Tea, biscuits and a 15-min PR plan ☕️

Ep 80: PR for Freelancers with Melissa Hobson

Hi friend, happy Friday.

What’s your biggest win this week?

An article I wrote for a biomed client got cited in a scientific journal (💅), which I’m very excited about. It nicely validates our efforts to create high-quality content for scientific audiences that aren’t experts in this particular field.

But that’s not the science I’m bringing you today.

No, I’m talking about the verifiable fact that as soon as you decide to take a week off, your inbox exploooodes.

I’ve got a week’s leave coming up, so while I should be checking off the 57 other things on my pre-hol to-do list, I really wanted to pop into your inbox quickly to let you know about the latest episode of the 15 Minute Freelancer podcast.

So let’s keep this short and snappy.

(“No, please send me a longer email,” said no one ever.)

Tell me, what’s your fave way to attract freelance clients?

✅ Referrals

✅ Content marketing

✅ Cold pitching

😱 PR

If PR isn’t part of your lead-generating routine, you’re not alone.

Getting in front of the right eyes and ears might feel a bit daunting. And those other 57 plates aren’t going to spin themselves. Who has time to pitch journalists? Why would those journalists want to hear from little ol’ me?

But you don’t have to be a big biz with a big story to make a splash. (Pun intended, wait for it 🐳)

My guest today is Melissa Hobson, a PR and comms consultant to marine organisations (there it is). Melissa breaks down her super simple “tea and biscuits” approach to help you whip up a PR plan in no time.

We discuss:

• Why you shouldn't overlook PR as a strategy to attract clients

• How to identify the right outlets to pitch (and what to actually say)

• How to get speak to journalists without breaking a sweat

• Planned vs. spontaneous PR tactics

• Hashtags to watch

Listen here »

➡️ 15 Minute Action: Put the kettle on, grab a choc dig, and start noting down the publications, journals, magazines, blogs, podcasts, YouTube shows (you get the idea!) that your ideal clients like to read, watch and listen to.

Now, consider where there might be opportunities for you to write for those outlets, contribute to an interview or participate in any of those shows. How can you make the creator’s life easier and add value to their audiences?

Pitching might be for another day, but you can start to get a feel for the ones you’d like to focus on. Follow the editors, journalists and creators from these orgs on Twitter/LinkedIn so you can start to build a relationship.

This might also be a great task to ask your VA to help with.

If you find this episode useful, you might also enjoy this one with PR consultant Kerri Watt. That conversation focused on building a thriving business without sales or discovery calls, but we touched on PR tips for freelancers too.

Tell me how you get on.

(And a wee reminder that if you’d like to ask a question for an upcoming Ask Me Anything episode, you can record your question here: memo.fm/15/.)

Until next time, happy freelancing!

Louise xx