Why purpose is important to your PR strategy

Why purpose is important to your PR strategy

According to my mum, my 2 favourite words as a child were "no" and "why?".

This made me the kind of child that you couldn't just ask to do something/not do something. I had to be negotiated with. I had to be placated. I had to understand the reasoning behind what you were telling me to do or not do.

As you can imagine, this got me into trouble with the more traditional adults in my life who saw my inquisitive nature as rudeness and disobedience.

But, did it change anything? Not really! Chalk it up to my ENTJ personality type but even as an adult I don't do anything that I don't see the logic or sense behind, let alone commit to it.

"So what makes you so committed to helping women in business to pitch the media so that they can get more visible, attract their dream clients and get paid what they want?" You may be wondering.

Once again, the answer lies in "why".

Why you shouldn't wait till January 1st to strategise

Why you shouldn't wait till January 1st to strategise

Towards the end of last month I had the pleasure of spending the weekend away at a spa. Not only did I take advantage of the amenities with a pedicure, massage, facial and great meals- I slept, I rested, I prayed and I journaled.

When it came to thinking about my business, I asked myself 3 simple questions and journaled my responses. These were:

How to leverage your current content for PR success

How to leverage your current content for PR success

I always say that when I was a little girl I was a hybrid between girly girl and tomboy. Like on one hand, I adored Disney, dressing up and playing with my Barbies. Yet on the other hand, I loved WWE wrestling, got hurt climbing things or jumping off them all the time and adored superhero cartoons like Spiderman, Xmen and more.

Not much has changed as an adult either and I love that Disney+ literally allows me to satisfy both sides of me. Like, all my favourite Disney princesses and Marvel movies all in the same place? Yes please!

My favourite thing about both types of movies is seeing how the heroes in these stories came to be (their origin stories). Do you know who else loves a good origin story? Podcast, radio and conference hosts. So much so that "how did you first get started in business?" (or a variation of it) is always asked in interviews.

If you're anything like me, your business started as something that you did naturally for yourself that people:

  • Saw that you had a talent for

  • Hated doing/could not do for themselves

  • Were willing to pay you to do for them or coach them through so that they could learn to do it too

and then it just grew and evolved from there.

Well the same is true for PR, sis…

4 ways to demonstrate credibility even if you have no media features

4 ways to demonstrate credibility even if you have no media features

"Should I do my media one-sheet now even though I haven't been on any podcasts or media outlets?"

This was a message that I received from a client recently. The underlying question really being "how do I demonstrate my expertise and credibility through a media one-sheet if I haven't been featured anywhere yet?!" If you've had the same concerns and, even worse, have let this stop you getting started with your PR journey- keep reading. I'm about to help you get unstuck, just like I did her!

In order to answer that question, I need to make sure that you're straight on what a media one-sheet actually is first. So, here goes:

When applying for a job you need a resume, right? Well, a media one-sheet also works to help you demonstrate your expertise, experience and why editors would be mad not to accept your work. It does this through your media bio which, as you grow and get more PR, will typically include a list of any features that you may have had in the past as an example of your work (usually just your most impressive ones). Because it's a single document, it also contains additional information that would usually be found by navigating your website (e.g. your expert topics, contact information, social media handles and so on).

With that being said, here are:

4 ways to demonstrate your credibility and expertise even if you've had no previous PR

How to share your story

How to share your story

Have you ever had someone in your life who started out as a friend of a friend but then ended up being yours too? Well, that's exactly what happened with me and Vickie (of TEACH Educational Consulting, LLC).

I first met Vickie online through my girl Deanna because we're both board members of her charity (Needle Movers for Social Equity) earlier this year and finally got the chance to meet Vickie in person over afternoon tea on Friday (she's in London from the States doing research with UCL. Can we say beauty and brains?!).

Not only was our time together super fun, we're literally talking about working together on other projects and meeting up again later this month! So, in the spirit connecting with new people, I want to do a Deanna and introduce you to someone you'll love too- Denisha (Dlang) Ferguson.

Dlang is the CEO of the Indiana Fashion Foundation, produces Indiana Fashion Week and is one of my clients. I recently had the pleasure of copywriting and pitching an article idea that she had about "how to share your story"- which has now been published on The Good Men Project.

So much of what she shared in the article is relevant to you and your PR journey because science has found that storytelling causes the release of Oxytocin in the brain, which is a hormone that is associated with social bonding. This is a powerful tool for all forms of content marketing because it:

#1 Basically means that sharing stories helps build the know, like and trust factor needed to get your ideal clients to support and ultimately buy from you.

#2 Allows you to practice and hone your story so that, when the time comes to share your expertise on larger platforms, you’ll be ready to do so.

#3 Can create positive change and legacy for lasting impact.

Like me, when Dlang mentions these facts to her mentees this typically leads to questions or remarks such as “What could I possibly share?” “I don’t know where to begin” and even “I don’t have an interesting story”. If you can relate, I’d like to tell you what she tells them:

4 mistakes people make when getting started with PR

4 mistakes people make when getting started with PR

I love quotes....so much so that I have a whole notes section dedicated to them, which I update every time I come across a new one that inspires me. Although the most recent update was "Boundaries are not about saying no to other people. Boundaries are about saying yes to yourself" (Rachel Rodgers), some of my favourites are about success e.g.:

  • "Success is when preparation meets opportunity"

  • "Success leaves clues"

One that was recently dropped into my spirit is: "success requires systems" and when I shared it via social media this week, I added in the caption "PR is no different". So, with that in mind, I wanted to share 4 reasons why that's true by discussing mistakes that people make when getting started with PR and what systems you can put in place to avoid them. For example:

How to Get Started with PR

How to Get Started with PR

I'm the sort of person that can't eat breakfast, lunch or dinner until I have settled on something good to watch while eating...to the point that I could be starving at times; yet not be able to put a morsel of food in my mouth until I've settled on something to entertain me. To me, if I'm not eating socially, the programme that I watch is just as much a part of the culinary experience as the food. It's the foundation, if you will.

PR has foundations too. In fact, one of the questions that I am asked most frequently by potential clients is "What do I need to get started with PR?" In other words, they want to know the foundational things that they need to have in place before they embark on their PR journey. If this is something that you've also been wondering, here's the tea. You need these 4 things: