Skills PR professionals should have

It’s no secret that PR professionals must have good writing skills, persistence, tenacity and a Smartphone full of good media contacts. But there are additional skills a PR professional should have in order to do his or her job well. According to a recent article in Ragan’s PR Daily these skills (and a few of my own) are:

1. Basic HTML knowledge
You don’t have to be able create a website that rivals Amazon.com, but you should either be familiar with basic HTML codes or know where to look for a specific code when you need to make a quick addition to your company’s website. You can find HTML codes ordered alphabetically and by function at W3Schools.com. Another source for HTML codes is Quackit.com. My assistant uses this for HTML codes for her website and she says that it is very user friendly.

2. Video editing
Again, you don’t have to create something worthy of an Emmy, but you should know the basics of editing and posting a video clip using programs like iMovie, Animoto or Jaycut.

3. Excel/PowerPoint
Yes, you’re a PR professional not a financial professional. Still, you need to how to create a spreadsheet. Why? One important reason is to show the value, circulation and web hits of the media you were able to secure for your client. Putting all that information into a spreadsheet will go a long way to show how value of your PR efforts on your clients’ behalf.

All PR professionals should know how to navigate PowerPoint to create presentations or assist clients with theirs.

4. Basic math
Just like #3, most PR professionals aren’t math experts. At the very least, you need to have sufficient math skills to prepare an annual budget for your department and to prepare proposals for client projects.

5. Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
You should be able to write an SEO friendly press release or web content. If you need help in this area, a great resource is SEOBook.Com.

6. Social media
Facebook and Twitter are not just outlets for teens to post about how bored they are or what a wild party they went to the night before. Social media continues to be an effective tool that allows organizations to engage with their target market in ways that weren’t possible previously. So, learn how to use social media sites like Facebook and Twitter and post content that your target market will find useful.

7. Organizational skills
Despite the use of email and web-based applications, PR still generates a lot of paper. If you can organize, you will be well ahead of the game.

These skills aren’t complex and they don’t require a college degree, but they just require a little advance thought. And though you may have been hired to get positive press for your client or organization, having these additional skills can only help. In this challenging economy, companies have to do more with less. If you can do more than just write stellar press releases, you will be more valuable to your organization and/or to your clients.

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