5 Ways to Know a Career in PR is Not For You

My franchise PR agency has been around for some time now and we have been able to hire some really talented PR practitioners; however, we have also seen our fair share of people who came through the doors only to realize that they were not cut out for the franchise public relations business. How can you know if you are cut out for PR? Here are 5 ways to tell:

1. You don't take criticism well. In any industry, you have to be able to take criticism, especially constructive criticism. When you are crushed by the fact someone did not like your work, even if they told you nicely, then you do not take criticism well. If you can't take criticism well, then working in franchise PR will not be a pleasant experience for you. Critical feedback is common to see, hear, give, and receive in the PR industry, you have to have somewhat thick skin. 
2. You think it's a 9-5 job. Well, in terms of hours, sometimes it is; what I mean here is that if you go home after work and then do not think about PR, you don't read up on things happening, etc. then maybe you are not passionate about the PR world. You have to passionate about public relations in order to really succeed in it. When you finish a project, there is always something else to do for that client, there is always a "what's next?"Go and comment on another post or send another tweet! Your job is never done. 
3. You don't get excited about news. If you don't read the news throughout the day and get excited about what is happening, especially in your (or a client's) industry, then this goes back to not be passionate. 
4. You are not enthusiastic/energetic. This is not about not having passion, it is actually about not having enthusiasm or energy… about anything. If you find you are always tired and have a slow pulse at all times, then PR is not the place for you. It's not like people who succeed in PR are crazy energetic and never sleep, like they're perpetually perky, but you need to have energy! Don't worry, we get tired too. 
5. You are bad at communication. You can't write well, you can't speak (publicly or sales), etc. You have to have good writing skills and be able to speak in front of people, especially when it comes to making sales pitch. 

If you are interested in a career in PR, then do your research and study up! If you have any questions, contact All Points PR. 

How To Avoid Social Media Disasters and Blunders

Social media is a great, wonderful, blessing tool that we have at our disposal 24/7. Yes, it is definitely a friend to those of use who like to express ourselves; however, it can also be a foe. In no time at all, you have a 140 character tweet or several hundred character Facebook post get people talking about your brand but is it good or bad talk?

Since the dawn of time, er, social media, we have seen several companies become victims to social media snafus and faux pas for some very silly reasons. The person in charge of the social media account either purposefully or accidentally sent an unfortunate post and then had to deal with the repercussions.

Just recently, US Airways had a rather graphic image pop up in their twitter response to a passenger. If you do not remember or know of this incident, maybe that's for the best. It seems like a hard thing to have happen, we wonder how the person could mess up so bad. However, we all make mistakes and they are easier to have happen. As a Chicago PR agency, we have seen plenty of people fall victim to the seemingly impossible social media mishap.

So how can you avoid these ordeals?

• Have complete thought before you post. Think through what you want to post to your corporate social media accounts. It is not uncommon to have a list of things you can post about. One major thing to consider is the concept of posting content regarding current events. You can post about holidays or things going on in the news but make sure your post is tasteful. If there was a recent disaster, like a tornado, you company could post about it saying, "We are saddened by this event. Our thoughts are with those affected." Or something like that but do not try and capitalize on the situation. Example, "The tornado is sad news, those affected can use our washing detergent brand to wash their clothes." or something like that. 
• Make sure to log out of your accounts. This is especially true if you use your corporate accounts and personal accounts on the same device(s). Chrysler had a tweet complaining about the driving in Detroit, from the Chrysler account; this was likely due to the person forgetting to check if they were using the company or personal account from their device. 
• Remember, whatever you post on social media will be seen. Don't think that you deleted the post within a couple minutes so no one saw it, they saw it. 
• Think about when you are posting. For one thing, there are peak times to post to social media; besides that, you should really not post really late at night because at that time, our minds are tired and our decisions are not always the best. 

As a franchise PR agency, we have to emphasize the importance of these tips. Social media is a friend but can be a monster quickly and can be relentless.