Hack Your Own PR

I could have chatted to today's guest for hours.

Not that Crystal Andrews, a journalist and editor who has worked for some of the biggest media brands such as Who What Wear, POPSUGAR and Daily Mail Australia, has hours to spare.

She's too busy running Zee Feed, an online publication aimed at Gen-Z that critically analyses current news and trends. Ditching the 24/7 news cycle and doomscolling through an endless stream of hot takes, Zee Feed offers its audience the in-depth context that's sorely missing from many of today's media conversations.

A textbook Millennial, Crystal was intrigued to hear how her younger sister's friends accessed news content. This Gen-Z cohort was masthead agnostic, preferred to source news through Instagram and TikTok and as a result, had less insight into the various media contexts, agendas and biases.

Enter Zee Feed.

Through its comprehensive explainers and considered opinion pieces on everything from Roe v Wade to why Elon Musk is so ergh, Zee Feed elevates current media stories, taking the time to get to the core of an issue. Where most publications want to be the first, Zee Feed will wait for days before deciding if something is worth covering.

Crystal is a true visionary in the Australian media landscape who is transforming the way we consume news into something more intentional and critical. Today's chat is a fascinating dive into how the media works and how it can be improved. It also asks the big questions like 'Is it natural for humans to be consuming so much content?'

Listen today where you get your favourite podcasts.

Find Crystal Adams / Zee Feed online

• [email protected]
• https://zeefeed.com.au/
• https://www.instagram.com/zee_feed/
• https://www.tiktok.com/@zeefeed.com.au?lang=en
• https://www.youtube.com/c/zeefeed

Find Odette Barry online

• https://www.odetteandco.com.au/hackyourownpr
• https://instagram.com/odetteandco
• https://instagram.com/hackyourownpr

Learn how to pitch to CEO Magazine.

Today's guest is Ruth Devine, an award winning content editor, prolific blogger, occasional keynote speaker, who also has six published books under her belt.

Her career began on a gap year in the Middle East when she found herself working as a freelance journalist during the first Gulf War.

Fast forward 30 years and Ruth is now the Global Digital Managing Editor of The CEO Magazine Global. On the daily, you'll find her working across an impressive five of the publication's six regions, showcasing the inspirational stories of local and international executives.

Forget the cruel and callous corporate stereotypes. In this episode Ruth and I go deep. We chat about the stories CEO Magazine will drop everything for, why failure is not a dirty word and the importance of courage.

Ruth also talks us through the dos and don'ts for snagging a coveted profile in CEO Magazine Global (trust me when I say you might want to reconsider picking up the phone!) and how to be great interview talent once your profile is locked in.

This ep for all the small business owners, entrepreneurs and corporate comms professionals out there who know what they stand for and aren't afraid to shout it out loud.

Available wherever you get your poddy action.

Find Ruth Devine online

• https://www.linkedin.com/in/ruth-devine-2a606431/
• [email protected]

Find Odette Barry online

• https://www.odetteandco.com.au/hackyourownpr
• https://instagram.com/odetteandco
• https://instagram.com/hackyourownpr

If you are a food or beverage brand or a grower or producer, you will love this next guest. Of course, if you're trying to throw company kool-aid at her, don't bother…she explains why.

Jessica Yun is a business reporter at the Sydney Morning Herald/The Age with a focus on the food, beverages and agribusiness sectors.

Jessica is young, talented and going places, but she didn't always know where she was headed. And yet, she has landed on her feet writing for the most widely read masthead in Australia.

Jessica started her career at trade publications InvestorDaily and ifa.com.au and was most recently Production Editor at Yahoo Finance where she was nominated as a finalist for Mumbrella Young Journalist Under 30.

In this episode, Jessica outlines the importance of dropping the company key messages and in her words, avoid 'being a walking press release'. She talks about why as a business owner or PR you need to think like a journalist and how to build a relationship with her that will last for many years to come.

Get ready for a frank and informative chat with this young and talented journalist.

Find Jessica Yun online

• https://www.smh.com.au/by/jessica-yun-p535wz
• [email protected]
• https://twitter.com/hijessicayun?lang=en
• https://www.linkedin.com/in/jessicayun/?originalSubdomain=au

Find Odette Barry online

• https://www.odetteandco.com.au/hackyourownpr
• https://instagram.com/odetteandco
• https://instagram.com/hackyourownpr

Today's guest is so accomplished I'm exhausted just sharing her intro. We've been sharing time across the screens for a couple of years and it's been an absolute joy to watch her business go from strength to strength. And as a HYOPR graduate, she was a standout performer, amassing over 20 pieces of coverage including articles in Smart Company, Better Marketing and Mumbrella.

Her name is Mia Fileman and she's the founder of Campaign Del Mar, a popular marketing education platform that helps switched-on startups create killer campaigns for less through her signature programmes, Campaign Classroom and Marketing Foundations.

Mia has two decades of marketing experience under her belt, having spent 10 years in Brand Management for global companies such as L'Oreal, BIC and Kraft. She's been a Director at creative agencies and also ran her own marketing agency for seven years.

So if anyone understands the ability of marketing and PR to spread your brand message, gain your audience's trust and boost your cred, it's Mia.

In this episode, we're chatting all things Medium, the online digital publishing platform with over 100 million readers across the globe.

To say Mia is a fan of Medium is an understatement. She's a prolific Medium author who uses the platform to establish connections with fellow small business owners, flex her creative muscles, boost her brand message and establish herself as one of Australia's preeminent marketing experts.

To date, she's had over a dozen articles published on Medium that have been read over 32,000 times.

If you're struggling to dip your toe into the world of PR, or not sure if your writing skills are worthy of traditional opinion pieces, this is a must listen. Mia takes you through everything you need to know to get published on Medium, and how to maximise your reach once you're a fully-fledged Medium author.

Available now on your favourite poddy platforms.

Find Mia Fileman online

• https://www.campaigndelmar.com/
• https://www.instagram.com/campaign_del_mar
• https://www.facebook.com/campaigndelmar/

Find Odette Barry online

• https://www.odetteandco.com.au/hackyourownpr
• https://instagram.com/odetteandco
• https://instagram.com/hackyourownpr

Victoria Carey is a celebrated award-winning editor who has seen it all at the helm of some of Australias most loved magazine titles.

As many have said, Victoria Carey is nothing short of a publishing powerhouse time as editor-in-chief of both Country Style and Vogue Living.

In an era plagued by magazine titles closing and subscriptions dwindling, Victoria Carey revitalised and modernised Country Style to the point that it bucked the trend in the print world.

Over the course of her leadership Country Style boasted the most stable and still increasing audited circulation, substantial readership increases, and unique positioning that celebrates the totality of Australian life.

Today, Victoria works alongside Claire Dunne as the editorial helm of Graziher, sharing the stories of women who know and love the land.

with a drive to connect the community through authentic and finely crafted stories.

With an estimated one-third of Australian women living in rural and regional communities there is a deep well of beautiful stories to be told, in this episode Victoria shares a behind the scenes look at what it takes to capture, collate and deliver each edition of Graziher.

In our conversation, we gain behind the scenes insight as Victoria breaks down key sections and details the significance of these pillars to produce relevant and high-quality content.

When it comes to pitching a successful story, there's no doubt that Victoria has the answers. In this episode, she reveals the secret to securing one of four cover stories at Graziher, the difference exclusive imagery can make and the common mistake to avoid before sending a pitch.

Victoria is always on the hunt for the next big story. Tune in to discover the golden rules that will land your pitch in the next publication of Graziher.

Find Odette Barry online

• https://www.odetteandco.com.au/hackyourownpr
• https://instagram.com/odetteandco
• https://instagram.com/hackyourownpr

Everyone needs a sprinkle of Abbey Stuart when they enter the PR industry. She's a dynamo with confidence, conviction and creativity in spades. It was this drive and determination that had her cold calling The Nine Network for a job at the tender age of 21.

Abbey has packed a lot into her four years as a communications professional. At The Nine Network she was the publicist for Getaway and also drove publicity for Married at First Sight, The Block, Ninja Warrior and Love Island Australia.

In her current role as an Account Director at Sabio, she's led countless campaigns across the consumer, hospitality, tourism, not for profit, tech and medtech sectors.

Oh, and she recently took home an award at the 2021 PRIA Golden Target Awards, winning bronze in the Emerging Leader of The Year category.

We covered A LOT of territory in today's chat from how to break in and stand out in the industry to damage control when you've burnt your bridges with an important journalist.

Plus, as someone that, to use Abbey's own analogy, 'isn't afraid to pop her joggers on', she lets us in on her shoe of choice for any self-respecting PR professional.

If you're a PR newbie or you're just as obsessed with the wide world of PR as we are, you'll love this episode.

Available in all good poddy places.

Find Odette Barry online

• https://www.odetteandco.com.au/hackyourownpr
• https://instagram.com/odetteandco
• https://instagram.com/hackyourownpr

Still think PR can't make the world a better place? You haven't met Meg Harris, founder of MHPR, mumma of twin toddlers, and one of Australia's OGs in 'Conscious PR.'

Meg earned her PR stripes working in Sydney and London across big brands such as Nestle, Amazon, Spotify, Covergirl and Johnson & Johnson.

But after wrestling with the ethics of promoting consumer clients in a world of animal testing, plastic pollution and fast fashion, Meg knew she needed to switch focus.

So she started MHPR in 2018 and now uses her PR superpowers to help ethical and sustainable brands move the needle towards conscious consumption. Whether that's as one of her retained clients or through her nuts and bolts, D-I-Y PR training offering.

And it's paid off, with Bed Threads, Nash & Banks, The Common Good Company and The Base Collective among her dreamy client list.

Meg is a PR powerhouse who expertly pairs her media insights and what journalists really want with her desire to do good for people and the planet.

In this episode we cover the PR foundations every business owner needs to know, why nailing publication timelines is critical for success and how to get that coveted Vogue coverage.

If you're a PR DIY'er, own a product-based business or are looking to make that leap into freelance life, you'll want to give this a listen.

Live wherever you get your poddy action.

Find Meg Harris online

• www.mhpr.com.au
• [email protected]
• https://www.instagram.com/__mhpr__

Find Odette Barry online

• https://www.odetteandco.com.au/hackyourownpr
• https://instagram.com/odetteandco
• https://instagram.com/hackyourownpr

Cara Waters is the startups and technology editor at Nine's mastheads The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age. She's also the lead of coverage for the recently launched Entrepreneur section published in the business pages every Tuesday.

Cara has a robust CV of covering the startups and tech landscape - she previously edited SmartCompany and was a journalist at the Sunday Times and Financial Times in London.

Thanks to the launch of the dedicated Entrepreneur section covering the rise and impact of Australia's startup boom and entrepreneurs, we're seeing more feature profiles and interviews with Australia's most interesting business founders and leaders.

In this episode Cara shares what she's looking for in a pitch, the deadlines for startups and tech stories and the demands of her team. She also shares the golden rules when it comes to pitching a small business story to her.

As Cara says, the startup scene is booming in Australia and their readers are fascinated by it. So if you're a founder or representing one, this might just be a handy guide to snagging a coveted Sydney Morning Herald or The Age headline.

Find Cara Waters online

https://twitter.com/carawaters

https://www.smh.com.au/by/cara-waters-gkjzk0

Find Odette Barry online

https://www.odetteandco.com.au/hackyourownpr

https://instagram.com/odetteandco

https://instagram.com/hackyourownpr

Velvet Garvey is not too shabby when it comes to telling a story and sourcing the essential ingredients to conjure up a firecracker of a headline.

It is of no surprise then, when Velvet pitched to Channel 7 during Hack Your Own PR that her story snowballed into a viral success.

Velvet is the founder of Train My Mate, a platform that offers housework classes for men.

She came up with the concept after leaving her beloved career as a medical editor, to become a stay at home parent. Velvet was horrified to discover that motherhood actually equated to housework.

Feeling frustrated, she began to explore the concept of domestic labour and discovered that both the research and other women agreed: in the 21st century, women in relationships do the majority of housework and childcare, to the detriment of their relationships.

And so she created Train My Mate as a place for men to learn housework through fun and practical courses so that they can better support their partners and themselves.

And thanks to some well incredible research and groundwork, Train My Mate was featured on Channel 7 News, Sunrise, Studio 10, Triple M and the Daily Mail to name a few.

If you are wondering what the secret sauce is for viral news success, this episode is for you.

Find Velvet Garvey online

https://www.instagram.com/velvetgarvey/

https://www.instagram.com/trainmymate/

https://www.trainmymate.com/

Find Odette Barry online

https://www.odetteandco.com.au/hackyourownpr

https://instagram.com/odetteandco

https://instagram.com/hackyourownpr

Leigh Campbell is the executive editor of Mamamia and host of the podcast, You Beauty. She's also a snack influencer - yep that's a thing and mamma to her little man.

Leigh has worked in lifestyle media for 15 years, holding positions as Beauty Director at Cosmopolitan, Head of Lifestyle for HuffPost before joining Mamamia in 2018.

At Mamamia she oversees the whole editorial offering but still writes about her favourite stuff - fashion, food, wellness, travel, homewares and of course, beauty.

Leigh sits in the new breed of journalists who have some significant social clout. She's steadily built a sizable audience of her own via Instagram. And there's a good reason why: she's funny, open, playful and accessible in her articles, podcasts and social posts.

And yes, she's built quite the name as a Snackfluencer, reviewing all of our fave supermarket snacks on her Instagram and they go OFF.

In this episode, we explore how important the profile of a journalist is to media outlets, what she's looking for in a product pitch and how important the story of the creator is, versus the story of the product.

If you're a beauty business or snack brand, you'll want to tune into this episode.

Find Leigh Campbell online

https://www.instagram.com/leighacampbell/?hl=en

Find Odette Barry online

https://www.odetteandco.com.au/hackyourownpr

https://instagram.com/odetteandco

https://instagram.com/hackyourownpr