…because you are meant to listen twice as much as you talk.” It’s a saying my fourth grade teacher would tell her class, and it’s always resonated with me.

But in the case of online communication, it seems like PR professionals have two eyes and 10 fingers, so we type five times more than we read. We seem to forget that online communication should have the same fundamentals as offline interaction.  And I’ve been guilty of talking (or typing) much more than listening (or reading).

I think “listen twice as much as you talk” has an application just about anywhere. Shouldn’t we aim to learn more about the people and happenings around us before we insist on putting in our two cents?

We challenge ourselves to take time each day to read national publications and blogs and also stay up to date on what’s going on in our clients’ industries. It’s not always easy, but it’s worth it to take time to read (or listen to), what other people have to say before we consider making a contribution.

PR is a communication-driven profession, and I’d love to hear others’ stories about finding the balance between talking and listening.

I really liked an article that I read the other day (in The Electrical Distributor magazine, August 2010 issue – sorry, couldn’t provide a link to it!).

It focuses on the importance of face-time in building relationships. While online tools can be helpful when working or keeping in touch with people who aren’t close to us geographically, it can be pretty easy to hide behind them, too.

I think the main points of the article can help us build relationships with the media, with our clients, as well as each other. They are:

* Deliver on promises
* Trust is the currency of a good relationship
* Entertainment (off the job activities) builds relationships

Liza and I always say that the relationships we create help us to do our jobs better, and I like to think that the above points are easy enough to carry out in our day-to-day activities. It all goes back into treating people how you would want to be treated.  What do you think?  What do you do to encourage face-to-face time in your profession?

Liza and I have a lot of experience interviewing together:

• When we worked as PR supervisors at Erwin-Penland, we interviewed a variety of potential candidates for the PR department.
• During new business opportunities, we are interviewed by decision makers so they can learn more about us, our background and how we work with others to get the job done (and vice versa).
• And in our first year at Full Circle Public Relations, we work closely to select new hires as we continue to ramp up our staff.

Well, we are at it again.  We are in the midst of hiring an account coordinator to join us and help us with day-to-day activities – media relations, writing, researching, etc. – for our clients.  And I was just telling Liza the other day how exciting it is to interview new candidates.  Not only do I love to meet young professionals and hear about their goals in pursuing a career, I love to share the vision we have at FCPR.  Among other things, we try to communicate the following:

• We are in growth mode and need proactive, motivated individuals who can join us during this exciting time.  Not many people get to experience and watch a new company grow during its first few years.  And while we don’t think this opportunity is a good fit for everyone, it can be a great learning experience for the right person.
• We run a tight ship.  We have heard that people actually say this about Liza and me – and we love it.  We have high expectations for ourselves and for our employees – and our clients also have high expectations for our team.  We are constantly challenging ourselves to give 100%, while producing outstanding results.  And we don’t cut corners to do this.
• Yes we are human, and we make mistakes – but if we do make a mistake we should treat every one as a learning experience.  From our mistakes we have learned to communicate with each other more effectively, give our clients better service and implement policies that can ensure we continue to grow as professionals (and people).
• Our culture is in our control.  When Liza and I were dreaming of merging our businesses last spring, we were very aware of creating a culture that is positive, supportive, enthusiastic and motivating.  So far I feel we have been successful in keeping true to our culture.  Bringing on a new team member is such a crucial decision.

We are excited about all our new hires.  They can help us grow and continue to provide stellar customer service for our existing and new clients.  And, alternatively, we feel that we can offer them professional development opportunities, invaluable experience and a supportive environment in which they can thrive.

What is your favorite part of an interview?  We’d love to know!

Hot topics that encourage magazine sales can help PR practitioners with proactive public relations outreach. How?  Knowing what readers want (and in turn what editors want) allows us to craft our pitches more effectively.  And serving as a resource to media outlets can help us effectively position our clients in front of the audiences they are trying to reach.

According to a recent Ad Age article, there are a few tried and true topics that can help to sell magazines.  Among them are: articles tackling the important issues of beach bodies (who has a great one and who doesn’t); the always popular “best of” installments; and updates on that which is the economic roller coaster.

As PR practitioners, we may not be able to offer up clients who can speak to who has the best beach body or how the economy affects international trading activities – but we can take this knowledge to use it for our own pitching purposes.  Whenever I do a Media Training 101 presentation, I like to show people which topics the media traditionally gravitates towards.

• Superlatives – first, most, biggest, best
• Information that ties into current events
• How a national trend/happening affects a local community
• New developments or breakthroughs
• How-to stories
• Unusual/unexpected events
• A story that offers compelling visuals (especially for TV)

And knowing this, we can counsel our clients on determining newsworthy topics.  What makes you pick up a magazine?  And how do you tie in what the media wants with your own outreach?

I was flipping through the latest issue of Forbes magazine, which just so happens to be its “The Celebrity 100” edition, where they rank celebrities based on a combination of income (solely from entertainment activities) and exposure.

At Full Circle PR, we are always challenging ourselves to provide a solid framework for measuring social media marketing activities for our clients.  For example, how does fostering dialog among online channels translate to audience engagement, thus creating loyal brand ambassadors?

I thought it would be interesting to share what data Forbes uses when rating the likes of Lady Gaga, Kobe Bryant and Taylor Swift:

The Celebrity 100:

• Earnings estimates for June 1, 2009 to June 1, 2010
• Social rank calculated using metrics, such as Facebook friends and fans, as well as Twitter followers
• Overall press mentions on Factiva
• The number of times a celebrity’s image appeared on the cover of 25 consumer magazines
• Web hits on Google Blog Search
• TV/radio mentions on LexisNexis

I think this information is a good reminder that in our own measurement activities, we can’t just rely on the number of eyeballs that see a particular message.  We also need to delve deeper and look at how a brand’s initiatives affects the company’s revenue stream, reaches new audience members and encourages behavioral change (like going to see a concert or purchasing a basketball jersey).  It’s certainly not going to be the same exact formula for every brand, but I think that as we continue this conversation, we will be able to share best practices among many experts in a variety of industries.

Have you found a great way to measure social media success?  We’d love to hear from you.

This is probably true in any industry, but the public relations category has its fair share of incredibly talented professionals, and then those who pose as professionals while not-so-quietly undermining everything that defines the business.

For brand managers who’ve worked with experienced PR firms before and know what success looks like, they know how to ask the right questions when interviewing a new agency to serve as their strategic advisor and partner.  They can vet out the PR pros from the snake oil salesmen and “spin doctors,” and find the right team to help drive their business forward.

Having had the good fortune to be part of these conversations with potential new clients (where some of the time the business has come our way and other times, we weren’t the right fit), I thought it would be a good idea to share some of the questions you should ask when hiring a PR firm.  If the group you’re interviewing doesn’t have adequate answers for you (or if you just have an uneasy feeling – run, don’t walk, in the other direction).  Your PR firm should be an extension of your team, working to help your story shine and connect you with your audience and fans — not a hindrance or drain on your resources.

What experience do you have in my industry? We’ve worked with businesses ranging from financial services to consumer goods to real estate and more.  While it’s not imperative a firm have prior experience in your industry, it certainly does help.  A good firm would be able to quickly get up to speed in a new industry.  But if you can find a firm that already has relationships in your business, it certainly helps get things started much more quickly.

Can I speak with your references? As with any new hire, you should check the references of a potential PR partner before you engage with them.  And don’t limit yourself to one or two client references.  A good PR firm should be able to provide you with journalists, bloggers, event coordinators and vendors to speak on their behalf about what it’s like to work with them.  Ask hard questions about how quickly the PR firm returned calls, stayed on budget, what were they like to work with?  The best skill sets in the world aren’t nearly as effective if you’re dealing with a difficult personality.

How do you measure results? PR measurement is still a hotly debated issue.  Be wary of any firm still using the “ad equivalent” model.  Rather, look for firms committed to establishing measurement goals at the outset of an engagement, and then ask them to show you examples of their work.  There’s no one singular way to measure PR efforts, but there ARE effective ways to show ROI in this area.  Just ask Katie Paine, the residing expert in this field.

How will you manage my account? Some firms will use a new business development team to sell you on their capabilities, and then once you’ve signed on with them, pass you along to the account team to manage your day-to-day activities.  It’s okay to ask to meet the folks who you’ll be working with on your account up front – in fact, you should make that a priority question to your short list of firm candidates.  This is your business – you want to make sure the people working on it to boost awareness are capable professionals.

What are your firm’s strengths? Public relations encompasses a wide range of capabilities: media relations, event planning, social media strategy and crisis communications to name a few.  Not all firms excel in all areas.  If you know you’re going to need more event planning than crisis work – best to look for a firm with experts in that area (again, see reference checking points above).  If you work in a highly litigious industry, then crisis communications folks would be the ones you want on speed dial.

These are just some questions that will help you make sure you’re getting the most bang for your PR buck.  Remember, effective public relations efforts are ones in which the brand and the PR firm work in close partnership to measure against stated business objectives – and that doesn’t happen overnight.  But done correctly, can make for some stellar ROI.

What other questions would you add in interviewing potential PR firms for your business?

Contrary to popular opinion, it’s not every day that a public relations professional is in FRONT of the camera.  Most times, we like to think of ourselves as behind the scene stage moms, coordinating media opportunities for our great clients so they can get their messages out to their audiences.

So it was kind of a fun surprise to have WYFF come out to Full Circle’s office and get Liza’s take on Nikki Haley’s new family, friendly ad campaign.

In times of scandal or crisis, it’s important to remember the fundamentals of crisis communication:

• Tell us what you know
• Tell it to us quickly (Don’t make us wait and speculate!)
• Tell us what you are going to do about it
• Tell us when it’s over
• And then move on

Liza’s right, when it comes to a salacious scandal people are always going to want to know more, but if you can quickly address the crisis, do something about it and get back to work, it almost becomes a point no longer worth debating.  People make mistakes and if you can admit to them quickly (and honestly), you can move on a lot quicker (and in a less painful fashion) than the alternative. (Think Tiger Woods!)

It’s hard to admit when you’ve done something wrong, but haven’t we all learned that fessing up is ultimately the best way to handle something like this?  What are your thoughts?  We’d love to hear some crisis communications case studies out there!

The Full Circle team has been helping with a lot of client events recently (see Kim’s recent post, It’s a Team Thing), and the topic has been popular at Social Media Club and PRSA meetings I’ve attended this week. Spring must be event season.

Regardless, working in the world of fast-paced, unpredictable event planning has been a learning lesson for me as a new member of the PR industry. Events are so much more than what is seen in the final product, and you would never know how many hours and people it takes to put it on if you weren’t behind the scenes watching its construction.

From both these meetings and recent personal experiences, I’ve learned that basic life lessons can really help the process of event planning and execution.

• Quality is always more important than quantity. No matter what aspect of event planning you’re considering, high attendance numbers (quantity) don’t mean anything, if the message doesn’t reach your target audience (quality).

• If you want attention, you have to be unique. Especially in recent times, you have to be different to make an impact. While you’re at it, offer something that engages your audience so you can learn something from them.

• We not me. It’s never about you or the brand, it’s about the community. Greenville is a great city in work, live and play in, and anything that brings this community together will be widely accepted.

We pride ourselves in our ability to plan great events, and it’s a refreshing aspect of PR practice, although I can’t say I’d choose it as my full time job. I highly commend anyone who is in the event planning business.

Do you have any great stories or advice from your experiences in event planning? If so, we’d love for you to share.

Since I consider myself a new public relations professional, I really enjoy finding articles and blog posts that speak to young minds in the business. Bad Pitch Blog’s post Get Real About Media Relations recently caught my attention.

I knew before I jumped into PR that the industry tends to have a bad reputation. As this post explains, this negative view is often a result of professionals having faulty or no instruction in media relations.

Luckily, I’m learning media relations from a few reliable sources, and the practice is coming rather naturally for me. It’s frustrating to think that PR has such a bad connotation when media relations – as this post puts it – is not an art or a science, but just plain and simple organized follow-up.

This explanation goes hand-in-hand with the answer I often give when someone asks me if PR is a difficult profession – it’s not difficult, it just requires time and common sense.

I’d love for PR to develop a better reputation over the next few decades that I plan on spending in the industry, and I think more effective use of media relations by practitioners could be a big first step.

As you know from our Careers page, we’re looking for that bright, shining star of an intern who can come to Full Circle PR and help us out with our projects, and learn a lot about public relations in the process.

I’ve been fortunate throughout my career to have the opportunity to work with some really stellar interns — students who you just knew were going to rock their jobs once they graduated.  I’ve also worked with some not-so-great interns, but well, that’s not what this post is about.

image courtesy of www.pursuitofflute.com/

As we’re sifting through the dozens of resumes we received already for our summer internship program, we’ve seen a shocking trend.  Of all of the resumes we’ve received so far, about 20 percent are completely error-free.

That means 80 percent have some form of typographical error, use grammar incorrectly or just show a general lack of attention to detail in the resume or cover letter.  80 PERCENT!

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you know the U.S. is still in the throes of a recession.  Internships are a great way to learn valuable job skills you can use after you graduate, as well as (hopefully) gain some school credit.

So with that said, I’ve put together our top five things you should do before hitting ‘send’ on that internship application.  Hopefully this will help land you into that top 20 percent of job applicants, and ideally get you in the door for an interview.

1. Proofread, proofread and then proofread again. You might say, “I’ve looked at this resume 10 times, there’s no way there’s a mistake in here.”  Trust me – have a smart friend read it for you, read through your resume from the bottom up, send it to a business colleague you know to review – just have another set of eyes read your resume. You’d be surprised what mistakes they’ll catch that you glossed over every time.

2. How can you help the company? Read through the job description and point out ways you can directly benefit the company. If it’s a job heavy on administrative duties, let them know you’re a rock star at answering phones and making copies. If it’s a graphics position, let the employer know you design things in your sleep and still want to design more.  Companies are short staffed and overworked right now — tell them how you can help them.  In other words, it’s not all about you.

3. Make the company feel special. We’ve received many resumes with attachments just titled, “Resume 1.”  That’s great – I can tell you just sent this resume out to anyone and everyone in hopes someone would look at it.

Or worse, someone will allude in their cover letter how much they would love working for a non profit organization, when we’re obviously a for-profit business.

Take the time to customize your cover letter and resume for each company you’re applying. Will it take longer? Yes. But wouldn’t you rather land an interview and hopefully a job because you took the time to do it right, versus ending up in the “no, thanks” pile?

4. You’re not entitled. At Full Circle PR, and most places I’ve worked, everyone works hard. No one is above doing any type of task, whether it’s fetching coffee, cleaning up or boxing up packages.  Here, everyone pulls together as a team to produce great results for our clients.  Offer to help do whatever it takes to get the job done. If you’re already fortunate enough to be interning somewhere, take a look around.  If someone is obviously overworked and drowning, offer to help out.  Trust me: it will go a long way with your managers to show you’re a team player.

5. Don’t worry, be happy. Sure, sometimes it can be hard to get up in the morning and come in to work, and yes, sometimes the hours are late and you’re tired. But don’t be a drag. There’s nothing worse than having a complainer on the set, bringing everyone else around them down. If you’re applying for an internship, put on a happy face and tell your future employers why you’ll be such a breath of fresh air to the team (in addition to the hardest working person in show business for them).

In your interview, make direct eye contact, shake hands firmly and be positive and enthusiastic. Tell them how you’re going to be the best thing that ever happened to the company (in a confident, but not cocky, way).

Some of this admittedly unsolicited advice might seem basic, but you’d be surprised how many intern candidates we see who don’t follow these tips.  Take note and be the one who stands out.  Now, get out there and make it count!