Influencer of the Month

This April we’re championing beauty blogger extraordinaire Really Ree. Ree has ran her successful blog for 10 years, sharing everything from first look product launches, insider beauty industry news and a plethora of makeup and skincare knowledge. She prides herself on keeping it real for the everyday, ordinary person who just wants to look their best!

We asked Ree some questions and absolutely loved her answers, have a look:

What are the 5 words that best describe you?

Excitable, chatty, enthusiastic, friendly, loyal.

What magazine do you love reading and why?

I have to confess, I rarely read magazines now. If I do, it's the Stella magazine from my mum's Telegraph.

What is your favourite book?

Traditionally, the answer to this has always been To The Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf. Now I think it is The Life-changing Art of Not Giving a F!

Which song makes you dance?

Anything by Britney!

What has been your best career moment?

I think it was when my L'Oreal Elvive ad was played on the big screens at Piccadilly. It's a moment I'll never get over. There have been lots of amazing moments and I'm amazed every day that I actually work with the brands I have obsessed over all my life, but that was a standout!

What advice would you give your 20-year-old self?

You haven't failed until you quit. Just keep going.

Where are you happiest?

When I'm on the evening dog walk. Archie my dog is a constant source of joy and I am like Beyonce to him.  He loves me much more than my actual son does!

Who would be your number one dinner guest and why?

I think I'd have Charlotte Tilbury. Her energy is incredible, and she likes a glass of fizz too!

If you could have any superpower, what would it be and why?

To be able to know what beauty brands are launching before even they know!

Ree asked the SBPR team: what's your top motivational work tip?

Sunny – Recognise results

Unfortunately, clients don’t always thank the team for their hard work. So to motivate your team in the workplace you need to remember to recognise the results they produce. Let them know specific reasons why they did a good job.

For example, “Great job on that feature Grace, It’s already increased traffic to our customer’s website tenfold over last month.”

Lizzie - Give yourself a pat on the back. Allow yourself, and even encourage yourself, to be pleased with what you’ve done. Working from home is so much harder with no team to bounce ideas off of, and no one there to be your cheerleader, so remember to be your own cheerleader!

Grace - If you’ve had a morning of difficult work and feel daunted about doing any more, do something on your list which is going to get you a quick win, it will make you feel so much better and you’ll feel like you’ve achieved something for the day. Also, give yourself breaks… I need to do this more!

Small Business of the Month

This month, we wanted to do something a little bit different, with all the uncertainty surrounding Covid-19 we thought now’s the time to shine a light on small businesses who need support more than ever at this time! This month, we’re featuring Lillie Hussain, Founder of Loving Life Lillie Yoga. Lillie is the crème de la crème of yoga instructors, specialising in Vinyasa and Yin Yoga. We were lucky enough to get visits twice a week from Lillie in our offices, unfortunately, with the Coronavirus putting any real-life classes on hold, we won’t be seeing Lillie in the office for a little while. Fear not! Lillie is offering online courses so we can all still get our yoga fix in the comfort of our own homes, head over to her website to find out more .

While you’re here, have a read of some of Lillie’s answers to our burning questions…

What are the 5 words that best describe you?
Creative, love, savvy, determined, vibrant 

What magazine do you love reading and why?
I love to read Women's Health Magazine, it's such a positive mag with lots of advice on how to keep a healthy, happy mind and body, plus one day I will be on the cover, I can say that right? I'm channelling it! 

What is your favourite book?
I am currently reading 10x Rule by Grant Cardone, I love any books that are going to positively impact who I am as a person and a business woman, if you're solo in your business like me, shout out to the Reaching Millions book by Sunny & Lizzie at SBPR!

Which song makes you dance?
Well last night I was dancing around my lounge to "Do a Dear" from the Sound of Music. Other than that, I love Nicki Minaj, Suberbass, I can rap & twerk all in one song. 

What has been your best career moment? 
Best career moment, hmmm, I will never forget my Tuesday class a couple of months ago when we couldn't fit another human in the room it was so busy & I had a little moment of "sh** maybe I'm actually quite good at what I do"!

What advice would you give your 18-year-old self? 
Don't even sweat it, eff the boy, don't doubt yourself, don't you dare say mean things to yourself, stop thinking what other people say to you matters, you do you & you go get ‘em tiger. You got this.

Where are you happiest? 
In my beautiful flat with my wonderful partner. I used to think happiness was waiting somewhere abroad for me and it was something I had to look for, now I find happiness in the simplest of things.

Who would be your number one dinner guest and why?
Kim Kardashian, I'm going to be Kim's Yoga Instructor one day, you can't knock her drive & how well she promotes her businesses. Top secret, I've Instagrammed Kim K before, offering her a virtual class, I guess she just hasn't seen it yet, but she will. 

If you could have any superpower, what would it be and why?
My superpower would be to replicate myself as many times as possible, the replicas can go and learn, help, and teach others all over the world all of their experiences, then return back to me and enable me to be my best version on this planet, my one lifespan would expand into hundreds. 

If you had to ask us one question what would it be? 
If you could offer a first-time entrepreneur only one piece of advice, what would it be?

Grace - “Never underestimate the power of PR! Your product or brand being recommended by a journalist and then seen by millions will put you one step ahead of your competitors.”

Josh – “Ensure your USPs are conveyed through your communication strategies.”

Lizzie – “Focus Groups! Whatever you/your friends/family think of your idea, test it out on your intended audience – preferably people you don’t know. Create a questionnaire, explain/demonstrate your product/service to 10-20 people and get their honest feedback. But be warned – you might hear things you didn’t want to, but it’s definitely worth it – it’s much better and easier to make changes early on to your offering, rather than further down the line.”

Laura – “Be brave and be different! Make sure you are offering something new and unique to what other competitor brands are doing in your chosen industry. You need to be filling a gap or creating a new space in the industry in order to be successful. Do your homework and make sure there are no other brands like yours out there.”

Annabel – “When you’re building your brand, business or service you need to have an acute knowledge of your ideal customer. Know what makes your potential customers tick, know where they shop, where they get their news, what kind of products they are already buying, who their favourite influencers are, what social media platforms they spend their time on. The more you know about the people your business is designed to serve, the better you can reach them! And it is never too early to start building your community on social media!”

Sunny – “Before you ask someone for something, think about how you can help them first!”

Case Studies

In this blog post you will learn all about case studies. What they are, how they can help your business and how to find them.

What is a case study?

Case studies are people. People who have tried out, can vouch for or speak about your brand, product or service in a positive and interesting way. Journalists love them because they add the sparkle of human interest to even the most mundane story, helping the reader engage with the piece. Case studies can elevate even the most seemingly boring business. Putting a person with a compelling story behind a product makes the brand more relatable to the consumer and to a journalist. It’s important to have a case study ready to go when contacting journalists, it will look unprofessional and probably annoy the journalist if you say you have one and then don’t get back to them with it pronto!

Where do I find a case study?

Case studies can be people who:

a.       Already use or buy your product or service.

b.       Could be interested in using your product or service.

If they are already a customer you should be able to contact them via your existing customer database, but if you don’t already have something established you could reach them via your website. Do you have people who are already leaving testimonials on your website or through social media? Could you add a button onsite or a link to your blog asking for people who would be happy to talk about your product or brand?

Alternatively use your own social media feed to reach out and ask. It’s a good idea to create a bank of case studies, you never know when the right opportunity may come up in the media to pitch your case studies out.

Will I need to get them photographed?

There’s no doubt that a good photo can help a case study get placed, but in general editors will want a clear head-shot in the initial stages and will then arrange for further photography if they need it, so there’s no need to pay out on an expensive shoot. However, it is important to send relevant photography to the journalist. For example, If yours is a service or product in the health, diet, fitness or wellness industry where a ‘before’ and ‘after’ shot will be helpful, then you should absolutely ensure you have close ups and full body shots of your case study before pitching to an editor.

Dos and don’ts:

ALWAYS ensure you have the case study’s full permission in writing before proceeding.  They might have agreed to have their story featured but want to remain anonymous, so you could request a name change.  They may want parts of their personal details, such as the names of their children left out or they may or may not agree to a photograph being used. You should ensure you detail exactly what is expected of them and get them to agree in a signed, dated agreement.

ALWAYS ensure all parties involved in a feature give consent.

ALWAYS be extra careful when children are involved, to get the signed consent of all parents and or guardians involved in the child’s care.

ALWAYS ensure the case study is happy to be photographed. Journalists almost always require the case study to be identified, so ensure the case study is happy with that.

NEVER place a case study with more than one rival title. Editors hate to see identical or similar copy popping up in the competition as it devalues their content. You should avoid offering a case study to rival titles at the same time and state if a rival title has previously featured it.

NEVER ignore a journalist’s calls if a case study you have put forward lets you down or changes their mind. Let the journalist know as soon as possible and offer to help find someone else in order to maintain a good relationship.

At Sunny Bird PR we use case studies with pretty much all our clients. Whether that be for a domestic abuse charity, The Hampton Trust or for Just Shutters, a plantation window shutter company. Case studies have helped to propel our clients into the press with real life stories.

You can find our how Sunny Bird PR has used case studies to successfully get clients onto TV and radio as well as other media titles here!

If you would like to find out more how case studies could work for you and how to do your own PR, you can book onto our PR and Publicity Course on the 29th November at our Bournemouth offices - Sunny Bird PR, The Garden Studio, Pine Grange, Bath Road, Bournemouth, BH1 2PF

Follow this link to book your place!