{"id":9678,"date":"2011-11-07T14:17:23","date_gmt":"2011-11-07T14:17:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/publicityhound.com\/blog\/?p=9678"},"modified":"2011-11-07T14:17:23","modified_gmt":"2011-11-07T14:17:23","slug":"11-qualities-to-look-for-when-hiring-a-publicist","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/purelysupp.com\/publicity\/publicity\/11-qualities-to-look-for-when-hiring-a-publicist\/","title":{"rendered":"11 qualities to look for when hiring a publicist"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"publicist<\/a>At least once a seek, somebody asks, “Where can I find a good publicist?”<\/strong><\/p>\n

A far more important question should be, “What are the most important qualities I should look for in a publicist?”<\/strong><\/p>\n

Once you know that, then you can start looking.<\/p>\n

Here are 15 qualities I’ve identified, with help from my readers.\u00a0Use them as a checklist when looking for your candidates, and ranking them. The publicist\u00a0you choose might not have all of these traits, but do your best\u00a0to make sure that the person you eventually choose has most of them:\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

    \n<\/ol>\n
      \n<\/ol>\n
        \n
      1. Experience, with a strong track record of successes. This is at the top of the list for a good reason.
        \n\u00a0\u00a0<\/li>\n
      2. Impeccable oral and written communication skills.
        \n\u00a0\u00a0<\/li>\n
      3. They are well-groomed and present themselves well.\u00a0 Remember that they will be representing YOU<\/strong> in front of the media.
        \n\u00a0\u00a0<\/li>\n
      4. Creative. They should suggest one idea after another on an ongoing basis, even after you\u2019ve been working with them for months. How do you find this out during the interview? Ask them to describe for you several things they did they’re proudest of—things that took real creativity to accomlish.\u00a0But also ask their references.\u00a0\u00a0
        \n\u00a0\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

        \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 And ask them what they do once they’ve scored a major media hit for you. Here are 15 ways<\/a>\u00a0that publicist Michelle Tennant publicizes her clients’ publicity.<\/p>\n

          \u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
        1. Curious. Make note of how many questions the publicist asks you during the interview. They should be curious about your background, experience, business philosophies\u2014things that might lend themselves to story ideas later. Beware of the publicists who seem disinterested in you and talk only about themselves<\/strong>.
          \n\u00a0\u00a0<\/li>\n
        2. A sense of urgency. Make note of how quickly the candidate responds to your phone calls and emails. Do you have to wait a day or two for the publicist to get back to you? If so, that kind of responsiveness to media requests will be deadly.
          \n\u00a0\u00a0<\/li>\n
        3. Disciplined follow-up. If your interview process is slower than you had hoped, and they don\u2019t hear from you for a week or two, do they follow up with you to see where the project stands\u2014and do so without being a pest? When working with the media, follow-up is critical.
          \n\u00a0\u00a0<\/li>\n
        4. Outgoing, energetic and determined. These should be given more points than \u201ca big name.\u201d I\u2019ve met a few well-known public relations people whose names I had heard for years. But when I met them, they looked tired and listless, as though they wished they were working in any job other than P.R. Maybe they had a bad day. Or maybe they\u2019re always like this.
          \n\u00a0\u00a0<\/li>\n
        5. Honest. You can ask question designed to get them to talk honestly about themselves and their past experiences. (“What’s the worst mistake you ever made when working for a client?” “What kind of client isn’t a good fit for you?”)\u00a0If they dodge the questions, beware. The perfect publicist will be honest with you.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0
          \n\u00a0\u00a0<\/li>\n
        6. They offer value beyond what you would expect. You can find out more about this when you check references.
          \n\u00a0\u00a0<\/li>\n
        7. Friendly. This is imperative. They don\u2019t need to be chummy with you or with their media contacts. But they must be open and approachable. And they must know how to accept \u201cno\u201d gracefully from gruff reporters.
          \n\u00a0\u00a0<\/li>\n
        8. Professional from start to finish. Your reputation with the media hinges on how your publicist performs<\/strong>.
          \n\u00a0\u00a0<\/li>\n
        9. Trustworthy. Was the publicist able to earn your trust without making outrageous claims or promises? If so, she\u00a0can probably earn the media\u2019s trust, too.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0
          \n\u00a0\u00a0<\/li>\n
        10. Confident. Publicists deal with rejection almost daily. They have to bounce back from every \u201cno thanks\u201d they hear, knowing they\u2019re that much closer to a \u201cyes.\u201d\u00a0
          \n\u00a0\u00a0<\/li>\n
        11. Enthusiastic. I wouldn\u2019t hire someone to promote me who was less than enthusiastic about me or my business. You shouldn\u2019t either.\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

          Now that you know the 11 traits to look for, consider the one thing that you can’t research, look for, or ask about. Instead, you feel it in your gut. It’s chemistry.<\/p>\n

          If, during an interview with a candidate, you just can’t see yourself taking direction from him, that’s a red flag.\u00a0So is the feeling that “there’s something about her that bothers me, but I can’t pinpoint it.”<\/p>\n

          If you’ve hired a publicist who’s darn near close to perfect,\u00a0\u00a0what traits did you notice that you’d add to this list? Publicists, am I wrong about any of these?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

          At least once a seek, somebody asks, “Where can I find a good publicist?” A far more important question should be, “What are the most important qualities I should look for in a publicist?” Once you know that, then you can start looking. Here are 15 qualities I’ve identified, with help from my readers.\u00a0Use them\u2026 Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","iawp_total_views":8,"wds_primary_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[691],"tags":[607,610],"class_list":{"0":"post-9678","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-publicity","7":"tag-promotions","8":"tag-publicist","9":"entry"},"featured_image_src":null,"featured_image_src_square":null,"author_info":{"display_name":"Joan Stewart","author_link":"https:\/\/purelysupp.com\/publicity\/author\/jstewart\/"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/purelysupp.com\/publicity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9678","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/purelysupp.com\/publicity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/purelysupp.com\/publicity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/purelysupp.com\/publicity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/purelysupp.com\/publicity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9678"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/purelysupp.com\/publicity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9678\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/purelysupp.com\/publicity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9678"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/purelysupp.com\/publicity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9678"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/purelysupp.com\/publicity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9678"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}