How to scale with PR

How to scale with PR

What's a movie that you've seen over and over again but never get bored of?

Honestly, I've got quite a few including anything Disney, anything Marvel, most musicals and Forest Gump (among others).

Forest Gump is one of those movies that has so many quotes and titbits that have now made it into mainstream culture; so it's clearly not just me who loves it

Be it real life Bubba Gump Shrimp restaurants, my favourite meme for saying hello or quotes such as "Run, Forest, run!" and "Life is like a box of chocolates," there's no denying it's impact

The issue with the idea of life being like a box of chocolates, though, is that the analogy is no longer true.

Once upon a time, you'd never know what kind of chocolate you were going to get until you took a bite out of it. These days, boxes of chocolate come with menus so you can literally pick and choose exactly what you want- which is nothing like life at all!

So, allow me to suggest another analogy that came to me a few years ago: "Life is like long multiplication". Not as sexy, I know, but hear me out…

How to do purpose-driven PR

How to do purpose-driven PR

2 weeks ago I had the pleasure of attending Tiwa King’s first in person event since the "panoramic". Even more special, though, is that this was actually the first time that we had met in person full stop.

This, despite the fact that we live in the same city and had spoken virtually and on the phone (for hours at a time) prior to this day.

Tiwa’s event (The Authenticity Checklist) was a full circle moment in a lot of ways because of:

#1 The nature of the event itself

I first encountered Tiwa at TEDx Peckham 2018. I use the word “encounter” because we didn’t meet. She sang “Glory” as I sat there transfixed by the power of her performance.

At the time, I had a vodcast in which I would interview inspiring Christian women in business. I made up my mind, right there and then that I would reach out to her. Then...

She ghosted me...

Or so I thought...

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: