How to do your own personal PR

So, you’re a C-suite exec and interested in boosting your personal PR? Great stuff, we’re all about that!

We’re also well aware that you might not be ready to work with a ghostwriter yet, but we don’t want that to stop you from getting started. There are countless ways you can start to raise your reputation in your industry without outsourcing any of the work.

We’ve put together the best ways to get started in this article, from social media to public speaking. Ready for a whirlwind tour of influence development?

Write and share social media content

There are plenty of ways to approach writing for social media — some executives lie to keep things strictly professional, some go personal, and others go somewhere in between. It’s all about your own tastes and preferences, ultimately.

If you want to stick purely to professional topics, think about your area of expertise and break it up into themes, topics, or ideas that you want to write about. Get granular and break it down into individual concepts and start to share your thoughts on them.

As a quick example, a copywriter might be an expert in writing landing pages. They could break that topic down and plan content like so:

That’s certainly a lot to get started on!

If you want to get personal, then start to reflect on the moments that move you in your day — and the stories you can share from earlier in your career. You can usual social media as a kind of diary… but maybe skip the pages where you write down the name of your latest crush.

Tools to make managing your social media easier

Scheduling social media posts in advance

If the idea of logging onto social media every time you have a good idea to share feels daunting, you’ll be pleased to know that there are tools out there to help make your life easier. Social media management and scheduling tools let you schedule content in advance, across multiple platforms.

• Buffer (has a free plan)
• SendPilot
• Hootsuite
• SproutSocial
• CoSchedule (also has a free plan)

There are plenty more options out there and, as you can see if you check the options listed above, huge variance in pricing. We always recommend doing your own research to find the best option for your needs.

It’s also worth remembering that LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram all let you schedule posts natively and directly. The benefit of a social media scheduling tool is that it lets you manage all your accounts in one place.

Generating ideas for new content

You can use a keyword research tool like AlsoAsked to find subtopics that are relevant to your area of expertise — and that people are genuinely interested in learning about.

You can also use LinkedIn and Twitter searches to stay on top of trending topics. As an easy example, you can use their advanced search functions to find the most popular posts containing a particular hashtag or keyword, then use them as inspiration to share your own unique perspective. These are topics that are garnering discussion and interest, so it pays to act fast!

Networking in your local area

It might sound a little old-school, but there’s a lot to be gained from networking events. In-person networking has a bit of a reputation issue, but there are brilliant events out there that have made the soggy sandwiches and bitter coffee of yore a distant memory.

The best networking events today bring like-minded business owners together around a shared topic, not just putting suits in a room and waiting for magic to happen.

Done right, networking in your area can be a perfect opportunity to meet other business owners, journalists, and media owners. A morning coffee and chat could end up with a feature on a podcast or a comment in an industry article.

Don’t rule it out until you try it!

Speak at industry events and conferences

There’s no particular secret sauce to this — if you’ve got an interesting topic to discuss, almost all conferences and events will accept pitches from potential speakers. The best and biggest tend to be invite-only, but that’s a select few rather than a blanket rule.

Keep abreast of events that are popular in your industry, or that you have attended, or that you see interesting people attending/speaking at. They’ll often share an open call for speakers well in advance of the event, so follow their social media accounts or subscribe to their newsletters to know when it’s time to apply.

Public speaking can be a real rush and, don’t forget, put you in front of an audience of hundreds of engaged listeners. This can be a fast-track for your industry reputation!

Start a newsletter or blog

A newsletter or blog is the perfect way to share more detailed thoughts on your industry and area of expertise.

For some executives, writing longer content comes naturally. The opportunity to get into the details and really zoom in on the intricacies of a story or problem feels right. As a ghostwriting agency, we welcome all approaches to sharing your ideas in writing!

Similarly to the social media ideas we shared earlier, you can get personal or stay strictly professional. There’s an audience for all approaches, so don’t think that one is naturally ‘better’ than the other.

Newsletter and blogging platforms for executives

Share your insights, opinions, and ideas using platforms like:

• Substack
• Buttondown
• Sendstack

These platforms are primarily for newsletters, but they double up as a kind of blog—with permalinks, search functions, and sharing built in. They also allow you to monetise your writing, by creating paid-subscription tiers.

If you want a strict blogging-only platform, you could use:

• Medium
• Vocal

Gain media coverage with Help A Reporter Out (HARO)

HARO is an open network of journalists and sources, through which you can obtain media coverage as an expert in your field.

Journalists share requests for sources with HARO, who then vet and distribute them three times a day.

You respond to the relevant journalist(s) through their unique HARO email alias and, if your contribution is used, get your name, quote, and (sometimes) links in publications including Reuters, TIME, and The New York Times.

Join HARO as a source.

Feeling prepared… or tired by the thought of it all?

Time to get out there and grow your reputation! Good luck in your personal PR push.

Or, if it sounds like a lot of work (to be honest, it is), then you can always hire a ghostwriter to do the piles of planning and tonnes of typing for you.

As you might have realised, CEO Ghostwriter can do your writing for you. We don’t stop there, though. Our service is unique, as we work with a breadth of vetted freelancers in other disciplines, so can also help you in areas outside of written media.

Save yourself the time and effort of handling your personal PR. Bring in the experts instead.