3 things that’ll get you featured in major publications in 2024
Whenever you use a sat nav or GPS, not only does it make you input where you want to go (your destination), it makes you state where you are (your location) so that it can direct you properly. My aim, with this post, is to do the same thing for you and your PR journey so that you can move from your current situation to ticking off all the platforms of your dreams in the new year (and beyond)! Doing so requires these 3 steps:
How to increase your confidence for PR success
Typically, when would-be clients say that they don’t feel confident seeking PR they mean one of three things (if not all of them):
1. I’m not sure who would want to hear my story
2. I don’t know what stories resonate and therefore what to pitch
3. There are certain levels of PR I haven’t experienced and so don’t feel confident about pursuing
The first two statements are easily rectified through coaching, templates, swipe copy, scripts and a bespoke PR plan, as will be provided at Media Magic (my retreat for business women, experts, coaches and authors who want to uncover a quick and systemised process to pitch the media so that they can get onto more top platforms, be seen as industry experts, and start raking in larger paydays) on July 25th-29th, 2024.
The third statement is more of an inside job because “I can give you the exact steps and strategy, but if your mindset and your psychology are not in it, it’s not going to work” (Holly Haynes).
When it comes to mindset, one of the things that a lack of confidence can cause is anxiety but, as I once heard, “the opposite of anxiety is not calm, it’s trust”. What this all comes down to is this question- although you may not have experienced the levels of PR that you want now, do you trust that once you have been exposed to the tools and strategies that you need to get there, you will implement them?
If the answer is “no,” your lack of confidence will be a self-fulfilling prophecy. If the answer is “yes,” though, you can expect outcomes like Margaret, who said:
Why the skills and experience that you already have are enough for PR success
"If you want to learn something, read about it. If you want to understand something, write about it, and if you want to master something, then teach it." (Yogi Bhajan)
This quote from my current favourite book, The Diary of a CEO (by Steven Bartlett), essentially means that “the ability to simplify and successfully share an idea with others is both the path to understanding it and the proof that you do”. When we apply this way of thinking, it's then safe to say that I'm an expert in my field and so is every business owner who shares helpful information with their clients one-to-one, through content marketing on blogs, social media, or any other medium.
You’re probably reading this and wondering why I’m sharing this. Well, I often find that when I talk to entrepreneurs about pitching the media, I get responses like, "Nina, I can’t because I don’t feel like I’ve arrived” or “I don’t know enough yet” or “I’m no expert, why would people want to listen to me?”.
I disagree with this, and so does Bhajan.
How a solid PR strategy is your key to greater time freedom
Last year, I went on a retreat to Panama. It was a really great trip. Apart from the fact that I made really great friendships and learned a lot of things from the influencers and people who spoke, one of the greatest things to come out of that trip was a conversation I had with two of the other attendees (Natasha and Christina) on the last day. We were sat down at breakfast and Natasha asked us whether we had any good book recommendations.
I recommended one of my favourites, We Should All Be Millionaires by Rachel Rodgers, while Christina recommended The 4-Hour Workweek by Tim Ferriss. What's very interesting about The 4-Hour Workweek is that ever since I've been an entrepreneur, I feel like, I've been hearing about that book- but I always kind of dismissed it as being too gimmicky. But as she broke it down and talked about some of the concepts in the book, I thought "Oh! Actually, this sounds really, really interesting!" and so, pretty much as soon as I arrived back in England, it was one of the first books that I read.
One of my favourite lessons from The 4-Hour Workweek is The 80/20 Rule or the Pareto Principle, which explains how 80% of all effects or outcomes come from 20% of causes.
With this in mind, according to Ferriss, we should 80/20 our lives. For example, you can find the 20% in your business that makes you the most money or the 20% in your life that brings you the most happiness, and focus on that because that 20% will bring about the results that you want more effectively and efficiently than continuing to do #allthethings.
Let’s bring this back to content marketing
How many of us create TikToks, IG story content, feed content, weekly blog posts and more to draw an audience that will hopefully turn into customers? We've all heard that content is king but nobody talks about how much time and work it is or how demotivating it feels to get zero to no engagement when you've given it your all. How can we reach an audience, create know, like, and trust with them, and turn it into sales without having our reach limited by a pesky algorithm? Well, by creating a solid PR strategy because that's your 20%.
Why using your voice is the key to unlocking your next level
How many times have you shrunk or downplayed your personality? And how many times did you think doing this would help you advance in the business world? One of my earliest memories of being told I was being “too much” was the feedback I’d get on my school report cards. They often read, “Nina is great, but she talks too much.” Well, all I can say is look at me now (lol). I literally get paid to speak and coach other women to use their voices to pitch the media and tell their stories.
But I’m not the only woman who’s turned her “too much” into her superpower. I recently asked my IG community what they got in trouble for when they were younger and how they’ve turned that into their superpower as adults and businesswomen. Here are some of their responses:
What to do if you’re frustrated with your PR journey
Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, "It's not the destination, it’s the journey” that counts. Now, I’m sure we’ve all heard these wise words before, but how many of us really and truly apply them to our lives and businesses?
Often, we get caught up in wanting to see the results of our efforts without taking time to enjoy the journey and the getting there. I was reminded of the danger of this way of thinking when I listened to one of my favourite podcasts, The R&B Money Podcast, with Tank and J. Valentine, recently. In the episode I tuned into, they were interviewing someone by the name of Adrian Marcel, and he said something quite powerful and similar to Emerson's quote which was, “A lot of people get frustrated and they quit on their dreams [in this case becoming R&B artists] because they make the date the destination”. I.e., they start saying stuff like, “Man, I’ve been doing this for [years] and I’m not making the kind of headway that I would want to; so I give up.”
Even though we’re not all trying to be R&B stars, we can all relate to having a plan for our careers and lives that hasn't panned out by the time that we thought it would. This expectation of success and the frustration of failure is something I see a lot in PR especially when people end up hearing nothing back or they get a “no” after sending a few pitches. This makes them quit on themselves because when they’ve put in the time and effort with no result, they start thinking that no one wants to hear their story.
If this has been your experience; if this has been your frustration, I want to encourage you…
How to show up authentically
According to Ibinye Olayide (Marriage and Family Therapist):
“It’s important to show up authentically so that genuine intimacy [can be shared]. Intimacy helps people feel safe, share their struggles and their joys and develop a deep level of closeness. When we do not show up authentically…the level of closeness [within a relationship] will be limited”.
These principles are also true as it relates to cultivating a community around your brand or business because, as the old adage says, people will only do business with people that they know, like and trust.
But how do we go about achieving this?