Category: Public Relations

L is for Learning Part 2

Dana PhelpsBlog, Owning a Business, Public Relations, , , 1 Comment on L is for Learning Part 2

Yes, today the letter L is only about learning, and in this case, it is very special. As in special events. If you didn’t catch yesterday’s post, Clairemont’s TLC Interns (team, learning, career) were asked to identify favorite take-away tips from an assigned-reading Entrepreneur article. Today’s tip comes from Rachel:

Make your special event special.

Do something original and attention grabbing. This tip is important to keep in mind because doing something different and original grabs people’s attention. It makes them want to learn more, which will drive them to the business.

It’s easy to pass by a store with a GRAND OPENING! sign outside and not much else. When passersby can see that there is something special going on, they are more likely to come and check out what you are doing.

By making your business memorable and enjoyable to customers, they are more likely to return and let their friends and family know about it as well.

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L is for Learning

Dana PhelpsBlog, Owning a Business, Public Relations, Starting a business, ,

…and love and lollipops and lemon meringue and lightening bugs and lake houses and larkspur and lavender. But today’s L is for learning, and that is the focus of our next three posts!

 

As the L in Clairemont’s TLC Intern Program, our interns are assigned reading and other assignments independent of the work that goes on in our agency. They recently read Entrepreneur‘s Start-Up Guide from Entrepreneur Magazine, and were asked to write about their favorite tip from the public relations section. Today’s tip comes from Michelle who wrote:

 

Set a goal to meet five (or more) new people at each event.

 

“It’s not what you know, but who you know.” Although constantly over quoted, mastering this statement can be key in growing and keeping a successful business.

 

It is so easy to converse only with familiar people and friends at lunches or events, overlooking great opportunities that are always lurking. Therefore, without even realizing it, people miss many great connections!

 

This is exactly why I love this tip from this guide.Setting the goal to “meet five (or more) new people at each event,” in advance of arriving is a great way to create a business mindset before attending. Once focused, it will be much easier to meet new people and to not lose sight of such great opportunities and connections.

 

With this goal in mind, it is important to remember that making connections is not only beneficial, but it can be intriguingly fun. The key is to remember to actually do it!

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Happy 30th Anniversary Post-It!

Dana PhelpsBlog, Owning a Business, Public Relations, , , , 1 Comment on Happy 30th Anniversary Post-It!

When putting together Clairemont’s internship program, three areas of concentration emerged as we built the curriculum to focus on the professional growth of our interns: team, learning and career. That’s why we call it the TLC Intern Program, and today’s post is brought to you by the letter T!

 

As a team assignment, Clairemont’s TLC interns were asked to have fun with Post-Its in honor of the product’s 30th anniversary. (And Rachel even knew the answer to my question of, “In what movie did best friends pretend to be the inventors of the Post-It?” I was quite impressed.)

 

Despite the fact that this was one of the days the A/C was out in the office, I think the photos show they worked well together. More on our Flickr page. Enjoy!

 

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Reflection, Risk & Rewards

Dana PhelpsBlog, Owning a Business, Public Relations, Starting a business, , , , 4 Comments on Reflection, Risk & Rewards

Seven months ago today — on January 4, 2010 — I walked in and resigned from my position as SVP at the world’s largest PR agency. With no staff, no clients, no office space and no financial backers, I suppose you could say I left to start the world’s smallest PR agency.

 

I’ve read many times that the definition of success for a small business in the start-up stage is simply survival. There are days when the A/C in our office (in a lovely historic building) isn’t working again, and I’m in the floor trying to put together a fan, cursing at the screws that seem to be too short, that seem like mere survival. But those are the exception. Most days, I feel on fire in a way that has nothing to do with the broken A/C.

 

A part of the Clairemont vision from the very beginning has been to blend traditional communications and social media as part of an overall strategy focused on the client’s objectives. As an early mark of success, all ongoing Clairemont accounts have a mix of traditional and social tactics in the plans we have built and are executing for them. We have also been selected for social media projects, including an in-depth social media audit for UNC Kenan-Flagler’s School of Business. (More on that soon.)

 

The Clairemont team continues to grow which is absolutely thrilling to me! We don’t plan to be a small agency forever! Our summer TLC (team, learning, career) interns are amazing & have formed a great team with each other, and I’m interviewing for full-time positions.

 

What I’ve learned in these seven months (in addition to things such as get business insurance before signing a lease, how not to pull my hair out while using QuickBooks and that I have no future as a fan assembler) is that when you own a business, you have to take risks every day. Each day. I guess I thought before that the leap in starting the business was the risk and then somehow, voila, all would fall into place. Nope. I’m also learning — through experience and with the help of my executive coach, when I put an analytical evaluation behind my intuition and gut instincts, most risks yield rewards.

 

Last week, an interview candidate asked me why she should consider leaving her steady job to join a new agency and how could I reassure her that Clairemont will survive. Great question. I’m not interested in how to survive. Only how to thrive. I changed my life because I know that Clairemont will be widely successful and will bring me and my team members much joy in the process. Otherwise, January 4 would have just been another day at the office.

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A (Non)Typical Day in PR

Dana PhelpsBlog, Public Relations, Raleigh PR Agency


People often ask, “What’s a typical day in PR?”

If you haven’t worked in the industry, it might appear that it is more glamorous than it really is. And the funny thing, the days I call glamorous (like the one in the video) might be what other people call boring. I can tell you that the things that seem glamorous usually aren’t. Like the time I hosted a client event on a yacht in the South of France during the Cannes Film Festival. I can assure you there was nothing glamorous about instructing guests to remove their shoes before coming onto the yacht or tending to a seasick spokesperson.

If you love PR agency life (I do!), you love it for the variety. From building the strategy to the mundane tasks. That’s what makes it fun! For me, getting to go on-location with highly-creative people to a beautiful home in North Carolina for a client catalog shoot to capture fodder for the client’s social media outreach is great fun and a wonderful day!

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