A Personal story of Perception vs Reality of PR

Now, many of you struggle with what PR is, and have lots of ideas which do not reflect the reality of it, so let me share with you a little story.

When I was on Twitter, hustling to get results for my clients, I came across an opportunity to appear on BBC Radio Two's Jeremy Vine Show.

Jeremy's show is one of the most listened to, if not the most listened to radio show on BBC Radio two. He had at the time, this was 2019, over seven million listeners, regularly to his show.

JUMPING ON OPPORTUNITIES

The media opportunity was not actually anything directly related to what I do, but I thought it would be a great example to my clients who show them that I could do what I was asking them to do, so as no-one was actually available, I did it!

And I admit I was a bit scared, so I sort of calmly, followed my own advice when really I was pretty nervous!

RESPONDING FAST TO GET THE GIG

I responded back within in minutes to the Producer's journorequest. Seconds later, matter, they sent me a DM on Twitter, asking whether I could hop on a quick call with them in the next ten minutes. I said of course I could.

KEEPING TO THE BRIEF

Ten minutes later they shared with me that the discussion topic was about how long it was ethical to stay in a coffee shop, even when you had only bought one coffee.

It was from a story in a Croydon newspaper, where a coffee shop owner had complained that this group of women came in every week, and only bought one coffee.

The Producer was looking for someone to argue in support of the ladies, and then one in support of the coffee shop. They asked me if I would support the ladies, and I said I would.

They asked me my clear stance and that I needed to actually keep to it, as otherwise their editor would not be happy! I said, of course.

GETTING TO THE STUDIO

Then they asked me where my nearest BBC Radio station was and shared that it was BBB Hereford & Worcester, so they asked me to get there for 12pm for a 12.45pm interview.

By this time, it was 11am, so I just got myself ready, and left for the studio.

BEING PREPARED

I grabbed my pack of post stick notes and wrote down every point I had wanted to make, which is what I advice my clients so that you keep to their media brief, so that you get asked on again!

They want you to give them what they want, and on this occassion, I was to defend the group of ladies who wanted to stay in the coffee shop with only just buying one cup of coffee.

For example: I wrote things down like ' Women are known for their loyalty, and they would naturally tell all of their friends about the coffee shop, so it would save them on advertising." "It's not about the one coffee, it's about regular weekly custom.'

'Retricting them would put others off coming in.! "

And the Producer actually asked me what I did for a living, so that Jeremy could introduce me as a PR Consultant, which he did.

I got the BBC Hereford & Worcester studios at 11.55am, and then waited in reception until they allowed me into the room to wait to be interview by the man himself.

At 12.20pm, they guided me upstairs, across a room full of BBC staff, typing away into a small little recording studio. They gave me a set of headphones and advised me to wait for a sound check from BBC London, which I duly did.

I got out my post stick notes and stuck them on the table in front of me, as I really did not want to screw it up!

Suddenly, it was 12.35pm and there was someone speaking at me through the headphones, whilst I listened to Jeremy's programme live, asking me to speak into the microphone to check the sound quality, which I did.

All good.

OVER IN A FLASH!

And then it happened, I was being introduced by Jeremy Vina as :

" Now, we have on the line, Carrie Eddins PR Consulant from Worcestershire, Hi Carrie."

it less than 5 minutes, it was over. It went by in a flash, and instantly Iwanted to do it all over again, as it was great fun!

Jeremy, was empathetic, and he pushed me too, but I stuck to the brief so much so that the Producer thanked me and said he would be in touch with future opportunities.

That is the reality of what happens on the radio.

THE AFTERMATH

And all afternoon, I had a flurry of Tweets, facebook messages, emails from many people I had never met saying things like : ' You used the word empathetic too much,' and 'how can we work together.'

I did get business from that 5 minutes on the radio and I boosted my credibility amongst my clients as I revealed that I could do what they were paying me to get them to do, which was priceless!

Radio moves very fast, for me it's the fastest moving of the medium, followed by television

. Sometimes you are on or just five minutes, other times it's a panel discussion for up to 30-45 minutes; but rarely longer than an hour, but they do tend to have lots of air time to fill.

Now, if you are looking to get onto the radio tv, magazines, or podcasts to showcase your expertise, or share your stories and opinions to grow your audience, impact and income, I have a Mastering the Basics of PR course starting on October 2nd, get in touch to book your place. Any questions just ask me, no questions too blonde!

Love Carrie x

Carrie Eddins is a holistic PR expert and mentor who helps Doubting Debbie & Friends ( super clever experts, trainers, coaches, and mentors, who are hidden a bit too much and ready to have a bigger impact in the world and on their bottom line) raising their profile by getting in the media. She works alongside PR Genius Anica Broms.

Together they have got their clients featured in places like Forbes, Fortune, Fast Company, Raconteur, Insider, the Sunday Times, Daily Mail, The New York Post, Psychology Today, Dragon's Den, Stylist, Metro, InStyle Magazine, Independent, You Magazine, to name but a few.

#PR #leadgen #femalefounders #learning #growth #womeninbusiness

#DoubtingDebbie