By: Riley Carney
Who doesn’t love a freshly baked cookie? One of my favorite hobbies is baking. All you have to do is follow the recipe to create a tasty cookie. Sounds easy, right? But, if you miss an ingredient, forget a step, or don’t measure correctly – the final product could be a decidedly un-tasty cookie. This weekend, while baking chocolate chip cookies, it struck me how many similarities there are between baking and public relations.
1. Plan out the details. In baking, you need to double check that you have all the ingredients before starting, or, chances are, when you are ready to bake, you will be missing a key part of the recipe.
In public relations, getting the details right is key to a great outcome. In media relations, the best way to get coverage for our clients is to plan ahead and reach out early or we risk the topic losing relevance. For event logistics, detailed planning is the recipe for success. Planning a 400-person fundraiser event can’t be done in a week; it takes a detailed project plan and timeline.
2. Be patient. The hardest part of baking is waiting for the cookies to bake. The delicious smell drifts through the house, and your stomach starts to grumble, but there are still five minutes on the timer, and you have to sit on your hands; so you don’t pull out raw cookies.
In public relations, waiting is always part of the process. Whether we are waiting on media availability or waiting on a client to respond, our work requires patience. At HBI, we coordinate many events and the key to client satisfaction is careful listening, attention to detail, and the patience to follow through on the plan. Prepping for events usually begins at least six months to a year before an event. In order to see it come to fruition, you have to follow the plan and wait for results.
3. Share the end result. The best part of baking is sharing the dessert and seeing others enjoy it. There’s not much better than biting into a warm cookie and feeling the warmth go through your body and seeing others enjoy the same feeling.
The same is true with public relations – the best part is seeing a client happy with our results. Whether it is getting a client featured in a news segment or planning a successful fundraising event, a happy client is why we do what we do. So, the next time you begin work on a client project, think about baking chocolate chip cookies – not only is it fun to think about cookies, but it is also the key to accomplishing your client’s PR goals!
