I am of the mindset that subcontracting is not just an economic means to an end, but more of an opportunity to learn on the job, and contribute to a worthwhile project that you wouldn’t have otherwise gotten the opportunity to work on. So my philosophy is not subcontracting=side hustle/extra money. To me, subcontracting is more akin to a paid apprenticeship that you should use to bolster your career profile. The experience you gain from subcontracting should be leveraged to get the next job or project.

But sadly, I know many wildly capable public relations professionals who ride the subcontracting train for far too long. As I mentioned in How to Subcontract Your Way to Success, subcontracting is a great way to get your feet wet and gain experience in a new industry. But there is a time to do it. And there is also a time to quit.

Just like those unfortunate “consultants” who go out on their own way too early, there are also those who linger on the train way past their stop. Instead of jumping off, they hide behind the larger, more confident personalities of those who aren’t afraid to be number one. And these talented but fearful professionals seldom if ever get paid what they are worth. Continue Reading

Name: Jasmine Vega
Age: 41
Current City: Venice
Job Title: Music Publicist
Company Name: JPR
Length of Time in this Role: 20 years

Mopwater: Describe your path to PR. How did you wind up in this field?
JV: I didn’t actually go to college.  I started working at 14 yrs old and haven’t stopped.  I didn’t know what a publicist was when I asked for the job.  I was working at a law firm in the data entry department during the day and at night I was promoting my boyfriend’s club in Los Angeles.  This was in the late 80’s.  We always had rappers and record promoters come to the club and get on the mic.  I became friends with the A&R person from Delicious Vinyl (Young MC, Tone Loc).  He asked me if I wanted to come to his label one day after work, so I did.  I looked around and saw that the office was in a shambles, no file cabinets, no structure etc.  This was hard for me to understand coming from a law firm where everything was in its place at all times.  So I asked why that was and a month later I got a call asking if I wanted to come in for an interview to assist the GM.  I went in and got the job.  A few months later the publicist at the label was leaving her position and said that I should ask to take her place since I was already doing her job and everyone liked working with me.  Doing her job at that time since we had established artists was answering the phone and sending out press kits to those who asked.  Those calling were the likes of Rolling Stone, Time, Newsweek etc.  I was in a very fortunate situation and took the position.  The rest is history.

Mopwater: Describe how you got from the in-house publicist job to what you’re doing now. When did o become an independent PR pro? How many years into working at Delicious Vinyl did you decide to go out on your own?

JV: While working at Delicious Vinyl, we also hired an indie pr firm to work other projects that I didn’t have time to.  After a year in the position, the pr firm had asked if I would like to work in their LA office.  I eventually left the label, moved to the indie firm until it closed its doors.  At that time, I was able to leave with a handful of accounts to be independent for a few years until Priority Records offered me an in house position.  I was there for a couple of years until I was courted by Virgin Records.  I remained at Virgin for 8 years until they moved the company to New York.  At that time I went indie again and have remained indie for the last few years. Continue Reading

Name: Marc Silverstein
Current City: Washington, DC and environs
Job Title: President and CEO
Company: On The Marc Media
Length of Time in this Role: 5 Years
Twitter: @onthemarcmedia
Mopwater: Describe your path to PR. How did you wind up in this field?
MS: I was a crusty but lovable TV news reporter for close to 20 years, so skepticism of all spokespeople, PR folks and spinmeisters was in my DNA. Over time, I came to appreciate the few who “got it.” They knew how to successfully spar with reporters, leak stories, get out their message—and when they had to—take one for the team (usually a critical story) without too much whining.

Then I left news and hosted a long-running show about restaurants on Food Network called The Best Of. Many of the places we profiled had publicists, some of whom were incredibly helpful, and succeeded in making good stories better. But far too often, we had to deal with what I nicknamed Philadelphia-type PR, based on a company in Philly whose reps were so inept that we stopped covering their clients. They got in the way, raised tension levels with the crew and consistently made the process so difficult that even eating the free food offered by the chefs became a chore. That takes some doing.

From both the news and entertainment experiences, I saw there was an opportunity—to offer the kind of PR that provides a more effective bridge between clients and the media.  Clients need public relations people who know how to:
•    Understand reporters, their pressures and their personalities—and make their lives easier. (Like providing “one –stop-shopping,” and not calling to pitch stories when reporters are under deadline).
•    Speak the language of news reporters (Forget the elevator speech; you’re lucky if you get to ride one floor while you’re pitching them).
•    Identify what their client does that’s newsworthy, and figure out every way we can to get it in front of an audience.
•    Write short, dynamic news releases that don’t waste anyone’s time.
•    Use a lot of bullet points.

After Food Network, I hosted a show on Discovery Channel. After shooting the episodes, I was under contract and couldn’t work elsewhere in TV for several months. Much to my disdain, my wife wouldn’t let me sit home in semi-retirement. That’s when On The Marc Media actively started going after PR clients—and since then, we’ve been successfully getting them on TV, in print and on the Internet, in addition to providing a vast array of other marketing services. Continue Reading

Ah, the cheapskate client. How do I loathe thee? You may know him/her well. S/he masquerades as a serious prospect and raises everyone’s hopes. S/he requests a full-on proposal with no intentions of pulling the trigger. Or the worst: s/he orders the work and signs a contract, but never pays the invoice.

While seemingly harmless at first glance, the cheapskate client is quite dangerous. The CC wastes inordinate amounts of time and resources. Heaven forbid you have team members you have to pay (graphic designers, admin help, copywriters). Dealing with a cc, you could even end up in the red.

But during a recession, everyone wants to believe in the promises of the CC, because we’re all chasing that elusive (perhaps fictitious) pot of gold. We all want to believe in good intentions and the upfront promises that (my personal favorite) this will lead to “more work later down the road.” But since the CC can end up costing you in the end, it’s better to steer clear altogether. Here are a few ways to spot them. And once you spot the CC, please run. You were warned.

They Hint About Brokeness:  If you’re interviewing a potential client and they actually use the words “We don’t have a lot of money” or “We’re waiting for a grant to come in…” or worse yet, “We’re just starting out , so our budget for this is small….” please run. A lack of funds at the onset of a project probably means there will be a lack of funds when it’s time for you to get paid. And remember that blood is thicker than water: if an organization or company is financially struggling, they’re going to make sure they pay their own in-house staff before they take care of the consultants. That’s just how it is. Continue Reading

No matter how great your message, product or service is, if you don’t package it with great visual branding, you’re missing an incredible opportunity to wow the heck out of your potential customers, and leave your competitors in the dust. It never ceases to amaze me how many PR and marketing pros seem to miss this simple truth, and miss the opportunity to partner up with designers or design firms to 1.) add polish to printed and web materials and 2.) share clients. Designers don’t want to bother with copywriting, media pitching, or messaging the same way you don’t want to fiddle with vectors, color balance, or Photoshop.

Collaborating with designers presents an unparalleled win-win situation because designers come across clients who need PR and Marketing services, and PR/Marketing Pros regularly have projects that could use some good design. The two parties can form one of the most practical symbiotic relationships on the planet.

I have several designers that I regularly partner with, as well as a design firm that I will collaborate with in the future on larger projects. But how does one go about finding and working with a design firm? What elements must one have professionally designed? And what are the rules of engagement? To answer these pressing questions, I caught up with a local (DC-MD-VA) designer to get his insights. Meet Greg, of Carousel30 Interactive Media.

Name Greg Kihlström
Age 33
Company Carousel30 Interactive Media in Alexandria, VA
Title Chief Creative Officer
Years in the Field 11
Web
Blog
Twitter carousel30

Mopwater: How long have you been working in the design field, and what made you get into design?
GK: I have been designing Interactive Media for over ten years now and got into it after spending some time in Photography, which also teaches you many of the important elements of design and about the economy of space, shape and message.

Mopwater: What kinds of clients do you work with?
GK: A pretty wide range from high-profile for-profit (AOL, MTV Networks, Starbucks) non-profit (The Nature Conservancy, AARP, DividedWeFail) and government (NASA) clients to medium-sized companies and organizations.

Mopwater: How often do you collaborate with PR and Marketing firms?
GK: My company, Carousel30, has done some of our best work when collaborating with PR/Marketing firms and other agencies.  About half of our work comes from these types of collaborations. Continue Reading

Name: Lizzie Landon- Cole Sorensen
Age: 30
Current City: Saratoga Springs, NY
Job Title: CEO and Founder
Company Name: 32Flavors Public Relations
Length of Time in this Role: 6 years before that consulted for 2 under another company name
Blog
Twitter

Mopwater: Describe your path to PR. How did you wind up in this field?
LS:I grew up around a lot of creative people, between a mix of artists and innovators who made a good living, and then starving artists. I could always see both sides to the story but couldn’t deny my genetic ability to create, have ideas, and follow through with them. My grandfather replaced Kurt Vonnegut when he left GE, and he (R. Ned Landon) was the chief speech writer for the CEO of GE, as well as the PR liaison between GE and Disney. It always seemed like a shirt and tie job to all of us 10 grandchildren growing up, but little did we know that we would all inherit a bit of his creativity. On my father’s side, my grandmother is an incredible painter, sculptor and photographer, and that didn’t start to hit me in my own creativity until just recently.

I couldn’t wait to get out of high school where I was president of my business club (nerdy yes, but hey, those soccer jocks aren’t being interviewed right now are they?). I found a college that had a PR/Ad department and would take me as a senior in high school and let me do both senior and freshman year simultaneously. I loved to write, and was always coming up with ads and commercials in my head so I thought it would be interesting. My father, who has had his share of starving artist and layoff moments in the field of advertising, photography, and graphic design wrote me a 17 page letter about how I shouldn’t move from upstate NY to Providence, R.I., 1. Because I was 16, and 2. Because the marketing industry can be tough. Along side the artists in our family we have our share of lawyers, and professors, and as much as I tried for a more stable profession, it just wasn’t in me. Continue Reading