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Brighton seo online pr show- how to be confident in digital pr- jodie harris (1)
- 1. HOW TO BE CONFIDENT IN DIGITAL PR JODIE HARRIS BlueArray @msjodieharris
- 2. Hi. I’m Jodie and I’m Shy*. *That’s a lie
- 3. 13 Years in PR Head of Digital PR at
- 5. OUTGOING
- 6. PUSHY
- 8. AWARDS
- 9. INSTANT WINS
- 11. TONNES OF LINKS
- 12. A DARK ART
- 13. ALL SUCCESS NO FAILURE
- 14. THE DIGITAL PR WORLD CAN FEEL DAUNTING
- 15. SO HOW CAN WE FEEL CONFIDENT IN DIGITAL PR?
- 16. FIRST OF ALL, THE INDUSTRY HAS CHANGED
- 17. DIGITAL PR IS NOT ABOUT: LUNCHES JOURNO FRIENDSHIPS SOCIAL MEDIA PRESENCE YOUR NAME
- 19. BEING CONFIDENT IN THE STUFF THAT MATTERS
- 20. WE ARE VALUED ON: OUR STRATEGY WE GIVE OUR CLIENTS AND THE AWESOME NEWS WE CAN SUPPLY JOURNALIST WITH. THAT’S THE IMPORTANT STUFF
- 22. NO STRATEGY IS INVINCIBLE NOT EVERY CAMPAIGN IS SMOOTH
- 23. WHAT’S THE WORST THAN CAN HAPPEN? Twitter: msjodieharris
- 24. BAD OPEN/ DOWNLOAD RATE? CHANGE THE SUBJECT LINE LOOK AT THE PITCH ADAPT FOR EASE OF THE JOURNO
- 25. THE STORY HAS BEEN DONE BEFORE A SIMILAR STORY HAS BEEN RUN BEFORE FIND A POINT IN DIFFERENCE RE-WORK THE ANGLE SOURCE MORE DATA
- 26. THE WORST A JOURNALIST CAN SAY IS
- 27. DIGITAL PR IS FLUID ADAPT YOUR STRATEGY AND OUTREACH WHEN IT NEEDS IT
- 29. SELF- DOUBT It can affect how confident we feel in doing Digital PR Remind yourself of your capabilities.
- 32. SOCIAL MEDIA SOCIAL MEDIA SOCIAL MEDIA ONLY SHOWS THE GOOD PARTS- WHEN PEOPLE ARE WINNING
- 34. Create a list of industry figures and accounts that empower you. FOLLOW THEM.
- 35. Read industry resources that only give a realistic representation of the industry
- 36. Create plan B, for when/if plan A doesn’t work.
- 40. www.bluearray.co.uk | @bluearrayseo FOLLOW ME @MSJODIEHARRIS WE’RE GROWING! COME WORK WITH US!
Editor's Notes
- Hi Im Jodie and I’m definitely not shy. I wouldn’t be here If I was. But, like everyone else, my confidence can take a hit every now and again and that can be quite hard in Digital PR. The Digital PR industry can sometimes feel like a popularity contest, where only the uber confident and loud personalities are successful. This isn’t true and this is what I am going to talk to you about today.
- I have been in PR for a very long time. 13 years to be exact. I have come from the traditional side and have worked in Digital PR for nearly 9 years so I have seen it change a lot, and I have seen the PR industry change a lot since my early days. I have seen success and I experienced failure, I have won awards and I have begrudgingly clapped for a rival as they picked up their award. I have seen it all, from being aired by a journalist on Twitter to getting the worst bout of imposter syndrome during my most successful campaigns. Over the years I have learnt that confidence isn’t the loudest person in the room, but it is the most prepared. So let’s get on with it!
- First of all, let’s look at the industry as a whole. Digital PR is misunderstood. It is assumed that a certain criteria see success in Digital PR. It is also assumed you have to be a certain personality type to be a great Digital PR. And those personality types are normally:
- Outgoing- As PR was traditionally about wining and dining and forming life long bonds with journalists, being outgoing really helped. Being outgoing helps in a lot of areas, especially in Digital PR, but you dont need to be outgoing like my friend Elton here- outgoing is not the same as being confident.
- Digital PRs can have the image of being pushy. Where no is not not an answer, but more of a speed bump. Where being aggressive is a personality trait and not a strategy approach. But this is not entirely true. There is a difference between pushy and resilient.
- And uber creative! That every PR is super creative, can break the rules and demolish boundaries. But what happens if you think that’s not you, or your client doesn’t want to think out of the box- does that make you or your client not worthy to play in the same field? Never! And what about the industry as a whole? When expectations are high and our confidence is low, its hard to seeing anything but….
- Everyone and their mother winning an award. BTW, this is my mum.
- Instant client wins, instant PR wins, instant career wins, instant strategy wins. I could carry on, but i wont. The perception is this is the everyday norm for the Digital PR industry. But in reality, its take a lot of hard work to feel what winning feels like. Those ‘instant wins’ are probably a journey of highs, lows, research, strategy changes, heaped with a load of self-doubt and confidence bursts.
- And big budget campaigns. It’s easy to look at a small- medium sized client and think it will never have the chance to compete with the big dogs. But everyone loves an underdog- and what money can’t buy is confidence, a highly strategic approach for backlinks, a slick plan on building authority and a smarter way of working. Good Digital PR campaigns don’t need mega budgets. Let me say that again- Good Digital PR campaigns don’t need megaga budgets.
- And tonnes of links. We have heard of Digital PR campaigns going viral and they can! But not every Digital PR campaign does and they don’t have to. What they need to do is move the needle. Demonstrate value and improve performance. A Digital PR campaigns that doesn’t get 100 links a month can still demonstrate value. Remember quality over quantity. Every industry is different and what is ok in one can be brilliant in another.
- And people starting out in Digital PR can feel like its a Dark Art. It’s a secret club of the uber confident who are loud and proud of work that goes viral in an instant and as a newbie- you might find it hard to try and find a place within this club.
- What is seen can alter our expectation in ourselves and what is the industry standard. If we see all the success and no failures, and we fail, our confidence will take the biggest blow it can take- and for a job that needs confidence- that’s hard. But failure should be seen as a badge of honour. It represents, testing, learning, measuring and trying again.
- It can feel daunting at times. Even winning can feel like winning isn’t enough. Landing a big dream client can feel like how Crissy Teigan looks right here. Completely out of depth, questioning ability, experience, knowledge and capabilities is normal.
- So how can we feel confident in digital pr? With misconceptions, noise and heaped with your own self-doubt. It might find feel impossible to know where to start.
- First of all, the industry has changed...ALOT. The pace is so fast that publications and sites are strapped for time. They are under an immense pressure and their values in what they seek in a good news story or in a PR has changed all together.. We dont have to be friends with publications, we need to have a good enough relationship to know what they want and more importantly when. Our confidence needs to lie other areas that aren’t surrounded by if a journalist is going to like you or not.
- The industry is not about lunches, journo friendships, how present you are on social media or your name in the game. You can be the biggest name, have millions of followers on Linkedin or Twitter but if there is no weight behind your strategy, no news in your campaign or originality in your approach, then it doesn’t matter.
- Our confidence needs to lie within what matters in today’s Digital PR industry:It’s the IDEAS, the STRATEGY, how CLIENT BUYs into your approach and the ability to adapt when it doesn’t go to plan. Having an ability to be confident in these areas makes a Great Digital PR, not just a ‘out there’ personality.
- So knowing what areas are valued the most- we need to start feeling confident in those areas.
- We need to re-look at our job role. Digital PR’s are the matchmakers for brands and for sites. We are valued on strategy we give our clients, and the awesome news we can supply journalists with. That’s the important stuff. End of. That’s the important stuff right there.
- How to be confident in a Digital PR Strategy The more your strategy is thought out- the more confident you will feel outreaching. Confidence lies in your strategy, If you feel comfortable with the campaign you have put together and you know journalists will have use for your story- that’s your confidence! Your confidence lies there!
- But remember, Digital PR is a rollercoaster and no strategy is invincible. Good Digital PR campaigns can also flop- Excellent Digital PR campaigns can also be beaten by an average Digital PR campaign. Not every campaign is smooth sailing, but the ability to react quickly and change tact or story gives you a better chance of success.
- And what’s the worst can happen? Sometimes the pressure we put on delivery and performance can ironically hamper our delivery and performance. Instead of fearing the worst, prep for it.
- That brilliant digital pr campaign that expected to over acheive is being received as well as another blue monday PR story and has the open rate of a Quality Street Coffee Creme? Sometimes the most interesting stories lie within a tonne of copy and large images that block a journo’s inbox. Heavy data story? Work on most important bullet points. The synopsis of the story in one sentence- if you can’t explain in one sentence, its too complicated. That subject line needs to be inspiration for their headline. Simplify your words, make them more hard hitting And check the tone of the newsreel- if something is dominate the internet, take time.
- If not all of us have experience this at some point in their career and it can feel like a kick in the teeth. when so much time and effort has gone into a campaign for someone else to have done something similar. This doesn’t meet the strategy lacked originality. It can mean the strategy was so topical, it left a very small window for it to be relevant- and that’s not a bad thing. Some very time sensitive pieces can go viral. But if this doesn’t happen- look at the point of difference from your digital pr campaign and the one that is similar. Play on that difference, re-work that angle and source more data to support that new angle.
- The fear of rejection is real as a Digital PR. If a journalist says no, that is literally the worst thing they can say and that’s not bad. A journalist will have a certain amount of articles to write varying a large amount of subjects, if a story doesn’t make the cut, that’s life. There will be another story that they will buy into another time. There are plenty of journalists in the sea who are going to love that story. One journalist doesn’t define your campaign.
- The great thing about Digital PR is that its fast paced. If you fail, you fail quick. Your comeback strategy is far more important. Being confident in your ability to own up when a campaign needs a switch up matters.
- And beware of those confidence killers. This could be areas of thinking, behaviour and the environment we work in. Keep a look out for what disturbs your confidence and your peace as a Digital PR.
- Self-doubt is a big one. It’s doesn’t matter how long you have been in the game or how much success you have seen in the past- if self doubt creeps in, it can do a very good job in staying. Remind yourself of your capabilities, your wins, the proudest moments. Remember what you can do!
- Imposter Syndrome is pretty self explanatory. It make you feel that you are an imposter, you are winging it your role and simply your experience and skills do not match up to anyone else. But this is simply a vision we see of ourselves and not what other people see. I have suffered from this in the past and the best way I got around this was to use it to my advantage. My team and myself put together a campaign on imposter syndrome in business for a B2B client and saw success. Sometimes your weaknesses can be your strengths. The Digital PR industry is competitive, but it also welcoming- this is a group of people that have felt confidence dips many times. You are in good company.
- Someone else’s success is not your failure. Because someone is winning, doesn’t mean you cannot win too. This is not only a confidence killer, its a happiness stealer. Genuinely be happy for other people’s successes. they have probably had to overcome their own self doubt to get where they are today.
- Social Media can be a necessary evil sometimes. It can make you feel like you are the only person not winning and start chipping away at your self esteem. It can also be the best coach, inspiration and a complete confidence booster. Make sure social media is working for you. Question the profiles you are following and if they are doing it for you.
- Get yourself a confidence checklist. This should be a list of things that make you feel good about yourself and give you daily boosts of confidence and inspiration.
- Create a kick-ass list of brilliant PRs, agencies, brands, advertising agencies, Digital PR accounts. Refine who are following and keep adding and refining. The accounts you follow do not have to be seasoned pros- they could be digital pr’s who are just starting out and are testing different techniques. Digital PR is a passion profession- if people love it, they will do amazing it in. Follow those people.
- And this is an important one. Make sure the resources you are reading or listening to are factual and give you the right information and give you the realistic representation of the industry. The Look Building Book by Paddy sources data from 100s of Digital PRs, agency and brand’s and its hella reassuring to have. And Digital PR Examples is brilliant for inspo on great campaigns in the industry- and if you’re super nosey- you can always run a backlink analysis on the campaign ;)
- Creating a plan B and keeping it in your back pocket. This will make you feel like you haven’t put all your eggs in one basket and you have back up content, data, a new outreach strategy in your back pockets to deliver performance. Even if it’s super rough, you will not be stumped if a campaign doesn’t go to plan.
- We move at alarming speeds sometimes. Delivering performance, value and cool campaigns for our clients, so it’s easy to not lift your head up sometimes and realised you accomplishments. And this doesn’t only have to be in the realm of Digital PR, this can be in every day life. Whatever hampers your confident, write a list of things you have accomplished to date that make you feel proud- keep those by your desk and remind yourself what you can do!
- It’s been hard couple of years. Last year was tough on the industry and this one has been super exciting to see it bounce back- so we have been through the mill a little. Give yourself that. Be kinder to yourself.
- And one more reminder from me today- from one of the best PR’s there is- Kris Jenner- YOU ARE DOING AMAZING SWEETIE!
- So as i bounce out of here, follow me on Twitter- let’s continue the conversation and shout out our favourite we love to follow on twitter. And if you are about at Brighton SEO this week, do make sure you visit the blue array stand- we have giveaways and apparently a very large wheel to spin! We are also growing the digital pr team- so if you are looking to move, come and speak to me or apply via our website!