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 love that phrase, and I couldn’t agree more.  Kim and I are amazed at the new things we learn every day as we grow our public relations agency.

One of the most important things I’ve learned in my journey, though, is to learn and grow from my mistakes. People make mistakes – we’re human (thankfully so). I make my fair share of mistakes, but I’m happy to report I almost always learn something new I didn’t know before.

The great thing about mistakes is that sometimes it takes you down a path you would’ve never expected. (This goes back to Kim’s blog post about tossing out the crystal ball and learning to explore new directions – something I continue to work on, too).

We have the good fortune to know and learn from renowned business coach, Jim Laseter. I give him so much credit for helping Kim and me keep our eye on the ball and stay laser-beam focused on growing our business.  And yes, he points out when we’re making a mistake – even if we don’t want to hear it.  It’s not fun to be in the wrong – but accepting responsibility for our actions and learning from the situation has been an incredible education for me.

I really do believe we have a scratch team of PR professionals on our team at FCPR right now – it’s a team that’s going to generate amazing results for our clients. Will we make mistakes? Yes. Will we learn from them and be better for it? Absolutely. The good news is that we’re a team – we’re all in this together.

What mistakes have you learned the most from? We’d love to know we’re not the only ones making them.  Cheers!

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?

It’s easy for me to get in my routine both personally and professionally. I’ve gotten better about this, but when I was younger, just the slightest change in routine could throw me into a tailspin.

Full Circle PR is nestled in the heart of downtown Greenville, and I love to let off steam by running through Falls Park. This evening I set off on the same four-mile loop I always run and was caught off guard when my favorite trail was closed for construction (O.K. it’s been a while.  It hasn’t exactly been a cool, breezy summer with low-humidity down here!).

Instead of heading back to the office I decided to keep running, even though I had no idea where I was going or where I’d end up.  It was awesome!  I actually found a great, new and challenging running route complete with stairs and monster hills. (Challenging, not hard!)

I like to learn a lesson from even the slightest detour.  It lets me know that it’s O.K. to go in a new direction, take a “wrong” turn and throw caution to the wind by adding something different to the to-do list.

Over the past year, Liza and I have encountered many so-called detours.  And it’s always proven to be a great experience in the end.  There are a lot of changes going on here at Full Circle PR, and we’re excited to share them along the way.  I’m really excited about the opportunities ahead of us, whether we know about them now or not.

Maybe it’s time to throw out that crystal ball?

There are definitely people who put every complaint, every beef and every negative experience they have out there into cyberspace all for the world to see.  But the author of this post points out that if you do this too much, people only get that one side of you, leading them to assume you are a Debbie Downer 100% of the time…wah wah..

It’s so important to remember that the content you are putting out on your social media sites is really painting a picture, “a one-dimentional” picture of who you really are.  And like it or not, people will make snap judgements based upon this.

Liza and I are big fans of promoting positivity within the workplace. Sure we have bad days, but it can be pretty easy to start feeding off negativity if there is a lot of it going around.

So I’m glad I stumbled across this post…it reminds me that we are on the right track.  If you have decided to eliminate negativity from your posts, let us know.  We would love to hear from you!!

• 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!

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?

And here’s what Five Guys founder, Jerry Murrel says about the competition:

“If I were choose between opening in a town with 100 burger places and one with none, I’d go to the place with 100 burger places. People eat burgers in that town,” Murrell said. “I like being next to McDonald’s.”

It’s interesting to me that the competitive nature of the burger business inspires people to offer better products (and I would imagine probably better service, too) to capitalize on market share.

It might be a little bit of a stretch to equate burgers with PR services, but as I was reading this article I couldn’t help but think of my own industry, in my own community.

If you aren’t aware, Greenville, S.C. offers a lot of opportunity for PR professionals at all stages of their career – from a variety of advertising/marketing agencies to in-house PR departments, as well as a great freelance community.

And I love this.  I want to work alongside of people who are smart, creative and bring a different perspective to the table so I can constantly challenge myself to learn new things, ultimately allowing me to become better at what I do.

(Thanks to Jim Laseter at Laseter Business Coaching for sharing this article on LinkedIn.  I want to give credit where credit is due…He is always in tune with interesting features, quotes and tips to inspire business owners and entrepreneurs.)

Video has been incorporated into everyday activities across the board to tell compelling stories because, as Chris Brogan writes, it’s motivating to see a message come to life.  Just recently a local television reporter visited our office and told us that they were even being challenged to capture video of their own to share with their audiences.

It’s not like video is a new concept, but it was first an expensive technology enjoyed (and understood) by only a few – and requiring pricey equipment, an in-house studio and professional videographer.  Now that manufacturers are introducing video cameras that offer built-in software that allows users to easily edit video, this technology is becoming more mainstream – and more affordable.

We’ve recorded video at several special events for a few of our clients and have even challenged Caitlin to become aware of new ways to capture, edit and share video, essentially serving as our resident video guru.

So, my question to you is: How do you stay current with what video technology is available?

I’d also love to hear what video capabilities you’ve worked with and how you determine what level is needed for any given project.

Not too long ago, I asked Full Circle PR’s business coach (Jim Laseter in Charlotte, N.C. – someone whom I would recommend to anyone who is trying to keep a laser-beam focus on their business goals): How do business owners get through the tough times? They’ll eventually come – in some way, shape or form.  And even if we don’t know yet what that looks like, I wanted to know as business owners what Liza and I could do (if anything) to prepare beforehand.

Coach Jim’s reply: Resiliency. It’s the one thing all business owners must have.  He even wrote a blog post about it.

We never really know what is quite around the corner, do we?  Something wonderful or challenging can happen to us at any moment.  And I like the idea that having this characteristic can set us up for success no matter what.

Our friends upstairs at Brains on Fire have a pretty cool space with lots of items that are excellent conversation starters (the Bigfoot replica among one of them!).  And as I was walking by last week, I saw a new poster hanging above someone’s desk.  It simply read, “Keep Calm and Carry On.”

I love the simplicity in this powerful message.  And as I have had time to reflect on resilient people around me, it occurs to me that they are void of knee-jerk reactions and doom-and-gloom attitudes, yet keep forging on to achieve their goals.

What company, brand or business leader comes to mind when you think of the word “resilient?”  We’d love to know!