Would you like your social strategy with lettuce, tomato and mayo?

As you may recall from my last post, I’ve had a relatively unique agency experience here at Hodges, working on only one or two clients at a time.  While it certainly had its benefits – namely keeping track of hours worked on each project – I didn’t get to experience the fast pace and the diversity of topics that most people ascribe to agency life (and love).

Now, as I step into a more traditional PR role, jumping from pitching our newest accounts payable client to writing a new business proposal for a potential social client, and so on, I’m reminded of the level of focus those quick pivots require.  Its similar to some of the skills I developed waiting tables – juggling lots of plates and serving many masters. 

Here’s how they compare:

Know a little about a lot. 

Media relations is more difficult than most think.  It requires an understanding of your client’s services and how their business fits into the larger industry.  Then, you have to be comfortable enough within that arena to develop smart story ideas for editors who are inundated with hundreds of other story ideas…that are hopefully not as smart as yours.  

Its sorta like when you’ve gotten a new table, and you’re small talking with the customer, trying to develop a rapport.  If you want to be able to do this with any measure of success, you’ve gotta stay on top of pop culture and the news, with the hopes that you can have enough knowledge, facts or gossip to be able to relate with most anyone.

Learn how to juggle. 

Media relations is just one piece of the puzzle for most of our clients.  Along with it, we’re providing account management services, community relations, social strategy and execution, just to name a few.  Given the various hats we wear, we learn very early at Hodges how to prioritize and manage our time. 

For those of you out there with serving experience, you understand the necessity of balance.  From a physical perspective, you’ve gotta learn to balance plates…I only got up to 4 at a time in my prime.  But from a mental perspective, you’ve gotta figure out how to balance the various tables that get sat at the same time.  The bottom line is that you need to be able to quickly look at the variables of each table and prioritize each task.

We thrive on tips. 

While our definitions differ, tips are an essential part of both professions.  In PR, we provide tip lists (suggestions within our client’s area of expertise on how consumers can DIY or improve a specific aspect of their life) to editors as a way to show expertise.  Editors like tips because they’re a tangible benefit they can pass along to their readers.   Servers, on the other hand, work in cash currency only!

Stay Calm and Carry On. 

When you’ve got a lot on your plate, both figuratively and literally, it’s easy to let your nerves get the best of you.  Rather than getting caught up in the whirlwind, take a deep breath and come up with a plan to get out of the weeds…and this applies to both jobs. 

So…the next time you’re on the phone with your PR agency, and it sounds like a noisy kitchen in the background, just know that there’s lots of cooks in the kitchen and it takes time to brew up a media masterpiece.