Choose Your Own Adventure: The Successful PR Professional

Your career is never a straight line. It’s a “Choose Your Own Adventure” book with ups, downs and multiple forks in the road. That’s alright. You don’t have to have it all together. DJ Khaled doesn’t and all he does is win.

Make it simple. Every day you should ask yourself one thing: Did I move myself forward?

You’re in PR. Your network is everything. Make a new contact every day that can help you. Strengthen a relationship. Deliver value to someone. Make yourself more visible. All of these things will help you move forward and get you to where you want to be.

And what you want to be is indispensable.

You want to have a network someone can’t duplicate. You want to create visibility and thought leadership someone can’t duplicate. Whether you are trying to create your own path or move up a corporate ladder, being indispensable creates leverage.

Stay current. The tools and methods our clients want and need adapt, evolve and change constantly. Try and stay two moves ahead in digital. If you feel yourself not wanting to embrace Snapchat or Yik Yak, STOP! Resist that. Study how the current media landscape is changing. Look at how social influencers, social networks and agencies are partnering to create content studios.

Strengthen your PR foundation and get your brand back on track. Get our free white paper today!

Marie Gordon – Director, Recruitment at Burson-Marsteller

“I would advise all PR professionals to be sure they keep their digital skills sharp and current. Digital which evolves and changes almost daily has become a critical skill set on multi-platforms for the PR industry.”

Even if you don’t want to be an entrepreneur, think like one. You’re in the business of making a name for your clients but never get too busy to not make a name for yourself. If people don’t know where you want to go, they won’t be able to help you get there. That’s like getting mad at the person who doesn’t let you in a lane on the highway but you haven’t used your turn signal.

Kathryn Minshew – Founder & CEO, The Muse

“The way people think about their career has changed. Most Musers (Muse users) no longer expect someone to lay out a career path for them; instead, they feel both required and empowered to build the career they want. This can be scary, but it’s also incredibly liberating in a way. When advancing in your career becomes less a matter of climbing a corporate ladder and more charting your own course, there are much greater opportunities for fulfillment, satisfaction and mastery.”

When really smart people in an industry speak, I listen. Marie and Kathryn believe you should be sharp digitally and think like an entrepreneur. I couldn’t agree more. Those are exactly the two most important things that helped me get where I am today. You have the potential to be amazing, just move yourself forward every day.

Images: Daniel Oines, Alan Stark (Creative Commons)

About Jeff Barrett

Jeff Barrett is 2015’s Best Business Blogger (Shorty Awards), one of the 50 most influential people on social media (Forbes), the #1 Ad Executive on Twitter (Business Insider) and dances like Drake. Find him on Twitter @BarrettAll.