That Solo Life: The Solo PR Pro Podcast

The Future of Work

What’s the latest in one of our favorite topics, the future of work? Within corporate America, we are seeing a shift toward calling employees back into the office either on a full-time or hybrid basis. And then there’s the workforce itself. Some people like working remotely or on a hybrid basis. And what about the work itself? Are there opportunities for solo PR pros? You bet. Listen and get inspired.

 

Transcript

The Future of Work
That Solo Life Episode #199

Michelle Kane (00:02):

Thank you for joining us for this episode of That Solo Life, the podcast for PR pros and marketers who work for themselves, people like me, Michelle Kane of VoiceMatters, and my wonderful co-host, Karen Swim of Solo PR Pro. Hi, Karen. It's another episode, another week.

Karen Swim, APR (00:20):

Yes. Hello Michelle. How are you doing this week?

Michelle Kane (00:24):

I'm well, I'm well as, as you're listening to this it is May of 2023 and things are popping all of a sudden. It's,

Karen Swim, APR (00:34):

Yes.

Michelle Kane (00:34):

I think with the, I don't know, event season’s coming, clients are just kind of shaking off the winter doldrums, and it's, it's not a bad place to be at the moment. How about you?

Karen Swim, APR (00:47):

Same. Lots of activities and lots of invitations, business and personal, but it's really, you know, it's an interesting time because we are still in this major period of change. And, you know, the economy is crazy, right? Like the numbers don't match the mood. Like, it's weird that inflation's declining, but when you look at those numbers, you're like, but really, is it?

Michelle Kane (01:21):

Yeah. I love that you said that.

Karen Swim, APR (01:24):

Yeah. Isn't really, because things still seem awfully high to me. And the Fed keeps raising interest rates and, and although there's a lot of activity, it also still feels very sluggish. Like things are just slow moving.

Michelle Kane (01:41):

Yes. Yeah. And it's so weird. It is weird. And we could probably do a whole episode on that, because I'm thinking too, there are the numbers, there's the reality out there, and then there's, like you said, the mood, and it's like, is the mood coming from what we're hearing of everything being bad, bad, bad. It's like, well, it's watchful. It may be bad, it may not be great. And I think once we get this whole debt ceiling, blah, blah, behind us, a lot of us will exhale.

Karen Swim, APR (02:08):

It's like a global mismatch in every area of life, you know, like this. But it's not really warm.

Michelle Kane (02:15):

We're all like, weird socks, ,

Karen Swim, APR (02:19):

But the ground is still dry, like , I don't know. Like, things are happening and they're not producing the results that we're accustomed to. So it's just almost like living in two dimensions.

Michelle Kane (02:34):

Speaking of, yeah.

Karen Swim, APR (02:35):

dimensions.

Michelle Kane (02:37):

So, we wanted to touch on the future of work. We discuss that term about in many of our episodes, but just thinking about, you know, with people being called back to their offices and employers, some employers not really aligning with the realities out there of how people function best in a company. And also, of course, seeing as we are solos, how do we fit into all of that, and how can some of what is happening really work to our advantage? Just a small topic, no big deal, but

Karen Swim, APR (03:21):

it is. Yeah. And future work is one of my favorite things to, yeah. Out in the world. I, I love this topic. Every aspect of it as it applies to corporations that applies to employees and also to solos. This is just one of the things that I love to talk about. And so the future of work landscape is, it's interesting because we have so many structural shifts in the way that we think about work and what constitutes work in the way that days are structured, in the way that jobs are structured, in the way that, you know, in the location, the physical location of where work gets done. And so we have this, of course, this divide with work that can technically be done from anywhere, and then work that really is location dependent. So for example, you can't at this point have, you know, doctors doing everything remotely.

Although there's a subset of services that can be delivered virtually or outside of a physician's office or a hospital. You have concierge doctors that are bringing clinics to you. You have a direct primary care that is that same model where rather than you going to a location, but you still need hospitals, you still need ERs, you need places where people can go. We're seeing lots of things go to e-commerce, but then people still need some places where they can physically touch or try on things. And so it's just a really interesting time. But as we talk about some companies pulling back on their work from home policies and forcing a return to office, some forcing a full-on return to office, others going with sort of hybrid policies, it's easy to think, well, everything's changing for the traditional work landscape and not realize that solos have a huge role in the future of work.

And so, yeah, one of the things we wanted to talk about today are the opportunities. Yes, there is so much data to support that when companies outsource and leverage people like us, Solo PR, small agencies, they actually have a competitive and a financial advantage. We are hugely important to those companies that truly are intentionally integrating people like us into their workforce plans. We are that resource that allows companies to hire for things that are not in their core competencies. So they get the efficiency of having a workforce that's wholly focused on things that are the most important to them operating. But then they get to leverage an outside expert for the things that they don't, that's not core to what they do. It's not central to their mission. And they get the advantage of bringing in a person or a team, if you're a team that knows the business that they're in, has that expertise, can jump in, ramp up quickly, and just do the work that is definitely needed as we move forward into the future.

And, you know, we see things like AI and people waging war against AI. It is a mistake to think that you can replace all humans with AI, right? It is not a mistake to believe that AI is forcing us to think about how we use people more efficiently. I think that's the real message of AI is that, not that it replaces people, but how can we make the most of human beings and what we have to offer? So for example, yes, you can use AI in your writing and you can use it for ideation and for draft creation and for finding sources. But you need the human creativity, the human intellect and experience to fact check, to verify, to add humanity, to copy. Otherwise, it'll be just dry and boring. Even when AI is trained to do your brand voice, you still need a human, right?

So I think that as we lean into that theme of optimizing human resources, solos are a huge part of that. Yeah. And we should, we should sell that as part of what we do, but we also need to, to recognize that there are many employers who seek to be employers of choice. And part of being an employer of choice is leveraging the independent workforce. So there's space for us. And, I guess I say that because sometimes it can feel like we're on the outside of all of that, right? And we're cool with it. Like, you know, we're cool being the hippie kids over here doing our own thing, making our own way. But we actually do have a role in the traditional landscape that does not require us going back to corporate America, sitting in a cubicle and being told who the work that have to do and for a fixed set of hours. We really are part of that bigger work ecosystem.

Michelle Kane (09:03):

Oh, completely. Completely. And you know, I love what you're saying with optimizing efficiencies, especially when, you know, companies are really still having difficulty hiring. Now, the dark side, the Darth Vader in me feels that that could be because you aren't paying people and maybe experiment with your wages and see what happens. But I know that's not everyone. But if you are short staffed, or need to add people in your core competencies, then my goodness, why wouldn't you avail yourselves of the gifts that a solo professional can bring you for your marketing, your public relations?

That's really one of my main pillars - I tell clients and prospects all the time, You may be frustrated trying to do this on your own. Well, first of all, I'll gently remind you, it's not your profession . And secondly, you already have a job, you already have plenty to fill your days with. So yeah don't feel bad about not being able to hit your marketing goals. That's why you bring in someone like a solo or a small shop. They can act as your defacto department. And, that way also, I mean, let's just cut to the bare bones of it. You're not paying overhead for a solo. You don't have to worry about insuring a solo or providing a solo with paid vacation or all those things, or worrying about those slow periods. You know, we work out our agreements with you. So we are really, I don't want to say we're, you know, a stealth weapon, but in some circles, it maybe it just hasn't crossed the minds of a lot of companies that “Oh yeah, you know what, that could work.” And it can work without imposing a threat to your current employee base. Just say, “No, they're here to help with X, Y, Z,” and it should lift everyone up.

Karen Swim, APR (11:11):

And I think the younger, the new generation workforce could care less. They're used to, they have a side hustle, they could care less. They're not threatened. It's interesting that even as we are fully seeing this future of work and this new landscape, and I think there's a lot more changes ahead, there are still many companies that treat hiring independent contractors like an embarrassment. They won't talk about it, they won't talk about their policies, they don't embrace it openly. They do it and it's fine and it works, but they don't go on record about it. And I think that that will shift in in the future. Corporate America is like a big old train and it just takes a long time to switch directions. But it's really weird to me, in this day and age, it's like, why are you embarrassed about that? That's just so random.

Michelle Kane (12:21):

That's crazy. That's wild. It's like why? It shows that you're smart.

Karen Swim, APR (12:26):

And probably for for public relations, less so for our sector, because hiring outside agencies has been something that has been done for decades, and there's no embarrassment about it. It's really the norm. Even when you have internal PR people, or an internal team, you still need outside agency help. So in our sector, we don't see that embarrassment, but, you know, I deal with this larger future of work landscape. And when you're talking about other types of contractors, companies don't want to talk about it. I promise you, they do not want to go on record and talk about any of it. And I hope that that changes. Because the more the companies are willing to step up and talk about the value that they get from hiring experts, and you're hiring people like you're scoping out work and you're hiring people to do it, and you're paying them.

It's just such a beautiful, simple proposition. You don't have all those extras, and as you said, Michelle, they're not having to take care of our needs. We're businesses, we're businesses who take care of ourselves. But I also want to note to any companies that are listening to us, the reality is, is that please don't believe that hiring an independent or small agency means that it's going to be cheap. You're not getting a bargain in terms of rates. What you are getting is that you're saving a lot of time and money because you don't have to train them. You don't have to teach them how to do their job. And you're getting the value of not only their expertise within the sector that you're hiring them for, but you're also getting something that companies are losing. And that's institutional knowledge.

Michelle Kane (14:17):

So true.

Karen Swim, APR (14:18):

We've had the Great Resignation. So many people have come and gone. Every time somebody leaves your company, they take a little bit of the secret sauce with them. It's gone. Unless you have set up infrastructure to capture that information you remember working and all of the little, and, and even now when we work, we have shortcuts. We have hacks, we have things that we know, we have things that we know about clients that we've worked with a long time. So we possess that institutional knowledge. When you lose that, it's almost like starting over every time your workforce turns over. And that's happening a lot. And I do not believe that that trend is necessarily going to change in the short term, because you have a younger generation. As I said to my sister-in-law yesterday, they're comfortable meandering for a long time.

They’re in their thirties and long ago, that was an age where you really were kind of settled into your career. But the newer generation of workers, they're quite comfortable not having the things that we valued when we were coming up in our careers. And they're perfectly happy to go and take any job and they could care less. They don't care about owning a house. They just, a lot of the things that, again, were important to my generation are not important to them. And so you're going to still see turnover because they're not going to stick around for five or seven years. And so they're going to come in and they're going to learn those things and they're going to hopefully add some value while they're there and they're going to add some practices and they're going to leave and that's going to walk out of the door with them.

But as solos, we bring not only the value of, especially when we have those long-term relationships. So we bring the value of not only preserving some institutional knowledge for your company, but we work with lots of companies. And so we have the benefit of being able to bring all of the best practices that we've been exposed to, to any individual clients. This does not mean that we're giving away trade secrets, it's just that we've seen ways that things work better. So we incorporate all of those things into our work. We learn from our clients, too. We see something, a process is being done well, and we adapt that, and then we're able to be more efficient for the next client. And so, you know, that's valuable and it's a value that internal teams don't have because they're working in a singular company. They only know how things are done in their company, in their industry, and that's it.

Michelle Kane (17:06):

Yeah. And, I'll reverse that too. You know, as our own businesses we're exposed to people and experiences that they may not be exposed to. So, you know, case in point, just looking for opportunities where a client might be able to shine, whether that's events thought leadership, anything, we bring that back to them. Not only do we do that, but with our longer term clients, we're going to know, we're going to be able to do those initial gut checks of what's a good fit for someone. If you're approached about a program or something and you just think, mm, no, but here's what they would like, can we make that happen? And take that back to them. It's truly so much to your benefit if you're out there listening. If you do have a need within your organization and it's something where you're either having a difficult time hiring or you're just not really sure how to solve for x in that given situation to reach out to a solo. What's the worst that could happen? We say goodbye after a couple of weeks? Okay. And that's how we learn.

Karen Swim, APR (18:14):

Another value of, honestly, I mean I I adhere to this practice in, in my own business as well, is that it's a professional contract. It's a business to business contract. You are not, I'm not stuck with someone for life. If I bring somebody on for a scope of work and it's not the best fit, then we part ways, you know? They get paid for the work that they did, and you move on. And so that is another benefit, is that you're not making this decision to be married to this contractor for the rest of your time in business. It really can be, it's a great way to trial people. Sometimes there's such a great chemistry between contractors and clients that there have been solos that do go back into the corporate world for something that really moves them. So it's a great way to have a bench of talent by working with independents as well. Not every independent wants to remain independent for the rest of their life. People can move in and out of independence. And so sometimes your next best employee may actually be an independent.

Michelle Kane (19:24):

Right. So true. It's so true. So, you know, we hope this has enlightened you or made you think in new and different ways, which is always fun. And, you know, let us know. Let us know what you're thinking. Check us out solo pr pro.com. We, we definitely want to hear your feedback. So please, please, please provide it. If this was of value to you, please do share it around. And until next time, thank you so much for listening to That Solo Life.

Putting the ”PR” in Professionalism

Are you weary of people calling themselves PR professionals who seem to be storytelling their careers? The few who talk a good game, leaving a trail of disgruntled clients? In this episode we talk about ways PR practitioners – from those new to the profession to seasoned pros – can represent our profession well.

 

Transcript:

Michelle Kane (00:02):

Thank you for joining us for another episode of That Solo Life, the podcast for PR pros and marketers who work for themselves, people like me, Michelle Kane, with VoiceMatters, and my wonderful co-host, Karen Swim of Solo PR Pro. Hi Karen, how are you today?

Karen Swim, APR (00:19):

Hey, Michelle. I'm doing great. Solidarity to the writers who of this recording are on strike. We stand with writers, hang in there WGA, we hope that you get what you need and deserve. And if I were in California, I would be out there with you on the picket line.

Michelle Kane (00:42):

I fully agree. Fully agree. I hope that the WGA gets everything they are asking for because they are the backbone of all of the projects on which they serve.

Karen Swim, APR (00:54):

Yes.

Michelle Kane (00:55):

You know, if you like watching things where words come out of people's mouths, , you need to thank the writers.

Karen Swim, APR (01:02):

Absolutely. And that's kind of a funny segue. I mean, serious topic, but yeah. Writing, storytelling. Hmm. And PR peeps who might be storytelling their careers just a tad too much.

Michelle Kane (01:20):

Just a little bit. Yes. We're going to to carefully edge into these waters. I'm sure we, you'll soon be nodding listeners, these people that come into your path, these self-declared am I going to say the word, the G word, gurus, the people that come across as very flashy, but you soon find out there's precious little substance, however they present themselves as seasoned PR professionals. And, you know, it just really, it doesn't do any of us any good. It's not a service to us. In fact, it's a disservice of the hard work that truly seasoned professionals put in. And you know, I say this a lot and I think just as technology grows, and I'm not even talking about AI, I'm talking about the Canvas of the world, the people who, “I have a MAC, I'm a designer.” That whole mindset of you can do anything. Well, yes, but to a point. To a point. Even though, we're not licensed, we're not doctors. We don't get to call ourselves “Dr. PR professional,” there's still a lot of training and experience that goes into doing what we do well.

Karen Swim, APR (02:41):

There should be yeah. And I mean, while we have the APR credential and some people do have a degree in comms, the access point to practice the profession, like so many these days is, is very low. You could just set up shop and call yourself a digital PR person. I came up in PR from a very non-traditional way. And the reason that I pursued my APR is because I wanted to have that foundation. I wanted to have the language, I wanted to have the breadth of information to be able to really practice as a professional. So this discussion today is not saying that you have to go the traditional way in order to be a professional, but what we are imploring people to do is to strive to be a professional.

Please do not be out there, as Michelle said, calling yourself an expert, calling yourself a professional, calling yourself professional when you can't even write a PR plan. There are just some things going into running your own business that you really should know how to do. And you should know how to do some of the things well. You don't have to know how to do everything. You don't have to be perfect at everything. If social media is not your jam, that's okay. You can partner with people to walk you through that. But if you do not know how to research, plan, implement, evaluate, notice how I used RPIE. Please learn. Please learn. I beg of you to go learn. This came out of previous discussions because I think it's very frustrating when people who take this profession so seriously and do consider ourselves to be professionals, when we see questions coming from other people, or we see content being produced by other people that we know is not at the level of professionalism it can be very, very frustrating. And people get very angry about that and they feel as though it diminishes the entire profession by bad actors.

Michelle Kane (05:17):

Indeed, indeed. And like you said, there is a huge difference between aligning with or putting people on your team to fill certain roles at a professional level. That's not what we're talking about. I spent some time as an account executive at an ad agency, and really that's been my model ever since. You are the person, you are the hub, you build the strategy, you work with all of the players to make things happen. And of course, you know, I'm also a writer, so I wear that hat as well, which comes in handy. But I noticed as time has gone on and, thank goodness for the internet, it's made it easy for us to set up solo shops. But I've seen a lot of people setting up shop and I would just say to myself this is why you need an account executive. This is why you need someone like us who creates the strategy, who oversees it all? Who orchestrates it? Who knows what is good and what isn't? Who knows the difference between good design and bad design? I mean, and I am eternally grateful actually to the agency where I started - you look back, it was a good thing at the time, but as you look back, you realize, oh my goodness. In fact, I was chatting with an ex-coworker, gosh, a few years back, she had moved on to a different position and she was waiting for approval for an ad. And you know, that's something we did. So she thought, well, I'm just going to approve it. And she got her hand slapped because that wasn't the right channel. And she said, well, there was a deadline. I knew it was right. .

Karen Swim, APR (07:04):

Yeah.

Michelle Kane (07:05):

You know, but all that, to bring it back to our topic of, you need someone, when you're working with clients, who has that experience, who just knows how to guide a client through something and isn't just throwing it together haphazardly because you know that's not going to last long, that that's not going to serve them well for the long run, certainly isn't going to leave a trail of happy clients. And those unhappy clients are going to say, “Ugh, PR, I worked with someone, it was terrible.

Karen Swim, APR (07:44):

Well, I think another thing that really is a personal pet peeve of mine is that you have people calling themselves either PR professionals or that they practice PR and to them that strictly equates to media relations. But then they're not even good at media relations. These are the people that spam the universe hoping for something to stick. They don't have a strategy, they're not aligned with the client's overall goals. There's nothing but tactics. And yeah, any monkey can put together a bunch of emails and you know what, even a broken clock is right twice a day. So it's frustrating because then you have clients and, maybe you're getting media for them may not be quality media. Maybe you are able to land tier one coverage, but it's just about that.

And that's all you do. You have one trick in your tool bag and that's it. And then when the client is not happy, because you don't have the skillset to be able to be more nuanced in how you practice, and you're not able to really deliver a higher value strategy, you're going to turn through your clients very quickly. And then these are the people that come to true pros and say, “Ugh, we don't believe in PR.” Well, they don't believe in PR because they've never seen it practice before. And that's because we have these people that are playing at the profession and it's time to stop playing. Right. And again, not to make anyone feel bad about maybe being newer to the profession or maybe learning, but it's an encouragement to please learn. And does not mean that you have to, you know, learn like a textbook worth of things before you can start.

Maybe you start it, maybe there are some things you know, but please up your game level up because you really do, you know, you're lowering the bar for all of us. And that's not okay. It impacts our ability to earn a living. It impacts our ability to do our job well because we, as PR professionals, part of our job is to protect our publics. That's not just our clients. And you have to know that responsibility. In order to protect it and if you're not bothering to learn what this job really entails, that's not a good look. It's almost like, would you go and order a custom cake from a bakery where the person knew how to spot great cakes and maybe knew how to draw, but didn't know how to bake and they're learning on the job. And so sometimes it's good because like, oh look, they hit on something that work, but sometimes it's not and they don't really know what to do, but they're figuring it out as they go along. You are a business. You have a responsibility to come into this game with some skillset, some level of skillset, please.

Michelle Kane (11:03):

Right, right. And, just to build on that of, you know, don't feel bad. I mean, if you're just starting out, then those are the services that you offer, where your comfort zone is with an eye on growth. You know what you do really well. Focus on that until you do other things better. I mean, we're always learning - all of us, or at least we should be. And just talking to those of us who might have come to a client who's coming off of a bad experience, have a discussion about that. Say, oh, well, okay, what happened there? Oh, okay. And that can, you know, again, we're always talking about educating our clients. That can be an instructive moment of, well, so no, here's what you can expect working with me or working with us. You know, we will make sure that x, y, z happens. You know, just help them to get beyond that perception of that bad experience.

Karen Swim, APR (12:06):

Oh my gosh, absolutely. I think, you know, to be honest with you, I've had a few clients like that. We've had two recently that we really just dug deep. Rather than running away when they say, “Oh yeah, we had a bad experience with PR, we're not afraid to ask the questions because we're trying to make a decision if we want to work with this particular client. Because sometimes it's not the agency, sometimes it's the client. Right. So don't be afraid of just digging deeper for your own satisfaction to know, like, okay, is there something like, as you said, that I can learn from this situation. Is this someone that really could be a great client? Or are these red flags? I mean, but you don't know until you dig and you ask, right. And you ask for examples and then you talk through it. And I have found that with reasonable adults and professionals, sometimes you can work through things and you have a greater understanding. And sometimes the way somebody else practice is not the way that you practice. And that same misunderstanding would not have happened. And so it could be a good fit for you.

Michelle Kane (13:23):

Correct. Yeah.

Karen Swim, APR (13:24):

Again, the people that do not have the expertise that are just, you know, get a client, lose a client, no big deal. They just, they're churning quickly. This is not what any of us want to be representative of PR it, I know of an agency still standing, their whole M.O. for many, many, many years has been to bring clients in, spend a lot of time on discovery, not really deliver anything of value have junior people on the account, and then by the time they're out of discovery and supposed to be delivering results, they get fired and they just move on to the next client. So they just purposely turn through and are making their money by holding onto people through a false period of discovery and not really delivering results. This is so completely unethical. But I would always also say, check your ethics if you're selling something that you do not know how to do. Because you should know how to do what clients are paying you to do. Let's just be clear about that , it's fine to have a really narrow engagement. Last week on our program, we had a wonderful guest, Katie Boos, who is a seasoned PR pro with an agency, but she found through practicing her profession, that she really loved events and she really loved the, you know, getting speakers.

And so she leaned into that slice of thought leadership hard. And that's what she does. She has a very narrow specific focus in her PR practice and she delivers on it. She's good at it. She continues to learn and to grow and to deliver what clients expect from her. So it's fine to not be a generalist. It's fine not to have all the skillsets. Maybe there is a slice of PR that you actually are good at. As Michelle said, focus on that slice. And if you want to build your skills, there's ways to do that through hands-on learning by working with other pros. You know, be honest and say, “Hey, is there an assignment that I could work on with you that I'm trying to build my skills in X?” Right. And I don't have that skillset, but I'm willing to learn if you're willing to teach, and I can pitch in and help on the account, but being open and honest with other professionals is really important too, because if you're in professional circles or groups and forums and you're asking 101 questions, you are going to create people that have zero desire to help you and will have no respect for you as a professional.

You see through that straight away and you just think, huh, okay, what are we doing here? And it's frustrating and it can be demoralizing, but, you know, try not to let it . And I love what you said about, you know, niching down if that's, and that is the beauty. As we often talk about being a solo shop. Even if you, even if you're a micro agency or something larger than a one person business, you get to create the business that you want, which is a wonderful thing. But, you know, at the same time, yeah, we have to tolerate some people that just pop out there and, and suddenly and, and you know, you see it everywhere, right? You see it in job listings where someone's looking for a marketing coordinator and lists all these things with horrible pay and you realize that's really a director position and that person needs a team and good luck with that. Those are also potentially, well, depending, obviously if the pays not very good, you're not going to pop in. But sometimes those are fun to just play with and say, Hey, would do you want to hire consultants?

Karen Swim, APR (17:38):

And I think that the existence of many of those want the world at low prices kind of originated with people doing things that really weren't qualified to do. And didn't know to charge the right value.  Because it’s not really what they do. And I mean, PR is not the only profession where people are overselling themselves. Marketing, you know, is rife with social media. It's why you have people out here thinking, oh, well if you're Gen Z I'll just hire you to do my social media because you're a digital native. But does that person understand how to align your social media strategy with your company goals, by the way? Yeah. They know what strategy or do they know the tactics because the tactics are important, but who's going to guide your strategy?

Michelle Kane (18:30):

Right. Do they know, do they know what brand voice is ?

Karen Swim, APR (18:35):

Probably not. Have you talked to some of these people? Do they know personas? Do they know how to do message maps? All of these things that professionals will tell you. Do they know how to ride a crisis plan around social media to protect you? Is there an escalation plan should something happen? These are all things that professionals recommend and it's not overkill. We recommend and we do these things because we understand the depth and breadth of our jobs and we know that it's more than being task monkeys. Which none of us are. And I'm sure , I believe with all my heart that most of our listeners are not. And so this again, is not an indictment for anyone starting. It's not being the, you know, mean PR girls that are like, “Ugh, you suck and you should get out of this job.” It is an encouragement for all of us to uplift the profession. By really living up to what it really means to be a PR pro. It's already hard enough to fight against clients who are out here calling press releases articles, and it's like nails on a chalkboard for me. Yeah. I get that. That's a little thing. But we all have those little things that drive us over the edge. Like yeah, that's not an article. It's a news release. And in some cases, you're right, girl, that's not even an article that is a marketing brochure. And I cannot put this on a site.

Michelle Kane (20:10):

We can repurpose our content in appropriate ways, but we shouldn't just take the copy and put it everywhere.

Karen Swim, APR (20:18):

The media does not want your product brochure.

Michelle Kane (20:22):

No.

Karen Swim, APR (20:23):

But it's not on the wire.

Michelle Kane (20:25):

Exactly. No, no, no, it's not. And actually in the back of my mind, I'm already thinking, okay, who's the listener looking to buy the domain name task monkeys.com ?

Karen Swim, APR (20:36):

It might be me. I don’t know. We'll see.

But I mean, we're joking, but we are. Yeah. And you know, Michelle and I hope that we are always a source of encouragement and information, and this is something we wanted to address because it is being discussed among PR professionals and it is something that bothers us too, because we work too hard in what we are building. You listeners, you're part of the, we work too hard, we strive too hard to get where we are in our careers. Many of you did put in time in traditional PR roles and came out of agencies in leadership positions. Some were client side, some went to school and you know,  your major is in comms, others are APRs and you're proud of this job. And I believe that that is something that we all share. We're proud to do this job. We love this profession and solos. We really have to make sure that we are continuing to set a high standard and not lower ourselves to these people that are really n not a credit to our profession, but we continue to raise the bar so that we're setting a standard for the next generation coming up behind us.

Michelle Kane (22:03):

Yeah, I agree. And I think especially as solos and or self-employed micro agency leaders, because what credibility do we have beyond our track record and the perception of our profession? Because it's not like we don't produce widgets that we can say, look, my product is beautiful. See how nice it is. No, our service is our product. So it's so important.

Karen Swim, APR (22:32):

100%. And I know the younger generation is, they're more comfortable with fluidity. They will get a job and they will leave a job in a heartbeat. Like zero emotion about it. Like Yeah, I'm not doing that. But you cannot bring that same attitude into running your own business because at some point you're going to run out a runway. Yeah. I mean you could drop around, you could practice in different countries, but there's something very satisfying about having a reputation that says you deliver results. It's personally rewarding because you're connected. You're the person that's producing the service, and you get to see the outcomes of that service. And building a reputation based on results and meeting the expectations that you set, that's what's going to give you longevity. That is what is going to allow you to scale your business. That is the thing that you can tap into.

You can tap into that bank of trust. And that does become more important because it's expensive and exhausting to keep hopping around and churning through clients. It's not the way, I promise you, at some point in your lives, you will get a bit older and you will see that that takes a toll because you're constantly having to expend the energy and there's a price tag to continually onboarding new people. Yeah. It gets old. It's not as fun as it sounds and you think, you know, you can't keep treat treating your clients as though they're dispensable. And this environment today should maybe help you to take note of that, that they are not dispensable, they are valuable. People do move to other companies. They do remember. And your leads may one day dry up. Because you're not who you said that you were.

Michelle Kane (24:36):

Yeah. It's so true. So true. Well, we hope that you've gotten value out of this today. We hope that every week, but especially today, I, you know, I'm sure many of you were nodding your heads rolling, your eyes giggling along with us, but we are so grateful for you and the time that you give to us. And we are equally grateful if you share this around, if you know someone who's going through this and if this might help, just give them some encouragement. We would love to be a part of that. And until next time, thanks for joining us on That Solo Life.

 

Everything Everywhere All at Once: Social Media in 2023

The current state of the social media landscape is anything but stable. Twitter continues to devolve. TikTok is going strong, but will its use be banned in the United States? It’s a challenge to keep up with the changes in current channels and evaluate new options. In this episode, we discuss this uncertainty and how you can keep your focus on using the right channels at the right time for your clients.

 

Transcript

Michelle Kane:

Thank you for joining us for an episode of That Solo Life, the podcast for PR pros and marketers who work for themselves. People like me, Michelle Kane, with VoiceMatters, and my ever-steady co-host, Karen Swim, of Solo PR Pro. Hi, Karen. How are you today?

Karen Swim:

Hello. I am good. We got a little peek of sunshine this morning, and it was way overdue since we had lingering winter weather here in Michigan. I feel pretty good, because the sunshine definitely recharges me.

Michelle Kane:

It's so true. You don't realize until you haven't had it for a few days and you think, "Ugh, come on, sunshine." Yes, yes, definitely. We had a little taste of summer, but now we're back to actual spring. I don't know. It was sunny up until probably an hour ago.

Karen Swim:

Yeah.

Michelle Kane:

I've been kind of refusing, I'm like, "I'm not wearing a jacket. I don't care if I'm cold. I'm past that."

Karen Swim:

I've been stuck in winter clothes because I couldn't take it anymore, and I was freezing. It hasn't just been lack of sun, it's actually been ... it's just been winter here. Everybody's still in their winter gear, which kind of stinks considering it's the ...

Michelle Kane:

It does.

Karen Swim:

... end of April. Hopefully.

Michelle Kane:

Well, as the Great Purple One said, Sometimes It Snows in April. Sometimes, as we're going to talk about today, sometimes changes in social media and our landscape can also make you a bit bonkers. We're good. It's not just Twitter and the whole mess over there. It's, where are people spending their time now, and what components have changed? How does that impact how you find your audience?

It almost feels like the beginning of social media where I think, not that we've become complacent, but for a while, we kind of knew, all right, that's that, that's that, we know where to find everything. Suddenly, they moved our cheese all over the place.

Karen Swim:

Yeah.

Michelle Kane:

We'll just touch on that today, and talk about our experiences, and please do hit us up at SoloPRPro.com and share your experiences, because we really want to hear about it.

Karen Swim:

It's interesting. I saw yesterday someone talk about a reporter was discussing that Twitter in particular became part of our habits. It's pretty much ingrained. We, for the past decade, we would go to Twitter and we would use it for real time news and were accustomed to PR professionals developing relationships or maintaining relationships with journalists there, we would source queries there.

We would see what people were up to. It was built into our daily habits, much like Facebook was the place where we just learned to go to keep up with family and friends. Now there's so many revenge Twitter sites.

Michelle Kane:

I love that, revenge Twitter sites.

Karen Swim:

People are dispersed. Now, even [inaudible 00:03:26] has notes. People are communicating over there around posts that are authored, which is sort of a new old version of what the blog post used to be. The blog post would be the community gathering place. Everybody would go and comment on blogs every day. Then you have these algorithms that have changed everywhere. You've got ...

Michelle Kane:

Completely.

Karen Swim:

... Google changing, you've got even YouTube changing. YouTube is another social media site, and their ad revenue has dropped to 6.7 billion in the first quarter of this year. With their 2.6% year-over-year decline, people are really wondering, okay, creators, but then also enterprises. We have clients, we all have clients that have YouTube channels, and we've all been told for such a long period of time that it's a great way to have your own thought leadership platform and share information with your audience.

Well, if ad revenue is dropping and algorithms are changing, and TikTok shorts are becoming more popular than YouTube, we're faced with a lot of questions about where in the hack do we spend our time, and where do we tell our clients to spend their time?

Michelle Kane:

So true, so true. It also brings back the notion, or should I say, it's a core principle, always own your real estate, always have a website, always try to be building your email list, because then these questions aren't as potent. There's definitely a space for social to amplify your message. Yeah. There are a lot of question marks of where are your audiences spending your time? From the professional development side, where are our colleagues and our contacts spending their time? How can they be found?

We'll throw into the mix of, I don't think it's imminent, but the status of TikTok. Is it going to stick around? We don't know. There are a lot of questions. Another core best practice has always been don't try to be on all the social things all at once. You'll just make yourself crazy. You'll not only dilute your energy, you'll dilute your effectiveness. It's best thing to do is to just take some time, remind yourself who is the audience for your client, and just look around and see. Okay, where are these people spending their most time? Take it from there.

Then the nice thing about social and the digital world is you have that liberty to be nimble.

Karen Swim:

I agree.

Michelle Kane:

It's not like you're building this massive website with message boards and you're going to launch it. It's just, okay, well this doesn't seem to be working. You certainly want to give it enough time to work. We all know, these delicate balances. Give it enough time to work, but if it doesn't seem to be gaining traction, then move on.

Karen Swim:

It's interesting, because I used to do a lot of social media strategy and management when it first came on the scene, and for many years after that. I, last year, made the decision that I was out. Recently, someone approached me and I'm like, "No, thank you." I've gotten asked to do, and I'm like, "No. I'm done with social media." My advice back then was the same, prioritize. Don't try to be on all the channels. We had our fewer channels back then too.

Michelle Kane:

Right.

Karen Swim:

I think one of the magic words that you said for me is don't neglect building your own email list.

Michelle Kane:

Right.

Karen Swim:

That's still so key and a great way to stay in touch with your audience. I think for B2B or B2C companies, it doesn't matter. It's so important to have one reliable channel where people can get up to date, accurate information. This morning, my sister was going to try this restaurant that's been around and one that I'm familiar with, and she went to the website to check their hours. Big mistake. These days when it comes to the food industry in particular, or even stores, I usually just call.

Michelle Kane:

Yeah.

Karen Swim:

Websites are not being maintained, which sometimes it's because they have a one-off, maybe they don't have staffing for that day. Yes, those are their normal hours, but that day, they can't be open their normal hours. She got there and they were not going to be open for an hour later. I said, "Didn't you check the hours beforehand?" She goes, "Well, the website said." Well, the website is usually the last place that I look for hours these days.

Michelle Kane:

Right.

Karen Swim:

I'll go on Instagram or one of the social media channels to see what they said on that day. I realize it's a day by day. Then I'll call just to verify.

Michelle Kane:

Yeah, that's a good point. Google business listings can be reliable. I like that Google indicates the last time hours were updated, because it lets you know.

Karen Swim:

Right.

Michelle Kane:

Oh, okay.

Karen Swim:

Absolutely.

Michelle Kane:

Yeah, you're right. It's shifting.

Karen Swim:

Your hours are fluctuating, or in this case, the reason that they were opening later is because they were preparing for an event. If you have those kind of one-offs or there's some fluctuation, you still need to make sure that that information is easily accessible to your audience. Not everybody is a food business. Not everybody even has brick and mortar offices anymore. In technology, which is the industry that I specialize in, almost no one has an office.

Michelle Kane:

Right.

Karen Swim:

They're all remote. You still need to make sure that there's one channel that you are posting on frequently, so that people know like, "Oh, let me go check their X."

Michelle Kane:

Right.

Karen Swim:

I vote for website. I always vote for website, because it's the one thing that no one else has control over, but you. As Michelle said, it's your real estate, it's your domain. Y,ou should always at least have your website updated all the time at all times, with all of the latest information, with all of the happenings, because that's the one place that people will like, "Okay, let's check the website, let's head there and see what's going on." Then pick a social channel. Today, for me, and for most of my clients, it's really LinkedIn and a newsletter.

Michelle Kane:

Yeah.

Karen Swim:

Of course, their website.

Michelle Kane:

LinkedIn, I've seen a huge uptick in requests of me to subscribe to people's newsletters on LinkedIn. Hey, that could work for you as well. At least it's a place where depending what your type of business is, like minded people will be congregating. The people that you might be doing business with or for are hanging out. We all know this. We all know the social platforms have different purposes. If you're trying to get something out to the public, it's different ways, it's Facebook.

Yeah, gosh. Even I still work in social media. I still manage pages. It's not as fun as it used to me, but I keep telling some of my clients that get frustrated, I say, "Hey, you're going to get so tired of your content, because the 80/20 rule with the way the algorithm is, does it really pay off?" Sure, I'll share other people's things really as a way of networking online, but if you're trying to get your message out consistently, I had someone ask, it's a brick and mortar retail establishment. No one's calling. The call to action is the little phone icon and the phone number.

I have to say, I'm like, "Well, they're probably not going to." We do it as a point of reference to slowly subliminally plant that maybe on the 12th time they see it, if they're ready for your service, that's another factor, then maybe they'll call. At least I want it there at their fingertips, because as we all know, the less clicks, the better. We don't like to have to dig down rabbit holes to do business with somebody.

Karen Swim:

I think for communicators that do still manage social media, one key skillset that I have heard clients asking for, and just lots of ... I can't find the word. What are the people that we do business with? Organizations. The one skill that I see organizations continuously seeking out are people that are experienced in social media ads, particularly LinkedIn ads. If that's not a skillset that you're particularly good at, but you offer social media, I would advise trying to beef up your skillset in that area, because people do want that. I also believe that it's really important these days to also think granular.

Michelle Kane:

Yes.

Karen Swim:

I watch Reddit for one of my clients, and it's a gold mine of engagement, because people are talking about my client there in a positive way. It also gives us an opportunity to watch anything that is not quite accurate information. It helps us with our messaging. It helps us to see what questions are being asked. Some audiences are gathering in smaller, more intimate places. They're not necessarily on Twitter, particularly, again, if you're dealing with the general public.

Michelle Kane:

Right.

Karen Swim:

When I say general public, it could be consumers, it can be employees. If you're in the workforce space, then part of your market might be people that work at the companies that you work with. I think it's important to not ignore those niche spaces that are more intimate, which can be very appealing for a lot of people these days. It feels quieter, more manageable, and so many people are not on the big channels.

Michelle Kane:

Right.

Karen Swim:

If any of us stop for a second and think about your friends that are not in this business, they're not in communications, they're not in marketing, how many of them have a Twitter account?

Michelle Kane:

Right, or even a Facebook account?

Karen Swim:

Facebook.

Michelle Kane:

I see that both with my peers, and also I would say millennials, even Gen Z, they're just not there. Which is important to keep in mind, because even as you do a lot of work in those channels, which is valid, keep in mind that people are spending their time in other spaces, which we can evolve into a whole other conversation about how you should be using all sorts of different mediums. Today's all about how social media is a popcorn machine with the door open. Everything's just all over the place.

Karen Swim:

I love that. It's true. If I see more than one network pop up, at this point, I'm like, okay ...

Michelle Kane:

Stop.

Karen Swim:

... Pick it up. In the immediate changeover of Twitter, I did establish accounts on Post and Mastodon and some of the other places, but I just have decided personally for my own personal use that I'm like, "You know what? I don't care about any of it." To be honest with you, I do try to use LinkedIn kind of occasionally, and then of course, Instagram, because I have my dog's account, and her account is way more active than mine.

Michelle Kane:

Thank God for our pets.

Karen Swim:

Yeah.

Michelle Kane:

It's true.

Karen Swim:

I think that it's so complex for us communicators because there's just so many choices, and it's really divided our audience into so many pieces because they're not hanging out in one place anymore. Think about the media landscape too. The same thing happened, but now we're kind of seeing that shift happening. I think we're going to end up with fewer media channels because they can't make money.

Michelle Kane:

Right.

Karen Swim:

The theme of media and social media these days is the lack of ad revenue.

Michelle Kane:

Right.

Karen Swim:

That is really the theme. They're both struggling with getting people to advertise, and without advertising dollars, you don't have money.

Michelle Kane:

Right. You think about the dilution of the audiences, with more channels comes less eyeballs across the board. Yeah. That's going to affect all of that. It's just important to keep all of this in mind as we serve our clients. As best you can, just take your time and see where other similar clients maybe are spending their time. Just keep evaluating, which I think all of us do. We all do this, but we just thought we'd talk about this today because sometimes you're like, "Another channel?"

Karen Swim:

Yeah. The podcast is therapy for us sometimes.

Michelle Kane:

Oh, that's right.

Karen Swim:

Feeling the overwhelm of social media dilution and algorithms, algorithm mean too much.

Michelle Kane:

Yes, exactly. We hope you've gotten value out of this today. We know we have. I feel better. I don't know about you, Karen, but ...

Karen Swim:

I feel a lot better.

Michelle Kane:

If you did get something out it, please share it around. I'm sure there are many more of us out there going, "What?" We do value the time that you give us and that you spend with us every week. Until next time, thanks for joining us on That Solo Life.

Staying in Your Lane with Katy Boos

you want to listen to this episode, where we talk with Katy Boos, CEO and Founder of Remix Communications. Katy founded Remix Communications because she’s passionate about creating impactful thought leadership programs for her clients. Brainstorming compelling topics and narratives, Katy helps bring ideas to life on stage at top industry events and in written content for clients such as Adobe, Meta, Stitch Fix and several successful start-ups and growth companies.

 

Get in touch with Katy Boos online:

LinkedIn

Instagram: @remix_comms

Twitter: @kgboos

 

Transcript

Michelle Kane (00:02):

Thank you for joining another episode of That Solo Life, the podcast for PR pros and marketers who work for themselves. And we're so excited today because we have a guest. We love guest days. Today we have Katie Bus. Katie is the CEO and Founder of Remix Communications. She founded Remix Communications because she's passionate about creating impactful thought leadership programs for her clients. That includes brainstorming compelling topics and narratives. Katie helps bring ideas to life on stage, at top, industry events, and in written content for clients such as Adobe Meta Stitch Fix, not too shabby, and several successful startups and growth companies. Before Remix, Katie co-founded a successful Silicon Valley marketing and PR firm earlier. She managed PR programs at Apple for media and entertainment, mobile products and QuickTime. Katie lives in Los Angeles, and she was selected for the advisory committee of South by Southwest. Served as a TEDx speaker, curator and coach volunteers. When do you have time to volunteer at all? Seated in a barn horse rescue, which is awesome, and has been a board member for the Peninsula Humane Society and the Working Wonders Children's Museum. And with all of that, we are so grateful to welcome you today to That Solo Life. Katie? Yes.

Katy Boos (01:29):

Oh, thank you ladies. . I'm so excited to be here.

Michelle Kane (01:34):

This is incredible. Yes. So we'll start off, I mean, just tell us a little bit about your client work and, and really where you specialize, because the title of this episode is Stay in Your Lane. And, and we mean that in the most positive of ways because that's the way you can be most impactful. Right?

Katy Boos (01:52):

Yeah, I love that. I love Stay in Your Lane. I have this sort of traditional PR background as you mentioned, Michelle, in your nice intro. And, you know, after years and years of doing PR programs, traditional media relations, that sort of thing, I really found this love for thought leadership and speaking programs and really helping executives get out there and get their messages out there. Sowhen I had the chance to spin off from my last agency and specialize, I really wanted that focus of thought leadership. And so that's been the focus for Remix Communications. We are definitely niche. There's not a lot of us out there who do exactly what we do, but it's worked out really well. I, I think it's something that, you know, it gives us that real specialty. People know what we do and they can come to us foryou know, for those services.

Michelle Kane (02:55):

Definitely. Definitely. And you know, we're, we're still in post pandemic world, right? Even though Covid is still around. But I know a lot of us in our event planning, we've had challenges of attendance and things like that. What, are the some of the biggest trends you are seeing happening with events and conferences these days?

Katy Boos (03:15):

You know, it's, it's changing, right? Kind of as you said, we, you know, everything was gang busters 2019, 2020. The brakes went on big time and clients were trying to figure out what should we do. Virtual events obviously became a huge deal. I will say a lot of us sort of got tired of them. We don't all want to sit in our chair watching events. So when things sort of started to come back slowly, 2021, 2022, we started to see this nice uptick. I'm coming off a month of being at a couple different eventsin person. And I will tell you, I think a huge thing right now is that people are so excited to be around each other. There's just such energy and enthusiasm, the connections that you make in person, there's nothing like it. You know, it's sort of like you need to be there.

(04:15):

Yes, you can get some of the content online. Definitely that's great if you can't travel, you knowabroad, for example, for Web Summit or whatever. But being there in person, it's those chance meetups if you're waiting for coffee or, you know, one of the writers that we work with regularly sat next to me at an event in Seattle, and we happened to be the two people who, who weren't on our phones at that moment. And we struck up a conversation and I realized, this one's a really talented writer, and now we've worked together. I think it's going on six years. So it's that kind of thing where it's just you know, that networking. So I would say in-person events, definitely that's a huge trend. People wanna be there. I will also say, and maybe this is a result of us being locked down and being on Zoom so much, but sessions are shorter.

(05:11):

Typically. They need to be livelier. They need to have, do not show up with a bunch of PowerPoint bullets and think outside the box as far as like the presentation. And by shorter, by the way, you might still have an hour slot, but it could be 30 minutes of your session, 30 minutes of a Q&A. And that's something I'm really seeing, you know, just getting back from, you know, a pretty major event where people are just lined up with questions. They want to talk to the speaker. So it's great to deliver information, but it's really great to interact with the audience as well. That was and

Karen Swim, APR (05:49):

You just answered a question that I had of what are the expectations now? Cause you talk about this excitement of events and you just answered that Yeah. And as you described that, you know, the change, the shift in kind of what the audience is expecting from the content. Are you finding that organizers are looking for something different or very specific now that we're in this era of having been exposed to virtual events and, and the, and those still being, you know, an option mm-hmm. , is there something specific that they look for now that they didn't prior to the pandemic?

Katy Boos (06:29):

It's a good question. I think this would be true before the pandemic, but maybe more so just that, that content needs to be super engaging. You know, more use of video. Again, more Q&A, more just visual presentations than anything. I'll also say, if you can have a provocative topic andfocus for your session, all the better. Can you be a little bitoff what everyone else is saying, you know like if it, this is imaginary, but like, if somebody stood up right now and said, chat GPT is not useful, you know, we're, we're all seeing it's pretty useful in, in some regards. So would that be interesting enough? Yeah. I mean, maybe that's something people want to listen to, so it's kind of taking that opposing view. And then I would also say, you know, bringing in partners, that's something we do a ton of. We will partner our client with other companies who maybe aren't our client, but we think they've got a good message to make this amazing session and delivered on a silver platter to the organizer. So really, you know, thinking about what would be most engaging for the audience. And again, all of those things were true before the pandemic, but now I think it's even more true. Shorter attention spans. We want good content.

Michelle Kane (08:01):

Yeah. And I think too, people are more selective with how they spend their time. Some intentionally, some I think without really realizing it, because our rhythms have changed, our, our priorities have changed. A lot of us are, you know, now that things are back up and running, it's everyone's busieryou know, in in a way that it's not just busy work, but they're, they're busy, they're working in their businesses and they really mm-hmm. , it has to be something special to take that time away. But I, I also love that you brought up the serendipity of those chance meetings. I, you know, it's, it's funny, even in my day-to-day, so often, some of the best conversations and the best Intel happens in the parking lot conversations, .

Katy Boos (08:45):

Oh my gosh, yes. It's so true. It's so true. I just, you know, I was just, I had a client speaking at South by Southwest, and after the session I went up and was talking to two of the audience members. Guess what, they're both new business prospects right now. I mean, that was not my intent. It was . It was just, Hey, what did you think of the workshop? What did you think of this session? And obviously they're there and I can say, oh, and by the way, I, I placed this, I, you know, yeah, I did this workshop . So it was sort of like the best proof in the pudding right there. So it was great. Oh,

Michelle Kane (09:22):

That's incredible. I love it.

Karen Swim, APR (09:25):

Tell us, you know, you, you are, you really function in the executive thought leadership lane and you love it there, you live there. Tell us about some of the best practices that our audience can adapt to get their speakers booked for engagements.

Katy Boos (09:49):

Yeah, I think the number one thing is understand that event that you are targeting intimately. Go to the website, look at past agendas, who spoke there before. Are you proposing a product manager and they only have C level speakers, you know, don't do that. So , I think that's, that's number one. And that's, you know, as all of us, you know, under the umbrella of PR practitioners, that's what we should be doing anyway, right? If you're pitching the New York Times, you want to know that you're going to the right reporter and you have something that they would be interested in, something they maybe have covered or covered around that area. It's no different with speaking. You need to have something that's valuable to the conference organizer. I think a mistake that a lot of people makeand maybe all of us when we first started in our careers, is we go online and we fill out the apply to speak form. And, you know, that's not to say, you know, we still do that. Absolutely. But if you're just kind of plugging in information without really tailoring it, without really understanding the event, that's a miss. And you will, nine times out of 10 not get chosen. You may luck out and, and get to a smaller event. But I think that's number one is really understanding the event, the topics, level of speakersthat sort of thing. So I, I think that's probably the, the first place to start.

Michelle Kane (11:30):

Excellent. And then on the other side of it, how do you best prepare your clients for these engagements?

Katy Boos (11:38):

Yeah, we like to load them up with, here's the event, here's everything you need to know. We give them, you know, even here's where you check in. For some major events, we'll let them know about, other complimentary sessions they might want to attend. We get them, you know, Hey, you gotta get your hotel cause it's gonna sell out, you know, in this area. So it's really all of those logistical details that kind of gets into the tactics, but making sure they're all teed up. It hands on making sure that they have a chance to do kind of a tech run through. And that can be, honestly, that can be 15 minutes before the session. Sometimes you can't get in the room until then, but just making sure that they have a backup. Do they have their laptop? Do they have a thumb drive?

(12:31):

Do they have the presentation with a conference organizer? All of that. And then, you know, sort of backing up a step at a higher level, some of our clients want speaker training and we do offer that. That's something that can be as simple as, Hey, I just want to run this by someone and do a brush up for an hour. Great, we can do that. It could be we want to practice on stage, we want to plan the blocking. I want to know that when I make this point, I'm at this point in the stage and what hand gesture should I use when that sort of thing. So it could really vary, but I do, I think speaker training can be super valuable to people. And then, you know, just beyond that, making sure that people understand the event they're going to. Andyou know, again, what's the focus? Who will be in the audience that's super important. What's the demographics of this event? And speak to them, make sure it's you know, if it's an audience of students, don't talk about, oh, you're a, y mid-career change, you know, midlife career change, you, you would be missing the mark. So just understanding that I think is important. Making sure speakers understand that.

Karen Swim, APR (13:52):

I love that. Yeah, that's great advice too in about the speaker training because I think so many people can benefit from that. Even if you speak and you're a great speaker, it never, that coaching and then blocking is really useful, particularly if it's, you know, a keynote or, you know, if it's going to be like a workshop in a room, you're probably okay with not doing the blocking because the room is not going to vary that much from what you might be accustomed to. But I I love that. That's great advice. A lot of our solos may be working withexecutives that are fantastic speakers. They're engaging, they've got a great topic, they have all of the things that would make them wow an audience, but they don't have a book. They don't work for a company that maybe everybody knows. How do we get those speakers booked?

Katy Boos (14:48):

Yeah, it comes down to really being scrappy and we're no different. You know, I will be the first to say, if I go to an event and say, have I have a VP at Adobe who wants to get on stage, what do you think? That's a lot easier than, you know, I have this startup over here in this sort of niche area. And it's much harder. That's when wefor example, right now we're pairing a CEO of a growth company. We're trying to get him at a very, very top event. It's probably the number one event for his space. We're pairing him with a woman who is an expert in this field, and she's nationally known and she's willing to do it. So we went out, we, spoke with her and of course the event's like, Ooh, hey, wow, yeah, we'd love to have her.

(15:46):

And I'm like, and it's a package deal. , you know, it's, it's a twofer here, but you know, you just, you just kinda have to get scrappy and Yeah. You know, and put people together. And that's, and that's where, you know, again, like looking at other companies that might be complimentary, maybe you put together a killer panel you know and also, you know, I think sometimes people get too narrowly focused on my company is, you know, an AI, whatever, right? And they're like, we, our topic needs to be AI. What if your topic is, you are the first unicorn in this space. How did you get your funding? How did you grow? How did you make a career change? Why did you start this business? You know, there's so many ways to get in there. And that's what we love to do is like when we first get a client, we will meet with them.

(16:42):

We have what we call story mining sessions. So we're talking with them, we're like trying to get out what's the really interesting angle here? It's great you have this like AI product, that's awesome, but what's the other, what are the other things that will make you stand out, make you unique and make you of interest to an event? So I think that's really important. So just, yeah, those things. Who can you partner with? Can you put together a really compelling panel? All of it goes back to, let's tee this up for the conference organizers. Let's put it on a silver platter and go, here you go.

Karen Swim, APR (17:17):

I love that you talked about clients and their tunnel vision. I'm sure that got a, a nod of agreement from everyone in our audience because my goodness, sometimes it's so hard to get them outside of their head and, and enable them to see the bigger picture, which is why they have us, right? Because we're creative and we're thinking more broadly. So thank you for reassuring all of us that we're not the only one that, you know, deals with this issue. It is universal in our field of getting clients to see the color that we see instead of just seeing in black and white. And I feel like I have these conversations daily sometimes from the mundane to the extremely frustrating

Michelle Kane (18:06):

,

Karen Swim, APR (18:07):

Which describes my morning

Katy Boos (18:09):

. Oh, no,

Michelle Kane (18:12):

No, but it's, it's so true. It's in those story mining moments, right? The things that they think are boring and you think, whoa, wait. Yeah, that's a possibility. So true. What I do it all the time every day. Well, yes, exactly. .

Karen Swim, APR (18:26):

Yeah.

Katy Boos (18:27):

It's funny, you know, one of our clientswho I won't name, but we, when we first started working with them, the feedback we were getting from conference organizers was, okay, they spoke last year or two years ago, five years ago, and all they did was get on stage and do a sales pitch. And I was like, I can assure you that will not happen. That is not what we're doing. And as a matter of fact, my guidance to clients is, I would say you get one mention, so you can be like, oh, you know, and in, in this case, this is how we would at, our company handle this issue. You get one mention, and then really, I feel like the value is your name, your affiliation, you're being splashed all over their promotions, you know? And it's that credibility that you get beyond that.

(19:17):

And this is why we love content too. Take advantage of the fact that you are speaking at these events. Do a blog post about it, do social posts about it, you know, just milk it for all it's worth because, you know, it's great if you have those people in the room, but sometimes, sometimes it's 50 people, you know, and is it worth it for you to travel, do this presentation, prep, all of the work that goes into it to reach 50 people? Maybe if they're your absolute targets, but how can you go beyond that? And that's what we're always looking at. We want to reach 5,000 people. And so that's where content comes in, the complimentary side of things.

Karen Swim, APR (20:04):

I love that. Yeah. And so people may be wondering, like, why, why are you guys subtitling this or titling this staying in your lane with Katie Boos ? Well, there's a reason for that and it's becauseKatie, it's something that you said when we first talked to you and it resonated with Michelle and myself, and I'm sure it'll resonate with our audience because it's about finding what you're really, really good at and doubling down on it. So tell us about your lane and how you found it and why you're staying in it, .

Katy Boos (20:42):

Yeah, it's so funny because I think as PR practitioners, we are always asked to do so much, right? If you think about the role of a PR person is so broad, which honestly is why I love it. If I had to do the same thing every day, you know, day in and day out, I would not be a happy person. So I love the variety of clients, I love the variety of work. However, if you really want to be a specialist, you know, having that niche is a great way to go. And that's, that's sort of where it was just one of those light bulb moments, maybe, I don't know, 10 or 12 years ago. And it was like, you know, I really love working with events and I love working with event organizers. AndI love coming up with ideas and sessions and getting people on stage and, and it just snowballed from there.

(21:34):

It's sort of like one of those things, like if you find something you're good at, it just kind of keeps going, right? Because there's success in that. And that's, sort of where we were withthe thought leadership space. So media relations I have always liked, but I haven't loved. And so that's where I was like, you know what, there are people who love that and that's why we love to partner with people who love to do that, you know? And it's also why, you know, flip side, it's really interesting. We were brought in by a pretty major PR agency to do their speaking program for their clients. And they were like, yes, we can do this, but we love having people who live and breathe it day in and day out. And so it's just that wonderful sort of marriage of let's all focus on the things that we love, we're good at, we're specialists. And I do think that's a trend in PR right? People are are like, and, and business in general. People are nicheing down. And I think that's, it's interesting. And, and I think we can all be more successful doing that. So I'll stay in my lane. I won't get into media relations, but , I'm happy to partner with people who love that .

Michelle Kane (22:51):

And, and I think that's how so many of our solos find success, right? We partner with each other, we're always looking to collaborate and it just helps everyone.

Katy Boos (23:02):

Yeah.

Karen Swim, APR (23:02):

Yeah, it does for sure.

Katy Boos (23:04):

A collaboration's the best.

Karen Swim, APR (23:06):

This is so good. Katie and I, you know, as I said to you at the top of this, I am sure that we are going to have you on again, have you in front of our audience because you are an expert and you know, I may just have you on the channel to talk about your volunteer work at one point because its so interesting. And we have, you know, I am an animal lover and we have so many animal lovers in our group that would love to hear about what you do there too. Thank you so much for hanging out with Michelle and I today. We

Michelle Kane (23:41):

Absolutely. Yeah. What's the best way to reach you, Katie? Website or LinkedIn or

Katy Boos (23:50):

Linkedin is great or feel free to email me too, katie at Remix communications.com. Excellent. Either way or our website Remix Communications.

Michelle Kane (24:00):

Fantastic. Well, everyone who's listening today, we, well, we don't hope we know you've got something out of this today, but we're grateful for your time with us. And until next time, thanks for listening on That Solo Life.

It’s Time to Pollinate Your Pipeline to Get Business Blooming

Spring is in full bloom, thanks to the pollination by bees, butterflies, and birds. It’s a reminder that as solos we need to be in pollination mode all year long. Listen to today’s episode for tips and inspiration to grow your business development.

 

Transcript

Michelle Kane (00:02):

Thank you for joining us for this episode of That Solo Life, the podcast for PR pros and marketers who work for themselves like me, Michelle Kane, with VoiceMatters and my ever-steady co-host Karen Swim of Solo PR Pro. Hi, Karen. How are you today?

Karen Swim, APR (00:17):

Hey, Michelle. I'm, I'm doing a lot better than you. I know that you are an allergy sufferer and spring comes with the reality of allergy season. So,

Michelle Kane (00:28):

Exactly. It's been a, an agonizingly beautiful season here in southeastern Pennsylvania. So that actually informed our topic today.

Karen Swim, APR (00:39):

It did.

Michelle Kane (00:40):

We're going to talk about how to pollinate your leads. Let's use pollen. Well, we know pollen does good, even though it does get all up in our sinus cavity. So apologies for how I sound today. I sounded worse three days ago, so there's that. But yeah, we're just going to keep it a little light today and just kind of give you, give you a pep talk of how to keep that business pipeline fluid, which we all need to do, no matter how things are out there.

Karen Swim, APR (01:06):

And, and also it's a spring thing. It, it actually was a topic that was kind of rolling around in my head. ‘Cause I get to talk to so many small business people and so many solo PR pros and I have noticed this trend. And so as always, we want to help you to have the business that you want. And again, you know, I, I always preface that because I, when I first started my business, there were a lot of people out there that were, you know posting pictures on Twitter. We didn't have , I'm embarrassed to say this, but we didn't have Instagram yet, let alone TikTok . And yes, I'm that old, but people would post up pictures of like, these fancy cars and mansions and it just didn't speak to me. Yeah. And it, it was their measure of success.

(02:00):

And that's fine if that's your measure of success, but it wasn't for me. I wanted something different. I was looking, I was going into business for myself for completely different reasons. And so I always like to preface that because whatever your why is, and, and however big or small you want your business to be for everybody, there's a way to do that and, and have a healthy business. And that's kind of what we're aiming for, for people not to struggle. This year we've seen a lot of economic tumult. We've seen a lot of companies doing layoffs. There's a lot of fear, uncertainty and doubt. The famous fud, and I'm , I'm watching a lot of our small business and solo PRs fall into discouragement. Right. And so we want to talk about, and, and the reason pollinate is such a, a good theme is because here's what some people do, and people that are in traditional jobs do this too.

(03:03):

You, you're, you're working, working, working, head down, and then you lose an account. Or if you're in traditional employment, you lose a job, then all of a sudden you're on LinkedIn like a crazy person, you know, running after job leads or you're running after leads for your business. Pollinating is something that happens before the blooms come; pollinating is critical. And so we want to talk about the things that you really should be doing before the season starts where you will need the business. And so this is why we always talk about business development being an ongoing activity.

Michelle Kane (03:40):

Right. Right. And I think a key way to do that, and I challenge myself to do this as much as anyone else, you know, speaking of LinkedIn, pop in every day, you know, offer, offer just a little nugget of advice. You know, seek to be a helper because then when people are looking for help, they're going to think of you. And if you want to expand that into some content marketing for your business, by all means, please do.

Karen Swim, APR (04:07):

Yeah. You know, there are these habit builders out there. There's yeah. Dig. There's, there's a lot of habit builders. Build a habit of being the face of your business every day. I, I mean, I find that, you know, these consistent habits really do pay off. So for me, I will tell you and, and lean into what you're good at. So for me, I am a relationship person. I genuinely love people. I mean, I genuinely do, even though I'm kind of an introverted extrovert, I care about people and I build these really long-term relationships. And so my superpower is maintaining connections. So I am always, you know, talking to the people that I've worked with. Even when clients go away, I keep in touch. We, you know, we set up like check-ins, like quarterly, monthly, sometimes a little less frequently, but I'm always checking in and not for business, just for relationship building. I stay connected through social media, you know, I'll call somebody or text somebody. I will, you know, I just maintain friendships and I maintain contact with all of my former clients. And so that just continues to pay off. For example, this year I have already gotten three leads from a C E O that I used to work with.

Michelle Kane (05:37):

I love that. I love that.

Karen Swim, APR (05:39):

This is not the first that he's ever referred business to us.

Michelle Kane (05:42):

Right

Karen Swim, APR (05:43):

And it's because I maintain those relationships. Yeah. And here's the funny thing about that former client, I've also gotten leads from three other members of his executive team or his former executive team, and the company was purchased by somebody else. But we've maintained those relationships, we've maintained contact, and so they continue to refer business my way. So don't underestimate the power of adding relationship building into your routine activities, if that's your, if that's your superpower too

Michelle Kane (06:15):

Now. And honestly, that, that is my main why, you know, business is relationship. Yeah. I, it's, it's on my, my website. It's, it's how I present. And it's so true. I mean, I love connecting people that can help each other even if I'm not involved. And I love that you schedule these touch base moments because I also kind of stink at that. Yeah. But I, I too, I love to stay in touch and not, not just because, you know, and it's, it's certainly not for a a, you know, a, ooh, I might get something out of this, but it's just because, hey, you know, we, we did, we went through something together. We built something together that was great. You know, why wouldn't you stay in touch? Because if,y ou're in business, especially in this business, I think it, it is in our ethos to be helpful. And, you know, I think that it's just a natural occurrence that you would want to remain in close contact with these people. And it makes such perfect sense. I love that. I'm gonna take that up. Scheduling things.

Karen Swim, APR (07:15):

Yeah. I mean, and you know, so I, I will open up my playbook and tell you some of the things that I do because it's natural to me. During the course of business, I always tell clients that we know that business comes and goes, but relationships are forever. So from

Michelle Kane (07:32):

Exactly

Karen Swim, APR (07:33):

Day one I'm always doing business, but also caring for the human beings. And so I am asking questions, I'm listening, I am responding to things. I'm supporting them in their career goals. I'm supporting them when personal things come up. If somebody is going through a challenge at work, like they're going through this challenging time, I might send flowers or I may send a card just to say, Hey, you okay? I do, you know, mental health check-ins, you know, that are outside of work. So I might text their cell and go, just check in on you today. I know that things are a little rough right now, and it's just about being a human being. And I know that some of us have come up in the era where business is like super professional and it's not very human, but I know that that's not our solos. I know that all of us get pretty close to our clients. So I'm saying, you know, lean into that and, and maybe you're not, you know, going on vacations with them or having dinner with them, but always tend to the humanity of your clients because that is definitely a way to pollinate future business. But even more importantly than that, it makes your work more satisfying when you are genuinely bringing your whole human self to the business.

Michelle Kane (08:51):

I agree. I agree. Because, you know, we are, we are our client's trusted resources. And, and it is a two-way street. I mean, I love, every year I try to send a little something to my financial client because it's tax season, and I know they never leave their, their desks. I feel so bad, especially since their new location is far removed from their beloved convenience store where they used to coffee up all the time. But it's just, you know, little touch doesn't have to be anything grand. You know, it could just be a little note, you know, if, if one of their family members has accomplished something. It's, it really humanizes the relationship, which I think is key. And you know what, that goes also for pollinating leads. If you see a prospect out there that's achieved something, whether personal or a professional, send a note. I mean, there used to be a chiropractor in my area that used to send me notes as a student, and it was just sunshine notes. And you know, as a kid you think, oh, isn't this neat, this person who is called doctor is thinking of me? And then of course it is, as an adult, you realize what they were really up to. They were trying to generate leads, but it's okay.

Karen Swim, APR (10:03):

And I mean, another way to pollinate is to spread your marketing seats. Yeah. I find that we solos are terrible at marketing our businesses. I want to believe that this younger generation is not following the poor example set in the past. Because you are not being selfish. You are not being it's not obnoxious to talk about what you do. Why wouldn't you? And, but here's the thing, and I I just want to remind you, you must stay top of mind with everyone. You have to, because life is busy. People are bombarded with information, and you think that people know what you do, and they will forget that you do it if you're not constantly reminding them. So there's so many ways to do this in ways that might feel comfortable to you. But I don't hate the sales process. I don't hate selling because selling is simply uncovering needs and offering solutions to people who are looking for it.

(11:09):

It's not a dirty thing. So talk about what you do. And you could do that, you know, as simple as, you know, commenting on something that's happening in your target audience's industry, posting on LinkedIn and sharing tips out there. You know, you see people sharing tips about, you know, here's how you do this. Now, I will say that I find it more valuable to speak to business and my client's industries than to speak to PR people. Not that I don't love PR people. We do that here on this podcast. So we have a place for that and we have a blog. But when it comes to marketing my business, I'm not really marketing to other PR people. I'm marketing to the clients that will hire me. If your target audience is PR professionals, and obviously, yes, you should absolutely serve content that's going to attract that audience, but just, you know, think about that because sometimes I see PR people sharing things, you know, on press releases and how to do this and how to do that, which is great. But if those aren't the people that are hiring you, you're really not speaking to your audience and their business challenges.

Michelle Kane (12:27):

Right. That's very true. Yeah. I mean, if, if, if your business model is that you are trying to work with fellow PR people as a coach or something, that's Yeah, that's fine. But yeah, you definitely want to be demonstrating your talents, you know, within the pool of, of those you want to do business with. I think that's absolutely true. I mean, there's definitely room for tool sharpening moments amongst ourselves, but you really want to be active in the circles, you know, where hopefully one day you can generate some business from people.

Karen Swim, APR (12:59):

And I mean, don't be afraid to ask that is so many times you leave stuff on the table because you don't ask for the business, ask if you know somebody, Hey, are you working with anybody at Love to Chat? Yeah. And if we are, of course we, we don't do that in pr. We are respectful if there's an agency in place, whether we know them or not. So we don't want to steal business, but there's a lot of people out there that could use PR support and they don't have somebody. Speaking of PR people too, even if there's an internal PR person, get to know those internal people because I just, there's a statistic that I will look up for you all, but I just went to an event where they were sharing that the companies that are able to 20 times their revenue, when they looked at the characteristics that are common across these companies, one of the things is that they use independent contractors.

(14:00):

We know that we are a superpower for companies. And so even if a company has an internal team, especially these days, those teams need to be laser focused on very specific types of initiatives. And so having an outside agency brings in a more global perspective. Because if you're inside of an agency, you're focused on the company's messaging, you're, you're, your perspective is a little bit different. You're not working with, you know, 10 other companies. You haven't seeing the inside of other businesses, you've only seen your company and you're focused on that, and you see it from that lens that an outside agency can focus on a different set of outlets. We deal with a wider set of reporters, and so you can even carve out responsibilities. Like I've had engagements where the internal team handle tier one and we handle trades or the internal team handled you know, one facet of media relations. And we did thought leadership for the executive. So you can, you know, slice and dice it, but don't be afraid that Oh, they have an internal team that they won't need outside support.

Michelle Kane (15:13):

No, that's totally true. I mean, I, I've had situations where, you know, the internal team handles strategy and I'm, I'm on the team as a copywriter, happy to be there. It's, it's nice not to have to lead. Sometimes ,

Karen Swim, APR (15:28):

It is nice not to have to lead. And sometimes it's nice, like in the times where we've done trades and the internal team has handled tier one, I've been more than happy because it's, I mean, media relations is work, period, but it's like, yeah, good luck with that Wall Street Journal. ,

Michelle Kane (15:50):

You take that.

Karen Swim, APR (15:51):

Yes, that's

Michelle Kane (15:51):

Fine.

Karen Swim, APR (15:52):

Happy to let you have that. You go for it. And our team has killed it. And I mean, and not to say that we haven't supported them on some of the tier one stuff too, but again, you can stay in your lane and you can add value just because of your perspective and then what you bring to the table of having this expertise across often more than one industry, and definitely across companies. So you have, you have different ideas and a a different perspective to bring to the table.

Michelle Kane (16:20):

Yeah. And, you know, building new relationships along the way.

Karen Swim, APR (16:25):

Yeah. And I, you know, here's another way that you can pollinate, you can run webinars And market it to prospects. They're, you know, companies are always going to be grateful to learn something that's going to move their business forward. So take a step back and think about what problems are happening in the industries that I serve, and how can my expertise help these companies? And so with that knowledge, you can sit, sit down and craft things. Now, if you're not like the webinar type of person, that's okay. Maybe you want to do, maybe you want to do in-person workshops. I've known people that have been really successful at that target companies and offer an in-person workshop. I just had a client yesterday have a need for wanting to train on empathetic communications. So, you know, ask and see what the needs are in the communities that you serve, and put something together. You can also do an email course. If you are somebody that rocks your email newsletter, use it to actually serve up content and invite people to subscribe for practical and actionable tips and insights. People will do that. I mean, I know that sometimes we have subscription fatigue, but people still read, they still learn from reading. They still appreciate that. So if that's what you do, use it.

Michelle Kane (17:49):

Yeah, that's true. That's true. And even if you also repurpose some of this content into blog posts and content for your website, Google loves that. And then you have the advantage of the serendipity of the Google search results.

Karen Swim, APR (18:03):

And I mean, if you're a video person, rock a video rock a reel rock, rock a short, I mean, yeah. There are just so many ways to do it. I, I think the key is though, making sure that you are not down so far on accounts that you're in panic mode. Right. Because that's just a terrible place to sell from. And I say that from years of experience of actually being in a sales function. I managed sales teams, and I would tell my team members this because it never, ever, ever, ever failed to be the truth. When they were down, they were not effective. Right. Because your mind is not in a calm place where you are really looking and you're being strategic and you're being creative. You're panicked, you're freaking out about your income.

Michelle Kane (18:54):

Right.

Karen Swim, APR (18:55):

And if you know, even if that's you today, I would say do what you have to do to bring in enough income to get you, you know, solid again, where you can start to be more proactive. And so there is no shame in offering services on Upwork if that's what you gotta do. There is no shame in taking a slice of your business. You know, if you are a copywriter, go hire yourself out as a copywriter just to get your income levels back up. And you know, don't forget to tap into your current clients for referrals or more work, because Right. Sometimes clients forget the breadth of services that you offer.

Michelle Kane (19:41):

Yeah, it's true. It's true. So even though it is, it is difficult to calm your mind and the fear in those moments. Yeah. Even if you just do it for an hour, try it and, and, and do it chunk by chunk. And we know that you are talented and we know that you will get there. Well, we thank you for joining us for this little pollination moment. And we do value your time. We value, if you find this meaningful to you, please share it around. We want to get the word out to as many people as possible so everyone can grow the business that they love in a way that they want to work. So thanks again for joining us for That Solo Life.

Bias Check: Seeking Clarity in Communication

As communicators we are always aware of making sure we are navigating our own inherent biases. The same is true as we counsel our clients. But in today’s society there is whole new layer where biases are being systematized and institutionalized. What does this mean for us as communicators? How to we navigate these tricky waters while also honoring the nuance necessary for clear communication? We discuss this weighty topic in today’s episode.

 

Read the Washington Post Op-ed referenced in today’s episode.

 

Transcript

Michelle Kane (00:02):

Thank you for joining us for this episode of That Solo Life, the podcast for PR pros and marketers who work for themselves, people like me, Michelle Kane, with VoiceMatters, and my ever steady co-host Karen Swim of Solo PR Pro. Hi Karen, how are you today?

Karen Swim (00:17):

I'm great, Michelle. How are you doing?

Michelle Kane (00:19):

Hi. I'm doing well, doing well. Spring has sprung and brought all the pollen with it, so apologies for any congestion you may hear, but that's okay, .

Karen Swim (00:31):

Yeah,

Michelle Kane (00:31):

It's worth it for the beauty . So yeah, I'm doing well and I'm excited about today's topic. It's pretty juicy, so we're going to try and keep it to our usual compact nugget as our audience can listen as they go about their day, we jokingly refer to ourselves as your walking partners, so yes. As you're on your daily walk, here we go. We're going to talk about institutional bias.

Karen Swim (00:59):

Yeah.

Michelle Kane (01:00):

I said it was juicy .

Karen Swim (01:03):

That's a weighty topic. I mean, we could, this is one of those topics that I love for us to be in a room together and just have like rich discussions about it. We really want to just talk about some of the things that we're seeing and reading, and at least put it on your mind to be thinking through, and having those discussions with other solos and industry leaders and clients, and really think about what this means for the future.

Michelle Kane (01:33):

Because, at the center of it, it speaks to what is the general truth, right? What are those things we can all agree on as a society and as our society continues to be polarized, how that can be really damaging in the short and long run. And the beauty of it is, as communicators, we can have a seat at this table, and yet again, help guide our clients, people in our sphere through these conversations. I know, Karen, you had brought up, there was an article on the Washington Post about, was it a Stanford law student? I think?

Karen Swim (02:19):

Yeah, so there were two things recently that in reading through them, really drove this home to me of the impact and the potential emerging trends. So one was this Washington Post article. It was an opinion piece from a Stanford law student that talked about how the very charged, polarized political environment has infiltrated the campus. And if you go to the Washington Post, there are actually several articles about this in law schools from another columnist as well. But this particular piece was again, an opinion. And this woman talked about how people are being forced into us versus them very much like the rest of the world. But where it got really interesting for me was how she described that when if you were of a certain political party, people expected you to be an attorney. And if you said that you wanted to be a prosecutor, you were bullied for it, ostracized, as this particular group saw this as evil. And conversely, on the other side of the political party, on the other side of the aisle, if you wanted to be an attorney, it labeled you in a particular ilk. So the fact that bias could be impacting choice of profession is a very scary thing, particularly when we're talking about our justice system, because I believe that this is just a mirror of other institutions in our society. So, at the educational level, if we're creating bias and that bias is leading people to lean in a particular direction for how they would use their skillset in their careers, that's problematic because we need diversity of thought in every area. And the second thing that really brought this home was Twitter's code being released. And we knew that that was coming. They announced that they were going to open up the code and reading takes from people that read through the code.

I have not read through the code myself. So let me say that I can read code. I'm not an expert in it, but I do know how to read code. I haven't read it myself, but it really brought out and articulated the bias that's written into the code. Now, Twitter is not alone in this. We know, and we've talked about this for years, we've talked about bias and AI, we've talked about bias and algorithms. And so all of this led us to really start to think very deeply about, as communicators, we know that we already have to work to ensure that we are navigating our own inherent biases, and that we are ensuring that clients aren't operating with biases. But now we have this whole new layer where biases being systematized and institutionalized. And so what does that mean for us as communicators? How do we navigate these tricky new waters to be able to still communicate effectively to be able to articulate points, but to be nuanced so that we are not further amplifying the, the,

Michelle Kane (05:59):

the noise

Karen Swim (06:01):

the noise, the polarization. Yes. That's really taken hold.

Michelle Kane (06:05):

Yeah. And I think the first step is to be cognizant that it is taking hold in such a way, because especially as you said in the justice system, that's highly disturbing. I think, I hope it's not a completely lost art that we can assume a certain point of view in our work that is separate from whatever personal thoughts we may have. And I'm not talking about things that are just inherently right versus wrong. I mean, there are some things that are no, that should never be right,

Karen Swim (06:43):

, yes.

Michelle Kane (06:44):

But just in personal preferences or, do you call it purity tests of, well, if I disagree with this, you know, institution or group about this point, then I must act in this major way in every aspect of my life. I see that at the local level of, well, this organization is taking money to do this private thing, and I am now not going to go there anymore. And I'm thinking, at the cost of what you're going to damage the total economic development of a region, because of taking such a wide view, we really need to maintain nuance. And nuance has been slowly chipped away at for quite some time. I mean, I'm thinking even back to late nineties, early two thousands. And maybe even before that when I wasn't paying as much attention as I should have. And we really need to keep it front of mind and, and really be the bearers of how we need to think things through.

Karen Swim (07:51):

Yes. And you know, I love language, I write, and part of my personal writing is I like to play with language, but what's been really apparent, and you're right, the shift is not overnight. I know that we love to tie this to a certain timeframe in our political history, but this has not been an overnight switch. We have always had this ability to weaponize language. And for as far back as man has existed, I mean, what is bullying? You know, it's really, sometimes the bullying is not physical. It's really verbal bullying. And so we have this ability to do this as human beings. And if you are working in an arena that is political, obviously you're going to adopt the language of your followers to speak to them.

But I find we tend to be very aggressive these days. And so there are now these code words that will signal whether you are progressive or liberal, conservative, whether you're a Democrat or a Republican. And I think that's awful because I truly, in my heart of heart believes, and it's funny, the Stanford law school op-ed said the same thing, that, most people are not us or them on campus. They're somewhere in that middle. And I believe that that's most of the country, but many people feel bullied into staying silent or trying to navigate these tricky waters so that they're not labeled either way. For many of us if you work with a technology company, you’re B2B, you’re B2C, you don't really care what political party people are. And you're not trying to speak to politics, you're trying to speak to your target audience, which comprises both sides of the aisle. One of the easiest things that you can do, obviously, is to not use those trigger words. I find it very troubling that now we have to restrict our language because some groups have adopted this as their mantras, their code words to signal that we're one of you. And I don't know how this mob mentality has just really taken over in such a negative and toxic way. But as communicators, we can't fall prey to it. Even if we belong to one of these parties, even if we are all in on that party, we cannot let that impact the work that we do.

Michelle Kane (10:50):

A hundred percent. And, as communicators, I know for me, I am always -- from the beginning of when I started out in this profession -- always conscious of not just how words communicate, but everything you present. Everything communicates. And, it's heightened now, and to your point as well, most businesses I know, they want to serve everybody. Is your money green? Okay. Yeah.

Karen Swim (11:27):

And, not to be confused with being values based because…

Michelle Kane (11:32):

Correct.

Karen Swim (11:34):

…I advocate for companies having a very clear North Star, for having a mission and a vision that shows up in every single part of the organization and is reinforced. So this is not being values-based. We're talking about being divisive and polarizing on purpose, unless that is your mission. And there are companies that do very much have that mission, different story. But even in those instances, when you are mission driven and it's in the political arena, and you are a social justice organization, I'm always a fan of communicating with clarity and not communicating to divide. Because, and this is just my personal viewpoint and, and I'm going to just say that this is opinion, it's not fact. But I truly believe that when we communicate with clarity, and we're not communicating to divide people, that it actually is stronger for whatever we're trying to achieve. Because where change really happens is when human beings can truly communicate and discuss with one another.

So when you set the table for not argument, but for thought and discussion, that's where you can really move the needle. And I think I've shared this story on this podcast before, and my apologies, I cannot remember what journalist wrote this, but he wrote about this whole phenomena, and he talked about when he was arguing with a cab driver in Israel and how they argued for like 30 minutes. And it was great because this was one-on-one discussion. They had different viewpoints, but at the end of the ride, they were able to shake hands and they both had learned something from the other and really come to an understanding of the other person's perspective. And each of them had, you know, changed their perspective slightly based on this discussion. But it was discussion. And so I think that if we can move away from inciting argument or simply communicating for agreement, communicating for validation, which is something very different for me.

And that's a skillset, and that's something that as a communicator, you may be called to do again, depending on the purpose of the communication and who your client is. But it's not where I believe that we should live. We should want to not necessarily validate, because you need to be clear and have your point of view and be able, again, to articulate that. But is there room for people to go, “Huh, never thought about that,” or, “Wow, that's really interesting.” Discussion creates memorable moments, right? Telling those stories in a way that people can relate to makes them remember the brand that you're actually talking about, or remember the person, the spokesperson. Those are all things that are important to our profession. And I am so afraid, and the reason that we really wanted to address this today is I think that we really need to have our eyes wide open and to begin to fight back on this thing that is taking hold in our society.

And it's getting deeper and deeper. And it just, it, it's frightening to me. It's frightening to me that one day we might see communicators who are only of one political party. Could that happen? Absolutely. It could. Because if we're educating people in a system that is being set up to create biases and to create us versus them, what does that mean for the future of every single profession on this earth? Does this mean that you now have to, will we see a future where if you have a certain set of belief systems politically, that you're going to have to seek out doctors who share that opinion because they're going to treat you differently?

Michelle Kane (15:43):

That's already happening, isn't it?

Karen Swim (15:45):

I was going to say, yep. We already have bias in our healthcare system that Yes, we do. I mean, it just, this goes on and on and on. And some of this is already happening, and we can't dismiss this as a DEI and B agenda because it's not, it's not political inclusivity. It's human beings getting back to humanity and understanding how to talk to people. Not at them.

Michelle Kane (16:14):

Right. And I think of the two pillars, purpose and intent, and I think we have to be laser focused as we craft our communications, as we discern what someone is communicating. What is their true purpose? What is their intent? Is it to be clear? Is it to be helpful? Is it to hopefully engage with a target audience? Or is it to create noise and argument, arguments and chaos. I have to bring the pop culture element into it. There was that scene with Michael Caine in Batman talking about the Joker. Some people just want to watch it all burn. And we have too much of that going on in our society. Too much of that rhetoric that is a lot of noise and it's a lot of grandstanding for personal gain. I think back to when Crossfire was still a thing and Jon Stewart was on and they wanted him to be the comedy guy, and, and he laid into both sides and said, we just want the truth. That's all we want. And yes. Are we going to have different viewpoints about what truth is? Sure. We all have different experiences, but I think if we're all cognizant that this does exist, that your experience may not be the same as someone else's, that doesn't mean that they are wrong.

Karen Swim (17:46):

Yes.

Michelle Kane (17:47):

Or that they're making it up.

Karen Swim (17:48):

Yes. Trust them. Yes. And this, to me, that bias can lead to judgment that's really unfair. And then you're writing off an entire swath of your audience that really could be valuable. And I hate to call it communicating to the middle, but really that's what it is. It's communicating to the middle. There's such beauty in that because being able to create environments and create communications that people can actually share and discuss regardless of where they fall on that spectrum is at the heart of human community. And we don't want to stay stuck in that silo, and we don't want to create silos. We want to invite people who think differently to show up, to participate, to engage, because we all are better when we're exposed to things that are a little bit different than maybe the way that we think, or even the way that we believe.

And so, I don't ever fear, I mean, it's, sometimes I'll see that, and I've been exposed to this where people are like, “How could you talk to these people?” Uh, because they're people. And because I learn something and because I see every human being as a human being, period. That's it. Do I see color? Of course I do, because I see the person. And so I see the things that this person represents, whether it's their ability or their race, their height, I see it all, but they're a human being, right? And so I operate from that perspective, and I think that we need to really take a step back and get back to the basics. But here's the great thing, once again, my public relations heroes. I am just continually proud to be in this job that is super challenging.

Let's face it, we have a very challenging job. We might not be rocket scientists and we might not have literal life and death at our fingertips most of the time. But our jobs are stressful, they're complex, they're needed, and we are just, we sit in a seat that brings with it so much honor, because day after day, I always think, my God, we truly have the opportunity to bring back humanity. We have this powerful gift of communication that cuts across every human experience. And I'm so proud of us who remain in this job, who do what we do, unsung most of the time. Sometimes we don't even get a thank you for the work that we do, but Michelle and I want you to know that we see you.  We are so honored to be a part of you and to be a part of this community. And we think that you're rock stars. And I think, you know, it might sound super aspirational, but…

Michelle Kane (21:07):

Go for it.

Karen Swim (21:08):

…we have the opportunity to change the world. I'm sorry, but

Michelle Kane (21:11):

Oh no, a hundred percent. And along with what you're saying, it is our privilege to help communicate the value of each and every human being. Now, I know there are some dark corners of our industry that don't, that's okay. They can do their thing. But we're lucky we get to tell people’s stories. We get to tell the stories of companies and organizations and individuals that are all trying to make this a better place.

Karen Swim (21:41):

Yes.

Michelle Kane (21:42):

Which I know - bring out the flowers and the angels singing.

Karen Swim (21:47):

We help clients to connect to their customers and helping them to make money is not just a financial transaction, it's necessary. When we take that further, we are directly responsible for building things that feed families. The work that we do keeps people employed, it keeps commerce going. All of these things are necessary. But we also get the privilege of sitting back and thinking, wow, look at how I was so essential in communicating this client's story. And sometimes those stories are so powerful. When we do customer case studies or we're sharing things on behalf of nonprofits, you know that it's work that really speaks to the heart. But even if you're a B2B-er, like me, there's still so much to celebrate about how we help companies to see the world too. We are their eyes and their ears because we are not stuck in a corporate office looking at it through just the brand perspective. We bring in that broader perspective and help them see from a larger worldview.

Michelle Kane (23:05):

A way and a view that they might not even think of because they're focused on what they do. And I say that time and time again to clients that are trying to do this kind of work that we do on their own. It's like, no, you're too close to it. This is not your lane. I don't do your job . Speaking to many of us in the middle, I think it's that we see life rolling along. Everything's fine. We don't need to speak up. Sometimes, you do. Just to say, hey, you know, can we not have this layer of crazy going on? That would be super nice. The clouds, the clouds of chaos. Could they please disperse?

Karen Swim (23:53):

Here, here! You know, I have learned to coexist with them. Like, oh, hey,

Michelle Kane (23:58):

. Oh, there you are. Have fun with that. Yes.

Karen Swim (24:03):

Well,

Michelle Kane (24:04):

We hope this has been a valuable bit of time to listen to us go on about this topic. It's an important topic and it is something we need to always be vigilant in keeping our eyes open. And we hope you too are always seeking ways to expand your world. And if you do, please do share this around. We value that if you share this and also subscribe and tell everybody about this episode. And until next time, thanks for joining us on That Solo Life.

 

Freedom, Finance, and Keeping Your Business Fit

With ongoing inflation, interest rate hikes, and the failures of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank, we continue to navigate uncertain times. In this episode we talk about shoring up our communication with our clients and ways to work on your business development pipeline.

 

Transcript

Michelle Kane (00:02):

Thank you for joining us for this episode of That Solo Life, the podcast for PR pros and marketers who work for themselves. I am Michelle Kane with VoiceMatters, and I'm here with my ever steady co-host, Karen Swim of Solo PR Pro. Hi Karen. How are you today?

Karen Swim, APR (00:17):

I'm great. How are you doing?

Michelle Kane (00:19):

I'm good. Hey, you know, we're just flying along in this crazy little world, .

Karen Swim, APR (00:26):

We're rolling along, changing as we go, making it up, figuring it out.

Michelle Kane (00:33):

Hey, that's, the beauty of being a PR pro. And you know, every day we wake up to the news, we peek our eyes out from under the covers and think. “What's happening out there?” And today we're going to talk about the financial world. Ooh, but as we are recording this, on the date we're recording this, the Fed is considering whether or not to pop up those interest rates again. Yay. But you know, as I'm sure all of our listeners know, we've had some bank failures and there has comes along with that some angst. I think we still kind of have a trauma from 2008 sticking in our bones and it's just bringing back some of those feelings of “ooph…”

Karen Swim, APR (01:17):

Well, yeah. For those of us who are around and remember that, but even if you weren't yet in business or were not yet operating, or maybe you were still in school back then and you're new to the working world. There are some things that we can learn from the recent bank failures. First of all, I think one thing that we can learn from a communication standpoint is what not to do. And I think that because we counsel clients, maybe many of you had some clients with ties to those banks, so it's really important. And then I had clients that didn't have ties, but for all clients, I said the same thing, it's better to control the message before the message controls you.

Michelle Kane (02:17):

Always.

Karen Swim, APR (02:18):

So, something this widespread, we talk about, we have this decision grid about when to weigh in on issues of the day. But something like this is definitely a place where I think it does not hurt at all to communicate it to key stakeholders, even if you're not affected by saying, “Hey, this recent news is very troubling and unsettling. We want you to know that we are not impacted by the SVP Bank failure nor by First Republic.” If you're not impacted, it's good to say that because this type of challenge is something that hits just everyone. It's going to, you know, employees are going to wonder, “Oh my God, do we have money in these banks? Is it going to affect payroll?” Your investors want to know that you've got a handle on this, your potential investors, your customers want to know that you are fine and that you're not going to be making moves out of frenzy and in response to this, but that you're okay.

Michelle Kane (03:27):

Yeah.

Karen Swim, APR (03:28):

And if you are affected, communicate with a plan about what you plan to do.

Michelle Kane (03:33):

Right. I mean, that's basic PR 101. It's take control of the messaging. And I give kudos, of course, I wasn't privy to what local companies were saying but I know the banks in our region did a wonderful job - the very next morning, making statements of we're, we're good, we're solvent. That was different because X, Y, Z, you can rest assured… They just did the right thing.

Karen Swim, APR (04:01):

I think it also brings up the question - I had providers that I utilize that were impacted. And I immediately got messages that what I utilized them for would not be affected. But it really, that's good. You know, there's just been a lot of uncertainty and this financial part adds to it because I had to question - I did not know prior to this where all of my clients banked, where their money was parked. And it brings up a point like, here's one more stress test that we need to follow. And it's not so much even knowing where they bank, but having some failsafe to protect your income.  So I know some people that were personally impacted by delays in payments because of these bank failures. Could you absorb a delay in payment?  For how long could you absorb that delay? Do you have anything in your contract that is a protection? Do you have conversations with your clients about the realities of life? And are you documenting those in your contract? Because again, it brings up one more issue that we have to make sure that we guard against. And I'm all for making sure that you build a cushion that can carry you through any crisis. Whether it is several clients cutting off contracts at once, client organizations failing, bank failures, whatever it is, you not being able to work, have a cushion. And no judgment on you today if you do not have that. Because so many small businesses in America are operating on very, very thin margins. So there's no judgment. But I am saying that for all of us, we need to stockpile even more.

And if that means thinking about, “Hmm, are there creative ways that I can build revenue? What can I do to extend that may not even be client work? Or where do I need to adjust my strategy for new clients? Should I be raising my rates?” You really need to start thinking about that in stockpiling, because it's not going to get better out here, , and we're in a climate where it's not going to get better for the general public. And I wanted to correct that because for solos, and it's interesting that I just saw a Forbes piece that we'll be talking about in the future that talks about PR being a recession-proof business. I want to encourage every single public relations professional out there that we have the ability to thrive in these times.

So I want you to just keep that message in your head. If you need to write it on post-it notes and post it around your office, do that. Because it's easy to fall into the trap of feeling like we're just like everybody else. We're not going to be laid off. You need to get ahead though of how your clients are thinking. Because this creates an environment of anxiety. Clients are nervous, organizations are nervous. They're looking at their balance sheets. The Fed is nervous because do they let inflation just continue to like be at a level that is higher? Because traditionally inflation sits at around 2% and do they want it to go to 4%? That's going to make people super nervous, or do they want to raise interest rates to kind of put a tap on it? Then if they raise the interest rates, banks are further impacted because of their investments. Which is what happened to these banks. Their investments were impacted by the high interest rate. So they had less money and they have less money in reserve. So it's like you're choosing between two evils and they can't solve both things at one time.

Michelle Kane (08:21):

Well, and I think the thing that we need to focus on, like you said, it's definitely bringing uncertainty as an unwanted guest to the table, which I don't know if this is going to make us feel any better, but it's certainly one thing I learned as I had to create this business, was even if you're employed by someone - that direct deposit, it feels certain but it's not certain.

Karen Swim, APR (08:55):

Absolutely. We live with uncertainty without even acknowledging it because there are certain risks that we've just accepted as normal, so we don't see them as a risk. But, you know, we want to give you, and we're not financial advisors. You need to talk to your financial advisors. .

So this is not, you know, I think we're supposed to disclose that or, you know, make that clear so that we don't get in trouble. We're not financial advisors, but we're business people that are sharing some strategies. So here are some immediate things that you can do as you're doing your pulse checks with your clients. Do not be afraid to ask, “Hey, we're in a really crazy, chaotic time economically. How are you feeling about that? And what strategies are you all doing to make sure that you can weather this?” Think about how you can help them to hit their goals. Because again, you want to be a problem solver. And so avoiding the conversation can mean that you get hit with surprises later on. Addressing this with your clients brings things to the forefront. And if they're thinking about cutting back, you can help them. You can guide them.

Michelle Kane (10:13):

There's something important you said in that, and since the pandemic, it's likely that you're kind of in this mode because hopefully you've been counseling your clients through this. Because, that was a major drop off of “Oh my gosh, we're all paralyzed.” And okay, well how did you guide them through that? You should have hopefully kept that conversation going, of “How are things? How can we better address, how can we change our tactics? Do we need to pivot in any direction?” So please don't, don't think, oh my gosh, I have to have a big conversation.

Karen Swim, APR (10:52):

Yeah. It's not a, it's a big - I'm a female, so I'm using the term girl. I identify as girl - it's a big girl conversation that you, we all should be having, right? You need to have these conversations. Sometimes we shy away from talking about money with our clients, and sometimes we're afraid to have the big conversations because we're afraid of the answers. But let me tell you something, it is so much better to be empowered with information. So these conversations can yield clues about the certainty of your contract. And those are things that you want to address early on. Another tip is if a client says, “Well, you know, we're thinking about, or we're planning on bringing PR in-house…” Respond with, “That's great, client! That's fantastic. We've seen the best results when there are resources internally that can focus on these things with the support of an agency to do that. What were you thinking in terms of how that would look?” Guide them, make some suggestions? A lot of times I've seen people be in the situation and simply throw down the flag and go into, you know, they’re outlaws. So their mind immediately is like, okay, well we have three months. We have 60 days, we have 30 days, and then they're looking for more business. But you didn't even try to pivot this conversation and influence it by holding onto at least some of the business. Your budget may get cut, but wouldn't you rather have a budget that's cut where you stood up for yourself and maybe your scope for doing the same work? Your budget is cut because the scope is lower, is a lot better than losing the entire revenue. And so again, it's all about these conversations that we have to get comfortable having and not just be so quick to react. So if you're already thinking about these things and addressing them proactively, then you're not in reactionary mode where you're like - and, let me tell you, it is not fun to lose a client even when it has nothing to do with your work. They're not unhappy. It's painful. There's a little bit of like, you know, you're,

Michelle Kane (13:18):

Oh, of course there is.

Karen Swim, APR (13:19):

You need to mourn a little bit. Yeah. So we want you to not ever be in that position. Yeah. But to always be operating from a place of strength because you're prepared.

Michelle Kane (13:29):

And, I think by having that conversation, if a client's considering going completely in house, even by reminding them of the value that you bring, that knowledge will stay with them and you'll still be maintaining that relationship because I would say nine times out of 10, they will find they need you to some extent. Yeah. ideally, but, it is like a mourning because business is relationship nowhere more than in our profession. Because you become a member of their team, you become your client's champion, so that's something to both value and it doesn't feel so great when it ends.

Karen Swim, APR (14:19):

Yeah. It doesn't, even for the best of reasons and let's face it, we have had many of us over the years, maybe some of you recently have had clients to cancel your contract and make up reasons that they did so because they're uncomfortable saying it's a financial issue. But we know it is. We know the signs are always there. And this is the thing that I say to people about layoffs. They really don't come out of nowhere. You just have to know how to look for those bread crumbs and spot them. And here's the funniest thing. We see the breadcrumbs, we ignore them because it's easier to just not look at them.

Michelle Kane (15:03):

Reality.

Karen Swim, APR (15:04):

Yes. I don't want to know. I don't want to know. I'm going to work today. We do that with clients too. We see the signs. We're smart, we see them. But we'd rather not pay attention to them because we don't want to deal with it. And that's human nature. But you've got to fight against that. And look at it so that you are not caught off guard.

Michelle Kane (15:28):

Right. And it also brings us back to the drumbeat of always, always, always be in business development mode. Always. And you know, it's funny, people ask me, does belonging to this, did it ever get your business? And you know, okay, first of all, I don't usually lead that way because that's too transactional to me. But, it could be a super slow burn. It could take 10 years, but eventually you get to know the right people and the timing is right. So when we say always be in business development mode, it doesn't mean you're, you know, in…what's the word I'm looking for?

Karen Swim, APR (16:12):

That you're closing a client every like 10 days, but

Michelle Kane (16:16):

Right, right. And you're not like, like scattered like, oh my gosh!

Karen Swim, APR (16:18):

This means that you need to always have a full pipeline.

Michelle Kane (16:21):

Yeah. Yeah.

Karen Swim, APR (16:22):

Many years ago, my then and now client, MBO Partners just imparted such wisdom on that by encouraging solo business owners to have a full pipeline because a full pipeline meant that you had choice.

Michelle Kane (16:40):

Oh, I love that.

 

Karen Swim, APR (16:41):

You started your business because you wanted choice. You wanted freedom. You wanted the freedom to choose how you work, who you work with. The way that you protect that freedom is by ensuring that your pipeline is always full. You should never, ever, ever put yourself in a position where a loss puts you in frenzy mode. Like, oh my God, now you're rushing around and you're checking LinkedIn and you're doing all these things. If you do a little every day, and if you're always keeping yourself open for clients, if you're always checking in with your network, if you're always marketing your services, then you should have people in various stages of your pipeline all the time. And to your point, Michelle, one of my most favorite past clients is somebody that it took a year. One year. And here's the funny thing, three companies later

Michelle Kane (17:37):

,

Karen Swim, APR (17:38):

Three companies later to land an account. But you want to know what? Not only was that an amazing account, but after they were acquired, they have been - and not just one person from that company, all the entire team that we work with, all the executives have been a continual source of referrals for us.

Michelle Kane (17:57):

See?

Karen Swim, APR (17:58):

Unprompted just, they are the most beautiful client ever. So don't be afraid of spending time to cultivate relationship over a period of time. Because as you said, sometimes it takes a while.

Michelle Kane (18:11):

Oh yeah.

Karen Swim, APR (18:12):

But that doesn't mean it's over.

Michelle Kane (18:14):

No, no. And there is a beauty in what you just said too. You may think, “Ooh, if I could just work with that person or that company.” Sometimes it's who they know. So take the time to get to know people, even if it's justto touch base or congratulate them on something all the way up to, you know, Hey, let's grab a cup of coffee sometime, I'd love to learn more about what you're into. That definitely helps. So all these little touch points, and I know it can feel overwhelming. Trust. Some days I sit here and I'm like, oh my gosh, .

Karen Swim, APR (18:56):

Here’s where social media can also be a beautiful thing. I don't believe that posting on LinkedIn doesn't have a return. It does. Even if you don't do it a lot, I'm not a big LinkedIn person, but I just had an opportunity come up because of posts that I put on LinkedIn. When I felt like posting, I just did. I am the worst social media person ever. I'm just going to admit that I'm horrible because it just, I don't like it anymore. .

Michelle Kane (19:33):

Well, I think a lot of us feel that way. It's work. And I realize, when I look at my accounts personally, I don't post that much because ugh, I do it all day.

Karen Swim, APR (19:46):

It’s just not fun.

Michelle Kane (19:54):

Well, we all go through phases, right? But then there's other ways that you cultivate your relationships.

Karen Swim, APR (19:59):

This doesn't mean that you have to, like, I'm not a fan of wasted time. I am not that girl. I'm not the girl who's going to do a whole bunch of in-person coffee dates. I'm not the person who's going to go to every networking meeting. I'm not doing that. That's just not my personality, not my style, doesn't line up with how I manage my time. However, there are things that you can do that may seem a little more passive, but that actually can produce, and that is putting content out there. Writing bylined articles for your target audience. I cannot say this enough. PR people, we love to write for PR publications. Stretch yourself and write for where your clients read.

Michelle Kane (20:40):

Yeah. So true. So true. Be the answer to the problem your clients have.

Karen Swim, APR (20:50):

Yes.

Michelle Kane (20:50):

Be there, be that resource already. And when they are ready to take action, you hopefully will be top of mind because you've positioned yourself to be top of mind.

Karen Swim, APR (21:03):

Yeah. If you're going to talk PR, don't make an inside baseball.

Michelle Kane (21:07):

Right.

Karen Swim, APR (21:08):

Nothing wrong with that, by the way, if PR people are your target audience. And by the way, it's good to talk about these issues with other PR people, but in terms of your marketing, you want to be mindful that you are talking PR to your target audience. Who do you have as a client? Can you talk PR in their language? Can you tell them things that they may not know that will be helpful to them? Because people really do pay attention. And I know that we all think that we're this one little person and the big old sea of all of this information and all of these articles and all of these reels and videos and YouTube channels and podcasts. But you still matter. You do. And what you have to say has value, and it doesn't have to be so mind-blowingly different.

Don’t put these obstacles in front of you. You're, and I know some of you are sitting there like, well, everybody talks about that. And are people listening to everybody? Somebody's listening to everybody.

Michelle Kane (22:11):

. Yeah.

Karen Swim, APR (22:12):

We don't need everybody to listen to you. You just need to say it in a way that resonates with a few people.

Michelle Kane (22:18):

Right. And those are the people that are going to want to work with you.

Karen Swim, APR (22:23):

Because you said it in a way that resonated with them. I don't know where we get this idea that only one person can do something. You know, how many brands of toilet paper are there when you go to the grocery store?

Michelle Kane (22:35):

Right.

Karen Swim, APR (22:36):

We're all there for a reason.

Michelle Kane (22:40):

This is true. Or even, why does anyone write songs anymore? If there are only so many notes in a scale? We could do this all day. We could, but, at the end of it, be strategic. And we said this before on here, treat yourself as a client, hire yourself.

Karen Swim, APR (22:58):

Love it.

Michelle Kane (22:59):

And I think you will, we know you're smart, we know you're savvy. We know you can weather anything because hey, we're all still here. We've been through things and we're still here. So if anything, take that with you and we hope we've inspired you today. If we have, please subscribe so you don't miss a thing. Share it around with your friends and colleagues. I mean, there's content you can share. That was, that was pretty shameless, wasn't it? But that's okay. ,

Karen Swim, APR (23:26):

When we share this and we love to hear from you. So add your thoughts to it, say “They talked about this, here's my advice.” Disagree with us, because that'll be awesome. We learn from that too. But the key point is please share our stuff,

Michelle Kane (23:45):

In case we weren't subtle enough. But, well, we thank you for spending this time with us. We know everyone's time is so valuable these days. And until next time, thanks for listening to That Solo Life.

 

Getting Real About Disruption

Disruption feels like the normal state of life these days. From developments in the financial sector to feeling like AI has come crashing in, it’s a lot. But a time of disruption doesn’t have to be a negative experience. In today’s episode, we talk about how PR pros can navigate these times to our benefit and strengthen our success.

 

Transcript:

Michelle Kane (00:01):

Thank you for joining us for this episode of That Solo Life, the podcast for PR pros and marketers who work for themselves, people like me, Michelle Kane, with VoiceMatters and my ever-steady co-host Karen Swim of Solo PR Pro. Hi Karen, how are you today?

Karen Swim (00:18):

Hey, Michelle. I'm doing good. How are you?

Michelle Kane (00:21):

Good. Hey, we're just riding the waves of life, hanging on to our boogie boards with dear life, .

Karen Swim (00:27):

Yes, we are.

Michelle Kane (00:30):

Oh my goodness. Especially with this season. I think this episode will drop sometime in March and you know, we're coming off of all sorts of disruption in the financial world, but we're going to talk about mainly disruption in public relations, how the practice is changing, how we can go along with that, how we can be ready, how we can prepare. How, if we need to, retool our businesses and how to stay successful, to stay the successful awesome pros that we are.

Karen Swim (01:10):

You know, it's funny, I attended this fantastic webinar this week, and one of the panelists in talking about it was all on artificial intelligence. But it's a different aspect of it. It was really interesting and, and I did gain some insights. However, the panelist in talking about artificial intelligence made the statement and he said, well, you know, the public relations industry is very slow to change. And excuse me, it really bugs me because yeah, as PR practitioners, we often say that about some client industries. There are some client industries that are so slow to adopt, to change. And, I don't want to name those because this is not a time of shaming, but when he said that, it bothered me because there is a lot of truth in that. But it should not be true. It should not be true of us.

So, to be thought of as an industry that is very slow to change to me says that we wait and, and we do, we're cautious. And you always hear people say, you know, the foundation of public relations has not changed. And that's true. At the core and the heart of what we do, it has not changed. But certainly the environment around us has changed. The tools have changed, the methodologies should change. There are so many things that are different. And as this particular, as this panel, I don't know if it was the same panelist, but as they pointed out, they said, we are at a moment with artificial intelligence, much like we were with the internet, and I'm old enough to remember the birth of the internet and to remember how it was rapid innovation and how things like happened.

So it was all about the internet. It was like this new shiny thing, and it wasn't a fad, it wasn't a trend. It stuck, but there was a lot of rapid in innovation in a short period of time. We're seeing that same thing happen, happen in artificial intelligence. So, not to veer off into that topic, because we've discussed that, and we'll continue to update you, but there is disruption. And one of my greatest fears for our people, our tribe, which is public relations practitioners, is that we sit on the sidelines and we wait it out. We wait to see if something's really going to stick. And we're not responding to things like big social media changes. We're waiting out platforms. We're not jumping in and figuring out because things are not going to wait. TikTok is a perfect example. Love it, hate it. Want to be on it, feel like you can't be on it because it's all young people, or because you don't dance or sing.

Michelle Kane (04:25):

.

Karen Swim (04:25):

It has taken hold of our publics period. And our publics could care less what the government is saying about TikTok.

Michelle Kane (04:34):

Right. That's true. They really don't.

Karen Swim (04:35):

That's true. They do not care that China may be spying on them. They are using this platform. Yeah.

Michelle Kane (04:42):

Yeah.

Karen Swim (04:42):

So some brands have jumped on the platform and they're making it work. News channels are figuring out how to make it work. But we are by and large sitting on the sidelines not making it work because we are not too sure about it, and we don't feel like it, you know, we get it, we know about it, but we're not seizing it and shaping it for our narratives.

Michelle Kane (05:11):

Yeah, you bring up a really good point of how we need to be checking ourselves, right? Because yes, you can drive yourself crazy running after every new shiny. However, if you see something taking hold like TikTok or some kind of innovative way to do your work, don't just wait until, I don't know, the “Guys!  Download this PDF Guide!” hits your inbox, start playing around with it, check it out for yourself, see what it can do for you. See what it might do for your client. Because I think there is that, certainly that side to our business and our practice of, you know, we are always trying to stay ahead of the narrative and staying ahead of what could come next. So I think that's a way that we do our job, but I think we need to bring that into the how we do our job for ourselves. It's, we owe that to ourselves, to our clients to really step out into that and think, huh. Okay. I need to really wrap my arms around that.

Karen Swim (06:27):

And let's be real about the shakeup that really is impacting our industry. We see a media landscape that is incredibly chaotic, gone are the days where reporters have a single beat, they don't. They cover four to five subjects, they file eight to 11 stories a day. And there's fewer of them. And there's rapid turnover and change. We see journalists change jobs, like Imelda Marcos changed shoes, , and it's, you know, so it gone are those days where your trusted Rolodex and I know many of us didn't come from the Rolodex era, but you know, just to use that analogy where your trusted contact list of reporters were there. Gone are the days where you could really count on deep industry reporters. And that's all that they reported on. That's far and few between.

In some industries it still holds true. Like real estate comes to mind. There are still real estate reporters, but beats are shrinking. And again, in response to the economic outlook, media doesn't make money in the same way anymore. There is change. And so that is a disruption to us when we talk about things like TikTok and the social media channels. It's not just that these tools exist, but it's that it's upended what we think of as thought leaders and experts, because everyone has the opportunity to be an expert.

Michelle Kane (08:06):

Yeah. Yeah.

Karen Swim (08:07):

Everybody can do it. They've democratized having an opinion about things. And so for us, that disruption means two things. It means that you have to be innovative in pitching your own thought leaders. You have to think outside of the box. You have to figure a way to rise above the noise. But it also means that you have to watch out even more closely for misinformation and disinformation, because people can say anything. And if they have enough people following them that believe them, then that false information becomes truth in the minds of many.

Michelle Kane (08:44):

Yeah. And you know, think of it this way. Every company is a media company. And that was never more clear than with the onset of social media. Every company now has a platform to broadcast their message in a variety of ways. And when you're talking about shrinking beats and a shrinking media, add to that the fact that people are being inundated with information from all these people and trying to discern what is worthwhile, what isn't, what is true, what isn't. And if anything, that makes our job even more challenging to cut through all of that noise and to put forth the information that we're handling on behalf of our clients.

Karen Swim (09:31):

I mean, and let's not ignore the elephant in the room. AI.

Michelle Kane (09:36):

Yeah.

Karen Swim (09:37):

AI is absolutely disrupting public relations. And we can raise our fist and we can wave at it, and we could be mad about it, and we could say it's not as good as a human being. And, it is not, artificial intelligence is not really intelligent as someone said this week. It's not, it doesn't have a brain, it doesn't think, however, it is going to absolutely replace some of the things that we hold near and dear. And you know, again, we urge people to test out these tools. Yeah. Play around with them, learn how you could use them in your work because it is disrupting us. I mean, so us being upset about things and talking about how we don't like them or how they're not as effective is not…

Michelle Kane (10:28):

Too bad.

Karen Swim (10:29):

…the strategy that we want to use, what we want to use is we want to become knowledgeable and be able to guide our clients in how they can use them and the things that they should be aware of.

For example, we've all heard now that there's this AI voice scam. That's something that you need to be looking out for. That AI has the ability to go to YouTube, to go to the social media channels and pull your voice and create fast clips. Right? Now they're being used in scams targeting the elderly. But let's talk about what that could really mean for your clients. Does it mean that somebody can take something and have one of your CEOs saying things that they really didn't say? So we have to be on guard for that. And again, I think that we should be leading this effort, not only of how we use AI and how we use it to do our work more efficiently and optimize what we're doing, but we should also be leading advocacy for ethical practices.

We need our voices to be heard. We should be writing about these topics. We should be speaking about these topics. We should be working within our industry groups to make sure that we're holding these companies accountable for privacy. That we are educating our publics about how to vet these things. I mean, there was that AI portrait generator that everybody was using. And I never touched it because they had, you were giving them essentially rights to your image and Michelle and I know intimately because we had an AI expert on our show Yeah. Many months ago before Chat GPT blew up that talked about these problematic areas of AI. So no way am I giving anyone rights to my image, rights to my voice. But we need to understand that and we need to not, and I saw so many people doing this. Oh, it was like the most popular thing. And I'm like, what are you doing?

Michelle Kane (12:48):

Yeah. Because I mean, it was enticing because you thought, Ooh, that looks really cool. Yeah.

But wait, stop. And let's hope that as if you're hearing usyou don't think, “oh my gosh, oh my gosh, I'm behind.” No, just stop and consider this is an opportunity to be of service. This is what we do. I tell my clients, “I'm your little black cloud in a dress, , I'm here to tell you all the bad things that could happen, but we're not going to let them happen.” And, really how AI can help us do our jobs better, because there's a number of ways that they can. And how AI can be of service to your clients. And also, “Hey, this is what we need to watch out for.” Because we've addressed this, my goodness. like you mentioned earlier, with the onset of the internet, there was a lot of shady stuff at the beginning. There's still a lot of shady stuff. But hopefully as communicators, we help lead our clients and as peer-to-peer help lead each other through that and navigate our way and make it useful for ourselves and for those that we work with.

Karen Swim (14:04):

Another disruption that I don't think that we, and I I've been saying this for years, we cannot afford to ignore that. Companies want to understand what they're getting for PR. So for years, people in the industry have pushed back against it. Even with the Barcelona Principles, even with measurement, even with all of these things that have happened, we have by and large said, well, we can't guarantee anything. And we can't, we're not in the sales department, but you kind of are. And let's be 100% real and say that the younger generation is going to run circles around seasoned practitioners because they don't care about those lines. They don't care about anything. And so you have people out here that are doing digital marketing and dabbling in your area and calling themselves PR pros. They're doing things faster, they're doing things different.

But companies want to understand if they're making an investment in PR, what is that getting them? And they have every right to ask that question. And we are now in this tumultuous economic environment where that question is going to come up more and more and more. And so we have to get really comfortable with understanding how to demonstrate our ROI because let's be real, we do deliver ROI, this is not just art. It's not art. And we absolutely can show metrics that show the value that we bring to an organization and we can tie it to dollar amounts. We can show that. But you have to learn how to do that. And if you're not comfortable in that area, we are urging you get comfortable. There's so many courses out there. We have things in the vault in the Solo PR Pro premium vault that address this topic.

Katie Payne is always a good source on measurement. Read, look at the things that we've offered you, dig deeper into the resources, ask questions, ask in the group, let's talk about this. If you want us to do more training tutorials, we can even have experts on our podcast and we can do webinars on this topic to help you get comfortable. But you are going to need to answer this. And I will tell you that in every single client win this year, we have tied, we've drawn a line from what we do to how it matters in your organization. Every single client win.

Michelle Kane (16:53):

And you know, it all starts with - what are your goals? Well, they should be measurable goals. You're not just walking into an agreement with a client of, “oh, we're just going to, you know…” I'll slip on my AbFab hat, “We're going to ‘PR’ everything.”

Karen Swim (17:07):

. Yes.

Michelle Kane (17:08):

No, yeah. You're using tactics. You have specific goals you want to achieve. So just tie your measurement back to that. It sounds so scary. And even as I'm talking about it, I'm thinking, hmm, but it really, it's not that bad. It's not, but it's important. It's very important to do.

Karen Swim (17:26):

I'm telling you, I was one, because I came up a different side of PR. And so initially I would remember getting twitchy, like, you want me to do what? You want me to commit to what?

Michelle Kane (17:45):

Yeah.

Karen Swim (17:47):

But I am very comfortable and I still like learn. I have made this my mission to always be learning and always learn how to communicate value even better, because it matters. And to be honest with you, because I am that consumer, I want to understand what I'm getting from my spend. I am thoughtful about how I spend money. And so if somebody comes to me wanting to offer a service, I want to know what that means. Like, it can't just be shiny pretty, I mean, sometimes it can, like if I'm paying for shiny pretty, then show me how shiny pretty is. But when you're making an investment like this, you want to know that it's going to make a difference in your business. And so, please stop falling back on the company line because the industry is shifting beneath your feet. And we don't want you to fall into the hole. We want you to find yourself on solid ground on the other side.

Michelle Kane (18:46):

Right. And PR pros, you're a bunch of smarties, you know, you're savvy and, and you've got this. It's just taking the time to really stop, look around, maybe reframe how you do some things. And always be learning. And it's the fun part of what we do. We get to learn all the time, which is kind of cool. But, well, we hope we've inspired you today and please dig into some of those resources. And until next time, oh, actually, before I sign off, share this around and subscribe. . And until next time.

Karen Swim (19:25):

Thank you.

Michelle Kane (19:26):

Thanks for listening to That Solo Life.

How to Pivot Your Blockbuster to Smaller Screens - Episode 191

The Oscar season that just wrapped had us thinking about blockbusters and how the entertainment industry has had to adapt to find their audiences.

PR pros are faced with this challenge, too. From the effectiveness of big, in-person events to finding out where our target audiences are spending their time these days, we also have to be ready to pivot and try new tactics. It can be frustrating but also exciting. We talk about all of it in today’s episode of That Solo Life.

 

Transcript:

Michelle Kane (00:17):

Thank you for joining us for another episode of That Solo Life, the podcast for PR pros and marketers who work for themselves, people like me, Michelle Kane of VoiceMatters, and my wonderful co-host, Karen Swim of Solo PR Pro. Hi Karen, how are you?

Karen Swim, APR (00:33):

I am doing really great, Michelle. How are you?

Michelle Kane (00:36):

Very good, very good. Well, and I think today's episode is going to be fun, especially having recently come off Oscar season thinking about big screen blockbusters. So we won't, we won't get too deep into predictions or anything like that cause that's not what we're going to talk about. But we're going to talk about, you know, how to pivot things from blockbuster to the small screen. I think over the course of the past few years, we've had to pivot a lot with the things that we do with clients or even as pros. And so we're going to chat on that a little bit today.

Karen Swim, APR (01:10):

Yeah, I love the theme. I mean, so when we were talking about this, this topic today, it made me think of pre-pandemic there was always the big blockbuster movie season where the studios released their signature movie and everybody flocked to see it and they lined up and it was an event, it was a thing, it was the signature thing and it was big and it was bold and they took risk and big stars and all of the things. And then the pandemic hit and our habits all shifted and audiences split and splintered and they're everywhere. And some people wait for things to come to streaming and studios have to figure out how to deliver the entertainment experience in a whole new way. And now we've lost a lot of people to in-person movies, people don't go to the movie theater anymore.

And so the strategies have had to evolve. And it really made me think of PR people who had these big bold blockbuster plans that they relied on. And not just in terms of in-person events, but just in our whole way that we approach targeting our audiences and everything has shifted. We've lost a lot of in-person engagement. We have a lot of fatigue with even things like webinars and digital events. Social media has splintered like crazy. There's not one platform for any one audience and good luck trying to find Gen Z and where they are because who knows? I mean, . So there's all of these differences in communication. So yeah. How do we take our big blockbuster plans and pivot them to today's audiences, which are everywhere sometimes in secret places. I feel like they're sometimes in secret places. .

Michelle Kane (03:15):

Well, and it's, yeah. It's like someone shook the snow globe. And I think also it's that people at least appear to be more segmented with where they're spending time, but also with what they're giving their attention. And I can't even make an equivalence of value of if your program or event or initiative is so valuable that people will flock to it. No, it could be the greatest, most valuable thing in the world. And the person who is not going to show up, it could change their lives. That still is not a guarantee that they will show up. And it's not, sometimes it's intentional, sometimes it's a judgment call of, okay, well I only have this many hours in a month to give to this segment in my life. And then even if you plan to attend something or, you know, engage with something, life happens and, and you just can't, you know, how many, how many times have any of our days just spun off beyond what we thought it was going to be? And, and it just changes. And you know, speaking to even in-person events, I had two conversations just this morning with two separate segments. One is a trade organization, one is a representative from a local little league. Both of us are trying to put on in-person events if it's a fundraiser or just something educational and signups are dismal. And on both fronts we're considering okay, do we pivot to a different way or or are we going to pull the plug on on this event because people just are telling us what they want by their non-response.

Karen Swim, APR (04:59):

Yeah. And I think even beyond me in person, I think now we really have to think about the, so you know, if you use the movie analogy, it's no longer just about the movie in theaters, it's about the longer tail. So it's about streaming and other things that you're going to pull through from that. And I think that we need to adopt our approaches to fit that mentality. So it's really thinking more long tail. There are events that are going to be for things that are fixed in time. Like a funding, a funding announcement may not have a long tail with just the funding itself. And so that is something time-based that you have to have a plan around. And that plan is really for that period of time when that funding is going to be relevant. But there's lots of other things that we can do with our strategies to think about the longer tail opportunities, even when it's something that's fixed in time.

So, you know, like with fundraisers, I know that we've had one of our Solo PR Pros that helped us put together a member deliverable on how she pivoted the fundraising during the pandemic and had a success story. So, you have to think about, okay, beyond this event, beyond this thing that really has a timeframe, what else can we do with this? How can we repurpose this? How can we make this accessible beyond this day, this time, this period to people? So does that mean offering something that is on demand later? Does that mean taking the assets and recreating them and using them for something different? But we really do, we have to have our eyes on the horizon. It's one of the reasons that our team loves data campaigns because they really do have a long tail and you get a lot of value from that data for months and months and months and months and months.

I mean, we have clients where we get coverage every single month for an entire year, and by the time that year is up, we're still getting coverage, but now we have new data. So, I do think we have to think differently. We can no longer think about the short sprint campaign and just the short sprint campaign. I mean, we should work in shorter sprints because things are moving too quickly. I know we all used to plan a year out or six months out and now we all pretty much run in quarterly sprints because it doesn't make sense to plan longer than that. So while you're planning in shorter sprints, you still have to be thinking about how that is going to go beyond that. And let's face it, if you do media relations, be prepared for the long haul.

Michelle Kane (07:55):

Right. Right. Because, even though, yes, it may be, unless it's incredibly timely, attached to a date, it may be current, but you don't know what's in the reporter's pipeline. You don't know what else they have going on. And it may just not be, you know, we all know this, it may not be the right time and you might get a surprise in six months. Oh, hey, I want to cover this now. Okay, that's great.

Karen Swim, APR (08:24):

I mean, I’ve had radio silence and we are thoughtfully reaching out, we're thoughtfully following up and then seven months later they finally cover something and you're like, this is why you have to be persistent. Respectful but persistent and nobody said anything. And it's like, thank you reporter, so love you right now. And I mean, it's so Yeah. The long view, I think, is the way that we all have to think and that is different for a lot of us and a lot of people that haven't had to do that. And it doesn't mean that you haven't always been strategic, it's just that there's this evolution and I mean, capturing audiences, that's another area that's so segmented, you know? I even think about how we had our social media strategies baked into our overall communications plan and we thought we knew our platforms and now people were bouncing and they're bouncing all over the place. They are. It's, you know, Twitter is, oh, who knows what Twitter's doing.

Michelle Kane (09:42):

Right.

Karen Swim, APR (09:42):

I don't have Twitter as part of my communication strategy, but you know, even LinkedIn it's changing and LinkedIn has gotten so noisy and so crowded that now LinkedIn is even trying to clean up their algorithm and what gets served up in your feed. So you may have been seeing these messages popping up asking you “was the content that you just saw useful,” you know, they have a little poll. It's not a personal attack people, it really is LinkedIn working on their algorithm from week to week. People may go to Instagram and then they're like sick of that and then they bounce over to TikTok and it's like sick of that. And some people are over on BeReal because they're tired of all of it. I mean it's so, it's hard.

Michelle Kane (10:24):

There's no tried and true.

Karen Swim, APR (10:26):

No, there isn't. I mean yeah. Newspapers, you know, local news, like all of the stuff that back in the day were anchor points. It's just not true anymore.

Michelle Kane (10:37):

Right. It's rare to find the town square that encompasses everyone. We've lost that and that's a whole other topic for another day because it's not healthy, it's not healthy for a society to not have at least one town square. You know, we see those experiences come up from time to time. But it does all come back to really needing to focus on all of the touch points.

Karen Swim, APR (11:04):

I agree.

Michelle Kane (11:05):

Because even on the content side, on the integrated marketing side, you talk to clients who are are all in for say Facebook, still, in 2023, and you think not everyone's there. So no, we have to do other things and be consistent and you're going to feel so repetitive, you're going to be so annoyed with yourself because all you're seeing is your own messaging. Well, let it go.

Karen Swim, APR (11:27):

. It's true. And here's where we have to be really careful. Sometimes that means that in addition to pivoting and thinking differently and being innovative and being prepared for the new complexities that we're faced with, you have to be sure that you're still delivering ROI and that you're properly setting expectations. And while you may not be raising your client's prices in the short term, some of this can be more costly. Because it means that you need a different set of tools. It means that it's taking longer to get the results that you used to get. So that adds to your cost. So you have to remain profitable, but you know, as you're bringing new clients in the door, you want to consider that because you can't get the same PR services for the same amount of money. It's a really interesting time in our profession, although I do think that there are opportunities

Michelle Kane (12:32):

Oh, 100%.

Karen Swim, APR (12:33):

Yeah. And the opportunities are here for those of us that are willing to be creative, that are willing to look at things a little bit differently that are willing to continue to learn because companies still need that. I read an article, I think it was in the PRNews newsletter and it was talking about how in-housing is rising again. And this wasn't specifically directed towards PR agencies, but it's a good thing to keep in mind that big, big companies are looking at bringing all of this in-house and controlling it and they feel like there are things that they can do better. They feel like sometimes they have the company narrative down and that they understand the nuances and can tell the story better, but they still need agencies or outside help to bring in the things that they don't do well. And so as we have this push and pull again of do we do everything in house? Do we hire outside people? One of the ways that you can differentiate yourself is making sure that you're continuing to grow, continuing to be creative, continuing to learn and be willing to learn, and learning to, again, think beyond the short term value and really think longer term. Like how can I stretch this out? How can I ring every single drop of ROI out of my efforts?

Michelle Kane (14:03):

Right, right. And keeping in mind too, this is all part of our job for our clients of being a guide. Whether that's specifically in your scope of work or not, you are the subject matter expert. We all are. And it's on us to know what's out there, to know what the opportunities are and to identify what would be a good fit that would work or that's worth trying because how many times have we started something and you have to adapt along the way because you think, oh wait, here's an opportunity, let's try this this way.

Karen Swim, APR (14:40):

Yeah. And I mean if you think about the entertainment industry, think about it in this way, even though we have so many ways to access content, there are still hits, there are still shows that break out from a smaller screen. There are recording artists who have a hit record that everybody's singing and knows the lyrics to. So it's not a hopeless time at all. And entertainment is a fun way to look at and make some analogies to our job, but there's still opportunity to not only win that award but make some money off the popcorn too.

Michelle Kane (15:25):

Yeah. I mean it's funny, I was just reading an interview with Jenna Ortega who plays Wednesday in the Netflix hit Wednesday and just her speaking about her input about the character and how that made some changes and especially her fun little dance at the one formal that just took off and went viral. That came out of, because she felt it was necessary for her to choreograph that herself and be quirky as opposed to have someone choreograph it for her. And I think it was initially supposed to be a flash mob and I'm so glad she stood her ground because that would've been the most non-Wednesday thing to happen to have a sun-shiny flash mob . But you know, I'm sure on paper or when they shot that they weren't thinking, oh this is going to go viral.

Karen Swim, APR (16:08):

Exactly. Yeah. No one, I mean, clients think that, yeah. Clients are like, we want this to and we cannot always predict that. But I think, and I haven't seen that show by the way, it's a hit. I haven't seen it, but it didn't affect its effectiveness and I loved the Addams family growing up, but I think it just, again, it's inspiring to know that trusting your gut and developing things that maybe don't follow the same old script. That don't follow the playbook. It really is okay. Yesterday there was this great podcast on AI and automation and it was geared towards podcasters. But the woman who was the speaker was Molly Ruland and she has a podcast media company and she said something that I think was really interesting. She said that they call pilot episodes, pilot episodes, but when she used AI to seek the questions that people were asking, no one calls it a pilot. They all call it an intro.

Michelle Kane (17:20):

Interesting.

Karen Swim, APR (17:21):

That little tidbit was really interesting to really think about. And as a communicator, those are the threads that we want to pull. We want to make sure that we're tapping into the pulse of our audience and that we're serving up the things that they actually want. Because sometimes we can put on our blinders too and think, ah, this is amazing, but it's not what other people want to hear, read, see. Yeah. And it's not in the language that they're speaking. So even though we have our language, and we might call it this, you may need to call it someone else, something else. Because that's what people relate to. I know for us, we have a client that deals in the independent workforce and has for years, and they do not use the word freelance, but we use the word freelance in our pitching because as much as people like Solo PR Pros hate that word, this is how people talk about us.

So you could fight against it and you know, you could say, but freelance is accepted. People know what that means and it's freelance. So and that works for us. I mean, yeah, we'll insert both terms sometimes, but yes. So being willing to change up how you talk about things and trusting your gut on things like yes, be Wednesday and take control of your character development, take control of your campaign development and play your quirks in there. Put your unique spin in there. And I think that that makes work fun. You know, I do that quite often. Like I'll totally know I'll veer away from what everybody else is doing and be like, eh,

Michelle Kane (18:59):

. It's, it's so true. And you know, even with the way we do use language, I know, you know, sometimes clients, they're so wrapped up in what their things are called and and sometimes we have to push back and say, well that's not communicating. I know. You know what that is. But the consumer doesn't care. They just need to know if I want the thing and I want something good, I should just click here.

Karen Swim, APR (19:26):

Yeah.

Michelle Kane (19:27):

You know, just tell me what to do. Or even the way businesses can present themselves and say, oh well my model is really this. And I'm like, they don't care. They just want what you have. They don't, they don't care what it's called necessarily.

Karen Swim, APR (19:40):

Totally agree. Because at the end of the day, popcorn is popcorn. You have your own brand of popcorn. You don't need to come up with a whole new name for popcorn, just call it popcorn. Because that's what people know and you sell the differentiation. Why is your popcorn better? So, right. I agree

Michelle Kane (19:59):

. So pop your popcorn. Binge binge Wednesday or Abbott Elementary if you have not done so.

Karen Swim, APR (20:08):

Oh, good show.

Michelle Kane (20:10):

And hey binge us!

Karen Swim, APR (20:13):

I have a bunch of episodes banked. Because I'm that girl. Sometimes I have them banked for my leisure time. So lovely. Don't forget that about your audiences too. Just because they didn’t respond to content immediately does not mean that they're not interested. Have a way for them to be able to store stuff away. Or access it when they're ready for it.

Michelle Kane (20:37):

Yeah, that's very true. Well, we hope you binge on That Solo Life. On occasion. We try to keep these episodes as short as a commute or a daily walk. So please do subscribe, share it around to your friends and colleagues. And until next time, thanks for listening to That Solo Life.

 

How PR Pros Can Rock That Proposal

The proposal. That key to landing new business for public relations professional and the tool that we love to overthink and get just right. Solo PR Pros often work alone and wonder if the proposal has the right elements. Is it comprehensive enough to win business? Does the proposal have the right look and feel. Today, we talk about how you can rock that proposal without wearing yourself out.

 

Transcript:

Michelle Kane (00:01):

Thank you for joining us for this episode of That Solo Life, the podcast for PR pros and marketers who work for themselves, people like me, Michelle Kane, with VoiceMatters, and my wonderful co-host, Karen Swim of Solo PR Pro. Hi, Karen. It's another week, another episode.

Karen Swim, APR (00:16):

Hey, Michelle. How are you doing today?

Michelle Kane (00:18):

I'm doing well, thanks. Yeah, I can't complain. Can't complain. I know in recent weeks we've talked about business development and making sure that that remains a healthy part of our company. Duh. Of course, , . I'm starting off profoundly. But a significant part of that is the proposal.

Karen Swim, APR (00:42):

Yes.

Michelle Kane (00:43):

You know, those things we love, we love to overthink or underthink or get just right. So we're going to talk about how to rock that proposal to make sure you lock in all of your new business.

Karen Swim, APR (00:54):

Yeah. I actually, I don't hate proposals. I really don't. And I, over the years, I've really refined my process. So I think the first way to rock your proposal is to ensure that you have enough information to actually write one. I never write a proposal - there are rare instances, rare - I never write a proposal unless I've had a conversation, because there are times that you talk with someone and through that conversation you then decide you don't want to submit a proposal, you don't want to put anything in writing. So I'm saving this time by having a conversation where I'm pre-qualifying that customer first. If after a conversation, you know, and during that conversation, I'm not looking at it as like, I'm desperate for business . We should never, ever approach it like, I need this business, I want this. We really need to approach it as they're not only vetting us, so be prepared for all the questions, but you're vetting them to make sure that this is going to be a customer or a project, that you have the capability to do that. It's going to be a fit with how you work. Right. It allows you to explore any red fa flags that come up, and it gives you the information that you need to decide if you want to move to the next step.

Michelle Kane (02:24):

Yeah, that's, that's very true.

Karen Swim, APR (02:26):

Step one is have the information that you need before you ever put one single thing on paper.

Michelle Kane (02:32):

Yeah. And an important component of that is, I know this has happened to me, and it's not to say it's not  a judgment of good or bad, but sometimes you'll speak with organizations and the conversation will determine that they don't quite yet know what they want or need. And that can take a couple of roads - then let's talk about a proposal to do an audit and make some plans or, and I had this come up recently with an organization, oh, we need this help blah, blah. I'm like, okay, well what exactly do you expect from us? Well we, we just need help. I'm like, okay, I, yeah. I can't propose based on that . Yeah. It's just a waste of all of our time and resources. But if it's still someone you want to work with, you take the time and make sure you know exactly what your scope is going to be and then go down the road. Because I'm sure we've all come across this clients that are so excited, I want to do the things. Oh, okay. Well, so the things, what are in the things?

Karen Swim, APR (03:45):

Yes.

Michelle Kane (03:46):

Ah, don't, you know, I'm like, ah, no, no, , I don't know what your things are.

Karen Swim, APR (03:53):

I completely agree. And this is a time that you also on your vetting call, because there's so many people when they talk about proposals, they start right in the middle and they're writing it and, you know, somebody will approach you and say, Hey, we're looking for proposals. Then say, that's great. I'd love to, you know, set up a quick call to get a better understanding of your needs. Writing a proposal. And this is, you know, RFPs sometimes, this is how that happens as well. I do not do RFPs with the exception if we're invited, it's a small number of firms and I have some personal connection. So it means that I either know the firm, the company that's inviting us to participate and we can have a phone call prior to submitting an R F P, or I've been referred by someone, a trusted source, and I still, with every RF p like to have a phone call before we put anything on paper.

Yeah, don't be afraid to ask for budget ranges if they don't know, throw ranges out. And usually I'll go high. Just say like, well, the reason that I'm asking is not to pin you down to a number, but to understand how to, to craft the scope of work. We don't want to propose, you know, let's say a $30,000 a month program if that's not in your range. I have always gotten a number, I've always gotten a number by being honest, because that is one of what we're all trying to do. So don't be afraid to throw a number out and to explain why you're asking. Because again, we think of the proposal as a tool to get the business. The proposal really should be a recap and a validation of what you've already agreed to and discussed. So by the time we get off of this first call or second call, if there's more than one, we already know that we want to move forward in business together. We know what the scope of work is, we know what the budget range is. We know you know, how our agency approaches the, the work. And so that proposal is really just validating everything that we've already talked about. Right. And, and so the next step really should be, yes, let's move to contract. Sometimes it doesn't happen that fast, but again, you want to treat your time preciously and not be just spitting out proposals to people without having these conversations and without having the information that you need.

Michelle Kane (06:23):

Right. Right. Because over time you'll realize what a drain that is of your energy and also of your time. And, and even within a scope, you want to start to set those boundaries to protect against scope creep. You know, what does this specifically include? I know I will base it on, this is what the scope includes. If you wish to have us do X, you know, if things grow we'll need to discuss that and how it affects budget, that kind of thing. And overall people will be reasonable. They may say, oh, you know, I only have this much budget. Okay, well we can still accomplish this for you. Yeah. So, it doesn't have to be an all or nothing. You'll resent it. And it also sets the expectation or establishes the expectation with the prospect that yeah, this costs this much. So if you really want this is what it's going to take.

Karen Swim, APR (07:31):

And I, you know, so let's move into, okay, you've done all this, you've done your pre-qualification, you've gotten your information, and now you're sitting down to write a proposal. What should actually go into that proposal? One of the things that you want to make sure that you do is that you take very good notes. I use Otter AI for note taking by the way, so that I can fully lock in and listen. But you want to reflect back what they told you was important. So yeah, again, this is why you're uncovering this information. If they told you that they have a new product rollout coming in Q3, and, and this is like the biggest, you know, product enhancement or the biggest launch that they've done, you want to include that into how you're approaching the work. And you want to talk about how you're going to handle this in the proposal.

It needs to be about the customer and very little about you. And the about you part should come at the end. You want to lean into, okay, here's what I heard. Here's what we discussed for, depending on the customer and their approach. Like some, you know, some customers really don't want a big proposal, they just want a memo that is quick and dirty. Like, here's what we can do and here's the that we can do it for. It doesn't even need to have an about your company or any of that other stuff. It can be just like a one or two page quick menu, here are the services that we're going to offer based on our, you know, broad outline. Here are a couple of budget options, let's go. But for bigger budgets, you often are going to have to do a little more work. Right. And that's okay.

You can have your template. You know, sometimes we have a design template that we use that we had somebody do for us that we use over and over and we just customize it. So for bigger budgets, you're going to want to give them some insight, not only in the services that you're going to offer, but your approach. What's your methodology on how you do the work? Because that's important. How will you measure success? I am finding that measurement is one of the most important things that you can put into a proposal these days because people want to understand that they're not just giving you this big chunk of money every month and saying have at it that you're going to have some way to quantify what you're doing, what's working and what's not working, and don't be afraid to address how you will adjust and pivot if you see that a pro a pro program is not working as you projected it to work.

That's, you know, be a grownup about this. You want to be transparent. So definitely share how you work, what's your methodology, how do you approach this thing and give them some insight into how you think. So for example, when we do really, you know, big proposals and, and they're not big in terms of the length of pages, we will include some creative ideas like hey, you told us this. Here's some things that we would do with that. You told us that you're going to this show. Here's what we would do with that. And we come up with creative ideas and we put those in the proposal. We do not do those for every single client. We don't do those on projects. So again, your proposal is shouldn't look the same for every single thing that you are going after. You want to tailor it to that client's style.

You want to tailor the elements to what you heard on those discovery calls or call and make it really about them and speak in their language. So if it's a manufacturing client, you don't want to talk to them about a bunch of stuff that is not in their wheelhouse. You want to make it plain, and this is all marketing your proposal is, you know, yeah. A it's marketing. So it's marketing piece their language. You want to put in things that matter to them. You want to talk about their business, how you'll approach it. Because the goal is to show them that you listened on that call, show them that this is thoughtful, that you were thoughtful in, in the elements that you're providing. That this is not some plug and play. Like I just took this proposal, stuck your name on it and here have at it here the budgets show them that you really did put some work into this. Yeah. Doesn't mean that it has to take you, you know, 20 hours to do this, but you really do want to show that you're thoughtful.

Michelle Kane (12:03):

Yeah. Absolutely. And a lot of times when you're speaking with a client, it may be outside what they say their goals are, but you may hear some things that need to be addressed so, include that too. And it doesn't have to be massive. It's just like, okay, so I heard you say this.  And we recommend solving for that pain point or you know, reaching that goal by introducing this into your, into your marketing or pr you know, whatever you're writing this for. Because that also shows that you're already to a certain extent invested in their success and their wellbeing and that you're looking out for them. And it's all those little subtleties that, not that you're trying to pull the one over on them, but you know, it's all those little subtleties that really will hopefully put you at the top of the pile because they know, oh, this person isn't just doing an exchange of, you know, input.

Karen Swim, APR (13:11):

I totally agree. Sorry, we just had a little internet hiccup. But I also would say that because I know sometimes we're like, okay, what do you put in your proposals? How do they look? I would say the look is the last thing that you worry about. It's really the content that you really need to focus in on. A couple of other little things that you can put in there, I would start with an acknowledgement of the previous conversation and a couple of lines about what you heard and something about their business. It's really nice on the call if you can ask them, even if you know, hopefully you do research before your calls, even if you've discovered who their competitors are and what their strengths are. You want to ask them and say, who would you say are your biggest competitors?

Let them tell you who's important to them because then you can take that information and you know, as you're doing the proposal, you can take a quick look at, okay, where are these competitors showing up in the media? What are the themes that they're talking about? Do they have any thought leadership? You can identify those gaps and then that's something that you can actually put into the proposal. Yeah. You can say, Hey, you know, your competitors, you know, have a lot of news about their financials, but they are not doing any thought leadership. That's an opportunity for you to build a thought leadership campaign. So that's just, you know, a quick example. Yeah. you also you know, I always think that you want to obviously include the budget and you want to be specific in what that budget cover. So what's the scope of work for that budget? It's a good time to call out things that may be extras that are not included. Right. So obviously, you know, like wire management fees or you know, wire distribution fees are not covered. So you should just say, you know, we'll right. Press releases, we'll manage the distribution, but the cost of the wire service is direct build or Yeah. Will, you know, bill it back to you.

Michelle Kane (15:12):

And any other team members depending how you run your business. You know, if you're the type of business that you like to take all the billing and then you pay your third party people or in some instances do you want things to be direct pay or even with social media management that I do, you know, you set them up in the business account and make sure that the ads are built to their credit card. That way you're not on the hook for that stuff.

Karen Swim, APR (15:38):

That's a big one. If you're doing any type of ad buys, then you do want to make that stuff direct pay. It's just cleaner and easier. Yeah. I've done it both ways, but it's nicer for them to just put it on their corporate credit card and then I manage it. Yeah. in terms of team members, I don't know how other people work, but I run an agency. We always include the team structure in our proposal. Who's going to be on your team? And who are those people's roles on the team? We want people to know I never I pay all of my people, period. The client just leaves us as a team. We send them one bill because you know, our philosophy is keep it simple, keep it clean, keep it easy for the client. I pay people, I pay people.

And, so you need to make sure that you have a cushion for that. If you're going that route, we'll talk about that on a separate call, but make sure that you detail who's doing the work. Because we're a senior only agency. We always make sure that clients understand that we are not just the face of the business, that we're doing the actual work because it's one of our selling points is that we don't have to ramp up. We're not a learning agency, we're not a teaching agency. We are quick, efficient and we know what we were doing and our team has a certain amount of experience and we, that's a selling point for us.  So if you are working on a team disclose those team members and what they will be doing as part of their account, I think clients really appreciate when you, if you do work in a team and you say your team will be, because again, it's all of those little attentions to being thoughtful and showing them that this is something that you put together for them and not for just any old client and you're just plug and play.

Michelle Kane (17:32):

Right. Right. And your saying plug and play just brings to mind. And I know those who suggest this, they mean, well, I'm sure you've seen it, you know, people saying, oh, here's your proposal, you know, worksheet, you just pop the stuff in. I'm like, well that might work for your industry, but it doesn't really work for ours where we do have to tailor things. It's, it's not just, you know, you'll get 10 of these and five of those and this is the date or however that might work. Yeah. It doesn't work for, so please don't beat yourself up if, if you get frustrated like I did in the past of well why can't I make that work? What's wrong with me? Nothing. No. It's just not the way our industry works. We need to be Yeah. You know, we need to customize our proposals to a certain extent.

Karen Swim, APR (18:24):

Yeah. I, and, and so when I say plug and play, I Oh

Michelle Kane (18:28):

Yeah. I didn't mean to Yeah.

Karen Swim, APR (18:30):

People just wipe out the name and everything is always the same. Yeah. You definitely want to have phrases that you use, like language that you use, like your bio that's not going to change a whole lot. And so you want to be able to pop up your bio in your team member's bios in, you know, image that you may use. You want to have those at the get go. You want to have a template that you really do use. That makes life a lot easier. Yeah. But I would also say don't be afraid to be creative. I can remember for one client rather than a written proposal, we did a video. Oh, cool. We put together this video and yes, we won the account and yes, years later we go on that account because again, you're tailoring things to the personality of the organization and you know, in this, it's like, here's somebody that really appreciates like wild creativity. Like just do things that are not standard. So we did something very different for that particular client. And we take that approach with all of our clients. We, again, we try to really, and, and you should all be doing this too, you know, again, if it's the quick and dirty person that just wants that memo, do a memo. Don't, don't put in a whole lot of extra that's not going to be meaningful to them. If it's somebody that on your call just, you know, they honed in and they're like, how do you measure that? What's the ROI? You want to make sure that that's front and center on your proposal. So, you know, the, the order of things could vary and what you include could vary slightly with each client because you're matching it to the customer.

Michelle Kane (20:12):

Yeah. And, I love how you, you just took that and ran with it and, and I think all of those things, again, they help communicate to the client that, hey, we get you, it's early days, but we get you and that's going to help, you know, that's going to carry us both far if we work together. And I think that's important.

Karen Swim, APR (20:33):

Absolutely. Absolutely. So, you know, if you are looking at your proposal and saying, I'm not sure I'm doing this right. And, and this happens to everybody and I, you know, we know your secret is out solo PR pros because this happens with all communication professionals. We are always questioning if we're doing this right or if we're good enough. And so like me, you probably have an entire file folder, a digital file folder of proposals, not only that you've written, but you collect them. Like if somebody puts out like, yeah, these proposals, you're all over it, you're downloading it and you're keeping all the files and you're hoarding it because we always want to see what, you know, we're, we're nosy and we're like, okay, my proposal is good as that person's proposal, does it look the same? Oh, what did they do? What's different? Yeah. I also want to leave you with one little tool that you can use that is so fantastic, but it does take just a teeny bit of a learning curve.

And that's Proposify. For the cost of that tool, you will make that 10 times over if you win even one client using Proposify. It's amazing. And if you're somebody like me that, you know, sometimes I do like, I'm kind of a not conventional in the way that I do my work. And so sometimes I'm just in a mood and I just want to j step up or change it up propose I lets you do that because you can apply different looks in different films and you can do different elements and you know, I have crazy ideas that I'll throw into the proposal. Like, ah, I don't want to do the same old, same old that that we do in PR. And so I come up with like all of these off the wall things. So if you're somebody like that, you just, you know, you live in a house and sometimes you move a chair just because, not because it didn't work, just because you're tired of seeing it in that place, , then with a tool like Proposify, the vibe could be your best friend. Because again, it lets you customize different things and also it has this library of stuff that you can pull from to make it easier.

Michelle Kane (22:44):

Yeah.

Karen Swim, APR (22:44):

I want to say like, I don't know, it's really cheap though, to be honest with you. You pay an annual cost and again, if you win one client, you've already paid for the doc on thing. And so I love those tools that immediately show you an ROI.

Michelle Kane (23:00):

Yeah, yeah. And it can help you get inspired too because how often do we stare at a blank page, even when we're writing something, you just can't get started, you know, so maybe you'll start in the middle. Well, that's okay. That's okay. Because sometimes that's the hardest part, right? Getting your scope and your details in place and then you can bop around and make sure your terms and what you're about and all that. But Proposify, I have used it in the past too. It's terrific. It does give you a little bit of that verification too. Oh yeah. I am including the right parts. Okay.

Karen Swim, APR (23:35):

Yes. That is such a good point. If you're sitting there and going, did I miss something? Right, because I, you know, I do realize that some our solos really do work as a solo. It's just them. And so for you if you're not a member of our group, you don't have that water cooler to go can somebody look at this? Can I see one of your proposals? Am I doing this right? Yeah, yeah,

Michelle Kane (24:00):

Yeah. No, it's so true. So true. So once again, we hope this has been valuable time for you. We know we always enjoy getting on here and talking shop. And please do subscribe if you've found this valuable and please share it around if you think it could help someone else that you know. And until next time, thanks for listening to That Solo Life.