New self service PR platform claims it will disrupt industry by helping businesses email journalists directly
A new self service platform is claiming it is set to disrupt the PR industry by giving small businesses templates to write press releases and pay-as-you go access to journalist contacts.
Handle Your Own PR founder Jules Brooke told Mumbrella the idea for HYOPR came out of a meeting in early 2009 where she realised many smaller businesses couldn’t afford a full service agency.
“I think we’re going to empower the small business owners that can only afford an agency for a month or so or can’t afford to do it all,” HYOPR founder Jules Brooke told Mumbrella. “Where we’re really disrupting is that we are making it accessible.”
HYOPR’s subscriptions start at $29 per month, going up to $299 for the Agency package. The basic package includes 10 journalist connects per month with pay-as-you-go contacts from $5 each while the more expensive plan gives unlimited access.
“One of the common complaints we used to hear from SMEs trying to do it for themselves was that they couldn’t get access to the media contacts they needed. Rather than using a service where the media outlets and journalists are not specified, we offer the names, email addresses and phone numbers for the contacts so that a direct relationship can be built between the journalist and the business owner pitching their story,” said Brooke.
“We’re trying to educate people about PR so when they do have money to go to an agency they’re not going ‘I want to be on Sunrise and Sixty Minutes’, they’ll understand the process and how easy that may or may not be.”
Brooke also sees the tool as being useful for independent agencies as well as clients, “we’ve created a platform that smaller PR firms can use as well,” she says. “They can run their own campaigns off it and they can build their media contact list, they can write their own media release on it and send it off from there.”
The industry though isn’t convinced it needs a shakeup with Jenny Muir, the Public Relations Institute of Australia’s national president telling Mumbrella, “the PR and Communication industry is a leader in disruption, benefitting from technology and big data innovation, increased direct contact with audiences, and high-value content.”
“However, disruption doesn’t automatically translate into throw the old out and replace it with the new. It is in a PR professional’s DNA to be constantly evolving the way in which we engage and influence audiences.”
Muir also believes PR services aren’t beyond the reach of smaller business. She said: “Professional PR and communication services are not beyond the reach of a small business. There are many speciality PR and communication professionals across Australia who have tailored their services to support a small business’s plans for growth and recognition.”
Included in the Handle Your Own PR packages are partnerships with service providers such as Media Manoeuvres, Source Bottle and Prize Pig, “We’ve gone out to businesses that are feeding directly into the market as well which are complimentary services,” Brooke says. “We want to be the place where people can go to get everything they need to run their own PR campaign.”
The PRIA’s Muir sees parallels between the PR industry and other sectors, “PR and communication is similar to other professional services like accounting, law and finance – you can do it yourself and achieve a certain outcome, or you can enlist our expertise, advice and years of experience and have a greater level of certainty around the quality and outcome of our professional services.”
Brooke currently has 150 businesses signed up to the platform and says the business has been growing quickly since the launch, “my phone has pinging like mad as the word is getting out.”
So, essentially what they are offering is a Margaret Gee’s Media Guide for 2017?
If PR & publicity was as easy as a phone number and a direct email address agencies wouldn’t exist. It’s all about relationships & strategy and I can’t see how this idea taps into that at all. The only disruption I see is journo’s time being stretched even more thinly.
I will watch with interest.
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Clever. This is the type of thinking that allowed Google to destroy the Yellow Pages world by empowering SMEs in their own marketing.
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Wow, this concept should be renamed, “How to piss off journalists 101”. Sorry Jules but in the process of announcing your ‘disruptive’ self service platform, you are devaluing what real PR professionals actually do. Sure, PRs aren’t curing cancer or require multiple degrees and a PhD, but if you think a ‘template’ is a good PR tactic then shame on you. Journalists have such little time as it is, so more wannabe PRs pitching product stories with no understanding of news, the news cycle and a journalist’s round and/or their style is hardly a good idea. PRs think on their feet when pitching to journos. They discuss research, thought leaders as spokespeople, they develop content, good visual ideas and help build stories. Please use Source Bottle to find me a journalist that likes a poorly written, templated media release with a crappy sales pitch.
And just quietly, I am sure you didn’t use your shit-house template system to pitch this rubbish to Mumbrella, no doubt because you know that pitching takes a little bit of skill.
Why not help SMBs with real PR experience, mentoring, formal training and courses to develop those skills which is likely to result in a real return on investment. Next week…Google your ailment symptoms for a quick cure without visiting a doctor…
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I agree with Jenny Muir’s statement 100 percent. I’m a small PR agency and love working with SME’s. They don’t need to be learning PR too while they do everything else in their business. There are some things you should leave to professionals. This is one area that I think SME’s can greatly benefit by seeking PR help.
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Hi Elle,
We actually teach small business owners how to write a media release, what a newsworthy angle is and the types of media they should pitch to. It’s never going to replace a professional doing it but it’s perfect for small biz owners who just want to get their name out there. It’s a bit like cutting your own child’s hair – not always perfect but better than doing nothing!
I also believe it teaches business owners what PR is all about, how hard it is and what works and doesn’t work. It manages their expectations when they eventually make enough to employ an agency. A win win for everyone!
It’s not like Margaret Gee at all. Go and have a look!
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Thank you! I think so too 🙂
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You would be quite right if it was just a template and some contacts but it isn’t! We do teach them all about how the media works, what a newsworthy angle is (and why they can’t be too commercial), what the media is looking for, and we even have a handful of interviews that we have done with key journalists so that they can hear directly from the media about what pisses them off, and what they love. We don’t thrown them in the deep end!
Oh, and we did use the platform to pitch the story to Mumbrella 🙂
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Hi Jenna. I’ve been working with SMEs, entrepreneurs and start ups in my small PR agency since 2003 but there were still business owners that couldn’t afford to pay a retainer but also had awesome stories to ell, or products. I don’t think HYOPR is going to replace agencies, it is just going to allow those people with small budgets and awesome stories to get them to the media.
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I hate to say it, it’s basically a lead database.
The biggest flaw in this business model is that once someone has the contact information they need, they will no longer need your service.
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So much negativity and tuff protection / justification. Simply, well done for having a crack. You are trying something slightly different and it has merit. Hope it works out and good luck.
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As a small business owner, HYOPR is worth considering. It will provide a lower cost of entry as well resources to understand and to learn the basics of PR. It will then hopefully enable me to evaluate the need for a more dedicated PR resource.
Simply, using a PR resource now becomes an option.
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I love this idea. As the owner of a number of growing businesses, I did some research and then my own PR for more than 15 years with pretty good results – without pissing off many/any journos (as far as I know!). I now can afford to hire a PR consultant on a retainer but it baffles me why more small business owners don’t try their hand at PR until they can afford a pro. I wish this was around years ago so wish Jules the best of luck.
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This is a really exciting business model Jules. It takes the mystery of PR and helps small business owners gain a real foothold in many media platforms to increase their profile, promote their offers and expand their audience reach. Disclaimer, I’ve had the benefits of Jules’ model work for me in understanding the how & who to get my articles published.
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It isn’t a lead database at all! It’s a SaaS platform where people can run PR campaigns. Go and take a look!
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PR is about relationships, not self serve. These relationships are proving more valuable day by day with the amount of journalists dwindling in our mass publications on a weekly basis, and filler content being secured from non-traditional on the ground sources.
Quite frankly, if you’re not in direct contact with the editor of most publications you have zero chance of any meaningful support.
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“PRs think on their feet when pitching to journos. They discuss research, thought leaders as spokespeople, they develop content, good visual ideas and help build stories”
They do? Quite common is that they want me to do their job for ’em. For free. THEY get the megabucks. I write the stories, take the photos, supply the video and use MY contacts.
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Well done Jules Brooke.
I’ve already had great value out of the platform in the first month of using it.
Saved me a bunch of time.
Ignore those trying to protect their patch…. especially those that nom de plume.
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I think there is a market for this. It will suit SMEs who aren’t sure what they want or how to achieve it. It won’t replace the expertise of a PR professional or agency. Of course not. Think of it like how a SME owner might think of their accounting or IT. Outsource it when small, bring it in-house or engage an agency when bigger. I thought it was just a template and media list at first, which would be useless, but the replies show this is well thought out. Good luck!!
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WOW : I think some people feel threatened from what i am reading and making the simple act of good communication and relationships into some black art that only the very few possess.
From what I have seen of the website there is training etc in the skill of writing a 1 page press release of interest etc . “Its what shopify is for entry level websites ”
Not every small business has the budget to have their own PR Consultant and the SME’s using the (HYOPR service) wouldn’t be using the over priced services of the knockers ( pr agencies) anyway. Its a bit like giving away the Magicians secrets . Well Done
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Hey Julie,
I like it – I think it serves a great purpose. Signed up 🙂
We are a digital agency and get asked to help out, even if not strictly a PR Agency – adding this to the toolkit. I don’t see it as replacing any PR people, but filling a gap that sits between Sourcebottle and the $5k+/month retainer… like a channel of sorts.
I wish you guys the best of luck 🙂
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Hi Jules, I’m interested to find out how journalists opt-in to your platform. Do they receive a commission?
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As a journalist I can say I was put on this company’s email list without my permission, and then emailed with requests for details despite repeated requests not to be put on her email lists. And a promise that I wouldn’t be. I have blocked the company.
I’m also worried Mumbrella has so complacently given any PR company such an uncritical, read unjournalistic, plug. And yes, I wonder what has been paid umbrella media organisations or what deals have enabled this.
Which is not to say SMEs don’t deserve insights on how to contact media. But jamming their inboxes without their permission aint a good start.
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Well this story has certainly revealed some polarising views. Frankly, as a PR professional with 15 year’s experience as a journalist, this model will be ineffective in getting any sort of results for SMEs.
And I think the founders of the company know it. Essentially what we’re talking about here is a crap-shoot to find out whether there’s a viable ‘freemium’ model for public relations.
Maybe there is, but not like this. The idea of ‘selling’ a client 10 journalist names a month or whatever actually makes my skin crawl.
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you guys should check out Telum or AAP in AUS. its kinda similar to what you are doing.
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