Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Do-It-Yourself PR

Have you thought about what kind of public relations practice you might want to get into? I sometimes think about what it would be like to have a solo career in the field. This article from PR Daily discusses the good and bad aspects of solo PR.

I think "creative freedom" is the most interesting and important positive characteristic mentioned in the article. Working for yourself would allow room to see your singular vision for a campaign play out from beginning to end without any interference. However, I believe a lot of great ideas come from brainstorming in a group of differently-minded people, too. Being able to say "no" and "flexibility" were my other two favorite positive attributes.

The most intriguing downside to solo PR was the "lack of legitimacy." Without something bigger than yourself backing you, I suppose it would be very difficult to achieve credibility in a short amount of time. This places more stress on your personal brand and reputation. The lack of legitimacy would require the solo practitioner to be consistent and handle any personal mistakes as quickly and neatly as possible.

What do you think? Would you like to try solo PR? Would you prefer it over working for someone else? Why or why not?

2 comments:

Abel Valencia said...

I think solo PR is something that just sounds good. There's definitely a need for other people to work with you so that way the best possible campaign can be executed. Others catch things and have ideas that one person may not have.

Stephanie Rohlfs said...

I've had a couple of interviews in the last few weeks and one of the questions they all asked was whether I work better in a group or alone. I think it's important to be good in both areas. Employers being able to trust you on your own is important, but being able to work and brainstorm with a group is, in my opinion, equally as important. In our field we have to be comfortable in both settings. We are going to have to rely on our own knowledge and creativity, but be able to brainstorm and delegate within a group of people.