Six Daily Habits for Success in a PR Agency

The fast pace, always changing environment of PR can leave many wondering how to ensure success in agency life.  Here are six daily habits every PR agency professional should adopt:

Define Success Each Morning – Start each day with an action plan. Outline what must get done for the day vs. what would be nice to get done. Make it a goal to get through the entire “must do” list and to also check off one to two items from the “nice” list.  This will ensure the day is a success and also set you up for success tomorrow. 

Be Flexible – PR is unpredictable. What seems like a fairly routine day can quickly be turned upside down with an influx of media requests or a client crisis. Be nimble and learn to adjust goals and priorities for the day at a moment’s notice. This also means being a good internal communicator. It’s important to inform team leads if your attention needs to be diverted to one client. Account leads can help reassign or reprioritize other client work.       

Be in the Know – From the latest in industry and social media trends to what’s happening in world news and pop culture, be in the know.  This helps better serve clients by offering recommendations on everything from the latest social platforms to utilize to pop culture trends to leverage to postponing a new product announcement due to breaking news.   

Write it Down – Pen and paper can be two of the most important tools in any job. Whether taking notes in a meeting, creating a to-do list or capturing a creative idea, writing everything down serves as a great method to recall important information and ideas. Notes are an invaluable resource to refer back to in the future.

Turn “No” into “Yes” – At LCWA “no” is not in our vocabulary. If media are saying “no” to a pitch, find a new angle to go after them with. If a client has a challenging request, find creative ways to make it happen. Turning a “no” into a “yes” is a daily practice and a way of agency life.

Never Stop Learning – With the emergence of social media and the 24 hour news cycle, the PR industry is changing at a pace that is more rapid than ever before.  Never stop learning about new and emerging tools and trends. Carve out time each day to read up on industry news. This helps better serve clients with cutting edge and effective communications solutions.