Cross-posted from my PR Campaigns Class Blog.
Neil Tortorella at BODO (Business of Design Online) dishes out marketing and PR advice for designers on this blog. Often his advice is good for students, entrepreneurs of all sorts and anyone looking to build their career or their business.
Because of the service learning approach in our classes at that School of Journalism and Communication at the University of Oregon, students often work with nonprofits or very small businesses that have little experience with public relations and no one in house who manages the organizations’ communication.
That results in students serving not only as technicians who carry out tasks, but as a consultants to their clients. And that, my friends, is good practice for the real world.
Clients, bosses, boards of directors may think they know what they need, but rather than just fulfill pre-determined tasks and move on, Neil has this suggestion:
Ask a boat load of questions. Get to know your clients’ businesses, their competitive arena, their industry, their audience. In essence, learn all the gory details and become a partner in their success. Then, put on your consultant cap and get to thinking. What would help them out? What ideas can you offer up?
Read the rest of the post here.
image:corbis
