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Today was my first day as an account executive at CM Life. It was overwhelming at first. I started cold-calling from my list of assigned clients. A few wanted to talk to me, some didn’t seem to care and one pretended not to speak English.
But I already see how being an advertising representative can help me in my public relations career. Below are five ways working in advertising helps a career in public relations.
1. Cold-calling clients will prepare you for cold-calling reporters. Some automatically tried to turn me away without listening and some were actually be interested.
2. The pitch needs be be well-tailored. Why should a business run an ad? Why should a reporter write a story?
3. Stay positive. Just because the first ten clients (or reporters) turn you down, it doesn’t mean you don’t have something good. Refer to number 2.
4. Make it easy. I’ve pulled ads that have already been run and calculated the pricing for my meetings with clients because I want to make getting an ad easy for them. Using press releases, fact sheets and reliable sources, you can make writing a story easier for a reporter.
5. Don’t be afraid to ask for advice. The people who are working beside you were new once too. They probably asked the same questions you want to ask them and they are very willing to answer them for you.
For those of you who have worked in advertising, how has it helped your career?
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Comments
01.06.09
As someone who's often on the other side of those cold-calls you're referring to, I'd also say: Don't ask for a meeting. It follows #4 to make it easy. If I set up the meeting every advertising rep asks for when they called me, I would never leave the conference room. Instead, make your pitch over the phone, and offer to email further rates and details.
01.06.09
Rachel,
To answer your last question, after I graduated college, I worked as a media planner at a top ten advertising agency in New York City. The agency was known as a "sweat shop" because they didn't pay much and they worked us very hard. However, it was a great introduction to the corporate world and in fact, after I moved to Los Angeles, I got a job at a research department at a major television studio. My bosses told me that one of the main reasons I got the job was that I had that advertising agency experience on my resume. How did that television studio job work out? I worked for those same bosses for twenty-three years!
Andy Teach
Author, From Graduation to Corporation
02.10.09
Please don't put sales pitch techniques into practice in your PR career. The cold call approach is the number one complaint that journalists make about inexperienced PR practitioners. Use your communication and telephone skills by all means, but please, please, don't see PR all about selling stories to journalists.
Indeed, I'd say the best advice for working with media, and generating sales, is to build good value-added relationships. That sounds like what you're doing there - so that will be much appreciated by the journalists.
Much more than the Hi, wanna buy a press release pitch!!
02.10.09
@Anna - I think it depends on where you are coming from though. I work with only local advertisers and there are only two newspapers in town. I do have clients I have never met, but it helps for me to work with some of them face to face.
@Andy - That's great. I hope my experience helps me get a great job too. I don't plan on working in advertising, but I think the experience will help a lot.
@Heather - I agree that sales techniques aren't great for pitching to reporters. But, I will still have to call people I've never met before in my PR career. Cold calls are hard to do at first. I think the experience of having will still help.
Relationships are the most valuable thing. And that's what I am trying to do with my clients right now. Thanks!
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