Please note this transcript is generated by AI - apologies for any mistakes

Pippa Goulden (00:03)
Hello and welcome to another episode of PR Made Simple. Today I am talking all about summer PR and answering the question about whether or not you should be doing PR for your business during the summer months. And my answer to this question that I get asked quite a lot is always yes. Simple, done, end of the podcast. I'm gonna explain why though this is my answer because...

I know that a lot of you listening to this are juggling summer holidays, children off school, all sorts of things happening. And I know that also just energetically, often we feel like this is kind of the rest time building up to the kind of new school feeling in September. And I totally get it. I hear you. I feel it myself. But the thing about PR is it's a long game. It's a marathon, not a sprint.

And I want you to think about ways that you can actually keep that PR momentum going over the summer and why this actually can really work in your favour. So let's start with what happens in the media world during the summer. I know, as you know, PR is not just about press, but let's just deep dive into what happens in the media world over the summer and actually why there are potentially lots of opportunities for you here.

Yes, journalists do take holidays, they are normal people like the rest of us, but publications still need content, websites still need articles, podcasts still need guests, the demand for good stories and new things and insight and interest and news doesn't just disappear because it is the holidays. What does change though is the other side of things. So...

Big brands actually often scale back their PR efforts during summer months. You don't get the big brand activity happening in the same way as you do during other times of the year. And this for you small business owners can actually work in your favor because there's a lot less competition for editorial attention when you're one of the few still actively pitching. So I want you to really think about what opportunities there could be for you over the summer months.

In fact, I spoke to a journalist I remember last summer and she was actually coming to me saying, it's really quiet out there. Have you got anything for me? And obviously I then found her some things that we could do together. But the thing that you also. So there's lots of opportunities there for you from an immediate need perspective, but also don't forget that lots of publications are working months ahead. So whilst you're sipping there.

So whilst you're lying on your sun lounger and sipping your pina colada, editors are actually planning their autumn issues or even Christmas content. And the thing to remember is that lots of publications, your monthly magazines are working months ahead. So whilst you're lying there on your sun lounger or sipping your pina colada, editors are actually on their autumn issues. And we know you will have heard me talk about the fact that

Christmas starts from July. We've already seen Christmas issues, Christmas requests coming into the PR set, into my DIY PR membership. August is a peak time for the monthlies for getting their Christmas issues done. I even know of people, I'm recording this at the end of July, who are working on January, February issues. So just because it is the summer months, it doesn't mean that the media comes to a halt. In fact, they're actually planning

there and working on issues in much further ahead. So if you're in retail, beauty, lifestyle, any business with strong Q4, then August is actually a really important time for you when it comes to Christmas issues and beyond. So the key insight here really is that the media cycle doesn't stop for some holidays. Yes, some journalists are away at different times like any other business.

But if you pause your PR efforts completely, essentially taking out of, you're essentially taking yourself out of that conversation for, you know, so if you, and if you then pause your PR efforts completely, you're essentially taking yourself out of the conversation for a time that actually could be really important for your business. The other thing that I want you to think about is this idea of momentum. PR is a muscle that,

The other thing I want you to think about is this idea of momentum. So I often talk about it in terms of it being like a snowball and you've got to push that snowball up the hill and it's hard and it's sticky and it takes a lot of effort. And then you get to the top of the hill and the snowball starts rolling down the hill and it gathers speed and momentum and pace. while, you know, halfway down that hill you find that people start coming to you.

So this is how I want you to think about your PR. It's much easier to keep pushing that snowball up the hill rather than stopping, starting, having big pauses in your PR and actually losing that momentum and having to go all the way back down to the bottom of the hill again. I'm really sorry for these cheesy analogies, but it's a really good way to describe how it works for your PR momentum.

So when you maintain that consistent outreach, even if you are reducing it down over the summer, which is totally to be expected, you are keeping relationships warm, you are staying visible to your contacts, and you're avoiding that whole idea of starting from zero, from the absolute bottom of that hill again, when everyone gets back to work in September. So it doesn't have to be at the same level of intensity that you might have been doing during busy periods.

but I really advocate doing 15 minutes of day, an hour a week, blocking out some time in your diary through the summer months enough to keep things ticking over. The goal here is consistency. So it's not about how intensely you're doing it or how much you're doing, but just keeping that consistency going will help you massively get things over the line over the summer period, but also mean that it's not such a hard start for you when it comes to September.

I also want you to think about the planning opportunities. So for a lot of people, a lot of content creators, media professionals, summer is planning season. So right now, you know, people are thinking about autumn content calendars, booking guests for September and October, thinking about what stories they want to tell, what speaking opportunities they need to fill for the end of the year and into 2026.

This is your opportunity to get ahead of that planning cycle. So when you're pitching during these summer months, you're often reaching people who have the time and the headspace to consider those longer term collaborations. I also want you to think about the seasonal angles that are relevant to your business. it might be about, and a really good way to, and a really good way if you do want to be dipping your toes into the summer months is to focus on one or two things.

So that might be the seasonal angle. So it might be like that back to school feel for a lot of businesses. That's a great hook for September. It might be Christmas for you if you are Q4 focused. It might even be starting to think about the kind of whole new year, new you, fitness, wellbeing angle that comes, we see cyclically into January. So thinking about what is...

Going on in your business, thinking ahead to what is coming up and thinking about how you can start pitching yourself for relevant opportunities will really stand you in good stead.

And I think something that I talk about a lot when it comes to pitching yourself, and this is across the board for media opportunities, speaking opportunities, podcast opportunities, whatever it is, is this idea that you are helping people to do their job. I think one big barrier that I see so much when it comes to pitching ourselves is that we worry that the person on the other end, person receiving that pitch doesn't want to hear from us. think that, you know, we think that...

We think that they might think that we're silly for pitching, but actually you are helping those people to get their job done. In my DIYPR membership, we have regular Meet the Media sessions where I bring a journalist in to talk about what they're looking for in pitches, what they're looking for for small businesses. And the one thing that they consistently say is that they want to hear from small business owners like you.

They actually want to hear from you because you are the ones doing interesting, innovative things. You've got expertise at your fingertips. You are innovating. Okay? So if you can reframe that idea that, you know, journalists do actually want to hear from you, think of it that you are reaching out to them with something that's genuinely valuable. You're helping them to do their job. And that is no more true than in the summer when the pace is potentially a little bit more relaxed.

there's more time for them to explore ideas for building relationships without the immediate pressure of looming deadlines. So this isn't just about a spray and pay, like sending an email out to everyone. I would really be thinking about who you could nurture relationships with, not sending generic pictures ever. This is about really thinking about what the journalists are looking for, what each publication, which platform needs.

and how you and your business and your expertise or your products genuinely fit.

So let's look at this practically. What does sustainable summer PR actually look like? This is what I would recommend to you and this is what I am trying to do myself within my own business. So there's a few different ways that you could cut it. I personally try to do 15 to 20 minutes a day, quarter of an hour on one small PR task that's going to keep my business moving forward. So that might be me doing some research.

It might be me looking at new podcast ideas. It might be me thinking strategically for what podcast guests I want to bring on into my own podcast from a PR perspective. It might be me looking at new angles for pitching to publications, for example. And then I am using that time to also be pitching and to reaching out. So it might be reconnecting with people that I've worked with before with new ideas, which is something that I've been doing this week.

or it might be pitching new things to new people that I haven't actually pitched to before. 15 minutes a day is very doable and you can keep it really simple and manageable. The other option that a lot of people in my world do is to choose a bigger time slot and do it say once a week or once a fortnight. So it might be an hour of focused activity if daily doesn't work for you. Block out an hour, two hours a fortnight.

and use that time productively. We have it in the PR set, we have accountability, get it done sessions, which is where members use that time to tick their PR off their to-do list and I'm on the Zoom with them. And it's amazing how effective that is, doing work with somebody else on a Zoom. But use that time to plan your approach, send those pictures, nurture relationships, whatever it is from a PR perspective, really use that time productively.

And I also want you, I will always talk about this, to be thinking strategically. So mapping out opportunities for the rest of the year, looking ahead, not just being reactive to things that you see, thinking proactively, who do you want to be pitching to? What could you be offering that's kind of seasonal or to, you know, what could you be pitching proactively to get yourself into the right places that will be seen by your audiences?

Thinking strategically will really help you to do this.

So I hope this has inspired you to take some action over the summer months. The main takeaway here is really simple. It's about consistency. It doesn't need to be all guns blazing, hugely intensive. A regular, small, regular effort over the summer is going to really set you up for the... A small, regular effort over the summer is going to really set you up for stronger results in the autumn and beyond.

Like I said it's a marathon not a sprint and you want to start laying those seeds now because you will see the impact of your efforts in about.

So the main takeaway here, it's really simple. Consistency beats intensity. I'm not saying you have to go all guns blazing here. It's about doing a small amount to keep that momentum going. Just a small regular effort over the summer is going to really set you up for the months ahead and into 2026. It is only around the corner. You don't need to be sending thousands of emails.

It's about thinking strategically, it's about thinking who do you want to build those relationships with, but it's also about not stopping completely so that you don't lose momentum. Find an approach that works for you and your schedule and stick with it. And if you want to find out more about how I work, you can find me at theprset.com. I am Pippa the PR Set on Instagram and I am Pippa Goulden on LinkedIn.

come and find me the code pod50 gets you 50 % off my DIY PR membership. I am also booking one-to-one spaces for my accelerator which will restart from September and my Get Known program is relaunching in the autumn and that is a six-week group sprint which kicks off at the beginning of October.

So if you want to find out any more, go to my website and have a look or DM me and let me know how you're getting on with your summer PR. I cannot wait to see those results that you're getting. See you soon for another episode of PR Made Simple.