Hype Yourself. Lucy Werner

      – What is unique to your business personality?

      – Can you describe your tone of voice?

      – Can you use adjectives that mimic your true personality?

       EXAMPLE

      To accompany The Wern’s business objectives, I started the year off with the following communications objectives:

      – A no-nonsense industry expert that is friendly but direct

      – Keeping honest by sharing business vulnerabilities and lessons learnt on the journey

      – To lead by example, demonstrate how I use PR to amplify my own business.

       TIPS

      – Take some time to really think about communications objectives.

      – Check against your business goals.

      – If there are multiple staff in your business, consider different objectives for each member.

      – This is about how you speak.

1.3 Your why

      Before we proceed, I want you to stop and check. What is motivating you? Why are these your business goals and how have you come to the decision that you want to communicate in this way?

       ACTIVITY

      In your notebook under the header ‘Why’ consider the following questions to determine your motivation.

      – Where are you now with your business?

      – Is this a side-hustle or do you want it to be your full-time business?

      – Do you want to travel for work and does this business allow that?

      – Are you hoping to grow a team?

      – Do you want to secure investment?

      – Would you like to one day sell your company?

      – Is this a lifestyle business?

      – Do you want your business to fit around childcare/family responsibilities?

      – Think deeply about why you want to grow.

      – Where do you want to be?

       EXAMPLE

      These are the whys behind my business, each step digs a little deeper:

      – The current PR agency model doesn’t work for most of the emerging SME market in the UK. I want to provide an à la carte menu of services to cater for different needs.

      – I love PR and want to share my knowledge to help other business owners learn how to promote their own services.

      – I care about independent businesses that care about people and I don’t want them wasting money on PR agencies if they can do it for themselves.

      – A work/life balance is important to me and this is a trait that is also prevalent in many independent businesses.

      – I want to build a business where I spend less time being busy and more time on delivering publicity advice that has big impact for individuals.

      – Having enough time and money was always an issue in my house as a child. I want to build a business that means I have the time to look after myself and my family.

       TIPS

      – Don’t be afraid to keep looking at the personal reasons underneath your business why.

      – There is the good reason why you run your business and then there is the real reason; knowing what motivates your business will focus how you hype it.

      – Your audience will care more about what you are about and what drives you than what your business does, this must underpin everything that you do.

       CHECKLIST

      – Are you constantly referring back to your why – before executing any new element of your promotional campaign?

      – Are you being honest with yourself about your real motivations as to what drives you to do what you do?

1.4 Audience

      Back to the maps, who are you helping and what is their need? For this section, I want you to determine exactly who your ideal customer is, because once we know this, we can then look into how to reach them. You might also benefit from a service offering that is tailored to different customers at different points in their business journeys which is fine. Just make sure you map out for each of them.

       ACTIVITY

      Try creating an imaginary persona for your ideal client. It can be brilliant to have this person at front of mind as a reminder every time you execute part of your press office.

      In your notebook, work through the following questions under two headings ‘Audience’ and ‘Media’:

       Audience: Who is your target audience?

      What is their name, how old are they? Where do they live? Who do they live with? What are their hobbies?

      Can you sketch them or cut out a picture from a magazine to help you visualise?

       Media: Where are your audience?

      Do they watch YouTube? Are they reading magazines? Where do they get their news from? What influences their purchasing decisions? What are their preferred social media channels? Do they read traditional print media, or do they prefer broadcast?

      What you need by the end of this task are two lists. Your specific target audience and the different target media they consume.

       EXAMPLE

      I’m currently focused on a zero to Forbes client – by that I mean someone who has no press exposure and wants to build their profile to a certain level. I’m not interested in the Forbes to TED Talk-type customer (currently); therefore, my business objectives and target audience are skewed to a very specific early-stage customer.

      Below is a summary of my two different audiences.

      1. Target Group 1: Start-up business/entrepreneurs – based in London, in shared workspaces, attending a lot of panel events. Age between 20 and 60, equal male/female split.

      Media: Startups.co.uk, Courier Magazine, Telegraph Connect, Wired, Forbes, Jolt, Monocle Entrepreneurs, Secret Leaders.

      2. Target Group 2: Creative freelancers, side-hustlers, e.g., sole traders or creative networking groups, Mum’s the Word Events, Mothers Meeting, No Bull School, UnderPinned, Federation of Small Businesses.

      Media: Women’s lifestyle, e.g., Stylist, Marie Claire, Cosmopolitan, Women Who ParentsinBiz, DIFTK (Doing it for the Kids).

       TIPS

      – If you have a few audience segments, then make sure you do this exercise in depth for them all.

      – The more specific you can be, the easier it is to reach them; people are often scared to niche their targeting, but this is proven to be the most effective.

      – If you aren’t sure what media they consume or want to get a better idea – then just ask them! Do a simple research exercise on surveymonkey.com, perhaps offering an incentive to drive participants to help you.

      – Don’t let your ego get distracted by your competitive set; being in an industry publication might win you points amongst your peers, but does it move the needle with your target audience?