7 Pieces of Advice on Public Relations

In our office, we’re lucky to have many strong women coming from a range of backgrounds. Public Relations is a female-dominated profession, with women making up 61.3% of the industry. One thing that we each have in common, aside from our job, is that we were each impacted, mentored and empowered by other women throughout our lives.

We are grateful for the advice that our female role-models have given us. We’re happy to pass along some of what we’ve learned in the hopes that it will inspire others. Here are seven pieces of advice from women in the industry:

1. Expand your horizons

It’s no longer just public relations. Its digital, marketing, special events, social media. Keep learning. Don’t ignore learning the business side of the industry. How are profits generated? Where are the future new business contracts coming from? Then, you’ll be well positioned for the future.

2. Stay on top of the news

Always prioritize staying on top of the news. Definitely the news in your client’s respective industries, but also the general news as well. You never know when certain news topics can have a direct impact on your media outreach, and you always need to be one step ahead of your clients.  

3. Have confidence in yourself and in your talents

My advice for young women who would like to be in Public Relations is to be confident in who you are and your talents and work hard to go after the job you really love. It may take a while but work your way up and don’t give up!

4. Be fearless

Do, try, fall flat on your face – sometimes in front of everyone. And if you don’t have the ability to control your fear of failure, do it anyway.

5. Be flexible

Follow your dreams but be flexible; you never know where it will lead you. 

6. Be kind

You catch more flies with honey than vinegar. Sometimes the PR world can be cut-throat and intense. But that doesn’t mean you should stray away from your morals or stoop to other’s level. Rise to the occasion in your own way, be kind, and work hard.

7. Try to always pick up new information 

While in any industry, there will always be things you don’t know how to do – how do you reformat the Excel spreadsheet? Should you be using InDesign, Illustrator or Photoshop for this? How do I get this document to print double sided?

By asking questions and learning the correct way to do seemingly small tasks, you will save a lot of time and you’ll be better prepared in a crunch in the future.

CLICK HERE to read the rest of our International Women’s Day interview with the women at THO.