Public Relations Trends

The trend of public relations activities moving to the web has finally come to full fruition. Today, most public relations firms spend more time, as they get more bang for their buck, promoting their client's needs online. We can expect this trend to continue far off into the future, the pendulum shift has occurred. Okay so, I'd like to talk about this for a few moments if I might.

Soon we will see a reemerging trend where public relations firms have reached all of the folks they possibly could on the social networks, but they will realize that they are still missing a good percentage of the population. Therefore they will use new tools, and strategies to reach these folks.

Coincidentally, as of the writing of this article there was a very interesting piece in the Wall Street Journal on February 11, 2012 by Carl Bialik where he asks in the title of his article; "Tweets As Poll Data? Be careful That," and in the article he states;

"Public opinion researchers' jobs has never been easier, or never been harder, depending on how you look at it. Reaching people by phone and convincing them to answer a 20 minute call is a bigger challenge than ever. At the same time, hundreds of millions of people are voluntarily broadcasting their views via twitter, Facebook and other online tools."

Further, many corporations recently have made severe mistakes attempting to promote their activities online, only to find a minority of discontent go viral on them, causing them to cut short their public relations efforts, as they ended in a fiasco perhaps, even diminishing their brand name more than ever in such a very short period of time. Suffice it to say, there are some online public relations firms who do an incredible job, and understand the Internet quite well, but beware.

Not all of these PR firms are the same as those of the past, meanwhile PR companies are challenged by small startup firms, and former executives and laid-off personnel in the public relations space who have decided to start their own companies working out of home offices. This has caused a significant drop in the amount of fees these types of companies can bill their clients for - we should expect this to continue.

If the name of the game is to put something up which is trendy, noteworthy, and has viral ability - then many of the older firms will be running redline against the one-person operations who catch a lucky break and get their clients the 15 minutes of fame they need to feel good about spending money on PR campaigns. Indeed I hope you will please consider all this and watch these trends as they fold in the future. Just so you don't miss any, you might wish to subscribe to my articles.

Lance Winslow has launched a new provocative series of eBooks on Business Issues. Lance Winslow is a retired Founder of a Nationwide Franchise Chain, and now runs the Online Think Tank; http://www.worldthinktank.net

Painless Scheduling Advice For Public Relations Firms

The public relations sector is among the busiest and most profitable. With start up companies and businesses seeking out professionals in this sector to promote awareness about their products and services and to amass followers - it is no surprise that this sector has matured into a billion dollar industry. To help us better understand what professionals in public relations firms do, here is a short breakdown of their basic responsibilities.

One responsibility of professionals in this industry is to cultivate good relationships with media outlets. This is a "public" relations business after all and as such the "public" needs to be involved if any business is to be carried out. Another responsibility of these firms is to stay informed on the current happenings at all times. This helps the firms to understand how best and when to market a given client's merchandise or brand based on the peoples' moods and emotional states. There is also the responsibility of organising promotional road trips and special social events such as fundraisings and even parties that are meant to congregate people so that they can spread the word about a given company or emerging enterprise. In most cases, the upcoming business "sponsors" these events to promote their awareness to the community.

It should be noted that of all the responsibilities, organising social events that are meant to bring people together are among the trickiest for public relations firms. Small and upcoming PR firms tend to be most affected when it comes to managing such outdoor activities. This is because they usually get their schedules all mixed up. Sometimes, although not very often; some PR firms have been known to get the venues and timelines mixed up as well. This ofcourse has a disastrous effect on the event. An event that was supposed to start early will delay as the people will have to wait for the organisers to show up. It goes without saying that the sponsors of such events would not be pleased and might even decide to choose a different PR firm to promote them next time.

To avoid such instances from ever happening, public relations firms need to take this painless scheduling advice and start using online booking systems. A good number of professionals in the public relations sector tend to refer to them as website scheduling systems although they go by many names such as online appointment scheduling systems, system schedulers, appointment schedulers and even online scheduling systems. These are systems that run online - use the internet to function and they help men and women managing hectic careers to be able to plan and manage their careers effectively. In the case of professionals working in the PR industry, online booking systems can help them manage all their appointments and schedules without a lot of hassle.

As far as the organising of social promotional events is concerned, PR firms can choose to use online booking systems to be able to keep track of all the different clients that they have and the different venues that they are required to appear and promote their brand and service awareness. The systems will also provide the individuals with the time that they are required to show up. This is done by scheduling reminders. This ensures that there is no mix up.

Better still, one does not have to carry their laptops everywhere that they go to just to have access to these systems. Any device that can connect to the internet and supports a browser will do. The browser is only meant to help the user access the messages sent through the system. Public relations firms can also use the systems to reschedule appointments well in advance so that they don't inconvenience their promoters or sponsors. All in all, these systems will help any PR firm to upgrade their level of professionalism and manage their clients' appointments with ease.

A Career in Public Relations

Just a few decades back, there were only selective career avenues which were considered lucrative and worth going after. But, today, you can see innumerable career options surging day by day, especially in the field of media and communication. Public Relation is one such field that has gained immense importance.

Skills required for a career in Public relations

Public Relation is meant for individuals who love to communicate and interact with different types of people but who also possess a great command over the language and write well.You need to possess the skill to be a good listener, evaluate the psyche of other people and work out a way to utilize this knowledge for the growth of your business. A person desirous of being successful in this field should have the subtle tact and skill to make conversation and influence the group in a party or a meeting.

No one individual possesses all these skills right from the start. Some of the adroit qualities have to be developed and for some you need to get trained. And for this, the best way is to opt for professional courses in Public Relations.

Learning Public Relations professionally: The main aim of enrolling in the professional course is to acquire special communications skills and learning to analyze the psyche and pulse of the market and consumers. An ideal course in PR should help develop confidence in public speaking while enhancing the writing abilities of an individual. Subjects such as Public Relation & Advertising Research, History of Print Media, Human Needs & psychology, Information technology and public relations, and International communication and Human Rights form part of the existing curriculum of most communication institutes.

When to start? At the earliest! Most of these professional courses need graduation as basic qualification. So, while you are completing the last year of your bachelor's course, start checking for the best colleges that offer these courses. Check out for vital information such as duration of the course, fee structure, accommodation facilities and charges if you are thinking of moving out of your town for the course and stature of the college or the university in the education field. You must also check whether the college offers any campus interviews or recruitment facilities after you complete the course. Compare all the information and select the one that suits you the best. PR Courses in India have got lot of attraction as the media industry is booming. The best known institutes in India for the course are:

    * Banaras Hindu University in Varanasi
    * Gujarat University in Ahmedabad
    * Mudra Institute of Communication in Ahmedabad
$0A    * Jamia Milia Islamia in New Delhi
    * Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan in New Delhi
    * Xavier Institute of Communication in Mumbai
    * The Delhi School of Communication

Delhi School of Communication leading institutes in Delhi for PR and Journalism Course. Author of this article A Masters in Marketing Communications - University of Westminster, London and Alumnus St. Stephens' College, BA History, Rupanjali has worked with Hindustan Times and World One Research (London).