Category: Uncategorized

By Meara Hain

There are many skills needed to be successful in public relations. You need to be creative, flexible, resourceful, and able to manage your time. But the most important skill required is the ability to build and maintain a working relationship with your clients. 

In public relations, we rely on clients to help us understand their brand. Without our clients, we would have no work. Creating a strong professional relationship with your client will help make your work better. Here are ways you can cultivate this relationship:

1. Communication is key

Clear communication is a must when working with clients. Whether it’s via email, text, zoom, or face-to-face meetings, you want to let your client know that you are there for them and their company. Be professional in your communication and be readily available for any feedback, requests, or changes coming in.

2. Timeliness

As a PR professional, it is important to respond to your client within your office hours as well as outside of them if it is expected with your work. Complete projects and express goals with your client so they have a clear understanding of your timeline. Make sure to add extra time between deliverables so there is time for feedback and revisions. 

3. Invite them into the process

Let your client be involved in the strategy and creative processes. Allow clients to express their visions as they have unique needs and inside knowledge of their product/image. Let them know that you are there to listen to their perspective of their product/image. This will then allow you to implement these brand goals in your work. 

“We all want to go above and beyond for our clients but sometimes, we just do not have the time or resources to complete all of their visions.”

4. Set expectations

We all want to go above and beyond for our clients, but sometimes, we just do not have the time or resources to complete all of their visions. Set expectations with your client early on in your professional relationship so you don’t disappoint them and seem unprofessional when you promise something that you are not able to complete. Expectations can also give you a starting point on what content you can create first and what you can look at in the future. 

5. Have fun.

Having fun may be a cheesy thing to say, but public relations can be a fun and exciting field! Although there may be stressful days, working for clients means creating new ways to promote brands. Be creative and let your client know that you are there and excited to help them show further their impact on their industry.

Check out the inspiration and resources for this blog, as well as get more information on maintaining and building client relationships with these links.

Managing The PR Agency/Client Relationship

5 Ways to Build Happy, Healthy Client Relationships

By Lucy Ventura

Feeling like you belong somewhere is an essential thing to look for when considering a position as an employee. One of the most important things a PR Professional should value and incorporate into their job is equity, diversity and inclusion. DEI is continuously thrown around these days, but what does it really mean? 

For many, distinguishing between these three words can be difficult. Diversity refers to the ways in which people differ from one another in how they identify themselves, equity is the fair treatment and opportunities for all people while trying to eliminate barriers that prevent everyone from being able to participate and inclusion is creating an environment that is welcoming and supportive. I heard someone once define it and it stuck: diversity is where everyone is invited to your party, equity is allowing everyone to contribute to the party playlist and inclusion is everyone having the opportunity to experience or dance to the music. DEI is important in the PR field because we communicate with and represent people of all backgrounds. 

Though you may not think you are biased, everyone has implicit biases. Implicit biases occur unintentionally but affect one’s behavior toward others.

DEI is not only valuable to incorporate in your work life, but in your daily life. Here are three ways to promote DEI in these spaces:

Educate yourself.

To begin implementing DEI you have to understand what each of these stand for. 

Diversity is all the characteristics that compose one’s identity. This is often only thought of in reference to race, ethnicity and gender but diversity also includes age, nationality, religion, sexual orientation, ideas and values. 

Equity is the fair treatment, access and opportunity for all while recognizing and eliminating the barriers one may experience. 

Inclusion is creating an environment that’s welcoming, respectful and supportive for all people to feel like they can fully participate in the community. 

Educating yourself on these terms is a great start but it’s important to also educate yourself on important topics and backgrounds. These topics include racial equity, micro-aggressions, intersectionality, and others.

Put DEI at the forefront. 

PR Professionals should refer to the Diversity and Inclusion wheel which shows unconscious biases or blind spots PR Professionals could have. This allows you to think about all kinds of people and consider whether different groups are represented in your campaigns. Your goal should be to work with DEI already incorporated into your message strategy or planning, not working to have “add-in’s” for DEI.  These “add-in’s” could refer to adding in forced workshops or trainings, but it should just be something we refer to and acknowledge in our daily lives.

Recognizing your implicit bias.

Though you may not think you are biased, everyone has implicit biases. Implicit biases occur unintentionally but affect one’s behavior toward others. This includes race and ethnicity bias, age bias, gender bias, sexual orientation bias and ability bias. Instead of feeling ashamed of this normal occurrence, use it to further educate yourself and others in an effort to reduce them. Recognizing one’s implicit biases can be done simply by taking the Implicit Bias Test. The Implicit Bias test is meant to show you biases that you never thought of or simply just thought you didn’t have. The results help indicate whether you may have an implicit preference for one group over the other in terms of biases one might hold against a group or stereotypes. 

It goes further than that though, as Carmen Acton wrote in her article “Are You Aware of Your Biases?”, “The key is to slow down and investigate your beliefs and assumptions so that you can see the other person for who they truly are. As a leader, it’s easy to think that you don’t have time to pause. But taking a few minutes to question yourself can make all the difference to you and your team.”

Overall, it’s vital to keep an open mind when considering topics in DEI areas. Allow others to challenge you and your beliefs, encouraging your curiosity and education for the future. 

Check out these resources used in this article for more information on DEI and more:

4 steps for putting diversity at the forefront of PR. 

DEI in PR: Its Importance and How to Create a More Inclusive Workspace 

8 Expert Tips on Diversity and Inclusion in Public Relations

Are You Aware of Your Biases?