#PRStudChat: Four Ways Content Can Boost Your Career in PR

Writing is at the heart of every communications professional’s career.

Years ago you went into public relations because you loved writing, and…because you hated math, but that’s a discussion for another time.

With the advent of the internet and social media, communications professionals are the content creators not only for the companies they work for but also for their personal brands.

Which begs the question: can content boost your career in PR?

The February edition of #PRStudChat focused entirely on how writing and publishing content can help your career in PR.

Special guest and co-host, Julia McCoy, author of Practical Content Strategy and Marketing, and the founder of Express Writers shared with the #PRStudChat community her experience on how content helped her career and business.

For every communications professional content plays a big part of your PR practice.

But where should you start, especially if you just finished school?

The First Step Toward a Successful Career in PR

You’ve heard it over and over again—to become a great writer you need to read and read and read some more

A. LOT.

The first steps to honing your writing skills start with reading good, if not great, writing.

Of course, reading bad writing can teach you what not to do.

But first, let’s start with good writing.

Look at how the authors construct a good story. Are you sucked in from the very beginning?

Some of the best storytelling envelops and transports you to a fairytale world.

Recently, I re-read Charlotte’s Web and The Trumpet of the Swan by one of my favorite authors, E.B. White.

You may think those are children’s novels, and you would be right….if you look only at the story.

But if you look deeper, at the storytelling, you realize it’s probably the best sample of storytelling out there.

So, if you want to become a good writer, start reading great content.

Aim to read a book every other week.

Read it for the story, but also for the storytelling.

Learn from those authors and see how they use the wording, and how they construct and unfold the story.

As Stephen King famously said:

If you want to be a writer, you must do two things above all others: read a lot and write a lot.

Become a Better Writer

But reading alone is not enough to make you a better writer.

You have to practice writing every, single day.

There will be days when it will be easy, and there will be days when you feel it’s a chore. Stick to it, and write every single day.

Start small, by writing 500 words per day. You don’t have to write a novel or even an entire blog post. Just aim to write 500 words every day.

Make writing a priority and don’t let the busyness of the day take that from you.

Soon you’ll notice it becomes easier. Moreover, you’ll look forward to your writing time.

But that’s only the beginning.

The next big, scary step is to go out into the world and publish your content.

Create your own blog, write on LinkedIn Pulse or on Medium. Guest post on other professionals’ blogs, write social media posts.

Put yourself out there.

By doing so you will hone your writing skills and build a personal brand for yourself. You will slowly build an audience around your content.

I love this from Haley Frank, a #PRStudChat participant:

As a current student, I definitely agree that creating content will prepare me for a future job—creating content not only helps me learn what content is effective, but helps me create a personal brand and style.

Sharpen Your Writing Skills with the Best Tools

We live in an online world and there are many tools that can help you become a better writer. Don’t be shy about using them. The faster you learn, the better you will become.

Grammarly, ProWritingAid, and the Hemingway app are some of the tools that can help you edit your work and make you a better writer in the process.

Optimize your content for SEO with tools such as Yoast (for WordPress), SEMRush, CoSchedule headline analyzer, HubSpot’s Blog Topic Generator.

You don’t have to become an SEO expert overnight, but you need to understand it and how to optimize your content for the search engines.

Influence Your Career through Content

Publishing content can influence your career.

It can raise your profile and create more brand awareness, as Deirdre Breakenridge mentioned on #PRStudChat.

It helps you interact with other communications professionals and influencers in this space.

In a nutshell, it puts you on the map.

So, if you want to become a better writer and a better communications professional, read a lot, create and publish content on a regular basis, find mentors to guide you through this journey, and follow and study influencers in your space. Learn how they do it.

Join communications communities, such as the free Spin Sucks community or paid-membership communities, such as the PR Dream Team.

It will help you connect with professionals all over the world, get advice in real-time, find career opportunities, and learn a ton.

But above all, keep creating and publishing content consistently!

If you want to know more, catch up on the February #PRStudChat with this summary.

Next on #PRStudChat

The March edition of #PRStudChat is focused on helping you launch your personal brand and land your dream job with social media.

Joining us as special guest and co-host will be Aaron Lee, regional manager APAC at AgoraPulse.

See you on March 8^th at 12:00 p.m. EST for another exciting learning opportunity.