For those of you who have been to a mall, you have seen those directories with the little dot on the map, indicating “you are here”.  For me, that’s where I feel like I’m at.

With my PR journey, it’s like I’m at a mall.  There are so many things to buy and I don’t even know where to begin.  PR has so many opportunities for those who are old and new to the industry but for someone like me, I don’t even know what “store” to shop at yet.

To those of you who thought that I left my racing track analogy, don’t worry.  This is still relevant.  To be able to run effectively in your PR Journey , you need the right “shoes”.  In this case, you need to be fitted with the right wear.  Something that’s comfortable and easy on the feet.  Something that can help you keep your footing when you’re trying to traverse into the industry.

What can help you get there?  For starters, you need the right kicks.  What I am talking about is networking.  Sometimes, the people you know can help you get there.  Especially in public relations.

Now some of you may have a LinkedIn profile that’s all filled out, full of different contacts.  While this is good, it may not be the most effective way to network.

First of all, you want your networking contacts to be people that you have actually met.  Don’t add a stranger.  Why?  It’s all about the purpose of the contact.  What is that stranger going to get you?  All they really want is more attention and publicity.

So networking is like this.

It’s NOT:  Add as many people as possible.

BUT: Add a few people that can vouch for your performance that can introduce you to a few more people.  These are people that can help you get the position that you’re looking for.  If not the position, at least the volunteer experience that you’re looking for.  Volunteer organizations will be discussed in a different post, as getting into PR can be a little challenging if you don’t have the experience.

So how is my network doing?  All I can tell you is that it’s a work in progress.  I got rid of the “strangers” that wanted me to add them.  I can benefit nothing from them and they’re a waste of my time.

This is what I’m doing, and what each one of you can do to make your networking contacts count.

1. Find someone in your network that can vouch for your performance.  This can be a college professor or one of your previous bosses at one of the jobs that you worked at.  Who it is, just make sure that it’s someone that can vouch for you.  Your performance and potential.
2. Schedule a time and a place to meet with that person.  You will be talking to that person one-on-one.  During this appointment, you will be sharing your resume with them.  They will look at it for ten seconds, as this is the amount of time that an employee will look at your resume.
3. Ask your contact to list 2-3 contacts that they know in their network that can vouch for their performance.  Meet with them and talk to them one-on-one.
4. Repeat steps 1 through 3.

From what I heard, repeating this process will get you a better job.  Or, if you are already working, you can land a position elsewhere.

This is networking 101.  Networking done right.  And if you do networking any other way, all you’re going to do is fill your list with people that won’t be that effective at helping you find the position that you’re looking for.

Having that said, it’s time to review.  In this piece on networking, I discussed the following:

• I compared the the resources that we have to a mall, and how there are different “stores” with different “supplies”
• I then talked about networking.  The right way and the wrong way to do it.
• Finally, I gave the four steps to effective networking.

So where am I going next in my journey?  Hopefully somewhere closer to my desired position.  I’m putting in the miles, and I’m certain to reach a destination sooner or later.

So to open it up to you, I have this question.  What is your networking strategy?  Is it an effective one?  Could it use work?  I would love to hear your thoughts on this.

And by the way, please give my facebook page a visit and please remember to like it.  Every like will make this community more  effective so please tell everyone and click that button.

To all of you in PR, old and new, I look forward to running with all of you!

This is the question that is often explored in every Public Relations course.  If you, the one interested in Public Relations even ask this question, I wonder if you even have an interest in going into the field at all.  This question is okay to ask in your junior year of college, but a little late if you are seeking to go into the profession.

So why am I asking this question?  I feel that it is important that we explore what we already know about Public Relations before we venture forward into the further legs of the PR journey.  The beginner legs are quite simple, but the terrain does get far more challenging.  Trust me.

If you are just tuning in, welcome.  I have recently begun my PR journey, and I have a goal.  I want to share my journey with the world.  Every leg of it.  All the new runners can learn from this information and all the experienced runners can teach us the ins and outs of this industry.  PR as an industry has changed in the more recent years, and I will talk about that in a later post.  What I want to focus on today is the question that identifies the very core of this industry.  What is Public Relations?

I’m sure that you can all remember your professor asking you this question.  And he even challenged you to come up with your own definition.  What is Public Relations?  If we were to look at a textbook, here are a few definitions that you may find from it.

PR Definitions

Rex Harlow, the founder of PRSA came up with this definition for what Public Relations is:

“Public Relations is a distinctive management function which helps establish and maintain mutual lines of communication, understanding, acceptance, and cooperation between an organization and its publics; involves the management of problems or issues; helps management keep informed on and responsive to public opinion; defines and emphasizes the responsibility of management to serve the public interest; helps management keep abreast of and effectively utilize change, serving as an early warning system to help anticipate trends; and uses research and sound ethical communication techniques as its principal tools.”

Professors Lawrence W. Long and Vincent Hazelton define Public Relations as “a communication function of management through which organizations adapt to, alter, or maintain their environment for the purpose of achieving organizational goals.”

The British Institute of Public Opinion has a definition that is widely used in a number of different Commonwealth nations:

“Public Relations is the deliberate, planned, and sustained effort to establish and maintain mutual understanding between an organization and its publics.”

Well, you get the idea.  Public Relations is basically the relationship between an organization and the public at large.  It is how information is communicated between the two parties and how that information is managed.  If the information is managed and communicated effectively,  the public has a favorable opinion about that organization.  If the information is miscommunicated and managed poorly, the public has a not so favorable opinion about that organization.  An opinion like this can be harmful to an organization’s image.  With this in mind, good PR is important for the organization, so that its members can have a positive opinion of it.  Good PR is also important externally, so that the public holds a positive opinion on the organization.  This includes customers, clients, consumers, shareholders, donors and contributors.

While the goal in PR is to maintain positive relationships between the organization and its publics, we all know that there are cases where PR can go in the opposite direction.  Scandals can ruin an organization’s image.  Harmful products, recalls and other negative scenarios associated with an organization can generate negative opinion and ruin that organization’s image.  In some of the later legs of this journey, I will be exploring some important case studies, outlining the situation and how each organization/business  handled that situation.   Crisis management is an important thing to learn, as each organization is prone to negative publicity.  And with an emergency kit, a crisis can be identified, isolated, diffused and controlled.  The healing of a crisis comes with time.

The case studies will be explored later.  There are a lot of good ones that each person going into PR should know, and we will explore them together.

In getting back to the discussion, what is public relations?  As of the time of my typing this, wikipedia defines Public Relations as “the practice of managing the spread of information between an individual or an organization (such as a business, government agency, or a nonprofit organization) and the public.”

I included that above definition to illustrate the current age that we live in.  With social media, wikis, and everything else on the internet, this is changing the way that information is shared in the PR industry.  With blogs and twitter, information can be shared instantaneously, at the stroke of the key and the click of a mouse.  Or, if you have your smartphone, at the press of a touch screen.  With this new technology, this has created new possibilities and opportunities in the way that information is shared.  At the same time, it has created new issues.  Issues that I will definitely be sharing in the later legs of this journey.  Oh. there is so much we are going to learn.  I am just getting started.

I mean, we have barely scraped the surface!  For those who just love those sparknotes and live by them,  here’s what I discussed:

• I went over some definitions of PR including an IMPORTANT one from Rex Harlow, the founder of PRSA (I would definitely write that one down if I were you.) I even gave my own definition of PR, which is fairly easy to find (psst!  It’s right after the third definition!)
• I talk about the positive and negative consequences of PR.  I then talk about how PR can go in the totally opposite direction  (Does Tylenol ring a bell?  Anyone?  Don’t worry.  We’ll cover it in the future.)
• I then share another PR definition from a new medium and explain how the information age is changing the way that information is exchanged in PR (Have you reddit yet?).

I would like to end today with a question directed at you, my fellow runner.  What is your definition of public relations?  How would you explain public relations to someone who doesn’t know what it is?  I’m curious to see your answers.

Oh, and by the way,  I just set up that facebook page, so give it a good click.  Don’t forget to like it!  It is a new community, so not a lot of people have moved in yet.  With that in mind, I encourage you to click that like button!

To all of you in PR, old and new,

Ready?  Set?  Go!

For me, this is the starting line in my PR Journey.  Most of the other “racers” have already passed the starting line.  I just crossed it now, and I’m in hot pursuit to catch up with the rest.

So what am I doing here, being such a latecomer to the race?  The sprinters have already ran, amassing their experience through PRSSA and PR internships.

Yeah.  Those sprinters do have quite impressive strides, but it doesn’t discourage someone like me one bit.

So what is the purpose of this segment?  For those of you who are just tuning in,  I have just begun writing a new segment for this website.  It’s titled “My PR Journey”.  The title is self-explanatory.  I will be sharing my journey with you.  From the starting line to my first job in PR and beyond.  All of those “tough jobs” that you have to go through before you get to the one that you want.  Every leg of the journey will be included.  Not one will be left out.

What you will find in this segment is information.  Tons of it.  I will be sharing all the new things that am learning in PR.  This will include what I already know, along with my thoughts on articles from trade publications that cover the latest trends in the industry.  So if you are late to the starting line too, don’t worry.  You can run alongside me and we can all learn together.

While there may be many imitators doing this already, that doesn’t discourage me either.  Having another blog about PR is a big plus.  Especially one with the goal that I have in mind.  I want this to have a personal feel to it.  We are running together and if you are reading this, then you too are part of the journey.

My strategy will include the following.  I will be creating a “My PR Journey” facebook page.  On it, you can get updates regarding my latest posts, as well as information about the industry from new and experienced people alike.

I have some ideas for some PR campaigns that I will be trying in the future.  So with this segment, you can expect me to share some PR campaigns that I’m working on every now and then.

So with each one of these updates, I encourage those in the PR industry, new or old to leave your thoughts in the comments.  I would like to begin some interesting discussions about PR and what your journey looks like.  While the segment is “My PR Journey”, I would like to hear yours as well!

From what I have already read about getting into PR online, content is king.  And like that saying, I would like this content to be ruler over the land.

Since we will be running for a while, here’s a little information about me.  I am a graduate of Central Michigan University with a Bachelor’s of Science in Journalism.  And believe it or not, my area of concentration was in Advertising, NOT Public Relations!

Concentrations aside, my focus has shifted over the years.  Advertising is not something I could really get a job in.  It’s not really something that interests me so much as public relations.

So what have I done in PR?  While it’s not much, I still think that it deserves a little attention.  From 2011 to 2012, I have served as VP of Public Relations for Toastmasters International, a non-profit.

To be more exact, it was VP of Public Relations for two different clubs in Midland.  Midland Toastmasters and Sensational Speakers.  During that year, Toastmasters International was going through a brand update.  This update would change the branding of their organization everywhere, including the website.  On the freetoasthost website (a free hosting site for clubs), I was responsible for guiding the clubs through the branding update.  This update would affect the layout of the page, and it required that I backed up some really important information if I didn’t want any of the clubs to lose that information in the branding update.

So with PR, I have at least gotten my feet wet.  But I’m ready to jump headfirst into the pool.

To be on the right track, I have also joined two PRSA Chapters: White Pine and Central Michigan.  With both chapters, I hope to get the most out of my membership, learning everything that I can from them.  So expect to see a lot of posts regarding everything that I learned.

So that’s a little bit about me.  I can still see the starting line behind me but I’m well on my way in getting to the farther end of the track.

If you’re taking notes, here’s the short version for those of you who love Sparknotes.

• I discussed the purpose of “My PR Journey” and what I plan to do with it. One of them is creating that facebook page, so check it out when it’s up.  We can all run together!
• I shared a little information about me, regarding my educational background and PR experience

So yeah.  That’s the introductory post.  It’s like day one in a college class.  You’re already looking forward to day two because that’s when all the fun begins.

To those of you who are running alongside me, welcome.  I look forward to sharing my journey with all of you.  All of the information that I learn along the way from the starting line to my first job in PR and beyond.

I look forward to running with all of you!

Your friend in PR,

Kyle