| Back to Home > Bulletin Board > Publicists' Corner > Topic: Freelance PR pros: how'd you do it? |
Topic: Freelance PR pros: how'd you do it?
| Author | Message |
| gotarock13 | Posted – 10/24/2007 3:29:55 PM | show profile Hi all: I'm an agency PR pro itching to transition into freelance, but I'm not quite sure where to start. How did you manage to make the transition without losing your shirt...or your mind? Any tips, ideas, lessons learned etc. would be most appreciated! |
| Cyrus | Posted – 10/24/2007 5:05:19 PM | show profile First off, if you want to be successful, don't call yourself a freelancer. IOW, create a business identity and market it. Freelance is obviously fine in writing, but there you're using a term that has a particular connotation; when applied to other disciplines, it doesn't sound as serious as you want a business to be. As far as making a business out of it, you have to treat it like one; that means having a plan when you launch, understanding how you'll differentiate yourself, who you'll target, how you'll market yourself, etc. One of the problems with PR is that many people view it as something anybody can do. You can't assume they'll have an idea of the value proposition a PR pro provides in contrast to just having a colleague or friend do it. Also, differentiating yourself is key. In a business where everyone thinks they can be a flack, I target companies offering complex services that not everybody can easily grasp or has an interest in. Financially, you have to be able to withstand the launch period, as it will likely take you longer to build stability than you think. The biggest key to not losing your mind? Don't take business that's not a good fit for you. You might have to do that in the beginning, but as your biz grows, try not to if at all possible. A project or client that's a bad fit will just prove to be a pain that will have to be dealt with. Life's too short for that. ------ Cyrus Afzali Astoria Communications www.astoriacomm.com |
| fourpetros | Posted – 10/24/2007 5:37:39 PM | show profile | email poster It's tough to start out. But you must network like crazy and pitch yourself big time. It's like acting you act big and it shows. You aim small ...well you know the rest. Best Renee |
| Foreigner | Posted – 10/24/2007 9:19:32 PM | show profile Courses, magazines, professional associations I recently started a small PR business. I strongly suggest you take a short course in starting a small business, as I did (I took a five week course for around $160 at a non-profit women's business center). As a previous poster said, it's vital to have a niche and differentiate yourself, and know what the competition can offer. A good small biz course will make you take a close look at the standard PR business model and pore over the financial returns of profitable PR companies to see what they're doing right. It will teach you how to understand a balance sheet, market your business effectively and write a solid business plan, which is an essential road map. (All this may make your eyes glaze over but when it's your own business it can actually be really interesting, satisfying stuff - I never thought I was into such things, but I discovered a latent entrepreneurial streak!) If you decide to take the leap, know what your start-up costs will be and try to purchase some things before you leave your fulltime job. Also, start thinking about and researching which vendors you would use as you may have different needs than your agency does. My single biggest challenge has been expenses - I'm currently looking into ways to avoid carrying some of my clients' expenses until they pay me because it inhibits my ability to grow and market myself. I find magazines targeted at entrepreneurs and small business people to be really helpful, especially in terms of finding out about software that will make me more efficient. Also, the PRSA has a networking section for independent practitioners to share their wisdom. Good luck. |
| WritingSoul | Posted – 10/25/2007 1:15:14 AM | show profile I will echo what everyone had already said, because it's key. You need to create a professional business identity. Depending on the kind of PR you do, you might not have such large associated costs either, but you do need a site that showcases your work and great-looking business cards-- and I assume you have press contacts and such already. It's all about presentations, since that's in essence, the service that you're selling to your future clients. And the old cliche is also true: in order to be successful, you need to appear as such. So package yourself, and start approaching clients, networking etc. |
| dribbledrive1 | Posted – 10/25/2007 1:45:27 AM | show profile This is good advice. As a rule of thumb, you should take a small business course and the stuff that makes your eyes glaze over may be the stuff where you need to put the most effort and attention into. Those of us who are self-employed usually excel at the service we provide. Where we usually fall down, especially at first, is creating the business infrastructure that supports our services. --A good small biz course will make you take a close look at the standard PR business model and pore over the financial returns of profitable PR companies to see what they're doing right. It will teach you how to understand a balance sheet, market your business effectively and write a solid business plan, which is an essential road map. (All this may make your eyes glaze over but when it's your own business it can actually be really interesting, satisfying stuff - I never thought I was into such things, but I discovered a latent entrepreneurial streak!) -- |
| gotarock13 | Posted – 10/25/2007 9:51:19 AM | show profile Excellent feedback - thank you! Thank you all for taking the time to reply with such thoughtful advice -- I really do appreciate it, and feel that I have at least a little bit better direction and a good starting point. I will definitely look into taking a small business start-up course (and yes, I anticipate that it will make my eyes glaze over!), and work on creating my niche and the image I want to convey to potential clients. Thanks again! gotarock13 |
| Foreigner | Posted – 10/25/2007 12:12:38 PM | show profile When it comes to the financial side of things, think of it as your pet project, something that can be liberating and empowering. As an employee, someone else decided how much you were going to earn - now you have the potential to think bigger and go for it! Make sure you get Quick Books or Quicken or some other software program and whenever you cover an expense for a client, enter the details straight into your software and file the receipt in a box for the accountant. Also, track your non-client expenses the same way, so that you can claim the tax deductions at the end of the year. If you don't do these simple housekeeping tasks while your memory is fresh, you will NEVER remember to account for all your expenses and you'll really screw yourself. The other advantage of accounting software is that you can run reports with a click of a button to analyze what you're doing well and what you could improve - i.e. which client am I carrying the most costs for? am I spending a little too much on a vendor when I could get a better deal elsewhere? Finally, even if you still find that you don't enjoy the administrative side of things, the people who teach small business courses urge you to resist the urge to farm out the accounting work and to do your own bookkeeping for at least the first year in business, so that you really understand your business and also so that once you do hire a bookkeeper and are conducting monthly checks of their work, you know enough about how your business ticks to be able to spot if your bookkeeper is embezzling you or doing something funny with the books. Apparently embezzlement, even in small ways, is a lot more prevalent than you'd think. |
