Mindset is so important in business. It influences everything, from your business strategy to putting yourself out there; from your offers to your daily routine. And it’s a massive part of PR – to be able to promote yourself, you need to develop a PR Mindset.
A PR mindset is what you need in order to promote yourself, and something you need to work on, on a constant basis.
You need to be able to put yourself out there, pitch for opportunities and confidently articulate what you can offer an audience – and that can be quite a challenge for a lot of people. We’re often told to keep quiet, be modest, don’t show off – and all of these messages hold us back when it comes to putting ourselves out there.
But to have a successful business, your publics need to know what you are offering, why they need it and why they should buy it from you. And that’s where PR comes in. It allows you to share all the good stuff about you and your business in a factual way.
So how do you develop a PR mindset? The good news is that we can ALL develop one. This is something I had to do because, whilst I’d promoted my clients businesses for years, I’d never promoted my own. Here are the steps I took to develop my own PR mindset, and these are the steps you can take to develop yours.
By the end of this blog post you will feel empowered to be your own publicist! You ready?
How do we adopt a PR mindset?
- You need to become your own publicist.
This is about looking up from the day to day working in the business and working out where you can tell people about what you are doing in your business and how you can help people.
A great place to start is within your existing network. Start thinking about what networks you are currently in and what connections you already have so you can start talking about the things that you are doing, or offer advice and opinion. What access do they give you to other audiences and how can you help them?
2. You need to think of it as a service you are providing them.
You are offering to help others. By sharing your story, you are helping and educating other people in a really positive way!
When you have great things to share – share them!
You are in business because you are passionate and you want to help others – remember this. If you keep this at the heart of what you do then it makes the reach outs so much easier.
3. You need to be organised and be prepared.
You need to be able to plan ahead.
Yes, some of your PR will be reactive in either the form of:
- news you may receive in your business that may be unexpected (such as winning an award, a new big client etc)
- Or a #journorequest that has come up for you to pitch for and it is a great on brand opportunity for you.
But, there are some things that you can plan in advance. You can plan for key times in your business, key calendar dates or key industry events. By being organised and planning ahead, you can draw up your plan of attack for these types of events.
PR is a marathon, not a sprint. If you keep making connections and sharing your news then it will build momentum and you will find more opportunities will start to come to you, rather than you seeking them out.
That momentum is what you want, so keep going!
4. You need to not take things personally
99.9% of the people you will pitch stories to are very friendly. Even if it is a no, then they will either not reply, or they will respond and say “not for me” which is perfectly fine!
Remember that people can be busy and under a lot of pressure, so sometimes you may get a reply that may not be as positive as you would like. BUT this is really rare. In my 20+ years experience, I have had very few of these, but it can happen, so be aware of it but not scared of it.
REMEMBER: If someone is rude, then it says more about them than it does about you.
I have also had someone say that they are not interested in a particular story and then another publication will run the exact same one – the acceptance of your pitches is all about personal opinion, what they might want to cover and who they want to speak to.
REMEMBER: It doesn’t mean to say that what you are offering is not good enough, it just means that it is something that they don’t need right now. Your story will be right for someone.
Always come back to why you are doing what you do. You have a strong “why”, you believe in what you are doing and you know that people need to know about it. If you don’t put yourself out there, how will you ever be able to help anyone?
By doing this, you will be able to bounce back from any negative responses or ‘no’s’ that you may get along the way.
To see my live video talking about Secrets of a PR Mindset, click here.
📣 And if you want to work with me 1:1 to get your PR plan nailed, and learn how to plot your opportunities out for the year ahead, sign up for a 2-hour Cheerleader PR Strategy Sessions with me 📣.
Book now here.
