Public Relations and 'Peanuts'

The New York Times ran a fascinating article on Peanuts in today's print edition. Charles M. Schulz's famous comic strip is an ageless favorite, partly because of what this story discusses: Authenticity.

An excerpt from the story:

"Accuracy and authenticity are hallmarks of the strips, whether they deal with music, sports or medical conditions, Ms. O’Cain, the museum’s curator, said. 'With figure skating, he [Schulz] would carefully study books to make sure the jumps or spins that he had characters portraying, that they were correct,' she said. He would add subtle twists or inside jokes for readers familiar with skating or surfing or shorthand."

Authenticity and credibility are the backbone of public relations. Public relations practitioners in Charlotte, NC and around the globe for that matter should consider for a moment the research and effort that one man put into a comic. Comics tell stories, albeit hand drawn and humorous ones. PR is storytelling as well.

With any good story, it must engage the audience (relevance), contain factual information (authenticity), and be told through a believable person (the PR pro).

Pubic relations should not be an email blast and random direct mailings, or poorly researched media lists and off-target pitches. PR requires attention to detail, an understanding of the messages, knowledge of the audience(s), and an authentic story and storyteller through which the messages are disseminated.

Otherwise, the story will consist of inaccuate characters, a seedy plot and - you guessed it - a sad ending. What kind of story are you telling?

New Year, New Hope

Happy New Year!

Or in my case, Hopeful New Year.

The Chinese Year of the Ox. I'm not sure what the Chinese horoscope for "Ox"alleges, but I hope that "resilient, strong and proud" are adjectives involved. Those words describe my wife and I and the type of year we need.

I've been unemployed for two months now. The holidays may have been jolly and bright, but finances are getting scary and tight.

Somewhat to my relief (I'm still unemployed so I ain't counting any chickens), my efforts may be beginning to pay dividends. I have a nice part-time prospect in the works with a Hickory, NC marketing firm. Offering your services on a part-time basis is not a step down, but rather a form of compromise that meets mutual business needs. You need your foot in the door to get a seat at the table...

I'm also exploring freelance writing opportunities on Guru.com. I think the Guru.com service has good potential for freelance writers (work in creative writing, web copywriting, blogging, editing, articles and brochures are all posted frequently), but it's highly competitive and is limited as a free service. Naturally more money yields more options.

Finally, I'm constantly networking in Charlotte, working my way around the PR and marketing circles, scheduling networking lunches and calls to the best of my ability. It never hurts to introduce yourself and ask for advice from someone with more experience. Networking is a tree: Start with a seed and branch out, eventually it will bloom.

Parting piece of advice from the guy with no job: Persist, persist, persist! Not to be confused with "don't take 'no' for an answer." If a company tells you they're not interested, thank them for their time and get back with them later. However, if an email or voice mail goes unanswered, you'd better send another...and another.

Don't send the contact(s) the same thing each time though. It's like pitching in public relations. Introduce yourself and the reason you're contacting them first, then follow-up with a different piece of information (resume, experience highlights, tie-in with recent event of relevance).

Also, take the lead and suggest times to meet or talk versus asking the contact to do so. It's easier for them to say "OK" then "How about 2:00 Wednesday at T.G.I.F.'s on Charlotte Ave.?"

My wealth of advice and knowledge will hopefully translate into financial wealth in 2009, but until then, the journey continues...

Allo, allo!

Good morning, good day and good night - in case you stop here. For those brave souls that care to venture on, my name is Justin Moore and I am an unemployed public relations and marketing professional living outside Charlotte, NC. Intriguing, I know. If you're reading this, I either referred you here to see what a diligent and skilled worker I am (how'm I doing?), or your search engine made a mistake :) I kid. Never can get enough of that Google juice though, that's part of what I do!

I've carved out this little knook of the internet as a place to show some of my work and offer more info about myself for those select businesses and individuals that may be in a position to hire someone with exemplary communications skills (it's my blog, I'll endulge if I want). Feel free to check out some work samples on the right menu bar or contact me for more specific stuff - I've worked in many areas of the biz and have tried to categorize on this blog for convenience and viewing sake, but I'm happy to oblige requests. But lest I appear too greedy or self serving with my online abode, I feel that there's potential for an interesting sub-plot here...

We all know of the country's economic woes and unemployment issues (look Ma, I'm a statistic!) So I wonder if my adventure, as I optimistically refer to it, could be a micro-case study of sorts. Charlotte is considered one of the few shining markets (even if faint) in a tarnished economy - so how hard could it be for a college grad with professional experience to get a job in the Queen City? We'll find out! And personally, I'm rooting for the guy... stay tuned.

But why should you care? You don't know me on a personal level and have no reason to feel for or relate to my situation. Lets fix that :) You can find out all all kinds of things "about me" to the right. The elevator speech version - I graduated from ECU (go Pirates!) with a Comm. degree and worked in Greensboro as an account executive at a public relations and marketing firm for a couple years. We were small in staff but big in clients. I did it all - media relations, market research, tours, brand positioning, corporate communications and writing, creative design, web editing, media training, event management - really, the list goes on. I'm a newlywed to my best friend of more than six years. We're such good friends that when she was offered a good paying job doing what she loves (textiles design, and lets face it, you can't be picky here), your's truly made the move with no resistance. We found out about the job/move just as we were getting married (mid-October) and had all of three weeks to get married, plan and execute a move and bravely enter the unemployment market during arguably the worst economic crisis of this lifetime (well, I did). Stress has no meaning to me anymore, throw me in the deep end!

I got a lot going for me though - I write (and actually enjoy it), I'm good with people in many different situations and environments, I'm resourceful (sounds basic, but some folks still can't attach files to emails) and I commit and see things through to completion - remember the 6+ years stat prior to my marriage? I get the job done. Whatcha got?

That's me in a 10-story ride to the lobby. Feel free to stick around, I think it'll get better. Oh, did I mention I'm open to criticism and actually learn from it? Drop me a line anytime. There is no set framework for this blog, only to plant myself out there in this crazy social media world and see what grows. Add water at will.