Valuation, For all that it's Worth

I spend quite a bit of time immersed in public relations. Of course, this is to be expected of a public relations professional; however, the PR that has infiltrated my life isn’t by profession. It is in everyday life that I am facing---and hearing—PR problems to be solved.

Public relations isn’t the art of spin, as pop culture has led the general public to believe; it is, in the simplest form, about managing and optimizing relationships. In smaller towns, such as the one where I was raised, we are our own marketing, crisis and public relations experts. We build our reputations, prove our worth, demonstrate our value and integrity, pursue our passions and rebuild ourselves after crises. And this was before social media could catapult a meaningless glitch into a viral sensation that you’ll never (never) live down.

Our brand is important. It is what allows us to gain credit, attain interviews, make and keep friends, receive raises. It’s what makes people listen when we speak.

So what’s it worth to you?

Just a few days ago, I was reading a blog and I walked away from it with nothing. Other than time, I’m not quite sure what the author was trying to teach or share. And then I thought about again about worth and value. I didn’t ultimately view the blog post as worth my time but I initially perceived an anticipated value, due to purported topic of marketing. (It was marketed well, although it did not deliver.)

They’re two interrelated principles that govern more aspects of our lives than we’d care to admit. From the television show that’s “worth” our time to the “high value” gem, we subconsciously assign a price to everything in our life. Then we think, act and respond based on the value that we’ve assigned to the aspects, people, things and events in our lives.

There are not always direct correlations between value and worth, price and cost or investment and return.

Quite naturally, you may be wondering how it’s all related to PR (…if it’s all related to PR and if I was the author of that aforementioned blog posts. The answers are, we’re getting there, yes and no, respectively.) Public relations is about demonstrating why something worth its value and why we should value what it’s worth. The media monitoring, researching, pitching, relationship management, digital management and additional duties are performed so that relevant parties will recognize that the subject, business, organization or product presented to them is worthwhile in some relevant context.

Sure, it doesn’t always work in business just like it doesn’t always work in life. But when assign a value to something, we think it’s worth the effort to prove its value.

That’s the PR in our life---we pitch, we meet, we exercise every effort to ensure that the brand we so highly value never loses its worth. And in every capacity, it’s a high stakes game. Value and worth tend to be subjective and fluctuating. It is why, with age, we tend to cast aside the toys, creativity and clothes that were held in such esteem during our childhood---with the exception of our favorites. There are those childhood trinkets, pillows, blankets or stuffed animals that we value highly. There are always those things in our life worth more than any monetary value we could assign.

So what’s a little PR worth? Quite frankly, a lot. But, as you’ll notice, you haven’t done it alone. There are those people who have safeguarded your reputation, enhanced your brand, invested in your future and leveraged relationships. Your life is an exercise in public relations. It’s an exercise that you conduct daily, when you decide what meetings to take, the calls to make, the messages to send and the money to spend.

Check your investment and ensure that it’s paying the dividends that you deserve. Because you’re worth it…don’t you think?