To be a journalist you need to love the creative process of story-telling. You need to love the adrenaline rush that accompanies that magic moment when a story comes together on deadline and you've discovered logic and order from chaos.
To be a journalist you also need to make a 24/7 commitment. You need to be able to do it day after day under trying circumstances. If you've ever lived the life of a journalist, you know that it's not brain surgery, but you do need to have guts and heart.
Public relations isn't brain surgery either, but you need guts and heart as well. The job requires the ability to be analytical and the capacity to take action. As a publicist, you aren't just putting words to paper; you are also charged with the responsibility of acting as your client's strongest advocate.
To be able to do that, to be able to make that type of commitment, you need to understand your client and the reasons why you want to tell his or her story. It's almost like being a lawyer— without the dirty feeling. (Just kidding, but not really)
Honesty and Passion: How to Communicate with Your Clients
I've stood in a boardroom for four hours straight laying out the elements of a multi-level media campaign, and it seemed like 4 minutes... When you believe in what you are selling, the gift of gab is easy.
Publicist-Client Relationship
Always under-promise and over-perform. Be conservative in your introductory presentation, but work like heck to surprise and awe your clients with media placement success. As the publicist, you are responsible for the ultimate success or failure of a campaign.
The Power of Brainstorming:
Think creatively every day, but have a game plan and a timeline. Use your creativity and brainstorming ability to create new pitch angles for your clients and then, when the news cycle spins your way, be ready to strike.
Public relations opportunities pop up almost every day if you know how to look for them. You need to make sure your PR business is a well-oiled machine that can fire on all pistons when a PR opportunity makes itself apparent. Boom! There it is...let's grind out a press release and jump on it. Start hitting the hot list and don't stop calling until you land a "whale" (big media hit). You need to smell the blood in the water. Be tenacious, be relentless, the moment is now.
You need to land a big hit for your client before the window of opportunity closes. To ensure success, you also need to make sure your team and client clearly understand your media outreach/placement procedures and their designated roles. Most clients need to know there is a game plan, and they want to be involved. That is why it is essential to make sure you like your client and spend plenty of face time with him/her.
Public relations is about developing a mutually beneficial relationship built on trust, respect, and success with your clients and media contacts.
All your clients need to know that you will make a positive difference in their lives. They need to feel the magic you possess. They need to constantly be startled, astounded, and yes, even awed by your efforts and successes on their behalf.
Your heart has got to be in it. Anything less—then you are wasting your time.
About the Author:
Adam Kluger is a former television writer/producer (CNN's Showbiz Today, FOX 5, E!).
For more than a decade, Adam interviewed Hollywood's top celebrities and wrote and produced the highly rated entertainment news show CNN Showbiz This Weekend with Bill Tush. After leaving CNN in 2001, Adam worked as a writer/producer at FOX 5 News, MSNBC, and E! until he founded Adam Kluger Public Relations in 2003.
Over the past four years, Adam's clients have appeared on/at/in:
The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Dr. Phil, The Big Idea with Donny Deutsch, CNN, CNNfn, CNN Headline News, CNN International, Paula Zahn Now, Fox News Channel, Fox 5 New York, Good Day New York, NBC Nightly News, NY1, ABC-TV, The Howard Stern Show (radio and TV), E!, Blind Date, Naked New York, VH1, Playboy, MSNBC, Newsday, WB11, UPN 9, NJN12, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Real Deal, Entrepreneur, Pink, InfoWorld, ComputerWorld, Monster.com, The New York Post, Chicago-Sun Times, The New York Sun, New York Observer, WCBS radio, 1010 WINS , Z-100, Life & Style (radio and TV), Metro Channel, Bloomberg, Forbes.com, Microsoft Small Business Center, Morgan Stanley.com, BusinessTalk Radio Network, Yahoo Business, Makor/92nd St. Y, Learning Annex, Animal Fair, TIME, Forward, Esquire, Wayne Brady, Ricki Lake, WCBS, The Hartford Courant, Lavalife.com, Nerve.com, The Associated Press, Wireless Flash, Mancow, KTLA, Loveline, Rick Dees, Mitch Albom, Doug Stephan, Your World with Neil Cavuto, Murray in the Morning, and dozens of nationally syndicated radio shows around the United States and Canada.
