In my never-ending quest to find out what I really want to do with my life, I came across a new avenue of public relations-- Freelancing.
After interning at an agency this past semester, I realized that perhaps agency work isn't quite the route I want to take upon graduating from college next year. I realized that I love to write, and often prefer working solo. I reached out through our Twitter to find other PR practitioners out there who have done some freelance work. Luckily, many people responded!
This is the first post in what will be a series of posts featuring different PR freelancers.
This week, I interviewed Robin Bernstein of Write Time Communications, a company that provides PR services to clients on a freelancing basis.
Ms. Bernstein would describe freelance PR as, "providing public relations services (writing, publicity, event planning, etc) to an organization or individual (the client) on a contract basis."
She mentions that freelancers are paid by the project, by the hour, or via a monthly retainer.
Bernstein also notes that many PR freelancers prefer to be called "independents" because the term freelancer sometimes refers to people who freelance, in addition to having a full-time job. For Bernstein, being an independent is a full-time and permanent job.
After holding positions at Ogilvy PR and Edelman, she opened Write Time Communication in 1991.
When asked why she chose to take the leap from the corporate world to being her own boss, Bernstein says, "I love the independence, variety and ability to work from home. After a decade in the corporate world, I got tired of playing politics. Also, the higher I rose the ranks, the more I had to delegate what I loved doing most, which was writing."
Bernstein obtains clients in many different ways. She cites referrals, word-of-mouth, staying active in professional organizations, and attending networking events all as vital ways to obtain clients. She mentions that she will occasionally send out emails or make cold calls. Lately, she has found, as many of us PR practitioners are finding that social media is helping her to gain new clients.
Although Ms. Bernstein loves the freedom of freelancing, she admits that she doesn't like the the difficulty in controlling the work flow. "Sometimes it's so busy I'm working 24/7. Other times I'm sitting around saying, "OK, where is everyone?" she said.
To stay active in the business, Bernstein advises other freelancers to remember to continue networking, both physically, and virtually. She says, "Get out to meetings, luncheons, dinners. Use the phone and email. And stay active online in social media networks such as Twitter and LinkedIn."