Want a Career in Franchise PR?

The idea of being a PRP in franchise PR sounds so cool. Think about it, you are doing public relations, closely related to marketing, and talking on your phone about how you will make sure that your client will be famous! Your client will not get bad press! Yeah, it sure sounds cool being the go-to guy for a corporation while the media gulps down the news about their recent purchase of a competitor or something. While the scenarios are certainly possible and do happen in franchise public relations or other forms of PR, it is not always the glitz and glamor that many people think it is.

A career in public relations, especially franchise PR, is a job that you have to be tough to succeed in. We're not talking physically tough but rather emotionally and professionally. There are a few characteristics that one must meet in order to be good or even great in PR.

• Patience. If you expect to be a successful PRP in franchise public relations, you have to be patient. Things take time, journalists have a lot of things to do and basically a few hours to get it all done. They operate under heavy deadlines and so sometimes a PRP is not their top priority. Another aspect of this is being patient in getting your story accepted by a journalist. 
• Persistence. This was hinted at in the first point but it is another necessary characteristic for a PRP. Sometimes you will have a great piece and need it to be accepted by a journalist. You will be turned down by journalists; it might take a couple days to get a story submitted to a journalist, you just have to be persistent. The key is to stay on their radar while not being overwhelming; if you are too overwhelming, they will just deny you all together. 
• Communication. If you want to be good in PR then you have to be able to communicate. Ask questions. Inform people of things going on. Email people. Call people. Whatever needs to be done to keep people in the know, get it done. If you leave people in the dark, you will soon find that you have nobody to inform because they have all left you for another franchise PR agency. 
• Writing. The ability to write is essential to PR. Specifically, the ability to write stories and compelling stuff is essential. If you can't write, you need to learn if you want to be in PR. 
• Ethical behavior. If you think you will be that sly wheelin' & dealin' PRP who can make himself rich while exploiting others, good luck getting hired by a PR agency. Any respectable and known PR agency has ethics and morals. The governing body of PR,  PRSA, has a set of rules set in place that PR agencies have to abide by. 

We are a full-service chicago franchise PR firm. We do social media PR, crisis communications, grassroots PR, business, and more.  

Why Should I Get A Franchise Public Relations Team?

What is the point of getting a franchise public relations team for your company? Well, there are a lot of reasons, my friend. See, a public relations franchise team can do a lot to protect your business and give you direction about what to do next in order to grow. Let's explore the reasons your company should buddy up with a PR firm.

The first reason your company should team up with a franchise PR firm is because the PR firm can protect your company. When things happen and there is a hoopla about the outcome, your company will need somebody who knows how to handle the media and the angry mob of consumers outside your door. Having a PR firm by your side who can handle crisis communication is going to do a lot of good in the long run. The media will want answers and with the help your PR team, you will be able to give the right answers.

The second reason your company should hire a franchise PR team is because they will get your name out there. The people at the public relations firm will work night and day trying to get your name in front of the media; this gets your company's name in the newspaper, magazines, radio, and television. Yeah, your company could be doing a segment on the news stations in your area and, if awesome enough, perhaps national media. This will greatly increase potential business opportunities since more results when they promise to get your in front of the eyes of your publics, or, people you want to be your customer.
people will know your business exists; let's be honest, a lot of times, the reason a business struggles is because they are unknown to many (as long as they do indeed have a good product/service). A PR firm can get

The third reason your company should dire a franchise PR firm is because they will give your direction on what to do next. This is an ambiguous statement so I'll explain further; the PR team can help you decide what would be a good way to promote your company. This is more marketing related than PR but a good PR firm will either know this knowledge or at least have marketing people working there to give their input.

Still not sure why your company should hire a PR firm to help your business? Do some research and you will see. If you have any questions, contact All Points PR, a full-service Chicago franchise PR firm .

What is Franchise Public Relations? Let Me Tell You!

What is public relations? Well, there is a saying that says if you ask ten different people what public relations is, you will get ten different answers. The truth is, a lot of people do not know the definition of franchise public relations and even a few people in the public relations world do not know. It is seen as such a vague industry that it is hard to understand what franchise industry PR exactly is.

So what is franchise PR? Well, a basic definition of PR is, "The ability and duty to shape and maintain the image of a company or person (so they appear favorably in the eyes of the public.)" The part within the parentheses is more of an unwritten part; PR does not mean sweeping things under the rug and telling lies in order for a client to appear well in front of publics, or the client's target market, or anything unethical; what public relations is intended to do is help a company or person maintain an image they want. Helping someone or something maintain an image means to get their good news out to the world, get their name in front of people, and to limit damage that can be caused by bad publicity. But I will say it again, an ethical public relations practitioner does not lie or fabricate information for the sake of their client's image.

So how did franchise public relations come to life? It all started back in the early 20th century when mass media was coming around. At the time, "muckraking" was a popular form of journalism; muckraking was when journalists would dig up information about companies or people and then publish it in their stories. It got especially bad when muckraking journalists began fabricating some of the information for their stories. However, the vast majority of the stories were true but still dangerous for the success of the companies that were exposed. Consequently, Ivy Lee, a well renowned journalist and pioneer PRP, wrote a press release defending his targeted clients and helped protect their images. Once the public relations bug caught on, more and more people joined the industry and companies were getting the defenses that they so dreadfully needed.

Public relations practitioners began getting so good at what they did that people starting calling them "spin doctors" because of how well they could spin bad publicity into something good or at least justifiable.

In today's franchise PR firms, PRPs do so much more than just write press releases for newspapers and magazines; they are required to understand the needs and desires of their client's and their client's target markets. Why do they have to know those things? Because the knowledge of those things helps the PRP do the best work for their client. Public relations requires that PRPs form relationships with their client's target markets and do things for the client that please the markets. PR stunts are often the result of this duty. As you know, PR stunts incorporate some marketing concepts so PRPs now have to have at least a bit of a grasp of marketing. PRPs also have to be salesmen; they have to be able to sell their stories to the media and get the media to broadcast information regarding their client. Franchise industry PR firms also need to be able to be a counselor for when there is a crisis that needs to be taken care of.

As a Chicago franchise PR firm and Chicago crisis communications agency, All Points PR has a lot of knowledge in this field and as a full-service PR firm, loves helping those who need the defense of a PR team.

Getting Into Franchise PR? Here's How to Be Great

Franchise public relations is an industry that requires people to be on top of their game; when people get into PR, some think that it is just about writing some press releases and having some marketing knowledge. Well, while those things are important facets of public relations, they are not everything one needs to know in order to be great at their franchise PR firm.

There are several things one can know to do to be good as a public relations professional, if not a great one.

1. Absorb information from things you read and see. Try to observe the scenery around you and read books and guides about the industry. Perhaps even watch and study those in the industry who are well respected for their franchise PR duties. If you soak up that information and try to implement it, you will learn the great skills of PR in no time. Those who do not get good at public relations are the people who do not try; if you try and want to learn, then you will have no choice but to learn. 
2. Remain current. Few things are more embarrassing than someone who is not on top of the events going on in the world. Would you want to talk to a public relations professional who doesn't know what is happening in the news? No, you would laugh at them. Stay on top of what is going in the world; read newspapers, magazines, watch the news, etc. If something is talking about what is going on in the world, as long as you know it is credible, read it and take in that information. The media wants to talk to someone who is an expert at stuff, by staying current you will be that expert. 
3. Be able to multitask or watch out for being drained of energy from not knowing how to prioritize and manage work. At this Chicago franchise public relations firm, we know that the ability to multitask and manage is one of the few things that helps you keep your head on straight; PR is not a business that is predictable or formulaic, it is anything but. Know when to do what and how to do it. 
4. Know how to write. As an employee in a franchise industry PR firm, you have to know how to write. It's as simple as that. If you cannot write a press release or how to write engaging material, people won't want to read your pitches because they will laugh at you. it sounds harsh but it's a reality. The media wants to be engaged when you email them, show them your releases, and when they come to you for information. You wouldn't try to become a NASCAR driver if you didn't know how to drive, would you? Well, maybe, but you wouldn't be able to win any races. 
5. Be composed. This one kind of plays off of the point in number three. Being able to keep calm and composed during a crisis is the only way you can sanely get things done. If there is a crisis with a client, they will turn to you to handle the situation; if you are freaking out as much or more than they are, then they won't want to use you. Also, PR is a stressful business, no doubt about it; you have to be able to keep a level head and keep going. A stressed PRP is a bad PRP. 
6. Get up after being knocked down. You will make mistakes as a PRP, it is bound to happen. The key to recovering from mistakes is to learn from what you did and make sure that you do not copy that mistake next time you get in a similar scenario. 

Now, go out there and be the best franchise PR professional you can be. Learn, do, and plan. As a Chicago franchise PR firm, we know all about the public relations world and love helping people with PR needs. 

Social Media: Friend or Foe?

Social media has enabled companies in the world to be able to update information and their consumers with a few clicks on a computer or on a smartphone. In today's society, businesses are connected with their consumers, and even people outside their markets, in ways they were not connected to them just seven or eight years ago.

There are a lot of benefits to the emergence of social media and how it has impacted the marketing and public relations worlds; with the use of social media, it has become much easier for companies to make announcements, to interact and promote, and to do branding. When social media showed that it was here to stay and that it was worth utilizing, companies jumped on board real quick.

 It was not too long after that companies realized they could use social media to announce news for the company that would help with their marketing and public relations. How easy was it for companies to pull up their Facebook or Twitter, type up something like, "We're moving offices! Look for our new offices a few blocks down the street." or something like that. Now, of course they would take the time to stage more formal announcements but they could still use social media to announce the announcement.

A second reason social media can be a friend to companies is that it has made it much easier to connect with consumers and even easier to promote. Say a company has a contest they want their consumers to know about, they can promote the contest on their social media accounts. Better yet, with social media, companies can actually hold things like contests on social media, not just promote it. Companies have used the social media platform Instagram for contests that include consumers sending in pictures of that company's product in creative ways. Celebrities use social media to interact with their fans and thus actually promote themselves with some good PR.

So now that we have given a couple reasons why social media is a friend to companies, we must also look at the other side of the coin and realize that social media can also be a foe.

The first reason social media can be a foe is because everything you do on social media is seen by everyone, unless you have your profiles locked, but companies and celebs can't lock their public social media or they would not benefit from social media. Consequently, anything companies say on their social media is visible by all their followers and even people who do not follow them because users can find their posts just by searching for words used in their posts. Many companies have gotten in trouble for things they have posted on their social media accounts and the backlash that ensued.

A second reason social media can be a foe is because users of social media can be merciless. Should a company make a faux pas on social media, it can be a real bad time for the company in the following hours, days, weeks, or months. The power one holds when behind a keyboard & screen is amazing.

So while social media has become part of our world and it looks like it is here to stay, just remember that it can be a good thing or a bad thing, depending on how you use it. Just be aware that it can be a tremendous friend or foe and to be aware of how you conduct yourself on social media.