Letter to Cousin

Dear Cousin,

In your last letter you asked me about what public relations actually entails. As a public relations major, I will do the best I can to explain it to you. First of all, public relations involves the spreading of information about an idea, person, product or business. A public relations professional strives to present their information to the public in a positive light to gain their interest. Information is spread by public relations professionals through means such as press releases, social media, and promotional events.

Public relations is a people oriented field and good communication skills are necessary in becoming a successful PR professional. Although public relations is very similar to marketing, the two differ in many ways. The main difference is that a marketing professional is trying to sell a product while a public relations professional is trying to sell an idea. To sell an idea, a person has to be able to address their points clearly and accurately for a buyer to be interested. As with everything, this takes practice.

Overall, public relations is a very broad field and the career opportunities are endless. Public relations professionals work for small and large companies all across the world, but personally I plan on working as a PR professional solely for small companies to avoid a heavier workload. Truthfully, whether it's a large or small company, there's always work to do for the public relations department.

I hope this letter has been informative enough so you now have a better understanding of the basics of public relations. If not, please let me know.

Sincerely,

Rachelle