How to be a Freelance PR Consultant

As a Public relations consultant, you will be one of the key members maintaining a public image of an organisation. It is a respectable and well-reputed job and you can make good money and demand the respect of your colleagues. PR consultation is a good freelance option, with many small organisations mostly looking at outside help with their PR activities.
There are many reasons why you should consider PR consultation as a solid freelance career option. It pays well and is a job accomplished from the confines of your living room. By taking on many simultaneous projects, or moonlighting as a freelancer with a constant job you can turn your life around. The instances of freelancers earning more money than their corporate counterparts are no longer stories on the internet that you need to judge and frown upon suspiciously.

Job Duties for Freelance PR Consultant

Freelance PR consultant usually take care of an organisation’s online presence. You will have to undertake many duties to conduct an organisations PR activities successfully. As a PR consultant though, you can be assured that you will do more than simply liaise and consult people on how to create better Public relation strategies, although it will be one of your primary job duties. Some of your duties as a PR consultant will include:

•  Planning, developing and implementing PR strategies;
• Liaising with colleagues and key spokespeople;
• Liaising with and answering enquiries from media, individuals and other organisations, often via telephone and email;
• Researching, writing and distributing press releases to targeted media;
• Collating and analysing media coverage;
• Writing and editing in-house magazines, case studies, speeches, articles and annual reports;
• Preparing and supervising the production of publicity brochures, handouts, direct mail leaflets, promotional videos, photographs, films and multimedia programmes;
• Devising and coordinating photo opportunities;
• Organising events including press conferences, exhibitions, open days and press tours;
• Maintaining and updating information on the organisation’s website;
• Sourcing and managing speaking and sponsorship opportunities;
• Commissioning market research;
• Fostering community relations through events such as open days and through involvement in community initiatives;
• Managing the PR aspect of a potential crisis situation.

Skills:

There are some skills that you must develop and hone to earn good money in the field. PR consultants usually boast of skills similar to writers, marketing experts and even customer service skills. Some of the most needed skills that you can think about developing and honing, include:

• Writing skills
• Marketing skills
• Research skills
• Know your audience
• Problem solving skills
• Negotiation skills
• An understanding of internet marketing and SEO techniques
• Crisis communication skills
• Government relation skills
• Digital marketing
• Brand management skills

Many forums, websites and Scientology, Marketmotive, Prsa, Pracademy and Openlearn offer forums, websites and material to learn PR consultancy online. Some of these resources online offer training and certification courses on PR and related fields.

Finding Work:

PR consultancy is an important job, and there is no dearth of opportunity available. You can find work as a freelance PR consultant at many online forums, websites and social networking sites that can help you land your first project as a Freelance PR consultant.
Some of the websites offering jobs to prospective freelance PR consultants like you include Odesk, Freelancer, Elance and Simplyhired.

Being Successful as a Freelance PR consultant:

You can take many steps to ensure success in the field of PR consultancy. Some of the things you can do to further your career in the field, include:

• Being able to market your services and creating a Social Media presence
• Creating a responsive network, one which you can leverage to find projects and extra work
• Ability to work under pressure, and to strict deadlines
• An understanding of the industry

Having taken these steps you can rest assured that success as a freelance PR consultant is more or less dependent on the steps mentioned above.

Average Remunerations:

Usually freelance portals offer various kinds of payment models. In the fixed-price model, the price is usually pre-determined. The hourly model is the most popular and employers usually pay a predetermined sum per hour. Finally, in the project-budget based model, you often need to auction for such projects. Usually a fixed price model may range from $20- $200 and upwards, while you have to pitch for hourly projects, and budget payments, which usually range from $5- $35 an hour.PR consultants usually earn around $24 an hour.

Resources:

As a PR consultant you have many resources to learn PR consultancy and PR best practices online. Some of the popular resources include Scientology, Marketmotive, Prsa, Pracademy and Openlearn offer online and certification courses on PR and related fields, which will help you build the knowledge you need.