Janet Murray

Thought leadership. Two words that these days make me a little bit 🤢 in my mouth. Thought leadership has been b@stardised by ‘influencers’ or l should say, ‘fluffluencers.’ Where once we’d enjoy insightful, well-researched commentary and insights… …now we have to contend with the dross templated posts of the uber-creators who put their sh!tty copy/paste content into umpteen engagement pods just so it slides off the shovel. Thought leadership has been buried in a wild sea of mediocrity that ONLY GETS ALL THE LIKES AND COMMENTS BECAUSE PEOPLE ARE FORCED BY THE POD TO LIKE AND COMMENT - not because it’s entertaining, inspiring or informative. RIP thought leadership. It was nice knowin’ ya. That. Is. All. P.S. Want better content? Write from your head and heart, not some trashy template.

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It's time to collect some questions for the Comms Question Time podcast. The offer is simple. I'm organising 3 panels of comms and PR experts who will tackle specific scenarios raised by listeners that they are facing in their business or organisation. As a panel, we'll devise practical strategies that can be immediately applied in a specific scenario. Stay anonymous or share who you are. It's your choice. To ask a question, direct message me as a starting point. It'll be like getting 10-15 minutes of free consultation from experts doing this stuff every day. Feel free to share with anyone you think might want to ask a question.

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Implementing an organic content strategy is no mean feat, mostly because it demands commitment and consistency. Businesses often try to write their own content because they think an outsider couldn't possibly 'get it'. But 1. this isn't true and 2. if you're too busy to be consistent in your messaging, frequency and tone, you'll struggle to gain traction despite your best, most time-consuming efforts. Here's me yapping on about what content writers bring to the table 🙈

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A little bit of 'crisis comms' advice from a comms professional... for Innovate UK (and/or anyone else going through some bad press right now)... >> Do not change your messaging after the event in the hope no one will notice. << Own your mistake / problem. Take accountability. Be honest. Be transparent. Be human - show vulnerability. If you messed up, say it. If you don't know what's gone wrong, say it. If you need time to come up with a plan, be truthful. The worst thing you can do is A) lie or B) try to cover it up. Boris Johnson is a fantastic example of why this is not a good strategy! For context, if you've been living under a bush and missed the huge wave of commentary about this on LinkedIn, the ‘Women in Innovation Awards’ promised that 50 female-founded and female-led businesses would receive a £75k grant and package of support, from a funding pot of £4 million. 1,452 women applied for the award; but only 25 awards have been granted. Assuming each grant is £75,000, this is a total of £1,875,000. This leaves £2,125,000 unfunded at present 💸 Originally, the website said it would award 50 women up to £75,000. It has now been changed to say 'up to' 50 women would be awarded 'up to' £75,000.

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 PR Agencies and In-house Comms Teams!!! Unfilled PR Roles Are Expensive AF 💰😰 Ever wonder what an unfilled position is actually costing your agency? We will assume a lot of stuff here, but it's not too far-fetched. I've also been modest with salaries and interview process factors (and I'm sure there are factors I've overlooked). This is a bare-bones equation. Let's crunch the numbers for an open Account Supervisor PR Agency role with a $90,000 salary that's been vacant for 30 business days. The interview process will consist of 3 final candidates with 3 rounds of interviews and 1 hour for each interview: Lost Billable Production 💸 Assumption: Billable (client) rate of $150/hour 30 days x 8 hours/day = 160 lost billable hours 160 hours x $150/hour = $24,000 Job Posting Costs 💼 Assumption: $500 per job posting Direct Manager Interview Time 🧑🏼‍💼 Assumption: Modest Director salary of $110K ($53/hour) 3 hours x 3 candidates x $53/hour = $477 Senior Team Member Interview Time 🤵🏾 Assumption: SVP salary of $250K ($120/hour) 3 hours x 3 candidates x $120/hour = $1,080 Total 30-Day Cost of Unfilled Role: $26,057 💰💣 By just looking at lost billable hours, job postings, and final interview stages, that single open position costs over $26K in a month! Letting positions stay open is an expensive leak most agencies can't afford. If you're experiencing vacancies, do the math and prioritize getting an effective recruiting process in place. The costs of inaction are just too high. 💸📉 Feel free to rip this apart in the comments below 😀 #PRAgency #PRWeek #PRovoke #TWSearchPartners

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It’s become a personal project to share methods for building self-belief, or self-confidence, with all publishing colleagues who need it - whatever the stage of their career. Through my coaching work I’ve discovered how common self-doubt is, and how overcoming it unlocks potential and improves well-being. I’d love to help others to do the same! So thank you to BookBrunch for inviting me to write this article. I am posting it here for all those who want a strategy to improve their self-confidence.

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That's a wrap! Today we've published the fourth and final part of Dr Kevin Ruck and Richard Bailey Hon FCIPR's research into PR education. This final chapter is about public relations research and knowledge transfer. This is the part that interested me most as of course at PR Academy Ltd we are all about PR and comms education and like our teaching to be about how theory and models translate into practice. I was pleased to see that 87 per cent of respondents stated that they are interested in learning about how academic research can be applied to practice. As one respondent commented “Professional qualifications and academic research are an add value to the professional, due to the fact that they provide practical mechanisms one can use to navigate the opportunities and challenges that come with the PR profession”. Another respondent noted that “Research is of growing importance to practice and this is welcome”. However, it is worth noting that not everyone values academic research, as highlighted by the following comment: “From what I’ve seen, PR research is difficult to apply and often appears to be deliberately abstruse”. BUT - does academic research lag behind practitioner interest? Kevin did a lot of analysis of journal articles for the report - you can find out more in the full chapter below which also contains links to the previous three chapters. #pr #publicrelations

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As I was writing Lea 🌈 Turner's newsletter yesterday, I thought: 💭 'I bet people skim over this list of all the masterclasses - how can I stop that?' So I snuck a few extras in to see if people noticed (can you spot them? 👀) Lots of people were also confused/surprised/flattered to see I'd apparently name dropped them to thousands of people... ... so let me clear something up 😂 In email marketing, we use something called 'Personalisation tags'. They're small pieces of code that change to information we have about you in our system. For example: "Hello %FIRSTNAME%" I'd see this as -> "Hello Alex" We can use these personalisation tags wherever we like (they're not limited to your name). For example, we can drop in your: - Name - Email address - Products you've bought - Address ... anything we like. Personalisation in emails really help with sales (when you use them naturally) and they also open up the doors for daft stuff like this 😂 ---- Want me and my team to write emails like this to sell your stuff? Send me a DM now. (And while you're on, you should sign up to The Vault for £20)

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So, Cyber Monday. I’ll admit, this year I struggled with what to offer. I try to keep my rates pretty accessible year round because I know that as a creative, budgets can be tight. But I also know that sometimes the right guidance can make all the difference. It's what gave me my start and I really do want to give back as much as I can. So here's where I landed. $50. 48 hours. A total game-changer. This Cyber Monday, get a pro-level audit of your music career for just $50 each. You can pick one—or as many as you need: *Bio/Narrative Audit: Is your story compelling enough to grab the attention of labels, management, press? *Social Media Audit: Is your content helping you grow and connect with new fans or is it just driving you nuts while producing zero results? *Pitch Strategy Audit: Why aren’t venues responding? Why aren't you landing that opportunity? Let’s fix that. *EPK Audit: Does your press kit scream "book me"? *Website Audit: Are fans or promoters leaving before they hit "follow"? Here’s how it works: *Pick your audit(s).If you're a label or manager looking to grab multiples for your artists, DM and we can put together a bundle deal.  *I’ll send you a quick Q&A to learn about your goals.  *Within 48 hours of getting that back, you’ll get personalized, actionable feedback designed to help you break through—FAST.  Don’t see what you need? Shoot me an email—I’ve been a publicist, marketer, and artist manager for over 15 years. Odds are, I can help. Grab yours here: https://lnkd.in/ecTCaizG

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Everyone’s doing intro posts for summer, so I’m unashamedly jumping on the bandwagon. As you may have gathered, I’m Sarah. I love words in every form. Writing, reading, talking (something I can do a lot of). I specialise in human-centric B2B copywriting, and really enjoy working alongside forward-thinking businesses that have bags of ambition. Sectors I cover include professional services, SAAS etc. I also write a lot about food and drink too. Weird combination I know, but it suits me well. I like being able to jump from corporate reports to restaurant reviews in the space of a day. I love getting stuck into all kinds of projects, but my favourites include: 🏆Blogs 🏆 Articles and reviews 🏆 Newsletters and emails 🏆 LinkedIn posts 🏆 Case studies 🏆 Web copy When I’m not writing, I’m usually hiking, drinking wine or stuffing my face. Here is photo evidence.

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How do you launch a local news site? Try to reinvent local journalism? NUJ London Freelance Meet ✍️ Monday 10 June, 6.30 pm online I'll be chatting to Joshi Herrmann, the founder of Mill Media - which has just reached a six-figure reader milestone. Mill Media "publishes high-quality local journalism in Manchester, Birmingham, Liverpool and Sheffield. Best known for its deeply reported long reads and paid newsletter model, the company has been described by the Financial Times’s John Burn-Murdoch as “one of the most interesting and impressive media startups of the last decade." Joshi founded The Mill, a local newsletter covering Greater Manchester, as a one-man band in June 2020, and the company now has staff writers and editors across four cities. It is read by more than 100,000 email subscribers and funded by 7,500 paying members, as well as corporate sponsorship partners. Excited for this! Got a question for Joshi? Let me know and I'll put it to him. #localnewsmatters #newsletters #substack

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It's time to breathe life into your copy, content and creative mindset! ✍🏻🔥 I'm on the latest episode of Trisha Lewis' superb 'Unsquashed' podcast sharing intel on that very topic. The 'Unsquashed' podcast sees Trisha interview individuals about their unsquashings, unearthing the practical tools that helped them inflate back to full size. We discussed: 🌸 The 'fibs' and mindset muddles that hold us back. 🌿 Ways we can embrace more confident self-expression. 🌸 Why sounding like yourself isn't as awful as you think it is. 🌿 The dreaded comparisonitis (and why you should pay it no mind!). It was an absolute joy to record, and it's full of insights that'll help you boost your creative confidence and get writing for your business. Give it a listen/watch and let me know your thoughts! Find it wherever you get your podcasts. Youtube: https://lnkd.in/eBCgSrgq Spotify: https://lnkd.in/ey4a3KWP 💭 Will you be listening? #BloomWithBee 🌸

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What's the main thing stopping you from getting press coverage for your business? If it's not knowing how to write or structure an email to journalists with your idea for an article, how about using a 'pitch template'? I've just created one that shows the structure of an email to use to suggest an idea for a 'how to' article - or an advice article - to a publication. This type of article is a brilliant way for small businesses to start doing their own PR because it allows you to show your expertise and knowledge by providing 'top tips' about a topic. The template aims to make the process of contacting journalists easier for entrepreneurs, freelancers and small business owners. You paste the template into an email and then follow the structure to tailor it to your idea. And you can then keep using it to contact journalists again and again… It's available on Etsy (link in comments). 👋 Thanks to everyone who's helped to make this idea a reality - far too many to mention! But especially to Isobel Star W. for giving me the idea in the first place, Lauren Holden for her expert advice, and Joelle Byrne for kick-starting the whole passive income thing in my head. (P.S. Photo taken today an hour after I got an alert to say I'd sold my first pitch template digital download - in a very sunny Yorkshire.) #PR #smallbusiness #presscoverage #template #freelance #Yorkshire

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Mandy Collins I do not believe you need validation because your work is of high quality. as writers and editors our work will always be either ignored and sometimes criticised and sometimes lauded. Our work is not just well written but also (most importantly and people seem to underestimate the value of technical accuracy) Why are you worrying about an external opinion when you as an accomplished writer and editor deliver the quality that a writer of your talent consistently delivers.

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In this video I talk about why I started Catch the Sun and why flexible working is so important to me and my family. 👩‍👧 💬 #communications #flexibleworking #workingmums #mums #agency #marketing #catchthesun #copywriting #editing #proofreading #aroundtheworld #aroundtheclock

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Do you do that "word of the year" thing? I'm reading "The Best 90 Days Ever" by Hannah Isted ahead of the Being Freelance book club next week. (The plan was to read it over the summer but I'm only on page 4 🙃) Anyways, it suggests choosing a word or theme for the 90 days, and here's mine: Try the scary thing. Why? Over the last few months at the climbing wall, I've been nudging myself to try scarier things, and have had sooo much fun in the process. I'm naturally a slow and steady climber (give me a slab or a chimney any day), so I never ever thought I'd willingly throw myself onto a scary overhanging lead climb... and enjoy it! It's the same as a freelancer, we have these kinds of limits in our head about what we can achieve: I could never work with client x, I can't charge more than y, I'll never be able to do z. I'm trying to apply what I'm learning at the climbing wall to my freelance business: Try the scary thing. You might fall, but you can get up again. You might succeed! Either way, you'll probably learn something new about yourself and have fun along the way. Do you have a word or theme for life or business at the moment? What's yours?

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I don't expect clients to know what they want. We are the problem solvers and we will figure out what our clients are trying to solve by hiring us before we start the work. Often people come to us at Heft asking for media strategies- they want to see their stories on Stuff, RNZ, NZHerald. There is a misunderstood weight placed on 'getting media'. But they don't need media. What they need is their audience to listen to them and hear their stories. And that audience is often not best reached through media. So we suggest a different approach. Because I believe there is a responsibility on agencies to properly scope the work and outcomes sought at the start. Victoria Crockford

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I wondered if there’d be a distinct moment or a set date when I’d be getting back to marketing my business and doing client work after my period of self-employed maternity leave. I half thought I might treat it like a proper ‘return to work’ for those who work for an employer (with or without some KIT days). Instead, I started ‘pottering’ a couple of months ago. I’d describe what I’ve been doing as similar to that of a hobby — relaxed, unhurried, small, enjoyable tasks, where the focus has been on the pleasure of the process rather than the urgency of it whenever I’ve had a small pocket of time. That’s exactly how I see my work — not just now, but always. It’s like a ‘hobby’ (and I do use inverted commas here because clearly it’s more than that!) because it stretches my brain, lets me switch off from mum mode, and because I genuinely love learning, building, growing…and supporting you! Basically I love what I do and I want to do more of it! So, what have I been up to? •        Taking a strategic look at my messaging and marketing •        Writing blogs (let me know if you’d like a read) •        Working on my processes •        Learning and asking questions from the best in the business •        And (surprise, surprise, as a website copywriter) working on fresh website copy to update my current offerings and what I offer—I’ll share when I’ve got it all done But the best thing I did during my time off was get some guest writers to write for my email list. I was able to: ·      Keep building my email list (not a selfish task at all – it’s so needed for my small business growth!) ·      Give voice to those with no email list to reach a new audience ·      Share with my audience genuinely helpful experts who I think my audience would get engaged with ·      Show that I’m interested in community over competition (because I really really am!) even where these experts offer the same services as me. I’ve loved these collaborations and they’ve opened new opportunities for me and those who contributed. Moving forward, collaborations will remain part of my strategy to increase my visibility. I’ll be seeking out more opportunities to reach my ideal clients through collaborations, guest blogs, podcasts or in person events throughout 2024 and in to 2025. Want to chat to me about any of this? Fancy a look at what these guest writers had to say? Do let me know! 

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