How I Got Started In Public Relations

Without a doubt, public relations has GOT to be one of the most misunderstood and thankless jobs that I’ve ever had. Make no mistake; I absolutely love being a publicist; nonetheless, I’m not naive about what I signed up for.

After being laid off from my job in 2019 and laying off my nanny, I was forced into a position where I had no choice but to make an income from home. I had been starting books and leaving them unfinished on my laptop for years, so I decided it was time to publish. While researching ways to promote self-published books, I noticed many sites referencing the idea of hiring a publicist. I looked up the publicist in my area and began to reach out to them. I only needed to speak to three different agencies before I realized that publicists are extremely expensive. Since I was only a hair away from standing in the unemployment line, I decided to choose the more affordable route and be my own publicist.

I didn’t have any experience when I first started, so I was talking about myself when I was reaching out to the media. It helped that myself is interesting, so I did still get a few hits in digital magazines, radio, and podcasts. I successfully sold a few books and noticed that I was having fun in the process, so I started digging more into what a publicist was and how I could become one.

I started watching YouTube videos and listening to podcasts on topics relating to publicists. I read articles, and then I read books. I joined social groups and professional groups, and any Facebook group that mentioned public relations. I completely engulfed myself in the PR career and loved every moment along the way.

PR is often confused and sometimes intertangled, with sales, marketing, talent managers, promotions, project managers, personal assistants, and event planners. Just to clear things up, PR is managing a brand’s or organization’s public image. I like the way Wikipedia words it; the practice of deliberately managing the Release and spread of information between an individual and the public. A lot of times, people confuse this with marketing or advertising. Marketing and advertising are when you are intentionally trying to sell a product. With public relations, you are selling your message and your story to the media so that they share it with the public.

Think of the celebrities or brands that you engage with regularly. We don’t know these brands personally; however, we can form either a favorable or unfavorable opinion about them based on the information released to the public. A few responsibilities of a publicist include:

• Creating media lists and maintaining those relationships
• Writing
• Storytelling
• Market research
• The organizational skills to analyze results
• Creativity

You’ll be writing press releases and articles, sending out pitches and following up, collaborating with other professionals, and attending events on behalf of your clients. As a publicist, you want to make sure that the image of your client is favorable, accurate, and relevant at all times.

Being completely new to the industry, I did make many mistakes along the way. In addition to sending out pitches that centered on me instead of them and their audience, I was mostly aiming at only the large outlets. I thought that was how I would reach the most people, but small and medium outlets are JUST as important as the big ones, if not more important. Although I did get a few hits and radio spots when I started, my results jumped up when I got intentional about my message and who I was pitching to. I also had to take the time to build genuine connections, which can be extremely difficult. All of the information that I had consumed about starting as a publicist spoke of how you have to build genuine relationships with journalists, avoid reaching out to them to get their assistance. To do this, they recommend that you start with an offering of some kind in the form of assisting them or sparking up a conversation about one of their previously written articles.

As a publicist, you may either be working in-house for a company, such as a fashion company or someone in the beauty industry, or you may be working at an agency where ALL that you do is PR. When you work at an agency, you will have much more resources because ALL that they do is PR. I recommend starting at an agency when you’re new to the industry, as you’ll get the opportunities to learn more.