Public Relations

Doesn’t matter whether you’re in PR, marketing, or journalism, if you write, it’s important to read fiction, not just business books.

According to PR/Marketing blog Spinsucks, there are a couple good reasons why:
.Reading stories can fine-tune your social skills by helping you better understand other human beings.
.Entering imagined worlds builds empathy and improves your ability to take another person’s point of view.
.A love affair with narrative may gradually alter your personality—in some cases, making you more open to new experiences and more socially aware.

In addition, reading fiction can improve your vocabulary, your writing voice, and make you aware of creative ways to play with language (not that you can’t get this from other books, but wordplay and experimentation are much more common in fiction than, say, the latest marketing book), and if you’re reading the latest book (Hunger Games? Girl With The Dragon Tattoo?) then you have something to talk about besides sports or reality TV.

Another good reason to read: if you want to work at Arment Dietrich, where the author of the post, Gini Dietrich, is CEO, you’ll be asked about it. “It makes sense for us to require our team read everything from news and blogs to fiction and poetry,” she writes. “And it’s one of the questions we ask during interviews. Hearing what kinds of books people read (is it Steven King or Ayn Rand?) tells us a lot about what kind of person they are and, better, what kind of writing they’ll be able to do for us.” So read up.

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UPDATE: Stan Steinreich responded to this story and says that it is completely inaccurate. Please see follow-up post here.

A tipster tells us that seven people have been laid off at PR/advertising firm Steinreich Communications, where three offices (in New York, LA, and DC) were also closed.

The same tipster tells us that president/CEO Stan Steinreich attributed the closures and layoffs to a poor economy and client losses. The company continues to rep As Seen on TV brands and 1-800 Mattress, among others, from its Hackensack, NJ headquarters.

Steinreich did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

Being a PR exec is the seventh most stressful job, according to Careercast’s annual study. It was downgraded from #2 last year to make room for firefighters, soldiers, airline pilots, cops, and event coordinators.

Photojournalists have the ninth most stressful job, Careercast says.

If you want to erase stress from your life, you may have to leave media. According to Careercast, some of the least stressful jobs include: medical records technician, jeweler, and dressmaker.

A commenter on PRDaily, which picked up this article, thought that maybe the stress wasn’t all that bad:

Perhaps stating the obvious, but a person who’s passionate and loves working in PR probably wouldn’t call it stress…just day-to-day life. So let’s get rid of the ones who’re tired of working in PR and always feel stressed and make room for the new generation. Yep, that’s me!

He got roundly shot down by PR vets:

Victor, that’s adorable. Let’s check back in in ten years and see how your passion is doing. Until then, run along.

How cute.

Since now (or soon, anyway)’s the time to plan ahead for the new year, we’ve rounded up a couple of posts looking at what PR and marketing people should focus on next year—at least based on what their peers are up to.

Michael Emerton, a founding partner at BridgeView Marketing told PRDaily that he planned to try an experiment: sending paper pitches, typed on a typewriter(!), via the mail. How quaint. “No links, no social media and no video. Just a well-written ink impression of a good story idea for their readers carried vis-à-vis the U.S. Post Office. I wonder if anyone will open it,” he said.

Latergy, a video marketing and ad agency, promised (and exhorted other marketers to promise) to not be funny “unless it makes sense for my industry, brand and message.”

Kelly Ronna at Trevelino/Keller said her team was going to go to more networking events, read smarter books, and eat healthy lunches—the last an all-important one for anyone who wants to have a functioning brain by 3pm.

Kristy Kennedy at Digital Park said she’d take time each month to declutter her desk. Good one!

What are you resolving to do next year?

We’re (kind of) sorry for doing so many of these “what skills _____ need in 2011″ posts but funny enough, if you ask ten people what they think, you’ll likely get ten different answers. So in our view, the more of these the better.

Arik Hansen, owner of ACH Communications, asked six PR hiring managers/recruiters/agency owners what skills they look for when hiring.

We’ll sum up some of the results here, but you’ll have to go to Hansen’s blog to read the rest.

When six employers were asked about the most important skill or trait currently needed by PR pros, two answered “curiosity.” Jorg Pierach, president of Fast Horse, added, “The curious are rich in a business where information is the currency.” Another said “the ability to think strategically.” And only one said “solid writing skills.” “Public relations relies on content or stringing together sentences to tell a story,” Fleishman-Hillard recruiter Beth Ward told Hansen. “Writing can later be transformed into pictures, video, games or apps, but in order to create that content you need to spell it out. The act of writing also ensures that the content will be appropriate. It forces organization and completion of thought.”

Hansen also asked these pros what the most difficult skill or trait to find was (patience, confidence, business acumen were a few) and what skill they saw evolving and becoming critical to success. Check it out.

Here’s a letter sent to a PR firm that is a lesson in what not to do:

I am a student from XXX State University I plan on graduating this spring and was very interested in applying at your firm. My major is public but I have had experience in advertisement, campaign management, and social media. I will of course sent you a portfolio and resume upon my graduation I just find it appropriate to contact you early. I extremely respect your business and I feel I have the ability to add to your already sterling reputation.
Thank You
XXX XXX
Sent from my iPhone

The recipient of this email, Gil Rudawsky, said that it “shows laziness” to send a letter from an iPhone and that it’s the “ultimate insult.” Really? The genericness of the letter, the terrible spelling and grammar, and the lack of research weren’t insulting, but the fact that the student sends emails from his phone is an insult?

We’re gonna go out there and say that sending an email from your iPhone to apply for a job isn’t inherently bad. Hell, perhaps it will make you look even more interested (“I just saw this job posting and couldn’t wait to get to my computer to apply!”). This letter wouldn’t improve any by having been sent from a computer, we promise you that much.

One thing to keep in mind: Obviously, the Autocorrect features on iPhones and other smartphones do lend themselves to some hilarious typos. And it can be harder to proofread on such a small screen. Know your own limitations. If the emails you send to family are riddled with mistakes because your fingers can’t hit those tiny virtual keys, as ours often cannot, think twice about using the smartphone to apply for a job, obviously. But you could always draft an email (delete any addresses in the To: field to make sure you don’t accidentally send it) and save it for review later, or let a friend look over it.

Increase your pay, get a promotion, and do it in an exotic location? How do we get started?

For Stacie Nevadomski Berdan, writing at PRDaily.com, the choice was simple. Three years in Hong Kong as a vice president at Burson-Marsteller got her a big promotion (to global account managing director) within one year of her return.

Working in another country will broaden your horizons, both personally and professionally, she says. “Doors will open for you, because companies need more people who can apply international experience to local business challenges. Knowledge and understanding of foreign cultures, regulations, economies, consumers and work habits are now crucial for corporate survival—and they can be your ticket to the fast track.”

Plus, if you’re working for a small foreign branch of a big PR company, you’ll have more face time with high-up execs if and when they drop in for a visit, and “it is not uncommon for a mid-level manager to counsel and escort traveling political leaders, members of the C-suite, and even client CEOs when they are on an international tour. You can’t beat that exposure,” Berdan says.

So how do you get that transfer? Start by doing your current job flawlessly, she says. “Most professionals who’ve worked overseas admit that it was one of the most difficult things they have ever done.” If you make your international desires known, brush up on the language and culture, and get a mentor or boss to bat for you, you’ll be overseas before you can say Yo trabajo en relaciones públicas.

The CEO of 5WPR has just released a book, For Immediate Release, which aims to teach businesses how to use PR to their advantage.

It also includes sections that seem to be aimed at helping regular people understand how PR works. A “Day in the life” if you will.

PR Daily has the excerpt, which we’re further excerpting below:

My BlackBerry started buzzing just past 6 a.m. This isn’t unusual; early morning (or late night) calls from staff or clients are par for the course. PR doesn’t end at 5 p.m. and begin at 9 a.m. the next day. This anxious call was no different than dozens of others I’d received over the years.

“Ronn, did you read the paper yet?”

“No.”

“Well, read it now and call me back. Now. Now.”

There it was, in bold print, a major story about a labor-related lawsuit filed against another client, one that had clearly been planted by someone with an agenda against his company. No wonder he was calling at dawn. If it wasn’t handled properly, the lawsuit and accompanying media would have a very negative effect on his business. Okay. I had three hours until my 9 a.m. appointment at a top-tier newspaper’s office with the IPO client for a Q&A followed by daylong, back-to-back national and international media interviews. He was ready—we had worked through the many potential questions, and his answers were as close to flawless as they were going to get.

So…..what do you think? It’s missing curse words and coffee, and is a little glamorized (even the 6 a.m. wakeup call), but is it otherwise accurate?

Someone at PETA is probably in for a promotion because they replaced the milk at Keith Zakheim’s PR shop.

A little background: Last week, Keith Zakheim, who’s the CEO of Beckerman PR in New Jersey, sent an email to his staffers saying that if they used all the milk in the fridge without replacing it, they’d be canned. “Im not joking. You will be fired for not replacing the milk, and have fun explaining that one to your next employer. This is not a empty threat so PLEASE don’t test me,” he wrote.

A lot of people mocked Zakheim, and some supported him (“If you are running a company and expect your employees to display certain characteristics, why wouldn’t you fire them if they can’t even managed the smallest displays of those characteristics?” wrote one commenter on Gawker). But only PETA thought to replace the milk. According to Mogulite, the animal welfare group sent him a couple cartons of soy milk.

“To help alleviate your office’s milk shortage, assist in your company’s stated goal of promoting employee responsibility while decreasing selfishness, and reduce animal suffering, PETA is sending the Beckerman Public Relations headquarters several cartons of delicious soy milk,” the org wrote. “What better way to encourage an office culture of conscientiousness than to drink your coffee with a cruelty-free beverage?”

This is a pretty smart move on PETA’s part. Total cost for this campaign: probably about $25 for milk and shipping charges. The press? Priceless.

Unfortunately, soy milk in coffee is kind of nasty….so says this blogger, anyway. Maybe they’ll send some rice milk next.

The group blog Ici et here, managed by the owners of organic food business Fait Ici in Quebec, cost nothing but time, and got the business a double dose of traffic, media placement, and an increase in sales.

PRDaily looks at how they did it: Jackson Wightman, the co-owner, selected a diverse group of people willing to contribute just one blog post for free. They also didn’t ask for a specific topic as long as the blog fit into food and Montreal somehow.

This is a much less tough sell than asking for a long-term relationship and it allowed the blog to pursue a big variety that included, in Wightman’s words, “chefs, local food bloggers, journalists, a Hollywood actress, a New York Times bestselling author, and even my mom and dad. ”

The other plus: most of the bloggers now have established relationships with the store: they are Facebook fans and Twitter followers. “They’ve also come by the shop, spent money, and talked about the guest-blogging experience positively. Good signs.”

And all for a cost of…free. Well done, folks.