[Author’s note: Paull’s latest post has stirred me into creating a series of metaphors of PR. This is the first of that series.]

I’ve been reading a lot of books by Jack Trout lately. Jack writes books on the marketing strategy of positioning, which is what our agency’s philosophy is based on. It’s a fascinating concept, and while I don’t agree with everything he says, Mr. Trout (and co-author Al Ries) wrote some incredible things. One of the things I don’t care for is that he tends to use the terms “publicity” and “PR” synonymously as if PR is nothing but publicity. Granted, many PR people only do publicity work, and many non-PR people only see the publicity side of PR work, but that’s certainly not all there is to it. Ask most PR professionals and they’ll surely agree with me. The ones who disagree are uneducated buffoons. What? Who wrote that? These prankish fingers.

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“Optimism doesn’t wait on facts. It deals with prospects. Pessimism is a waste of time.” Norman Cousins

Young PR pro’s - with this quote in mind, we’d like you to step forward and tell us all why you’re proud to be in PR.

Why Now?

Tony Bradley, President of Britain’s CIPR, tells us that Harold Burson (a bona fide legend of our profession) believes that now is the time to stand up for our profession. This view was preceded by our own Richard Bailey right here at Forward, a post which has since been gleefully supported by Stuart Bruce.

The PR industry cops a lot of flak, and there are many of us who are continually pushing for a ‘better’ PR. However - a lot of the criticism is unfounded, and there is always a need for optimism. While it makes sense to work to improve our weaknesses, every now and then we should acknowledge our strengths.

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I meant to write about this yesterday and missed my mark. (Eek!) But I still wanted to give our readers a heads-up to the BlogOrlando event this weekend. I’m personally bummed that I couldn’t attend, but my mom is visiting me in DC this weekend (and that also contributed to me being late in posting this — I need to get ON it!).

At any rate, Josh Hallett, who seems to be an expert (if not THE expert) on live-blogging conferences, has pulled together this first ever BlogOrlando. The event — which is officially an unconference — brought in a great list of attendees, mostly from Florida, but several from elsewhere in the U.S. I imagine many of the attendees will be writing about the event’s happenings at their own blogs, so check the list of who’s there.

You can also follow the event via the BlogOrlando site, which is naturally complete with a blog. Read away and enjoy!

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Leo Bottary of Hill & Knowlton recently covered a range of topics helpful to junior staffers. He closed the blog series on the topic of client presentations by providing some valuable senior perspective and pointers.

Unfortunately, Leo failed to mention perhaps the biggest and most important trend in presentations today. Differentiation. Or, as a few brilliant practitioners call it, presentation positioning.

Essentially all presentations are the same - person in front of a group, talking, PowerPointing, etc. To truly distinguish yourself in today’s cluttered world of presentations, there is only one option… talking Pirate.

Regardless of your level - junior staffer, senior staffer or an awkward tweener - you can all benefit from a quick refresher on the lost romance language of Pirate. Czech out my latest post over at Todd And - The Power To Connect for a quick brush-up on Pirate.

Technorati Tags: presentations, MKTG, differentiation, presentation positioning

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Shortly after I graduated and my internship had ended, I was without a job. This, as I am sure all who have been without a job will know, is particularly stressful. It is also something that most recent graduates will have to face—because really, will you have your dream job lined up after graduation?

One piece of advice that one of the senior level people at my internship gave me proved to be an excellent way of bringing structure into your job search and relieving some of the stress. This is what he told me:

People love to talk about themselves, so make a list of ten to fifteen people in the area in which you are interested that you want to see for a chat. Tell them you would love to hear from them how they managed their career; tell them you are new and would love to discuss the different career paths you are thinking about. This is much more effective than telling them you are looking for a job and you would like to discuss the possibilities in his or her organization, but basically, you are asking the same thing.

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As a “grey hair” in the PR industry, I’m often asked for advice on how to succeed in this chosen field of ours. What skills do I need? What tips can you offer?

I have found there a several simple things that an up-and-comer can do to really make a difference in their careers. These “rules” are based on 25 years experience in PR and marketing, and I might add, life in general.

1. Always be on time. Work, a lunch with a colleague, a call to an editor. Timeliness is a lost virtue. Fashionably late may seem chic and make you feel self-important. On the other hand, the person who has been waiting for you will find it rude and offensive, even if they don’t say it to your face. Are they really thinking, “if he’s late to a meeting, will he deliver the project on time?”

2. Deliver on your promises, and don’t over promise. This is a skill I’m still honing to this day. If you say you’ll get information to someone, do so. If you know up front it may be difficult to deliver what is requested, then talk to the person and set more realistic expectations. I would rather have someone tell me they can’t get something done than find out they couldn’t deliver right at the time I needed it.

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Yep, we’re adding another investor to our team! Forward is thrilled to announce the addition of Chuck Hester to our all-star roster of writers. Chuck will come on board as a contributing investor, and we look forward to learning from his perspective and his years of experience. (I’ve naturally included his bio below.)

Chuck Hester has over 25 years experience in public relations, marketing and branding, with stints as an in-house marketing director, public relations director for two agencies. Some of the clients Chuck has worked with include TEAC, Western Digital and the Department of Defense Technology Transfer Program.

Chuck is the Director of Public Relations for IntelliContact, an emarketing software company in Durham, NC, where he is in charge of all company public relations. He also teaches marketing and public relations for Duke University’s continuing education department and has taught at the University of Irvine, California.

An advocate of straight-forward, relationship-based public relations, Chuck has worked with all kinds of media, from national publications to local television stations. A recent transplant to North Carolina, he was a Southern California resident for over 27 years, graduating from the University of Southern California with a degree in Journalism and Communications.

Welcome, Chuck!

Technorati Tags: Forward, Forward Moving, pr, public relations, pr students

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Leo Bottary has just completed a ‘must read’ series of posts on client service- and in doing so has highlighted the dazzling learning opportunities the blogosphere provides for young PR pros.

The series focuses on advice for entry level professionals just learning how to deal with clients. This can be a difficult adjustment to make from Uni - instead of doing an assignment for a professor, you’re doing real work for real clients. It’s tough to know how you should act and there are few rules of engagement, you’ll learn most by observation.

Kami Huyse provides a review of the series at the Marcom Blog. Take a look at that, check out Leo’s wrap up post, and read the entire series. It’s truly invaluable information; Kami is right on when she says “This stuff is pure gold.”

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Editor’s note: If anybody thought we were kidding about companies Googling or checking online profiles of potential hires, here it is … straight from our own HR gal!

Internet communities have become extremely popular among college students.

Sites like Facebook.com and MySpace.com seem to be the perfect place for people to express themselves, keep in touch with friends, share thoughts, and post pictures of fun times. However, as a job seeker you should be very careful about what you are posting on your internet profiles. These sites are becoming a new tool for recruiters to truly get a glimpse of the person they are thinking of hiring. I am hearing more and more stories of how potential employers are turning to these online profiles for employment screening.

While MySpace has already received much publicity for its lackadaisical viewing restrictions, Facebook has traditionally been considered safe due to the site requiring a “.edu” email to have access and even then only granting viewing privilages to those in your network. However, recently Facebook has allowed companies to register under their own networks, making it all the more important to monitor your profile content and privacy settings.

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For Forward Podcast 10 Kevin Dugan guides us through the lifecycle of a media relations pitch.

Kevin is the Director of Marketing Communications for FRCH Design Worldwide and the author of Strategic Public Relations. He is also one half of the team behind the Bad Pitch Blog.

Kevin guides us through the stages of a pitch: preparation, making the pitch, follow up, setting up the interview, and the interview itself.

Pitching is an integral part of media relations and is often carried out by new PR practitioners. If you’re new to pitching, or you’ve never pitched before, this podcast will teach you best practice.

This interview is based on Kevin’s lifecycle of a media relations pitch, and you can download a useful Powerpoint file here. Kevin also suggests that the Bad Pitch Blog’s Ten Reporter Hacks post is useful reading for new practitioners.

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 Forward #10 - The Pitching Process with Kevin Dugan [32:02m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (734)

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