PR freelancer – banging The Drum

“UK businesses are increasingly calling on freelancers to satisfy their creative and commercial needs, gaining tailor-made, expert skills for their business in the most convenient ways.

“Unwilling (or unable) to bear the cost of full-time employees for certain key skills – or just too busy to stretch their team any further – businesses increasingly call upon the self-employed to give them creative edge.”

That’s the view of The Drum magazine, a key trade journal for the marketing and creative industry. In their latest issue, they have named their top 100 creative industry freelancers in the country, and it is pleasing to be named among this list of illustrious peers.

The Drum adds: “The lure of the freelancer is plain to see: specialist skills as and when needed; businesses remain agile and versatile in an increasingly competitive world; opportunity to tap into and learn from expert knowledge.”

The magazine then comments on its top 100 list: “Our search for the most creative and the most reliable freelancers saw the industry asked for their nominations as to who are the best freelance creatives in the market. Hundreds of nominations were received and the most highly recommended were then invited to feature in this guide.

“Explore the supplement and the personal websites of all the freelancers to discover the high quality that is on offer across the UK… Each name contained in this feature has received endorsement from either agencies or clients that they have worked with.”

That’s probably enough banging the drum now for the freelance sector and this freelance in particular. If you were interested in exploring the website of PWP “to discover the high quality that is on offer” please visit www.pwpcomms.co.uk

A blog about blogs and the top ten list

In browsing Twitter this week, I was increasingly struck by the number of ‘how to’ tweets promoting lists. It seems anyone who is anyone in the creative industries has a handy top three/five/ten ways to do something involving social media and e-marketing with links back to their respective online company offer. If only life in general was as simple… To get to the end of this working week or to enjoy a fun weekend, all I need do is tick off these five top tips and I am surely guaranteed a successful outcome. To have a great day you surely must (a) get up, (b) get dressed, (c) meet people, (d) do important stuff well, and (e) stop doing stuff, watch the news for a bit and fall asleep. Tomorrow, repeat steps ‘a’ through to ‘e’.

Not to be outdone and admittedly as someone who likes lists anyway, I have decided to join the social media top tips bandwagon and blog about blogs. Inspiration for this article has also come from a client of People, Words & Pictures with a website based on a WordPress platform which through its design places significant attention on news stories. The client was concerned that they might not be able to generate sufficient news stories of interest or frequency to do justice to the focus of the site upon their latest news. PWP were asked to provide suggestions for the kind of stories they could write to ensure a regular flow of copy throughout the year. We came up with 30 ideas. So influenced by this work, PWPComms is pleased to provide a list of news stories to consider in talking about your business, which makes this a blog about blogging, similar to people who tweet about using Twitter or who call you up to tell you how to use the phone (no, maybe that doesn’t happen).

So, if you’re stuck for inspiration, about stories to promote on your blog, your website latest news section, or via press releases, why not consider…

The PWP blog list of ten top stories, in no particular order

1.       Announce a new business service

2.       Announce a new official social media site for your business

3.       Carry out a Survey Monkey survey and comment on industry trends

4.       Record a video and build a corporate YouTube site

5.       Develop a corporate responsibility offer – discuss pro bono work with a local charity

6.       Preview your involvement at conferences/seminars

7.       Consider the key numbers – 5, 10, 20, 21 – and announce a landmark related to such an achievement, eg 20 new clients – or celebrate an anniversary of the business

8.       Offer a discount or special deal – such as the recent PWP web copy amnesty (where businesses could own up to the awful jargon on their sites in return for polished, sparkling and meaningful new words)

9.       Enter and promote your business awards wins

10.   Link your business news in to a special day – my birthday next week for example is International Women’s Day (!) and pancake day, and who knows possibly also International Women’s Pancake Day.

11.   Make what you do different. This for example is now a top 11 list. Radical.

People, Words & Pictures Ltd – for the best in Nottingham PR and national PR.

Trust me, this is important

Trust is an increasingly precious commodity in these straightened times, where banks seek to rejuvenate their images at a time of bonus excess and politicians are keen to stress the Big Society rather than their big expenses. The latest annual barometer survey by Edelman, the world’s biggest independent PR company, shines a light on some interesting trends in trust, a cornerstone of corporate reputation. The survey gauges attitudes about the state of trust in business, government, NGOs and media across 23 countries and provides some interesting perspectives on the issue in our post-credit crunch world.

In terms of the trust of corporate spokespeople, the report states: “Trust in all credentialed spokespeople is higher this year, signaling a desire for authority and accountability —a likely result of the scepticism wrought by last year’s string of corporate crises.” No doubt people must have forgotten BP Tony Hayward’s gaffes including the memorable “There’s no one who wants this over more than I do. I would like my life back.” The report places CEOs in the top tier of trustworthy spokespeople but still behind an ‘academic/expert’ or a ‘technical expert’. A ‘regular employee’ is trusted least which is a pity as I quite like hearing from those who actually know what it’s like working somewhere.

The idea that repetition of a key message enhances credibility still holds true with the majority of people wishing to hear a statement between three and five times before they would likely think it true. In terms of accessing those messages, online is increasingly taking over from traditional media, so take your campaigns onto new and social media platforms rather than relying on the paper-based press cuttings and certainly mix it up a little. Only 15% of those surveyed used newspapers and magazines as a first source of information (although a slightly higher 17% went on to read that information as a second source).

Interesting findings about the factors that contribute to a corporate reputation with quality, transparency and trust pre-eminent. High quality and products and  services (69%), transparent and honest business practice (65%) and company I can trust (65%) were the clear determining factors, whereas innovation (46%), leadership (39%) and financial returns (39%) were at the bottom of the list.

Within this context, the Edelman report comments: “Fifty-seven percent will believe negative information about a company they do not trust after hearing it just once or twice. When a company is trusted, however, only 25 percent will believe negative news about it after hearing the news once or twice.”

Trust is paramount in forging corporate reputations and as the old saying goes, takes a lifetime to build and 24 hours to demolish. Companies would do well to consider the levels of trust they engineer in their audiences, how they might further build up those levels of trust and build protection measures to protect that trust as much as possible.

• For the best Nottingham PR and national PR, visit www.pwpcomms.co.uk or email enquiries@pwpcomms.co.uk

New PWP website design preview – feedback please

PWP new website design home page

The PWP website – www.pwpcomms.co.uk – that helped launch the business back in July 2008 is due for renewal. The company has moved on and our online presence needs to reflect this. Our planned new site, being developed with partners Touch Design and Volute,will combine a fresh new look with a far higher degree of interactivity. It will provide a showcase for our client work to date, more information on the range of PWP services including social marketing and social media, and will create the space to develop online conversations. The template new home page is shown above. Anyone with any views, whether the verdict is based on the good, the bad or the ugly, please let us know. All feedback gratefully received. Thank you.

People, Words & Pictures Ltd – Nottingham based public relations (PR) specialists

The Strategic (tele)Vision

In the General Election that expert PR forecasters predicted would be strongly affected if not dictated by the power of social media, it seems almost reassuring to those of a more curmudgeonly disposition, that it is a media format of decades standing that is having the biggest impact on opinions and pollsters. Telly. Nick Clegg’s appearance on the leaders’ live TV election debate last week affected opinion polls more dramatically than any other pre-election event since the cider drayman took a wrong turning on his way to the rotten boroughs’ hand-in-the-air, pre-closed ballot shindig. It is only through irony of course that I am commenting on the General Election through a social media channel.

For those who can’t distinguish between the colour of the leaders’ ties on live TV and their policies, promises and plans for the petty cash that is left behind following the Era of the Bankers, then there is now a handy online tool to help you decide which box gets the cross come May 6. Vote Match is we hear: “an interactive online quiz designed to help people decide who they should vote for in the upcoming election, based on the policy differences between the parties on issues that are important to them.” Vote Match claims to be politically neutral as long as participants can ignore the fact that it’s been set up in partnership with the Daily Telegraph and hosted on telegraph.co.uk – long known of course for its politically neutral stance, just see the newspaper’s front page attack on Nick Clegg today for how traditional that traditional media can be.

PWP Comms has taken the Vote Match survey and is now considering a trip to Threshers to recover from the shock findings. Surely not.

And the winner is…

Winner of the social marketing and PR survey is Debbie Jackson of NHS Derby City who will receive a £20 Boots gift card. Many, many thanks to all those who took part with entries from NHS East Midlands, NHS Derby City, NHS Lincolnshire, NHS Nottingham City, NHS Nottinghamshire County and Nottinghamshire Healthcare Trust. Your responses have been insightful and very helpful and will inform a paper being put together for the Chartered Institute of Public Relations on the relationships between PR and social marketing.

The actual survey can be found at:
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=ggHGF0si9f0dbpXGid3ptQ_3d_3d

Some of the comments received include:

“Still a lot of misunderstanding about social marketing – perhaps PR people could help people get it.”

“I think everyone needs to be aware that it (social marketing) is not a quick fix and takes time to affect a behaviourable change.”

“The potential problem with social marketing’s reputation is that many people believe they are doing it when they are not.”

“It (social marketing) is a new term for something that people have been doing for ages.”

“I don’t think social marketing is separate from PR – PR is one of the things that could be used if that’s what the research indicates is needed.”

“I think PR could learn a lot from SM in terms of really understanding your audience and the change behaviour that you want to see and how tailoring a campaign in a very specific way can achieve the desired effect.”

Social marketing - 100% proof?

Anyone for a survey?

At work and tired of watching the BBC Wimbeldon video stream with the sound turned down? Then why not spend five minutes contemplating your profession and the boundaries between PR and social marketing in this short survey – link below. There’s also a chance of £20 for responders if your name is first out the hat on July 11 when the winner will be publicised with a posting on this site. All normal conditions and small print probably applies.

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=ggHGF0si9f0dbpXGid3ptQ_3d_3d

Your favourite people, words and pictures

Being based in the East Midlands, PWP Communications is after your favourite East Midlands person, your favourite word and your favourite picture. Early front runners include Brian Clough and Gary Lineker, and ‘lugubrious’ and ‘quagmire’, while favourite pictures seem a bit too random to mention at the moment. You can have your say by clicking on

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=Z_2fefWLfcXCQWbtKy_2byu55Q_3d_3d

and taking a few minutes to suggest names dear to you. It is probably one of the simplest quizzes ever arranged. There is no prize set up but if you desperately want a prize then we will see what we can do. The survey has an East Midlands bias but we would not preclude anyone from jotting down their favourites.