Garvey, the PR
Entrepreneur—2013 trends in
billing
Quite provocatively, we are highlighting Marcus Garvey as perhaps one of the most successful public relations practitioners of all time.
Marcus Garvey started out as a disadvantaged immigrant minority to lead a major international movement. From the photos history has left us, we see that Marcus Garvey was not only
fashionably aware, he managed his personal image to best effect and was a powerful publicist and journalist for his organization's goals.
This edition of PR brief recognizes the the 126th anniversary of his birth, on
August 17, and his achievements in the fields of corporate affairs and business communication. Among Garvey’s notable communications achievements was the development of several media platforms: multilingual newspapers, and the staging of popular events.
At age 27, Marcus Garvey was acutely aware that collective entrepreneurship would be the way forward for persons like him—black and under represented in leadership positions and in the ownership of capital. Under his leadership, the United Negro Improvement Association (UNIA) achieved the incorporation of a shipping company with its own commercial steamship.
Garvey understood, “ There is no force like success, and that is why the individual makes all effort to surround himself throughout life with the evidence of it”.
The PR practitioner as entrepreneur has to continually evaluate the price point of his or her services . The PRSJ sought insights into current billing rates and asked experienced practitioners with ten to 30 years experience. We found that they preferred an arrangement where a suite of services are to be delivered for a project over a stated period of time.
This would include creating content for broadcast and digital media, placement of content across media outlets; administration of social marketing; brand marketing activities; event management and also the management of online platforms . Marcus Garvey not only delivered long letters and articles, but he has left us with many pithy quotes which would suggest that he would have been comfortable as a micro blogger.
Experienced practitioners are negotiating upwards of $250,000-$300,000 with large organisations for a 30-day campaign. For shorter projects, the hourly billing starts at $8,000-$10,000 per hour, with a 10% differential for clients who are billed in foreign currencies.
Marcus Garvey’s speeches are still quoted to this day, demonstrating how the power of his writing helped to change conversations on race and power.
Our conversations with five experienced practitioners revealed that fees for experienced writers start at $20,000-$25,000 for a five-minute speech. Speeches that need more research start at $30,00-$45,000. Ministers of government are not allowed to make speeches in Parliament, but can speak from “notes”. Negotiations to prepare these notes for a budget debate in the house start at $50,000.00.
In his pitch perfect words, we can remember Marcus Garvey saying, "I trust that you will so live today as to realize that you are masters of your own destiny, masters of your fate; if there is anything you want in this world, it is for you to strike out with confidence and faith in self and reach for it."
The PR consultant can look to this for inspiration, as these words have at their core the fiery passion of an entrepreneur.
No comments:
Post a Comment