This is an archived blog from when I ran Conscious Public Relations Inc. from 2008-2018. Excuse the potential outdated-ness!
I sat down with a keen student yesterday over an hour for an informal info interview. I found myself a bit surprised when asked what the difference was between Marketing and PR. While I was there to explain what a PR job entails, I thought it should just be common knowledge what Marketing is. And I remembered that I was in the same position, asking experts in info interviews what the difference was. So 9 years later, not much has changed.
Without going into the textbook definitions (which are easily accessible online) it occurred to me that we need to educate young people at the high school and even elementary level about business in general. At my high school there was an emphasis on career planning and the need to prepare for post-secondary education, but nobody stressed the importance of learning about how business works (we all apply for jobs, do we not?) – which leads into the importance of Marketing. You cannot have a business without Marketing, even if it is just selling to one person at a time.
Junior Achievement is one organization leading the charge in going into schools and teaching kids about running businesses. Even shows like Shark Tank and Ellen are placing a focus on kid entrepreneurs, which is great.
But this isn’t enough. We have to start grassroots. My hope is that when Aaliyah is growing up that she looks to me and to my sister and is able to tell her teacher and classmates that we are “bosses” for a living. God knows she’ll get some Marketing education from me.
Today’s tip isn’t a tip, it’s a plea. Teach someone what you know about PR, or whatever aspect of Marketing it is you are good at, or about business. The future depends on it.
