PR Tactics and The Strategist Online
Small shops, big business: Independent practitioners share ideas, gain respect .

Jan.02, 2008

Copyright © 2008 PRSA. All rights reserved.

The following article appears in the January 2008 issue of PR Tactics.

This past fall, John Elsasser, editor in chief of Tactics, moderated a roundtable with four members of PRSA’s Independent Practitioners Alliance (IPA) to discuss the challenges and opportunities in the year ahead. What follows is an edited version of the panel, which was done via a conference call.

Panelists:
Kelly J. Davis, APR, is the president of Davis Public Relations and Marketing, LLC, based in Columbia, S.C. She is the 2008 chair of the Independent Practitioners Alliance.

Heathere Evans-Keenan, APR, is president of Keenan PR, Inc., an award-winning virtual PR firm. She is the 2008 president of PRSA’s National Capital Chapter.

Joseph S. Jimenez, APR, is president and owner of Seattle-based Jimenez & Associates Strategic Communications.

Jon Pushkin, APR, is president of Pushkin Public Relations in Denver. He was the 2007 chair of the Independent Practitioners Alliance.

What will be some of the challenges for independent practitioners in 2008?

Jon Pushkin, APR: The economy is a big one for anyone who has a business, including us. Are people going to feel more confident about spending money on a communications program, or are they going to wait and see how the economy looks? Also, in the PR world there is a tremendous amount of talk about Web 2.0 and new media strategies. How do we, as independent practitioners, take advantage of those to offer the best services to our clients?

Kelly J. Davis, APR: One of my first thoughts was Jon’s second thought: How do we keep up with changing technology and how will that change impact us as business owners? We recently conducted a survey of IPA members to ask about various vendor services they’re using. We found that it continues to be a challenge for independents to afford all the services they would like to offer, especially with the changing technology.

Joseph S. Jimenez, APR: One of the continuing challenges is going to be even more apparent in 2008: the challenge of balancing productive and nonproductive time. As independents, we do all the back office work ourselves, yet still find time to produce. If we could dramatically reduce that effort, we could be more competitive — certainly more competitive against our cousins in agencies where all of that’s done by somebody else.

Could you give an example?

Jimenez: A small example: I’ve noticed some discussion on the [IPA] forum recently about rates. There is a tendency to feel like we have to lower rates to be competitive. That merits a discussion across the board with people who aren’t afraid to share that information.

Another example is documentation and paperwork. It’s essential when you’re developing a new client relationship to put it on paper, but you find yourself constantly adjusting your contract and proposal to satisfy different folks. That’s all nonproductive time. I finally developed a combination proposal and contract. It’s a proposal. You like it, you sign it and it becomes a contract. It saves me a tremendous amount of time.

Heathere, what challenges do you see in the new year?

Heathere Evans-Keenan, APR: I would reiterate Joe’s comments. We need to share tips, which is why we’ve developed online communities like listserves. Tidbits like here’s a proposal that actually can be signed and it’s done — what a great tip. I use that same approach, and it is quite effective.

As far as challenges, some of the biggest issues are changing perceptions — mostly within the profession, not with clients. There’s this idea that independents typically win small contracts with smaller clients. They get project work. We need to show as the independent community that the perception is not true. Independents are winning some large contracts that are just as attractive to large firms.

The reason is the four key benefits of using an independent model: flexibility, personal attention, senior-level talent and value. My hope for 2008 is that we continue to move that idea forward as a profession and ensure that the IPA is demonstrating the legitimacy of the virtual model.

You’ve all been in the independent sector for many years. Are you approaching 2008 differently than past years?

Jimenez: Over the years, I have seen a tendency to better define for the client what you’re offering and doing. They used to look at us as providing a wide range of services, and they weren’t too specific in the mid-1990s when I started working independently. Now clients tend to be wrapped around niche ideas, and the words keep changing.

It’s difficult to weave our way through this fragmented landscape and define what we do. You become a jack-of-all-trades because you don’t want to give up any potential business, but you need to focus yourself into a few key areas and develop your professional reputation. That is difficult when our operating landscape changes — redefined terms, different words, different approaches. Every month somebody has a new name for something that’s been around for 10 years.

Pushkin: One thing that we have talked about a lot in IPA is how independents can start to think of themselves as counselors and business owners rather than freelancers, so that we’re more strategists than practitioners. I hope in this coming year that perception will start to be more accurate.

Have you seen this mind-set beginning to change?

Pushkin: We are seeing that, especially in E-group conversations, workshops and teleseminars. Also, Heathere’s group in Washington, D.C., and other independent groups around the country are starting to talk about changing that mind-set a lot more.

Evans-Keenan: One thing we’ve seen the last couple years, but I expect to see a lot more of in 2008, is a kind of shakeout within the independent community. There was this groundswell over the last five years of everyone going independent, and then many realized the business model wasn’t for them. Others have had to find where they fit in our profession. Within the independent model there are the virtual firms, virtual teams and a specialist group of folks who offer specific expertise, like research, event planning or writing. All are essential because the virtual firm can’t operate without the virtual team members, without being able to have the resources for special services.

There’s been a movement to figure things out, as Jon was saying. We’re business owners; we’re counselors. Where do we fall within the landscape of the profession?

Jimenez: In past years, I’ve found it more advantageous to describe myself as a management consultant than as communications or public relations because the ways I would eventually get involved with the client were much brighter than the communications arena. In some cases, when you’re dealing with public agencies that are in a bit of difficulty with their communities, they don’t want to hire a PR agency. It doesn’t look good. But we do have an understanding of the full scope of issues within the client’s operating environment.

Going back to Heathere’s comment, it seemed like the number of people becoming independents had accelerated over the past years. Are you still seeing large growth in the independent sector?

Evans-Keenan: It hasn’t been shrinking at all; I’d say stable to slower growth. About five years ago, there was this huge influx of folks going into independent practice. There has certainly been a sloughing off, so that the core is now more seasoned and they know exactly why they’re in business. It wasn’t just to hang up a shingle or because they lost their job and therefore I decided I am “independent.” These folks are business owners and committed to this model.

Those are the folks that have created a stable base of independents. Slowly but surely we’ve been growing. The folks who are serious about this are sharing best practices, growing their businesses and defining where they fit in this profession.

Davis: In South Carolina, we see this sector growing. I coordinate and chair our independent practitioner’s effort in the Columbia area, and I have a colleague who does the same in the Greenville-Spartanburg area. Whenever we host an IPA teleseminar, I always have people in the room who are still working full time but are thinking about taking that leap, which is very smart, because they’re obviously thinking ahead and building a résumé of independent work before they leave the “security” of a full-time job.

Many younger practitioners are also making that decision. I had about 10 years’ experience before I started my practice, and I had vast experience in different settings doing a lot of types of work. I’ve always used that when I promote myself. It’s an interesting sell to say, “Hey, I’ve only been out of college two or three years, and I’m working on my own.” It’s going to be interesting to see whether that’s a model that works long term for a younger practitioner.

Talking about perceptions, there are still many stereotypes about freelancers. I hear people say things like, “Oh,you just sit around the house . . ..”

Evans-Keenan: In your fluffy slippers?

Exactly. What is needed to change this perception so that independents are seen as business owners rather than the dreaded freelancer?

Pushkin: The perception that most independents are sitting in home offices in sweats was more prevalent about five years ago. That is a mind-set we’re attempting to shift gradually, so we can get people to start thinking about being business owners rather than contractors or professional rather than unprofessional.

I started in a home office and now have an office outside my house. I enjoyed a home office, but each person, depending on the situation, needs to decide what works best.

Is the change in perception coming from clients or within the profession?

Pushkin: It is a perception within our profession. Do you think of your business like a businessperson would or as a paycheck? The perception is different depending on your setup and your lifestyle.

Evans-Keenan: I agree. Clients are hiring us for large contracts that the PR profession isn’t aware of — legitimate, large-scale pieces of business. Clients can see clearly the senior-level talent, personal attention, flexibility and value of an independent. Our independent community has spent more time putting that message forth to clients and winning business than it has with colleagues.

Jimenez: We are in a perfect position to give that value-added service that clients need. So many times I’ve encountered a client who was initially reluctant to deal with another independent because they had an unsatisfying experience with their previous one. Of course, often that’s the client’s doing. They wanted the person to produce, say, a brochure, and that’s exactly what he or she did. But what they actually wanted was someone with the seasoning that it takes to provide something a little bit more satisfying with better reach.

To bring this back to challenges for 2008, I would like to see the collaboration among independent practitioners in the Seattle area that I’ve heard Heathere describe in D.C. There is a concern about competition that I believe is mostly unfounded. It is tremendously important that we become more competitive within our own profession. More businesses are seeking independents, but it’s still the exception. I would like to see us have a higher level of business acumen, and become more competitive, collegial and collaborative. Not necessarily to the point of operating virtual agencies, but certainly to where you can say to a client, “Yes, I can do that,” and immediately call someone else and say, “We have a tremendous opportunity.” IPA is an excellent place to start, but we still have a long way to go.

Are you seeing more people coming together in that sort of collegial spirit that Joe mentioned?

Pushkin: In Colorado we’ve had an active independent networking group for a long time. It gets together about once a month to exchange information, offer assistance, exchange referrals and work in teams when appropriate.

I hope that’s the case in the other areas of the country where active groups of independents network. Certainly that’s something we’re trying to do in the IPA with the E-group, seminars and other programs.

Davis: I’ve only been independent for a little over three years, but the movement toward independent practice started about five years ago. Seeing friends become independents gave me a level of comfort to consider it.

Lately, we have seen a lot of camaraderie and support. I don’t know if that’s just because we’re Southerners — we’re hospitable people. I don’t feel I’m competing with other independent practitioners for business because we each bring our own background, experience, skill levels and talent, and, most of all, we bring our own networks. All of my business has come by referral from relationships I had been building during the 10 years before I went on my own.

That’s not to say that I would not be competing with someone else for business at some point, but my competition hasn’t necessarily been other independent practitioners. The challenge, as Heathere has pointed out, is selling the idea of hiring an independent instead of a larger agency. If we’re supporting one another, it’s going to help everybody’s business grow.

Pushkin: That’s a good point, Kelly. For a lot of independents, the opportunity to collaborate, team and exchange ideas with other independents is an attractive opportunity. For most of us, people appreciate those opportunities and are happy to share information or mentor people who are just starting their own business.

What advice would you give someone who’s thinking of possibly making a career change in the new year and becoming a business owner?

Evans-Keenan: From watching the movement of people into and out of the independent market, the common denominator seems to be that working independently is just not enough for some people. They can’t work within that structure productively and still feel connected, even though we’ve created these fabulous communities.

So advice No. 1 would be to self-evaluate whether that works for you. You have to understand that you’re the president and CEO. You take out the trash as well as pick up large accounts in your silk suit. It takes a lot of energy to start a business. It’s not just about skill; it’s about being a business owner.

Pushkin: You have to be comfortable taking that leap. They ought to ask themselves, “Am I going to be comfortable if I lose my biggest piece of business? Am I going to be able to work with less than the security that I would have with a regular salary?”

Evans-Keenan: There’s a strength of character piece, isn’t there?

Pushkin: Yeah. People need to be entrepreneurial enough to survive the lifestyle.

Jimenez: I would encourage people who are thinking about becoming independent practitioners to seriously pursue the thought, not just give it casual conversation. We need seasoned professionals in the independent area because it provides a tremendously valuable ser-vice to our clients and society.

Davis: Obviously, you’ve got to do your homework and lay the groundwork before you leap. People have to look at themselves and their business just as they would a client or the organization they work for. Sometimes that’s very hard to do. The more of that that you do on the front end, the easier it is to settle into being independent.

As everyone has said, there’s a huge lifestyle adjustment. You have to discipline yourself, particularly if you are working in a home office, as I do. I’m very structured and organized. Creating structure for myself took some time. Now I can’t imagine doing anything else.

Pushkin: More people are looking to grow their business, to compete for bigger accounts and bigger clients, to form virtual teams to work together, to expand what they’re doing and to think like businesspeople. As our sector grows, I hope we’ll see more of that. One thing that is really important is for people to find someone to mentor them through this process, someone who’s been an independent practitioner for a while, who’s gone through the ups and downs of starting and growing a practice, and can help them through the initial phases.

Getting to know the IPA
The PRSA Independent Practitioners Alliance (IPA) provides resources and a virtual gathering place for independent practitioners, whether they work alone or in teams, from home or small or shared offices. The Alliance enables independent practitioners to network and share information with, and seek advice from, other PRSA members who share their entrepreneurial spirit.