How to be a hot date with PR

by | Mar 16, 2021 | Uncategorised | 0 comments

This blog is based on a talk given to a London/Kent based networking group of small businesses and charities in March 2021

What do I mean by being a hot date with PR?

Business is about being desirable.

Is anyone familiar with the Dilbert cartoon series?

The best summary I ever saw of PR was a Dilbert cartoon. The rat, Ratbert, was appointed as PR to the dog Dogbert. Their owner Dilbert asks the dog, “Why did you choose a rat as your PR?” The rat whispers to the dog. The dog turns to Dilbert, and says, “Not rat. Mink’.

That’s what we PR’s do. We make you look good. We want to make you a hot date so people know about and buy from you. It isn’t about getting in the papers, that is just one thing PR’s can do.

PR is a tough gig – a PR friend of mine who is a celebrity publicist says of PR’s, “the landscape changes daily and so therefore, we have to … it makes PR presentations the most difficult I think. I can look at courses I wrote 6 months ago and disagree with almost every lesson.”

This talk is about your becoming a hot date and where and if PR can fit in. It will also give you ideas about how to do it as a Do It Yourself operation.

My favourite hot date story is one about someone in music I won’t name, but who I know and who enjoys a unique legacy.

As a friend and a publicist, I had the idea when he was struggling to put him together with someone famous by using that legacy.

I contacted a famous contemporary A-lister musician and said Musician With Legacy would love to play with them if the chance came. 8 weeks later, Musician With Legacy was on stage with the A-lister, and later a TV documentary featured footage of the show. Musician With Legacy went on to appear at festivals on the bill with Prince and Sting and others. That is the power of PR.

How does that relate to you?

It was PR. It worked. PR can be relevant to you. I am a businessperson like most of you, so I share your experience and I work with people like you. So, I will be talking about things that can help you and not just musicians. Enterprise Nation called me a master storyteller for business, not musicians, after all. This talk is based on my experience of working with people like you.

I will be talking about positive PR, engaging people, not defensive PR and handling crises. They are another ball game and are to be avoided.

What about you?

Putting myself in your shoes, I would say, should I consider PR? Can I do it myself? Can you give me some tips? Can it make me money? What is it? I will answer all of those by taking you through some stages in the life of a business and where PR might come in.

  1. Startup business – you have a bright business idea. Most people here sell products or services Business to Business and/or Business to Consumer. You have your market and people to sell to with different needs. You need them to be aware of you and to think your product or service is an irresistible Hot Date, and PR can help. Definition of PR. Wikipedia – “Public relations (PR) is the practice of deliberately managing the release and spread of information between an individual or an organization and the public in order to affect the public perception.”
  • What Wikipedia doesn’t mention is the work you do on what you want to say and PR before you reach out to others. Some startups do come up with a Business Plan and it can be in there. Business Plans cover making your product or service and lots of topics including messaging and branding – both parts of PR. You are doing all this so once you get people perceiving they can buy it is easy and they want to do so. Tip. Get your message clear and the path to buying clear before you reach out, or be aware it won’t work as it should, and possibly not at all. There, a PR and copywriter like myself, or Sarah Marsh-Collings from this group, can come in really useful. Your own story and values are important and the media will be interested in them. Be prepared to share them.

Let’s assume your messaging and branding and buying experience are great. Then you come to launching your business or a new service or product. You may launch a lot of things in the lifetime of your business.

  • Launch PR. You have something to sell. Maybe online, maybe from a business premises. You may have your leaflets, a brochure, you may be networking, you are fuelling your social media.
  1. Tip. How shy are you? Some people love championing their business, many don’t. Identify spokespeople and the faces and voices of your business or prepare to be one – as I did with Christine Atkinson for Rotary Work Club, when she appeared on BBC Radio London and a podcast. I gave someone else an opportunity with a national newspaper recently, but it was a little left field and worried him, but what you try is up to you;
  • You want your launch to make a splash with your potential customers. Social media can do it, but you would be very lucky if your news finds its way into the media without PR. Why wouldn’t you want also for your message and product to be in the media? Such as:
  • A quality, relevant blog;
  • In a local or national magazine or newspaper. Tip – Look at my blog. Inc. contributions from editors such as Lauretta from Life In Orpington magazine – www.lifeinmagazines.co.uk ;
  • In podcasts;
  • Talked about in a conference.

All of this is PR. The best is several of these together. We help cleaning products manufacturer Teepol Products. When Teepol launches its next product I have an influencer, perhaps two, a magazine, and a podcaster lined up to come to the factory, and I have hardly started.

This makes clients happy. Testimonial remark from a client this week who I have just got into a magazine, a blog, and a video onto a website – “Thanks Darren!  This is excellent!  What a coup! Will highlight this in my next post! Thank you so much for this!”

Why am I doing that so early for Teepol? You have to be ready. In a previous job, I knew someone whose band was suddenly on the BBC Radio 1 playlist. He wasn’t prepared for it and after that brief attention the band sank back into obscurity. If he had a PR, or the advice of one so he could DIY it, he might have exploited it and be on the radio to this day.

  1. Launch tip fest. Plan. Create a press release. I might talk on that one day, but here are three key points. They should be one to two sides A4 max. Have hi-res images ready. Put the best stuff at the top. Often a punchy email will be better. Assemble your target media in a list and warm them up and build relationships. Look for journalists on Twitter. Ideally give people 6 weeks plus notice – that is ideal for publishing and content schedules. Be prepared to share the news and attention you get and to say thank you. Treat the media well. Advertise if you can, not only for who it might reach, but as a thank you to the publication. Use Journorequests email alert to find journalists requests for content and interviewees in your field – www.journorequests.com .
  • Ongoing PR. Your business is growing, idling, going 90 miles an hour, or failing. If you want to pick up, or go faster, or go really fast, PR can help. This is where my publicist hat comes in useful.
  • Publicists. A publicist helps to create news, not just repeat it to their contacts. It doesn’t always work as intended. There is only so much you can control, so you need to be aware of risks.Working with and helping charities can be great here. A photo with charity people and you is worth a thousand words.
  • Social media and PR. You will have heard that ‘content is king’. Getting your story or product into the media can provide prime content for your social media and access to the social audience of the media concerned. If a publicist can identify a great PR opportunity, it can help your social media go viral or take you up a level by another means. That is what a publicist does and that is what I did with Musician With Legacy.
  • PR is about relationships. PR’s are relationships people. We spend most of our time building them with people you want to be heard by. Journalists, editors, podcasters, influencers, TV producers, and content managers. Tip: You can talk to journalists direct on Facebook via Lightbulb – www.facebook.com/groups/lightbulbhangout. PR’s are banned! Tip – If there are rules, obey them. Give journalists what they want, when they want it. Don’t share their story before they do. How to find and talk with the media is one of the PR’s greatest skills and one not learned overnight.
  • Final tip. Are you in a membership organisation? FSB? A professional body? Are you getting much out of it? Are you getting noticed within it? Consider PR. Most membership organisations have communications teams who want stories, articles, content, interviewees, champions. Talk with them. Notice their invitations. This is something I have been getting very good at for clients as I have the skills to deliver content. Ask.

Where is your business? Startup? Growing? Years old? Stuck?  You may need a burst of PR or rolling PR to shine a light on your business. You can do it yourself, but a PR outsource does it faster, and better, and uses less of your time.

Conclusion

I asked on your behalf:

  • Should I consider PR? It is unavoidable, but you may not need a professional;
  • Can I do it myself? Yes, but be careful. Get the basics right first. Zeenat here is very good at it her own PR and joins other self-publicists admire including, in music, Half-Deaf Clatch and Paloma Faith;
  • Can you give me some tips? I did;
  • Can it make me money? Yes, especially alongside social media and other marketing;
  • What is it? Now you know, if you didn’t before.

Be patient, be persistent and respectful, and enjoy the PR ride.

Darren Weale, Founder, In Tune PR, March 2021

Links:

Blog – https://intunepr.co.uk/blog

Top media tips – https://intunepr.co.uk/our-top-tips-for-engaging-with-the-media

Journo requests – www.journorequests.com

Lightbulb ­- www.facebook.com/groups/lightbulbhangout

Enterprise Nation – Meet the Journalists 16th March – www.enterprisenation.com/find-something/meet-the-journalists-3 and my webinar for Enterprise Nation at a later date