Sometimes playing a straight bat to questions from the media just doesn’t work…

Don’t believe me? Check out this example of pugnacious journalism from Irish broadcaster Vincent Browne vs an ECB spokesperson.

This video has been added to my ‘Worst Media Interviews of All Time‘ blog post, which is worth a look for a seven equally cringe-worthy efforts.

Of course, these are bad interviews from the point of view of the spokesperson. One could argue the journalist does rather well.

Working for a Manchester PR agency made me understand that not many people understand public relations. I always remember trying to explain what I did for a living to my mum and dad.  I failed each time.

This lack of understanding didn’t stop with my parents.  Here are a few common misconceptions about public relations that I have encountered over the last 13 years while working in the industry.

• PR is full of beautiful women, fast cars and long lunches
• PR is a soft career option
• PRs work short hours are drink champagne all day
• PR is absolutely fabulous darling
• A PR degree is a prerequisite (I’d argue the opposite can be the case)
• PR is full of buzzwords and jargon
• PR = press releases
• Cuttings are king (what about inbound links and a million and one other metrics?)
• Bullshitters make good PRs (wrong, it’s a consultancy led business)
• Most PRs get digital (most don’t I’m afraid)
• Advertising Equivalent Value (AVE) is a good KPI (so, wrong)
• You can’t be direct, upfront and honest with clients or journalists
• Journalists make good PR (only a few can do make the jump.  You know who you are)
• Working in house in PR is more boring than agency side
• Good copywriters are good PRs
• Creativity is more important that strategy
• You need to be in London to forge a career in PR
• Big agencies are better than independents
• PR sits in isolation from marketing
• PR is not relevant for the c-suite

Here are five nuggets of hyperlink goodness, provided by a rather fine Manchester PR Agency (yes, us):

• If your agency doesn’t use these PR metrics then sack them.
• Keep your eye on Plexus Engine.
• Fancy reading up on a few cheeky WordPress plugins?
• There must be an easier way to find wifi hotspots than this nifty Foursquare app?
• Google+ pages for business.  Yawn.

Managing your reputation online is a key skill as businesses become more social and personal privacy declines.

When faced with a reputational issue, public relations professionals are of course a good place to turn.

I originally set up my first blog because I couldn’t be found online (my name is too common), but after creating the blog I was front page of Google.  With this increased visibility comes a responsibility to clean up after yourself and protect your reputation, and since then I have helped countless brands clean up their search results or project the right type of image.

As this infographic below shows, an occasional Google search of your name is no longer just for the narcissist.

Here are another six links to interesting internet nuggets and trivia, as shared  by your favourite Manchester-based PR agency:

• An interesting look at what ‘thought leaders’ believed exhibitions might have looked like now
• We really should enter the Golden Hedgehogs
• Obama turns to Tumblr
• Two good pressies for beginners.  What is newsworthy? and proof reading.
• Flow visualisation in Google Analytics.  Useful
• A bit of Roy Keane, which still makes good viewing despite the context of the Manchester derby.

This presentation should give PR and marketing practitioners food for thought.

Central to public relations is great content, and while all of this presentation is not always completely relevant to PR there is certainly some interesting concepts in here. What is especially relevant is how we consume content on the go.

Full service marketers take note.

These are eight of the worst media interviews of all time and perfect examples to use as part of a media training programme.

As part of our work here at PR Agency One, we often organise media training and these videos are classic examples of what can go wrong and why preparation counts.

I’d love any suggestions for videos to add to this post. Feel free to suggest some in the comments.

Video 1: dress appropriately for media interviews

Video 2: when surprised by a journalist buy time in a more sophisitcated way than this…

Video 3: no comment is not an option in the face of a crisis

Video 4: never go on head to head with Paxman

Video 5: if you are going to make up a PR story, at least be prepared with well thought through responses

Video 6: be very careful when dealing with difficult subjects

Video 7: turn your microphone off

Video 8: be humble in the face of a crisis

Video 9: Don’t worry, even the professionals can get it badly wrong

Ortis Deley presenting masterclass by yidioh

(hat tip to Graham Lancaster for three of these videos)

I recently contributed to a blog post by Kelli Matthews, an experienced PR practitioner from the US.

She crowdsourced comments via Twitter for a blog post aimed at PR graduates called Six Pieces of Media Relations Advice for the Newbies.

My advice for graduates embarking on their first major media sell in was simple: “pick up the phone.”

I’ve found many graduates these days rely on emailing journalists and some almost seem scared to pick up the phone. The discipline is called media relations after all, and how can you have a relationship with someone if you’ve never spoken to them?

Kelli has just under ten years of public relations experience; the last seven as the director of a full-service public relations, marketing and design agency. Her six years of work with undergraduate and graduate students at the University of Oregon’sSchool of Journalism & Communication has required her to stay on the cutting edge of research and practice in public relations.

“Outside View” is a regular guest column on the PR Agency One blog, written by people working within the marketing industry.  In the first post of the series Lauren Soar of marketing and PR recruitment firm ADAM looks at the challenges graduates face when looking for their first PR job.

Applying for a PR job is easy, it’s securing a role that suits, which is the hard part. With a lack of responses and feedback rife at the junior end of the market, it helps to have an understanding of why and what’s best for you to apply for.

1.  Know your enemy (I.e. the competition)

The hardest barrier most graduates face is competition from other graduates. The best way to tackle this challenge is to understand the competition and what they might offer.

There are several categories of candidate.  Those with:

• PR, marketing and media degrees and no work experience,
• PR, marketing and media degrees and work experience placements
• PR, marketing and media degrees and internships/work experience of 12 months or more (including placements whilst in study).
• Those graduates with qualifications unrelated to PR that have various amounts of work experience from none to 12 months

You can see, knowing the average number of graduates around, where the problems set in and where you are looking to rank in success ratings.

I am usually recruiting for several junior PR roles at any one time. Recently, I’ve been recruiting for a Consumer Account Executive role in Manchester. I received over 200 applications for this role in just over a week, with most from new graduates with a lack of the stated required experience.

No one can blame candidates for applying for roles that they might be under qualified for, especially when you’re desperate to get into an industry, but gaining a better understanding of what you’re up against, may put you in a better position.

2. Experience counts

As I mentioned in point one, candidates with more experience, stand a better chance of success. If there is an option to take a placement year as part of your degree, take it. This way, you’re gaining experience while you’re still studying and this will still be viewed as valuable work experience.

3. Experience doesn’t just mean a year out

If a placement isn’t an option during study, get yourself some work experience. If it’s while you’re still studying then all the better. This is more important in the case of candidates with an unrelated degree to PR.

Agencies, particularly in the northwest, are very open to approaches from graduates and students as it shows tenacity and a passion for where you want to be. A detailed covering letter will separate you from others outlining your uniqueness and what you can offer them, rather than what they can offer you. But don’t over do it; babbling and writing a full page essay instead of a short and punchy letter won’t make a good first impression.

4. Build your personal brand

If you haven’t already (if not, why not?!) get yourself a Twitter account. Do some research on agencies in the locations you want to settle in, follow them and their key players, learn about the industry and suss out what kind of companies, clients you think you’d be best suited to working with. Don’t just focus on Twitter.  Create a LinkedIn profile and write a blog. Don’t underestimate the power of social media.

5. Perfect the killer CV

Make sure your CV is watertight, well laid out and well written. You’re trying to get into a job that involves a lot of creative writing, so don’t let yourself down at the first hurdle.

At this stage in your career, the two page CV stigma shouldn’t be too much of an issue, but for future reference, don’t get sucked into limitation. Just be aware that a CV needs to be concise and is conventionally one to two pages in length.

However as long as the content of your CV is relevant, to the point and engaging, then all your content is important.

In short, don’t sell yourself short for the sake of a page. If you have the reader’s attention, they will keep reading. For further tips on CV writing and layout, you can visit our website.

Lauren is a PR & social media specialist at marketing and sales recruitment firm ADAM with a major focus on the Manchester/North West market, branching out across the UK. With a successful background and impressive portfolio of clients, her viewpoint is that creativity isn’t a job, it’s a state of mind – making her a prime contact when it comes to pursuing new recruits or sourcing a new role in PR. Follow on Twitter @laurenklair.

SEO and PR are more similar than you think. Before you scoff at this suggestion please hear me out.

Ask the really serious practitioners of SEO about their discipline and most will say that for good search engine visibility, a business needs great onsite content that is interesting, newsworthy and sharable.

Take, for example, Rand Fishkin, one of the biggest SEO authorities on the planet right now. He’s a great example of the ‘content is king’ ethos. He recently was asked:

What is the single best piece of SEO advice?  He responded saying:

“Create a site, service, product or hook that has a natural, viral feedback component accessible to search engines (via links, embeds, badges, incentives to share, etc). Make it repeatable and compelling”.

For me, creating content that is naturally viral, newsworthy and sharable is exactly what a PR consultancy should do. To this end, the difference between what a PR and SEO practitioner is negligible.  I’d go even further too.  I’d say SEO and PR is converging.

To illustrate this point further, take a look at Rand’s most recent ‘SEO and Social ‘ presentation, which I have embedded below. It goes to show that if a company takes social media seriously their ‘social signal’ can provide their business with a head start against any competitor which chooses to ignore the medium.

Take a look and if you want to discuss how PR can work harder for you from an SEO perspective then get in touch.