You don’t need to act like you’re in an episode of Ab Fab to thrive in a PR job. You’ll be promoting your company, a brand or a product to the world and trying to drum up as much publicity as possible. Are you tenacious enough not to take no for an answer?

So, what will I actually be doing?
People in PR work at making a name for whatever they’re working on, this can be anything from a big, recognisable brand through to smaller start-up projects. You’ll need to gain ‘fame’ for what you’re working on and work with the media to try and get a message out to the masses.

The nitty gritty
PR jobs are highly sought after and people often look at it as a glamorous career choice, which is can be if you end up working in entertainment or fashion. But as with anything, it’s all about what company you work for.

“If I was down to my last dollar, I’d spend it on public relations.” – Bill Gates

In terms of your work tasks, you’re likely to do much of the following…

• Coming up with PR strategies
• Building relationships with the media
• Writing press releases and calling around whenever you’re trying to generate publicity
• Writing reports on media coverage data
• Overseeing content production (adverts, videos, social media and online PR stunts)
• Arranging press conferences and events
• Overseeing market research
• Bringing in new business opportunities
• Managing client relationships
• Overseeing social media PR strategies

However, this is by no means an exhaustive list.

Money, money, money
Actually, the salaries for PR jobs aren’t too shabby, especially for anyone with a solid understanding of social media. Of course, you won’t be in the same bracket as financiers but a £16,000 – £24,000 starting salary isn’t to be sniffed at.

The good points…
PR jobs offer a huge amount of career options; after all, most companies need some kind of PR to succeed. You can work anywhere from top fashion houses through to small charities trying to raise awareness and you can use your own personal interests to choose where you end up. Then there are the endless parties and events!

…and the bad
PR jobs are tough. You often have to work long hours and schmooze clients and the press on a regular basis – you can forget having your free time completely to yourself. It’s also a difficult, targets-driven job where clients have high expectations of how good a job you need to do for them.

Is there study involved?
There aren’t any set qualifications needed in order to become a PR; however, realistically most applicants have a degree, although the subject isn’t important. What IS important is work experience. If you can demonstrate experience of media, marketing, communications or even direct PR then you’ll be in with a much better chance of getting a great job. Time to start volunteering or apprenticeships!

OK, I’m interested… But is it really the career for me?
The most important attribute a PR needs is the ability to build relationships with people – particularly cynical journalists. The media is a powerhouse for PR opportunities but getting your product or brand into the pages of the best newspapers and magazine or on the trendiest websites can be difficult to say the least – unless you’re chummy with the editor!

Disclosure: this is a sponsored post.

From 30 March 2012 there’s going to be some significant changes; most notably to the front-end, with the new template enhancing the position of images and posts, which will dramatically alter the look and feel of pages. Essentially, Facebook is now giving brands a greater opportunity ‘to tell their story’ and engage with fans via much richer content.

In terms of the back-end and from a community management perspective, there’s been some tweaks which enable you to draft future content and more easily moderate posts, as well as the introduction of premiun ads and reach generator for larger pages.

I see the introduction of Timeline as Facebook once again laying down the gauntlet to challenge brands to do more and to do better. But, it’s not only a challenge. With more online media vying for our attention, Timeline presents a fantastic opportunity for brands to create a better, more visual and ultimately more engaging experience for their fans.

Check out the infographic for a more detailed look at what Facebook Timeline means for Brand pages.

Facebook Timeline [INFOGRAPHIC]

The reason for this post is that I often receive emails about an ‘awesome infographic’, ‘innovative Facebook app’ or ‘exciting launch’ which are all well and good, but too often there’s very little reason for me to open up the laptop and blog. Most of the time there’s nothing wrong per se with the outreach, but equally there is nothing right that compels me to respond in the way the PR would like.

However, a little more thought and care in the approach would pay dividends. PRs are untouchable at communicating news, but they need to become better at articulating benefit; all too often outreach is overly focused on client messaging. For blogger outreach to be effective there needs to be some middle-ground, to establish something that is mutually beneficial for both parties.

In its most brutal, blogger outreach can be thought of as a transaction e.g. an exchange of value between two or more parties. For instance, the blogger may have a niche audience the PR wants to reach, therefore reaching this audience has a certain value. Subsequently, the PR needs to offer something of enough perceived value to the blogger in order for them to write about the client and enable them to reach the niche audience.

I’ve mentioned value as it is a deliberately broad term, but its one PRs should be thinking more about. Monetary value is easy to understand, but PRs can offer value to bloggers in many different forms.

I’ve designed this list to help PRs make their proposition more valuable, so I will be more likely to write about their client; then everyone can benefit and achieve the desired outcome. Whilst, I would never claim to speak for anyone but myself, I’m sure many of these tips will ring true for other bloggers.

1. Content co-creation
I frequently receive outreach describing in great detail an initiative, milestone or other good news story and whilst, news is interesting, I blog as a hobby and want something more exciting than that. The opportunity to co-create content has much greater appeal than simply receiving a press release. By this I mean, instead of emailing about the appointment of a new Marketing Director, let me have a Q&A session with them or even better let my readers submit questions.

2. Exclusivity
If you want me to write about a new product, launch or event etc, let me or my readers have some form of exclusive access. It surprises me the number emails I get from PRs who blindly hope I will write about their client with absolutely no exchange of value mentioned. A more effective approach would be to give readers something exclusive, such as a money off voucher for the product, beta access to the app or discounted tickets to the event. All of this is more valuable and engaging than receiving a news release.

3. Competition prizes
Competitions have always been an effective tool to get people reading and talking about your clients and raising awareness. From my own experience bloggers are normally receptive to hosting a competition and writing about your client if the prize is valuable enough. The exchange of value when hosting a competition is easy to understand as they often have monetary value. Quite simply, if you’re launching a new product, you will increase the chances of someone blogging about it if there is a prize to give away too.

4. Product trials
In my opinion, a press releases on its own is probably one of the least effective tools to get bloggers talking and writing about your client. Instead wherever possible try and get your client’s product into the hands of bloggers. This can be expensive and time-consuming, but will undoubtedly add serious value to your outreach proposition and they will feel more compelled to blog; resulting in a greater chance of the desired outcome.

5. Experiences and events 
Finally, if you are serious about enticing bloggers to write about your client, offer them a fantastic, unique and exclusive blogger experience they will want to share with their readers as soon as possible. Over the years I’ve been involved in ‘money can’t buy’ experiences for bloggers including whiskey tasting hosted by a master distiller, the opportunity for bloggers to learn fuel efficiency tips from a cricket legend and arranged behind the scenes access at a major leisure brand.

Experiences and events are expensive to manage, but they have a high perceived value and will strengthen any outreach proposition. If you genuinely want to build long-term relationships with bloggers it’s an investment worth making.

I’d be interested to hear what ingredients are more likely to compel you to write about a pitch. Skilled PRs can fashion and add value to opportunities, but all too often I’m left thinking PRs need to think and work a little bit harder for their earned media.

The event will take place at the beautiful Shoreditch Town Hall and 100% of the proceeds will go towards supporting Bright One, the volunteer-run agency for the third sector which Ben Matthews founded and runs in his spare time with a trusty band of dedicated volunteers.

I interviewed Ben for Social Web Thing back in 2010, when he had just been named Young PR Professional of the Year and I’ve followed the rise of Bright One ever since; it’s clear they do some fantastic work and provide much needed support to charities across the UK.

The PR Prom promises to be a fantastic night and for just £25, you will get:

• A ‘Brite Fizz’ signature cocktail upon arrival, courtesy of Eventbrite
• 3 free drinks from the bar
• Live entertainment from the amazing She Makes War
• DJ set from Matt Brawn
• A prom photo as a keepsake of the night
• Food provided by Eat.St:
• Mini wraps, mini rolls and mini portion of ribs from The Rib Man
• Stews from around the world from Stewed and Baked
• Imperial BBQ Pho Rolls, Op La Di Beef Pho Rolls and Fish Q Pho Rolls from Banhmi11 
• And more to come on the night…

Tickets are available from: http://prprom.eventbrite.com

If you’re looking to get involved in Bright One, drop Ben or one of the team a line by filling in this online from or check their blog and Facebook page for more information and latest news.

The past 12 months will undoubtedly be remembered for the Fukushima disaster, occupy Wall Street movement, Euro zone crisis and phone-hacking scandal, all of which have impacted upon trust in government, business, NGOs and media. These major incidents have resulted in a historic fall in the trust of government and business, creating a leadership vacuum that has being ably filled by the quality, not tabloid media, whilst employees, have replaced CEOs as a credible spokesman.

In addition, this years Trust Barometer has its largest ever sample, having surveyed 30,000 people from both the general public and opinion forming elite.

Whilst there is a lot of data to digest, the following points are what I think will have the biggest impact on my role in 2012.

Despite growth stalling in the wider economy, it’s great to see the PR industry in rude health (judging by the number of grad schemes that is). The list is broadly the same size as previous years and as we’ve come to expect, it is predominantly made up of the larger, international agencies with London offices.

For those of you who know Young PR Pro of the Year, Ben Matthews or have read Behind the Spin recently you may be familiar with Bright One – the volunteer-run agency for the third sector which Ben founded and runs in his spare time with a trusty band of dedicated volunteers.

I interviewed Ben last year, shortly after he was announced Young PR Pro of the Year and was very impressed in the way in which Ben has developed Bright One and the fantastic results the team has delivered for a range of charities. I was so impressed that I promised to share the story of Bright One and more importantly, how to become one, through my network around the time when students begin to finish their final year at university.

So here goes…

Background
Bright One was started by Ben in September 2008 due to frustration that people and third sector organisations  were doing some amazing work and helping a lot of people, but for some reason – whether it is through a lack of expertise, time or resources – these organisations were not  able to communicate what they do as effectively as other charitable organisations.

How it works
As fund-raising is becoming increasingly competitive, third sector organisations need to communicate their contributions to society in an effective and efficient manner. A good communications strategy helps create multiple opportunities, from raising funds to recruiting volunteers, and from increasing awareness to standing out amongst other similar organisations.

I am delighted and really looking forward to another new and exciting chapter in my career and life. For those that don’t know me personally but read SWT, I’ve moved to Ireland to be with my girlfriend, who as an American citizen had a couple of visa issues back in the UK.

I’m looking forward to the challenges of my new role, learning from some great people and the opportunities this may bring. I’m also excited to meet my new colleagues, settle in and begin exploring the wonderful city of Dublin and further afield (please do let me know of good places to visit). As someone whose grandparents were from Tipperary and Cavan, it’s also a fantastic opportunity to catch up on some family history.

I’ll be forever grateful to Marshall Manson and Mark Cahalane at Edelman for their kindness and understanding to make this move happen for me. I’m delighted to be staying within the Edelman network.

Today is my first day at Edelman Dublin. Wish me luck.

C&M is looking for a Social SEO Executive to work with Hackett, IBM, Continental, Rightmove, TomTom amongst others. They are an online PR agency specialising in social media PR and social SEO, based in Lewes, East Sussex.

It sounds like a fantastic role and for me, encapsulates the two key PR battlegrounds for the future – search and content. I’ve followed the fortunes of C&M since I interviewed Roger back in 2009 when they were a fledgling agency and having caught up with him at the recent Social Media Week panel event, it’s good see the agency doing so well.

Likely candidates will be those who:

• Have been working as an SEO for the past few years

• Understand that their world is changing and want a new role where Social wizardry is the name of the game

• Read SEOMoz and the like on a daily basis

• Enjoy a good Whiteboard Friday

Desired skills and experience:

• Research, create and deliver game-changing Search and Social programs

• Deliver on all the traditional SEO basics – programs for linkbuilding, content syndication and so forth

• Understand how Content and Social Media strategies are fundamentally changing the nature of SEO– and can implement programs to exploit new opportunities

• Deliver research, insight, analysis and action plans that opens up new traffic acquisition (and engagement) possibilities via Social Media

• Establish strong links between Search and Social Media Marketing – and back this up with data and analysis

• Pick out a Search and Social trend at 30 paces

• Specify, plan and deliver projects on time and on quality

• Flip a brilliant piece of insight into a working program with more élan than Eric Cantona lobbed goalkeepers

• Deliver a winning client service experience

• Work collaboratively across internal work groups to deliver out of the park programs and solutions

For more information about the role, please click here.