PR In Canada

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I have been working as a PR consultant for many years, and for most of that, I’ve been self-employed. Essentially, I’m a one-woman shop, a ‘boutique agency’, a virtual PR office, or whatever description makes you think I’m a bigger office than I am. I work alone, which is sometimes a great way to get a lot done, but sometimes can be very lonely.

Statistics Canada reported that 2.6 million Canadians were self-employed in 2007. They also report that self-employed people are happier than those of you with jobs. We do get to make our own hours, reap our own good fortune, deduct the cable bill, and for those of us who work at home, get the laundry done during the work day. Of course, those of you with jobs have income security, paid vacations and dental benefits.

One thing most self-employed PR consultants lack is colleagues. Most of us work alone, many from home, and we don’t have other PR folk around to discuss communications issues. Sometimes you just want feedback on a client’s request, or input on which media to pitch, or someone to proofread your news release.

There are lots of us in the same situation, but reaching out to other consultants can be difficult. You worry about telling other consultants about your project or client for fear you might lose the work. You worry about discussing your fees for fear of being undercut or just from the usual “don’t-talk-about-money” hang-up most people have. Can you befriend your competition to combat professional isolation when you’ve chosen a work-life style that relies on it?

Yes, you can. First, trust yourself. You’re good at what you do and your clients and prospects know it. Do discuss fees – you could be undercharging and not know it! And the professional rewards of reaching out far outweigh any risks.

I have an informal network of other PR consultants in town, a half-dozen people I call on for advice, feedback, camaraderie, and sometimes even back-up work. We all have a lot of similar strengths, but we’ve learned where we can trust each other and where we can rely on another person for help.

When one woman was overloaded, she asked me to do a few hours of work for her, and I’ve done the same. We’ve gotten together as a group to take part in webinars and split costs by dialling in together. We check in with each other before some networking events so we don’t always have to go alone. And we exchange resources and advice, discuss client challenges, and drink a lot of coffee together. It’s great to know I can get a contact at a call-in show where I need to pitch a client, or can get a recommendation for a web designer for a new project.

But best of all, I love knowing I’m not alone. If I need to rant, rave, complain or borrow, I can call on my informal group for someone who understands the issues and the challenges. Now if only I could get an informal dental plan.

Categories: Features
Tags: Entrepreneurship, Public Relations