3 Traits You Should Have to Succeed in Public Relations
It’s more than just experience and relationships.
Public Relations is a field that requires a lot of time, energy, relationships, and experience. But when it comes down to it, you need to have these three qualities (or be looking for these three qualities when selecting a publicist to work with):
Passion. I have to be passionate about the work I’m doing and the clients I’m doing the work for. If I’m not passionate about the service or product a company sells or the music they create, I know that it’s not a good fit for me to work with them. If I’m representing a doctor, I better be comfortable with going to see that doctor for my own health. If I’m representing a fashion company, I better like their clothes. If I’m working with a new musical artist or band, I want to feel connected to their art and the music that they create. If I don’t feel connected to the business, brand, or artist I would be doing them a disservice working with them.
Tenacity. To work in public relations you have to be determined, persistent, and have some grit in your soul. When it comes to pitching you have to be prepared for the fact that journalists receive hundreds of emails a day and with that, it’s very normal to have nothing but crickets. Sometimes even though you’re pitching the perfect person with the perfect angle and your client is completely killer it just doesn’t work out. On the other hand, that does make the wins all the more celebratory. Affirmations have become a routine at the beginning of my workday. I start every day with the mindset that I am going to be successful and that I’m going to crush it for my clients. Because if I don’t actively believe that for myself and for the people I work with, then who will?
Empathy. To do this job and to run a business you have to be able to genuinely connect with other people. You need to be able to anticipate your client’s needs and you need to be adaptable. With both of my companies, I always tell my clients that I am an extension of their business. This was especially exemplified when the pandemic struck and within the course of a few days life as we knew it shifted. I knew that I had to be able to champion my clients to the point where I was acting as a support system for them when it felt like everything they have worked so hard for was crumbling. I didn’t abandon them, I worked right alongside them and we figured it out together. You can be the smartest and most well-connected entrepreneur in the world, but if you don’t have empathy for your clients you’re fighting a losing battle.
