Odette Barry, Hack Your Own PR – InnovaBuzz 282
Odette Barry, Odette & Co.
In this episode, I’m really excited to have as my guest, Odette Barry of Odette & Co. She is a marketing and PR specialist that teaches small business owners how to be seen in all the right places.
Odette is a storyteller with a passion for helping businesses share their stories. She is committed to helping her clients secure genuine and valuable coverage, and does that with an intimate knowledge of the media landscape and trusted relationships with media outlets. She is a highly strategic thinker, and understands that each business is unique, with a unique story.
In our discussion, Odette and I talked about:
- How to craft your own story by being really curious and conducting self interviews
- What makes a good PR pitch and how we can spark the reader’s interest
- How public accountability can keep us on track and help with getting students to complete online courses
Rich Everett in episode 237 introduced us to Odette.
Listen to the podcast to find out more.
Listen to the Podcast
Everyone has a story to tell. If you don't have a story around your business or product, it's difficult for it to be memorable. @OdetteSBarry on #InnovaBuzz podcast Click To Tweet
Show Notes from this episode with Odette Barry of Odette & Co.
Key points and takeaways from this episode include:
- Look for ways to build a story into your product or business, because no one in the media is going to carry a product message without a story that is wrapped around it.
- People don’t buy what you do. They buy why you do it.
- Storytelling is a way to form that beautiful connection, build rapport, and spark the fires.
- Everyone has a story to tell. If you don’t have a story around your business or product, it’s difficult for it to be memorable.
- Humans are deeply curious about how people do what they do.
- Be curious about yourself and think about the things that have happened in your life. Interview yourself as you might interview a guest for your podcast to uncover unique things about you and the pivotal moments in your journey that have led you to where you are. Think about the changes you inspire in the people that you work with.
- Any story can be teased out. It’s just a matter of giving yourself time to tease them out and actually think about it.
- Go through your CV and think about the interesting things that changed your life forever. We’ve each had those little moments across our journey. These are the kind of stories that people relate to.
- The media’s job is to inform but make people feel.
- Think about what is going to make people emotionally invested in what you’re saying. When people are emotionally invested, they are less critical and less objective, and they are going to really connect with what you are about.
- Suspense stories and cliffhangers release dopamine which makes people more focused and motivated.
- Honest, real, and raw stories or something that’s really emotional release oxytocin, which builds trust and empathy.
- Stories that make people laugh release endorphins that work like magic for releasing creativity and making people relaxed and focused.
- Harness things that the media will typically talk about. It may be stories of hardships, emotional journeys, or stories of accomplishments, but you also want to think about what’s going to spark curiosity with your end customer.
- Think about that target audience of 1. Think about what they’re worrying about and what they’re delighted about, and bring that back into a personal story that is relatable in your business.
- Couple your business story with some real personal experiences to make it relatable.
- Know the type of stories that the media outlet covers and figure out what’s in your story that will relate to them. Your job is to find a way to merge your agenda and the outlet’s agenda together to make it relatable and interesting to those that you are pitching to.
- Think about the audience of one and only send your pitch to people that it really matters to.
- Invest at least 90 minutes of your time to listen to at least two episodes of the podcast you are pitching to or read at least 10 articles of the journalist you are pitching to, to really get to know them.
- Publicity is not rocket science. It follows a simple formula of reading the news, understanding whether it’s aligned with you, and sharing your story in a creative way.
- Build your communications strategy in a way that it creates public accountability for people.
- Having a community of people that understand the journey you are on is a beautiful thing.
Think about that target audience of 1. Think about what what they're worrying about and what they're delighted about, and bring that back into a personal story that is relatable in your business. @OdetteSBarry on #InnovaBuzz podcast Click To Tweet
The Buzz – Our Innovation Round
Here are Odette’s answers to the questions of our Innovation round. Listen to the interview to get the full scoop.
- #1 thing to be more innovative – Get away from technology. Create space for yourself. Spending time in nature is really where your creative energy gets lit up. It allows you to see problems from different perspectives.
- Best thing for new ideas – Taking a pause from the daily grind.
- Favourite tool for innovation – A high-functioning “to-do” and “what I did” list.
- Keep project / client on track – Create public accountability. Set really transparent expectations and clear boundaries.
- Differentiate – Just be YOU. Lean into a very authentic version of yourself and be comfortable with your quirks, your weirdness, and all the wonderful things.
To Be a Leader
Just do it! If you want to be a leader, if you want to do something, just do it. There’s no one holding you back but yourself.
Reach Out
You can reach out and thank Odette through her website and on LinkedIn.
Suggested Guest
Odette suggested I interview Pru Chapman, host of the One Wild Ride Podcast. So Pru, keep an eye on your inbox for an invitation from us to the InnovaBuzz podcast, courtesy of Odette Barry.
Links
Cool things about Odette
- Her career spans marketing and communications for Westpac, the Australian Physiotherapy Association, TAFE NSW and Women’s Fitness magazine.
- She studied Strategic Communications.
- She’s a dog lover.
Publicity is not rocket science. It follows a simple formula of reading the news, understanding whether it's aligned with you, and sharing your story in a creative way. @OdetteSBarry on #InnovaBuzz podcast Click To Tweet