On Sunday morning a few weekends ago, I received an email from New York. It said ‘Urgent PR Need’.
It was from a PR agency that was doing a global pitch and the Australian agency had pulled out at the last minute. In fact they pulled out on the Friday, and the proposal was due on the Monday. Can you imagine how stressful that was for the US agency?
Last time I received an email like this, it turned into a huge client for us. But when I received this one, there wasn’t even an address on it. I researched the email address and found the NY agency. They looked real! So I replied and said I was happy to have a chat to her.
The call later in the afternoon turned into a great conversation about how PR should be done, how to treat clients, and to do budgets that are real, not inflated. All our values and ethics aligned. Simply, we weren’t the air kissing sweetie darling kind of agencies. Really, they couldn’t have found a more suitable agency for the audience they wanted to reach.
How did she find us? Google.
Not Google adwords, just through organic search on Google. She found our website and saw client case studies, testimonials, our services and read my bio. She saw we were suited. But she hedged her bets and emailed a few agencies.
She said to herself “Whoever emails me back on a Sunday morning has the work ethic we want”. I’m not too sure if that is actually good, but I was the one that emailed her back!
Three days later we participated in the global pitch. The agency called in from the US, and an agency from the UK also called in. I crammed like mad for a few days and we were the only agency physically in the room.
So our fingers and toes are crossed to win this account. The moral of the story: your website can get you clients if you spend time putting key word rich information on it. And I really do have a life, I just answer emails on Sundays too!
How to tweet at a conference
Have you been to a conference or event and noticed people texting on their phone, apparently not even listening to the speaker? I’m one of those people. We are listening. In fact, we are broadcasting the seminar to thousands of followers on Twitter.
For event organisers, people tweeting is a fantastic way of getting free online publicity about your event.
If you are attending, in the first instance ask if there is a hashtag for the event. Putting the hash (#) symbol in front of any character string, usually a word or a phrase, "tags" it and makes it searchable.
If there is a hashtag, use it for each tweet so people can easily follow the stream. If there isn’t a hashtag create one, so your tweets have relevance.
I usually do an initial tweet to say what event I am at, or even take a photo of the event and tweet that with the hashtag to introduce the event to my followers – and give them context.
You have followers for a reason: because they are interested in what you have to say. So at an event don’t tweet everything you hear, give your opinion as well. Tweet nuggets of information you think are interesting, relevant or broadcast worthy.
When you are tweeting speakers’ comments it’s important to attribute it to them. If they have a twitter handle include it. If they don’t, use their name or quotes marks.
Use Twitter search to follow the Twitter hashtag from time to time. This way you can see who else is tweeting at the event, retweet their tweets and even catch up in the break. It’s a great way of meeting people at events and following new people on Twitter.
You will find that those followers not at the event will reply or retweet your tweets. Remember to take the time to reply to their comments and retweets.
Dressing for TV success
Our Bron did roll call for a cooking TV show last week and we needed to plan what she was going to wear. Isobel Martin from Izziana Image says that you need to look professional and confident in what you are wearing but your clothing (i.e. visual communication) should also send out the right message to reinforce your verbal message.
You are your own brand and it is important to dress appropriately for your audience. It is better to wear a suit or dress and jacket as they are well received by audiences. Business clothing shows you are credible, an authority figure and can be taken seriously. Anything too casual will simply detract from your credibility.
As with many things, keep your outfits simple and use solid colours. Avoid anything with loud patterns, colours and jewellery that rattles. This only distracts your audience. Dark blue and grey suits are safe base colours and we recommend that you steer clear of blacks, whites and reds.
On television, black is very harsh, white reflects and makes you look larger and red bleeds. A good tip is to wear softer colours that flatter you. If the colour flatters you, you automatically look amazing and your skin gets a natural glow.
Like clothing, makeup colours play a big part in your overall look so again select colours that flatter you. A matt lipstick in a great colour will draw attention to your face.
Don’t forget about fit when selecting your clothes. You want your clothing to be comfortable so that you are not playing with them during your interview.
Ladies, it is not a good look if your skirt rides up when you sit down or if your shirt pulls at the bust area. Your audience will remember this instead of what you are saying. You will also look more professional if you wear hosiery with closed in shoes.
Upcoming events
Here are some events coming up that we thought you might be interested in:
Build a Business Advisory Dream Team
This is the second of four Let’s Talk Business Seminars run by the City of Sydney. At this seminar panelists will offer advice on how to achieve business goals and how to choose and manage your ideal accounting, mentoring and legal team. Speakers include: Bob Bell, Director, Lawler Partners, Anthony Sullivan: Director, Lawler Partners and Louise Woodbury, CEO, Quantum Dynamics; Co-Author "The Invisible Entrepreneur".
6 July 2010
Social Media Women July meeting with Kate Carruthers
How is social media blurring the boundaries between our personal, community and business lives? What are some of the issues and how can we manage them? What are the implications for privacy, publicity and protection? The very talented digital strategist Kate Carruthers will explore these shifting boundaries at the Social Media Women July meeting.
13 July 2010
The Perfect Pitch
This forum will give practitioners the opportunity to engage directly with journalists in an open forum about their needs, deadline pressures, and news cycle needs. A PR professional, blogger and journalist will explain how practitioners can work proactively to fulfill and support the day-to-day needs of journalists.
14 July 2010
ADMA Forum 2010
This Forum will bring together the world’s best marketing ideas. Speakers will offer practical tips on how to gain the best return on your marketing dollar. They will also talk about proven techniques for digital optimization and how to conduct results-driven approaches to direct marketing, multi-channel planning and customer relationships. The forum will also provide new opportunities to connect.
27 - 29 July 2010
Women, Management and Work Conference
At this conference leading women speakers will discuss equal opportunity in the workplace and strategies to achieve higher levels of women in leadership roles throughout Australia. It will encourage and inspire women to succeed in the workforce.
29 - 30 July 2010
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