A Masterful Way To Raise A Profile

About four years ago I received an email from the Guardian that both thrilled and scared me: Would I be interested in hosting a couple of Guardian Masterclasses? One exploring freelancing for journalists, the other focussed on how PRs and small businesses can improve their press coverage. A former colleague at the Guardian had recommended me. I knew I should jump at the chance – it could potentially lead to something – but I felt nervous. Running a masterclass for the Guardian? Eeek. To cut a long story short, I accepted the PR Masterclass gig. The programme leaders viewed the session as a success and on the back of it they lined me up to run sessions every quarter or so. Seizing the opportunity and disliking the fact it was just for Londoners (or those on the outskirts), I decided to set up my own workshops across the UK - where I will have met some of you in person - before jumping into webinars, courses, and so on. If I never said yes, I doubt I would be emailing you now. Although I've stuck to journalism and that will remain my core focus, it's meant that I'm a little less worried about money than I used to be. It leveraged me to become an expert, super charged me as a teacher, brought with it countless opportunities, and also helped me feel comfortable with public speaking.

So why should this backstory interest you? Because there's an opportunity for you or your client to host classes or courses with national titles.

The Guardian is investing heavily in its masterclasses and is constantly searching for experts to host classes on a range of different subjects.

If you're looking for a new way to raise your or your client's profile, why not pitch yourself or your clients to become a Guardian Masterclass host? Becoming a teacher can give you/your client a dash of gravitas – and ultimately help sell some more products/services.

Their timetable showcases a list of experts ranging from life coach Fiona Buckland to business strategist Simon Alexander Ong.

Here's the Pitch Your Masterclass page, which features a pitching form. Add details for yourself/your client, what are you pitching - a one-day workshop or three-hour session, for example, and include your bio – do flag up if you have lecturing experience, and if you have a particularly sizable following on social media.

The Times has followed suit and now runs masterclasses and courses via its website. Allyson Stewart-Allen, CEO of International Marketing Partners, has run one on personal branding, designer and maker Nicole Akong has hosted a session on dressmaking, while Lucy Gough regularly leads workshops on styling your home.

Why we can't respond to every email

Emails. They’re the bane of our lives, aren’t they? I’m not sure how you manage your inbox but for most journalists there’s always a never-ending trail of messages hurtling through at a faster pace than you can ever manage to read them. Probably the same for anyone who works on a laptop.

Now as much as I try to instill kindness and doing good in this world, I will say that for many journalists, it is impossible to reply to every email. Now I had someone pop into my LinkedIn messages disagreeing with me on this recently, arguing that they themselves were a boss, managing a large number of people and juggling lots of various gigs, but they still replied to every email. Good on them. And while I try to respond to personalised emails (rather than generic press releases and pitches that have just swapped a another hack’s name for mine), I know that when you’re on a news desk – when you’re working fast and furiously, focused on that story, building on it, calling sources, meeting people, trying another case study after one just pulled out…while at the same time juggling 12 different stories, as well as perhaps inputting them the system, training the new member of staff, heading to Brussels for a conference and attending yet another internal meeting, it's an impossible task.

I know some people will still argue that we should then continue working till 9pm till we do respond, but I disagree. Instead stories and sources are a priority and producing that TV report for the 7pm news or working on that front page. By the time you want to reply to those emails another 1000 might have come through the inbox. So it’s a trade off: do you want brilliant journalism or someone with a damn good email etiquette?

I hope you understand. We’re not terrible people (most of us anyway) and in an ideal world we’d reply to every email, but the nature of the game means it’s overwhelming (it doesn’t help that our inboxes are often overflowing with irrelevant stories) and impossible without impacting our work or our personal lives.

Thanks for reading,

Susie

Do We Need Another Gift?

Everyone loves a gift, don’t they? I remember back in the day when I worked as an in-house journalist and we’d be sent piles of products to the office to try, to keep, but in reality for many, journalists, to pass on as presents or sell on EBay. It was the height of consumerism. More, more, more, please. 

Now things look a little different. We are more thoughtful about what we purchase, we look for brands that are more eco or are plastic-free. We remind ourselves not to be wasteful.   

Recently a PR dropped me a line as she wanted to send me something to celebrate a client’s birthday. It was a transport company and I wondered what they would send me, if I would use it, or would it be a waste of packaging and product. I politely said that I was cutting back on things I didn’t need/wouldn’t use so if they felt it might sit in that category, I’d decline it.   

Now I’m not saying I don’t like the odd gift – in fact here’s some dairy-free yoghurt coming to me this week – but living in the world where we have too much stuff, we might need to consider how we approach sending products to journalists (I’m not talking about samples, reviews, etc).

One route around this might be to ask they journalist if they are accepting gifts and perhaps be clear on what you plan to send – for instance, I’ve had people send me (non-vegan) chocolate before when I’m 98% plant-based now (allowing for the odd slip up when I’m travelling although this rarely happens now). People are also cutting back on booze so sending over alcohol can often be a no no.

Also, be wary of the type of - and how much - packaging you use. I always prefer reused packaging but this might not go down well with your editor at Vogue but perhaps your sustainable approach it can be explained. Too much wasteful packaging and the attention for the product you sent to said journalist at a national might be overshadowed by them flagging up the excess packaging on social media. I see this happen quite often so be wary of that too.

Thanks for reading,

Susie

Are You Making Journalists Jump Through Hoops?

One of the most common questions in my workshops is how to build relationships with journalists. Key to that is simply being great at your job. For instance, here's not to do it:

Recently I sent an email to an in-house PR recently asking if more people had joined said organisation as a result of the pandemic or environmental issues. Instead of explaining in a line or two she sent me a link to the company's latest report- which I had to fill in a form to download and tick to accept to receive further correspondence from them and be added to the mailing list (there was no way round this so I emailed her back just asking for the report as an attachment). I then read the report which highlighted that membership had increased but within the stats there was no explanation as to why. I had to then go back to ask if they thought it was down to those two reasons, and she replied asking how much time she could have to respond.

A very weird dialogue. You'd expect the PR manager of such organisation to be able to just share anecdotally rather than sending you to a form and then pointing you in direction of a report which failed to answer questions. I simply wanted to know if the query was correct so I could inform my editor.

I'm still waiting for answer to a simple question.

I mention this as how you work with journalists means everything. Creating an easy and simple dialogue and answering questions quickly, means we would want to work with you again. Extending the process out, being uninformed (I wasn't looking for a quote) tells the journalists that is going to be hard work.

It also highlighted how much I appreciate it when I work with on-the-ball PRs and businesses. So thank you to all you out there that make our lives so much easier.

Thanks

Susie

Following Up On Emails To Journalists

Muckrack recently launched its State of PR report just a couple of months after the State of Journalism one which I missed because I was travelling.

When it comes to pitching, the study found that the majority (78%) of PRs believe one to two follow-up emails to journalists is acceptable. One in five say that three or more is acceptable. (Can I throw in here - please do not send me more than one follow-up!).

In my workshop and course I suggest that is it always worth following up that pitch – caveat here – if it's a good strong pitch that would work for the title. Please don't follow up on pitches that the journalist would never write about (I'm thinking of all the random emails that fall into my inbox, for example, sales of garden centre products, or Easter round-ups, which are far off the mark for what I would ever cover).

Many of the follow ups I receive don't even include my name (neither did the initial email, to be fair) and are such generic press releases – for example, 'Best university towns with pubs' – that sending and chasing is a waste of everyone's time. I do eventually end up blocking many.

Remember I'm in the same boat as yourselves – I pitch for a living so you have my sympathy. I know how tough it can be. And often I need to follow up myself, and it's only through being persistent and checking up on that initial pitch that I've secured commissions. But you have to learn to give up, renose that pitch and find a title where it'll work.

And just to add here: sadly, I and most journalists don't have time to respond to every email that lands in our inbox – although many times I have, explaining they're so wide of the mark, still, the following week another off-the-mark pitch will seep through.

Enjoy the rest of the week.

Thanks

Susie

My Flight Free Adventure Across Spain & France

I'm back after an epic six-week flight-free adventure across France and Spain. I arrived back at London St Pancras International station with my suitcase and backpack (yup, that's right - two sets of luggage. I tried so hard to condense my belongings but it just didn't work) on Wednesday evening, and remained on cloud nine for quite a few days. Not surprising given there was a local literary festival on my doorstep, fireworks to celebrate the jubilee, friends to catch up with and dancing at Mighty Hoopla festival, which is always a giant ball of fun.

And now, well, the post-holiday blues have definitely hit. Maybe that's why I spent part of this morning checking out how to reach Georgia and Egypt without flying. Seat61.com is one of my favourite travel websites. I can (and do) spend hours on there. 

Anyhow, this is the breakdown of the trip: London > Bordeaux > San Sebastián > Burgos > Seville > Tarifa > Granada > Alpujarras > Madrid > Sitges/Barcelona > Cadasques > Narbonne > Toulouse > Paris > London.

Like I shared on this LinkedIn post, the days were filled with magical experiences. I met so many new people. I hiked. Lost multiple pairs of sunglasses (hence why I always buy them from charity shops!). Heaved those bags onto multiple buses and up hundreds of steps. I worked from trains. Sunbathed in glorious coves. It felt like forever. Time slowed.

It's cemented a greater desire to travel more. To pack my bags and move abroad. And to do so sustainably. Forget heavy carbon-emitting planes. Travelling by train to many parts of Europe at least is pretty easy and accessible to most. And more of an adventure.

Now to reflect before plotting the next trip (or move if I can bag a visa) in the autumn. It's so much harder now that we're out of the EU. Grrrr.

I did work along the way (and rented out my place) but decided to reduce my hours to make it work – I didn't want to travel and then not properly see places.

While I re-adjust, please let me know what you'd like to see me cover in future newsletters.

I look forward to bringing you more journalist and PR-related tips soon.

Thanks

Susie

Why Journalists Are Leaving The Industry

Image by Etienne Boulanger

With living costs rising, I wanted to talk this week about journalism rates. Some people (not PRs, of course) are surprised to find out that no, we're not paid by clicks, or how well received our pieces are (we don't need more click-bait journalism, although perhaps I wouldn't be saying that if I received a pound for every view of a recent BBC article).

But while bills are increasing, there's one thing that's not going up and that's journalism rates. In fact, some freelance journalism rates are the SAME or LOWER than circa 2010. And even before. Imagine. If I think back to the freelance rates set at a trade title I first started at, the figure seems like a decent amount compared to some places now. Some more well-established tabloid journalists say that they're not even receiving half as much as they used to in the 90s. These days some online titles pay you around £90 for an article. The Guardian and BBC pay around £350 per 1000 words and £326 respectively (quite decent compared to everyone else). If you want to see how much other titles pay, you can check out this handy Freelance Fees Guide, where you can drill down into local news, magazines, books, etc.

Speak to any freelance journalist and they'll no doubt agree that it's a tough out there. Money is one of the key reasons why many journalists leave the industry, perhaps to go into roles some of you are in (PR/comms). Many like me have diversified into other areas and are juggling a few balls. If we still want to be a journalist, we simply have to. I know many who have added copywriter, celebrant, coach, and other jobs that don't begin with the letter 'c' to their bow. (Another popular choice is lecturing, as well as writing books). I actually love discovering what other career paths are out there.

As for me, I'm forever grateful that the Guardian contacted me about four years ago to run its PR masterclasses. Although journalism resolutely remains my focus, as many of you will know, that invite paved the way for me to start running my own workshops, setting up a course, creating Power Hours and a content network matching talented journalists with PRs and business owners. I also let out my home when I'm not there, which has been a lifesaver over the past five years. These other revenue streams have meant I can focus more on the kind of journalism I want to write.

I understand that publishers are having a torrid time, but these paltry rates need to stop. Stop giving overinflated pay packets and bonuses to the people at the top and start paying freelancers (and in-house journalists) a decent rate instead.

Have a great rest of the week.

Susie

Don't Always Blame This On The Journalist

Image by Glenn Carstens-Peters

I grimace when I spot a typo, a grammatical mistake or another kind of error in my published work. Of course, the eagle-eyed amongst you will probably spot one or two in this newsletter, and I can just about live with that. But it's not just my own errors that can really erk me. Recently one of my case studies spotted that 10 years had been shaved her age. I was sure I'd included her correct age. I checked the filed copy. I had. Phew. In another piece the owner of a company grumbled that his company was named incorrectly. Mortified, I checked. Again the slip up hadn't been my fault. I was bewildered that somehow errors had somehow actually been injected into my copy. Of course I emailed the editor who apologised and the mistakes were rectified.

I just wanted to point this out for the next time you're emailing a journalist about an error in an article because there's a very strong chance it's not their fault (unless you know they're the chief writer, sub and editor, and then it's down to the fact that they're simply understaffed).

I don't mind people emailing when they've spotted an error but don't assume it's down to the journalist. And remember, journalists generally don't write headlines. Maybe that's a whole other newsletter.

Thanks for reading.

Susie

Consider This When You're Organising A Press Trip

Image by Josh Nezon

I was impressed last week when a press trip invite landed in my inbox offering to pay for journalists to travel to the exhibition (Norwegian Presence) in Oslo by train. Agency Zetteler emailed to say the team would be travelling to London to Oslo by train (already earning my respect as fellow environmentalists) and invited journalists to join them on the adventure, throwing in a link to Seat 61 and outlining that from London it would be 3-day, 2-night stop-over journey via Paris, Brussels and Copenhagen. Flagging up that they had partnered with Byway Travel to manage the whole journey for everyone, no matter where they were travelling from (not all journalists live in London), they even said if people wanted to come by any other means of public transport, they would cover that too.

Bravo team Zetterler. Readers of this newsletter will probably know this would capture my attention. I've flown once (when I suddenly had to leave Berlin when borders were closing in the midst of the pandemic) since 2018, when I really started to understand the climate emergency we're in. I understand this isn't possible for everyone (what with families and relationships abroad), but for me, I think now I will only fly if there's no other way to get there, really (anyone else fancy travelling to America by cargo ship?!).

The invite came on the back of a story I just wrote about people giving up flying. Funnily enough I was invited to a press trip to Nigeria the very next day.

Now I know many journalists will still fly to go on press trips but I do know some people are reducing their flights. I think if you're going to invite hacks abroad at least offer to cover alternative means of getting there. There's lots of talk from companies about how they're trying to be green etc, and a lot of it is greenwashing, but actually stepping up and offering an alternative to flying just proves how much you truly mean it.

Also, I wrote about this initiative a few years back but while I'm here, it's worth mentioning Climate Perks, a scheme that works with climate-conscious employers to offer at least two paid “journey days” per year to staff who travel on holiday by train, coach or boat instead of flying. Perhaps one to encourage your company to sign up to.

Thanks for reading.
Susie

Don't Lose A Press Opportunity This Way

Photo by Souvik Banerjee

Hi everyone

Hope you're all enjoying February.

If I can't find a press email address on a company's website, one thing I regularly do is tweet the business (if it's an active account) to ask for a number or email for press enquiries. Often I receive a response, some times it might come through a week or so after I fired off that tweet, and many times no one responds. Obviously there's other ways I might contact the company – finding the CEO on LinkedIn, for example – but if you or your client do have active social media accounts, it really is worth them checking in on them regularly. With a lack of response to their general email address, this week I contacted a company via Twitter for a media email address for a potential interview for a BBC article and pinged a message to the CEO on LinkedIn. It's very likely in the next few hours I'll just find another company, meaning they've lost a great press opportunity.

Two week's today I'll be running my first in-person workshop in London in two years. Fancy learning more about how you or your client can boost your press coverage?  Join us in London on February 24.

And remember if you can't make my workshop, you have until end of February to secure 10% off my online course, Lessons from a Journalist: How to Secure Press Coverage. Just enter the code Winter10 at the checkout. ps If you have attended the same-name workshop or webinars, you're entitled to 50% off my course. Just drop me an email and I'll sort it out for you.

Thanks for reading. 

Susie

Homage To The Wonderful Press Officers Out There

Photo by Joppe Spaa

Hi everyone

I hope January has been kind to you.

Recently I've worked with a couple of standout press officers who have really gone over and beyond what I've asked for. For example, I was in touch with one organisation as a leftfield way of sourcing case studies and within hours she sent over a bunch over from her organisation, two of which ended up working for two separate pieces. In another email, I simply sounded her out about if she'd heard of any dairy farmers who'd turned vegan or started working in the vegan industry. Soon enough she whizzed over several strong case studies and threw in her own extra pearls of wisdom. As she's been such a joy to work with and I've now written about the organisation several times, we're looking to go for a beach walk together soon (she lives in Margate, which helps - as you know, I find it hard to go for coffees/have meetings due to time, but actually this will be very much be an good strong equal relationship).

The other superstar PR is the press officer of a climate organisation who has been an absolute gem in helping source case studies (non of which were directly from her own bank) but several times now she's contacted potential case studies on my behalf, sent over mobile numbers, and planted seeds of information for where to look for other case studies. Honestly, when you're struggling for case studies, acts like these are god-like.

Those press officers have gone beyond the call of duty and it has paid off. I'm now regularly quoting the first one (obviously only where relevant) and the second one I'm now planning to include in a forthcoming article for a national. 

Thanks for reading.

Susie

How To Make A Journalist Happy

Photo by Gülfer ERGİN

Hi everyone

Happy January. I hope you're enjoying the start to the new year.

About four years ago I listened to a talk by moral philosopher Peter Singer at Hay Festival where he posed the question: what would you do if you saw a young boy drowning in a pond? Well, of course, if you're physically able to you'd try to save him, wouldn't you? But then, he asked, if we know millions of children are dying as a result of say poverty or malaria worldwide every year why aren't we saving them? It was a thought-provoking question. And so this was Singer's powerful introduction into the subject of effective altruism – doing the most good you can do – and exploring one of the ways you can help achieve that: by pledging to donate a significant portion of your income (usually 10% or more) to effective charities, ones where your money goes the furthest in terms of helping people, namely by saving lives.

His talk stayed with me. I bought one of his books at the festival, signed up to donate to effective charities (through an organisation called GiveWell), lined up an interview with Singer himself, and wrote an article for the Observer on people who have pledged to donate 10% or more of their income for their working life. Admittedly I've not signed the pledge myself (honestly as a result of not affluent enough with a career in journalism but there's people on lower incomes than I who have committed) but I've kind of been obsessed with the movement ever since and have knocked out pieces about it for the i newspaper and more recently the BBC.

I'm bringing this up as recently Giving What We Can (GWWC), the organisation which people pledge through and who helped me source the great case studies, emailed me after the BBC piece had gone live to show me a chart of the people who had signed up the pledge as a result of reading the article. In a world where you're fervently working away on an article, which might garner perhaps with the odd retweet and share, before you're busy squirrelling away on the next, that email lightened up my day and made it feel all worthwhile. More often than not us journalists never really find out the results of our articles so to receive an email that highlighted what had happened after it had gone into the ether was really heartwarming. I thanked them for sharing that.

I covered the organisation in a Guardian piece at the start of this year and again GWWC sent me a quick email to say people had joined after reading the piece. Now I don't expect journalists would want continual updates and about anything (for example, if they'd written about a new retail POS system and 20 independents had bought it as a result of their piece - and I'm not knocking that as I used to cover the retail industry - or rather if a lawyer's website had received 2,000 hits thanks to that divorce piece in the Telegraph), but I do think sometimes – when it calls for it – to share a strong reaction to a piece, especially when it might make them feel fuzzy inside, would be appreciated. In a world of gloom, showing us why we do what we do despite the low pay and so on, can be wonderful, and also beneficial for relationship building too.

Thanks for reading.

Have a great week.

Susie

Merry Christmas (Whatever That May Look Like!)

Photo by Austin Distel

Hi everyone

Well, it got me. In a cruel twist of fate, just in time for Christmas too. Damn! That'll be the second festive season away from my parents; their presents from last year will remain here another year (they're quite heavy hence taking them on the train).

Still, I'm far from the only one spending Christmas alone and I'm turning to a positive mindset and attempting to seek out joy every day in get me through. Yesterday I fell in love with Cindy Gallop after watching a video of her cutting through all the bullshit surrounding women's bodies, dating, and sex, and tuned into Katherine May's podcast about hiking with Cheryl Strayed, author of Wild. Like lying in a big bubble bath. Anyway, today I enjoyed brunch on the terrace with the sun shining. Thankfully I have a mountain of work to keep me occupied too. Not sure about you but I find it impossible to be bored.

In more positive news, I wanted to say a big THANK YOU to everyone who has read the newsletter, messaged me, forwarded the newsletter to new subscribers, and generally supported me over the past year. As always, I really do appreciate it. 

I'll still be working over the Christmas period but best to steer away from pitching me until January as I have my hands full with a number of commissions which is a nice position to be in, especially it can often be a famine at this time of year.
 

I wish you all a healthy and safe Christmas and a wonderful new year.

Thanks

Susie

When A Brilliant Pitch Lands...

Photo by AbsolutVision

Hi everyone

I hope everyone is well and has avoided THE COLD (I've been hit by three colds and a chest infection over the past two months...woe me!) and Covid so far this autumn.

Earlier this month I received an interesting, unique pitch from a PR which caught my attention. I can't always respond to emails very quickly due to the sheer number that fly in, but I'd met this PR at one of my workshops a couple of years back from which we'd always had a friendly email correspondence. Her email was sat in my flagged emails for a couple of weeks at least but when I had a quiet moment last week I was able to respond.

Due to being a newsletter subscriber too she was able to inject a personal and friendly slant to the email. But the pitch itself caught my eye as it was unique and different (and not directly about her client's business) - I personally hadn't seen a piece about the subject matter in the titles I write for. Straight away I could see myself pitching a few publications on the back of it. There was a strong headline accompanying it, which was in the subject line too. Catching my attention I told the PR I really liked the idea and that I'd try pitching a certain title, which I did shortly afterwards - using a similar headline to the PR and adding my own take on the angle too. And then moments later the editor commissioned me. Voila!

I just wanted to highlight how a strong headline and a personalised and a distinctive pitch (which I know a lot of you do already) rather than press releases (which form the bulk of my inbox) can land to coverage. I'll flag up the pitch in my workshops.

Enjoy the rest of the week.

Thanks
Susie

Avoid Doing This To A Journalist...

Hi everyone

Hope you're all doing really well. I'm feeling inspired and invigorated after spending a week up in Glasgow for COP26. 

I talk about relationship building heavily in my workshops (one coming up in London on December 16 – details below) and my course, but I was just reminded to bring it up after I chased and chased an external PR over the past month. And then again this week. While 'ghosting' is a term often flung around in more dating circles, it's happening more and more in the professional sphere too (I'm sure you're always on the receiving end of it from journalists too). It took several emails to grab the attention of the press team, then once they told me they'd look into the enquiry and come back to me, they ignored the rest of my emails. It wasn't at all a critical story where they might have thought the ignoring tactic might make the journalist disappear, but I was mystified as to why the PR did not respond (I did also try to call). It was only when I cc'd in two of her colleagues that she finally came back to me (blaming the client, of course). I know we're all busy but ignoring a handful of emails doesn't make for good relationships.

Thanks
Susie

Remember To Include This In Your Emails To Journalists

Photo by Brett Jordan

Hi everyone

Hope you're well.

Remember when you're pitching or answering a ResponseSource to explain what your or the company you represent actually does. I often receive emails eagerly replying to a call out with things like 'CableRA' can comment on this and then detailing the ways they can get involved. Or similarly just people introducing their companies to me by email and yes with a handy hyperlink but not providing any description as to what the business is. A description is such a simple (and necessary) point to add and can mean the difference between a time-poor journalist just deleting your email (as you know some of us are receiving hundreds a day) and choosing to respond to another email which has explained what kind of company it is you're talking about.

Some good news: I'm back on the road again! Well, I've just booked to hold my first physical PR workshop in London in almost two years on December 16. I hope some of you can make it. Please do share with your teams or contacts. I'm holding it in north London as it's a much bigger space than my previous London venue.

Also, if you can't make it, fear not. There's LOADS of tips throughout my online course, Lessons from a Journalist: How to Secure Press Coverage, which is packed with detail on everything from how to write a successful press release to interesting ways to build relationships with journalists. There's now 10% off the course. Just enter the code Winter10 at the checkout*.

Also, head below to check out the AMAZING email I received (without any prompt!) hours after a PR enjoyed a successful Power Hour with one of the brilliant journalists in my network.

Have a lovely rest of the week.

Thanks

Susie

ps If you have attended the same-name workshop or webinars, you're entitled to 50% off my course. Just drop me an email and I'll sort it out for you.
 

Hold Off The Caps Lock

Photo by Glenn Carstens-Peters

Hi everyone

Hope you're well.

A very small simple tip this week: please use lower case letters when referring to job titles in press releases and in comments sent over to the press. Maybe your clients cap it up, maybe you have a personal preference, but anyway, it's another bugbear for journalists (yes, you know there's a big list out there). It just makes our lives easier when we're cutting and pasting from press releases and so on. Also, look out for other terms that don't need to be capped. For example, I often see the seasons unnecessarily in capital letters.

I'm looking into roaming the country again with my physical workshops and I wanted to sound out if attending workshops in person is something people feel comfortable with or would you prefer to learn online? Also, if anyone wants a session for their group, team, community, please let me know. And, if you know of any affordable spaces do let me know as I feel Covid-19 means I need bigger spaces than some of the ones I have booked previously and they tend to be £££.

Have a great rest of the week.

Thanks

Susie

How Not To Handle Phone Calls

Photo by Annie Spratt

Hi everyone
 

Hope you're well.

Firstly, thank you so much for your kind messages and support after my last email. Many of you shared your own personal experiences of brain fog and fatigue, showing clearly that there's definitely a kind of pandemic burnout hanging over us. Or indeed, long Covid.

I've wanted to talk about phone calls for a while. I was prompted to cover the subject earlier in the week after a PR left me a voice message. Now I know cold pitching is god damn hard, never mind when you're trying to sell in a story over the phone and I note it's often the younger PRs encouraged to do this. Now in the most recent voicemail left by a PR I couldn't even tell you what she said, who she was, or where she was calling from. She clearly wanted to get the call over and done as soon as possible, but it just left her message completely incomprehensible. 

Another thing to be beware of is the length of the voicemail. Often I have messages from PRs that are three minutes long. THREE MINUTES. No one should leave a voice message that long. And often what I'm hearing is a whole press release being read out to me. "Hi Susie, I'm calling from x. Our client is launching a new solutions tool to create the perfect hybrid office." I know many experienced PRs don't do this, but just to say, please don't come across as robotic or as if you're reading from a press release. If you need to leave a voice message pitching in a story, and to be honest, no one really does for me (I don't work on a news desk), make it brief, interesting, and get to the point quickly: why should I be writing about it?

Have a great rest of the week.

Thanks

Susie

An opportunity to hear from City journalist Alex Lawson

Photo by Sam McGhee

Hi everyone
 

Hope you're keeping cool in this sweltering weather.

Just a small newsletter this week before I head off to Latitude festival (shout if you're going too!).

If you're interested in finding out what kind of stories City journalists are after, I have a very useful pre-recorded webinar with the lovely Alex Lawson, senior City correspondent at the Mail on Sunday, available for you to watch.

Costing just £9.99, over the duration of the webinar Alex discusses:

* How and when best to pitch him

* What kind of stories he's interested in

* Other parts of the business section companies and individuals should target

* And much much more

I've known Alex for about eight years and I really think it is worth watching if you're a PR.

You can sign up for the webinar here.

The good news is that if you're a subscriber to my paid newsletter, the webinar will be completely free and you'll have access to it next week. You can join my paid-for newsletter for as little as £5 a month. You'll receive 10% off my course and a free ebook when you sign up.

Thanks

Susie

What Not To Do In A Media Interview

Photo by Austin Distel

Hi everyone,

I hope you're having a great week.

A while back I was interviewing a CEO for a profile interview slot. Let's say the person was the boss of a savings app. Towards the end of the interview, I asked her what her ultimate savings goal was. A very simple question. "Erm, erm,” she stuttered. “Well, nothing really. Maybe a holiday.” I pressed further but she was stumped. It was a dry answer to what overall had been quite a dry interview. There was no excitement at all. 

Tip: It might be difficult to inject a sparkling personality into your clients, but please try and ask them to sound enthusiastic.

I'm bringing this up as I'm pleased to say that next month media trainer, podcaster and speaker Guy Clapperton will be joining me for a webinar on media training. During the session on July 16, Guy will explore:
 

• how to deliver clear and engaging messages whether you're on TV, radio, a podcast or being interviewed for a print article

• what kind of preparation you should do before an interview

• how to talk about statistics in an interesting way

You'll also have the opportunity to ask Guy any burning questions (feel free to email me any questions below and we can include it in the session).

The webinar is aimed at both those who are new to speaking to the media, and those wanting to brush up on their interview techniques, whilst hearing first-hand about what works for a journalist. It's open to founders and PRs (and your clients) so feel free to swing them the link.

Those attending will also receive a special discount when booking any future media training workshops with Guy.

The webinar will be recorded so even if you can't make it live, you'll be able to watch it again at your own leisure whenever you like.

Tickets are just £19.99 – which is an absolute steal for media training.

For more info and to book, head here (do send on the link to anyone you think might be interested). The session is just £15 for paid newsletter subscribers (simply email me if you'd like to jump on board).

I'd be grateful if you could mention it on any social media sites groups you're on!

 

Thanks

Susie