When did you last write a story? Was it way back in school for your English exams or perhaps it was more recent than that.
Do you remember the first story you ever wrote?
For me, it's always been about storytelling. I was six-years-old when I first wrote a magical story about a cat, a witch and a spaceship.
In fairness, it probably didn't make too much sense…
Read MoreRunning your own business can be a real rollercoaster ride. One minute things are going swimmingly, and the next you're served a curve ball, that if you let it, can really set you back.
Take my first ever PR stunt for instance. There I was, six weeks into my new job at a creative PR agency, on a train to Blackpool. The idea was to have a large-scale sand drawing of a Monsters Inc. character on the beach with the infamous tower in the background. I'd spent 13 years working as a Journalist, so had no clue how to make everything piece together. You could say I was well and truly out of my depth….
Read MoreI remember standing in my kitchen looking out of the window. It was October 2016 and I had butterflies. In short, I was scared.
I'd made the decision to self-publish my first children's picture book and I felt clueless about how to let people know what I'd created.
All of those 'what if' questions were whirling around my head. What if no one liked it, what if it didn't sell, but more importantly what if I couldn't find a publicist to help me with PR?
Read MoreIf you’re just starting to secure some PR for you and your business the likelihood is that you will need to start small before you land some bigger coverage.
I often suggest for those at the start of their journey to aim for lesser known titles and then build up your body of work until you’re able to secure larger, national publications.
Read MoreAs a small business owner if you’re looking to leverage awareness around what you do - should you write and distribute a press release? My answer to this would be probably not.
A press release by its very nature is to announce news and unless you have a book coming out, or have won an award or something similar, it’s best to keep approaching Journalists separately with potential feature ideas.
Read MoreI get asked a lot what is the best way to maximise any PR opportunities that come your way.
There are the obvious things like posting on social media, but your audience and potential clients should be left in no doubt that you have secured coverage somewhere. Because let’s face it, you will have already done your research and know the media they like to consume, whether that be radio, podcasts, magazines, TV or online, or a combination of all of them.
Read MoreJournalists get inundated with emails - some of them receive up to 800 a day, so if you really want to stand out from everyone else you need to think what would make them stop scrolling and click on yours. A catchy subject line is always a great starting point.
Then, instead of waffling about who you are and what you do - try and think about what they’re looking for. When I trained as a Journalist we were always told to write a story with the key components of Who, What, When, Why and to offer How further down if it was relevant.
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