Things I learned in 2010…

By Chris Daley

2010 has to go down as one of the quickest years of my life. But looking back, I added some new experiences in my personal and professional life that I learned from which will help me in 2011. I think it’s important for everyone to reflect on the past year and apply what you’ve learned to the year ahead.

Below are four important lessons I learned this past year.

Relationships are critical: We always say here at Maroon PR, “we’re in the relationship business.” In fact our company mission statement is “we drive growth through relationships.” It’s developing and fostering relationships with media, clients, corporate contacts, etc. that make all the difference. Try your best to stay top of mind with these people. Say hello for no reason, send a thank you card, say happy birthday on Facebook. In life you can’t control a lot of things, but being nice and respecting others is something you can control. And, the more experience I gain, the one thing remains the same, at the end of the day it’s not how many contacts you have in your rolodex that counts, it’s the quality of relationships you have that does.

Social media isn’t just for nerds: I created a Facebook account a few years back, and certainly understood the value of re-connecting with old friends. Twitter was different for me, mostly because it took me a while to grasp the concept of the site. I created a Twitter account in March this year and learned this is a great way to keep up with the day’s news, stay connected with people in a relaxed way and nice outlet to promote my work/client work. Although I do feel there are people out there that abuse social media -just like anything else in life –for the most part I think social media can be an important business tool. I’m excited to see where social media goes in the future and I encourage everyone to learn about it and how to utilize social media sites in an effective way. Those who haven’t embraced social media, it really isn’t just for nerds, I promise.

Don’t sweat the small stuff: A negative/incorrect news story, an angry client, co-workers having a bad day. These are the types of things that affect public relations people throughout the year. I learned this year that one of the most important things in business (or life) is to not sweat the small stuff. You will be a much better person and colleague if you take the high road and understand that not everything is going to be perfect. As long as you work hard, control what you can control and respect other people’s ideas, things will work out and fall into place. Poverty, natural disasters, cancer, war… these are the real terrible things in life.

Embrace change: The world of the public relations changes every day which is probably the main reason I entered into this industry. Add to that the world of a public relations firm, and you will really know how things can change quickly and sometimes dramatically. This year I learned that change can be a really good thing and that people/companies should not be scared of change. Embrace change and look at it as on opportunity to start fresh with something new, open your world up to new people and a way to try some new things.

What did you learn in 2010?

Chris Daley is a Senior Account Executive at Maroon PR. Contact him at Chris@MaroonPR.com or follow him on Twitter @CDaley43