Public Relations: Where to Start

Comprehensive business content including case studies, company profiles & industry research reports, country economic reports, market research reports, SWOT analyses, and video interviews with business executives. (formerly, Business & Company Resource Center)

Company profiles, SWOT analyses (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) where available, industry profiles, stocks & investment info., management-related articles, Harvard Business Review case studies and streaming videos from the Harvard Business School Faculty Seminar Series.

Begin with "Industry and Geographic Profile" Type in "public relations". Select top report "Public Relations Services". Profile includes an overview, monthly industry update, financial information and more. Also includes "Call Prep Questions", an excellent resource for anyone preparing for job interviews.

Industry research for over 700 U.S. industries plus hard-to-find U.S. "specialized industries," including 60 industries in Australia, China, and the UK. Go to "Key Statistics" to find financials and 7 kinds of "Key Ratios." To limit your search to the countries above, use the link "Global Industry Research", then on the next page link to "Search for international industries."

Statistics, market studies & reports for over 600 international industries, 37 countries, and 60,000 wide-ranging topics! Enter your own search terms or browse data reports listed under these links: Categories, Key Topics, Popular Statistics, and Recent Statistics. A sampling includes college enrollment with projections up to 2020 in the U.S., college payment (how U.S. families pay for college), college sports, debit cards, demographics (size & characteristics of a population), employment outlook, food & beverage, footwear & apparel, global climate change, hospital costs, hospitality (conventions, conferences, dining & accommodations), immigration, mobile Internet & apps, nutrition, online shopping, personal debt, smartphones, social media, travel & tourism (cruise industry), video gaming, wages & salaries. NOTE: Click through any security certificate warnings & pop-up blockers that may appear in order to proceed to the Statista website and display all content.

Company profiles, SWOT analyses (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) where available, industry profiles, stocks & investment info., management-related articles, Harvard Business Review case studies and streaming videos from the Harvard Business School Faculty Seminar Series.

Management-related articles in various fields including Accounting, Education, Food Science, Hospitality & Tourism, Library Services & Information Management, Marketing, Nutrition, and Professional Development. CHECK-OFF "Only content I have access to" for full-text articles and book chapters.

Selective, full-text business and management-related articles. This is a subset of the larger database Business & Company Resource Center.

Full-text articles from over 6,000 newspapers/magazines, national and international. Updated daily. Includes company profiles.

From "PR Daily".

From "Business Insider".

From the "PR Coach". Links to over 250 examples of PR blunders over the years.

Over 40 practical public relations articles by industry practioners on "definitions, industry trends, employment, guidelines, primers" and more.

This essay (28 pp), written by Pamela Seiple for HubSpot, covers many aspects of using social media in PR, including blogging, social media and crisis communications, the value of awards and speaking engagements and more. Contains numerous in-text links to videos and other useful resources. Outstanding; well-written and full of practical information.

From eHow. Practical advice on procedures to follow for creating effective press releases.

Directory of links to practical resources for public relations, marketing and media.

Provides in-depth profiles of the following "early pioneers" of the PR industry: Edward L. Bernays, Moss Kendrix, Carl Byoir, Arthur W. Page, Chet Burger.

From Center for Media and Democracy (CMD). Includes reports, news and publications dealing with PR-related issues and spin. "SourceWatch" tab analyzes questionable behavior for the following: corporate rights, drilling/fracking, coal issues, "front" groups, global corporations, tobacco industry, toxic sludge. Excellent resources from the CMD, one of the outstanding "watchdog" NGOs.

Compiled by Ron Smith, Buffalo State College (SUNY). Traces the development of public relations and its antecedent from ancient times through the 20th century. Excellent, concise review of public relation's development; especially useful for pre-20th century era.

From PRhistory.com. Includes a timeline of the development of the industry (with brief biographies of PR pioneers), "Case Studies" of companies which dealt successfully with major crises, and links to professional associations and other useful sites.

From About.com. Links to articles on a variety of public relations practices and issues. Like all About.com resources, it's geared toward practical advice and information.

From the Free Management Library. Provides practical articles and advice on public relations issues.

This UK-based organization monitors spin/deception practiced by governments and business. "Articles by Category" allow users to locate articles on politics, specific industries, lobbying and more. Includes an RSS feed. Much of the content is focused on the UK, but there is also considerable coverage on international issues. Great up-to-date resource for exposing PR-related abuses and distortions.