6 Abraham Lincoln quotes to inspire communicators

Abraham Lincoln was born Feb. 12, 1809. He would be 204 years old today.

This year, the acclaimed film “Lincoln” leads the Oscar race with 12 nominations, and it has grossed nearly $221 million worldwide at the box office since its release in November.

Celebrate the 16th president’s birthday with a few bits of his wisdom that have been inspiring communicators for nearly two centuries.

"Give me six hours to chop down a tree, and I will spend the first four sharpening the ax.”

Preparation is a key ingredient for success. Careful planning and adequate preparation help to ensure a project goes smoothly. You won’t get far trying to sink a dull ax into a tree trunk—nor will you produce impressive results with a dull communications plan.

“Reputation is like fine china: Once broken it's very hard to repair.”

This is a no-brainer for PR pros, whose job it is to manage and uphold reputations—and occasionally piece together a reputation that took a nose dive from the top shelf of the proverbial china cabinet. PR people aren’t kidding when they advise clients to create a plan—before a crisis occurs—to minimize damage and protect reputations.

“Determine that the thing can and shall be done, and then we shall find the way.”

Once a goal is set, a strategy must be formed to achieve it. Keep in mind: Setting realistic, measurable goals significantly increases the chances they will be reached in an effective, timely manner and will act as steppingstones to larger aspirations.

“Don't worry when you are not recognized, but strive to be worthy of recognition.”

Not every campaign will receive glowing reviews or win awards, and not everything you do may get the credit you believe it deserves. But those who continually strive to learn from mistakes and seek ways to improve performance will be successful.

“Commitment is what transforms a promise into reality.”

Expecting instant change or success the first time around with little effort will only lead to disappointment. Through hard work and dedication, promises made both to yourself and to others will come to fruition.

“Half-finished work generally proves to be labor lost.”

Don’t scrap that project just because it’s got you mired in frustration. If you’re overwhelmed or unmotivated, call upon others for help. Discarding the project, as Lincoln said, is lost labor.

Do you have any favorite Abraham Lincoln quotes to share?

Hana Bieliauskas is a project manager in the Columbus, Ohio, office of CMA (@CMABuildsTrust), a national public relations agency based in Kansas City, Mo. Follow her on Twitter @hanab08. A version of this story first appeared on the CMA blog.

5 key traits of a successful PR professional

To be successful in the world of modern public relations, there are certain essential characteristics that one must possess to fight adversity, capitalize on opportunities, maintain a positive image, encourage word of mouth, and build strategy.

While drafting this post, I jotted down 17 must-have characteristics. But I whittled the list down to these top five:

Thick skin. This is definitely not a profession for the timid or faint of heart. Modern PR pros need to develop the ability to withstand personal and brand criticism, and not be easily offended.

Resiliency. You are going to get knocked to the mat quite often, how quickly you can recover from and adjust to misfortune or change often acts as the barometer of your personal and brand image. Since you are most likely the face of your brand or provide counsel to those that are, developing or coaching resiliency is a key characteristic of a PR pro.

Attention to detail. Digital communication has placed brands on the slide and under the microscope requiring meticulous review and careful planning of all communication to media and the community. An infinitesimal error can be magnified 1,000-times and although few expect perfection, egregious errors, especially on first impressions, can shift the tides of sentiment from positive to negative.

Creativity. To say in today’s society that consumers are inundated with content and journalists receive a deluge of pitches daily is a radical understatement. Often, what tends to resonate best is creativity born of ideas outside the norm. Learn to be creative.

Relationship builder. In PR, relationships are everything. The core of our profession is the ability to build rapport and bridge communication chasms through quality conversations that build strong relationships. What characteristics would you add to the list?

In public relations, 9 to 5 is no way to make a living

As companies grow more nimble by embracing digital technology, the PR business needs to adapt to the rapidly changing times. How we structure our operations and service our accounts directly reflects our understanding of the evolving communications and media landscape.

Since the dawn of the PR industry, agency staffers worked in the office. This office space brought everyone together in a single place, confined by walls and designed to encourage collaboration, creativity, and productivity.

There was a time and place when offices were essential. Making a work call meant you needed to be seated at your desk. Your computer, most likely a desktop, needed to be situated on the surface of your office desk and couldn’t be moved. Your office files and other vital documents were only accessible at the office.

Additionally, clients often insisted agencies stake a physical presence in locations where the client had a corporate footprint. This resulted in limited work produced outside a company’s offices.

With advancements in communication, project management, and collaboration tools, clients are questioning the conventional office. They are beginning to realize it is more efficient to assemble senior account teams according to talent, creativity, and relevance to an assignment, without restricting them to geographic locations and resources available in the confines of a central office.

With the traditional PR agency model, account teams are assembled according to staff availability and relevant industry expertise—two variables rarely aligned.

Traditional PR agencies that use office hours as a barometer of employee value and commitment shouldn't be surprised with the correlation between this old-school tactic and high attrition rates among clients—and employees. Although it might demonstrate commitment to the agency for an employee to be the first one in and the last one out, it doesn't demonstrate value to clients.

Today, client stories are pitched, secured, and cultivated digitally, which makes the geographic location of journalists and PR practitioners irrelevant. The focus for clients has shifted from the location of an office for their PR partners, to where their account reps relationships exist.

Today, most, if not all PR professionals are wired and working 24x7; traditional PR agencies continue to have set “office hours” for their employees. They are selling digital programs but are not operating digital businesses.

I'm not suggesting face-to-face meetings will be replaced by technology. Offices are still relevant in a digital world, but can be acquired and used more efficiently and not at an expense incurred by our clients (a chunk of client fees go toward office space and overhead). Many seasoned PR professionals are already adapting to these changes by sharing physical resources and office space.

In 2012, we saw a number of PR agencies rebrand themselves as social media or generic communications agencies, eliminating any references to traditional PR. In 2013 and beyond, more agencies will move away from labeling themselves as “agencies,” for all the limitations conveyed by that name.

Clients will continue to challenge the traditional agency model; to do so it is essential for clients, buyers, and prospective buyers of PR services to understand what they are investing in. Doing so will help them to identify and retain the best PR resources that meet their organization’s business and marketing objectives and reduce fees.

David Bray is founder of dbray Media and member of Influence Consulting Group Partner Network and the Global PR Network.