funnel

5 unexpected reasons to get started with PR today

5 unexpected reasons to get started with PR today

I have many nick-names spanning from the expected (Neen, Neenz, Nini), sentimental (baby, baby girl, sweet girl) to slightly random without a back story. One of the more random nick-names came from my girl, Kishma, who went through a stage of calling me "Pretty Pants".

Here’s the back story to where that came from:

If you've been following me on social media for a while, or know me in real life, then you'll know that this British-born Nigerian girl loves patterned clothes. In case you haven't or don't, the pic above should prove my point. (Aside from African prints, I'm also partial to florals, animal prints and bright colours).

About 6 years ago, before my hair was locked, I was walking around Wood Green (a cosmopolitan shopping part of London) wearing trousers that had a black background and were embellished with bright, colourful flowers.

Long story short...

As I shuffled through the crowd and walked pass a bus stop a guy (who I had noticed watching me and hoped would leave me alone) cat called me with the phrase "Hey, Pretty Pants!" (referring to my trousers in his Jamaican accent and vernacular). I, of course, kept walking but I couldn't help but be amused by his "original" pick up line. So amused, that I laughed out loud as I walked away from him and told Kish about it the next time we met up, hence the nick-name "Pretty Pants".

Remember me saying that this happened before I locked my hair? Here's why that's an important detail...

Me and Kish actually went on to lock our hair shortly after that *clears throat* incident. Whenever people who are thinking about dreadlocks ask us questions about whether they should do it too, we often talk about the expected benefits of locking- like the low maintenance; improved health and strength of our hair- and laugh about the unexpected things- like the fact that men speak to you differently and, rather than calling you "pretty pants," "my size" and so on, use more respectful terms such as "Empress". Who knew, right?!

It's like that with PR too, sis. For example, you might be expecting PR to cause an increase to your visibility, credibility, email list and money- and rightly so! But some things that you may not be factoring in as a perk of PR (because I certainly didn't!) is:

How to set up a PR funnel

How to set up a PR funnel

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!

How Bri avoided making THE #1 funnel mistake (and you can too!)

How Bri avoided making THE #1 funnel mistake (and you can too!)

When Bri first approached me, she knew that she wanted me to copywrite the email nurture sequence that would go out automatically once people signed up for her freebie.

As such, one of the first things that I did was talk to her about how important a nurture sequence is for:

  • Creating multiple touch points with new leads

  • Building that all-important know, like and trust factor

  • Persuading them (in a non-sleazy way) that you/your product or service are the solution to their problems, leading them to ultimately buy from you.

I then took it as my personal responsibility to help her avoid THE greatest mistake that people make when creating nurture sequences-

What rice can teach us about PR funnels

What rice can teach us about PR funnels

In my culture, which is Nigerian, rice is a staple meal. When I cook plain rice (as opposed to our famous jollof), I like to use a sieve at the end of the process so that it's completely separated from the water that it was boiling in and it doesn't become soggy (I can't stand wet rice!). This then leaves me with a perfect batch of fluffy rice, ready to eat with a some stew and fried plantain (dodo). This filtering process is very similar to what should happen in PR (when it's done correctly). For example: