Solo PR Pro | Successful Freelance PR Consulting » collaboration

May 19 Chat Transcript

Kellye Crane — Thu, 20 May 2010 10:57:05 +0000

During the #solopr Twitter chat this week, PR consultants shared their top tips on topics that are key to running an independent PR business successfully. The questions included:

1) Does anyone have a co-op, biz partner or share office space? How’s that working out?

2) How do you charge for full-day sessions w/a client? Hourly rate? What if clients asks for a “day rate”?

3) Do you include a termination notice in their contracts? How do you manage if a client won’t?

4) How do you handle clients that don’t pay/honor contract? Are you worried about reputation if you fight?

Download this week’s transcript in PDF for the answers, and be sure to add your tips in the comments!

The #solopr chat – held each Wednesday from 1-2 p.m. Eastern – is a weekly ritual for some of the most savvy Solo PR Pros on Twitter. Anyone with a Twitter account is welcome to participate – see Join Us for the #solopr Chat on Twitter to find out how!

for the answers, and let us know what you’d like to add in the comments!

From Productivity to Interns – #solopr Chat Transcript

Kellye Crane — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 00:17:05 +0000

During the #solopr Twitter chat this week, veteran Solo PR Pros and newbies alike shared tips on a wide-range of topics, including the following:

1) What are your favorite productivity tools?

2) Assuming many #solopr folks work from home, how do you manage interns and assistants? Where/how do they work?

3) Is it acceptable to apply for an internship in order to gain more exp for your own freelance goals?

4) In this economy, are you seeing more situations with clients flaking out on you (not paying, changing agreement mid-stream, etc.)?

Be sure to download the transcript in PDF for the wise responses to these questions. And stay tuned for an upcoming post detailing productivity tools – a sequel to “44 Tools for the PR Consultant’s Toolbox” (one of this blog’s most popular posts ever).

What do you think — do you have any favorite productivity tools to add? Any other suggestions to add to the discussion?

Lessons Learned

Kellye Crane — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 18:46:16 +0000

This week’s #solopr Twitter chat covered a wide-range of topics, with some of the top pros in PR consulting weighing in on the following questions:

1) Do you take credit cards or some sort of online payment vehicle?

2) Have you ever relocated your biz to another city/state? How did that work? Did you keep clients?

3) How do you justify retainers over $2k/mo, and/or how do you explain your hourly rate?

4) What are some of your biggest “lessons learned” (the hard way, or otherwise)?

One of my favorite quotes came from Kristie Aylett, aka @krisTK:

Lesson learned: more clients and more money do not equal more happiness or career satisfaction.

Be sure to check out the transcript in PDF for more insights on these important issues.

What are the biggest lessons you’ve learned as an independent PR pro? Let us know in the comments!

New Tool for Media Relations Collaboration

Kellye Crane — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 19:20:20 +0000

Those of us who’ve worked at agencies remember joining forces with co-workers to develop combined pitches before conducting media relations for feature coverage. Pitching a trend is much more meaningful when you have three or more spokespeople from different companies available and ready to discuss the topic at a moments notice. As journalists continue to find their resources shrinking, doing as much legwork as possible for them becomes even more important.

But lining up this kind of turnkey story becomes more challenging for independent PR consultants and boutiques. We all foster a network of fellow PR pros that we can tap into for media opportunities (or you should!), but what if you don’t know of anyone who fits a particular requirement, or you need additional resources quickly?

Pitch with Me is a new service designed to help public relations professionals connect with additional resources to generate more effective pitches. It’s the brainchild of Heather Whaling, @prtini on Twitter (side note: we recently co-wrote the post 5 Tips to Keep in Mind When Going Solo for the PR Breakfast Club blog, in case you missed it). Heather told me why she chose to launch this service now, after just recently becoming a Solo PR Pro:

“I come from an agency background and was used to brainstorming with my co-workers about opportunities to package clients in pitches. Now that I’m out on my own, I don’t have as much access to those kinds of resources. That got me thinking about ways solo PR pros, small businesses and nonprofits could team up. I’m a big believer in collaboration. Working together, I think we can develop stronger pitches, which should lead to better results for our clients. At least, that’s what I hope to see happen with Pitch with Me!”

I took a look at the simple online tool (which operates similar to HARO, but filling a different need). You submit a request through the Pitch with Me Web site, along with your contact information, a general description of the media outlet, an overview of the pitch and the type of resource you’re looking for. It is then displayed publicly on the site, as well as via @pitchwithme on Twitter – an automated feed of submissions. (You may want to use a special email address for submissions, to avoid receiving spam on your main account from bots who might be trolling the Web looking for email accounts.)

To me, a wise aspect of Pitch with Me is the fact that you control the opportunity (and how much information is revealed) when you submit your request. We all know PR can be a competitive business, and there are bad guys out there who might try to “go around” you if they had all the information on your plans. The tool is setup so you can mitigate that risk by being highly specific about the resources you need, but vague about who and how you’re pitching. I also like that I can see who is making the request. If you find one of your Solo PR Pro buddies looking for help, you’ll likely jump at the chance to work with a trusted colleague.

This tool looks like it has potential to help independent PR consultants improve their efficiency, and perhaps their media relations results. What do you think?

Modern PR: The Next Wave

Kellye Crane — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 17:56:38 +0000

Whether you call it PR 2.0, New PR, or some other catchy moniker, it’s clear that public relations is moving into a new age. As we’ve noted, Modern PR means evolving, adapting and embracing new challenges. At the forefront of this evolution is PR’s incorporation of a more conversational approach to communications, made possible – and necessary – by social media.

Though it’s a common mistake in PR today, we should not look at social media as simply a new set of tools. It’s not just an emerging channel for pushing your same old messages, or a new medium to exploit with “viral marketing” campaigns. In fact, thinking in terms of “social media campaigns” misses the point entirely. Social media ushers in the era of two-way communications , and we must respond by entering the next wave of PR practice.

In essence, the next wave of PR is just the latest evolution in doing what PR has always done: communicate, using the best methods at our disposal. As our focus moves away from one overly dominated by media relations, we now must look at employing all the methods available for communicating with the people who make up our publics. We must no longer think in terms of “hits,” audiences, and eyeballs, but instead create and participate in conversations and community.

But let’s be clear: the days of PR exerting at least some control over all of the public expressions regarding a company are over. Finito. Someone play Taps. Today, no one “owns” the message – an organization’s positioning is created organically as the result of its actions and the conversation around it. For example, if a company is saying things that clearly differ from reality, the crowd will set it straight. The people formerly known as the audience are no longer passive, and the time to recognize the affect on PR is now.

Such a shifting of the sands can feel very frightening and discombobulating to PR professionals, especially those of us who came along at a time when “control the message” was a mantra. But rather than fear the change, we should see that the next wave of PR actually presents unique opportunities for us and the organizations we represent.

The Next Wave and the Solo PR Pro
In the same way that one shouldn’t dabble in media relations, neither should you pretend to be social media savvy if you’re not. If you’re just getting started, the key is to start by listening. Join and participate in social media networks as an individual, long before you start interacting on behalf of clients.

The good news is that as consultants, we are already well-versed at being chameleon-like. Listening first, so we can fit into a new culture, is second nature to those of us who work in varied industries with a number of different organizations. Staying abreast of the latest theories from thought leaders by reading blogs and participating in conversations is critical as we all continue to learn and expand our understanding of what it means to do PR today.

The potential rewards for this effort are vast. Not only is PR as a whole changing, but confused organizations are hungry for savvy communications assistance, and who better to shepherd organizations into this unfamiliar communications territory than PR? And with in-house PR teams increasingly lean and strapped for time, who better to serve this role than an independent practitioner?

As outside consultants, we offer an excellent alternative for organizations currently locked in political battles over who should handle these initiatives. We’re also blissfully free of the social media site bans that large IT departments often put in place. Invest the time needed to become educated about the next wave, and then you can step up and take your rightful place as a PR consultant who leads rather than follows.

Obviously, the evolving PR landscape is an area we’ll continue to explore on this blog moving forward. What do you think? Are you seeing more consulting opportunities as a result of the changes? Are your clients thinking about these issues, or are they still in avoidance mode?

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