London online PR: One big happy family?
—From Melanie
So it’s been just over two months since I arrived in this fair land and just under two months since I started working in the London online PR scene. One thing I’ve noted is just how much everyone seems to support everyone else. It’s not that it’s not competitive, but I’ll maintain that the strongest friendships I’ve made here are with other individuals who work at PR agencies who, under different circumstances, could be considered ‘the enemy.’
Being that this business is quite a bit smaller (if not simply based on square metres), I’ve found that I’ve been pitched and invited to events more than I would ever had back in the States - and most of these events are frequented by other online PR people. To be honest, I really haven’t yet been pitched by anyone I don’t know, and I’d venture a guess that those in the London digital media industry aren’t quite used to it either.
Case in point, I read a post from Drew B the other day about a heinous pitch he received from someone at 5WPR hawking their founder’s blog. He had no prior communication with this individual and suffice to be said, Drew’s tone was a little indignant.
Granted, the pitch was bad - completely impersonal, obvious cut and paste job, bizarre formatting, no real reason to take interest besides the fact that it’s PR-related - but even if it was good, would Drew have written about it? After all, agency blogs are mostly used to:
- Show thought leadership
- Give personality to the staff
- Drum up interest in the company
- Get business
Inherently, these are all reasons why someone working at a competing agency wouldn’t want to write about your agency. Why plug someone who could win business over you?
The answer? Community and respect.
Contrary to popular belief, PR doesn’t have to be cutthroat. In fact, that soprt of competiton is probably a good way to make real enemies in this business.
Just like with personal and/or topical blogs, the way to build awareness is to interact with those around you, whether it be online or off. In this case, online PR people stick together because we’re part of a very niche community - and in London it’s very easy for us to connect.
onlinefire’s first example of this was the link that I shared yesterday from Rax at Splendid Communications. He linked to Graham’s video and spoke positively of our company and blog. How cool is that?
I know it sounds a bit ‘kumbyyah-ish,’ but that really gives us a warm and fuzzy feeling.
That said, if any of you want to connect, I’ll be at Silicon Stilettos with Zuz and the crew (sorry, girls only) and James and I will be at OpenSoho on Thursday. Come say hello!
