In fact, there is no freedom without independence, and those of us who’ve chosen to ply our public relations trade independently know this well. Exempt from external control and empowered to manage our futures without restraint, Solo PR Pros know the true meaning of freedom in our own lives.

So, let’s take a moment to enjoy Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness on your own terms! If you aren’t independent yet, let this be an occasion where you develop a plan for your own declaration of independence.

Last year, I shared my favorite perks of freedom – what are yours?

Image credit: Techhie

For those of you who are active on Twitter, @PRCog needs no introduction. One of the few examples of social media anonymity done right, PR Cog expresses – with trademark humor – many of the frustrations that exist for a mid-level PR pro. These generalized beefs can be with both clients and upper management, and many of his tweets are now on behalf of other annoyed PR tweeters, submitted anonymously to him by Direct Message.

I was happy to electronically interview this popular Twitter character turned blogger, who shares his insights on both PR Cog’s Gear Grindings and PRBreakfastclub (where he serves as Editor and Publisher). But little did I know I was about to be given a worldwide exclusive to the Cog-related story of the year!  Read on…

1. Being a PR Cog sure sounds tough — how’d you come to such a fate?

Well, I became a Cog in a small professional services based shop about 5 years ago after leaving the professional services space.  I became @PRCog on a bad working day almost 18 months ago. I made the account, tweeted a bit, followed some journalists and pros (not in the Law & Order sense) and forgot about it.  I returned a few weeks later to discover I had been re-followed by more than I expected.  I fully expected backlash and have only been told by one person that they know of someone who doesn’t like what I’m doing.  The person who doesn’t like it has yet to grow the brass ones to tell me. More details can be found in Valerie Simon’s interview from a few months back.  But it’s been a very enlightening experience since I started.

2. What’s the most difficult thing about your current state of affairs?

Let’s come back to this one…

3. Do you ever long to escape the grind and become a Solo PR Pro?

Well, this is the first time I’m putting this out there publicly — I already have.  A few months back my old agency and I parted ways.  I wasn’t growing as a professional any longer and had filled all the possible positions / done all the tasks at that agency (we were VERY specialized).  It was all very amicable – I still try to refer them business and they send me work occasionally.

Since then, in addition to looking for new opportunities at an agency and in-house (because we all like the stability of a paycheck, and I’m the first to admit I’ve got plenty to learn – I know if I don’t pursue other opportunities simultaneously I’ll wonder what’s out there), I’ve setup my own shop and have been living the solo life (living room office, kids asking for juice during biz calls, etc. – the whole kit’n'kaboodle).  I’ve worked a few contracts/consultations and am continuing to seek out new business.

4. Is being an independent PR consultant the best way to find freedom? What’s a Cog like you dream of doing?

Unless you can find that perfect agency/company and love everyone you work with (i.e., if PRBC were to form their own agency – xo Cats & Kittens ), it would appear to be.  The experience has been very liberating.

During a recent potential client meeting, who in addition to my normal skillset I discovered was also looking for skills and experience outside my comfort zone, I was able to actually say, “Yes, we can do these things, realize though this part of it isn’t where my background is and it’ll be a learning experience for both of us.”  I disclaimed that if needed we could knock down the tab or I’d bring someone in short term to teach me a few things.  I’m happy to sell myself to the best of my abilities, not make promises I then expect my “staff” to fulfill.

Could it have cost me the contract? Maybe, but that’s better than having a dissatisfied client and not being true to what I can and can’t do. Particularly early on – some of the best clients at my former company came from satisfied client referrals – don’t want to start off on the wrong foot.

So, returning to question 2 — the biggest issue now is the social media side.  Inevitably the question comes up, “Do you have any social media experience?” It’s quite a dance trying to reference my blogging, PRBC activities, and Twitter use without specifically referencing PRCog. Returning back to a normal twitter account will be difficult given the number of people that have actually seen me IRL (most of whom I trust, but there’s too many to depend on it being kept a secret).  Thankfully, I’m having more conversations than snark, so even if I have to go there I can.  Potential clients have no interest in outing me.  Most of the current venom has been archival or ghost tweets (tweets sent on behalf of others [as therapy] that they can’t send because their bosses or clients are following them).

5. Any extra tidbits you can tell us about the man behind the mask?

Oh goodness.  Well, next big projects include an interesting PRBC project and for this summer — Masquertweet, of course .

I’m still the same snark filled, fun loving, optimistic (ok, that one’s only partially true) me.

Actually there are a few odd observations — One of the biggest things that surprises me is the number of people I’ve never tweeted with before whose first question in a dm is ‘What agency are you at?”  I don’t assume everyone in the PR world knows who I am (goodness, I would hope not), but if I was really going to randomly disclose that info wouldn’t I have it in my bio?  Or a real name? Or…something else indicating I want to tie my real self to this identity?  This may be an indication of one of the biggest SM/PR problems — not researching (or reading) before engaging.

The lack of identity seems to put a number of people at ease online – I’ve had numerous people tell me things in confidence I wouldn’t tell others that I do know IRL.  Perhaps there’s a belief (which is true) that I have no incentive to ruin anyone (at least anyone that hasn’t given me reason to), and the credibility of an anonymous person is in question so the risk is minimal.  Maybe others are just more trusting than I am (a definite possibility).

—

So, there’s the bombshell. I had intended to interview a Cog on how he longed to break free – only to find out he already had! Fellow PR pros, do you agree that becoming an independent consultant is the best way to escape life-long Cog status? What advice would you offer to our newly-solo PRCog?

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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!

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!

This is a guest post from Heather Whaling of Geben Communication.

I fired a client last week. If this is some sort of “rite of passage” that every SoloPR person experiences at some point in her career, I guess I’m officially a member of the club.

While I’m a new SoloPR person — on my own since December –  I have eight-plus years of agency experience. In all that time, I’ve never had a relationship go this bad, this fast. It was quite a learning experience for me.

Without rehashing all the ugly details, this client didn’t follow through on some things on his end, which put me in a very compromising situation with a highly influential reporter/blogger and a number of other people. At the same time, he told me he wasn’t going to be able to pay me for work already performed. When I told him that I couldn’t continue working for him on this or any other project until took care of the issues with the blogger and while these bills were outstanding, he sent me nasty emails — totally out of line and untrue.

How would you have responded? Even though the concept of firing a client may sound a little crazy, I don’t want to align myself with people like that. To me, it’s not worth it. I think WHO you work with speaks volumes. Sarah Evans once wrote that business owners need to trust their gut when deciding if a partnership or client is the right fit. I couldn’t agree more.

In fact, this was one of the most valuable lessons I learned at my last job, director of PR for Costa DeVault. Linda Costa founded her company nearly 25 years ago, and today it’s one of the top PR/marketing firms in Florida. She’s an incredibly savvy businesswoman. Working for Linda for four years taught me a lot about running a business, not the least of which is the importance of treating people the right way. Linda wouldn’t stand for clients who didn’t treat her employees with the respect they deserve. Nor would Linda do business with every potential client that came calling. Now, as a business owner myself, I can subscribe to that same approach.

This whole experience has made me realize a number of things, but most importantly, that one of the benefits of owning my own company is the ability to pick and choose the clients I work with.

As SoloPR people, we don’t have to put up with clients who are disrespectful or falling short on their end of the bargain. Being solo gives us the flexibility to work with people, causes and clients that we truly believe in. It’s easily one of the best things about working for myself. While this week has been challenging, it’s also been an excellent learning experience about the types of clients I want to align myself with.

I’d love to your perspective: How do you handle clients and prospects that don’t align with your personal approach to business?

Heather Whaling is an award-winning, seasoned communicator, fusing strategic thinking, strong writing skills and creativity to deliver public relations, social media and marketing results. She launched Geben Communication to work more closely with nonprofit organizations and small businesses. Additionally, Heather co-moderates #pr20chat, a weekly exploration of social media’s influence on public relations. Connect with her on her blog, Twitter or via email at heather [at] gebencommunication.com.

Unfortunately, due to some technical difficulties, we don’t have a full transcript of the entire session in one place. What the Hashtag has the second half of the chat available (also here in PDF), and for historical purposes I’ve attempted to cobble together the first half using screen captures from Twitter Search (available for download in PDF). I suppose this is a good reminder to all of us not to take the  transcripts for granted – join us live if you can. Anyone with a Twitter account is welcome to join us each Wednesday from 1-2 p.m. Eastern!

A special thanks to this week’s top contributors:

• @mdbarber
• @krisTK
• @PRProSanDiego
• @ShaneKinkennon
• @VirtueIMC
• @BettyEllis
• @LScribner
• @csojda
• @RobinMarie

What do you think about this week’s topics? Let us know in the comments.