Hitting a Home Run with the Media

Professional baseball player. Public relations professional. The two couldn’t be more different, right? 

With this being my last week as an intern with Buchanan Public Relations, I thought about writing my blog post on a clichéd topic like “5 Things I Learned as an Intern.” But, what fun is that? So, as I started to write this post, I reflected on what I learned this summer about the PR industry. As an avid sports fan, my thoughts went immediately to sports, and I realized that public relations professionals are a lot like baseball players.

You might think this is a (seventh inning?) stretch, but hear me out.

In public relations, we pitch the media…a lot. We pitch for hours and may end up with only one hit in a trade publication or small community newspaper. Sometimes, we may not receive any response at all! Despite this, we continue to pitch and search for a hit, because one day, we will hit a home run and get our client featured in The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times or on CNBC.

Talk about a good segue… When a baseball player comes to the plate, the goal, ideally, is to hit a home run. Most of the time, though, the player will strike out. When I wrote this post, the highest batting average in Major League Baseball was .340. In other words, the best player succeeds at his job 34% of the time — and most of those hits are not home runs. Although they may not get a hit every time at bat, baseball players continue to practice and continue to come to the plate for a chance to hit a home run.

Not so much of a stretch anymore, is it? Professionals in baseball and public relations strike out on a daily basis, but it’s the ones who persevere, by continually strengthening their game and continuing to get up to bat, who will succeed in (or on) the field.

Although I won’t be suiting up for the Phillies any time soon, I will be entering the workforce next May. I pitched the media many times this summer. I did not receive positive feedback as often as I would have liked. However, I never let this discourage me. I used every “at bat” as an opportunity to learn, and I continued to seek opportunities to engage with reporters. If I remember only one thing from my time at Buchanan Public Relations when I enter the workforce, it will be that even if it is a long shot, I need to take a chance, step up to the plate for my client and try to hit a home run.