A Much Better Industry
By Maxim Behar
An excerpt from my bestseller “The Global PR Revolution.”
This rise of ethics, which is still in progress but is unequivocal progress, is not the only reason the PR industry has become a much better business field. PR evolved and became a much better industry in 2018 than in 2013 or 2008 because we could finally send out our messages directly — without needing mediators. Of course, we still use media, but not traditional outlets and online news media. Instead, we now have our social media outlets that we can use to tell our client’s stories to the target audience.
So, first, the intermediaries we had to deal with just some ten, even five, years ago are gone. Second, our industry has finally become measurable: everything we do can be ideally evaluated, and PR practitioners arcan now count for their work. The measurability, the disappearance of the intermediaries, and the rise of ethics all make the PR industry a much better business today.
In PR now, decisions are made much faster.
“The worst decision is better than no decision.”
That’s Rule Number One in my 2009 book, 111 Rules on Facebook,
I published a collection of rules, or aphorisms, as statuses back then on the world’s most ubiquitous social media platform. I can reaffirm that rule ten times as passionately today, nine years later. The most significant problem in PR
— in any industry, for that matter — remains decision-making
because not everyone can live up to the rule of the three S’s
(speed — simplicity — self-confidence),
which is tackled in another chapter of this book. In today’s world, if you don’t make that decision right now, it will be outdated in fifteen minutes. There will be no point in making that decision anymore
— you will be facing the necessity of making another decision,
bearing the consequences of not making the first decision. Why is it better to make a bad decision than to make no decision at all?
First, you carry out a reaction.
Second, you make a demonstration.
Third, no decision is irreversible.
However, if you remain without any decision whatsoever, you lose. Of course, nobody claims that bad decisions should be made. Yet when you make a decision swiftly, you are in your head, thinking and making a move. You’re not just showing a reaction — you’re showing a point of view. You demonstrate a position. In today’s world, one can realize much faster if a decision is terrible because often, it is noticed by people who will comment on it. That way, you will be able to rectify it immediately. It is far worse not to decide at all.
The book is available on Amazon.com and BeharBooks.com.
