There is still time left for athletic communications professionals to get organized and get a jump-start to the 2012-13 academic year. Here are two summertime to-do list suggestions to make your job easier.
See online: PR pros:
How to fight the summer slowdown, by Rosemarie Esposito
For many public relations professionals, the time between July 4 and Labor Day can feel a little like waiting for bad movie previews to finish before the start of a summer blockbuster. From the ecstasy of summer Fridays (aka: early dismissal for those in the dark), to the wandering attention spans of clients and reporters, even the most motivated pros can show signs of laziness before the last, and maybe most important, quarter of the year.
Learning how to deal with downtime in public relations is one of the most important first steps on the road to a successful, long-term career. Here are a few recommendations on how to “flip flop” quiet periods, and fight the summer slow down. (Apologies in advance for having way too much fun with summer analogies throughout this post.)
1. Take a reporter out to lunch: Yes, many of them are on vacation and have filed stories for the summer long in advance. Keep in mind though, many reporters will still have to drag themselves into the office for upcoming projects or file articles for the online news cycle. Take your open schedule and try to work in some time to meet face to face, or invite your clients to visit a reporter with you to help build out ongoing relationships. With the risk of sounding like a broken record on this topic, reporters appreciate when you take the time to get to know them and their coverage areas. Especially when both parties are looking for an excuse to get out of the office.
2. Take a (coach/administrator/colleague) out to lunch/dinner and brainstorm: You may reiterate the first section of tip 1 but, chances are, some of your contacts are around right now. While most urgent media projects are probably scarce, take the time to solidify your relationships with them and be sure you’re still near the “boardroom” as Q4 begins. Even if you’re not within city radius of your clients, use Skype or another video conferencing tool and maybe even send food so you’re still “taking them out”. Go the extra mile to stay on top of all your clients/colleagues, and they won’t even realize it is “quiet time.”
3. Take a class/network: Keep your skills fresh and sign up for a webinar or class (your office may even pay for you to attend if it is properly packaged as an important learning lesson). You should also keep an eye out for professional networking events after or even during work. Go to events related to client industries or even those in public relations to expand your contact circle. Be sure to check out MediaBistro, PRSA and Meetup groups on a weekly basis.
4. Department-wide activities: Suggest a learning activity for the whole office to participate in and challenge their skills. You can stage a pretend client crisis or organize a scavenger hunt with PR terms around the office or area you work. You can even organize planning brainstorms with people that don’t work on your accounts to expand knowledge about the agency’s work and get a fresh batch of ideas.
5. Write a blog/social media: If it’s ok with your agency’s social media policies, take this downtime to continue to expand your digital presence and knowledge of new networks. Ask to write for your organization’s blog, or create your own with new tools. Sometimes the best way to build your social media knowledge is by “doing”, which is perfect during any quiet time you can find.
6. Get organized: Is your desk still piled to the brim with old client agendas and press releases? Start a new trend, and get your workspace in order! Also, take some time and clean up your emails, create folders and update your contact details. If you’re like me, you probably quickly save new contacts without much background information, so take this opportunity to get your work address book up to date. Get your media lists in order and update it with more details too, and add more personal information like social media accounts and personal blogs.
7. Connect with vendors: During the year, it can be hard to find the time to participate in a webinar updating you on new skills for say Cision, or even meet with a marketing contact from a conference. Take the summer quiet time to schedule these meetings and keep vendor relationships fresh.
8. Final Tip: Keep your coworkers informed: YES, all of these tips I just mentioned sound great, but without proper permission, it can seem like you’re taking advantage of the summer down time. Keep everyone annoyingly up to date with what you’re doing and where you are with projects. I would even suggest creating a plan that you can share with your direct superior, so if they need to know what you’re working on or if you have new goals during the summer slow down, it can be attributed to professional development.
Other online thoughts:
A public relations to-do list for the dog days of summer, by Mary Fletcher Jones
- Draft an editorial calendar for the rest of the year — for your blog posts, social media updates, YouTube videos, Pinterest boards. Sure, you can’t plan everything in advance, but an editorial calendar will give you a terrific headstart, if you aren’t using one already.
- Create a Twitter list of media contacts that you hope to cultivate.
- Write a LinkedIn recommendation for a vendor, intern, volunteer committee colleague…
- Record a YouTube video. There’s no better time to record video than in the summer — when you’re feeling relaxed, looking great, and probably not congested with a head cold.
- Take some candid photographs around the office and create some Facebook Page albums.
- Write some case studies to share on the client work section of your website.
- Create a presentation related to your area of expertise — with a PowerPoint presentation that you can upload to SlideShare. It’s nice to have a presentation in the wings in case you are asked to fill in last minute for a cancelled speaker — I’ve been asked to do this.
- Plan your winter holiday communications — it’s never too early, and now is the best time when you’re not harried and overworked. Some people get their holiday shopping done before Labor Day and some people plan their holiday events, video greetings, and mailed cards early. We can design your holiday print or e-card, and we are known for our holiday greeting videos.
- Submit an award nomination. Washington Women in Public Relations is accepting nominations for Washington PR Woman of the Year.
- Get a head start on your company’s annual report. We’re halfway through the year. If you start on it now, and save the draft, it will be that much easier to complete at the end of the year.
See online:
Summertime to-do lists, by Linzy Roussel Cotaya
We’ve all heard of spring-cleaning, and in the South, freezer cleaning when hurricane season arrives. (That is, you use all of the items in the freezer so you don’t lose them in case the power goes out).
Both are dedicated times when you stop each year to focus on clearing out the clutter and reorganizing.
While it’s hard to slow down in the PR world, summer can be the ideal time to take a break and clean up the shop. Add it to your Outlook calendar and tackle those things that will make life easier.
To ensure it’s manageable, focus on a few simple items. In one week, for example, you can accomplish five core tasks that can help make your job easier.
1. Sort through your contacts. Make sure contact information is up-to-date and eliminate duplicates in Outlook.
2. Renew your memberships. Professional development is a must and is also a great resource. Check your memberships to make sure they are current.
3. Review the media list. Yes, you have resources to do this for you, but take the time to sift through the entire list. You will be surprised by the media outlets that are missing or the staff changes that are not reflected in the list because it has been a while since you slowed down and put eyes on the list.
4. Take time to actually plan. Most PR pros think in 30, 60, or 90-day increments. This is a professional hazard. Take an afternoon or two and put together a yearlong PR plan with goals, objectives, strategies, and tactics just as you were taught.
5. Dust off the crisis plan that you know is around the office somewhere. Make sure it’s up to date and still relevant to potential threats to your organization.
We are busy, but by slowing down and taking some time to get ourselves in order we can be more productive and efficient at our jobs. Don’t have an assistant or an intern do it; these tasks need your eyes and your time. Just think that if you don’t tackle this now, the holiday rush will be upon us before we know it and then there is no time to stop.