My family has spent a collective 100 years in B2B public relations. While my grandfather and father represent about 80 of those years, I’ve been around the industry about 20 years.
In spite of that collective wisdom, I’ve come to realize there were some hard lessons I had to learn myself. Can I share them with you?
Lesson #1– Don’t kid yourself – know what you don’t know. This is easy to do, especially
around year three or four of your B2B PR career. At that point, you have a working grasp of the tools, an understanding of how to serve a client and established reporter relationships. It sometimes leads to a premature sense of “I’ve got this.” If you, at any point in your career, actually start believing you’ve got it knocked, you are done like a piece of burnt toast. Instead, use it as a jump start opportunity to determine what you need to learn next. This is actually where your career starts to get interesting.
Lesson #2 – Practice intuition: You are developing instincts, born of many pitches, client meetings, team brainstorms and (most importantly) noble failures. Trust your emerging “gut” and listen to it. Share those insights with others and fine tune them for prime time. The very best young professionals are the folks that are willing to take a professional risk or “leap of faith” in order to grow. Be bold.
Lesson #3 — The industry has talented leaders, but it’s up to you to find mentors: There are a lot of inspiring leaders in our profession: Brian Solis, Todd Defren, Steve Rubel, Jason Falls, Arik Hanson, Ike Piggott and Jeremy Pepper are all just a post away. But, realistically, you can’t expect them to have much (if any) direct time with you. You’ve got to find mentors that have the time and insight to help nurture your career. Those folks are harder to discover and are often not your direct supervisor. How do you start the search? Look for the natural teachers in your organization, instead of the obvious leaders. Who gets a thrill from helping others reach their full potential?
Lesson #4 — As a leader, your job is to serve others: At our firm, young Account Executives sometimes lead AAEs. That means that we have folks with less than a year of experience tasked with helping others to grow. This is a privilege. The more senior you become, the more you need to approach your junior colleagues as a servant. What inspires them? Scares them? How can you positively challenge them? As a leader, your success is directly correlated to the ability of your team. So shine the light on them and forget about “being in charge.”
Lesson #5 – Rehearse your disasters: I use this piece of advice every day. What could go wrong? What’s the Achilles heel of this presentation? Will this video storyline pan out? Is this the right staffing mix for this client? Does this angle feel current? (next week I’ll share 5 Rules I Wish I Knew About Media Relations When I Started My B2B Public Relations Career) What’s the downside of this decision? If you aren’t asking these questions every day, you’re not doing your job.
Lesson #6: Anticipate change: My grandfather would have a hard time initially recognizing lightning quick microblogs or diligent bookmarking as PR, but he would have quickly understood the potential. So, what’s next for our profession? Are you focused on what’s after Twitter? Can you tell a client if they ask you? Does your current career trajectory tee you up to become a “3.0 PR professional?”
You can find more great career advice for public relations professionals at Brazen Careerist’s PR/New Media Group, the Council of PR Firm’s Job Center and Culpwrit. If you could go back in time to the beginning of your career, what lessons would you tell yourself?
(photo by Capture Queen)
To reach Elizabeth:
Phone: 212.840.0017
Email: elizabeth@blisspr.com
Twitter: @elizabethsosnow
LinkedIn: Elizabeth Sosnow
09/08/2009 at 7:38 AM Permalink
Great post, Elizabeth. Love the six lessons. One that I seem to come back to time and time again is “ground yourself.” Sometimes we get so caught up in the coolness of the latest tool or the “big idea” that we forget to ask “why?” You will eventually crash and burn if you don’t truly understand the fundamentals — things like:
- the 4Ps of marketing (and NO, one of them is NOT PR!)
- diffusion of innovation (Awareness, Interest, Evaluation, Trial, Adoption, Reinforcement)
- the four-step public relations process (RACE)
- the psychology of preference and risk/reward continuum
There are certainly others…but the point is that while the tools have changed, the fundamentals of human behavior haven’t. We need to understand the latter if we are ever going to be effective at using the former.
MJK
09/08/2009 at 8:14 AM Permalink
Lesson #7 — Accept Rejection: You’re not going to get every account and every deal. Someone will always be better than you, so accept it and get over it. Rejection is usually about the product or idea and not about you–so remove YOU from the equation. Pick yourself up, then start working smarter and harder on the next presentation.
09/08/2009 at 8:39 AM Permalink
Elizabeth, this is terrific and I sure miss getting to riff with you on a regular basis!
#8 – Your client may not always know what is best for his or her company but you need to give it your best shot and know when to retreat gracefully
You are getting paid to think and advocate your point but in the end the client, even to his or her detriment, may decide to go another direction. Knowing how to make peace with these decisions and move on takes practice and experience. Sometimes these are harder lessons to learn but they might be the most rewarding.
09/08/2009 at 9:12 AM Permalink
Wish I met your Grandfather!
09/08/2009 at 1:07 PM Permalink
Great post, Elizabeth. I especially like #4: servant leader. This is an idea I was fortunate enough to learn early (ish) in my career and try to apply everyday. A big part of my job is to help people around me be better at their jobs. I can do this by removing obstacles, coaching, encouraging or just listening. It is then truly rewarding when these people succeed.
09/08/2009 at 1:32 PM Permalink
Elizabeth – Great post. Congrats on getting the blog launched. I agree with all of this, especially knowing what you know. Doesn’t mean you have to stop learning – quite the contrary – but PR (especially now with social media encroachment) is too broad to be all things to all people (and clients).
Looking forward to more great posts from you and the whole Bliss PR team.
j
09/09/2009 at 4:56 AM Permalink
This is a great post, Elizabeth — nice done! 100 years — now THAT’s impressive! (And practically sounds like a book title!)
09/09/2009 at 12:39 PM Permalink
Thank you for sharing this Elizabeth. Spot on, especially #4. I will always remember the people who influenced me early on.
Another important lesson: take the time for research and get to know the background of reporters and bloggers, beyond the immediate beat they cover. Don’t let pressure prevent you from this important step.
Do they cover hardware or software, or both? What is their writing style? What blogs do they frequent and do they contribute? What time of day do they expect to be contacted? What companies do they follow regularly? These are just a few of the questions to consider.
It would seem this is an obvious lesson. But under pressure, all of us can forget how important this is. And for those new to the industry, there is an eagerness to impress. A lesson learned that is important to building relationships early.
09/10/2009 at 6:47 AM Permalink
Great post Elizabeth! I especially agree with #4 and #6. Complacency and resting on laurels in our industry does our clients and our profession a disservice. Intellectual curiosity, professional growth and just wanting to know the best ways to serve our clients now and in the future are what keep me in love with B2B communications. Again, great post!
09/10/2009 at 9:34 AM Permalink
I am a newbie and I love lists like this. Sometimes I get tunnel vision and its important to help me to remember to expand my thoughts.
09/10/2009 at 12:58 PM Permalink
Great post! I agree with everything, Elizabeth, and would also add:
1) Know how to manage – both up and down: I think too often people are too focused on doing their work and overseeing their specific areas that they forget to manage up to senior leaders and senior staff.
2) Treat your colleagues like internal clients: Everyone has a different management and work style. Some are laid-back, others are more hands on. Just as no two clients are created equal, the same goes for our colleagues. So remember to approach your managers like clients – learn how they like to work and deliver to them in ways that will really resonate.
3) Work at the level above your current one: If you’re an AE, work like an SAE. Deliver above and beyond all the time.
4) Under promise and over deliver: I learned that one from you, Elizabeth.
5) Be a specialist: What we do is somewhat general in nature, and yes, the landscape is always changing and evolving, but there is still something to be said for being a specialist in something. Whether it be digital, media relations, writing or knowing insurance reporters inside and out, “owning” something is a great way to shine and really add value to your firm. The more “specialists” a firm has, the more well-rounded the firm can be – and the more value you can bring to your clients.
6) Remember, flat is the new up: These are crazy, unprecedented times for our clients. Budgets are getting cut or disappearing. Make yourself and your firm invaluable by 1) always anticipating your clients’ needs, 2) making sure evertything you do moves the needle for them 3) making sure you add value to an account every day and 4) doing great work so your clients can look like stars to their clients and internal counterparts.
09/13/2009 at 7:20 AM Permalink
Elizabeth — Thanks for sharing your wisdom so the rest of us can benefit.
I’d add one more to the great list posted here:
Know yourself, which goes along with your thought: know what you don’t know. For me this is about understanding who you are and how you operate so you can be effective in the worlplace and content in your life. This includes valuable info like where you get your energy from, how you make decisions, how you learn best, common traps you might find yourself in to be aware of, and so on. This is especially important for those of us in the consulting world so our work and counsel is always about the client and not at all about our needs. I believe we as humans want to be authentic and those who are lucky enough to be content know who they are and stay true to themselves.
09/13/2009 at 7:39 AM Permalink
Hi David:
What a great point. So many times in life, it’s easier to move to action than to stop and ask yourself if this new choice reflects who you are as a person. As a leader, this job becomes even more critical. If you understand who you are — and who you are not — you can help others to reach their full potential. If you are still caught up in figuring yourself out, it will be nearly impossible to become a role model for others.
09/13/2009 at 7:50 AM Permalink
Hi Danielle:
I love your additions to the list. Thanks for such a thoughtful response. My favorite is “flat is the new up.” While that comment is largely referring to work with clients, that idea has a significant impact on the internal nature of a PR agency. In a flat structure, we are all tied intimately to each other and rise/fall on the strength of the team. That can be tough in an industry where “hits” of one sort or another sometimes create a culture of “stars.” If you can figure out how to make your entire team look like a star, you’ll achieve so much more than a happy client.
09/13/2009 at 7:58 AM Permalink
Thanks, Natalie. You know what? I think we’re all newbies. The people who forget that are the ones I worry about
09/13/2009 at 8:02 AM Permalink
That’s really true, Colleen. I’m really interested in the idea of how you nurture intelliectual curiosity. You can surround folks with great ideas and challenges, but at some point, it’s a solo journey. What’s neat is that the era of social media has reawakened that sense “quest” in our industry. It’s fun to be a part of it!
09/13/2009 at 8:05 AM Permalink
I agree with you, Cathy. It’s amazing how some folks want to rush to the end, without doing the due diligence that’s required. That’s equally true for media outreach, a new business presentation or a social media strategy. “Do your homework” should not be brushed aside once you graduate from school…
09/13/2009 at 8:09 AM Permalink
Thanks, Ann. I particularly appreciate the comment from someone like you, who has inspired me on an almost daily basis. MarketingProfs is helping our industry to move forward with smarts and insight. Everyone in communications could learn a bit from watching…
09/13/2009 at 8:10 AM Permalink
Jason, you’ve led by example. Many thanks to you.
09/13/2009 at 8:12 AM Permalink
I completely agree, Mitch. I have a saying taped by my desk that essentially observes “the best leaders are those whose people said ‘I did it myself.’” Words to live by, though it isn’t always as simple as it sounds. (As you know!)
09/13/2009 at 8:14 AM Permalink
He was a character, Ralph. I think you would have enjoyed him. He was a very serious fellow who, very infrequently, could be quite playful. The fun was in trying to figure out who would “show up” on a given day!
09/13/2009 at 8:17 AM Permalink
Angela, that is extraordinarily important. Retreating gracefully requires the ability to “fold.” It’s certainly not easy to accept an outcome that you worked hard to avoid. But, there’s usually a good lesson to be had, as you point out. The trick is letting go of the emotion ao that the lesson can assert itself. Could be a matter of days or even months when that becomes clear. But hang on until you learn it.
09/13/2009 at 8:22 AM Permalink
Hi Greg: thanks for your perceptive comment. It ‘s closely related to Angela’s comment on this post. But, the critical difference (to me) is that rejection can be deeply personal. You may be removed from an account, or told that you dropped the ball on a project or even dismissed by a colleague. If you hang onto the emotion, you are literally chaining yourself to “me version 1.0.” But, when you use the rejection to rise to the next level, it’s sort of like the angels start to sing. It feels good and (the best part) others will automatically start thinking of your “2.0 version.”
09/13/2009 at 9:07 AM Permalink
I love your point about human behavior, Matt. It seems that almost every day I speak to someone who is sidetracked by social tools or a chaotic inbox or a difficult task. My first piece of counsel is usually to ask them what’s the root of the problem — and the answer is almost always about the stuff that we do/think/feel as human beings. Once you grasp that, it becomes alot easier to solve problems.