Can Newbies Avoid The Pitfalls?

Yes indeed! If you are a young person who has decided that a career in public relations will be your Caviar and Champagne in life, here are four situations in which you do not want to find yourself:

1. You confuse the basic function of public relations with sub-parts that make up the whole like publicity, crisis management or employee communications.

2. You feel unsure in approaching public relations problems, then uncertain about what counsel to give your employer/client.

3. As the years pass, you rely on career-long misconceptions about public relations but forge ahead anyway advising the employer/client ineffectively sometimes with damaging, if not dangerous counsel.

4. You realize too late that you have gone through your entire career without a firm grasp of what public relations is all about.

Newcomers can avoid those pitfalls by grasping early-on The Rosetta Stone of public relations, i.e., a guide to understanding the discipline and its core strength. Namely, people act on their perception of the facts; those perceptions lead to certain behaviors; and something can be done about those perceptions and behaviors that lead to achieving an organization's objectives.

Which is why, when public relations goes on to successfully create, change or reinforce that opinion by reaching, persuading and moving-to-desired-action those people whose behaviors affect the organization, it accomplishes its mission.

NO organization - business, non-profit or public sector - can succeed today unless the behaviors of its most important audiences are in-sync with the organization's objectives. And that means public relations professionals must modify somebody's behavior if they are to help hit the employer/client's objective and earn a paycheck. All else are but means to that end.

And here's one way to get there:

-- identify the problem or challenge
-- identify target audiences
-- set the public relations goal
-- set the public relations strategy
-- prepare persuasive messages
-- select/implement key communications tactics
-- monitor progress
-- and the end game? Meet your own behavior modification goal.

A bonus: you are using a near-perfect public relations performance measurement. I mean how can you measure the results of an activity more accurately than when you clearly achieve the goal you set at the beginning of that activity? You can't. It's pure success

So, as a beginner, can you expect to avoid the four pitfalls listed above? Yes, and here's why:

-- With proper preparation, you will not confuse action tactics with the basic mission of public relations because you will know precisely what each is and just what fits where in the public relations problem solving sequence.

-- You will feel more confident about providing counsel to the employer/client because the public relations problem at hand can be clearly identified allowing you to select solutions that obviously fit into the action sequence outlined above. You will identify your target audiences because you will know exactly who your employer/client wants to reach, and the necessary action tactics will then be self-evident.

-- You realize that you have gone through your entire career WITH a firm, successful grasp of what public relations is all about.

Of course, on the way you will also nurture the relationships between your target audiences and your employer/client's business by burnishing the reputation of the organization, its service and products. You will do your best to persuade those target audiences to do what your employer/client wants them to do. And while seeking public understanding and acceptance of that employer/client, you'll insure that your joint activities not only comply with the law, but clearly serve the public interest. Then, you will pull out all tactical stops to actually move those individuals to action. And your employer/client will be pleased that you have brought matters along to this point.

But when will that employer/client of yours be fully satisfied with the public relations results you have produced? Only when your "reach, persuade and move-to-desired-action efforts have produced that visible modification in the behaviors of those target audiences you, and they wish to influence.

In my view, this is the fundamental premise of public relations, its central, strategic function and the basic context in which you must operate in your pursuit of a successful and satisfying public relations career.

Please feel free to publish this article and resource box in your ezine, newsletter, offline publication or website. A copy would be appreciated at bobkelly@TNI.net.

Robert A. Kelly © 2005.

Bob Kelly counsels, writes and speaks to business, non-profit and association managers about using the fundamental premise of public relations to achieve their operating objectives. He has been DPR, Pepsi-Cola Co.; AGM-PR, Texaco Inc.; VP-PR, Olin Corp.; VP-PR, Newport News Shipbuilding & Drydock Co.; director of communications, U.S. Department of the Interior, and deputy assistant press secretary, The White House. He holds a bachelor of science degree from Columbia University, major in public relations.

Visit: http://www.prcommentary.com; bobkelly@TNI.net

---

How to Use Community Relations to Grow Your Business

Community relations is one of those marketing strategies that isn't... Read More

Levines Laws For Pitching With Panache

Excerpted from "Selling Goodness- The Guerrilla PR Guide To Promoting... Read More

Does the PR Blueprint Work?

Managers, please take a minute and read two sentences: People... Read More

Financial Planners Publicity and Marketing - Live By The Calendar

The media live by the calendar. Your story pitch might... Read More

Managers: PR More Than Tix and Plugs?

You bet! And in three ways vital to you as... Read More

PR: The Thrill of a Good Idea

The notion that a business, non-profit or association manager can... Read More

A Company That Doesnt Need Public Relations?

Really? You mean there are NO perceptions and behaviors peculiar... Read More

Lets Blow The Lid Off Public Relations

And show it for what it is - a humdinger... Read More

PR Buyers Beware!

It can bite you and waste your public relations budget... Read More

Writing a Press Release: Inverted Pyramid Style

A term you'll hear in newsrooms, in editing meetings, in... Read More

How To Write A Killer Press Release

One of the primary tools still used by PR professionals... Read More

Attention PR Shoppers!

As a business, non-profit or association manager, what do you... Read More

Dont Use PR

?lose the confidence of your key target audiences? discourage them... Read More

What Some Pros Know About PR

They know they had better do something positive about those... Read More

Transparency in Online Transactions

In these days of every increasing demand and competition, there... Read More

Why Not PR That Gets Real Results?

And not results you can measure only in terms of... Read More

Marketing-Minded Financial Planners, Focus on Main Points During an Interview

You never want to inundate a reporter with information, but... Read More

PR Where it Matters Most

What's more crucial to the success of a business, non-profit... Read More

Publicity Wont Thrive on Press Releases Alone

Press releases are a useful tool for announcing news and... Read More

Media Training: Why Nobodys Listening to You

SORRY?WERE YOU SAYING SOMETHING?Many spokespeople approach media interviews the same... Read More

Detailing The Famous Kentucky Derby Train

The annual detailing of the Kentucky Derby Train is an... Read More

How to Make Publicity Work for Your Business: Six P.R. Strategies to Use Right Now

Public Relations (or P.R.) is a wonderful, yet often overlooked... Read More

Possibilities Of The Blogosphere For The PR Industry In Spanish-Speaking Countries

Only two media in Spanish speaking countries offer RSS: the... Read More

Are You PR-Challenged?

You won't be if you accept a very simple premise.... Read More

Speak Up

Another way to really become known in your area is... Read More

Public Relations: Why it Works

The short answer is, it works best when its fundamental... Read More

PR: How Sweet It Is!

The public relations goal and strategy make sense; the message... Read More

Media Releases - Helping Grow Your Business

Business people often spend time and money trying to find... Read More

Managers: Do You Trust Your PR?

You can if, as a business, non-profit or association manager,... Read More

Public Relations Success Starts Here

For discerning business, non-profit and association managers, PR success is... Read More

How Real PR Works

For some, public relations works well when their news release... Read More

Ignore PR at Your Peril!

If you do, it means:you don't value tracking the perceptions... Read More

PR: Lets Talk Fundamentals

How much more fundamental can you get than this? As... Read More