College grads should major in writing and not ''PR'' or ''communications.''
NEW YORK--(COLLEGIATE PRESSWIRE)--Sep 16, 2002--''Two-hatters'' (entrepreneurs who write for both legit media and business clients) are the ones who are surviving in today`s tight market...
STUDENTS SHOULD TRAIN AS WRITERS.
College students majoring in subjects such as ''PR'' and ''communications'' are wondering what kind of jobs will be available to them when they graduate.
Recent grads have told us of months of fruitless job searches after which they wind up working at a Borders, McDonald`s or Starbucks.
They have spent four years and up to $100,000 and now can`t find a job except at the minimum wage.
But they actually have a lot of talent and skills that could earn them a good living.
To do this, they must become entrepreneurs.
For openers, they must stop billing themselves as ''PR'' people or ''communicators.''
PR Lacks Credibility
PR is one of the most discredited terms in the English language. ''PR specialist'' ranked 43rd in credibility on a list of 45 public figures in a 1999 survey that cost the PR Society of America Foundation and the Rockefeller Foundation $150,000.*
Supreme Court justice ranked No. 1, teacher No. 2 and national expert No. 3. Significantly, ''local business owner'' ranked No. 5. Network TV news anchor ranked No. 12 and local reporters, No. 15.
PRSA was so embarrassed by the study it had no press conference on it, failed to use either PR Newswire or Business Wire to publicize it, and didn`t report on it in Strategist, its quarterly devoted to major topics. Tactics, the PRSA monthly, mentioned the study briefly but not PR`s 43rd ranking.
The two-year study, in which Robert Y. Shapiro, Ph.D., political science, Columbia University, played a key role, was put in the deep freeze. But its findings are no doubt as true today as they were in 1999.
''PR'' is subjected to nearly endless trashing in the media. Very few blue chips use the term, having switched to ''corporate communications'' long ago.
Hang Out Your Shingle
Entrepreneurs we know who are making a good living work as writers both for legitimate media and business. Some do full-fledged programs for clients.
They ghost-author books for businesspeople, write books and articles under their own names, write op-ed pieces for clients, letters-to-the-editor, sales brochures, speeches, handle e-mail correspondence, help businesses to market on the web, and create graphics using Quark and other programs. They also show businesses how to create their own flyers.
In short, there are numerous writing and related tasks that a grad can do for small businesses.
They`re not apt to find such work via the local ad/PR firm because of the way the finances of such firms are set up.
Working by themselves, they could charge businesses $20 an hour ($140 a day or $700 a week) for helping in all the above named areas. If they charge $30 an hour this would equal $1,050 a week.
Firms Bill at 3X Salary
The typical PR firm bills out workers at three times their hourly rate. The $20 an hour becomes $60 and the weekly cost to a client becomes $2,100.
Hourly staff costs are multiplied by three by PR firms to pay for office costs, salaries of supervisors and profit to a parent company. Parents such as Interpublic, Omnicom and WPP Group normally expect 20% to 25% of gross income to percolate up to them. Heads roll if they don`t get it. Individual entrepreneurs have no such costs. They can work out of their parents` homes or own apartments for which rent has already been paid. Many costs associated with a home office can be deducted. Sixty percent of medical premiums can be deducted before taxes are paid.
Another option is bartering. Many a PR firm started out bartering services for meals at local restaurants, groceries, gasoline, car rentals and numerous other products and services.
PR firms normally want a 60-or 90-day cancellation clause. Grads could propose projects one at a time and relieve businesses of the fear of getting stuck in a legal contract.
Mom `n Pops Need Help
Grads can bring writing and promotional services to many small businesses that they could otherwise not afford. Many such businesses go under because they don`t spend enough time marketing themselves.
Major firms and their affiliates often want retainers of $10,000 and more monthly, which is beyond the reach of the great bulk of small businesses.
Computer and web savvy grads have a lot to offer a generation of small business owners that is largely computer illiterate.
Communications students, in addition to their classroom reading, should read every book they can find about opening their own businesses such as Harding Ford`s classic Rain Making on how to land clients. Forty million Americans are working out of their homes (one-quarter of the workforce) because of high office costs and the ease of zipping work back and forth via the web.
Opening a Business Is Easy
Grads don`t need to set up corporations. If they use their own names, they only need their Social Security numbers. If they use a business name, they must register for a DBA (doing business as) with the local government for a nominal fee.
Grads with complicated or hard-to-pronounce names should shorten them to easy-to-spell and easy-to-pronounce names. Middle and first initials should be avoided as well as unisex names such as Robin, Chris, etc. It`s standard business practice to have a user friendly name. Legally changing your name is not necessary for the moment.
For federal taxes, the business owners would need to complete an annual 1040 Schedule C and a form 8829 listing expenses for business use of home. An accountant friend or CPA from the Yellow Pages can set up the books. Accounting programs such as ''First Edge'' from www.myob.com are available for as little as $99. These programs do payroll taxes, check-writing, cost accounting and numerous other tasks. CPA visits can be kept to a minimum.
Train as Writer Now
As Stephen King points out in On Writing, there`s only one way to be a writer: read and write seven hours a day at least five days a week for years. Students should take many writing courses, keep a journal of 1,000-2,000 words nightly, and read a novel a week by authors who are bold and imaginative with words such as Annie Proulx (The Shipping News and Postcards) and Charles Frazier (Cold Mountain). Mind-numbing boob tubing should be cut to a minimum.
New writers should associate with other writers and reporters and not salespeople.
A home office is a great boon to good writing since writing is a solitary occupations and distractions can be minimized. John Bruen, an executive of a major New York PR firm, used to urge his A/Es to do their writing at night when they had time to think.
Writers should save direct mail pieces instead of throwing them away. They are a good source of graphic techniques as well as tested copy platforms.
Create Flyer for Self
Writers today should be able to create well-designed sales promotion pieces, including one for themselves that they can pass out to local merchants. Instead of claiming writing/graphics expertise, they can show it. Merchants will want a similar piece created for them.
Buzz words such as ''strategic,'' ''integrated,'' ''synergy,'' ''goals'' or ''clear goals'' should be avoided in approaching prospects. Merchants are on to such words and will think a con job of one type or another is coming. Since ''local business owners'' are No. 5 on the Credibility Index and PR people are No. 43, it is the PR people who can learn from the businesspeople and not the opposite.
Existing ad/PR firms can view the new generation of writer/entrepreneurs as competitors or as ''farm clubs'' introducing businesses to a wide range of writing, marketing, promotional and web services. Some of the small clients might turn into major ones as the clients grow. Then they might be able to afford a full-fledged ad/marketing program via an established ad/PR firm.
* Ranking of leaders and/or public figures as ''believable sources of information.'' 1999 Study was financed by PRSA Foundation and Rockefeller Foundation.
1. Supreme Court justice 2. Teacher 3. National expert. 4. Member, armed forces 5. Local business owner 6. Ordinary citizen 7. Local religious leader 8. High-ranking military officer 9. School official 10. National leader with shared traits 11. National religious leader 12. Network TV news anchor 13. Governor 14. local business rep. 15. Local newspaper/TV reporter 16. National civil rights leader 17. local elected council member 18. U.S. senator 19. National syndicated columnist 20. Mayor of a big city 21. Head of a state agency 22. Head of a local agency 23. Reporter for big newspaper or magazine 24. U.S. congressman 25. Head of a big company. 26. National Credibility Index 27. Local civil rights leader 28. U.S. Vice President 29. head of a national assn. 30. community activist 31. Wall Street executive 32. Head, Presidential advisory board 33. U.S. president 34. Member, Presidential cabinet 35. Pollster 36. Student activist 37. local union leader 38. Candidate for public office 39. Head of a national union 40. Famous athlete 41. Head of a national interest group 42. Political party leader 43. Public Relations specialist 44. Famous entertainer 45. TV or radio talk show host.
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