullets, and then show examples with pictures. Make it a fun learning experience for your client as well as your staff.
• Split ‘Em Up: More often than not, there are many trends going on in your industry of research. Make sure to create categories for the trends that differ from one another and add anything that goes with the trend. For example, there is a “glamour” trend going on in fashion next spring, and it would be important to add the accessories that go with that trend to the report.
• Learn by Doing: Now that you know the basics, exercise what you know! Trends are all around you, and they’re just waiting to be discovered and acted out.

This guest blog was written by PRowl Public Relations staff member, Ashley Kraynak.

"Wow 'Em in a Week"

It's not only important to take the necessary steps to get a job (for advice, read Melissa Marsili's post "So You're Graduating in May. What Now?"), but to take the steps once you've gotten the job to be successful. In an article by WetFeet, the editors outline a 6-day plan so you can "Wow 'em in a week." Here is a summary of each day:

Sunday (or, night before your first day):

• Pick out your outfit (during your interview you should either take note of what other people are wearing in the office, or just ask).
• Make a list by asking yourself a few questions: 1.) What are the top 3 things I hope to learn or accomplish? 2.) What is my role at the company? 3.) What are my most important projects?

Monday:

• Meet with your manager to make sure your notes from the night before match his/her expectations. What are some short term vs. long term projects you need to be working on? What are the deadlines for these projects? Are there any administrative documents to read before beginning your personal projects? This meeting is critical to making sure you're on the same page as your boss.

Tuesday:

• Get organized. Create a system to keep track of tasks, projects, meetings, etc. Your company may use Microsoft's Outlook, which is a great way to manage e-mail and your calendar all in one place. Also, to-do lists might help you stay on track (I live and breathe by to-do lists, personally).

Wednesday:

• Pick out go-getters in the company that you can look up to as mentors. Schedule lunches with these coworkers so you can learn the ropes of the company. The most important part of each meeting is to get to know the person and build a lasting relationship built on trust and respect. By showing an interest in fellow employees, you are continually building your network.

Thursday:

• By now, make sure you have a general understanding of office procedures and administrative tasks. Consult your company's training manuals and check with coworkers.

Friday:

• Ask your manager if you can have a meeting to discuss your progress over your first week . By maintaining an open line of communication, you're showing your commitment to doing the best job you can. Make sure you get plenty of feedback so you can show how you have improved at your next evaluation meeting.

To read the full article, click here.

When is the best time to reach journalists?

This is a question with many answers, but is there even a 'best time'? Check out Jeremy Porter's article on the 'Best time' to reach journalists? Just try taking a better tack. Below are some points of advice Porter offers to avoid being hung up on:

• Is this a good time for you? For starters, always use common courtesy. This goes beyond your media calls. Sure, there are plenty of journalists that will say “no” just to get you off the phone, but most will give you a minute to two.

• Be prepared with an elevator pitch. An elevator pitch is typically used for describing “what you do” in the time it would take to go from one floor to the next in an elevator. In this instance, prepare an elevator pitch for what you’re calling them about. Think in terms of Twitter, where you only get 140 characters. Once the journalist gives you that minute, you should go right to your elevator speech. If they’re interested, keep talking. If not, proceed to the next bullet.

• What would make this pitch more interesting? Try to get some advice on the call that will help you with other pitches. If the journalist says “I never write about this type of story,” ask them who does. If they tell you, “I just wrote a story about that, and I won’t cover it again for a while,” ask them when a good time to follow up might be. If they’re just not that into you, move on to a different contact.

• What if you can’t find the number? Good salespeople know how to get around the gatekeeper. So do good PR people. Although most journalists prefer e-mail, I’ve had far more success with phone pitching – particularly when I don’t waste their time. If you can’t find a direct number for the journalist, call the main number and ask to be transferred. It may sound like common sense, but it works. If you get voicemail, leave a message with your elevator pitch.

• Repeat your name and number. Nothing annoys people more than having to listen your message over and over again to hear the phone number you rambled off. Speak slowly, and repeat your name and number. This could improve your chances of getting a call back.

• Consider social media. If you’ve got a great story, consider contacting the journalist through Twitter, LinkedIn or (on rare occasions) Facebook. Again, use your elevator. Ask when a good time to reach them would be and leave it at that. Social media is more casual. Keep it brief, cordial and professional.

• Confirm how they like to receive information, and when the best time to reach them is. Regardless of their interest in this pitch, you’ll want to know how they like to get stuff and what the best day and time would be to reach them. Forget what it says in your “pitch tips”; that information might be outdated. Once you know this, make sure the rest of your team has this information. The better your team is at working with the media, the easier it will be for all of you to find success.

• Maybe there is no “best time.” There are some journalists who prefer never to be contacted. For them, there is no best time. That also means anytime will do. Even difficult journalists work with PR people on stories. The trick is getting their attention and giving them something of value—something they are genuinely interested in. There are plenty of other posts on this blog that deal with that topic, so we’ll leave it there for now.

Perfect Pitching

Is there such a thing? Of course not, no one's perfect, but a pitch to a journalist must be very close to gain their attention. What, then, makes up a near perfect pitch? Lately, as a PR student getting my feet wet in this fickle field I've been wondering just that. Today, at a PR committee meeting of one of PRowl's new clients, pitching was discussed quite a bit. As I sat listening to the ideas of the seasoned PR professionals in the room I realized how vital a perfectly tailored pitch is.

I've learned today that the key to tailoring a pitch is to know exactly who it is that you're pitching and exactly the type of content that they write. Becoming a news junky is vital, especially in the region where you're working. You must be able to identify the journalists who work at news outlets relevant to your clients message. For example, if your client's target audience consists of corporate professionals then you must have a contact at the local business journal.

Knowing the names and interests of so many journalists may seem to be a daunting task, but luckily there is a quicker way to figure out what stories they are buzzing about. HARO, or Help A Reporter Out, is a website dedicated to matching journalists with the sources that they need to develop their story. A journalist can post an inquiry for more information about the story that they're working on and a PR person can pitch them in response. If that pitch is uniquely tailored to the journalists story it has much more of a chance to be used. Websites like HARO make effective pitching much easier. Happy pitching!

So You're Graduating in May. What Now?

After registering for my last semester of classes, I felt overwhelmed. The process was quick and painless (have no fear, OWLnet gets easier as time goes on) and I'm right on track for May 2010 graduation. I was overwhelmed with a feeling of "what do I do now?" though. No matter how much post-graduation advice I hear, it doesn't seem to make graduation seem any less daunting. However, buckling down and taking that advice will help me to make this huge transition into the work world less scary. Here is some of the advice I've been getting:

• Network, network, network. Talk to people everywhere you go. Many PR professionals have said that the jobs they have had in their careers have been acquired through someone they knew.
• Get business cards and carry them with you everywhere. You never know when someone may think of you for a project, internship, or even a job. Make sure they have a way to get in contact with you!
• Work on your writing constantly. I've heard countless times that good writing is what makes people stand out. It's a skill that has to be developed over time, so you must always be taking steps to improve it.
• Go on informational interviews. Even if a company isn't hiring, ask them if you can come in for an informational interview. This is a good way to network and practice your interviewing skills!
• Go to the Temple University Career Center. You can have your resume critiqued, sign up for a mock interview, look at job openings, and much more. Do it, it's free!
• Talk with your peers about how they are dealing with the job search process. Share tips, experiences, successes and failures. Learn from each other!

Does anyone have any more post-graduation advice? We'd love to hear it. It's a big world out there!

Matching a Name to a Face

It has often been said that public relations is all about who you know. For this reason, the importance of networking cannot be overstated in our industry.

After the subject was broached at a professor panel recently hosted by Temple PRSSA, I have decided to get personal business cards. Although this idea may sound strange at first because I am only a student and not a business professional, it actually makes perfect logical sense.

In fact, I have come to see that business cards can be an important tool for future success. After all, I've heard many times that, especially in the case of one's first job, jobs are often located through connections in one's business network. With this in mind and as a college junior, now is the time for me to make tangible connections with fellow public relations professionals and those involved in the industries in which I may one day want to work.

Simply meeting people is fine and good, but without a tool like a business card, how are the people you meet ever supposed to remember your name and contact information for further contact or partnership? It is difficult to build an effective network without a means for sustaining contact with new-found acquaintances.

Although it is very important to make a strong and lasting first impression while networking, in facilitating future contact, business cards are important vehicles by which professional relationships can be solidified.

Here is a link to one site where students can order affordable and personalized business cards. Check it out!

Re-branding in a Tough Economy

Is a burger the new golden ticket to make a restaurant stand out in today’s economy? Nation-wide chain, Denny’s, seems to think so. While normally only known for their senior citizen specials and breakfast menu, the company has decided to create a brand for the other meals served throughout the day. After traveling the country, the company’s chefs have claimed to have developed the “best of the best” in the burger world. Priced at a wallet-friendly $6.99 and coming in five different options, all served with fries, is it a meal America couldn’t love?

With a company as classic as Denny’s going through the process of branding, are other businesses feeling the pressure to redevelop their brand in today’s economy? All the evidence seems to point to yes, from runway designers developing subsidiary labels for lower price-point stores to restaurants changing their menus to be more wallet-friendly. The re-branding phenomenon helps reassure that in a tanking economy, public relations should not be the first department cut and that we really are needed more than most think.

This guest blog was written by PRowl Public Relations staff member, Tristin Fabro.