“We must be willing to get rid of the life we’ve planned, so as to have the life that is waiting for us" – Joseph Campbell The first time many people consider PR freelancing or consulting is the day they learn their job is no longer. If you’ve recently been laid off,...
pr consultant
11 Must-Watch Diverse Marketing Influencers
Lists of people to watch in marketing often come under fire for being light on diversity. Here’s the thing: including those with ethnic, cultural and religious differences is not hard to do! Some say there’s a diversity deficit, and that may be true, but as with many...
Business Goals, Referral Systems, & More
During the June 8 #solopr Twitter chat, independent PR pros discussed business goals, referral systems, client red flags, and more. Specifically, the following questions were addressed: 1. We're almost at 2011 half-way pt. How is everyone doing on their business...
What Are You?
During this week’s #solopr chat on Twitter, we had a lively conversation that included the pros and cons of the various labels we use for ourselves. Is it better to position oneself as a consultant, freelancer, independent contractor, or some other title? This...
To Free, or Not to Free
During a recent #solopr chat on Twitter, I made the following statement: Remember: it's worse to work for free than to not work at all. While many pros agreed with me, some had serious questions about this advice (below). But aside from new business opportunities...
When to Tap Your Network
One of the most important issues a PR consultant faces is how and when to bring in help as subcontractors. During this week’s #solopr Twitter chat, reasons to have a robust network of support came up in response to the following questions: 1) How do you handle...
PR Consulting Clients Want Specialists
This is a guest post from Kevin Dinino, Founder & CEO, KCD Public Relations Inc. I started out like many in the PR field, as a generalist Account Executive at a mid-size PR agency pre-Internet bubble. Once the sky started to fall and clients such as Neopets.com...
Don’t Be PR Roadkill
How can a public relations professional become PR roadkill? By continuing to ignore social media. Like an old Looney Tunes cartoon, there are throngs of pros about to stampede by and leave you in their dust. I wanted to offer up one final tough love post on the...
Tips on Twitter Lists, Podcasts and More
The #solopr chat on Twitter this week was another excellent example of how the Solo PR Pro community continues to be an excellent source of inspiration, ideas and resources for each other. One of the most lively discussions took place around Twitter’s fairly new List...
How do you distribute news?
This week’s #solopr chat – held each Wednesday from 1-2 p.m. Eastern on Twitter – got into the nitty gritty of one of the top issues facing PR professionals today: news distribution. Be sure to check out the transcript here in PDF, or online, for astute insights from...
Wisdom of #solopr Chatters
The November 11 edition of the #solopr Twitter chat took on a life of its own (as all good chats do). We tackled tough topics, including the extent to which agency experience is helpful to Solo PR Pros, and whether PRSA membership is useful to an independent...
Mentors for Each Other – 10.28.09 #solopr Chat
October 28, 2009, the date of this week’s #solopr Twitter chat, was a proud day for me. Why? Because I was unable to participate in the chat due to travel, and it proceeded full steam ahead without me. What a terrific testament to the community of Solo PR Pros that...
PR Consultants: It’s Twitter Time
As PR consultants, it’s our job to be a resource to our clients and stay ahead of the curve when it comes to new strategies, technology and tools. For this reason, the time has come: all PR consultants should be on Twitter… now.
Why Entrepreneurs Should Hire Solo PR Pros
In the world of entrepreneurial ventures and startups, there are frequent discussions of whether Public Relations is necessary (in fact, a Google search for the phrase “pr is dead” [in quotes, lowercase] returns 119,000 entries!). The question resurfaced this week as...
Success Stories: Shonali Burke
Our latest Solo PR Pro success story is the fascinating and always engaging Shonali Burke, ABC. Based in the Washington, D.C., area, Shonali is the IABC-accredited, award-winning principal of Shonali Burke Consulting. She blogs at Waxing UnLyrical, under the watchful...
Tapping the Collective Wisdom
The many ways the Solo PR Pro community can interact goes far beyond this blog. We're starting to have weekly #solopr chats on Twitter, and please join the brand new Solo PR Pro group on LinkedIn for yet another way we can ask questions and share ideas with each...
Join Us for the #solopr Chat on Twitter
We've talked before about using the #solopr hashtag on Twitter. Now, by popular demand, we've scheduled the first #solopr Twitter chat for this Wednesday, September 2, 2009, at 1 p.m. Eastern time. Prominent PR pros Heather Huhman (@HeatherHuhman) and Shonali Burke...
Jason Falls on Becoming a PR/Social Media Consultant
SoloPRPro.com Speaks with Jason Falls on Becoming a PR/Social Media Consultant
Readying for the Upswing
Some PR consultants are facing challenging times. While there's still lots of work to be had, in this environment clients occasionally slash their budgets mid-stream. Others are putting planned projects on hold for an indefinite period of time. When you get word of...
Why You Need an Online Home Base – and How to Get One
I'm afraid the time has come - some PR pros need a dose of tough love. I know you’re out there: PR and MarCom consultants with no presence online whatsoever. Many of you may have a Web presence, but perhaps it's anemic and a cohesive strategy is lacking. Now let me...
PR Consulting Questions? Let’s Share
I'm frequently asked all kinds of questions about becoming a PR consultant. Though we cover the full spectrum of being a Solo PR Pro on this blog, it has occurred to me (perhaps belatedly) that it would be beneficial to publish answers to the specific questions I...
Consultants: Celebrate Independents’ Day!
As the U.S. prepares to observe its Independence Day holiday, it’s an excellent excuse for consultants to pause and celebrate the many joys of being independent in business. Even in today's sometimes difficult market, being your own boss is extremely gratifying. Among...
Success Stories: Jen Wilbur
Solo PR Pro successes come from all walks of life, and everyone's story is unique. Since each PR and MarCom consultant makes his or her own rules, there's much we can learn from the experiences of others. To that end, I'm thrilled to unveil our first interview in what...
Are You Ready for Faster PR?
This is the first guest post on Solo PR Pro, and it comes from popular PR blogger Scott Hepburn. Scott is a copywriter for PRstore, a full-service marketing and PR company with franchises nationwide. He blogs at Media Emerging and plays devil’s advocate on Twitter as...
Modern PR: The Next Wave
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...
Modern PR: New Incentives to Behave Professionally
We know they’re out there. The people who say they’re in PR, but they really just play a numbers game – sending as many emails as possible, in hopes of getting a small percentage of recipients to cover their clients. In fact, most of us have probably competed for...
Look Before You Leap
Just before Thanksgiving, the brilliant David Meerman Scott wrote a post titled “Quit your job” that garnered quite a bit of attention (most of it positive). I was taken aback, because David is truly a great thought leader in the PR space, but on his point about...
The Time to Think About Your Solo Career is Now
There’s an elephant in the room – in fact, there’s an elephant sitting on this blog. It’s the economy, and it’s become a central issue for just about everyone. Whether you’re already a PR consultant or currently in a traditional job, we should all take steps now to...
Why Public Relations Consulting?
Are you looking to break free of the cubicle? With the U.S. Bureau of Labor and Statistics predicting that public relations as a field will continue to grow by 18 percent from 2006 to 2016, there are many opportunities to do just that as an independent PR consultant....