Lots of musings and thoughts around the past month…
3 Ideas That Stood Out to Me in July
Our world is becoming blander…
It’s something I’ve suspected and it was nice to get confirmation from this Inc. article that talks about how design and culture have all turned toward sameness. I have my theories as to why, but I’d rather not make this blog about my thoughts on capitalism.
That said, as a freelancer, I am faced with the dilemma of my personal brand– do I follow proven formulas set out before me that attract potential clients (like the “classic” LinkedIn post formula that everyone seems to adopt), or do I resist, focus on branding activities that excite me?
It’s a question that I don’t always know how to answer, but am constantly asking myself these days. But, as cliché as it sounds, as a freelancer, I think going to the beat of my own drum will theoretically attract like-minded clients (of course, easier said if you’re already well-established). That said, I’ll operate off of this instinct of authenticity with my personal brand until further notice.
Publicists must make peace with AI
A handful of years ago (2017ish), my boss took some of us to a business leadership conference. It was the kind where about 95% of the speakers were older white men in suits talking about the current state and future of business. One man stood out to me because, in a doomsday preacher-style delivery, he enlightened us on the power of AI. He said AI would be our savior if only we would believe and act NOW before the rest of the world catches on and tries to get rich off it.
Sadly, ai did not save me. Instead, I ignored his preachings and continued to focus on my family, hobbies, and career.
Today, I’m taking a very neutral approach to ai. I don’t think it’s wise for anybody to write off technology unless they’re happily living in a commune or already very rich. But, if you’re like me, and you find yourself working for a living and having aspirations bigger than just living day-to-day, then this stuff is important to keep up with.
This past month, we met a public health professional, Taneia Surles, who writes about general and sexual healthcare topics for a number of publications. One day, she ran an expert quote through an ai-detection tool and found that 100% of those words were computer generated. I’d file that under a “don’t” of utilizing ai.
So when is ai appropriate in a PR setting? I loved Iona Townsley’s take on it for Screaming Frog. She lists almost 30 ethical use cases for utilizing it. Some use cases that stuck out to me were: topical research, brainstorming prompts, campaign mood boards, and data analysis.
So, the next time I’m in a situation where I need to decide if ai is worth it to use or not, I’ll boil down to answering this question: Will it make me a smarter human while allowing me to ethically do my own job?
Sometimes you’re in the right place at the right time!
*This section is a sign for you to just send that email and not be so self-conscious about it!
My first media placement earned was on the front page of the Tampa Bay Times. It was all about an EV expo we were promoting. I can tell you now as an experienced professional, that our promo strategy wasn’t technically very good. However, our supervisor said it best when we received the news, “Well, we got lucky. Gas prices skyrocketed overnight.”
And that’s just how it goes sometimes with PR.
In July, Kelsey Ogletree shared with us a beautiful, long feature she wrote for the WSJ. She tells the story of a pitch that was just “okay,” but resulted in that gorgeous feature. Talk about the right place, right time!
What July Was Like + My Numbers:
Pitching Overlapping Clients/Topics
Summertime is the ‘high-season’ for one of my clients. And luckily, they’re in a very mainstream, consumer-focused space, so it means it’s ‘high-season’ for this topic for many consumers too. With this in mind, we strategically released various data pieces about this topic from all different angles to allow for pitching a variety of outlets- local, national, and trade.
And, to know me is to know that I LOVE consumer educational segments. So, there was a clear component of that for the campaign. I took the opportunity to pitch a different, yet complementary consumer educational segment with a different client. Yes, there was overlap, but in a couple of instances, it meant I could work with the same producer on multiple segments. I love working smarter, not harder.
Building Relationships the Right Way
Another thing to note is that I spent my time reaching out to a few key reporters I really wanted to work with just to introduce myself and relevant clients. The process took forever. I listened, read, and watched some stuff. I went into detail about what I liked about their work. It’s very much a basic outreach 101 tactic that everyone claims to use, but if we’re all to be honest, we do not have time to do this with 100% of contacts. However, it sure does work. Not everybody reached back out, but through my efforts, I was connected with a producer through a host for a show that is widely syndicated and pre-recorded a few segments for both clients. Not only that, but we have plans to continue collaborating in the future. That was worth all the time spent on this.
I’ll definitely be exploring more personalization in August, and I’ll be strategic with how I go about it and to whom.
Being Remembered by a Journalist
Someone I used to work with for a brief time at LendingTree who now writes for CNBC shared one of my client’s recent data pieces before I had a chance to pitch her. I thanked her, thinking I was reminding her that they were my client, and she let me know that she remembered me pitching that client a couple of years prior when she was at Lifehacker. Talk about lasting impressions. That obviously made my day.
My Numbers + An Outlier
And now, for the numbers. Keep in mind, lots of hard work, but a ton of serendipity and syndication. As always, take these numbers with a grain of salt.
Campaigns: 3 (1 having 4-sub topics)
Placements: 145*
*Confession: I had a pretty big outlier– a nationally syndicated program that resulted in above-average syndications. While I did openly include this in my reporting if I were to clear out that outlier, the number is really around 54. Still, really good
Other Random Thing:
On the topic of attracting the right clients… My favorite show is I Think You Should Leave. I’m proud to say I’ve been a stan since season 1. When the new season comes out I’ll rewatch the season as many times as I can and quote parts of it multiple times every day until the new season comes out. It is a dream to work with someone who also loves this show as much as I do. I know that sounds silly, but it’s the truth.