Making the Move from Account Executive to Public Relations Consultant

Before starting my business, I had no desire to become a public relations consultant. As a federal government employee during my undergraduate studies, I was very comfortable working for a large organization and all the certainty that came with the position. I knew exactly how much I would be paid and the specific days each month that those funds would be in my account. I knew when I’d be considered for promotion and how much my salary would increase if approved. My work schedule rarely changed, and I knew when I would be able to retire. As a change-averse individual, it was relatively stress-free.

Exchanging the Security of Government Work for the Excitement of Agency Life

In my senior year of college, I was hired as a senior public information officer for a large university. Much like the federal job I left, this was a state government position that gave me the same level of career and pay certainty that I had previously enjoyed. Being in my first public relations job, I joined the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) and began attending the local chapter meetings. It was there that I met the head of a public relations agency who convinced me to leave the certainty of the government sector to become an account executive in his technology public relations agency. Being a small agency, I had to get up-to-speed quickly and was given two of the agency’s largest clients. Though I had exchanged five-day weeks of nine-hour days for six- or seven-day work weeks of eleven-hour days, the thrill of strategizing and executing successful public relations programs for my clients was thrilling. Then IT happened.

Driven into Life as a Public Relations Consultant

About a year into my time at the agency, I learned of company activities that conflicted with my standards of ethics, so I gave my two-week notice. I had planned to leave quietly, but when the agency president aggressively and publicly called me out for giving notice, I told him that I had decided to start my own competing tech agency and would name it “Integrity PR” in direct response to his agency’s unethical practices.

Fortunately, the awkwardness and unease at home caused by the impact that the sudden loss of income would have on my wife and infant child was short-lived. Upon learning that I had left the agency, one of my clients fired that agency and asked me to take them on as my first client. Following a short negotiation, they would pay me the same amount as the salary I had left in exchange for 10 hours of work each week! This life-changing event took place 24 years ago. Since then, my consultant career has been driven mainly by word-of-mouth referrals and has enabled me and my family to have a life that would not have been possible otherwise – not just monetarily, but from a fantastic work/life balance standpoint.

Some Best Practices and Lessons-Learned to Apply to Your Practice

As I look back at nearly 25 years as a public relations consultant, there are some valuable lessons learned that you can apply to your consultant business:

• The Value of Selecting a Niche – When I initially began consulting, my idea was to be “everything PR” to everyone. However, as in the figure of speech, that positioned me as “Jack of all trades, master of none.” There is incredible value in being the “master” in a particular industry. Given my background, technology became the niche that I would focus my business on. Companies seek public relations consultants who understand their industry and can effectively communicate their products and services to a specific audience.

  Focusing on a niche will position you as a specialist in a particular area, which can make you more relevant to a company that is seeking a strategic public relations program.

• Turning Pro Bono Work into a Niche – When pitching new business, potential clients always want to see case studies of the work that I’ve produced in their industries. To “break” into new industries, sometimes I’ll seek out small organizations for which I can do pro bono public relations work. This is a win-win as the organization gets much-needed assistance, and I get experience to add to my portfolio. Sometimes, those pro-bono clients even turn into paying clients!

• The “R” in RPIE is Key – When researching potential clients or onboarding a new client, research is key. The most productive and rewarding client relationships that I have are with companies that hire me for strategic public relations campaigns. These companies do not know exactly WHAT the communications issue is that they’re facing – they just know that they have a problem (i.e., low awareness, struggling sales, lack of volunteers, etc.)

  The research aspect in RPIE (research, planning, implementation, and evaluation) sets the stage for an impactful, effective public relations effort. I have found that the clients have trouble identifying their communication challenges because they’re too close to the issue. A good public relations consultant conducts a thorough analysis of SWOT, PEST, and the target publics to understand the TRUE cause of the problem and provides the client with a strategic plan that will deliver effective messages over the audience-appropriate channels that will drive the target publics to the desired actions.

  When I became a consultant and had to be that senior-level adviser for global clients, sticking to the basics of RPIE to create campaigns built trust and delivered results that has kept my average client engagements to over six years.

• “Coopertition” = Cooperating with the Competition – As a consultant, I’ve always been a proponent of coopertition. There’s plenty of work to go around, and I’ve found that cooperating with other consultants in the same niche can often benefit both consultants. Increasingly, companies are outsourcing their public relations responsibilities to consultants who can offer senior-level consultation without the big agency prices. This can mean a large, often diverse, workload for the consultant. Maintaining strong relationships with consultants in the same niche allows me to quickly and easily expand my team to handle spikes in workload or projects outside of my expertise without hiring or interviewing.

  I have also benefitted from consultants who refer business to me because they cannot service them due to workload constraints or conflicts of interest. Be known for coopertition, and you can be a resource for other consultants, which can significantly benefit your business.

• Surround Yourself with Consultants who Complement Your Capabilities – My business is a one-stop shop for any organization that needs public relations or marketing support. In addition to all of the typical public relations strategies and tactics, I also offer my clients services, including audience research, video production, focus groups, social media marketing, video case studies, analyst relations, event planning, product testing, and ambassador programs. While Google can (and has) been a valuable partner in learning how to design and execute in several of these areas, I have established partnerships with various consultants and companies willing to “white label” their services under my company.

  The more you can establish your business as a one-stop shop for your client’s needs, the more valuable an asset and resource you make yourself to the clients.

Whether you’ve decided to become a consultant out of a sheer desire to take control over who you work for, the hours you work, or the amount of money you make, or if it’s thrust upon you by situations like mine, it has given me a lifestyle that I could not have had being on someone else’s payroll.

As my kids prepare to graduate from college, I’ve been a consultant working from home for most of their lives. They will tell you that I was always at home. I’d come downstairs to join them for breakfast, see them when they came home from school, and join them for dinner. I’d be at their school assemblies and all of their sports competitions. We’d take great family vacations every summer. If you ask them what I do for work, however, I don’t think they’d be able to tell you – and I’m absolutely fine with that!