I was recently asked to do a short interview. Here are my answers, which I thought would be helpful to understand the basics of PR:

1. How do you define PR? What do you believe its purpose is?

   PR deserves a somewhat long definition as it encompasses so much of what a business does in regards to the public. The definition has definitely changed in the past 10 years and entails much more of a connection between the public and the company. In the past, PR was about talking to the media, getting press clippings, and sending our press releases that no one but the media saw. Today, PR is much more like marketing, and that can be attributed to the changes the Internet has created for business worldwide.

   Marketing entails, well, marketing, or your company. PR is about getting others to talk about your company. But, when you can submit your press release and post to your blog directly without having to contact the media, how to define that? It’s a line that is becoming more and more blurred. Some would call that marketing, others would call it PR since it involves press releases. A blog is a social media tool, which again, some people would consider to be a marketing venture and others, PR.

   To avoid picking sides, I’ll say that it is all a part of PR. You are putting yourself out to the online world and connecting with your buyers, making “Public Relations” public again. Your blog and other social media tools help to craft your image online; they also help to make it easier for others to talk about you online and to share your content.

   The only real way to define PR is to define advertising, which is the actual purchasing of space online, space in publications, etc. PR involves getting that space for free.

2. If someone came to you and said, “I want to do PR for a career” what are some characteristics you would tell them are necessary? Why?

   - Excellent writing skills. (Or at least a network of great writes that can help you learn to write, edit your work in the beginning, and assist you in your career journey.) Writing is such a large component of PR; a press release, a blog post, a speech, these are all writing based. Everything one does in PR involves writing, so the PR professional must be very good at this task. The reputation and brand of the company or client the PR professional represents depends on this writing being good.Personable. You need to connect with the public, media, and your buyers.

   Attentive. To detail, emotions, and one’s overall surroundings.

   Understanding. This goes hand in hand with the above; don’t push a customer, understand their needs and needs of the media when you are talking to them, and be understanding of the way the company you work for or represents affects the community at large.

   Common sense. This is necessary in all aspects of business, but even more so in PR. The PR professional is the face of the company, or in other cases the “behind-the-scenes” worker helping to mold the face of the company to prepare for a speech, press conference, interview, etc. PR professionals need to watch what they say and how they say, and know that all eyes are on them and the executives they help.

3. Do you see any similarities between the PR and journalism fields? If not, what do you see as the main differences?

   Yes; they both involve a great amount of writing. The main difference: journalists are writing on companies whereas PR is getting those journalists to write about their company/client.

4. How would you respond to people who say that PR has an agenda involved?

   PR is agenda orientated, at least it should be; why would a company create a PR plan without an agenda? That’s philanthropy. PR is meant to advance a company and connect with the public, which is a pretty good agenda to me. It being controversial is a bit silly, as most companies do it for the recognition. Where companies can differentiate themselves is by doing things to create PR without the intent of creating PR. That’s a fine line, too, though.

   While there ought to be other reasons to partake in PR than profits or sales, that is the overall end results companies are looking for when they embark on any PR campaign or venture.

5. What measures (if any) do you use to determine whether a PR campaign is successful?

   I’ll answer this with a blog post I did not too long ago that can be applied to evaluating the ROI on any PR activity.

   1. Google Analytics. This free tool can help you track traffic, traffic sources, and keyword statistics. This is crucial to your understanding of what is and what is not working online. You can determine if your efforts are paying off by seeing if your press releases, networking with other bloggers and getting them to link to your site, and participating on Twitter and Facebook are bringing traffic to your blog or website. Though this is the most frequently used tactic to measure the ROI of social networking efforts, there are other methods.

   2. Measuring traffic is an important way to measure ROI, but another method not used as frequently is to measure “soft metrics” that includes participation on your blog or forum, engagement with your online profiles/ social networking sites, and WOM (word of mouth). This is part of an active PR plan that monitors your online brand.

   3. Try searching for your blog, website, or company in Google. How are you faring? Having great content that changes and is linked to by other sites can increase your search engine rankings, which can result in more traffic. If they are not ranking highly, give it some time; seeing results and being able to determine any ROI takes patience. The Internet, though instantaneous in many ways, has a bit of a delay when it comes to seeing your pagerank (from Google), Alexa rating, and search result appearances. Know that creating great content and utilizing the right tools is the best way to ensure your website’s success.

   4. Conduct research and simply ask your customers what they think. This can help you to really pinpoint what your customers are feeling and what areas you can improve upon.

   5. Lastly, and perhaps in a more trivial manner, measure your followers on Twitter, Facebook, and now foursquare; for a brick and mortar company, foursquare can be a great way to measure your ROI and PR effectiveness.

6. What are advantages of working in the PR field today?

   The Internet makes PR a more accessible field to work in, meaning that more and more people can learn and work their way up that learning curve to advance their experience and knowledge. In the past, you had to work hard to foster relationships with just the media; now, you are working to foster relationships with the media, your buyers directly, and others in your industry to help advance your PR efforts.

7. What are some disadvantages or challenges of working in the field?

   Along the same lines, there is now more to do as a PR professional; there are more places where that PR person needs to be spending their time because the Internet has opened new avenues and opportunities for PR to be done internally, by the company, and without the help of media. That isn’t to say that media is unimportant, however; they are. There’s still a lot of value to having something like an article in the New York Times or the Wall Street Journal.

8. Where do you see the field of PR going in the future? How do you think it will change or stay the same?

   I’m not really sure; I think marketing and PR will continue to merge, and more and more companies are going to jump on the PR and social media bandwagons because it is so easy to implement. That ease doesn’t solidify their ability to maintain it, as we’ve seen in blogging and other social media platforms, but getting things started is easier than ever because you don’t need a PR boutique/firm to do it for you; you can bypass the media, connecting with your buyers directly.

   Moreover, you can have a two-way conversation with your buyers, which is something new and very valuable. I’m sure there are many changes coming, and the younger generations are going to help shape that for sure. Preferences are changing and so are peoples’ views of the world; this will definitely help to shape the way PR is done.

Want to add your take on one of the above topics? Feel free to do so in the comments!

Getting an internship can be an important part of any career’s beginning. It is a way to show future and prospective employers that you’re dedicated to working and dedicated to the industry you are interested in working in, and it can show that you are able to balance school, life, and work together well. An internship can be a great introduction to the business world and a great place to meet mentors. (I personally have met two wonderful mentors through internships who have in turn developed into friends that I can turn to for help on matters personal and professional.) You will also gain invaluable experience as a student where you can make mistakes and perhaps even learn from others’ mistakes.