Inn's and Ous of PR agency Statup - Advice Please

InTheBusiness · Mar 10, 2009

Hi there

Ive been involved with career branding, and I recently had an interesting conversation with an certain individual whom i helped with building up his brand profile (Increasing his value to employers). During a conversation with the individual he asked me why don't i consider setting up a PR agency catering to personal brand management specifically for individuals. Now i own several totally different businesses, but the idea strikes me as something i would certainly be very interested in. And im hopping to gain some further insight into this arena from anyone with experience in this industry.

Is anyone here able to give me some further insight into starting up a Public relation Agency, are there officially recognised (not wannbe) regulatory bodies, licences etc that needs to be obtained prior to being officially seen as a PR agency.

(PS: That should be "In's and Out's of a PR agency)

Thanks in advance

chalkie99 · Mar 10, 2009

Sorry to say this but I think you would need a good standard of written English to involve yourself in such an industry.

InTheBusiness · Mar 10, 2009

chalkie99 said:
Sorry to say this but I think you would need a good standard of written English to involve yourself in such an industry.

Well done, five stars for your excellent observational skills. It Seems you have discovered a talent for grammatical error spotting my friend, get an agent soonest....

How about some useful advice from someone in the know....

Thanks again

chalkie99 · Mar 10, 2009

InTheBusiness said:
Well done, five stars for your excellent observational skills. It Seems you have discovered a talent for grammatical error spotting my friend, get an agent soonest....

How about some useful advice from someone in the know....

Thanks again

ooohhh! Touchy!

You will go down a storm in public relations

Seriously - you have a very poor command of written English - how on earth do you expect to be taken seriously by anyone who would need PR?

InTheBusiness · Mar 10, 2009

chalkie99 said:
ooohhh! Touchy!

You will go down a storm in public relations

Seriously - you have a very poor command of written English - how on earth do you expect to be taken seriously by anyone who would need PR?

Fortunately (and you may not be aware of this), PR does not only consist of writing or talking for that matter. And if it did, well you have qualified people who can edit and do all that. A storm certainly sounds about right, gets you noticed, thats your platform if none other exists.

Now, i dont know if your capable of having a civilised discussion, but it would be appreciated.

Are you in PR, if so then could you advise on any of the legal and other issues associated with PR?

.

2009 · Mar 10, 2009

Hey there InTheBusiness

Dont worry about the spelling mate, ive seen worse (better watch my spelling too before i get attacked by little old chalkie99 as well...lol)

If im not mistaken, one of your businesses deals quite heavily in web2.o branding for businesses? Why dont you use that as a platform and focus on the web stuff. Sounds to me youre bit of a businessholic (is that a word proff chalkie99lol) and from what ive heard PR is quite involved, or are you planning on doing only certain parts of PR nd not the full house?

InTheBusiness · Mar 10, 2009

2009 said:
Hey there InTheBusiness

Dont worry about the spelling mate, ive seen worse (better watch my spelling too before i get attacked by little old chalkie99 as well...lol)

If im not mistaken, one of your businesses deals quite heavily in web2.o branding for businesses? Why dont you use that as a platform and focus on the web stuff. Sounds to me youre bit of a businessholic (is that a word proff chalkie99lol) and from what ive heard PR is quite involved, or are you planning on doing only certain parts of PR nd not the full house?

No idea how i missed all those errors. It's a bit annoying.:redface: This forum is of course not my PR platform to be, but still just a little embarrassing.

Yes, the web2.o branding side could form part of the PR agency, but with this project or business im not so much interested in corporate business branding or publicity management because i do that already. Im looking at media, publicity management concerned with individuals, if that makes sense?

top-click · Mar 10, 2009

I agree with Chalky99, sorry 'InTheBusiness',

I read your post and that was exactly my thought too - spelling and grammar are important, and in business, essential when communicating a company/brand message.

I know this is a forum, not a PR to the 'red tops' but 2009 comments 'not to worry', I would certainly worry if you were doing PR for me and you had this level of attention.

Please take this as constructive criticism, rather than just a rant!

Rob

PayAsYouGoPR_J2 · Mar 10, 2009

I echo the comments above.

We managed to launch our PR agency recently and so far things are going very well.

It's all about the image you present. Who would buy a car from a salesman who can't drive?!

InTheBusiness · Mar 10, 2009

top-click said:
I agree with Chalky99, sorry 'InTheBusiness',

top-click said:
I know this is a forum, not a PR to the 'red tops' but 2009 comments 'not to worry', I would certainly worry if you were doing PR for me and you had this level of attention.

Please take this as constructive criticism, rather than just a rant!

Rob

No offence taken. Keep in mind if this thread were relevant to a particular clients campaign, as a PR agency. And this was press release or something similar, i would certainly have had any material going out, checked a few times over for grammar, tenses, wordsmithing, and taken careful notice of implied statements in the way sentences and paragraphs were constructed. I do take your comments onboard, but please understand that I am here to become better at it, and not to be perfect right off the cuff. That will come in time.

PayAsYouGoPR_J2 said:
I echo the comments above.

PayAsYouGoPR_J2 said:
We managed to launch our PR agency recently and so far things are going very well.

It's all about the image you present. Who would buy a car from a salesman who can't drive?!

Again, your comments are noted, and i would once again like to remind you that the aim of this thread was to seek advice on the mechanics of running a PR agency and all the legalities. It is not a pitch! Keep in mind i don't represent a PR agency as yet, and that i am seeking advice, hence i am here to learn...

Would i buy a car from a salesman who does not drive......Yes i would!. He needs to sell me the car, the specs, not drive it for me. I would like to trust my own judgment as to how the car drives for me.

10Yetis · Mar 10, 2009

Dude, ignore the knockers... lets get back on track.

The question as i understand it is; do i need to be part of a regulatory body to set up a PR business?

The answer is no, well, certainly not in the early stages.

Our public relations agency is about 4 years old now and we have never been a member of any PR body (yet!). The main one is the CIPR which is the Chartered Institute of Public Relations.

Some of the white wine spritzer brigade (the more traditional, "PR is the equiv of brain surgery" types) will have you believe that being in the CIPR is essential.

If you actually read their charter and mandate it is so far out of date it is a bit cringing (even the new bits about online PR which were re-done recently were out of date by the time they were launched).

Now, the real kicker... looks like we are going to join them (hence the yet bit above). Why?? Well, at the last CIPR awards we attended we were given the nod by a drunk CIPR person that had we been a member we would have won our catagory! nice.

Also, over the last year the CIPR has been mentioned twice in pitches. Fortunately we have won both of them after explaining why we are not members, but if not being in their gang prevents us from growing the business then I guess we have to!

More important things that you need to start an agency;
- A good media database to fill any journo gaps in papers you don't know so well
- Twitter account (all good journo's on there)
- Some previous coverage to show people you know what you are on about

Hope this helps.

LowcostPR · Mar 10, 2009

I can only really concur with Andy. Don't worry about your spelling and grammar, but make sure that you have someone who can proof read everything as any releases that are badly written will be noted and deleted.

Other than that, Don't worry about CIPR (my sister company, www.UltimediaPR.co.uk has coped well for 13 years without it, but like 10 Yetis this will be changing soon) but make sure you know how to write press releases, case studies, editorials and everything else correctly. One thing that my friends and colleagues who are Journalists always get annoyed about is a press release or a case study that is blatantly an advert in disguise. They will think that you assume they are stupid enough to fall for it.

Other than that, let us know how it goes. Always good to have some friendly competition!

Max

Lime One · Mar 10, 2009

It is quite easy to get sued for negligence as a PR company, we acted for one of the larger ones last year and they are very clear about what goes in their terms and conditions. There a fair few high profile cases in this area, get good professional indemnity cover and also good contracts in place. Don't listen to the nay sayers. If you are good at PR then you can afford to get others to dot the 'i' and cross the 't' for you.
In the early stages your own PR and site will be how you are judged and if you look at some sites like 10 Yetis the quality stands out but what really makes you look is the coverage they get for their clients. Get that sorted and you are made.

InTheBusiness · Mar 10, 2009

10 Yetis:
Thanks for pulling this thread back from the jaws of the wolves Andy.

It nearly turned into a near PR disaster

. Don't worry about it, they kept me company until the real boys come marching in.....

Yes, thanks for that, that is exactly what i wanted to know. I have heard of CIPR, but i figured they were trying to regulate as apposed to being an official regulator. Look at the end of the day, if you care about awards then sure go ahead and join them. Sorry to say this, and im sure you guys do top notch work over there at 10Yetis, but who is to say that the drunken old chap wasn't giving you some spin? I hear what your saying about the CIPR name carrying some weight, but you know that old saying......If the man aint going to the mountain, then let the mountain come to the man. How about setting up your own awards, comps and so forth. Just so you know, i really like your office space over there at 10Yetis, good job.

Just a few question if that's ok.
In terms of logistics, can i ask if it is or was more difficult setting it up or managing it now that it's running?
I am also thinking along the lines of people branding, as apposed to business branding, is that something 10Yetis has experience in, or should i just go the conventional PR route?

LowcostPR:
Thanks for the pointers. Luckily i learn real quick when im interested in something, so hopefully i'll have a better start at that than i did here...lol. Think i might outsource a few of thee functions to begin with.
Hey friendly competition is what keeps industries on their toes and always evolving, it can be a good thing.

Lime One:
Getting sued was the one thing i definitely had on my mind. Just how frequently does this happen on average, and what ways would you suggest to use to protect yourself. I think another thing to consider here is that im looking at people branding/PR/Publicity, so i wont be dealing with businesses as such. I totally agree with first impressions, and the website is certainly numero uno on the list next to actual ability. 10Yetis site does look good, but i think old Andy's face on there makes all the difference, who wouldn't want to do business with an honest face like that. Just pulling your leg Andy

InTheBusiness · Mar 11, 2009

Can anyone tell me what the major differences are between a Publicity agent and Media agent? Im finding a little difficult to gain a clear understanding of the difference here, as they both sound as if they are very closely similar, yet the two distinct terms exist?

LimeHR · Mar 11, 2009

The frequency in high profile personal cases is well documented,business PR cases less so as most settle out of court, consider the PR angles of those involved in litigation and you can see the results in Google. The way to avoid it is to understand the legal issues surrounding PR fully and take advice on those elements you are not clear on. Terms and conditions of service and a real understanding of the litigation issues of the work you are doing will be your best defence backed up by a good professional indemnity policy of insurance.

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Inn's and Ous of PR agency Statup - Advice Please

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