C'mon and Get #HAPPO!

Most of us all know someone who has lost their job or is searching for a new job in communications/marketing/social media/PR in this rough economy. Job searching is tough. Interviewing can be a nerve-wracking, anxiety- ridden process, and to top it all off, many professional communicators may be frustrated that they feel they aren't seeing or finding all the opportunities that may currently be available to them.


Most recruiters will tell you that the best way to find a job is to network. I will admit that I have gotten most of my jobs in communications by networking.


A little background:


I got my start in PR by getting an internship at a major agency in DC when I was still in college. This was shortly after the dot com bust and the only reason I was even considered for the internship is that a professor wrote me a great letter of recommendation to include with my application (this is was back when there were about 300 applications for one paid intern position - yes, paid! I can only imagine what the number is now.)


The same was true with my first job out of college. Another professor was able to recommend me to the CEO of a strategic communications firm who was looking for a new hire. Over the years, I've written many letters of recommendations, given verbal commendations, and provided insight and job leads for former interns, colleagues and friends who are actively looking for and pursuing other opportunities. Paying-it-forward has always paid off for me.


I have been very blessed and fortunate that my network has helped me time-and-time again with finding jobs. But what about those looking for a new position right now? How do they become a part of your extended network?

Solution: Help A PR Pro Out (HAPPO)! A brilliant idea of Valerie Simon (@valeriesimon) andArik Hanson (@arikhanson), HAPPO is an effort to connect brilliant communicators with organizations looking for smart and savvy professionals! On Friday, February 19, from 10 am – 2 pm CT PR bloggers, agency leaders, and PR professionals from across the country will donate their time and talents to help fellow PR pros connect with employers as part of the first-ever “Help a PR Pro Out” day. Here's how you can get involved/help:

• Are you a job seeker? Prepare a creative blog post, pitching yourself to prospective employers and share it via Twitter during the event on Feb. 19 using the hashtag#HAPPO. The HAPPO “market champions” (see below) will help by retweeting and connecting you with potential employers in your specific market (or markets you’re willing to relocated to).
• Are you an employer looking for talent? Follow the hashtag #HAPPO on Friday, Feb. 19 and share your openings. Market champions will do their best to connect you with talent they think matches your specific needs.
• Are you a PR blogger/Twitter addict? Yes? Then share the #HAPPO tweets with your personal networks and lend your support to those in need. Help your market champion identify job seekers and pair them with potential employers. This is your chance to make a difference!

Below is a list of HAPPO champions. Over the next week leading up to Feb. 19, these folks will be posting and tweeting about the event. Make sure to connect with them if you're a job seeker or an employer looking for PR talent.


#HAPPO Champions:

• Jeremy Pepper (National)
• Mary Deming Barber (National)
• Jeremy Porter (Atlanta)
• Kellye Crane (Atlanta)
• Doug Haslam (Boston)
• Jennifer Wilbur (Southern CA)
• Gini Dietrich (Chicago)
• Sarah Evans (Chicago)
• Allan Schoenberg (Chicago)
• Lauren Fernandez (Dallas/Fort Worth)
• Richie Escovedo (Dallas/Fort Worth)
• Jamie Floer (Florida)
• John Sternal (Florida)
• Justin Goldsborough (Kansas City)
• Arik Hanson (Minneapolis/ St. Paul)
• PR Cog (New York Metro)
• Deidre Breakenridge (New York Metro)
• Valerie Simon (New York Metro)
• Heather Whaling (Ohio)
• Anne Buchanan (Philadelphia)
• Abbie Fink (Phoenix)
• Deanna Ferrari (Pittsburgh)
• Adrienne Biggs (San Francisco)
• Danny Brown (Toronto)
• Dave Fleet (Toronto)
• Shonali Burke (Washington, DC)
• Mike Schaffer (Washington, DC)
• Heather Huhman (Washington, DC)

Other resources in Washington DC (#HAPPODC) include Debbie Friez (@dfriez), NicoleN(@NicolePRexec), Patrick Wixted (@pwixted), Ashley Settle (@amsettle), Meghan(@meggiepoo), Amanda (@amandamogul) and of course yours truly. Watch for us to tweet for information about the event and resources for job seekers during this coming week.

For more information about Help A PR Pro Out Day, visit http://helpaprproout.com/.

More In-House Communications?

Jennifer Walzer, founder and CEO of Backup My Info!, wrote a great account in today's New York Times' 'You're the Boss' blog of how her business is able to garner and generate its own PR without the aid of an agency. 

Walzer lists tips and resources in the post for how other companies looking to generate press for themselves can go about the process.

What is interesting to me and what I applaud is Walzer and her company have devoted the resources internally to cultivate and execute their own media relations strategy. Many companies and organizations (especially small ones) often don't have the personnel that can take the time to network and develop these relationships. As a result, media relations is often the first and most requested service offered by PR/communications agencies.

Walzer's post is particularly striking to me because there appears to be a resurgence of in-house communication departments in wake of the recent recession. Over the last year, I have spoken to several senior agency PR executives who have lamented and/or celebrated the fact that clients have hired away mid-level or even experienced junior account executives to head up media relations or communications in-house. What's even more interesting to me is that half of the senior level agency executives I spoke with said this has not had the huge impact on their business and revenue as they thought. No longer doing day-to-day media relations in some cases allowed agencies to focus on helping their clients develop and execute more long-term strategies to help grow their business. In other cases, however, clients reduced or completely cut their agency budgets to bring communication operations in-house.

When I first started this blog, I noticed a trend towards companies restaffing or bringing media relations and even entire communications divisions back under the corporate umbrella (usually under marketing. I viewed it as a resurgence in corporate communications). While I don't think this trend is widespread nor do I believe that all or even a majority of businesses and organizations will bring all executable communication initiatives in-house, it is interesting to see that more companies are doing more for themselves in regards to their communication plans. All communication strategies come down to experienced and available resources that can be devoted to developing, executing, and measuring the agreed upon communication tactics, resources and time to be devoted to a particular campaign. I believe the majority of companies will continue to rely upon agencies to serve as strategic advisers as well as tactical executors to help them achieve their business goals.

10 Things PR Agencies Do That Limit Effectiveness

What a week for the PR industry. The justified outrage over the Brody PR debacle seems to be diminishing (Seriously, I was going to link to a story about it, but just search "Brody PR" and look at some of the headlines/blog posts that come up). I am finally addressing something that makes my blood boil (and yes, it makes my blood boil even more than a PR agency spamming more than one hundred technology and social media leaders) - it's the allegation that PR firms don't add value.

An article in the The Business Insider states that an anonymous former PR executive alleges that 90% of PR firms add no value. He/She then lists several characteristics businesses should look for in a PR firm to guarantee a higher ROI. Now, I have to admit, I agree 100% with every attribute listed. What I take issue with is that a majority of PR firms are unable or do not add value on a consistent basis. 

I think most PR firms add value to their client's business. I absolutely LOVE my industry and while agency relationships with a client are a two-way street, some PR firms are more effective and much better at establishing and maintaining long-term relationships with clients. But why? Why are some agencies better at this than others?

In my own professional experience, some PR firms aren't as effective as they could be because:

1. They fail to do the research to really understand a client's industry/market space. Research can be expensive. If done correctly, however, it adds much needed information to craft an effective communications strategy across all aspects of a company's marketing, sales, internal and external communications.
2. They fail to GET OUT OF THEIR OFFICES to go meet with the press/bloggers/etc. and learn about their interests (no pitching allowed). Research on the Internet will only get you so far. If a PR agency is getting out and meeting those who cover a client's industry (whether it be at industry events or buying them a cup of coffee to get to know them better), it helps in not only understanding the needs of a particular journalist/blogger, but also can help in gathering intelligence about the marketplace.
3. They fail to introduce themselves as a resource (NOT just a source) for media who are increasingly pressed for time. Hiding who clients are doesn't work (unless an agency has a good reason for doing that). I've found sending a BRIEF note of introduction to key media when a new client comes on (complete with contact information), goes a long way in building strong relationships for clients with the press.
4. They fail to effectively communicate to the client a realistic timeline for a media/awareness build, which eventually leads to frustration/disappointment. Anyone in the b-to-b  and b-to-g space will tell you that awareness and long-term engagement takes time. Communicating that upfront avoids frustration and disappointment. That is why having a sound communication strategy and plan from the get-go is so important.
5. They fail to push back on the client when necessary in order to achieve maximum ROI. Most of the criticism of PR firms seems to come from the lack of creativity and further ideas to drive awareness of a company's offerings. However, this is a two-way street: if a firm is consistently coming up with good ideas to drive awareness only to have them shot down (the "stick to the press release" mentality), a company can expect a diminished PR ROI.
6. They fail to effectively communicate their value. Media clips are nice, but PR is so much more than the latest press hit. If that's how a company is measuring effectiveness, they've just gotten publicity and NOT strategic communications counsel. Asking for an agency's advice or point-of-view on a business issue is one way to evaluate if a firm truly "gets" a company's business. It's not just WHO a PR firm knows, but WHAT they know about an industry. As I've said time and time again: Don't hire an agency to get you press, hire an agency to get you intelligence. Again, if an agency fails to demonstrate from the beginning how they measure and communicate to clients their effectiveness, a company should not hire that agency.
7. They fail to be anything more than the order takers, when what a company wants/needs a strategic partner who can use business intelligence to keep their company one-step ahead. An agency should consistently demonstrate applied knowledge on a frequent basis to show that they are proactively striving and driving a client's PR strategy.
8. They are failing to talk to the right people in a company. If a PR firm is not asking (and a company is not volunteering) senior leaders, SMEs, department heads, project managers, engineers, etc., it's not making full use of its arsenal of available PR resources and potentially atrophying its own ROI.
9. They tell a company what they want to hear, not what a company needs to hear.  Part of a PR firm's job is to serve as the much needed outside, objective third-party that is able to give insight and prevent "group-think" from occurring internally. 
10. IN SOME CASES, The people at the agency who sell the business, DO NOT effectively communicate a client's goals and objectives to the people who will be doing the work. This often leads to huge miscommunication and outright disappointment by a client who was expecting immediate results, when reality dictates that planning and (again) research be done to create and implement an effective long-term communications strategy.

I could list more, but these are the 10 things I've seen in my career that hurt a PR agency's effectiveness. Again, I need to stress that an excellent working relationship between a client and its PR agency is a TWO-WAY STREET. While agencies need to be more proactive, clients need to understand and establish how exactly they want to use and why they even want to work with an agency in the first place. Establishing goals, roles, and responsibilities for all parties at the beginning of a relationship will not only lead to a lasting partnership between parties, but goes a long way in PR agencies demonstrating value and enhancing its own reputation over time.

Getting It

Does your firm "get" social media for its clients?

Jennifer Leggio at ZDNet is trying to find out which PR firms understand and are executing successful social media campaigns for their clients. She's created a survey for companies (read: NOT PR pros/agencies) to weigh-in on what PR firms are doing and more importantly should be doing in regards to social media.

I suspect we'll see the usual suspects in terms of PR firms that are actively and successfully integrating social media campaigns as part of their larger client's strategy. Anyone know of small to mid-size PR firms that are generally overlooked in terms of their social media capabilities and execution? I would love some recommendations.

If you are a savvy marketing/communications manager for a company that is looking to hire or has hired a PR firm to help you with your social media strategy, you can take survey here. PR peeps: forward to your clients if you think they would be interested in filling it out. End submission date is Jan. 5th, 2009. Jennifer says she'll post the results in January.