A lot of you are transitioning from journalism or another industry to public relations, and are wondering how to gain the experience that will help you land your next gig. Some of you have volunteered as much as you can afford to and need to start bringing in the money while you continue to gain experience.

Subcontracting, or offering a specific service or skill on a project under another person/company’s contract,  is a great way to break into the industry and make money without the added responsibility of being in charge. You may not be ready for prime time but that doesn’t mean you can’t work under someone who is.

So how do you go about subcontracting? Where do you find projects and how do you convince someone to hire you? If you’re a recent graduate who’s looking to get a PR gig, or a mid-career professional who wants to make the leap over from another industry, here are some tips to guide you.

Take Stock. Identify your strengths as well as your weaknesses.  I recently discovered that I’m not really the party planner in terms of making an event look visually beautiful. I am gifted however, with event scripting and planning how an event will flow from moment to moment. So if I got a lead on an event planning project, I would not bill myself as the expert in floral arrangements or banners. But remarks? Run of show? I’m your girl.

My point is, take stock of what you’re really good at, and use that to get your foot in the door. During your subcontracting gig, you’ll invariably learn new skills to add to your repertoire.  Build your skill set with each project so each time you approach someone, you’ll have more and more services to offer.

Create a Portfolio. I  recommend creating a  portfolio and posting it online, and adding the hyperlink to your e-mail signature.  But this document should also come in an easy to email format (preferably an easy to e-mail pdf).  When you’re pitching yourself, you will inevitably hear the words “Send me something,” so  be ready with samples of your best work. If you’re a great writer, have your best clips handy. If you’re a graphic designer, your most beautiful creations. If you’re an event planner, create a portfolio that visually captures the essence of your most memorable events. Done a little media relations? Mock up a case study or two that includes your pitch and resulting coverage.

Analyze the News for Buried Leads-Pun Intended. This may sound like a no-brainer, but it bears repeating anyway.  You should always read the paper and follow the business section, your town’s business journal and any industry publications that pertain to you.  Look for interesting events, developments and projects that will be coming down the pipeline in the coming months.  Do some digging to find out who is doing the PR for a particular project so that you can approach them with your portfolio. Continue Reading

Melissa Cassera,29

Marlton, NJ

Cassera Communications

Owner : 3 years

Mopwater: Describe your path to PR. What made you want to get into the field?

MC: I grew up in the entertainment industry working as a model/actress, but always loved to write and am an avid storyteller. I graduated from Rowan University in 2002 with a BA in Communications and began my career in corporate PR. I didn’t enjoy working in a corporate environment so I switched into sales before ultimately deciding to go back into PR…this time on my own terms. I started my own firm when I was 26 years old working with small business owners, professional speakers, authors and industry experts.

Mopwater: What do you love most about doing PR?

MC: I love landing big placements for small business owners – there’s something exciting about getting in on the ground floor and watching a business grow with your efforts. I also love seeing direct ROI from placements and helping clients leverage placements into sales or into ongoing coverage (like regular columns or correspondent opportunities).

Mopwater: Describe your office and workplace. How many co-workers do you have? Where, how, and how often do you collaborate with them?

MC: I have a home office and do not have employees. Instead I collaborate with other industry experts in marketing, copywriting, advertising, social media, etc and outsource work to them when necessary. We collaborate by phone, email and Skype.

Mopwater:Describe a typical workday including your work hours. What do you do all day?

MC: I usually start work around 7:30am. Every day I start with a plan and just check off tasks as I go. The hours between 9-5pm are spent pitching clients (new pitches, follow ups, coordinating interviews). I also use Profnet and HARO as a leads source and respond to those queries throughout the day. The evening I reserve for writing, social networking and any housekeeping that needs to be done for my business.

Mopwater: What are your favorite and least favorite PR tasks? Do you love to pitch? Do you dread writing releases?

MC: My favorite task is pitching. I love crafting pitches tailored to each individual outlet and really envisioning how my client will fit in their program/publication. My least favorite is writing press releases, because I rarely use them. 95% of my media placements are from a well-crafted pitch. Continue Reading

Campus Progress Writing Fellowship

Campus Progress is currently looking for its first-ever writing fellow. The fellow will be responsible for writing/creating at least one piece a week, attending our weekly editorial meetings (in person or over the phone), and executing other various editorial and organizational tasks. The writing fellow will be asked to create written and multimedia pieces for our website. He or she will be required to work on at least two in-depth reported features during his/her time at Campus Progress.

After completing the program, fellows should have developed the clips, experience, and relationships to launch a career in journalism. The ideal candidate will be able to spend at least one day a week in our Washington, D.C. office (but this is not mandatory) and will have some experience working and/or interning at a college or professional publication. He or she should be self motivated, eager to report stories, and comfortable working at a rapidly changing new-media outlet. Because this position is new, the candidate should be flexible and open to direction and change. Continue Reading

I’m doing something new today. I come across amazing, talented people all the time.  I profile some of them for Test Drive My Job, Senior Counsel or How to Pitch. But occasionally I meet very impressive people who are looking for work.  Brilliant, talented and eager to work in PR and communications, I wish I could put them all in a building and start my own mega-firm! And someday, I just might.

Just because you don’t have a job does not mean I won’t profile you. If you’ve impressed me with your job-seeking skills and hustle, you might just find yourself on Mopwater PR + Notes.  Like Karyn Watkins.  I “met” her on Twitter.  She was tweeting about her search for PR work in DC, so I contacted her and we met for coffee.  Currently living in her hometown of Chicago, Karyn writes The Fabulous Giver–an amazing blog on philanthropy. She also writes a philanthropy column for the Examiner.  Very tech and new media savvy. Sharp young lady. Check her out–she won’t be “retired” for long!

Name: Karyn Watkins, 25

Current City: Chicago, Illinois

Looking For: A Healthcare or Non-Profit PR Job in DC or Chicago

Our Notes: Great writer, awesome personality

On the Web: The Fabulous Giver

Mopwater: Can you give me  a quick description of your decision to leave advertising and move into PR?
Karyn: Throughout my career, I’ve had the opportunity to work in various facets of marketing communications from sales to advertising. I’ve learned so much from each experience! However, it’s becoming very clear that the Internet is changing the way that people interact with each other and with companies. I knew that I wanted to be a greater participant in the conversations happening between people, businesses, and donors about various brands, initiatives, and organizations. So, it seemed only natural that I switch it up and move into public relations.

Mopwater: How is the search going? How long has it been? What is your ultimate  goal?
Karyn: I’ve been “retired” for almost five months, but honestly, I didn’t start my job search until January of this year as I wanted to focus on writing and volunteering. So far though, I think that the search is going well. I’m not saying that the opportunities are endless, but in all fairness, I can’t totally blame it on the economy. I have a specific idea of the tasks and creativity needed to do my next job, and while I’m willing to compromise a little, I can’t compromise it all strictly because the Dow Jones tells me that I should! After all, I courageously and voluntarily left my previous employer to pursue my ideal career path and I just can’t throw that away.

My ultimate goal is to land in a public relations or communications position within the healthcare or nonprofit sector. I am either looking to stay in Chicago or relocate to the Washington D.C. Area. There are pros and cons to each decision, but I’ll just have to weigh the opportunities once they become available to me! Continue Reading

I recently received a query from a Mopwater PR + Media Notes reader. A regular networking reception attendee, this reader wanted to know how people were handling that awkward space between just meeting someone in person and trying to get to know them on-line. Particularly when the in-meeting was professional in nature, it’s tough to always know how to follow up, how much to follow up and when following up is considered pestering.

After meeting promising leads in person, this reader says she immediately sets up Google alerts for her new contact’s clients and/or projects so she can send a note that says, “Hey I saw this and it was great” or “Thought this may interest you.” But what else are people doing?

I went to the experts to find out.

Reno Lovison, author of Turn Your Business Card Into Business told me that he sees networking as more art than science.

“It’s difficult to come up with a one size fits all follow-up approach,” he writes. “It begins at the point of contact. I try to learn something unique about the person I meet so that I am seeing that person as an individual not just another face with a business card. In my email follow up I try to share (as best as possible) some information that is pertinent to that person. This helps us both to remember what was meaningful about our encounter.”

Lovison says that lately when appropriate, he’s started blogging some information about his new contacts as as a way to better connect him or her with his network. This gives him a chance to follow up with an email that drives new contacts to his site and also demonstrates that Lovison is really interested in referring business to them.

” In some cases this becomes the beginning of an ongoing dialogue… It is time consuming but the idea is to be personal and sincere and not treat people as a generic commodity.”

Elaine Masters is a yoga instructor who regularly attends health expos where she captures e-mail addresses in order to inform people if they’ve won a prize through her raffle. She follows up with her newsletter Drivetime Yoga Notes, which offers tips on taking the stress out of driving.

“I follow up once or twice a month with another that has special offers on my book and cd, plus one or two very brief items on staying stress free or other interesting notes related to life behind the wheel,” Masters says. “What do I get out of it? A few sales, great testimonials, forwarding to friends, list-building that’s going to be leveraged into affiliate programs and joint ventures. It’s not always the immediate ROI but I’m servicing the clients and it does surprise me once in awhile with offers to present or better. The business is small but growing.” Continue Reading

Monica Wood, 38

Charlotte, North Carolina

President/Owner of Monica Wood PR

Web | Blog : MWPRIncight

5 years in Business this year

Mopwater: Describe your path to PR. What made you want to get into the field?

MW: Where do I begin? When I started college, University Maryland Eastern Shore, my major was Fashion Merchandising. My dream was to be a fashion designer. But, mid-way through my freshman year, I switched my major to English. To this day, I don’t recall why. When I transferred to Morgan State University my junior year, my major became Speech. By that point the plan was to graduate and pursue my masters in Speech Pathology. I wanted to be a speech therapist for professional athletes. Well, when I arrived at Morgan, I learned that the majority of my classes were not transferable. So, what should have been 2 more years of school, ended up being 3. So, I began to do internships to start making money early.

The [internship] I enjoyed the most happened to be in media (Urban Profile Magazine/Editor Keith Clinkscales, founding publisher of VIBE magazine and Len Burnett who is now group publisher of UPTOWN). Working with them in PR changed everything. When I graduated from Morgan; I took an internship in Chicago at an advertising agency, in their corporate communications department. To be honest, I had a horrible experience…I believe I never received proper nurturing and was set up to fail. But, I did fall in love with Chicago.

After that,my career progressed through marketing, media and finally public relations. And, PR is where I have remained for over 10 years. Continue Reading

I recently got an e-mail from someone who is moving to the DC Metro area and wants my advice on landing a writing or public relations job here.  The person requested 20 minutes of my time to sit down and chat.  Fittingly, said person attached a resume for my review.

After  I took a look at the resume, I realized that I need to speak to this person about revamping it before we can go any further.  The person has obvious  communications and writing experience, but I only know that because I have held some of the same types of positions mentioned and can read between the lines on this resume.  A general HR manager most likely won’t be as knowledgeable about the nuances in communications job descriptions.  Nor will they be generous enough to spend time reading between the lines.

Before you ask someone to help you out with your job search and connect you to their very valuable professional contacts, make sure you have an outstanding resume for them to distribute on your behalf.  A personal introduction or recommendation can only go so far; once you get your foot in the door, make sure your resume is so dynamic that it gets your butt in the interview seat.  Here’s how.

1. Think “My Resume=My Brochure”. Your resume is your #1 marketing tool.  It tells a complete stranger why they should bother to invite you in to discuss a job opportunity.  Make it  shine!  It can be tough for you freelancers and consultants who might not want to “toot your own horn.” But trust me: this is the time to toot. Use adverbs and adjectives to glowingly describe yourself and your past work. If you’re doing a professional profile at the head of your resume, don’t be  modest. Call yourself what you are: award-winning, proven, strategic and experienced.

2. Give Hiring Managers What They Ask For. If you’re responding to a job listing, please look at the description to find out what the hiring manager is looking for. Even in the communications field I’m surprised by how many people don’t put two and two together on this point.  If  the manager is looking for someone to “handle media relations, respond to inquiries, and pursue proactive media activities,” be sure to list in your experience where you’ve done just that. Include your most successful freelance or consulting projects; projects where you garnered great media hits to show you know a thing or two about media relations.  Show that you’ve not only done this before, but you’re proven. Take it a step further by listing the outlets or programs where you were able to score coverage. Continue Reading

Heathere Evans-Keenan is the immediate past president of PRSA’s National Capital Chapter (for the Washington,DC region), founder and president of Arlington-based Keenan PR, winner of countless national and local PR awards, and one of my most valued mentors. She agreed to meet me on a recent frigid morning in DC to have coffee and talk shop. I shot this short video of Heathere (please ignore my lack of camera skills and the background noise at the coffeeshop) talking about how to handle PR in 2009.

Name: Amy Kauffman, 23, on the right

(with BBPR partner Kristen Kouk, left)

Current City: Dallas, Texas

Company: BlueBird Public Relations
Founder, Partner
Est. Oct. 2008

Mopwater: Describe your path to PR. What made you want to get into the field?

AK: While I didn’t “fall into the PR field” so to speak, I did take an interesting route. Sometimes you have to figure out what you DON’T want to do before you find what you DO find value in pursuing.

I was originally a Nutrition major when I went to The University of Texas at Austin and I quickly realized (after a brutal organic chem class) that being a dietitian was not the career path I wanted to take. If I didn’t enjoy learning and executing the material then, I knew that there was no way it would help me lead a fulfilling life down the road. So when I took some time and thought about my true passions I realized my whole life I have always loved writing and communications; always enjoyed literature, was the PR Class Officer for our high school, spent time writing for a newspaper and also sold their ad space. After taking time to reflect on this, I decided to apply to the Communications School. I knew I had no interest in being a journalist, but decided that Public Relations was the way to go. I am so blessed that I made the decision and was true to myself even though there was a possibility of not getting into the school, graduating late and an unspoken pressure to not change majors.

Mopwater: What were you doing prior to launching your business?

AK: I spent time in Austin as the Director of PR for Texas Campus Compact, a state-wide education nonprofit and my last position was leading the communications at a start up advertising/media agency in Dallas.

Mopwater: What kind of clients does your company serve and what services do you provide?

AK: Right now we are serving small to medium sized organizations from very diverse industries; entertainment and retail to industry machining and nonprofits.  We help build our clients’ brand and image assisting with internal and external communication; help build awareness through traditional and non traditional media and form partnerships with sponsors for events and charitable causes. Continue Reading