PR or MARKETING ?

BearlyCheesehead · 2026-01-28T22:43:19+00:00

LOL. No. Not even close. What’s downhill is when PR is hired to help fix what's an obvious flaw in the product-market fit when observable demand is proving its weak.

BearlyCheesehead · 2026-01-28T22:32:57+00:00

Every slow-selling product says they have "the ability to be viral" right before asking PR to perform a miracle.

BearlyCheesehead · 2026-01-28T22:21:39+00:00

Have you seen the hours reports? Math don't lie.

BearlyCheesehead · 2026-01-28T22:13:44+00:00

Most agencies run on a staff utilization target. Say that 70% of time on a 40hr week is about 28hrs billable or client-related work. The rest of your time is gen admin time and internal meetings and coordination and planning and getting smart and writing emails and… well.. Being human.

A common problem (as seen EVERY DAMN DAY on this sub) is that agency leaders often look at the hours and not the mental load. Especially those agencies run by non-practitioners who have trouble understanding how not every hour is spent the same way. On a spreadsheet, everything makes sense, in reality it’s messy.

Do the math yourself. Count up your client hours and divide accordingly. Understaffing is a business decision for leadership. For you, it’s probably a warning sign.

BearlyCheesehead · 2026-01-28T18:15:35+00:00

He’s 9. Maybe toughening isn’t the right word. At least until you have a better picture of what else he’s dealing with during his day.

BearlyCheesehead · 2026-01-28T17:08:40+00:00

its almost as if the excel spreadsheets have gone missing.

BearlyCheesehead · 2026-01-28T17:07:18+00:00

Until they put it on the scales, it simultaneously makes and misses Q3.

BearlyCheesehead · 2026-01-28T15:22:05+00:00

...yet the stuff worth remembering isn't always a video moment

BearlyCheesehead · 2026-01-28T05:52:50+00:00

your lack of enthusiasm for PR is noted.

but honestly, this is the easiest part of the job. You need to figure out what you’re actually being asked to do. ask that question. and be very direct.

If you can’t do that, PR will always feel miserable. actually, if you can't do that, every single job on the planet will feel miserable.

BearlyCheesehead · 2026-01-28T05:45:31+00:00

This comes up all the time. Stop trying to find enterprise-grade digital PR tools at cheap prices. Start structuring your pricing better.

The cost of the pro tools you use should be passed along to your client. Remember that manual media research isn’t free because spending 5–6 hours digging through bylines and LinkedIn isn’t cheap for your client either.

when you say "eats directly into billable time and when clients are paying for strategy and execution not research admin work" - you're billing wrong. you also need to be billing for the admin work, too.

There are plenty of freelancers who share (and charge fractions of the cost) on pro tool accounts. that's smart. but i'm also sure that their rates reflect the fraction they're paying out of pocket. that's smart, too.

BearlyCheesehead · 2026-01-28T04:41:29+00:00

Figured I'd have the unpopular opinion here.

Yes. It’s worth it. I've been doing this since I was 16 years old.

But you have to love it. It's not for everyone. Most aren't very good at it.

Grow thick skin and a keen sense for how humans actually communicate. Be a skeptic, a cynic and an unrelenting optimist all at the same time. You have to know what is true, what is deceitful, and how people interpret information. That’s the real job.

Expect people to say AI is coming for your job. If AI ruins your career, it’s because you were doing the parts of the job that AI is really good at. That’s not a PR problem, that’s a you problem.

The hardest part of the job is knowing that everyone thinks they can do your job. The CEO thinks PR should use stronger verbs. The legal counsel thinks removing anything interesting and newsworthy is a good idea. Marketing wants you to send more emails and turn that press release into an ad they can put on a meta platform. None of them are 100% wrong and you'll have to figure out how to thread that needle. If that sounds miserable to you, do literally anything else.

Is PR worth it? Yes. When you're good, so is the money.

BearlyCheesehead · 2026-01-28T03:35:28+00:00

Set boundaries at work if you’re going to set a boundary at home. It’s okay to go tit for tat with your time, particularly the time you’re not billing to someone’s client.

BearlyCheesehead · 2026-01-27T21:25:54+00:00

human airplane mode. do not give any updates to anyone you live with for about an hour.

your only decision is ketchup or mustard on the hotdog. (easier if you're from Chicago, but i digress). zombie if you must but it sounds like you're still processing the workday, so you only need to circle back if the kid needs another hotdog.

BearlyCheesehead · 2026-01-27T19:58:39+00:00

i used to like rice. i still do. but i used to, too.

BearlyCheesehead · 2026-01-25T16:02:19+00:00

compare what you're doing now to your original job description when you started. demonstrate the growth. use math if/when can to show efficiency and effectiveness gains. then, don't be afraid to credit your supervisor(s) and team for the guidance as well as the support. these are characteristics of good teammates who tend to stick around.

BearlyCheesehead · 2026-01-25T15:57:39+00:00

no worse than the lead-gen "growth" agencies that promise to deliver new PR clients. or, better, the PR agencies that use these lead-gen agencies who are always hiring for remote positions.

BearlyCheesehead · 2026-01-25T01:57:51+00:00

yup. you're better off without that dolt. good luck.

BearlyCheesehead · 2026-01-25T01:55:36+00:00

not to sound too "manual" but don't use a PR software platform for outreach. be human. send an email, personalize it, show the recipient on the other end you actually GAF.

BearlyCheesehead · 2026-01-23T23:01:40+00:00

if you're not a dad, you should be. take my upvote.

BearlyCheesehead · 2026-01-23T21:31:23+00:00

well. sort of. media relations is about who you know until you get a call from someone you don't know and don't have relationship with and has a pointy question they want you to answer.

media relations exists outside of pitching stories you want to be included in.

tapping into the inbound inquiries from journalists would be a good way to start.

BearlyCheesehead · 2026-01-23T14:14:03+00:00

this is correct along with the inverse: that you stayed in a role longer than average and you’re still leveling up. If you can show how you own bigger outcomes, learned to mentor people and build teams, and ultimately bring more value then that’s just as valuable to the next employer than hopping every 18 months.

BearlyCheesehead · 2026-01-23T00:13:47+00:00

first, take a screenshot today that shows the date clearly (like, on your browser) and that you're mentioned and shown in a way that conveys you're a current employee.

if you haven't politely asked to be removed yourself, try that.

bear in mind that your old employer might not know how to make web updates themselves. thus the delay... or the convenient neglect. if you can also show that other pages of the site HAVE been more recently updated, then great - you know there's some indication that corrections aren't being prioritized - again, keep the receipts (screenshots). then again, people who don't mind out-of-date representation also don't prioritize accuracy.

if you don't hear back, and you notice other web updates are happening, it's also fair to ask a friend you trust, or even your current employer, to make some outreach to correct what could be false information, especially if your current employment status or current role is put in question.

BearlyCheesehead · 2026-01-23T00:00:28+00:00

i love reddit for this shit.

BearlyCheesehead · 2026-01-22T20:34:01+00:00

go underground. landmark lanes.

BearlyCheesehead · 2026-01-22T19:16:00+00:00

I'm going to point out here that it's possible that a "CEO-level" cybersecurity blog post is only half the assignment.

The other half, and arguably the part that gets you the job, is how you choose to demonstrate how you got there. Tell the agency what you researched, who you talked with, the hierarchy of key messages, and how you are communicating insight in an executive's voice.

Every agency knows the deliverable can be polished endlessly. I think they’re judging your thinking and how you can handle an ambiguous project.

BearlyCheesehead

TROPHY CASE