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The PR Knowledge Book

For the last six months I have been beavering away and as a result, I know have some exciting news…I have just published my first book called, The PR Knowledge Book, published by BEP Publishing. My book arrived yesterday 13 August and it felt and still feels wonderful to hold.

I have written the book for a global audience, using my international client case stories and insights. The PR Knowledge Book is for anyone, irrespective of where they are in the world—student starting out in this industry, self-employed, a home business, small business, start-up, charity, or any other type of organization wanting to embark on their PR journey or someone just plain curious about what it all entails.

The book covers everything within the world of PR – from how to create a brand, how to use social media, how to be newsworthy, to how to contact the media, how to have a global mind-set, the power of networking, and more. Written in an easy style, packed with powerful tips and proven tools. In 12 chapters you will discover how to get your brand out there so you can attract clients and new business.

I have made sure to tackles hot topics from diversity in the newsroom to fake news. There’s also a chapter dedicated to how small businesses can go global and how serendipity can make your brand grow.

I am very proud that The PR Knowledge has already received advance praise from industry leaders world-wide and includes – Jérôme Chouchan, Godiva Chocolatier, President, Japan, South Korea, Asia and Australia; Julia Hobsbawm OBE, Editor-at-Large, THRIVE Global and author, Fully Connected: Social Health in an Age of Overload; Professor Jonathan A.J. Wilson PhD, Partner at Dragonfly Black, LinkedIn Top Voices Award Winner; Tami Belt, Author and Founder, Blue Cube Marketing Solutions, Las Vegas; Erik Korsvik Ostergaard, Leadership Advisor, published author and guest lecturer at The Copenhagen Business School; Jill Totenberg, CEO, The Totenberg Group, New York; Dr. Harbeen Arora, Founder, BIOAYURVEDA, ALL Ladies League and Women Economic Forum, India; Tom Seabrook, Commissioning Book Editor, Jawbone Press; Malcolm Stern, Co-founder and Director of Alternatives London; Raja Majid, Las Vegas Entrepreneur; Rusen Kumar, editor-chief, India CSR Network; and Asian Voice Newspaper.

Below are just some of the endorsements:

Julia Hobsbawm OBE, Editor-at-Large, THRIVE Global and author, Fully Connected: Social Health in an Age of Overload says, “Knowledge is power and this book is powerful knowledge. Clear, direct and creative: it explains the digital landscape of PR for practitioners and clients alike.”

Professor Jonathan A.J. Wilson PhD, Partner at Dragonfly Black, LinkedIn Top Voices Award Winner says, “Sangeeta is a seasoned PR professional and her wisdom is captured within this book. It’s just what the doctor ordered!”

Dr. Harbeen Arora, Founder, BIOAYURVEDA, ALL Ladies League and Women Economic Forum, India says, “I greatly welcome this book that helps us reimagine PR as ‘People Relations’, a vital tool for empowering brand and business creation in a connected world.”

Tami Belt, Author and Founder, Blue Cube Marketing Solutions, Las Vegas says, “Sangeeta Waldron is a trusted colleague and inspiration. The PR Knowledge Book shares practical and proven strategies from the front lines of PR. She outlines the building blocks of creating a Brand and PR plan that delivers results by building relationships. Business is personal. It’s about relationships. That’s the bottom line.”

Asian Voice Newspaper, UK and Europe’s leading Asian newspaper says, “If PR has always baffled you, then this is the book to read. Written in an easy style with lots of examples. It will become your best-friend.”

With US employment for public relations specialists expected to reach 282,600 in 2026, up 9 percent from 2016, according to projections from the Labor Department, it makes The PR Knowledge Book a timely read.

I hope if you do choose to buy a copy of The PR Knowledge Book, that you enjoy reading it, as much as I enjoyed writing it. The book can be bought from various online platforms including Amazon or the publisher’s website.

One last word…I have always wanted to write a book, since I was 10 years old, 40 odd years later, it shows that dreams can come true!

 

 

Last Month’s India Britain Trade Expo, Makes The News

Last month’s India Britain Trade Expo that took place at the Queen Elizabeth Centre was a hub of conversations, exchange of ideas and strong connections; and we were delighted to receive this coverage the next day in Asian Voice newspaper featured here. The bottom line from the Expo is that India is an important trading partner for the UK and there’s a lot of opportunities to explore. Businesses here and in India are ready to trade!

We were pleased to have not just our Deputy Mayor, Rajesh Agrawal at the event, but also Arlene Foster, leader of the Democratic Unionist Party and one of the most influential women in politics right now.

The ‘women in business’ session that I moderated with four other women – Penny Power, OBE; Kamel Hothi, OBE, Dr. Priya Virmani; and Shanu Hindhuja was powerful. Each of the panellists spoke about their own journey and experience. They were all exceptional storytellers, which is why this session was so powerful. Stories have the power to engage us, connect with us and inspire us. There is nothing like a good story.

One of the main points that all the panelists agreed upon and spoke about in detail – is that men are integral to the conversations to end gender inequality — and to do that we need everyone to be involved. This is the same premise of the “HeForShe” campaign launched by the United Nations in 2014 by the actress Emma Watson, who said at the time, “We want to try and galvanize as many men and boys as possible to be advocates for gender equality. And we don’t just want to talk about it, but make sure it is tangible.”

Image Credit: Asian Voice, Newspaper

India Britain Trade Expo On 12 March, London

I am looking forward to participating at the India Britain Trade Expo on 12 March 2019, which takes at the Queen Elizabeth Conference Centre in London, where I am moderating a ‘women in business’ session.

I will be joined an illustrious line-up of inspiring women that includes entrepreneur Penny Power, OBE; British banker and financial adviser Kamel Hothi, OBE; journalist and founder of the children’s charity Paint Our World based in India, Dr Priya Virmani; and leader of the Democratic Unionist Party and politician Arlene Foster.

Together we will be exploring the challenges that women in business face both here in the UK and in India; are these challenges the same; what are the solutions and importantly each of the women speaking will be sharing their own experiences and stories. It promises to be an interesting and spontaneous conversation.

The backdrop to this session, is the India Britain Trade Expo, a timely event with Brexit looming, particularly as India is the world’s fastest growing trillion-dollar and poised to become the fifth largest economy overtaking the UK by 2019 according to the IMF. The wealth of opportunities for both countries to benefit from each other is enormous.

This one-day action packed event is being supported by the House of Lords, with a delegation from the Indian High Commission and is set to be one of London’s biggest trade events focused on India, where Rajesh Agrawal, London’s Deputy Mayor for business will open the Expo.

This is an event for anyone who wants to expand and go global. It will be here where conversations will happen and partnerships created. Tickets and information visit http://www.indiabritainexpo.com/ or call +44 (0)20 3693 1940

 

 

Serendipity PR Sponsors GFA Enfield Under 12’s Tigers

When you run your own business, there’s really nothing like having the joy, the passion and the freedom – the freedom to choose who your clients are, how to define your brands, how you want to work and do business, and what you want to support.

I believe it’s always good as a business to be philanthropic when you can and put back into our communities.

So, sponsoring my son’s football team for his local football club, GFA (Grassroots Football Academy and Football Club) Enfield this year was a no brainer. It gives me a great sense of joy and pride, not just as a mum, but as an entrepreneur; a woman in business. There’s such a good feeling of being able to support a local sports project, which brings children together.

GFA Enfield is set up by two FA qualified coaches, gives children the access to football in their own environment irrespective of their age, gender, physical condition or background. It helps them to build their social skills, understand about working as a team, builds their confidence – all while playing football.

On Sunday 9 September, my son’s team, the GFA Under 12’s Tigers got their new kit and won their first match, 6:2. The team played with flair, heart and determination; and of course with a little bit of serendipity magic!

Woman At Work: #Backtoschoolweek

 

In June this year I was delighted to be approached by the Indian women’s magazine, Woman At Work for an interview about my background and career. It’s a magazine for the working woman, where in India, women constitute to more than 30% of its workforce. Working women here, have made their presence felt across sectors and professions. Woman At Work magazine is a first-of-its-kind professional magazine and with a digital platform for talented women at work in India, which launched in 2015.

The magazine aspires to go beyond the conventional domains of home and family management, instead showcasing the different aspects of an everyday career woman. Perhaps quite understandably and to be expected, within a year of its launch, the magazine reached more than 300,000 readers across India; showing how ready people were and are for – Woman At Work.

The questions asked were really thought-provoking and made me take stock of my diversity and cultural heritage. It was a great personal exercise for me to do – a chance to reflect and actually be proud of myself of how far I had come and all what I had done. Sometimes we can be really focused on providing others with encouragement and support that we can forget to do the same for ourselves. Or perhaps, we are moving from one task or challenge to another without a chance to stop and take stock, to realise how far we’ve come and to congratulate ourselves for what we’ve done.

So, it was a lovely surprise to see the magazine, which arrived through my letter box last week, during #backtoschoolweek

A great start to my new term!

 

100 FSB Women for IWD

Yesterday, 8 March 2018 marked International Women’s Day (IWD), a global celebration of women’s social, political and cultural achievements, while still pushing for progress for future generations. In the last year, we’ve seen women from all walks of life stand up and start the conversation on issues that women still face, from gender equality, to fair pay and sexual assaults. This year’s theme is #PressForProgress, a call-to-action to press forward and progress gender parity.

Thanks to two recent big social media campaigns – #MeToo and Time’s Up movements, the call for change this year has not gone unnoticed.

I am a member of the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) and am also on its Diversity Taskforce, and this year the FSB created a very strong and inspiring digital campaign to raise the visibility of role models for women entrepreneurs. It’s called 100 FSB Women. These women come from all sectors and each has a special story to tell and valuable advice to impart to other women.

2018 is the 100-year anniversary of when the first women got the right to vote, following the suffragettes’ campaigning, and the FSB felt it was fitting to feature 100 women FSB members and share their wealth of advice and inspiration with women all over the world.

I am very proud to be alongside these women and be part of this 100 and for my business tip to be featured by Business Leader.

The UK currently has 5.7 million small businesses and self-employed, but it is estimated that could be boosted by a further 1.2 million new enterprises led by women. This untapped business potential of women can be tackled, in part, by increasing the visibility of role models for women entrepreneurs, according to a recent FSB report.

Sadly and perhaps unfairly, research shows that women are less likely than their male counterparts to know a person in business and, as a result, have fewer opportunities to benefit from exposure to others with business experience and are less likely to see people like themselves succeeding.

Entrepreneurship was once considered a man’s domain but this is changing throughout the world – Nigeria now outranks the US and the UK in terms of percentage of entrepreneurs among women with a rate of 41% for the African country against 10% and 5.7% for the two developed countries respectively.

Yet women in Nigeria and other developing economies have shown to be 20% less likely than men to have a bank account and 17% less likely to have borrowed formally. Factors such as legal restrictions on women to open bank accounts without a male relative’s authorization are a challenge for women in the region.

While IWD is now over till next year, our work to press for progress continues – today, tomorrow, the day after that and the day after that… and the last verse of the poem, The Woods Are Lovely Dark And Deep by Robert Foster springs to mind…

The woods are lovely, dark and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.

 

We’re living in a digital constellation: connecting us in an easily explored galaxy…

 

If you come across my Twitter profile you will find it says – We’re living in a digital constellation: connecting us in an easily explored galaxy – and this was wonderfully proved when on 9 September I spoke to a group of first year MSc students who are studying Creative Entrepreneurship at Vilnius University Business School in Lithuania via Skype about PR, brands, social media and being online.

Technology is truly connecting us and serving us well, as from my London office I was able to zoom in and share my experience with these business students, who are all budding entrepreneurs.

The one thing that struck me from my talk and something I learnt is that Twitter is not that ‘big’ in Lithuania and not as widely used, as it is here in the UK. One of the questions asked, was should they still spend time on Twitter, if people around them from their local communities were not using Twitter. My answer was ‘YES!’.

The internet and social media platforms allows us all to think bigger and wider than our local communities, hubs and sectors. Our clients could be sitting in other parts of the world, so beam your message out. This is globalization at its best without the carbon footprint!

Photo Credit: Mauco Sosa

Working With LID Publishing

It’s September and it’s back to school and back to writing…it has been a busy, happy summer of juggling school holidays and work. I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t exhausting, but it has been fun to include my 10-year-old in my business life and that I also have great flexible clients. This leads me on to say that I have been working on some great and interesting book campaigns for LID Publishing, the fifth largest publishing house for business books in Europe.

One of my favourite campaigns has been the Chinese Entrepreneur Series, which are five books: Jack Ma & AlibabaMa Huateng & TencentWang Jianlin & Dalian Wanda; Dong Mingzhu & Gree; and Ren Zhengfei & Huawei. Many of China’s successful entrepreneurs have become huge celebrities not just on China’s mainland but globally, attracting a legion of fans. Their appeal is not just down to their charisma, huge personal wealth, but has a lot to do with being stylish, confident business leaders who have inspired China’s growing aspirational middle classes.

The authors of these books are leading business writers in China, who all had direct access to these influential businessmen and their businesses.

This LID’s China’s Entrepreneurs Series is the result of a unique Chinese-Anglo collaboration between China Translation & Publishing House, a member of the China Publishing Group Corporation, one of China’s largest publishing companies. Further titles in the series are planned, to make it the most expansive international series about Chinese entrepreneurs.

I love working with LID, as their books are all good reads and never boring; and as a company they are always doing something different. If you love business books, then check out their new book club!

Photo Credit: LID Publishing