New PR professionals and even some of us old pros, often have trouble  managing clients and keeping them happy. Of course, there are some things you can’t control and other things that make your client unhappy that are just screw ups. But there are some simple basics for client management that will keep you and your client symbiotic.

1. Be Responsive— There is nothing a client hates more than sending an email or leaving a message and not getting a response for several hours or even days. We’re all busy, so if you don’t have time to respond fully to the client’s question or request, just let them know that you got it and give them a timeframe for when you will get back to them.
2. Be Honest— The agency-client relationship is just like any other meaningful relationship; it’s based on trust. If youre client can’t trust you, then they won’t want to do business with you. It’s imperative that you always be upfront and honest with your clients.
3. Deliver Bad News Early and Often— Along the same lines of being honest, it’s also important to be really upfront with clients. The worst situation you can put yourself in with a client is to blindside them with bad news. If you find out that something is going wrong, you need to inform your client right away. Now that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t deliver the message in a way that softens the blow or try to put a positive spin on it, but it will be much worse to wait and see how things play out before telling your client—or even worse than that, having them find out on their own.
4. Listen— The worst thing you can do is not listen to your client. They are constantly telling you things that will help you provide better service to them. It may be buried in a conversation or email, but if you’re on the lookout you can constantly finds ways to improve how you interact with them and what you deliver.
5. Don’t Get Too Comfortable— It’s great to have a friendly relationship with your client. More than that, it’s encouraged. I once had a boss tell me that if I client likes you they’re less likely to fire you. It seems silly—it should be based on merit and quality of work, not a popularity contest—but it’s true. That said, don’t get too comfortable. They are a client and not a friend; you need to be sure not to cross that thin gray line.

A couple major client don’ts (based on real incidences)

• Don’t ever send a client email with the words “Yo” or “Snap” in it
• Don’t drink too much in front of a client…ever
• Don’t tell a client about your irritable bowel syndrome
• Don’t complain about how much you get paid
• Don’t gossip about your boss or co-workers
• Don’t gossip about their boss or co-workers
• Never, ever talk about politics or religion

Have a funny anecdote about a client snafoo or a real-life experience you’d like to share? Feel free to comment. We’d love to hear from you.

PR Newswire hosted a fascinating seminar in midtown Manhattan this afternoon which I was fortunate to attend. The focus was to give a behind-the-scenes look at Fox Business Network and hear from the people who decide what goes on the air. Moderated by Andrew Meranus, Director of Agency Vertical at PR Newswire, the panel consisted of Andrew Hoffman, Executive Producer at Fox Business; Ray Hennessey, Director of Business News; Cheryl Casone, Business Correspondent and Pippa Bark, Business Producer (Money for Breakfast). The room was filled to capacity and the conversation was lively and informative.

Fox Business went on the air October 15, 2007 after months of anticipation and fanfare. Reaching more than 30 million subscribers, the channel has strived to, as Ray Hennessey noted, “Be the business news channel you watch with the sound on!” The aim was to create a channel that brought Wall Street to Main Street and make the message engaging and understandable for the average listener. The channel has aggressively staked its mark on the media landscape by taking the best talent away from other networks, going after offbeat and non-traditional financial stories and being more open to ideas from outside.

Much of the session covered helpful tips and advice on how to pitch the channel. Key points were:

• Know who you are pitching to. If you are sending an email blast, make sure that you have read what you are sending and it is relevant to that reporter. Useless, generic emails that appear to be part of a blast pitch will not only get deleted, but will cause you to be automatically deleted by the reporter whenever your email appears.

• Pitch stories that can help people make, spend or save money. These are the types of stories that they want and will get the most attention.

• Personalize the story. The producers/bookers/reporters will not consider anyone for an on-camera segment unless they can see or hear the person beforehand. They want to see how the person looks and performs on-camera. Television is a visual medium. If they are an “expert” then they must have appeared somewhere before.

• Make the pitch short and sweet. Two or three sentences that tell the story and the person being pitched, with video or background links are best. Anything longer will get deleted.

• Pitching the website is the same as pitching the channel. There is no difference. An on-camera segment can make the website, and a good web story can lead to an on-camera segment.

• Pitch Fox Business through their bookers and associate producers. This is the most effective way to establish initial relationships within the channel.

• Familiarize yourself with the channel, the shows and style before pitching. Nothing is more annoying than people who pitch to the wrong show and are not familiar with the subjects covered.

Other tidbits given were:

• Read the on-air talents’ blogs. Most of the on-air talent host blogs and they give insight on what is top-of-mind. Referencing a particular post can be a good way to get a dialogue started. Ray says that unlike their competitors, they consider blogs to be news sources and are a source of breaking news. He feels blogs can provide a more honest and un-sanitized viewpoint and they have covered them on the channel.

• Be honest about where your interview guest is appearing. Nothing is worse than booking a guest on Fox Business and then the same person appears on multiple outlets that same day without their knowledge. If your spokesperson will appear on other shows or channels, full disclosure is in order. More often than not, the segment will go on as scheduled. If there is no disclosure, the segment can be cancelled and the guest as well as the PR agency can be permanently blacklisted.

• Statistics and studies are welcome. They are always interested in any studies and statistics that come out. If they can be presented in a visual way then there is a better chance of the story being covered.

Finally, no story is too small or quirky that they wouldn’t be interested in hearing about it. If a company has an innovative solution but is considered a “penny stock” on the stock exchange, they will cover them if they find the story compelling enough. They are about building and maintaining relationships that will help them maintain their competitive edge as well as provide them with a resource pool that is reliable and available when they need it. It is this kind of thinking that not only benefits the PR practitioner but also illustrates a clear understanding and appreciation of the symbiotic relationship between PR and the media.

–Walter Ocner

1. Don’t send a photo of yourself – unless you are applying for a job as a model or a real-estate agent.

2. Don’t offer to provide services that are not required of the job – for example, ‘child care’ is not a job-related skill in PR. (However, since I have two little ones at home, I may call you for weekend work, but not to work at our agency.)

3. Do not attach documents that are unrelated to your job search – especially confidential PR plans from your agency or corporations (wait, on second thought, those can be kind of useful – thanks!).

4. Don’t announce that you are ‘in it for the money’ – there is nothing more desirable than a job candidate that tells you that he chose this line of work because it will make him more money than his last job. (We all know the salaries in PR. If your aim is to get rich, you may want to rethink your career choice.)

5. Don’t let your mom or your girlfriend apply for the job for you – they can cook your meals, do your laundry, and clean your home but, you have to do the work stuff yourself. (However, if your mom is a good writer, has strong communication skills and is a master of organization, please have her send in her own application.)

 All of the examples are true, pathetic but true. If you can follow these simple rules, and are looking to work at a great agency, feel free to apply to hr@affectstrategies.com.

Right before the holidays, I had the good fortune to meet with a group of students from the Baldwin-Wallace College PR program, located in Cleveland Ohio. These students came to New York City for the first time to experience the sights, sounds and smells of our great city as well as learn about the industry. We met for dinner and drinks at the Marriott Hotel on 51^st Street and, after giving them my top recommendations on places to go and favorite places to eat, talked about their hopes and dreams as they embark on a career in public relations. I have to admit that I felt like the old, wizened fellow at the table (being 40 years old and surrounded by kids half my age) but found that discussing an industry I love and feel passionate about dropped any imagined barriers I may have felt.

We talked about what they’ve learned so far in the classroom and found that much of what they’re being taught is old and outdated. The textbooks are several years old and don’t touch on the more high-tech ways of getting the message across (such as social media, blogging, audio and video news releases and satellite media tours). I gave them a crash course on these as well as how they have revolutionized the PR industry. We talked about pitching clients to the media and the importance of keeping your eye on the news cycle to better leverage opportunities. Important points included how to present a pitch effectively, how to find creative ways to make your client or message fit into a bigger story and how to cultivate long-term relationships with writers and reporters. The importance of being in command of the facts cannot be overstated. The PR person’s primary goal is to make the reporter understand why your client/product/issue needs to be covered now.

A major concern echoed by students was about their lack of hands-on workplace experience when they try for that first job. I remembered when I was a college student, I felt exactly the same way and began searching out internships. I got an internship at a music publishing company where, in addition to doing unglamorous work such as making photocopies, filing and logging tapes, I wrote press materials for newly signed bands. It gave me insight and experience in working at an office and allowed me to learn important skills which would prove valuable later on. I told them that even learning how to answer a phone or interact with bosses and co-workers would put them light years ahead of the competition when they begin job searching. Additionally, having that experience on a resume would make potential recruiters sit up and take notice. Affect Strategies has an excellent internship program, to use a prime example. Interns here don’t get coffee and lick envelopes, but instead do invaluable work on PR and marketing campaigns. Interns come out of this office with knowledge and experience that can only attract top-tier organizations the world over.

I have to say that based on the feedback and reaction from the students, they learned a lot and felt sufficiently pumped to embark on what can prove to be a wonderful and rewarding journey. We could have talked for hours more (I am never at a loss for words) but I promised to keep in touch and help in any way I can. Who knows, maybe some of them will come to New York City and intern for us. Given their enthusiasm and energy, I can say that the industry will be in good hands in the future.

So I approached my upcoming birthday party with relish. An event! That requires invitations! Once I foisted control away from my well-meaning sister, I was able to plan and execute the proceedings for the pickiest customer in town. Me.

Like any small marketing program I’d run for a client, I’m making a big splash on a small budget. Whether you’re planning your own, ahem, 29th birthday party, or creating a small gathering for friends, colleagues, or prospects, here’s how to do it without making your Amex cry.

1. Pick a name, and register the URL as fast as you can. Why invite people to a birthday party when you can call it something snazzier? Give your event a name. Then zip over to my preferred registrar, NameSecure, and lock in your URL for a mere $9.20 for the year. You’ll want the URL for many reasons. And even if you don’t end up creating a website, rsvp@thenameofyourparty.com will look great on your invitations.

2. Know your target audience. Being a Web geek, my original plan was to go totally paperless: create a website, shoot out an email, and be done with it. My clever sister talked me out of this idea. She reminded me that my target audience — aunts, uncles, former 8th grade basketball coaches, etc. — might not be as computer literate as I think they are. So true. I took her advice and opted for a combination of print invitation and website.

3. Keep it simple. I’m not a designer, and neither is my boyfriend, but between the two of us we had a concept, a pirated copy of Adobe Illustrator, and enough embarrassing photos of me for thousands of birthdays. After a lengthy courtship with an over-ornate font I considered purchasing for $24, we got back to basics. Two fonts: Cooper Black for the title, Georgia for the text, both readily available in Word. Add grayscale photo, snappy text, and, voila, instant invite.

4. Staples has everything you need. You could head to a fancy stationer’s for pretty paper. Or you could buy card stock, 6-up mailing labels and mini-brown paper envelopes at Staples and get the job done. If you’ve made it this far, you already have a great idea. Why hide behind Kate’s Paperie? For the price of a few pounds of “real” stationery, I bought everything I needed, plus a cropper. Done and done.

5. Printing from home? Make sure you’ve got the ink. In order to make sure my invitations came out crisp and professional-looking, I grabbed a new cartridge for my laser printer. Don’t skip this step — you’re scrimping on other stuff, and a fresh cartridge can make the difference between DIY and DI…oops. Do yourself a favor and order one online. There are so many makes and models out there, you won’t want to trek from store to store praying they have yours in stock.

6. Google Docs are your friend. First win: convincing your mom to turn her handwritten invitation list into an spreadsheet. Second win: setting up a spreadsheet in Google Docs and inviting her to be a collaborator. The big coup: Google Docs are so user-friendly, your mom doesn’t even ask you what to do — she just updates the spreadsheet and drops you an email to let you know her work is complete.

7. Call in for backup. Yes, it’s your party. But no one, repeat, no one should be forced to conduct a mail merge alone. My kind boyfriend gave me a hand printing, cropping and labeling. I think he may have missed his calling. Is anyone looking for a marketing intern? With his help, I was able to leave my apartment this morning with a bag of invitations lacking only in postage (which turned out to be 80 cents per piece).

8. Don’t forget about the URL! I designed my print piece to direct recipients to the party’s website. I set up a free Tumblr account, performed a quick IP-redirection by checking one box in NameSecure, and within 24 hours my website was up and running. The site will hold all of the details about the event that weren’t on the core invitation, with room to have a little fun, too. Since my party is back home in Louisiana, I’m including a Google map to the location, along with some behind-the-scenes gab and the requisite embarrassing party photos.

9. Know what you want — and don’t be afraid to ask for it. The line at the post office this morning was atrocious, as usual. But I didn’t want to send off my invitations without the proper stamps. I waited in line to ask for party-themed (“You know, something festive!”) ones. When the clerk saw I wasn’t impressed with the Polar Lights collectibles in her drawer, she made a special trip into the back office for the more appropriately jolly Celebrate stamps. They were just the finishing touch I was looking for.

10. Pass the baton. Remember when I mentioned that my party was in Louisiana? Well, that means I’m off the hook for the rest of the party planning. Even when you’re throwing a small corporate event, responsibilities can and should be shared. While I may bring my marketing expertise to the table, my chicken and sausage gumbo will never match Uncle Bud’s. My work is done — but he’ll be starting up his roux in about two weeks. As it should be.

Now that the invitations are in the mail, I admit, I’m a little nervous. They are going out much later that I had anticipated. But the beauty of having an event website is the benefit of extending the celebration beyond the night of the party. Friends who can’t make the trek from Brooklyn can still participate in the fun. They just won’t be able to taste the gumbo. Hey, more for us!