Lisa Catto Pulliam, currently a public relations specialist at Western Oregon University by day and a freelance PR gal by night (as well as an aspiring romance writer) offers some tips for senior-level students interested in doing a little freelance work. I’ll publish her post in two parts over the next week or so.
PR’s best Unkept Secret
free·lance [free làns]: a self-employed person working, or available to work, for a number of employers, rather than being committed to one, and usually hired for a limited period.
Upper-level PR students or young professionals wanting to gain public relations experience in a variety of industries or fields should consider freelancing. It’s a great way to work on a variety projects and for clients all over the spectrum. A major benefit to freelancing is the low risk. Generally, you don’t have to quit your day job or relocate for these gigs.
You’ll also get to try new things and learn more about PR than you may have by just working your day job. Not to mention you’ll be able to do a lot more networking, which could benefit you in the future with other job opportunities.
As long as you’ve got a reliable computer, telephone, Internet access and printer – you’re pretty much set up to freelance with anyone across the globe. E-mail has drastically increased the number of opportunities a PR person has by allowing us to work on projects happening just about anywhere. You don’t need to do media relations from your clients office.
Finding jobs
Once you’ve decided to freelance, you’ve still got a lot of work to do. Namely finding some clients. It’s not as easy as you think, so here are some places to start.
Community involvement – Being involved in your community is a great way to find clients. If a small business or organization wants some PR but is wary of hiring a big firm, you may get the job because they know and trust you.
Professional organizations – Join groups like the Public Relations Society of America, American Marketing Association, your local Chamber of Commerce, etc. These are all great ways to meet potential clients, or other PR people who may want you to work with them on freelance projects.
Freelancing Web sites – There are Web sites with the sole purpose of matching freelancers with clients. A couple of these sites are Guru.com or Contractedwork.com. But remember, they usually charge for the service so make sure it’s something you can afford to do.
Craig’s List – You can post your resume or look for clients under the “marketing, PR, advertising” section of jobs within each city. There are also “creative” and “writing” sections under the gigs area. Remember, you can work for people all over the country so don’t limit yourself to your city.
Cold calling – You can even make up a brochure highlighting your services and take it to some small businesses who may want to hire you on a project basis. They may not need you now, but if something comes up it’s likely you’ll be the person they call.
[Stay tuned… next Lisa will talk about pricing]
