This week I did an amazing course.
Actually, it was two courses but they tied in so well together it felt like two aspects of the one program.
The first one (Sunday & Monday) was Publicity For Profit.
The focus of this was how to get high value publicity without paying the silly prices media organisations charge.
It was run by Sue Papadoulis and Oryana Angel, journalists who, in their own words, “crossed over to the dark side” by working in PR.
They make a very powerful point – people who are trained in PR normally don’t have a journalistic background and so are unfamiliar with the needs of journalists.
By understanding these needs and working with journalists, rather than considering them as the enemy, you can have access to a vast array of high powered media, and the publicity which comes with it.
This publicity can make you the “go-to” person in your industry, impacting on your rates and your client demand.
To add a bit of spice, there’s a bit of a competition amongst the students of this course in terms of how quickly you get contacted by a journalist after sending out a press release.
On the second day of the course one of our class-mates announced she was booked for an interview the following day as a result of what she’d done in the class.
That was pretty cool but the record, at the moment, for a call following the emailing of a press release is 30 seconds. That’s going to be a hard one to beat.
I’ve now sent out one press release and have a few prepared to go over the next few months – stay tuned.
On Thursday and Friday I followed up the Publicity For Profit program with a course on using LinkedIn, put on by Rebel Entrepreneurs (Jess Hartono & Jeff Yang).
It’s called “B2B Social Media Lead Generation Intensive” or for those of us with ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder) “R.E. SOCIALMEDIA WORKSHOP”.
You can find out more details of their programs at www.rebelentrepreneurs.com.au
This course was how to use LinkedIn effectively, and for free, to connect with your ideal client.
I’ve been using LinkedIn since it started and have over 1,000 connections and yet it hasn’t really done anything for me and so I was looking to understand how to take advantage of what I already have.
There’s an adage “your net worth is the value of your net-work”.
When I look at the people I’m connected with on LinkedIn I’m impressed and yet I haven’t been able to translate it into anything useful.
This course enabled me to see the power and potential in what I already have and how to grow it further.
Now, there are lots of people running courses telling you how to do things, especially in the publicity and social media spaces.
The two really important things for me, about both these programs, is that they are very practical and have lots of integrity.
The practical aspect is that you come out of these courses having DONE IT.
In the Publicity For Profit we wrote a number of press releases and a few of us had already submitted them by the end of the course.
The LinkedIn course had everyone write a new profile, put up a new picture and find new contacts who we approached using the techniques taught by Jeff & Jess.
Also, the integrity side of things was that both programs stressed the importance of valuing and respecting the people you’re trying to connect with.
How to approach them with sincerity, looking for ways to work together and develop a relationship so there’s a win-win situation rather than a “what can I get out of you” attitude demonstrated values which I found aligned with mine.
I believe these are excellent courses and I highly recommend them.
Here’s a reminder of thier websites:
Publicity For Profit – publicityforprofit.com.au
Rebel Entrepreneurs – rebelentrepreneurs.com.au
In addition to this, as part of my role in She Business, I’m responsible for implementing our new InfusionSoft system – more classes.
They say learning new things keeps your brain active and protects you from Alzheimers.
I figure I’ve now got about 20 years of credits.
So for me, I’m seriously coursed out. Now, I have to apply what I’ve done and learned.