Soon after I got my twitter account, I began following Aerial Ellis. Her profile intrigued me because she was a.) a cool looking brown girl like myself, b.) doing some interesting PR work  and c.) living in Nashville-my hometown! I have love for anyone who is living and working in “the ‘Ville” and contributing to its evolution as a truly  world-class city.  So many people don’t know about the many treasures of Nashville, but that’s another blog post all together.

Miss Ellis is definitely one to watch as she’s only 26, and is already running her own successful shop in Nashville.  This definitely won’t be the last time you see her name.

Aerial M. Ellis

Age: 26

City: Nashville, TN
PR Consultant/Owner
Urbane Imagery

Since 2004

http://www.urbaneimagery.com

http://aerialellis.wordpress.com

Twitter: @AerialEllis

What are your typical work hours? A typical range of work hours for me could be from 5am until midnight or later. Lately I’ve been attempting to end my day by 10 pm, although that doesn’t always work.

Describe a typical work day.Honestly, my days can be quite unpredictable but I’ll give it a shot…A typical work day begins by reading tons of emails on my Blackberry. Once I get to a computer, I send and answer more emails and check news clips for client coverage. I check in with clients at some point then respond to any requests from editors, producers and journalists as a result of sending pitches or press releases. Throughout the day, I monitor the execution of any PR campaigns we’re conducting at the time, making sure anything is on schedule and conceptualized creatively. At any given moment, I may get a call from a fellow PR colleague to discuss a project, a returning client needing more help or a prospective client requesting a proposal.Many of my clients and colleagues IM me so we chat about business several times a day.

Describe your office environment: Do you work from a busy office in the city, do you work mainly from home/a coffeeshop? Do you like working this way?Initially, I worked from home and some of my favorite coffee shops & bookstores. Then a colleague/mentor who was also working from home suggested we move into an office and share the space. I prefer working from an office. While I enjoy the freedom and comfort of working from home, I do like the structure and flexibility an office provides. I feel more comfortable holding meetings in an office instead of at Starbucks or my living room.

How many co-workers/employees do you have? How do you best collaborate with your team (standard board room meetings, conference calls, BaseCamp or other project management tool, etc.) 1 full-time (me), 1 part-time and 2 interns…We do a lot of team conversations. Everyone knows that can call or email me anytime if they need anything. We chat on Gmail almost everyday because we are not all in the same city or able to meet daily. We also have monthly conference calls where I provide an agenda and we recap all client activity for the month and talk about upcoming assignments. Continue Reading

To say that economically, things are rough around here would be an understatement, and at this point also a cliche. For entrepreneurs, things are tougher than they once were, no question. But that’s not to say that there aren’t still opportunities for marketing and PR professionals to turn a profit.

It’s really tempting to get so excited about the prospect of a new client that you underbid yourself. Not to mention the dynamics of this recession. You might start thinking “Wow, things are really tough right now, and I’m sure they can’t really afford my normal rate. We’re in a recession. Let me lower my fees, so that I can close the deal, just this once…”

But you’re never going to turn a profit if you don’t get paid what you’re worth. And you can’t get paid what you’re worth if you hedge every time someone says they can’t afford you. Furthermore, that will really come back to bite you once this recession is over. Your clients (who didn’t know you were doing them a favor) will think that you’re only worth the peanuts that you charge.

Scenario: You meet with a new client. You absolutely love them. They love you and you’re both giddy about working together. You promise them a proposal/quote for your services and they tell you they’re looking forward to it. You go home, happy and start slaving over the proposal. You painstakingly detail the scope of work and deliverables. You decide how long all of this will take, outline the budget and break down your fees. You submit the proposal and wait. Continue Reading

This week’s HTP is again more for the writers than the publicists. Sit tight publicists, I’ve got you covered next week. If you’re an essayist or analyst, journalist, political commentator, or just a thinking person who happens to write about African American issues from time to time, you’ll definitely want to get your stuff in the Root. (I’ve been toying around with an essay for a few weeks, myself). Anyway, for those of you who are unfamiliar with the Root, it’s an amazing online magazine full of smart, perceptive cultural commentary. It’s published by Washingtonpost.Newsweek Interactive, and offices are here in Washington, DC. From the site:

The Root is a daily online magazine that provides thought-provoking commentary on today’s news from a variety of black perspectives. The site also hosts an interactive genealogical section to trace one’s ancestry through AfricanDNA.com, a DNA testing site co-founded by Henry Louis Gates, Jr., who is also The Root’s Editor-In-Chief. The Root aims to be an unprecedented departure from traditional American journalism, raising the profile of black voices in mainstream media and engaging anyone interested in black culture around the world.

I recently caught up with Root Associate Editor Natalie Hopkinson, formerly of the Washington Post Outlook and Style sections, and co-author of Deconstructing Tyrone: A New Look at Black Masculinity in the Hip Hop Generation. Here’s How to Pitch Natalie.

The Basics: Natalie Hopkinson, Associate Editor, The Root (www.theroot.com) I assign and edit pieces for this African American interest Web magazine and specialize in cultural essays and multimedia coverage. I started at The Root a week before it launched in January 2008. Continue Reading

We all know someone in journalism who has lost a job over the past year. Some of us (like myself) started out in journalism, got laid off, and are now working in public relations. Many of my former media contacts are now in-house public relations counsel or are now my competitors on the independent PR scene! So the question becomes, with newsrooms shrinking all over the country, what’s a PR pro to do when her contacts take the buyouts or get laid off?

Bulldog Reporter has an article today that posts some pretty simple tips on what to do when your media contacts move on. It’s pretty standard stuff, but worth reading.  To sum up: get on social media, blog like crazy and make use of twitter to rebuild your media contact list. Read the story here.

Happy Thursday Media People! I’m super-excited about today’s Test Drive My Job interview with Deirdre Breakenridge, whom I “met” at the Georgetown Barnes and Noble while searching for some PR and Marketing reading. I was in one of those saw-sharpening moods that I go through periodically, so when I saw Deirdre’s book PR 2.0: New Media, New Tools, New Audiences I thought it would be the perfect remedy. And it was.

Seldom do I come across game-changers, but this book was definitely one of them. Without going into too much detail (go pick up the book, you won’t regret it) PR 2.0 gave me a ton of great tips that I am already implementing for my clients. For instance, Deirdre writes about how important online newsrooms are for SEO. I’ve improved two online newsrooms just using her suggestions, and I do believe it’s eventually going to make a difference in our search engine rankings.

In PR 2.0, Deirdre also breaks social media, blogging, social media press releases, etc. all the way down and helps you figure out ways to get measurable, affordable results for either yourself or your clients. It’s a must-read, so check out her blog for info about PR 2.0 and her other titles. Let’s get on with the interview…

Deirdre Breakenridge, 42

New Jersey

President and Director of Communications for PFS Marketwyse for the past 10 years

Author of PR 2.0 New Media, New Tools, New Audiences and co-author of Putting the Public Back into Public Relations

Blog and Twitter

Mopwater: What are your typical work hours? DB: I pretty much work all day and night. A normal day could easily be up to 12 hours. I guess this is typical when you own your own marketing/PR agency. You just never stop. I help my employees with their work during the day and then I do my own work (strategy, writing, new business proposals and reports) at night.

Mopwater: Describe a typical work day. DB: I get into the office around 8:00 a.m. (that’s after commuting for about an hour and a half). I like to get some “think” work done and prepare for the day before the staff arrives. Usually, mornings are filled with internal staff meetings that include team production meetings, communications meetings and creative brainstorming. I also devote morning hours to operational responsibilities, so that I can work with the accounting office on financial matters or with the project management department. I tend to schedule most of my client meetings in the afternoons whether they are by telephone or in person. I leave the office by 5 p.m. to beat the traffic, but will finish the work day/night at home. It’s no surprise that I’ll still be emailing clients or members of my team long after the normal work day ends, especially if those clients are across the country or in another part of the world.

Mopwater: Describe your office. DB: I spend four days a week in the office with the staff. We are about 20 minutes outside of New York City, in Northern New Jersey, which is a fairly busy area. I spend every Friday working from home. It’s my favorite day of the week because I feel I can get so much accomplished without interruption. Being in an office is great so that you can interact and brainstorm with colleagues, but there are times that it’s difficult to concentrate. I have an open door policy, so my office door is literally always open. I do feel that you have to be disciplined working at home because there are distractions there too whether it’s the refrigerator or the fact that laundry always needs to get done. But, if you can get into a good routine then you will find the time out of the office is much more productive, not to mention the fact that you want to go back on Monday to see everyone.

Mopwater: What types of clients does your company work with and what services do you provide? DB: We have a variety of clients in different industries including technology, healthcare, financial, HR, and food manufacturing. Our company is made up of three divisions; Communications/PR, Creative Marketing and Video/Multimedia. Many of the services we provide from PR and advertising to FLASH development and streaming video, help companies to bridge the gap from traditional marketing to new media and Web 2.0. Our clients’ campaigns are customized so that they can interact with the most important influencers, at the right time, to gain maximum exposure and engage in new and innovative ways to build brand loyalty.

I really enjoyed the strategy, planning and launch behind GettingHired.com, a website that helps people with disabilities find jobs. GettingHired is also a social networking platform, so that people with disabilities can interact with peers, service providers and advocacy groups. It’s one of my favorite projects, not only because it’s such a necessary service for the 23 million people who have disabilities, but also because the campaign has traditional elements of advertising, direct mail and PR and bridges over to Web 2.0. We used several successful strategies to interact with new influencers and Web communities (blogging, social networking and social media releases, to name a few).

Mopwater: What are your favorite things about working at PFS? DB: My favorite things about working at PFS are the people/culture as well as the diverse client base. The culture at PFS is very hands on and proactive. PFS employees take tremendous pride in their work and have been complimented by clients for achieving aggressive deadlines and staying under budget. I also love the diverse client base because you never feel that you are “stuck” in one industry. It keeps your mind fresh. Each employee has the opportunity to learn about a variety of companies and their communication challenges in the market.

Mopwater: How do you best collaborate with your team (standard board room meetings, conference calls, BaseCamp or other project management tool, etc.)? DB: We have 15 employees in total and I work with all employees in their separate client teams. We collaborate best when we are together in our creative department which is a big open room with comfy chairs surrounded by our computer technology. The atmosphere gets the creative juices flowing when we’re brainstorming. That’s not to say that we don’t have meetings in the conference room. We have our standard production meetings and client meetings in the boardroom setting, and also do a lot of telephone conference calls/Web Ex meetings there for our clients.

Mopwater: What do you wish was different at your job? DB: I wish I could find the right PR person/Director of Communications to run my communications department and to work with me on strategy/planning for clients. This would allow me to give more focus to my Presidential responsibilities (operations and finance), new business, speaking engagements, interviews, etc.

Mopwater: Do you see yourself in this job in 5 years? If not, where do you see yourself? DB: Yes, because I own PFS Marketwyse, I do see myself there in five years. However, my role will be more strategy and consultation to clients and less operational. I will also continue with my writing career, and, hopefully, in five years, be on my 8th or 9th book. I have my 4th book, “Putting the Public Back in Public Relations” being published in March 2009. And, I’m in the process of pursuing book #5 with my publisher Financial Times Press.

I think as a communications professional you need to be an excellent communicator (both oral and written), have a lot of energy, be a total “people-person” and enjoy working in teams. As a business owner and President of a company, you need a tough skin, be able to handle stressful situations, and learn the art of negotiations.

New President = New Coverage, New Sections, New Interest in Black Publications

Something told me that Washington, DC newspapers were about to get way more interesting once Barack Obama was sworn in as president. I didn’t even think that black publications and networks would turn their focus to politics, but, duh, the country’s first black president is a big deal to say the least. Black publications are getting officially Obama-fied for 2009, with new reporters covering the White House full-time, new Washington reports, etc. My family had subscriptions to Essence and Ebony back in the ’90s, but cancelled them as the publications grew stagnant to my household. I might actually have to start subscribing to both magazines again…

From Nia-Malika Henderson’s Politico story:

Barack Obama’s election as president is prompting major changes in the nation’s black press, ushering in a series of firsts that editors say will reshape print, Internet, radio and television coverage aimed at African-American audiences.

Essence, the top-selling magazine among black women, will have a full-time White House reporter for the first time. Ebony magazine will add a White House reporter, either full time or as needed. Its sister publication, Jet magazine, will have a weekly two-page Washington report in every issue.

Read the rest of the story here.

Happy New Year everyone! I hope you had  a great holiday season and are gearing up for a great 2009. As promised, Mopwater is back in full effect today, and as such, I’m launching the much-anticipated “How to Pitch” column.  HTP is going to give you the inside track on how to get yourself or your client covered in print, broadcast and web-based media.

Reporters and editors-are you looking to get more exposure for your work in 2009? Ready to put down the pen (okay, keyboard) for a moment and get on-screen?  Maybe you’ve recently seen your reporter colleagues featured as experts on television news programs, so you’re wondering how you could get on television,too.

To help you get your first television interview, I’ve interviewed  Ferman Patterson, Producer of Reporter’s Roundtable, a public affairs program that airs on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at noon on Channel 16 in the District of Columbia. Frequent guests include D.C. Mayor Adrian M. Fenty and Washington Post Reporter Hamil Harris. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the program, here’s a brief synopsis from the DC Office of Cable Television:

Hosted by Denise Rolark Barnes of The Washington Informer, the show tackles the top news items affecting District residents. Viewers will hear issues addressed from every perspective by panelists like Hamil Harris of The Washington Post and Deborah Simmons of The Washington Times. The show takes you beyond the local headlines as these journalists debate what’s in the news and how it will impact DC residents.

I’ve often wondered how reporters/experts get booked on this program as it seems like the guests are pretty much the same whenever I tune in.  According to Patterson, it really depends.

“Sometimes we get leads from reporters or we see a reporter on air and [invite them on],” he says. “Who we choose is based on topic or subject matter.” Recently archived episodes include the same-sex marriage debate, the green revolution and Wall Street vs. Main Street. Continue Reading

Brookings Institute, a premier public policy think tank in Washington, DC is hiring a Communications Director.

From the job description:

The Brookings Institution seeks to fill a Director of Communications position. The Director of Communications through leadership and counsel, brings the communications perspective to bear on all aspects of the Metropolitan Policy Program, and helps Metro use communications effectively to reach its goals. Working closely with the program’s deputy director and the Brookings Office of Communications, creates aggressive campaign to deliver Metro’s point of view through print, broadcast and new media as well as through other traditional and nontraditional communications tactics, including new media. Creates communications strategies and plans and leads and manages plan’s tactical implementation.

Check out the entire announcement here.