If you’re anything like me, then you wait about 360 days until Christmas. Give or take a day or so.

Needless to say, patience is not a virtue I was born with. But, it’s something that I’ve worked to improve and continue to do so; not just in my personal life, but also in my professional life.

In the world of PR, things are constantly changing and moving. Having a little bit of patience can change the look of the landscape. For example, you could pitch a reporter a fantastic story idea but have to wait literally months for the article to publish. Or, there is the possibility that you pitch a reporter and never hear back from them.

There is the possibility that the reporter isn’t interested, yet you will never find out without truly following up and finding out. Having patience and persistence, your PR efforts could fizzle before they even had a chance to sizzle.

In the longterm, having patience in PR, the process, and the results will go a long way. How do you practice patience in PR?

I’m showing my age by giving attention to a topic related to content published “above the fold.” While conceptually the fold will always exist, the practicality of such a position isn’t as relevant as it once was. (You can guess where the fold is located when reading from www.nytimes.com but it’s not nearly as impactful, obviously.)

However, positioning related to the fold is still a priority for all media outlets delivering hard copy editions of their publications daily, weekly or with any regularity.  One such publication is the Collegian, the weekly newspaper of LaSalle University in Philadelphia. Presumably, the editorial staff of the Collegian works hard to publish timely articles and to position itself as a credible resource for its readers. And, appropriately so, this group was frustrated when they were asked by university administration to refrain from publishing a potentially embarrassing story about a business professor at the University who held an off-campus symposium using exotic dancers to demonstrate a point. The story was ready to go to print, but the administration asked the staff of the Collegian to wait until the University’s investigation of the incident was completed before it was published.

After seeking and being denied permission to run the delayed story prominently at the top of the front page, the editorial staff published their story below the fold.  However, the top half of the front page was blank except for the words: See below the fold. As journalists, the college paper’s staff felt they had to make a statement. It followed a similar, accurate story (as well as less accurate accounts) being published in other local media sources, and the Collegian editorial staff probably felt it had been relegated to the role of chasing ambulances through the streets of Philadelphia.

A polite editorial was published by the staff soon after their story properly explained their hamstrung position. The paper is funded by the university and despite its best efforts to serve as a resource, the staff felt the need to adhere to the requests of those who hold the purse strings. (Those are my words, but that’s the obvious position.)

I don’t know David Vella, the 20-year old junior who is the executive editor of the Collegian. Nor do I know Luke Harold, the student assigned to this story when the editors received their tip. I do know, however, that they made a valuable point to the University’s administration when they ran the story below the fold.  And, I’m certain that both of these guys soon will be writing breaking news stories that appear high-up on some publication’s front page.

Did they do more or less than they should have in circumventing the administration’s wishes? And is journalistic freedom something that should merely be taught at college and not allowed at college newspapers?

Here’s a question I hear all the time from prospects, clients, and people who know what I do for a living:

“What is the best way to manage our social media presence?”

I take a deep breath when I hear the question, because there is no one right answer. Anyone who tells you there is either over-simplifying or has no idea what they’re talking about.

The beauty and the challenge of social media is that by its very nature it is unpredictable, ever-changing, and masterful at making “experts” and “best practices” look foolish and outdated. That’s why people like it. That’s why it’s been a powerful force in human interactions and movements, from reuniting families and rekindling friendships, to helping people start a revolution.

The uncontrollable nature of the social realm is familiar territory to those of us in PR, where our days are a constant balance between the stories we want to tell, the events of the day, and the mindset of the audience we’re trying to reach.

So when I read a headline like this one “Why Outsourcing your Social Media is a Bad Idea” I have to be honest, I get annoyed. The article itself is less cut and dried (and therefore more credible) but the headline implies that the only way to do social media is to take it all in house; after all, how could anyone else know and speak with your voice, your messaging, your business. Um. I think that’s what PR agencies are supposed to do – know our clients’ business, messages, products and services cold…and we need to know when to elevate questions about those things to executives, customer service experts and internal clients. That’s not new territory for PR people. And it’s one of the many good reasons why your PR partner is actually a great choice if you decide you need help managing your social media presence.

At the end of the day, the most important thing about the way you manage your social media presence is that you actually do so – because if you don’t, either someone else will (ask BP, or Kenneth Cole or ask United if they break guitars) or you’ll be dinged for not having a presence.

Whether you trust your agency partner enough to know and speak in your voice, or whether you build up an internal team to do it, it’s an investment.

Personally, I’d rather have an agency that already knows my business be the ones to start the ball rolling – but that’s my perspective.  My question for you is: do you trust your PR agency to know your voice and communicate on your behalf? And if the answer is “no” then I’d suggest you have a bigger problem on your hands.