Here at The Voice Finder we had the great privilege of sitting down for a lovely cup of Earl Grey and a good old fashioned chin wag with Best Selling Author of ‘Myths of PR’ & Founder of Radioactive PR, Rich Leigh.
Quite simply, what this man doesn’t know about PR isn’t worth knowing.
1. Hi Rich, to start off with can you tell us about you and your company Radioactive PR?
I founded Radioactive PR nearly three years ago, and have worked in PR for 10 years now. I’ve been fortunate enough to lead award-winning campaigns and household name brand accounts at previous agencies and now my own, leading to me being listed in PR Week’s 29 under 29 list and named one of ‘the brightest young social media communicators’. (Sips tea with little pinky raised)
Since starting my agency, we’ve built a growing team of experts, and worked with brands including Paddy Power, the National Gallery and Gocompare.com, as well as dozens of high profile individuals, celebrities and company founders.
I created the UK’s #1 PR blog, PRexamples.com, and wrote ‘Myths of PR’, which became the best-selling PR book on Amazon just days after being release.
2. Why is PR important?
PR fundamentally relates to reputation and profile. Whether we’re raising it, improving it, turning it around or – as in some cases! – trying to save it, PR can be the difference between a starving but talented artist and a successful one.
3. Explain the art of self promotion?
For me, far too many people try to build profile around very little talent, ability or effort.
Self-promotion at any costs is all well and good for some, but if you were to ask the average reality TV ‘star’, they don’t have a goal beyond being famous, and as such, get pulled off track easily. The art to it, in my mind, is knowing what your goal is, as much as is possible, and working towards that – which, sometimes, means saying no to opportunities that offer a quick win.
4. Your views on social media and how it should be used more effectively?
I talk a lot about this in Myths of PR – especially around building an audience. Social media is best used when you treat it like an audience silo – for instance, I very rarely talk about anything on Twitter that doesn’t relate to PR, social media, marketing or related subjects. Why? Because that way, I can build an audience that cares about those things too, and knows that that’s what they’ll get from following me.
Now everybody has a voice, it’s about refining the way you use it to ensure that the people you reach are worth reaching; otherwise, you’re literally just another noisy voice in the crowd. If you want to use social media for your career and not just for fun – which is obviously cool, too – think audience first. Pick topics you’re going to stick to or around and work out how that segmented audience already interacts with each platform.
5. How would you describe The Voice Finder in no more than 6 words?
Fun, easily-searchable and much-needed!
6. Tell us about your new book Myths of PR, which is a #1 Best Seller?
Everybody knows the saying ‘all publicity is good publicity, right? Everybody believes it – but you tell me that’s still the case once you’ve gone through a career-ending crisis without the help of a professional to guide you.
Myths of PR looks at that and many other myths, both in and outside of the industry, and pours cold water on them. The aim was to write a book that could help individuals, startup owners, brand marketers, communications practitioners and students distinguish between fact and fiction, using tried-and-tested PR tactics and strategies.
7. Why did you want to write it?
Very little is known about PR publicly – and those that do know anything tend to feel somewhat negatively about the industry – and I wanted to go some way to fixing that. PR is an amazing, creative and complex industry to work in – it gets a bad rap, and I wanted to do my bit to show people just how incredible great PR can be for brands and individuals.
8. Where can we buy it?
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Myths-Pr-Publicity-Popular-Misconceptions/dp/0749479590
Want to know more about PR from Rich? Then check out his PR Blog
And don’t forget if you’re looking to update your audio showreel for 2018, we’ve teamed up with TheShowreel.com to get you an exclusive 15% members only discount. Just enter the code VOICEFINDER at the checkout! Check out the deal here.
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