Proving PR’s Business Value Easier Said than Done, But Not Impossible

Here we go kicking off another week full of media pitching, content marketing, social business and thought leadership strategies, pitching for new business and, most importantly, keeping ThinkInk clients very happy. How do we do that?  It’s not easy but we start by demonstrating and creating value in everything we do.  Why do it otherwise?

So this week’s theme is all about value – what we create for our clients and ourselves.  We’d love to get your views on demonstrating value to your clients, whether or not you’re in PR.  What are the biggest hurdles you face? And your advice to others?

Please share your comments below.

“To know your enemy you must become your enemy” – Sun Tzu, The Art of War, ancient Chinese military treatise

The above quote might sound a little harsh, especially as it relates to public relations and determining its business value, but this is essentially what Kristin Jones, CEO of Wallop! OnDemand, suggests in a recent post on Bulldog Reporter article without directly saying it.

Jones argues that in order for PR execs and their companies to maximize their value to clients, they must begin thinking like them. In fact, not just think like them, but propose solutions and pitches that demonstrate an ability to act like them too. While clients certainly aren’t the enemy of PR companies, sometimes the economics-based and direct dollar value language they speak is so foreign to communications industry pros (who know more about marketing campaigns, crisis management and the sometimes-fuzzy ad value math) that those aspects of a client’s business can feel adversarial. The result is a PR team reduced to second- or third-place status rather than being an integral component to boardroom “elites” or partners.

Jones recommends the following steps to counter this problem:

·         Educate yourself on the economics behind value

·         Make value creation your mission

·         Step out of the shadows

But after reading her article again I was left with this nagging question…. how do PR execs actually educate themselves on the economics behind value?

The answer: they must become their enemy.

Mind you, this is not an easy task. Many in the PR industry claim to have gone the communications route partly because their brains “aren’t wired for finance or business.” Let someone else crunch the numbers I’ve heard many a time. Earning an MBA might seem impractical for more senior executives, but perhaps PR agencies should begin recruiting those with business backgrounds – much in the way they’ve hired ex-journalists to help tell more compelling client stories. Another approach might be an expanded role for a PR company’s in-house accountant, an individual most likely to appreciate and understand your client’s by-the-numbers needs.

There’s also continuing education on the cheap. Coursera, founded last April, is a for-profit online educational outlet that provides free web video courses and has gained significant notoriety in the past several months, attracting some $22 million in venture capital. Courses, which include topics on economics and business strategy, (among many others) are broken up into multiple pre-recorded sessions along with quizzes and the occasional written assignment. How much or how little the student does is entirely up to them.

So perhaps PR agencies should carve out additional time for staff to make use of resources like this. It won’t raise your company’s business IQ overnight. But it could make a lasting, positive impression whose “compounded interest” – an economic term we all should know – really adds up.

And isn’t that what PR is about after all? 

CAN'T WE GET ALONG FOR THE SAKE OF THE KIDS!?

In addition to the myriad crises happening abroad, a still-struggling economy and mass unemployment levels, we mustn’t overlook another crisis we’re facing here at home – EDUCATION.

Did you know that 6.2 million students have dropped out of school, and that's only for the year 2007? And that over one third of all public high school students(with a disproportionate percentage of that figure representing minority groups)fails to graduate from high school? This means that each year there are millions of young adults entering society without the tools, knowledge and skill sets required to survive in this increasingly complex and competitive world.

These teens and young adults are primarily kids from forgotten neighborhoods who haven't been given the encouragement and opportunity needed to fulfill their potential. They are kids from diverse backgrounds who may not fit the standard education mold, and while it may not be our problem today, it certainly will be tomorrow, unless both the left and right in Congress can come together and forge a plan to get these millions of future American citizens up and running with skills that can land them jobs, get them into college or enable them to start their own businesses. We have to equip them with the tools they need to participate and contribute to society, and to fulfill their destiny.

In a recent article in the Huffington Post, Amy Rosen, President & CEO of NFTE, Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship, reminds us of Obama's words at the beginning of his administration where he decidedly named Entrepreneurship Training "the best anti-poverty program around." Rosen applauded the amount of funding allocated to the "Race to the Top" education stimulus fund, but the work is far from done.

Click here to read Ms. Rosen's pointed article. When you look at the big picture, this issue – educating youth out of poverty - affects us all, doesn't it?

If you want to learn more about the great work that NFTE does around the country to help young teens and adults stay engaged in school, build dreams and develop their own small businesses, visit www.nfte.com..

Because everyone needs some help in life. Sometimes all it takes is a little push, and for someone to tell us that we can succeed if we try hard enough.

There Will Be No Renaissance Without 21st Century Education

I read an op en in the NYT by Susan Engel, Director of the Program in Teaching at Williams College. In her article, Teach Your Teachers Well she cited academia's "turning its nose up at education" as one of the core issues that keeps the field from attracting and sustaining the brightest minds to teach in our public school systems. Hence the dumbing down of our youth - and our international status as laughing stock when the topic of education comes up. I happen to agree.

This isn't the only issue to be dealt with, but it's a good start.

Engel says we need hybrid teacher programs that demand a high GPA in order to participate and that teachers should undergo an extensive application program. This would, invariably, weed out the ones signing up for the long summer hols and highlight those individuals with a passion not only for teaching, but for learning. I teach, therefore I learn should become the motto.

Engel also recommends that teachers be taught in-depth about the development of children at specific ages and how to relate to them. She recommends mentoring programs under masterful educators and that the students, like psychology students, should be taped and critqued on their in-classroom performance.

Another of her brilliant ideas was to hire teachers in groups (of 7 or more), so when they are placed in a new school environment they’ll be surrounded by an (incoming) support group – new teachers - not left to fend for themselves or be ostracized by seniority or under-performing teachers threatened by fresh meat. This in turn would raise the bar, and set a much higher standard for all – newcomers and old.

Of course, there are other issues that hamper the process and keep our education system malfunctioning – overcrowded classrooms, unmonitored teaching practices, curriculums that don’t engage students or address urban issues, lack of innovative (or even new) technology for students to learn on, diminished arts and music programs, and dysfunctional or apathetic parents and teachers. You get the picture.

But Engel's ideas map out a beautiful plan of action that could easily tackle several of these seemingly inherent problems.

America needs a Renaissance, desperately. And for that, the country needs passionate, educated and competent teachers to create a generation of vibrant, educated and fully-functioning people – ready to re-enter the global workforce and compete, competitively.

"The student is only as good as his teacher " . We can do better, a lot better.

Paul Krugman thinks we’re uneducated. I happen to agree.

An article appeared in the NYT today that really raised my ire. Not because I disagreed with it, but because every word rang true.

Paul Krugman’s piece, The Uneducated American, hit the nail on the head on every count - leaving behind a very bent and rusty nail indeed.

In a nutshell: “... The rise of American education was, overwhelmingly, the rise of public education — and for the past 30 years our political scene has been dominated by the view that any and all government spending is a waste of taxpayer dollars. Education, as one of the largest components of public spending, has inevitably suffered.

Until now, the results of educational neglect have been gradual — a slow-motion erosion of America’s relative position. But things are about to get much worse, as the economic crisis — its effects exacerbated by the penny-wise, pound-foolish behavior that passes for “fiscal responsibility” in Washington — deals a severe blow to education across the board.”

The cost of education is prohibiting many of the finer young thinkers in our culture from obtaining a degree, being forced back into the full-time workforce before they are able to complete their education - and still end up in debt, liable for daunting school loans as they begin their path into the adult world.

“According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the United States economy lost 273,000 jobs last month. Of those lost jobs, 29,000 were in state and local education, bringing the total losses in that category over the past five months to 143,000.”

This - at a time when we claim to be dedicating to change? We’re losing educators by the thousands? A sagging economy is no excuse to stop teaching our children. They are our future people!

Krugman’s recommendation to alleviate the problem is that congress should offer aid to the state governments, and: “Beyond that, we need to wake up and realize that one of the keys to our nation’s historic success is now a wasting asset. Education made America great; neglect of education can reverse the process.”

Thank heavens for organizations like the Kauffman Foundation and NFTE (The Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship) who are devoted to educating kids who otherwise would “be left behind”. While NFTE teaches important business and entrepreneurship skills, it also encourages continued education and believes that every child should be given the opportunity to fulfill his or her potential.

Life should be about choices – not just alternatives, compromises or settling for less than we have.

Education provides a solid pathway to being able to make choices in life – not having them made for us.

Isn’t that the change we are looking for?