Over many years of practice, I have learned that one needs the following, among others, for successful professional work in PR:
1. Command of the issues and the environment that affect the business of your Firm, or your Client. The Firm/Client exists in a society and an environment that are affected by laws, issues and competition. We need a firm grasp of these and of what your Firm/Client needs to plan for and deal with issues and factors in its environment that may affect its mission and long-term performsnce.
2. Love for analyzing, reflecting and communicating. PR requires ideas that are alive, relevant, fresh, and meaningful. We have to develop a taste, in fact a passion, for the process of thinking ideas through and communicating these--on paper, on the computer, online, on the stage, in meetings big or small, here or in other countries. We used to say, be good in English. Now we say, be good in Tagalog, and acquire a knowledge of at least the major dialects as well.
3. A sense of right and wrong, of what is fair and just, and also of what is proper and decent. I mean right and wrong in substance and in form, and then committing yourself to it. Try to be right especially in family and social relationships, and your attitude and commitment will easily slide to your business life.
4. Have a broad view of PR. PR is not a list of 100 ways to promote, and market a product or organization or manage reputation and attract new investments. PR is the business of developing strategies and helping promote the performance, long-term viability and relevance to society of a business or organization. It is doing the 100 things but also keeping the essentials: what is the vision and the basic strategy...what are we really up to? Broadening your view of PR will challenge you to keep enhancing your skills and level of commitment.
5. A sharp business sense. Help your principal and yourself succeed financially and keep on doing so, from year to year. Keep attuned to prevailing market rates and position yourself competitively according to market conditions. Be aggressive in saving part of your earnings, and in pegging costs to a minimum. And yet...keeping service standards consistently high.
6. Knowing that your PR market is no longer the Philippines alone. Ideas, products, technology, lifestyles, and Clients keep coming. But these will never be enough. PR professionals need to keep an eye on foreign markets. With the swelling number of PR agencies, including those from abroad, competing for a comparatively small and low-growth market, we need to take an export-oriented view.
7. Humility and willingness to share what we have and what we know. The PR business, like other businesses, must thrive on the strength of a professional, and service-oriented and ethically committed community of practitioners. Those who have attained more, in terms of experience and knowhow, must share these with those who have just started out.
8. Willingness to take technology on, on our terms, to improve the quality of service and attain efficiencies.
8. Commitment to calculated change and innovation. Keep reexamining your business concept, organization, processes and standards to insure that you can adjust to and thrive in a continually changing environment. Keep yourself posted on the state and directions of the competition.
9. Networking, catering especially to the younger sector of our industry, the students and the developing leadership in other sectors.
10. Staying true to what we believe in. Success in PR is very important, but happiness earned from keeping faith with your essential beliefs is to be valued even more highly.
1 comment:
Romy never ceases to amaze me. I have seen how he has embraced the new media and flung himself into blogging at this point in his career and I can say he has done it with some initial trepidation and then with a deluge of content and insight, much like fish takes to water in a bigger ocean. The winners? We who can now relish the scraps from his rich table. Adelante, Romeo!
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