You don't need to "sell" yourself. Just tell people about what you do, your successes so far, the type of service you want to provide ... oh yes, and ask them what they want. PR doesn't have to equate to the BS stereotype. "Benefits" over "features" and listening to what the client needs or wants ... and a peek at their web presence ...
To get to the needs and wants part, they need to be interested enough to listen to what you have to say, though. I haven't done cold calling (cold emailing, really) in forever, but there's a small margin of those who answer back, in my experience.
I'm embroiled right now in a massive PR project that is pretty much consuming my every waking thought. We went out for ice cream last night and I blurted out "machine parts" for no reason when we got there. Seriously. I've had a few projects like this, like Giant Soul-Crushing Project from a year or two ago. But unlike GSCP, this one is a challenge that doesn't feeling crushing.
For the past several months I've been hesitant to take on anymore online PR because a lot of the call for online PR is from small companies who really don't know what PR is. They think it's just a little copywriting, and that's all they want to pay for. I'm just tired of seeing people who want to pay $30 for a press release and have no idea how much they are cheating themselves. A well-crafted PR campaign takes a lot of time and research, and I'm fortunate enough to be working with a company right now that understands that.
I'm actually considering changing my focus from Web content, small local PR projects and random press releases for online clients to larger PR projects for companies who actually know what they want. It's challenging, but it's far less annoying and stressful than high-volume content writing. To do that means actually trying to sell myself, though. That always makes me feel uncomfortable. That's the big choice that I have to make- feel gross and uncomfortable in order to make a needed change, or stay on this course. I'm not so sure yet.
"Decisions, Decisions"
4 Comments -
You don't need to "sell" yourself. Just tell people about what you do, your successes so far, the type of service you want to provide ... oh yes, and ask them what they want. PR doesn't have to equate to the BS stereotype. "Benefits" over "features" and listening to what the client needs or wants ... and a peek at their web presence ...
8-)
September 6, 2009 at 10:33 AM
To get to the needs and wants part, they need to be interested enough to listen to what you have to say, though. I haven't done cold calling (cold emailing, really) in forever, but there's a small margin of those who answer back, in my experience.
September 6, 2009 at 11:12 AM
Yup, your right, of course. However, cold-calling is learning to take "no " for an answer 29 times before #30 says "we're interested".
Have you thought about news releasing your new PR contracts into B2B sites/publications? I.e., doing your own PR?
Have you approached PR agencies with your portfolio? (I'm about to do this.)
Trying to be helpful. Sorry if not!
8-)
September 8, 2009 at 2:19 AM
Hey, you inspired this post:
http://russellcavanagh.com/2/?p=375
Definitely good advice.
September 8, 2009 at 2:41 AM