A major component of what we do each day is build relationships. In fact, you could even argue that the majority of good public relations professionals succeed because of their existing relationships and their ability to build their contact lists into much more than just names, email addresses and phone numbers.
Over time, PR executives begin to know their clients and their media contacts as much more than just CEOs, VPs and columnists. It's inevitable -- bonds will be formed.
I've come to understand what types of coverage each of my client views as "solid," "dream come true" or "not what we were hoping for." Each client is different -- as are their people, stories, products and/or services. While one may be jazzed to be featured in a online review -- the other might prefer a review to run in a specific trade publication. It's my job to determine what's going to provide my clients with the best amount of coverage AND keep them really happy with the services I provide.
It's almost like a marriage, really. There are challenges and hurdles to overcome every once in a while -- but usually it's pretty smooth sailing because I want to keep my clients happy and they want to provide me with what I need to do just exactly that.
Yes, some marriages fall apart. It's inevitable. Not every company in this world is a perfect fit for Dittoe Public Relations. Not only do our clients research us to find out why we're so successful and how we can help them -- but we research our potential clients to make sure their goals fit with our abilities.
So why would a company or individual need a PR firm? Well... think of it this way: At my previous job I handled all of the public relations, which meant I cultivated all of the relationships on top of my other duties which included business development and marketing projects. Here, not only does each account executive cultivate their own relationships for each one of their clients but we share contacts from time to time, producing hundreds, maybe thousands, of solid contacts who recognize the name "Dittoe Public Relations" when we call or email them.
Remember, it's who you know. At Dittoe we focus on public relations -- that's it -- not marketing, not advertising... just PR. It's what we do and we do it well. We cultivate relationships with members of the press on a daily basis because in the long run, they're the ones who are going to provide the "dream come true" coverage our clients are expecting.
Posted Tuesday, April 22, 2008 by
Lauren Littlefield
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