Hey Rebooters! It’s that time of the fortnight again, and this episode we’re joined by Melissa Hobson, who has a dream of a life doing all kinds of exciting things, including being published in National Geographic! Read on for a preview and listen in for the full story!
Meet Melissa
Melissa Hobson is a copywriter and a PR consultant, focusing on marine conservation. She works with other conservation organisations, NGOs and similar companies – always coming back to the ocean whenever she can. She does get her hands dirty with some fieldwork, but comes to the marine science from a different background to many of her friends in the industry.
(and this works really well for her when she’s working on comms – being able to understand and communicate the science stuff in a way that is accessible to non-scientists is a skill!)
What we talk about
Getting your point across clearly and succinctly, and remembering not to use jargon – or at least to check your audience if you do catch yourself using industry terms. Knowing the angle and impact that you want to have.
Melissa’s journey from learning to scuba dive when she was at university, through working for PR companies, via burn out and wanting to do something completely different. We especially loved hearing about how diving called her back when she was living in a city and then just happened to spot a dive shop while she was on holiday…
The wonderful bit of serendipity which found her shortly afterwards doing the comms for a marine conservation charity in Mozambique – and it all followed on from there and fell into place.
How we’ve all been the person who wants to do a thing and doesn’t quite know how – and how we can all help people as we do progress further into the thing(s) we do.
Joining the dots when you’re trying to figure out your external communications – what is your message and who do you want to get that message to?
A short interlude to squeee about Guide Dogs, who Melissa is currently working with (and guide dog puppies are THE CUTEST land seals going).
The throwing spaghetti at a wall approach and feeling, and how Melissa can help you come up with an actual strategy.
How PR isn’t just for big businesses, and isn’t just for big events and announcements – it can be part of your whole marketing strategy from very early on. And it’s all about thinking in a really targeted way.
If you’re a small business owner or a creative who has ever put their work out in public, you’ve probably already done some PR without realising it (which is rather exciting!).
PR isn’t just damage limitation when a crisis happens (though that can absolutely be part of it) – and it shouldn’t be scary or overwhelming or intimidating.
Regular vs spikes of PR activity and how each fits into your overall strategy. The importance of always following your own moral code and ethics.
Journalists are human too! They’re just trying to do their job, and the more you can reframe into understanding what they need to get their job done, and what you can help them with, the better!
Finding the story and value in what you do so you can articulate it for the press, your clients, and more. Remembering that you are the expert in what you do, but somewhere someone is going to want to learn about that.
Melissa highlights some very doable things around PR, like hashtags to follow on Twitter and storytelling around your own brand and story. The #journorequest hashtag on Twitter is one to follow – and one you can also add your own hashtags to to suit what your expertise is in and what you can respond to and help with.
Glorious moments in Mozambique and working as a research assistant out on the boat. Squidging in field experience around being in the office and doing the desk based stuff, going into the community and finding out about the work that was going on there, helping local communities find ways of bringing in money apart from fishing. Being in the water with manta rays (we think this might be our favourite part!) and favourite dive spots around the world.
Thresher sharks – Melissa said they look like a child’s drawing of a shark and she’s not wrong, we love them!
Struggles and peaks and troughs of freelance life – and remembering to actively build in work life balance and be flexible – because that’s at least part of the reason we want to work for ourselves in the first place, right?
We loved our chat with Melissa and we’re dreaming of underwater life – hope you are too after listening!
Get more Melissa in your life
You can find Melissa at melissahobson.co.uk where you’ll also find some resources.
She does consultancy sessions for freelancers and small business owners – explore her PR Power Hours, which are standalone sessions and a great way to start looking at your PR.
She highlights that you don’t have to be a marine conservation organisation, or a diver, but if you fancy a chat about fish that’s always a good thing! The only people she doesn’t work with are fossil fuel companies or people who retain them as clients – and we love this.
You can also connect with Melissa on LinkedIn and Instagram.
And the things she mentioned – #journorequest on Twitter, and HARO – help a reporter out – it’s mainly US based but it does have a UK list you can subscribe to for daily updates.