I know that it’s part of your job description if you work in PR to be as annoying and over friendly as possible, and mostly I am tolerant of this, but today I just couldn’t be doing with it. Seriously, if you send me an email today that begins ‘Hello lovely!’ please don’t expect me to respond with anything other than a punch to the face.

The email that sent me over the edge this morning went like this:

“Hi there,

I hope all is well with you! I’m already one flat white down this morning. Might go for a second coffee but I fear the jitters!

I wanted to share a lovely bit o’ content with you from the weekend…”

Ha ha! Coffee jokes! Now we are best chums right? Oh no, hang on, we’re not, because I don’t know who you are and you haven’t even used my name.

And ‘a lovely bit o’ content’?? What even is that??

I literally had no words, so as a reply I just sent this:

Annoying PRsSometimes people just need to be told.

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I’ve been reading a lot of blogs lately. As part of my new job with Collective Bias, I’ve been trawling the web, looking for the very best of British writers and photographers. It’s a fascinating job, as there are a lot of amazing blogs out there.

In the process though, I have developed several blogging pet hates, which I’m sure other PR companies and brands must share. They are silly little things, but you’d be amazed at how many people forget them. Your blog might be the most beautifully designed site you’ve ever seen, your photography may make your readers gasp with joy, but if you are missing any of these then you could be holding yourself back when it comes to working with brands. View Post

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In case you didn’t know, (do you not follow me on Twitter or something??), I’ve recently set up a new business with my friend Rin*, an interiors journalist. The essence of our business is to provide marketing and PR training to small businesses, to equip them with the skills and confidence they need to shout about their business, make social media work for them, and get journalists’ attention.

(That sounds rather good doesn’t it? Like a proper grown-up business.)

There are some bits of the business, like registering for corporation tax and taking out insurance, that aren’t exactly thrilling, but there are other aspects that we’ve been really enjoying. If you are thinking of setting up your own business in 2013, these are the parts I think you’ll love:

Choosing a name
So long as no-one else has registered it already, you can choose any name you like for your new business. Any name at all! How cool is that? You could be Dog Bowl Media or Pineapple Chunk Construction Limited – absolutely anything that takes your fancy. We’re called Inside Scoop. Nothing to do with ice cream.

"Media training"

For all your marketing and PR training needs!

Getting business cards
This is possibly my Best Bit. I love all kinds of stationery so getting official business cards is really exciting! Make sure your business card includes all essential information such as your name, business name, website and contact details and do double double check everything is correct before you go to print. Compare prices too – perhaps a local printer and an online service like Instant Print. We went for rounded corners on ours – always the mark of a professional.

Becoming a Company Director
Because we’re a registered company, both Rin and I are now officially Company Directors. Now when I have to write a bio for anything I write ‘Jo Middleton is an award-winning blogger and Director of media training company Inside Scoop’. I’m almost too intimidated to look in the mirror in the morning quite frankly.

Business meetings
I know this is supposed to be the boring bit, but the great thing about setting up a business with a friend is that business meetings are actually coffee and waffles in your favourite cafe with a bit of a chat about something nice like business cards or magazines that we really like or cushions we want to buy. It’s hardly like work at all really. We probably should actually cover more of the work element to be honest.

Do you run your own business? What’s your favourite part of being your own boss?

*This makes me sounds like my mum, who always refers to people as a phrase rather than a name – ‘my friend Andrea’ or ‘my cousin Mandy’.

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