Ep 305 | Repurposing your Press Releases with Aquila Mendez

Are you making the most of your nonprofit's public relations efforts? In this episode, I sit down with Aquila Mendez, founder of Haute in Texas PR and marketing agency, to explore how organizations can maximize their PR strategies and create lasting impact.

The Evolution of Public Relations

• How PR has become more integrated with marketing
• The importance of building relationships with media outlets
• Strategies for crafting compelling, newsworthy stories

Maximizing Your PR Efforts

• Repurposing press releases across multiple channels
• Creating a crisis communication plan before you need it
• Leveraging thought leadership to build credibility

Crafting Effective Pitches

• Focusing on superlatives and data points
• Using clear, jargon-free language
• Highlighting the true impact on your community

Building Strong Agency Partnerships

• What to look for when hiring a PR agency
• Questions to ask potential partners
• The importance of trust and alignment in agency relationships

Whether you're just starting to explore PR or looking to refine your existing strategy, this episode provides valuable insights to help your nonprofit amplify its message and reach new audiences.

Don't miss this opportunity to learn from an industry expert and take your organization's storytelling to the next level. Tune in now and discover how to harness the power of public relations for your cause.

Want to Skip Ahead? Here are Key Takeaways:

04:09 The Changing Landscape of PR Public relations has evolved to work more closely with marketing, emphasizing the importance of storytelling and relationship-building.
11:49 Crafting Effective Press Releases Learn strategies for creating press releases that resonate with media outlets, including the importance of being prepared with supporting materials.
19:38 Pitching Media Successfully Discover the key elements of an effective media pitch, including focusing on superlatives, data points, and clear, jargon-free language.
28:25 Choosing the Right PR Partner What to look for when hiring a PR agency, including understanding their philosophy and approach to measuring ROI.

Full Transcript

[00:00:00 – 00:04:10]We talk a lot about creating one piece of content and then just kind of letting it fly out into the universe and not doing anything with it. Instead, how do we make more use of it, make it last longer, get it in front of more people and make most of the effort we've put into this creation, like make it the most we can. And so today we're going to talk about that same topic. But as it relates to pr, we or press releases or public relations, how we're talking about our organization in the public and how are we taking those elements that we're creating and repurposing them and using them across multiple channels because that's the name of the game. I talk a lot about how creating long form content in whatever way that you are and we're using it across multiple channels is the best way to get the most bang for your buck and to get the most visibility. And we don't always have to be creating new because people need to see things multiple times before they connect with it, before they engage, engage with it and before they move forward. And so today that is what we are talking about with my guest, Akilah Mendez. Akilah is the founder of Hot in Texas, an award winning PR and marketing agency. She's been asked to speak to audiences across the us, Europe and Asia and has been featured in Forbes, Newsweek and the Telegraph. In addition to numerous TV appearances and podcasts. Her blog collaborations and client rosters features some of the world's biggest brands including Vogue, Prada, Lincoln, Neiman Marcus, Kendra Scott or Orange Theory. She's also the founder of Hot and Network Agencies, a franchise model to help other women own their own agencies, and was named a San Antonio Biz Jr. 40 under 40 honoree. We have a great conversation about repurposing, reusing what you put in that content, all of the things. So you're definitely going to want to check it out. But before we get into it, this episode is brought to you by oh My High. Oh My High is a website building platform that walks alongside you to help you have the website that you need to engage, connect and grow your audience and grow those donations. It's a great builder if you're looking for something easy, but also something with some handheld training. One of the reasons why I love ohmyhigh so much is because they totally connect with you. They have live weekly training so that if you're stuck on how to build that website of your dreams, you've got it all laid out there for you. It has all the bells and whistles you need and those that you don't. Plus, they've created a nonprofit template with my feedback and a copywriter of mine, Sarah Cook, who's also on the podcast several times. So you can know that you have a template that you can build off of that you know is going to work, that you know is going to convert without the price of custom building. Now, I know what you're saying. Why are you promoting a website builder when you build websites yourself? Well, here's the deal. Not everybody needs all of the bells and whistles on their website. You need a website that works, a website that connects, and a website that converts. And so with oh My High, you can get started for just $20 a month, and it includes your hosting and all of the training. So definitely make sure you check out my bonus podcast episode I did with co founder Becky Launder, all about oh My High, all about websites, all about the nonprofit template. You can check out the demo there as well. So you can find that@thefirstclick.net ohmyhigh that's. Hi. Good to see you. Hi. So thank you so much, oh My High, for sponsoring this episode. Let's get into it. You're listening to the Digital Marketing Therapy podcast. I'm your host, Sami Bedell Mulhern. Each month, we dive deep into a digital marketing or fundraising strategy that you can implement in your organization. Each week, you'll hear from guest experts, nonprofits, and myself on best practices, tips and resources to help you raise more money online and reach your organizational goals. Hey, friends, Please join me in welcoming Akilah Mendez Valdez to the podcast. Thanks for being here. Another fellow hyphenated last name. So I like it.

[00:04:36 – 00:05:54]Absolutely. So for me, pr, I think even from the time that I graduated from college, which has been a few years ago now, has changed rapidly. And the nice part is that it's continued to kind of get closer and closer to marketing and doesn't have to be a totally separate field anymore. They very much can, you know, work together, play nicely Together. So that's been really cool for us. But I think, you know, from a high level perspective, public relations PR is really the, you know, relationship that you have to your external audiences, whether it is customers or the general public, or, you know, it can be government entities that you have to interact with as part of your business or whatever your line of work is, but the communications that you put out into the world that tell the world what you're all about, what's exciting, what's going on, but also handling some of the bad if there is, you know, unfortunately a crisis, and we need to be able to handle that too. PR can also encompass that as well. So it's pretty broad and it means a lot of different things to a lot of different people. But at the end of the day, it's really about telling stories to the people who are interested in your brand or should be interested in your brand.

[00:05:55 – 00:06:39]Yeah, I love, and I don't want to go too heavy on this because we want to talk about ways that we can use PR to kind of build and grow our awareness. But I love that you mentioned kind of that crisis management, because I think that's something that we don't think about until it's too late. And that can be something that happens internally in your organization that you need to address. That could be something that happens, like you mentioned politics or legislation or government grants or whatever. It could encompass so many different things that are either affecting the industry that you're serving or something that happen. So, you know, if you were just gonna, I know this is a much bigger conversation, but if you were gonna maybe just give people a couple things to think about when we're putting together maybe a crisis communication plan, like, where would we maybe want to start?

[00:06:40 – 00:08:16]Right. Well, I think the key is to start before you're in the crisis. So you kind of alluded to that earlier that, you know, once you're in the thick of the crisis, you're getting pulled in a million different directions. So it's very hard to be strategic about your communications at that point. And, and that's usually when we get the phone call, is people say, hey, I had somebody post a video about me online. What do I do? I'm afraid they're going to come after me, and I'm afraid this is going to go haywire or viral. And I think for us, what we always want to encourage people is that, first of all, having a plan, having an understanding of, okay, if the worst happens, here's how we will proceed, here's what we would do all of our team members and stakeholders understand that this is the process we've laid out. But the sort of high level kind of advice that I always give people is that nine times out of 10, when you are in a crisis, your communications, as long as they can be level headed and compassionate and understanding, you will be able to weather the storm. It's really when people do more of a knee jerk reaction or they get defensive or they think, well, this is my opportunity to show why you're wrong and I'm right. At that point, that ship has sailed. You really have to sort of start playing a little bit of defense and kind of de escalating the situation. But we always want to combat a poor moment in the spotlight with, okay, but here's all the good things that you're doing and here's all the positives that we can talk about. And really kind of having the patience to weather that storm comes with having a good plan, I think.

[00:08:17 – 00:08:37]Yeah, I love that and I kind of liken it to. In my head, it's like when you go to a restaurant and your server messes up the order. But mess up is not the big deal, it's how the server reacts to that mess up that's going to dictate how you tip them because you might still give them a great tip if they mess up, if they do the right thing and treat it. That's really good.

[00:08:37 – 00:08:38]Exactly. Yep.

[00:08:38 – 00:09:04]Well, let's focus on positive things and the exciting things that nonprofits have going on right now and how we want to kind of continue to spread the good news that we're doing and the impact. Obviously, when we think of pr, the easy thing to think about is a press release. So let's assume we've got a press release that's out. Then what do we just hit publish and then hope for the best or how can we kind of make the most of that release that we've put work into?

[00:09:05 – 00:10:43]Yeah, well, I think the most important part is prior to releasing the press release, let's make sure that it's truly newsworthy. The worst thing you can do is kind of put yourself in front of media and they're going to dismiss it immediately if it doesn't actually resonate with what, what they talk about, what their audience wants to hear if it's not personalized to them. So just a broad kind of blanket, we call it spray and pray. Press release can a lot of times do a little bit more harm than good where you're not going to see the results you want. And you're certainly not going to build a relationship with those reporters. So making sure that you've really thought through who is on your media list, do they actually care about the things that you're sending them information about? And then being sure to be prepared that if they want to talk to you on camera, if they want to set up an interview, if they ask for headshots or bios or video content of, you know, maybe you had an event and they want to know if you did capture. We call it B roll in the news media world where. And I guess that that term's becoming a little bit more common now with, you know, B roll videos being very popular on Instagram. But do you have those files readily available to send to them? So I think making sure that you are ready before you hit publish, should those opportunities come your way, that you can say, yep, here's when we're available for that interview, here's those media files you were asking for. You know, make that journalist's job as easy as possible. And then they will love to come back to you for additional stories or resources or be an expert for the next story that is relevant to you and your expertise.

[00:10:44 – 00:11:40]I love that. I mean, perception is reality. We talk about this all the time. And it doesn't, especially now with all the tools, it doesn't take a lot for you to have all of those assets ready to go and look super professional, even if you don't have a contracted videographer, all that stuff. I think from my experience, I had a short stint when I was handling PR for a guitar company when I was not in the nonprofit space and we were much smaller fish in a big pond. We did not have the bulk of the advertising dollars. But because they knew we had great photos, because we had great capt, because we could deliver quickly, they often came to us more often than they should have for our ad spend to feature us in spotlights or when they're in a pinch because they're like, we know you can give us something quickly. So I love that you said that and it's totally true to just kind of put those things in place and curious your thoughts. Those things are just things you want to have in place anyway. If it's a newsworthy story, you should have those things in place anyway to share on your own for social media.

[00:11:42 – 00:12:48]Yeah, absolutely. A lot of that content that you're sending to media, you can give media sort of the quote unquote exclusive and have a couple days to kind of be aware of this information, but then it can absolutely be repurposed for your social media, for your email list, for your blog. That's one of the things that we talk to a lot of our clients about, is if a journalist is going to link back to your website, we want to be able to see that not only do you just have that press release there in a standard kind of newsroom format, but maybe you also have some supporting blog posts that go along with it, or maybe you have an additional page on your website that talks about that particular announcement or subject. So you're gonna have a lot better luck getting a reporter to be willing to link back to those more specific pages of your website versus just the straight homepage. And it's a nice SEO boost, but they have to really navigate their rules as far as what they can and can't link back to. So having some supporting owned content on your site regarding the topic that you're pitching is also really helpful as well.

[00:12:49 – 00:13:07]Yeah. Okay, so let's talk about. You said at the beginning something that I love, which is that PR and marketing are starting to become more integrated. We've already talked about a couple of ways that that is true, but kind of, what are you seeing that's working really well as you're working with clients on combining a PR strategy with an existing marketing strategy?

[00:13:08 – 00:14:40]Yeah. Yeah. So I think the buzzword or the term right now is really thought leadership. And what we're seeing is that beyond just representing an organization or a company, you really have to hone in on who are the individuals behind those companies and those brands and even those nonprofits where we can really focus on your expertise as an individual and highlighting you in the media because of that, but also building up similar content. You know, for example, I follow Dr. Becky, that's a parenting guru, influencer. She has the book and she does all the podcast interviews and all the media interviews. But if you go to her social media, it's almost like the secondary layer of I heard her talk about this podcast topic, and then if I go to her Instagram, I can see five more videos that she's done. Very, very similar, kind of going a little bit deeper. So if you're looking at your PR and marketing as kind of a holistic customer journey, where they may discover you in one place, but they need to also be able to go and find you in other realms and other arenas and see the same messaging, deeper understanding of topics, but really honing in on what is that journey that you want the customer to go on and whether it's a donor, whether it's a volunteer, how can you slowly reel them into getting involved and actually taking an action, taking a step towards reaching out and raising their hand to say, like, hey, I want to be a part of this.

[00:14:41 – 00:14:58]So how do we do that inside of an organization if we don't maybe have like the standard public facing person that would be the kind of brand ambassador? I mean, can we do that with a handful of multiple people on our team as well? As long as the content is kind of consistent in like the formatting and.

[00:14:58 – 00:15:51]Things are similar, yeah, absolutely. Or I think media in particular always wants to know who are the individuals who are actually being impacted. So can we talk to a family or a student or someone who is actually a beneficiary? And for example, we do some PR for a local organization here that helps children with special needs. And every year they elect or they nominate a ambassador from one of the kids who are being helped. And they are the ones who actually go out and do a lot of the media appearances for that year. And it's a really fun, you know, super exciting thing for the kids to be the ambassador and they get to feel like a rock star. But at the same time, it also really gives us a great story to leverage to say, here is an actual person who's benefiting from this, not just a talking head.

[00:15:52 – 00:16:15]I love that. And also that allows you to kind of really prep that person so you're not just throwing somebody out to the wolves to say, okay, yeah, oh, we need somebody to show up for this media thing. Like, you can kind of go through a process, coach them, make sure that the messaging materials are on point. So I think that's great. And what a great experience just for them to learn that skill set, if that makes sense for your organization. Like, that's super cool. I love that.

[00:16:16 – 00:16:18]Yeah, absolutely.

[00:16:18 – 00:16:29]So what's the difference between like me issuing a press release about something that's newsworthy that our organization is doing versus me pitching media to get those spots, like, more proactively?

[00:16:31 – 00:17:48]Yeah, well, I think it kind of lends itself back to the state of the media right now in general, where a press release is great in certain capacities, where it really is warranted. If you have a, you know, if you have a publicly facing company that has to do news releases when they make certain changes and things like that. Yes, the press release still has, you know, a place in that regard. But the pitch, I think when you're proactively, you know, sending a journalist that you've really honed in on as, hey, they tell stories about organizations like ours all the time. Or they have a series on our local news about other, you know, nonprofits and things like that. If you can send them a three sentence paragraph saying, hey, this is why I think this is cool. This is when we would be available to talk about it. Are you interested or can I help, you know, make that introduction very straightforward and to the point is oftentimes how they actually want to be pitched versus here's five paragraphs that you gotta find, you know, some time to dig into and find out where the newsworthy piece is. And they just, they don't have time for it. So it feels like you're kind of taking the easy route to send them just a very quick pitch and literally a paragraph. But at the end of the day, sometimes it's actually more effective.

[00:17:49 – 00:18:35]Well, and they need content, so the quicker and easier you can make it, the better. And then directing them to where they can see and learn more if they want to kind of gives you a little bit a better chance. Like, I know for me, I get pitched all the time for the podcast and there's a couple key things that I want to know. I want to know that you actually know my nonprofit is or my podcast is geared towards nonprofits, because most of the time that's not the case. I want to hear something a little bit specific. But then I want to be open for collaboration. Like, I get so many pitches that are just like, hey, I saw your podcast, it's cool, I'd like to be on it. Let's chat. Like, that's a hard pass. So you have like, you know, I want to know that you actually, to your point, I know that this publication, this media outlet does cover things like this. So like that you just put a little bit of time in into it. So I love that. I think that's great.

[00:18:37 – 00:19:10]Yeah, absolutely. Well, I think it just, you know, again, your job is to make the media's life easier. They shouldn't have to hunt through and dig through and find out. Okay, yeah, I think I do want to talk to them. You should be. And really, I think, you know, it takes a little bit more skill to be effective in a paragraph than it does to write a dissertation. And yeah, you made, you made some great points throughout that. But, you know, the punchy, you know, two or three, you know, liner is sometimes even harder to write and be effective at. So it's a skill set nonetheless.

[00:19:11 – 00:19:40]Yeah, well, so do you find that like taking some of those bigger pieces if you kind of. Because I do think it's harder to get smaller, for sure. So are there any tools or resources? Like, are you. Do you have, like, a favorite AI tool that you use to kind of help you condense things down? Like, how can we kind of get out of our own way to kind of make our. Because nonprofits are notorious for word vomiting. Absolutely everything that they do, and I think that's a big struggle is like, okay, well, what are we trying to accomplish with this specific thing? Let's get hyper focused. Like, how do you kind of help people really distill that message?

[00:19:41 – 00:21:46]Yeah, we always ask people, number one, you know, what is that superlative that we can speak to? Are you the best at this? Are you the first? Are you the largest? Are you the, you know, whatever it is, can we hone in on a quick factoid of, you know, this is why this is really unique and exciting? And then number two, is there a data point we can point to? Can we, you know, give them an impressive number? It doesn't matter what the number is. Can we have a number that the media can latch onto and say 95 million was raised or whatever it is? You know, can we say something that'll really give them that analytics kind of data point to reference? And then. Absolutely. We use AI all the time in our work to help kind of distill down large chunks of information and say, okay, can you help me really give this a more impactful way to phrase it? Or something along those lines. And I think the big thing for us as marketers right now, the trend is going towards, obviously, AI is not going anywhere. We're not going to be seeing that go away at any point. But prompt engineering is really where everything is headed. So how can you leverage that tool in the best way possible and give it what it needs to do its job the best? And I think that's really interesting and has been something that I've been researching and doing a ton of fun kind of courses and things like that to even learn more about it myself. So, yeah, I think being able to kind of hone in on that message with like, what is that superlative? What is that data point? And then I think the last thing I'll say to this point is that is where it's critical to bring in an outside, you know, third party, whether it's a PR consultant or somebody else, because it may feel newsworthy and exciting to you, but having somebody who's not involved in the organization take a look at it and say, actually, I Feel like this is not the best that we can do. Let's tweak it here and there and get that kind of outsider's input to really make sure it's the best possible pitch it can be.

[00:21:47 – 00:22:44]I love that you said that, because that's exactly where my head was going next. Because also, I think sometimes when we're distilling things down, the hardest part is what is critical pieces of information that somebody's going to need to understand the action we need them to take or what have you, versus the knowledge that we have in our brain because we live, breathe and do this all the time. So I love that you said to bring in a third party. And also when we're thinking about kind of newsworthy stuff, my brain is kind of going to also how you're managing your advertising. So if you're taking advantage of the Google Ad grant, it's almost like a similar mentality, right? Like, where are we driving people to our website? Is it impactful for them? Versus just like, we're really excited about what we're doing and we just want to brag. So the difference, I think, in coming from a standpoint of what are they going to get value from? Not just how are we shouting from the rooftop. So how do we kind of balance that in a press release which is meant to make an announcement, but also we still need to make a connection, right?

[00:22:44 – 00:24:06]Well, particularly from a nonprofit standpoint, I think media wants to be able to see what's the true impact on the community. Can you put a number on that? Can you put a data point? Not just, hey, we're excited to be launching this new program. Tell us what it's doing, what is it actually going to achieve? What's the things that you can point to in terms of funding or a grant or something along those lines, where again, there's that kind of data point, and then anecdotally, is there a human behind it that we can point to and say, this is the impact that was made. This is why this is a value to the community and why you should care. I think that's where you really can put something together that catches a journalist's eye. And then, you know, the last thing that I'll say, I think in that regard is you have to really watch that you're not getting too technical or jargony in your pitch as well. Because again, if you're writing it and you feel really passionate and you're in this all day, every day, it may seem like it's layman's terms to you, but when you're actually going and pitching it to the media, they have no idea what your industry terms are. They don't know that jargon. So breaking it down to the point, I mean, even like the New York Times has written at I think like a, you know, seventh grade reading level, like it's, you really have to be able to break it down to be understandable by anybody, you know, any person on the street.

[00:24:07 – 00:25:13]Yeah. And the caveat being obviously if you are in a technical industry or in the medical field or something where that is important and you're pitching to journals or like, you know, scientific publications, obviously, like that is the difference. But yes, in general I agree with you. And I feel like that is where we struggle the most with our clients on messaging just in general and our overall cohesiveness in our social media and on our websites. Is that piece where I'll kind of, I don't want to say dumb it down, but like, make the language like you said, seventh grade level. And sometimes clients will get frustrated with me because they're like, that's just. You're watering it down. You're making it too basic. And so I think it's important to understand the purpose for what we're trying to do. So kind of I'd love your thoughts on like when we're writing something that's more brand awareness versus writing something that's a little bit more, you know, farther down the line, maybe somebody's given to us a few times and does know what we're doing a little bit more versus somebody who's intimately involved in our organization. Like how important is it to kind of think about those different audiences as well when we're talking about our messaging and kind of the story that we're pitching?

[00:25:15 – 00:26:30]Yeah, yeah. I think, you know, the main thing is to understand, like your goal here is to be known, liked and understood. And if people feel like you are talking over them or they literally cannot understand the, you know, beautiful five syllable word that you perfectly, you know, honed in on and decided, that's wonderful and you look really, really smart, but you're losing a lot of people who don't understand what you just said. So I get it. There's certainly a time to be eloquent and verbose and take the, see there, I'm using a word that's like, come on, you don't have to use that word. But I think that there's a time and a place for that. The general mainstream news media is not that. So again, to your point, if you're writing for an industry publication or a professional journal or something along those lines, by all means present yourself to be the most intellectual and, you know, Einstein of your generation. But when you're writing for your local news station or you're trying to attract the attention of, you know, that TV reporter that you saw, you know, talking about a local nonprofit, they need to see it in layman's terms so that they know, okay, this is something the general public would also be interested in.

[00:26:30 – 00:27:03]Yeah, no, that's so good. Okay. The last thing I kind of want to touch on is a little bit different, but kind of, you know, if. If PR, to me, is something that people get really stuck on and something that they don't think they can do on their own, which I think it's a time consuming effort to do it well and to build those relationships. So if somebody was wanting to kind of engage with the PR agency or kind of support, what are some things they might want to think about, or what are some things they might want to have prepared or understand before they kind of interview and hire a PR agency?

[00:27:04 – 00:29:07]Hmm, that's a great question. So I think the most common questions that we get, number one, you know, tell us a little bit about your philosophy as an agency, because we do. We all have differences, we all have ways of doing things and, you know, sort of schools of thought that we adhere to. So I think understanding where they're coming from and, you know, what frameworks they abide by and center all of their marketing and PR campaigns around is a great question. I think the second most common that we get is how do you track roi? How do you measure things? You know, what does that look like? Can we expect to hear, you know, get an analytics report every single day, every week, every month, you know, what does that look like? So that's also that if you have an agency that balks at that question or, you know, skirts around it, I think that's a little bit of a red flag. They should be able to tell you that right off the bat. That shouldn't be, you know, a question question. If they're. If they're up to snuff. And really, I think in general, just understanding if this is. You sort of have that energy check when you're in a call with somebody like, does this feel like somebody that I would want to spend time with? Does this feel like somebody that I would enjoy? You're gonna have a very, very close relationship, ideally with your agency, and they need you to. Again, we Talked about, know, like, and trust. We need you to trust us enough to be willing to share, you know, really personal information about your organization or give us access to very personal, you know, data or, you know, information that we need. So if you are, you know, off the bat, not feeling that, you know, relationship as a positive one, or we're just not syncing up, like, something's just off, it's okay to trust that gut and say, hey, it's just. It's just not a good fit. It's not. It's not going to work here. And I think going with that, you know, instinct proves to be, you know, beneficial nine times out of 10. Yeah.

[00:29:07 – 00:29:40]And I want to kind of double down on something that you said because I get my referral partners all the time will ask me, like, okay, well, who. Like, who are you looking for? And for me, it's not the size of the organization or longevity of the organization. It's their willingness to do the. The work and their willingness to be open to the things that we're recommending. And I think that's kind of, you know, what you mentioned is like, how are we. How are we coming in as partnerships? You have to trust us and let us do some things that might push you a little bit outside of your comfort zone. But you hired us because we know what we're doing. And so I love that you kind of brought that up.

[00:29:41 – 00:30:02]Yeah, well, and I think, too, it's so tough because a lot of times, you know, you hire us to get you out there and push you and be in front of. On stages and in front of new audiences and things like that, and then we get you those opportunities, and we have organizations or clients that are like, no, no, no, no, I don't wanna do that. I don't wanna do that.

[00:30:02 – 00:30:03]I'm not ready.

[00:30:04 – 00:30:23]Yes, we're doing our job. If you are not prepared for that or that makes you super nervous, let's do some training. Let's get you ready to go. But, yeah, I think that's always, like, well, hang on, what are we doing here? Kind of moment that we have to work through.

[00:30:24 – 00:30:50]Yeah. Well, as we kind of wrap this up, Akilah, I would love for you to maybe just share kind of what you're excited about for PR as we go into 2025, as you're continuing to see, like, marketing and PR kind of continue to become more involved. I know. I love that you mentioned we help with podcast guesting and getting on stages. And it's not just straight up, like, let's get into print and magazine. What are you excited about for the rest of this year for your work and what you do?

[00:30:52 – 00:32:13]Yeah, well, I'll say excited with a kind of caveat of like, I feel like it's very important work that we are doing right now. You know, I think there is so much out there right now in terms of content and people, you know, voicing their opinions about things and misinformation and you know, the truth is very, very difficult to find these days. And so I hope that PR and communications professionals will become critical to helping make sure that companies are able to and organizations are able to get their stories out there in a way that feels very trustworthy and very credible so that we can kind of rebuild this. We call it like the post truth right world that we're in. But I think that PR professionals have such an integral role in helping to, you know, move past that or figure out how to solve that problem. And they always talk about, you know, you're valuable until you don't have a problem to solve anymore. And we certainly have a lot of problems to solve right now. So I'm excited for that challenge and I think that, you know, again, we are very fortunate to have clients that are doing extremely important work and it's just our honor to tell those stories.

[00:32:14 – 00:32:20]That's so good. Well, Akilah, if people want to connect with you, learn more about what you do, check out some of your resources. How can they do that?

[00:32:21 – 00:33:07]Yeah, we are all over most social media tintexas so it's H a u T E I N Texas and then our website is hit. So h I t p r.com but I'd love to chat, love to connect on LinkedIn. I'm always available to, you know, consult or be able to just kind of be a sounding board for questions like this. It's absolutely, absolutely one of our passions to work with non profits as well. We've worked with nonprofits in all sorts of industries between education and human rights and animals and all the things. So for us it's just a true pleasure to be able to do that work alongside our for profit clients. But it's been such a pleasure. Thank you so much for having me. Sami.

[00:33:07 – 00:33:16]Yeah, no, thank you so much for being here. It's been great. And we will have all of those links in the show notes@the first click.net 305Akilah thank you for being here today.

[00:33:17 – 00:33:18]All right, thank you.

[00:33:20 – 00:34:15]So thank you again to Akilah for joining me today. What a great episode. I hope that you got some great takeaways for how you're going to repurpose content and repurpose your press releases and kind of build and grow your strategy from there. You can again grab all of the resources and show notes@the first click.net 305 but head on over to YouTube and let us know what's your question. Biggest Key Takeaway what did you learn from this episode that you're most excited to implement? And of course leave us a review. Like us subscribe wherever you listen so that you don't miss out on a single episode. We've had a couple bonus episodes drop this year and so you don't want to miss on when those come out. But again, make sure you check out the first click.net 305 for the show notes. Check out the first click.net oh my high for more information about the oh My High website builder. And thank you so much for being here and listening. We'll see you in the next one.