What sort of image comes to mind when you picture a public relations (PR) professional?
Perhaps you envision a glamorous life, filled with high-profile events and parties or long days spent bopping from client meeting to client meeting in sky-high heels. Unfortunately, most movies and TV shows get PR completely wrong.
Here’s a more accurate image of a day in the life of a PR professional: head down, at a computer, tap-tap-tapping away at the keyboard.
Most people think because PR professionals work to attract the attention of the media that we aren’t doing much writing ourselves, but that simply isn’t true.
With nearly a decade of experience in the PR industry, first at a hospital, then at a tourism bureau, and now as the CEO of Jessica Lawlor & Company (JL&Co) working with my own clients, I know first-hand just how much time I spend each day writing.
Spoiler: It’s a lot.
Losing a client is an unfortunate reality of running a service-based business.
That’s exactly what happened to me in June after I landed what I thought was a dream client for my communications agency JL&Co.
(Spoiler: I was very, very wrong.)
We parted ways after just two weeks of working together, and I suddenly found myself with an abundance of free time for the summer.
As many entrepreneurs know, summer tends to be a slower time in the business world. I receive fewer inquiries than other times of the year and rarely start on new client projects between June and August.
With this knowledge in mind, I decided to transform my temporary setback into an opportunity.
Instead of seeking out new client work, I turned my attention to a few personal projects that I’ve pushed to the back burner because of my busy work schedule.
I called it “The Summer of Passion Projects.”
Entrepreneurs wear many hats—no surprise there.
Planning, budgeting, customer service, emailing, writing, invoicing, marketing—the list is endless. However, there’s one key responsibility many content creators and marketers tend to neglect: public relations (PR).
Believe me, I get it. As the founder of Jessica Lawlor & Company (JL&Co), a boutique communications agency I started in 2016, PR is the last task I want to think about when I have a laundry list of to-dos to keep my business afloat.
However, with nearly a decade of PR experience, I know firsthand the importance of developing stories and sharing them with the media. I’m well aware of the power that a successful PR campaign can have on a business.