When I first started my blog, I wasn't confident in my writing skills; so I would write my blog posts, record myself reading them and then send them to my friends Isata and Daryl every...single...week. And every single week, they would listen, give me feedback and affirm both me and my talent until I finally got to the point where I was so confident in my abilities that I didn't need to send the voice notes anymore. Now things have come full circle and I get the chance to serve my clients with the very copywriting skills that they helped to nurture via done-for-you PR services and The Perfect Pitch Packet. Through this journey, I have learned the importance of the following for building the confidence needed for PR success:
#1 A strong why
Have you seen Oprah + Viola: A special Event on Netflix, sis? Well, one of my favourite things that Viola told Oprah, during her interview, was "my dreams were bigger that my fears" when she chose to pursue acting. That line resonated with me so deeply because that's been my truth since I started out with a literal audience of 2 up until this day. My why of empowering other women to speak up, step out and shine as the woman that God empowered them to be (in the way that my female role models, growing up, were not able to due to factors such as cultural and religious beliefs, control and low self-worth) means that even when I do get intimidated about a pitch, I'm confident enough to push passed it.
What's your why when it comes to PR?
#2 A mastermind
One of my favourite personal development books is "The Wisdom of Andrew Carnegie" by Napoleon Hill. In it, Carnegie advised that two of the steps to major achievement and change are:
Definiteness of purpose (a goal)
Choosing a mastermind team so that those in it can experience the benefits of synergy
I didn't realise it at the time, but Isata and Daryl were my mastermind team. Their feedback improved my writing and their affirmations gave me the confidence needed to, not only keep sharing with them, but start sharing and collaborating on a larger scale when I finally launched my blog and sought to grow it through visibility.
Do you have a mastermind team that you can go to for support with your PR?
#3 Discipline
The reason that Sunday is when my blog posts and email newsletter come out each week is because that's the day that I would share potential posts with Isata and Daryl prior to launching my website. That was in 2015. In other words, I have maintained the practice and discipline of writing for well over 6 years. I then started pitching the media in 2017, meaning I have been putting myself out there at least weekly for 5+ years now. I don't share this to brag. Rather, I share all of this to say it's very easy to be confident in your abilities (for PR or anything else) when you've been doing it for so long. You can't develop that if you never get started or remain consistent, though.
How do you prioritise PR so that you can reach your visibility goals?
#4 Systems and tools
In order to share my blog posts with Isata and Daryl each week, I had systems in place. Not only would I keep to a regular schedule, I would use the following tools:
My laptop (to type up my blog posts in word)
My phone (to record and send the voice recordings of me reading the blog posts to them)
Likewise, what helps me to pitch confidently (even when I'm scared) are systems and tools like The Perfect Pitch Packet. (Fun fact, I made these templates for my own personal use before I made them available to clients. That's part of the reason why when I felt nervous about pitching Trina Nicole for an interview recently, I was still able to approach her rather than clamming up).
What systems and tools have you put in place for PR success?