18 — Practical PR: Create The Narrative
I was recently interviewed for a podcast where the host described MEMORY CULT this way: “you have the most amazing speakers and you’re always sold out!” I smiled. Her perception of who we are is not an accident: the narrative a perceiver holds about my businesses is envisioned, advertised, promoted, reinforced and intended. In short: is is created :)
In Public Relations opportunities, you create a perception about your products, yourself and the status level of both. Good PR opportunities show you as a pioneer, expert, uncommon talent, superior product who is highly sought-after, trustworthy and desirable for your market.
Practical PR for Visionary Business:
CULTURAL STATUS
Follower count — arguably one of the biggest status signifiers of our time; equivalent to Amazon reviews
Features: VOGUE, Nowhere Diary, Flak Photo, Aperture features, etc
Contests & Awards (look at the CV’s of photographers you admire for ideas)
Exhibitions
PRODUCT IN ACTION
Behind the scenes footage of you doing what you do (saved in a highlight)
Your product in a high-status environment (celebrity clients, printed and hung in a cultural institution)
A trailer of your product pinned to the top of your IG: the product or service you offer, the culture you’ve built, the problem you solve, how you give back
Photos or video of promo materials: business cards, signs, merch, you existing physically as a brand
YOU AS EXPERT
Podcast
Local charity/community event showing how you’re trusted
Reels & guides as informing
Written article educating
ALLIANCES
Who could you photograph this year that will establish you as a trusted product in a new market?
Top 20 business to tag that you want to be associated with (from Ilford Photo to fashion brands)
Pitch stories to big brands/blogs: eg. if you photograph an entire shoot wearing a brand, bitch it to them as a story
Where could you be that shows your status peer group (retreat, workshop, event)?
TESTIMONIES
Elicit, gather & post them constantly (constantly, constantly, constantly!)
Exercise: search “photographer” in The New Yorker, and observe the headlines. What would your headline be?
