Five new year resolutions to help you survive the next year in PR

 6th January 2016    PR Guru 

Last year, I decided to do away with making healthy new year resolutions and instead drink more, eat more and smoke more. That didn’t work out so this year I am determined to be positive. Unfortunately, for someone attempting to make a living in PR, to retain any sort of new year cheer, it seems vital not to listen to the news.

So here are resolutions that you may like to try to get you through the next 12, potentially horrible, months in your PR job.

1. Bury your head in the sand and ignore headlines of gloom and doom and slashed retainers. Put your darkest sunglasses on, place your Bose headphones over ears and sing loudly. If you don’t know about it, you can’t worry about it.
2. Be sociable. Take all your clients out and show them a fun time. At best, they will enjoy your company so much they will be determined to keep paying the bills. At worst, they will feel bad about having to let you go.
3. Stop treating senior journalists like royalty. Many of them will be out of a job soon, it’s the junior journalists and interns you need to look after. They’ll be running the show, as they’re the only members of staff publications can afford these days.
4. Change your payment systems. All your clients are paying you as late as possible, so make sure you pay your suppliers even later. Might save a few pennies in interest payments. But it may also lose you some trusted suppliers...
5. If you have kids in public school, take them out. They need to learn that life can be tough sometimes, and the money this will save you means you will be a happier and less stressed parent.