I recently adopted a rescued border collie and welcomed him as a new member of my family! After getting over the jitters of an additional responsibility and taking my new best friend home, I realized the process had quite a few similarities with a public relations campaign! Here are 3 PR lessons from adopting a new dog.
What can Loki the dog teach us about PR?
3 PR Lessons from Adopting a New Dog
- Make Sure it’s a Good Fit
Like choosing the breed and age of a new dog to take home, you also need to make sure it will get along with your family members and other animals in the house. There are many ways to ease this transition, but it’s important to look out for key features that match you and your lifestyle. Public relations work uses this same principle; the media contacts you reach out to should be a good fit for running your story. Take the time to go through the process of researching and determining what’s right for you and your campaign.
- Remember it’s a Two-Way Street
Determining whether the new dog is right for you is only the first step; it’s also up to your furry new friend to decide if they like you. Pet ownership is a wonderful relationship for all parties involved and public relations can be too if the partnership is cultivated successfully. The PR lesson is this: when relationships are built on mutual benefit (like a PR pro and a journalist,) everyone wins.
- Be Prepared
Within the first 5 minutes at home, my new dog knocked over plants and created a huge mess in my house! It’s important to be prepared for anything that may come your way with a new experience. Likewise with public relations, you should be ready to take on any new challenge when you start a campaign or navigate unfamiliar territory.
Making sure your actions are a good fit to your goals, remembering the relationship goes both ways and being prepared for strange experiences are all relevant PR lessons from my experience of adopting a new dog. Can you think of any others?
Photo Credit: Beth Adan
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