According to Andrew Davis (bestselling author and internationally acclaimed keynote speaker), content marketing is important because “content builds relationships. Relationships are built on trust [and] trust drives revenue.” In line with this, Disney's documentary on Stan Lee (aptly named after him) is a masterclass on exactly what it takes to achieve those results in your business (whether you are creating content on your own platforms or other’s) as it relates to the following principles:
"If you want to learn something, read about it. If you want to understand something, write about it, and if you want to master something, then teach it." (Yogi Bhajan)
This quote from my current favourite book, The Diary of a CEO (by Steven Bartlett), essentially means that “the ability to simplify and successfully share an idea with others is both the path to understanding it and the proof that you do”. When we apply this way of thinking, it's then safe to say that I'm an expert in my field and so is every business owner who shares helpful information with their clients one-to-one, through content marketing on blogs, social media, or any other medium.
You’re probably reading this and wondering why I’m sharing this. Well, I often find that when I talk to entrepreneurs about pitching the media, I get responses like, "Nina, I can’t because I don’t feel like I’ve arrived” or “I don’t know enough yet” or “I’m no expert, why would people want to listen to me?”.
I disagree with this, and so does Bhajan.
At the beginning of 2022, when Instagram's algorithm changed (yet again) I became so disillusioned with social media that I ended up taking a 9 month hiatus.
I was sick of planning, creating and editing content only to post to crickets aka:
Limited reach
Little to no engagement
stunted growth and so on
Despite the fact that most gurus would have you believe that not engaging in social media marketing is suicide, I continued to get more visible, attract dream clients and get paid through PR.
Ever wondered if you could do the same?
If you’ve been in the online marketing space for a while, you may have heard the phrase “facts tell; stories sell”.
You may also have been encouraged by well meaning coaches to “share your story” to better connect with your ideal clients and, ultimately, sell your products or services.
The problem with this advice is that it can create more questions than answers
Like:
How much of my story should I tell?
Can I be authentic and relatable without oversharing?
Who even wants to hear my story, let alone publish it on their media platform, anyway?!
If you’ve been asking one (or more) of those questions, this post is for you! Here’s what you need to know:
What I love about PR is that it allows me to consistently and scalably create content without burning out
This is important because, according to Hub Spot's Ultimate Guide to Branding, "branding [through content creation]...gives consumers something to relate to and connect with".
"How does PR allow for all of this?" You say?
By helping me to follow Gary Vaynerchuk's sage content creation advice: "Document. Don't create".
In other words...
I always say that when I was a little girl I was a hybrid between girly girl and tomboy. Like on one hand, I adored Disney, dressing up and playing with my Barbies. Yet on the other hand, I loved WWE wrestling, got hurt climbing things or jumping off them all the time and adored superhero cartoons like Spiderman, Xmen and more.
Not much has changed as an adult either and I love that Disney+ literally allows me to satisfy both sides of me. Like, all my favourite Disney princesses and Marvel movies all in the same place? Yes please!
My favourite thing about both types of movies is seeing how the heroes in these stories came to be (their origin stories). Do you know who else loves a good origin story? Podcast, radio and conference hosts. So much so that "how did you first get started in business?" (or a variation of it) is always asked in interviews.
If you're anything like me, your business started as something that you did naturally for yourself that people:
Saw that you had a talent for
Hated doing/could not do for themselves
Were willing to pay you to do for them or coach them through so that they could learn to do it too
and then it just grew and evolved from there.
Well the same is true for PR, sis…
The ladies that I work with are capable, inspirational CEOs, founders, authors and more that are at the top of their game. They are also wives and mothers who, are not only balancing their businesses, they are balancing the ebb and flow of family life. With so much going on in life and business, a lot of them come to me knowing that they can delegate media pitching to me so that they can get more visible, attract their dream clients and get paid what they want (without having to use their last morsel of brain power to get it done). However, there is sometimes a learning curve for them in terms of understanding that It takes a PR funnel to make this happen and how all the pieces come together to do so. Can you relate, sis? Well, consider this post your glossary!
When Kendra first approached me for my PR services, she knew that she needed help with getting her book out there but wasn't sure how to go about it. One of the first things that I did was talk to her about how important it is to have a media one-sheet and freebie. I then took it as my personal responsibility to help her avoid these 3 common mistakes that people make when creating freebies:
