Well into her 90s, my late mother used to ask me what I did for a living.  When I told her I was in the public relations business, she’d ask me again, what I did for a living. Mom had a somewhat dry sense of humor. My kids also wondered what Dad did, even when I thought I’d explained it pretty well. 

These days, I’m bell-clear on what I, and we who travel this road, do for a living, if we’re both honest and sincere about it.  

We craft messages. We deliver messages.  

Everything that flows from that is on the tactical level and includes all of the “relations” (media, community, investor, employee, government, etc.) as well as networking, events, and development of the many available tools of communication. 

As conventional media lose both luster and audience in favor of social and other related digital media, the fundamental package we offer holds up. We craft and deliver messages. 

Clients here are now demanding MEASURABLE return on investment, not just tactical success. “Great,” I hear from them, “you got us a placement in the daily newspaper. What’s my ROI on that?” Hit them with advertising equivalency and watch them glaze over. 

We’re now asking all of our present and future clients to share their strategic objectives for their business, organization or project. We’re tailoring our service package to help meet those needs by … you guessed it, crafting and delivering messages. But, and here’s the 2.0 playing field, those messages MUST aim for and hit those strategic objectives. 

The game’s the same, but the rules are way different.