17 Jan 20 Profile Raising Habits for the Coming Year
Habits to Increase Visibility
© Dana Rothstein | Dreamstime Stock Photos
I’m a big believer in creating habits: whether it’s tidying away at least one item everything time I leave a room, or my recently acquired habit of oil pulling first thing in the morning. These habits are a great way to creating order and organisation in my life, without even needing to think about it. Habits can also really make a difference in your PR and marketing activities: helping you get things done while you hardly notice it.
So, what habits do I suggest you adopt? Here are some of my favourite profile raising habits: 20 habits that are easy (ish) to implement and bring into your daily or weekly routine. I don’t suggest that you try all of them at once, just start with what calls you at first and take it from there. In time, your habits will build up and work together to create a system that can underpin your PR and marketing activities.
1. Use reminders
Put your chosen social media Apps on your phone and set timers which remind you to log on and re tweet, share, comment or whatever. Set your own targets. Get on there, do it, and get off again. This is perfect for those people who find social media distracting and want to use their time wisely. A target of 3 times a day, over time, will yield great benefits.
2. A journalist a day
Contact one journalist a day offering to write content or provide comments and quotes. This obviously involves researching them, finding their email address (or contacting them via social media). Not only will you end up with a fantastic media list, but who knows what opportunities may arise?
3. Let them know you’re available
Put out a Tweet a certain number of times a week saying that you’re available for articles, guest posts and comments.
4. Join Up
Find a mastermind partner or group and meet monthly to discuss joint ventures, swap contacts and brainstorm ideas. For maximum results do this with people who share the same target market but offer a different service or product.
5. Widen your reading
Read a different newspaper or magazine each week (not website). Look not only for places that you can target in your own PR campaigns, but try and spot other companies and brands and the stories they have used to get in there.
6. Go visual
Start a Pinterest or Instagram account if you haven’t already and post a pic each day, every day.
7. Regular press releases
Write a press release each month and get it out. It quite often takes a few months for the media to get used to you and your brand – after all you need to prove your worth to them – but it will repay dividends in the end.
8. Use a PR and marketing coach
Have a monthly session with PR and marketing coach or mentor (like me!) to set goals, discuss actions and tactics for that month and build on achievements.
9. Get out and about
Add on a new networking activity and commit to going on a regular basis. Book, prepay and put those dates in your diary now. Commit to getting to know that network this year.
10. Get used to the phone
Put aside a set time – an hour or a morning a week – to speak on the phone to those new contacts, and arrange one to one coffees. Really concentrate on building quality connections.
11. Guest blog for connections
Set a goal of writing one or more guest posts a month to build connections, expand your reach and create links.
12. Review
Diarise a monthly session of at least two hours to consider your PR and marketing activities and look at what you can do bigger and better in the coming month.
13. Have a blogging system
Every time you write a blog post for your own site, wait a day or so and then put the same blog post up on Linked in.
14. Keep at it
Just get in the habit of writing a certain number of blog posts per week or month. Keep a notebook on you to get started during dead time on trains and in between meetings.
15. Speak to the press
Pick up the phone and talk to x number of journalists a week to see if they are interested in an idea you may have. You can set aside a certain amount of time to do this each week, or give yourself a set number of people to speak to. Don’t stress about getting them to say yes: the conversation with them is the main gain here. Build up some connections and relationships.
16. Enter Awards
Look for and enter an award every month. The first few will be hard work, there’s no doubt about that, but you will be able to re-use some of the material as you do more.
17. Read
Read one profile raising article each day: get in the right mind-set!
18. Watch
Think of some people you really admire in business and spend a little time each week looking at what they have done and what you think of it.
19. Invite
Schedule regular events of your own to meet your network. This could be a breakfast, coffee morning or after work drinks. Once a month, once a quarter: whatever works for you?
20. Measure
Join Klout (some ) and assess your social media reach on a regular basis. What’s working best for you?
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