PR PREP FOR THE 'SILLY' SEASON

In the world of the media, there are a few moments in the year when news can go a bit quiet and we dub this the 'silly' season. Roughly these patches occur between Christmas & the New Year, in February and in August in the UK.

Knowing this means that often stories which are not quite as strong, or which might be on the edge of 'salesy' or might be more around 'tips' or 'hints' can do well during these periods of time. Also understanding this means that often these slightly weaker stories can be planned.

This doesn't always work out of course because you cannot plan 'news' however the amount of content needed these days by the media still presents an opportunity to get your own 'news'; 'stories' or 'expertise' out there somewhere on platforms with more reach than your own.

The silly season isn't that silly when we consider the ebb and flow of a year carefully. Journalists, writers and influencers are human beings, just like the rest of us and they often take time off too - just like the rest of us. Therefore there will be times of the week, month or year when there are less staff on duty who are expected to still provide the same content - or, in old money, fill the same amount of column inches.

Big news stories can come along and disrupt that of course. This month has been a perfect example of that - Olympics and then a terrible unpredictable incident leading to more terrible incidents.

Yet everyone knew the Olympics was coming, and the Paralympics will follow and I've written various blogs and stories around how to flex that appropriately for some people's PR strategy. As for the awful things that have happened, commenting on that is a matter of personal choice.

There are some themes which will come up over the next few weeks regardless and for some experts or businesses they will be very relevant. Take the Paralympics. Just like the Olympics there will be stories around success, failure, team work, resilience, mental health, overcoming obstacles and difficulties through to achieving your goals, dreams etc etc. There may be some more negative stories too.

Or, like me, you may have tickets to attend the Paralympics and can share your personal experience - this type of story usually does very well. Look out for the Times magazine on August 10 to see what I mean!

Other things will also require expertise which can be predicted such as:

*Planning your holiday.

*Back to School.

*Starting School.

*Starting University.

*Empty Nest Syndrome.

*Dealing with Examination Results - GCSE, A Level and equivalent.

*Weather (always a story in the UK) - good, bad, indifferent, heatwave, Gulf Stream etc.

These are things which happen every year and some years they will be relevant to us personally or professionally - and some years they will not. If they are relevant they can be planned for.

These tips don't just apply to stories to send out to the media, you can apply these ideas to any regular advertorial you purchase, to social media, to blogs to show you are thinking topically and with relevance to what's going on in wider society.

Another 'trick' you can use - if you are a one person band and you are going on holiday too - is an 'embargo'. This means you can request of the media that the information you are providing is not used until a certain date. It's not legally binding but the media are - in most cases - very respectful of embargoes because it allows them to plan content too. In almost 40 years in the media, I've only had to deal with someone breaking an embargo once.

One example of a recent embargo was a story I sent out for my client Chris Hunt Skelley MBE being selected to compete in the Paralympics in his sport of judo. The relevant media had that story in advance to make a decision about using it (or not) however they all stuck by that date agreement.

In simple terms you can send out a story to the media (ensuring it has all relevant details within it) and then go on holiday or take time off knowing that you've done your best to stay visible. Ensure though that you state that you are unavailable because of your holiday between relevant dates if you are away overseas - or you are away but if necessary can be contacted via text or phone or can they call your colleague instead and add in that person's details (you can set your own parameters for this). And don't forget to include a photograph relevant to the story.

If you want to get better at planning your stories and working with the media - why not consider joining my No BS Media Summit in Swindon, Wiltshire, early next year. Details are here - https://scottmedia.uk/product/the-no-bs-media-summit/