BA Workshop Diaries: How to do PR on no Money

Take Two!

For our second instalment of the Brand Amplifier workshops our BA Brigade arrived promptly on our doorstep at 6 o’clock. A far cry from the shy atmosphere of the first workshop, our ladies quickly gravitated towards one another abuzz with talk of this week’s Instagram challenge. Everyone was quick to follow up on their virtual banter and comment on each other’s inspiring photos!

However their enthusiasm soon turned to horror when they heard the words that every woman dreads. Surprise picture day.  That stomach dropping moment when you reaIise you’re still in your work clothes and haven’t gone within ten feet of a mirror since you left the house this morning. But our budding entrepreneurs are improvisers, so after some frantic finger combing and make-up DIY everyone was beautifully photographed and seated.

Once settled, our Brand Amplifier creator JP took to the stage and after reflecting on the past week’s overwhelming response to the Instagram challenge, introduced this week’s speaker, the Money Magpie, Jasmine Birtles. For her presentation ‘How to do PR with no money at all’ I had prepared myself for a talk on finance, agency fees and the like. However I was pleasantly surprised by Jasmine’s own brand of comedy lecturing! I wasn’t sure whether I was watching a Brand Amplifier presentation or stand-up comedy. Her opening statement: ‘imagine you’re a reader flicking through the Metro, BORING BORING BORING BORING Oooo.. “Kim Kardashian’s secret boob job”, WHY DID I STOP TO READ THIS?’ plunged us into the mind of the commercial audience. Over the next two hours she helped our BA brigade get inside the head of the consumer and tutored them on how best to approach their relevant demographic. We talked personality, blog posts and video. It was almost hard to keep up with her words of wisdom, spurred on by some Q&A from our inquisitive Brand Amplifier ladies. However one quote which stood out in particular for me came just before we had to call time on the session:  “You are the best people to PR your product because you’re the most passionate about it. But beware of tunnel vision!  Put yourself in the shoes of the readers and think what hooks will pull them into your product and make them see how great it is’. Inspiring and intuitive – typical features of a true entrepreneur.

There just never seems to be enough time with our panel of speakers but next week’s speaker promises to keep the standard high.

Onto the next one: breakout sessions from our JPC Content Team and author of ‘Zero to a Million’ Sylvia Marshall.