No pressure.

The planning and work that goes into that prize-winning dish is, in many ways, similar to the job of media relations. Instead of an important dinner, though, it’s the release of big client news. Here are five ways the media relations desk parallels with the kitchen stove.

1. Shopping around – A cook pores over recipes, debating methods and comparing choices. Then you spend time at the optimal grocery store, circling the aisles and choosing the perfect ingredients for the dish.

A successful PR pro or media relations specialist knows their client’s industry inside and out, or is at least able to speak that way with the media. They spend time researching and gathering all of the necessary information or ingredients they need to be able to conjure up the perfect mix of information that intelligently positions their client’s news.

2. Preparation – My dad always said, “All it takes to be a good cook is preparation.” A cook cleans their kitchen, sets out everything they will need, and plans the preparation so everything comes together at the right moment.

In media relations, a significant part of the process is preparing the perfect media list that reaches the right media for the target audience. Then they’ll supply hyperlinks that direct the media to the right information and attachments that will ensure they have everything they need.

3. Timing – In the kitchen, one of the most invaluable tools a cook uses is a timer. No one wants to serve a burned dish.

At the desk, a media relations specialist must be aware of media trends, so they can jump on timely opportunities and meet deadlines — giving their clients the chance to be seen and heard.

4. Presentation – For a cook, it’s all about visual appeal. Nobody wants to eat something that doesn’t look great. What will make mouths water?

In media relations, you want to position your client’s information the right way. As Peter Shankman says, be a helper. You are not just helping your client – you’re also helping the media by providing relevant and interesting content. It’s all in the presentation and how you deliver that information.

5. Share and provide council – Your dish was a hit! When you’re asked about your recipe, you can respond — explaining why you substituted olive oil instead of butter to make the meal healthier or taste better, for example.

When a client inquires about why you chose to bypass an opportunity, as council, you must be able to explain the strategy behind that decision, keeping that client’s best interest (and reputation) in mind.

Both media relations and cooking require a certain amount of preparation and positioning to provide the most appetizing and successful result. So PR and media folks: remember, take time for the right setup, perfect ingredients, and a tempting presentation… and then, bon appétit!

(Originally written for post on MillerBrooks.com)

Here are some tips I learned simply from the first few pages….

1. You don’t need to spend $80,000 on marketing videos anymore. Instead, get a hand held and start posting to you tube. This could be huge for companies to save some cash. Make sure your in-house PR staff, or your agency, is familiar with filming and then have them do it for you rather than blowing your marketing budget to produce a video. Also, I think an important aspect of PR is to be transparent with your brand, and doing a “made at home” video is another way to do this. Use it as an opportunity to show your audience and customers what your brand is really about – behind the scenes. (Maybe this means I should get a flip camera for Christmas?)

2. Press releases are not only for the press… Dare to think outside the traditional PR box. You don’t have to only use Cision to send your release. Are there other organizations interested in your information, other outlets outside the traditional Public Relations-reach? Don’t hesitate to push your information out further. As long as your information is relevant to the person who you are sending it to, encourage yourself and your team to consider more than the traditional pitch-audiences.

3. Don’t underestimate the blogger. Reach out to bloggers much more often, and continue to build up that media list with blogs vs. print media. The internet is where people access their information now…and bloggers are the future.

4. Share information, don’t hide it. Don’t be nervous about competitors, if you have information that is valuable to customers, readers and buyers, share it!! (Example: several books started out as blog postings, and when the readership-grows then go on to be turned into books. Most authors wouldn’t think of publishing their information for free – but this is how some great books go their start!)

5. The old rules of marketing, are old. They no long longer apply in an online world. (AKA: Obnoxious pop-up ads don’t catch attention, they tend to annoy people.) Cater your marketing and advertising efforts to the mediums that people now communicate through. From delivery to design, advance your methods as the rules and trends change.

Here are the facts: I have attended many webinars, seminars, boot camps, and teleconferences teaching the ways of PR and the new rules of social media, marketing, pitching etc.

I am a PR professional, early on in my career and I am hungry for knowledge and advancement. I have a passion for networking, learning from others and educating myself in and outside of work. This is all in addition, of course, to my love of Public Relations strategies and emerging social media trends. I don’t think I am a minority here, I think there are plenty of young-er minds out there that want to learn to adapt new practices and learn how to blog better, engage better, pitch better (whatever it may be) and ultimately grow in their industry and in their career.

Specifically I want to learn more about SEO, HTML and blogging (but not for beginners).  And the sad truth is, I don’t really have all day. I’m in the office from 7:30 am to 5:00 pm most days at an agency I love and give 100 percent to. So here’s my plea, if you’re out there and you know about boot camps, webinars, classes, or people who would be willing to sit down with me. I’m sick of going to seminars and webinars that repeat the same A, B, C rules of Twitter and Facebook, I’m looking for more.

So as I continue to dig for opportunity, and find time and vehicles to further my education in the industry I’m asking you, readers and friends…. to share your knowledge, and challenge me!

Here a few tips to help you maneuver around an awkward conversation while essentially telling your client…it’s a bad idea.

1. Forward-thinking. This may seem obvious, but resist the urge to tell your client NO without stating your case. Why is the a bad idea? Short term effects, long term effects, help your client project the situation to see the future outcome. Yes, this may seem like a good idea at the moment to promote a certain event or product, but could it hurt your client’s credibility in the future? Our clients tend to get carried away with big ideas, before they get too excited help them take a forward-thinking approach to see what the right actions are.. today. It may seem simple, but explain your case, and be able to back it up with solid reasons that are in place to position your client for a successful future.

2. Brand Consistency. Encourage your client to think about whether or not this  move/decision is “in-line” with their branding and reputation. This is always a strong stance to take, stressing the importance of a strong brand consistency will be a persuasive angle when talking your client out of potentially bad decision. Remind them that you don’t want to disrupt both of your efforts to create a reliable company brand.

3. First-things-first: Some of our clients can be big dreamers or visionaries… if you will, which in many cases is what makes many of them successful. However, having an over-sized dream or goal can be a set back if it’s not handled correctly. These types of clients sometime need us to pull them back down to earth and make them a first-things-first list. Take care of #1-3 before you rattle off what #26-30 will entail. I have experienced clients that don’t make progress because they obsess over the end point. Encourage them to focus on how to make things happen now. Help them take it step by step, often times this will avoid decisions that don’t make sense for your client at the current time. Remember, we are here to give them a plan/campaign for a reason, and those steps should be followed and clearly understood in order to achieve measurable success.

4. Be direct, without being direct. Choice of words is a huge factor in this situation, you can likely find a way to tell your client, “don’t do it”, without using that exact phrase. Encouraging your client to take action with A, B or C… is different than telling them, don’t do D. Push your client towards positive action/movement, rather than pushing them away from a bad idea. Simply re-direct them. Maybe you will be successful in distracting the client from an un-wise release or announcement by suggesting a difference course of action be taken.

Public relations is actually the opposite of advertising… let me tell you why.

Advertising is pay to play. You pay to have your message placed in a newspaper, TV or radio spot.

PR is not. The article that features your company is not paid for. The reporter focuses on your company as a result of information he/she received and researched.

Publicity is MUCH more effective than advertising. Because..

1. It is more cost-effective than advertising. Even if it is not free, your only expenses are generally phone calls and mailings to the media.
2. Publicity has greater longevity. An article about your business will be remembered far longer than an ad among many.
3. Publicity reaches a greater audience. Your story may receive national attention – spreading word about your company all over the country. Would an ad do that?
4. Publicity has greater credibility with the public than advertising. Readers feel that if an objective third party is featuring your company, you must be legit! You’re not simply handing out cash for a highly circulated magazine to say you’re great.

And that’s why I work in PR, not advertising.  Much more strategic, don’t you think?

Agree, disagree? Let me know with a comment!

I have often thought about this in my experience working in PR… the traditional PR job, full of pitching, getting your releases butchered, and/or sucking up to clients to keep them happy and/or the media to sway them in your favor… can be a hard 8 (or 10, or 11) hour day. Maybe it’s not for everybody. Maybe only some personality types can take it. Or maybe that’s on the beginning and PR types learn how to grow thick skin and get better at their jobs. There’s a lot of criticism in the job, and opinions from person to person working in an agency can differ. (Not to mention unhappy clients if they don’t understand/support the angle you took to acheive their goal).

I’ve never come across the blog before but it felt like my own words when I came across it today and I had to share it with you all.  It’s titled, “PR Breakfast Club, a chance to start the day out right” and I loved this post, “Am I too emotional for PR” this post was written by Marie V-B and it’s a great little blurb about life as PR pro who sometimes breaks down at 10:00 PM at night when she makes the mistake of checking her work e-mail and getting a nasty scolding from a client.. oh the life of publicist. Question she poses: is it for everyone?

What do you think?

Success is acheived by developing our strengths, not by eliminating our weaknesses.

- Marilyn vos Savant (American Journalist)

I have learned lately that as you get further and further into your respective field or industry, some of the most important things you will learn are about yourself. You will realize what your own strengths and weaknesses are and this is an incredibly valuable lesson to learn. You’ll figure out what you’re good at, what you aren’t so good at, what you enjoy, what you can’t stand, what you don’t mind, and what you’re asked to do because your the best at it.

I think it’s invaluable to realize what you want to do in life and in your respective career and what you don’t want to do. It’s also just as important to recognize what you are aren’t great at, as it is to know where your strengths lie.  

I had decided this a couple months ago, as I analyzed my own strengths and weaknesses in the field of public relations, and I was recently given an amazing bit of advice that backed up my own belief.  Many management programs will focus on strength and weaknesses and once you can label what those are for you, they focus you on your weaknesses with the intention on improving you and making you better and more able in those areas. Now – this may sound like a great idea, but this smart and successful woman giving me this advice painted a different picture for me. Why in the world would you categorize your strengths and weakness and what you enjoy vs. what you don’t, only to zero in on what you’re bad at? If you are a great writer, and a great speaker, why in the world wouldn’t you focus on those areas in order to better yourself, and get better in an area where you clearly have talent? If you can think on your feet, and are a fantastic sales person, or pitcher – then why would you sit yourself down and put pen to paper (or typing fingers to mac book air… whatever) and force yourself to learn to be a good writer? Exactly. You wouldn’t, or at least you wouldn’t enjoy it.

It makes very little sense to focus on the negative and/or weakness and beat yourself up for it. The clarity and sense is in focusing on what you love to do, and improving on that skill that you are good at until you can rightfully call it an area of expertise.

I’ve taken this lessons and I am letting it direct the rest of my career. Money shouldn’t lead you, acheiving fame shouldn’t direct your path, happiness and contentment – enjoyment in the workplace SHOULD! So figure out what you love to do – and if you learn to do that well, the money and success will soon catch up to you.

At times, our strengths propel us so far forward we can no longer endure our weaknesses and perish from them.

- Friedrich Nietzsche (German Classical Scholar, Philosopher & Critic of Culture 1844-1900).

I have come to the conclusion that this is why people who find themselves in the PR industry are different – they are, always happy, always willing to help (even when it means lugging heavy boxes or working a booth somewhere random like the Poway Rodeo for your client, or answering phones for your clients company, or making protest signs for 3 days straight for a big city hall meeting….) The type of people who are really great at PR, are humble and willing to roll up their sleeves and get involved. THIS is why I love PR, for the most part – we aren’t above it, we’re ready and willing to jump at the request to get involved anyway that we are needed… the job is always different, the smile is always genuine, and we’re always willing to do what it takes to keep everyone happy.

YOUR CLIENTS: You have to know everything about your client and keep them happy at all times.

THE MEDIA:  You also have to serve reporters, and appear that you are catering to their exact needs in order for them to bite. You have to be there to help and serve them – to do their job better, in addition to accomplishing your own goals.

YOUR BOSS: Don’t forget your boss – whether you work in house or “out” in an agency. You’re boss is someone who must always be pleased by your performance, drive, effort and abilities. He must always be impressed for you to have value where you are.

YOUR COMPANY: Yes, it’s always about the bottom line. Especially in this economy. Are you adding value? Maybe, are you adding ROI though? This is a very different question.

You really have to keep pretty much everyone you interact with at work happy,  as everyone is a connection/networking opportunity even if they aren’t tied directly into your overall working goal.  ( I realize this can be true of any industry, but I feel that it is exemplified in the everyday juggle of a PR pro.)

Reflecting a little bit on PR, and my job, and my experience – brings me back to not just the heart of PR, but the aspects of public relations that I truly enjoy, and the aspects that honestly – I really DON’T enjoy, maybe even dread. There’s parts we all love about our jobs that we’ll work till 10 PM for, and parts that make us want to cut out early on a Friday afternoon around 2:30 right? (Hey, this blog is about honesty in case you weren’t aware). Anyway in reflecting on all of this I realize that this aspect of PR, helping where you’re needed and getting involved regardless of to the degree… is one of my favorite things. The attitude, the willingness, it’s requires you to be in touch with the service side of the industry. We are in place to be public facing sometimes, serving our clients, or serving the public/customers of behalf of our clients – it requires us to put on a smile and BE that public facing postive brand, and having the opportunity to do that… makes me truly love PR.

To see the difference between advertising and public relations it’s important to understand that one thing that advertising doesn’t deliver as well as PR is consumer trust. I think that branding is a huge part of this, and I’ll talk more later about how branding is important to create consumer confident in your company/brand/service….

For now, back to advertising – in a recent PR newsletter I read that TNS (a leading marketing information group) surveyed 1,000 US households on the subject of consumer trust late last year.  In that survey, only 35% showed any level of trust at all in advertising. Also, in a Nielsen Online Global Consumer survey, when asked what sort of advertising they trust more, 78% said they trust customer referrals over any type of advertising.

That is exactly what PR aims to deliver: trust, credibility and word of mouth promotion. The third-party endorsement that comes with appearing as a guest on TV show or the morning news, or to have a story written about you in newspapers and magazines, or even your words and advice quoted is absolutely priceless.  Somethings you can’t put a price tag on. This is what can be achieved with PR and at about one-half to one-fifth of the price of an advertising campaign.

This backs up my personal belief that public relations professionals should focus on branding, positioning and placement as a means for communication with your publics and audience, rather than pushing and selling (advertising).  Depending on what kind of PR environment you work  in – I think in some cases in can be easy to be pushed in with marketing/advertising/media relations. And while there is always an overlap to some extent… it’s important to decipher, and recognize the differences – in results, in effectiveness, in value and level of results etc.  And for PR pro’s it’s important to realize also – what it is that you are doing, what category it falls under, what effect you are having with it, and what you need to learn more about!

Next post will focus on branding, and where that fits into the PR spectrum…

So that left me with the question, how can you become a creative thinker? Here are a few ways to start yourself off on the right foot…

Challenge your employer.If you don’t have the confidence to bring things to light that you don’t approve of. You are that pushover that says “great!” to ever suggestion. Don’t be afraid to speak up when you know something is a bad idea. Maybe you shouldn’t sign that contract because your experience tells you it won’t bring the ROI that your employer expects. Maybe you have to calm a team down taht is moving to hastily so you can re-evaluate your goals… whatever it is, don’t be afraid to challenge your boss or your team. If you are right, they will thank you for it later.

Bring new ideas to the table. Notice I didn’t say good ideas. I don’t care if you think they are good or bad, throw them out there, you never know what lame idea of yours could inspire something else once you’ve spurred discussion, and you will be appreciated for being a pro-active thinker if nothing else.

 Brainstorm Time! It’s hard to be creative when you’re swamped with other daily tasks, so set aside some time for yourself each day, or at least a few times a week to sit down with your notebook and pen, and think about NEW ways to move forward, and new ideas to bring to your campaign, client or team.

Educate yourself. Attend seminars in our field, teleseminars, webinars, meet people. Whatever. The best way to learn is by reaching out to those who have gone before you, and if you find the right people, they are surprisingly willing to help. FIND A SOUNDING BOARD, because a collaborative effort, in my opinion is the best kind, and you will often need to bounce a few bad ideas off on others to come up with some good ones. Find a mentor, find a friend, network, learn from others. Trust me, this is essential to grow and learn in your field.

What do you think? How can someone train themself to be a “new ideas” person? How do you start from scratch to create a different campaign, approach or plan? How do you bring NEW to the table?