What is PR? And what can it do for you?
Graham Hall • March 12, 2019
I keep hearing that print is dead and that online is the future.
Well… I suppose that is half right. How many people don’t reach for their phones now for their daily news headlines or the last sports results?
But look past the instant craving for information, be it from official outlets or the latest gossip on social media, and see things from a different perspective.
Working in PR means you get to know what makes clients tick.
And most of them are looking for something more substantial that a swift notification here and there which may, or may not, get noticed.
The very fact that PR exists means there IS very definitely a market for all forms of media.
And good PR means being able to switch between a variety of niches.
It also means being able to get to know your client and talk in depth with them about their industry - then convert it into publicity.
Because that is the key word. It is the very reason why a customer will come to me, they want to get their word out there in the best way possible.
That also means acting as a go-between. How many businesses have direct links to newspapers, TV and radio stations and magazines?
Very few in reality. And why should they? It generally will not be their field of expertise. They are too busy doing what they do best. Media is something all businesses need, whether it be advertising locally or getting an article published in a major newspaper.
That is where my role comes in. I know what an ‘angle’ or a ‘line’ is. It sounds obvious but your business’s story can usually be told in one paragraph - or even one line.
And, believe me, that is all you need. No writer or editor wants to hear a 500-word explanation of why your company is the best thing since sliced bread.
When I speak to companies, I pick out the best thing they have said and tell them: ‘That’s your story’.
The wordy article telling people more can come later.
In the first instance, if you can transmit the gist of a story to a media outlet in around 10 seconds or less, the more chance it has of being accepted.
Or, in an email, a few words spent getting the main ‘line’ over to the person you are trying to persuade is better than 100.
And that is where the likes of myself come in.
Some businesses will ‘get’ what I mean of course. But most will not know the best way to approach journalists, just as I would have no clue how to run their companies.
Let me give you an example of how I do it.
After years of working in newspapers, I know only too well what it is like to pick up the phone to someone who takes too long to explain the reason for contacting me, and does not recognise their own best ‘angle’.
I recently sat down with one client who had had no luck in persuading anyone to write about his business - even though he had a great tale to tell.
So I spent 45 minutes talking about his company and picking out the most interesting lines.
Turns out they knew full well what their best angle was, they just did not know how to sell it.
I did. Within six weeks, I had this company featured in five different outlets, print and online. With another promising future inclusion on certain stories.
Luckily, this company was exceptional helpful and I was able to work very easily with them.
But all it needed was a push in the right direction and they suddenly had five times the amount of publicity they had had previously.
We were all pleased. Their knowledge and expertise had been passed on using my contacts. And that is how good PR works.
All of this illustrates my initial point that print media is far from dead.
There are so many specialist publications out there that simply do not have the same effect online.
Many are individually prestigious within their own industry and clients see it as a feather in their cap if they are featured in them.
Until you work with companies, it is difficult to imagine how broad a field this is.
Certainly, in my experience, I have had to approach publications I would never have imagined ever working with.
And there is a sense of excitement there as well. Each job bring an entire new set of circumstances and that is what makes it exciting.
But the best thing is achieving what the customer wanted when they hired you in the first place.
Let me tell you a bit about myself - and maybe it will give you an insight into the sort of person I am. The nature of my work, as self-employed, means that there ups and downs, highs and lows. You simply hope the downs are short-lived and the highs go on for as long as possible. But the nature of being self-employed means you work from home and are not stuck in the office. What could possibly go wrong? Well, I’ll tell you. You are pretty much at the whim of companies as to whether they want to employ you or not. All it takes is a round of cuts, a change of management perhaps, and who is the first one to go? That freelance guy who they’ve been spending money on. And, a few years ago, this is what happened to me. I had been coasting in my chosen profession with two major contracts under my belt and work that lasted a decade. It showed no signs of drying up. Until it did. One company decided to bring my work ‘in house’ rather than farm it out to a freelance, while the other cut my payments by more than half. I am not alone in this I know, but what I am trying to say is how I dealt with it. And while it is not the whole answer to a period of major uncertainty, you need to do something you love to take your mind off things. In may case, there then followed a 15-month period that went from me wondering how I was going to pay the bills, to the downright absurd, to me doing things I never ever thought I would do. But first of all…. PANIC! I had what can only be described as my first ever panic attack. Frankly, I had been cruising in my previous existence, work was coming in like clockwork and the money followed. It was almost like having a normal job. When that gets taken away from you in one fell swoop, your first reaction is how on earth you are going to meet the financial demands your previous lifestyle had met comfortably. But I can honestly say the panic attack was the best thing that could have happened. I could have sat there and waited for the work to re-appear, but believe me, that does not happen if you sit on your backside doing nothing. So the emails and phone calls began. To anyone I knew, had met once and got their contact details and people I had never met in my life in the hope I was just what they were looking for. Nothing. But I knew I had not become bad at what I did overnight. Someone, somewhere would take me on. One thing counted against me straight away. Age. Mid-50s. You hear stories of ageism and people giving up on professional careers to become a shelf-stacker, simply because they are not a bright young thing straight out of college. And, working as I do in the media, there was an assumption that I knew very little of how online was the thing to be tuned into these days. But that was wrong. I was active on social media, I knew what SEO was, and as I desperately tried new things - an internet dropshipping business no less - I picked up on the intricacies of internet marketing. Even so, my face did not fit. And I knew I had to go it alone. But how to combat the hours where no progress was made? When another rejection fell into my inbox? I decided to do what I had always wanted. Test myself. Get out of the comfort zone. I had a couple of years’ money saved up so I had scope. If I allowed the situation to get to me, I would end up mad. So, what should I do first? I know. Stand-up comedy. I’d seen some of these guys on TV and thought: ‘I’m funnier than them’. How hard could it be? Actually, very hard. I put together some material and wrote my name down at an open mic night. Then I went to the gents and was sick in a cubicle. My material was rubbish so I decided to ‘borrow’ some. after looking back through some old recordings of Saturday Night Live which used to be on Channel 4 in the late 1980s and was hosted by Ben Elton. They used to have some top comics and I remembered an American one in particular. So I stole one of his jokes as my opening gag. “I’ve just been watching TV backstage and I saw on their news that there’s a new American project to raise the Titanic - what a waste of time and money. I mean, come on, do you honestly think there’s anybody still alive down there?” And, unlike you reading this, that actually got a laugh. Not a big one, but a laugh all the same. Next gig, Not so good and I left the stage to the sound of my own footsteps. But who cares? It was exhilarating and reminded you that you were still alive. What else could I do? I know. Rock n roll. I can play the guitar, okay I’m not Jimmy Page, but give me an Oasis song book and I’m a riot at parties. I consulted a ‘find me a band’ website, a sort of Tinder for musicians, and there is was: ‘Singer wanted, must play some guitar.’
And so it was that, six months later, we were stood up in front of a bunch of college students playing Radiohead songs, Luckily, most of them did not know the the songs, so we passed them off as our own! Two guys left due to musical differences - very rock n roll. But we’re still going. Oh and the work came back, in among all of the fun things you have to keep pushing yourself until someone says ‘yes’.
