INK PUBLIC RELATIONS

This morning, the ladies of INK PR and I were fortunate enough to speak with a group of high school students in a program called Upward Bound. This program provides fundamental support to participants in preparation for college entrance. In addition to counseling, academic instruction and cultural enrichment, these students travel to different companies to discuss possible career paths. This morning, while eating delicious breakfast tacos (thanks, Beth!), we were able to speak with them about not only what we do as PR professionals at INK, but how we got to where we are today.

It is kind of fun for me to talk about my college experience. As a recent alumna of The University of Texas at Austin (the BEST college in the nation), I love speaking to people about the invaluable resources that college can provide, inside and outside of the classroom. It is so encouraging to know that these high school students have already started thinking about their futures and are taking steps to prepare themselves. I am definitely inspired by their determination to succeed.

I guess it reminds me to always plan ahead. Life is a journey, not a destination. It is easy to focus on the here and now, but I must remind myself about the bigger picture. With every media list I construct, or every coverage report I compile, it is helping me build my knowledge of INK, our clients and public relations in general. Only a few years ago, I was preparing for college, registering for classes, and picking out a colorful rug to spruce up my Jester dorm room. Though I have since graduated, my education has not concluded. INK (and any job, for that matter) is its own kind of classroom. The lessons we learn here and elsewhere help shape us every day. Self-improvement is a never-ending journey and one that I will definitely enjoy traveling.

On Father’s Day, this one goes out to my dear old dad. He was a high school principal and spent most of his time embarrassing me. Yeah…he was my high school principal and once used the P.A. system to announce that he would “break plastic sitting benches over the head” of anyone he caught jumping on said plastic sitting benches. Even though we pursued different career paths, my dad passed along advice that I rely on in my profession as PR pro, particularly when dealing with stress. Don’t worry…it’s not to break things over people’s heads.
1.)   Stress is what you can’t control so forget about it and focus on what you can control.
Big news from industry giants that trumps absolutely all other news items (I am looking at you Apple iPhone 3G S), client expectations that don’t jive with reality (“why doesn’t Walt Mossberg want to review my 5th generation software development kit for improving the functionalities on the yo-yo of the future hitting markets in the year 3000?”) and impossible deadlines from reporters (and theeeeeen it’s always the TODAY Show producer calling to request that your client, who is currently half-way around the world, report for in-person appearance at their New York studios in five minutes) are all things that can really get your goat. Well, don’t let it. At times, you have to accept that you can’t control time, space and the opinions of other people no matter how hard you try. Swallow that bitter pill and move on to tackle what you can.

2.)   Dealing with stress is what you get paid for.
Like “walk to school cookies” or BlackBerry phones, stress (whether in the form of punk ass kids jumping on benches or cranky reporters killing your buzz) is part of professional life be you a school administrator or PR pro. So accept it. It’s what our constituents and clients pay us to do so take it for what it is…par for the course.

And if all else fails, according to the Zen of Ronny Nash (aka, my beloved dad)…drink whiskey and crack skulls.  Thanks Dad for making me the woman (and PR pro) I am today.

In the five and a half years of INK’s existence, we’ve been fortunate to land many clients from all around the country and world, in a range of industries.  The vast majority of those companies came to us via other clients’ referrals – something we’re very proud of – but many also found and selected us based on our specific expertise (in wireless technology, for example), our approach to client service, how we present ourselves on our website, or even our inclusion in local/industry lists, awards and organizations.  We’ve redesigned our web site twice to keep it fresh and while our primary values and approach have remained the same, we’ve infused it with more personality, added experience and new perspectives over the years because we believe these aspects of our company are important to existing and prospective clients.  We’ve also all individually built our social media networks in order to reach new people, learn fresh ideas, and network with various industries – including our own.  We are not unique in this multi-channel approach and with all this information, how do companies choose their vendors these days? Once you’ve determined that a few companies can do or appear to be able to do the job, what is prioritized next?  Service?  Awards? Media coverage? Social media presence? Personality? Experience? All of the above?

We’re interested in this not just for ourselves, but for clients as well.  What features and methods should be prioritized in their communications strategies?  We’re doing a quick Twtpoll to get an idea. If you have 10 seconds, please fill it out.  I’ll post the results later this week.  Thanks!

We received a RFP for a very cool Austin company this week. As with most prospective (and current, for that matter) clients these days, the company would like recommendations on social media campaigns (as it should). The more I explore and work within this area, the more I’m convinced that when you get down to it, social media is a set of tools that helps companies 1) communicate (something they may not be doing at all or not much) with their key audiences, 2) BETTER. Hmm, sounds an awful lot like public relations to me – communicating with key audiences. For that second part – the better – that’s why they hire INK.

My favorite thing about social media? The ability to have conversations that you never would have before, at least not in this lifetime. That’s really what we’re talking about here – communication has come full circle, from talking one-on-one in the cave, to one-to-few at the church, to one-to-many in the town square, to many-to-many via newspaper, TV and the Internet (yes, I skipped a few iterations in there – you get the picture), and now, we have the ability to go one-to-one again, but – here’s the cool part – WITH PEOPLE WE’VE NEVER MET, BUT WITH WHOM WE SHARE AN INTEREST. How cool is that?

This week I had a reporter at Forbes tell me “thank you for thinking of me.”  After I picked myself up off the floor, I could only presume he meant “thank you for knowing I’m the right person for your client to speak to because you looked at what I cover – therefore, thank you for thinking of me.” It was a nice affirmation that the process we follow at INK is the right way to do it. You hear it all the time at conferences and on blogs written by journalists and PR pros alike – you know the drill: READ what they write, don’t pitch if it’s not a fit, KNOW (and be able to talk about) your client. It all sounds so simple, but it’s not – it’s time consuming and thought provoking and yes, sometimes even scary (because you can do all that research and know in your heart the reporter is THE ONE, but still get hung up on – that’s just how some of the crankier ones work ). But, it’s also worth it in the end for the little joys of an email reply in the inbox, a successful phone pitch, and yes, a simple thank you – it does go a long way.