The luck of the PR pro—or is it skill?

What about the luck of the public relations professional? To celebrate St. Patrick’s Day, I want to look at how much luck has to do with media relations.

Sometimes after I score a big hit, I can’t help but wonder if it was just my lucky day. I have to remind myself that I put a great deal of strategy, timing and thought into the pitch.

Public relations is both luck and strategy. Like a game of Monopoly, you need strategy and skill, but a lucky roll of the dice can certainly help you win. Here’s my take on the luck vs. skill debate. I call it the four “I” words of media relations:

1. Instinct: Our CEO at Spectrum, John Seng, once worked with a reporter he had known for a long time. His gut told him to follow up with her in an untraditional way and, as a result, scored a top-tier story for the client.

This underlying instinct—something we gain either by being in the industry for a long time or having it inherently in us—is something we should trust more often in media outreach.