That Solo Life: The Solo PR Pro Podcast

Episode 22: Highlights from the PRSA 2019 International Conference

Today’s episode comes to you fresh from the PRSA 2019 International Conference, the annual gathering of public relations and communications professionals from across the globe. This year’s conference took place in San Diego, California, much to the delight of Karen, who will always be a SoCal girl at heart.

Highlights of the three-day conference featured a keynote from Bob Woodward and a powerful session hearing the story of Laura Ling’s North Korean experience firsthand.

Three main takeaways:

METRICS: Measurement continues to dominate. If you haven’t already begun to do this, now is the time to tie metrics to bottom-line results.

CREATIVITY: It still matters. PR pros, we need to make sure we give ourselves space to be creative.

INSPIRATION: People are looking to have their souls fed, to connect with our humanity, with something that matters. As PR professionals, we are indeed doing important work.

Solo PR Pro was well-represented, with member Mary Barber receiving two awards – the Patrick Jackson Award for Distinguished Service to PRSA and the PRSA Chair’s Award for Exceptional Service to the Society. Kristie Aylett programmed a non-profit section for the conference, which featured another Solo, Dan Farkas, who spoke multiple times. (Editor’s Note: Karen Swim is too modest to say that she too spoke at the conference.)

A great way to catch up on all that went on at the PRSA International Conference, search the official hashtag: #prsaicon2019

What is your favorite professional conference? We want to hear from you! Visit us at soloprpro.com or contact us online to share.

Episode 21: Be a Better PR Pro by Slowing Down (No, Really!)

Modern life moves fast. It’s a simple fact that you loathe, love, or tolerate. This is especially true for PR pros as we seek to serve our clients well, looking out for them and keeping their projects moving forward while working on our own innovative thinking and professional development.

Part of the cause is an increase of incoming messaging from a variety of sources – text, instant messaging, project management platforms, and the like. We can let the open fire hose of information knock us over or we can choose to take a moment at the start of each day to decide what takes priority, acknowledging the reality of interruption and the likelihood that another item may take precedence throughout the day but starting with a stance of taking each element of the day on its own. And then the next, and the next.

Start with the morning journal exercise of emptying your mind on paper and see where it takes you.

Seeking to “unbusy” our lives does not mean we’re not leaving it all on the floor for our clients. It means we want to work hard with a focused productivity.

What do you think? We want to hear from you! Visit us at soloprpro.com or contact us online to share. 

Episode 20: Where Do You Work?

In today’s episode of That Solo Life we ask the question, “Where Do You Work?” Not in what field or for which company but, where do you work? From a home office, a coffee shop, a co-working space, or perhaps you rent your own office space. The beauty of working independently means we have the option to choose the locations where we do our best work.

So, where do you work? We want to hear about your best spaces to get work done. Visit us at soloprpro.com or contact us online to share, even send a photo!

P.S. Here’s the link to Coffitivity, the website providing coffee house-themed ambient noise.

Episode 19: CA–AB5 -- The California Gig Worker Bill and You

In September 2019 the California legislature passed CA-AB5 aka The Gig Worker Bill. In short, according to this recap from the San Francisco Chronicle, AB5:

“...codifies, clarifies and grants exemptions to a 2018 California Supreme Court decision called Dynamex. Both AB5 and Dynamex make it harder for companies to label workers as independent contractors. They use an ‘ABC’ test that says workers are employees if (A) they perform tasks under a company’s control, (B) their work is integral to the company’s business and (C) they do not have independent enterprises in that trade. It takes effect Jan. 1.”(2020)

The intent of this legislation is to protect people working as independent contractors from being taken advantage of. It is based on situations where an independent contractor’s work may match that of an employee but due to their worker status, they are not receiving the same level of pay and benefits as an employee. This is a good thing. The downside, however, is placing limitations on certain classifications of work that causes hardship. For instance, under this new law California-based publications can only allow freelance journalists to write 35 articles for them per year. This is a big hit to a freelance journalist’s income.

According to the MBO Partners State of Independence in America 2019 report, there are “41 million Americans working work as consultants, freelancers, contractors, temporary, or on-call workers.” These workers deserve fair compensation and this legislation serves to right some of those wrongs. We hope that the California legislature – and any other government body seeking to make similar changes – considers that the nature of work itself is changing.

What do you think about this? We’d love to hear from you! Visit us at soloprpro.com or contact us online.

Episode 18: Moving Past Failure

We all hit bumps in the road, no matter what profession we are in. In this episode we discuss ways to handle disappointments in our businesses and how we can learn from them and gain a fresh, motivating perspective.

We’d love to hear from you! Share your tips  - visit us at soloprpro.com or contact us online.

Episode 17: A Little Pop Culture

Like many of you who work hard in your professions, sometimes PR pros need a little levity. We need brain candy like Real Housewives, Property Brothers, or catching up on the latest chatter about the Royal Family. Sometimes, these pop culture moments dovetail with our work.

Listen to this episode to find out what helps us stay in the know about pop culture and how it relates to the PR world.

We’d love to hear from you! Visit us at soloprpro.com or contact us online.

Episode 16: Recruit and Retain Quality Clients Quickly with Craig Severinsen

In this episode, we are joined by longtime friend of Solo PR Pro, Craig Severinsen, founder of BrightWorksPR. Craig’s specialty is helping Marketing and PR entrepreneurs attract more clients for their business, which is right up our alley here at Solo PR Pro!

Craig Severinsen’s specialty is helping entrepreneurs, especially those of us in the PR and marketing worlds, create systems to grow business, determining where is the best place to position yourself to be impactful and profitable. Within the past year, he pivoted his business to focus on helping people hone their pricing, implement a simple marketing strategy and close sales. His 90 Day Land More Clients Intensive business accelerator helps participants land more clients quickly using organic social media -- primarily Facebook and LinkedIn – with some making $30,000-100,000 within the first three months alone.

The key?

A Value-Centered Approach

Base your sales process around a strategic consultation via phone. During that conversation follow these three steps:

• Find out what is their goal.
• Find out why they haven’t reached that goal.
• Present your services as the way to get from where they are to what they want.

It’s an approach that is simple and value centered. It also allows you to determine whether this client is a good fit and, even if they’re not, you’ve still provided value in that moment.

“Having a process like this in place is essential,” adds Severinsen, “because job security as an entrepreneur is a mixture of retention and bringing on new clients.”

Follow Craig Severinsen’s Facebook page for more tips and strategies for growing your agency, and also for updates and deals on his programs. You may also want to check out his Free Facebook Group for more in-depth discussion and training on growing your Marketing Business.

Episode 15: LeadHERship Development with Dr. Lori Baker-Schena

Today, we’re joined by Dr. Lori Baker-Schena, co-founder of LeadHERship Consortium. She is a leadership consultant and professional speaker who works with individuals and businesses to achieve high levels of excellence, productivity and profitability. Dr. Baker-Schena brings to her clients 35 years as a healthcare public relations and marketing consultant, and 25 years as a tenured university professor teaching public relations and journalism. Dr. Baker-Schena holds a bachelor’s degree in Journalism and a MBA from California State University, Northridge, and a doctorate in Organizational Leadership from the University of La Verne.

A dear friend to Solo PR Pro, Dr. Baker-Schena’s turn toward working as a leadership consultant and professional speaker came about six years ago when she moved out of her comfort zone as a tenured professor at California State University, Northridge to properly pursue her dream of becoming a motivational speaker.

Noting a lack of leadership training specific to women, she and colleague Sabine Liedel co-founded LeadHERship Consortium in the summer of 2018. “A company devoted to helping women become successful leaders, focusing on solution-driven strategies that combine joy, empowerment and hard work,” LeadHERship Consortium offers in-house training, keynote presentations and events on the key areas women must face to grow as leaders:

• Stop beating yourself up with negative self-talk.
• Own your talents and strengths and trust that everything else will fall into place.
• Having support and mentorship of other women is key.
• Know your value and learn how to communicate it in a way that people hear you.
• Replace work-life balance with work-life flexibility.
• Live in the solution, not the problem.

Learn more about the LeadHERship Consortium, including upcoming events like the LeadHERship Conference taking place February 26-27, 2020 in Lakeview, California by visiting www.LeadHERshipconsortium.com and www.LeadHERshipconference.com.

Want to know even more? Visit us at soloprpro.com to read the recap blog or contact us online to share your experiences as a woman in leadership.

Episode 14: Guilty Pleasures

In this Labor Day episode, we decided to focus on what we like to do when we’re not working. We all need time to decompress and recharge if we’re going to stay at the top of our game. Sometimes that means a walk in the park, other times it’s parking ourselves on the couch for some binge watching.

What helps you recharge? We want to know. Visit us at soloprpro.com or contact us online.

Episode 13: Fighting Imposter Syndrome When You Get What You Want

This episode of That Solo Life grew from a conversation in the Solo PR Pro members only Facebook group surrounding what happens when we get what we want, when the professional goal or “get” we’ve dreamed of happens, and we find ourselves fighting feelings of fear or imposter syndrome. Of course, we really DO want the success that we work so hard to achieve. Join us for this conversation about this thought pattern and how we can stay a step ahead of it in our work.

We’d love to hear your experiences. Visit us at soloprpro.com or contact us online.