PR

Read more about the article Is freelance work for you?

Is freelance work for you?

Fed up with working for someone else and enduring the office politics? Want a bit more freedom? Then perhaps the world of freelance working is for you. I’ve been freelance for many years now and wouldn’t change virtually any of it. The freedom of being able to pick and choose clients (that’s if work is plentiful and believe me that’s not always the case), being flexible with working hours and being answerable to yourself is a real bonus but it doesn’t work for everyone.

 

So what are the plus points of freelance:

  • Working hours can be flexible so you can pick the children up from school, go for that dog walk or just plan your own time
  • Working from home so the commute is only a minute but you do need a home office
  • Picking and choosing what work you do
  • Everything you earn goes straight to you
  • Maximising your skills to their true ability
  • Allowing the possibility of doing some charitable or volunteer work alongside paid work
  • Flexibility on how much you work and what you work on. It can be full time, part time or even just 1 day a week

 

And the downsides:

  • Freelance can mean long hours and often finishing work in the evening or weekends
  • Working on your own can be lonely so ensure you have colleagues to chat to and bounce ideas off
  • You need to do your own tax return and budget finances – that July or January summons from HMRC for tax is depressing so make sure you always put money aside
  • No pension or benefits – again plan your finances
  • No office benefits of away days, expenses lunches or office chat
  • Always looking out for the next piece of work so you don’t suddenly have a dearth of work so you must be visible to your market
  • Working out your charge out fee – this often has to vary depending on the client and in the world of PR it’s usually fixed. All too often we can put in far more hours than we’re actually paid for as you want to produce the best work. You have to keep monitoring this.
  • It needs self motivation to sit down and work each morning

 

But freelance work is becoming far more common, especially post pandemic, as it allows companies to bring in experts for their expertise on certain projects without employing them while giving workers flexibility. So if you’re thinking this is the life for me – and I’d highly recommend it – then go for it and follow your dream!

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Read more about the article How to do your own PR

How to do your own PR

Given that we are a PR company, telling people how to do their own PR should be like shooting ourselves in the foot. However, our advice to small companies, whose budgets may be very tight, is to gently tip their toe in the water and do a little PR yourself before engaging a PR company as this way you will have defined exactly what you want from it. But make it a priority on the marketing schedule – don’t leave it until late on Friday afternoon when creative juices may have dried up.

  1. Define what you want from PR – don’t just think you want 5 articles in the national press in your first week because this is unlikely to happen unless you have some incredible announcement. PR is usually a slow burn and is about increasing awareness and building brand or company loyalty.
  2. Define your target audience – a big mistake many companies make in the early stages is thinking their audience is everyone. Think hard about who you’re aiming at and target all PR material to them.
  3. Set out a realistic strategy that you can commit to. So work out a plan of what you want to say, when you want to say it and what are the key messages.
  4. Define your key messages – what is your brand or organisation about and what is its USP.
  5. Select which media channels you want to use – press releases and targeting press are often the bedrock of PR and are a good place to start. But remember to make your press releases succinct, newsy and relevant – no journalist will read through pages of long winded script about how wonderful you are. Social media is a key part of PR but choose the channel or channels that works for your audience and again make it interesting and relevant.
  6. Get writing and start to target press, social media, events etc. Remember your audience are busy people, as are journalists, so don’t pester them – simply get the information out there in a newsworthy way.
  7. Monitor your progress – have you reached the goals you want and is it working? If not refine it but give yourself some months before assessing its success as it won’t come overnight unless you’re very fortunate.

So this simple guide can help you get started. We are here to help so if you feel this is beyond you or you simply don’t have time speak to us to give you a helping hand.

Good luck!

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