Pouring myself a cup of ambition
It's not often that I brag about my work or the fact that, sometimes, I can be completely and totally awesome at my job (at least when I'm not making people cry). But today I can't help but tell you that my company got FULL PAGE COVERAGE in the new issue of Time Out New York.
Okay, so I didn't actually finagle the size of the coverage - a full page versus, say, a quarter page like some of the other items they highlighted. I can only pitch the story and hope for the best. But after three marathon trips to New York and a summer spent stressed out and spinning my wheels, something like this is extremely gratifying.
Gratification was actually the very first thing I realized I liked about PR. After graduating college with a degree in advertising, I spent a year in the creative department of an ad agency. My job, as a glorified secretary, was easy, and I even got to do some copywriting; but, I quickly realized that I abhorred the snails pace at which a campaign took shape. Months would pass between the first pitch meeting and the execution of a concept, and in the meantime, nothing seemed to happen. The creatives complained about the account side, the copywriters complained about the art directors, everyone complained about the creative director, and the final product was never an accurate reflection of the ideas that inspired it.
A few days after my start in PR, I sent a beauty editor some product from Burt's Bees. Two weeks later, a fact checker called to confirm that the product - that I had just sent! - would be in an upcoming issue. Three months later, there it was. Sales increased, money was made. This happened every day, for more clients than any singular ad team could ever take on.
Granted, it's not always so easy. But with PR, I've always felt a sense of control. If you can come up with a pitch, know who to pitch it to, and know how to pitch it, you can make money for your client. Get a hit in People, watch online sales spike. New York magazine, they walk through the door with the torn-out page in-hand. It's all a direct result of the work you did.
Of course, if the press don't bite, that's not your fault at all, but that of a faulty product or service. That's the magic of PR. A good publicist always knows how to spin things to her favor.
Okay, so I didn't actually finagle the size of the coverage - a full page versus, say, a quarter page like some of the other items they highlighted. I can only pitch the story and hope for the best. But after three marathon trips to New York and a summer spent stressed out and spinning my wheels, something like this is extremely gratifying.
Gratification was actually the very first thing I realized I liked about PR. After graduating college with a degree in advertising, I spent a year in the creative department of an ad agency. My job, as a glorified secretary, was easy, and I even got to do some copywriting; but, I quickly realized that I abhorred the snails pace at which a campaign took shape. Months would pass between the first pitch meeting and the execution of a concept, and in the meantime, nothing seemed to happen. The creatives complained about the account side, the copywriters complained about the art directors, everyone complained about the creative director, and the final product was never an accurate reflection of the ideas that inspired it.
A few days after my start in PR, I sent a beauty editor some product from Burt's Bees. Two weeks later, a fact checker called to confirm that the product - that I had just sent! - would be in an upcoming issue. Three months later, there it was. Sales increased, money was made. This happened every day, for more clients than any singular ad team could ever take on.
Granted, it's not always so easy. But with PR, I've always felt a sense of control. If you can come up with a pitch, know who to pitch it to, and know how to pitch it, you can make money for your client. Get a hit in People, watch online sales spike. New York magazine, they walk through the door with the torn-out page in-hand. It's all a direct result of the work you did.
Of course, if the press don't bite, that's not your fault at all, but that of a faulty product or service. That's the magic of PR. A good publicist always knows how to spin things to her favor.
posted by Lori @ 7:51 PM
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