A few weeks ago, Doug Davidoff wrote an open letter to PR professionals, which speaks about the client’s view of our profession and how we’re stuck on tactics and not on results.

And on Monday, Les McKeown wrote “Living with the Pregnant Widow,” a tongue-in-cheek look at the so-called social media experts who, again, are stuck on the tactics and not on results (mostly because having a Facebook page or a Twitter account does not lead to business growth, directly).

The interesting thing about both of these letters (blog posts) is both Doug and Les run businesses and have hired PR firms. And they didn’t check with one another before writing their perspectives. This perception of our industry is pretty rampant and it’s also why mainstream media such as The Economist write articles like, “Public Relations: Rise of the Image Men.”

It’s our own fault, really. We ARE stuck on the tactics and the process and not on the results. And it’s because we’re typically not business people. We’re liberal arts people. We can skate by without ever having to take a business class or learn the difference between a P&L and a balance sheet or if revenue or income is better or how to grow the bottom line. Most of us have never walked in our client’s shoes and most of us likely won’t. (more…)