People often ask me, “What does a public relations professional actually do?”
To start off, a public relations professional serves as an advocate for clients looking to build and maintain positive relationships with the public. Their clients may include businesses, nonprofit organizations, the government, an individual, universities, hospitals, and other groups
Another way of looking at public relations professionals is thinking about them as image shapers. It is the job of the public relations professional to generate positive publicity for their client and enhance their reputation.
In order to make this possible is it vital for public relations professionals to create strong, lasting relationships with journalists and other members of the mass media. This allows for the best coverage and placement for their clients, which allows for greater awareness.
I think you are absolutely correct, when it comes to building relationships in our field. It is so key to remember that journalists are bombarded with phone calls from various public relation professionals and because of this we should try and stay friendly and professional with all contacts. You should make your client stand out and do something so that a journalist recognizes your client when you are pitching to them.
ReplyDeleteThe way you describe PR is a great definition. We are image shapers, but we have to make sure we are honest in the practice, in order to keep PR in a positive light. As odd as it is, we are responsible for making people "look better" to the public, yet we have the constant battle of defending our profession; most think that we lie, and spin stories. That may be true for some of us, but this small percent gives us a bad name!
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