{"id":120903,"date":"2019-02-21T15:45:23","date_gmt":"2019-02-21T14:45:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/?p=120903"},"modified":"2019-03-01T10:04:15","modified_gmt":"2019-03-01T09:04:15","slug":"blogger-spotlight-rachel-miller-all-things-ic-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/blog\/blogger-spotlight-rachel-miller-all-things-ic-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Blogger Spotlight: Rachel Miller, All Things IC"},"content":{"rendered":"

Rachel Miller<\/a> is the creator of the award-winning\u00a0All Things IC<\/a>\u00a0blog, specialising in advice for anyone working in internal comms. All Things IC was recently ranked in the\u00a0Top 10 UK PR Blogs<\/a>, so we caught up with Rachel to discuss changes to the industry, the importance of research when pitching to bloggers, and why the Greggs vegan sausage roll campaign worked so well.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

What\u2019s in store for the blog in 2019?<\/b><\/span>
\nMy All Things IC blog turns 10-years-old in March 2019. To mark the\u00a0occasion, I\u2019ll be highlighting some of the forgotten gems that I published years ago, dusting them off and seeing what\u2019s changed since they first appeared. I\u2019ve published 1,250 articles, so there\u2019s a lot to choose from! I\u2019m also working on online masterclasses to bring my blog content and consultancy work to life through a new medium for internal communicators.<\/p>\n

How has PR changed since you first got into the industry?
\n<\/b><\/span>I started my career as a Journalist in 1999 and moved into Internal Communication in 2003. PR and comms has changed a lot in that time. The fundamental principles of good, effective communication haven\u2019t, but the methods and media have. For\u00a0example,\u00a0there was only one computer with internet access in the newsroom when I was a journalist and it was incredibly slow. I started my blog in 2009 to help me research how social media could be used for internal communication. There were only two case studies globally I could refer to in my post-graduate diploma in Internal Communication Management dissertation back then. Ten years on, I\u2019d be spoilt for choice!<\/p>\n

How much is Brexit affecting comms in the UK?<\/b><\/span>
\nMany of my clients are spending a lot of time trying to provide clarity and create clear instructions for their employees around Brexit. Looking for certainties when everything seems uncertain and unclear is frustrating. A lot of time, money and effort is being spent trying to plan for every eventuality.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

What\u2019s the biggest issue facing the industry (outside of Brexit)?<\/b><\/span>
\nThe biggest issue facing the industry is keeping up with the pace of change. Although the fundamentals of comms haven\u2019t changed, the pace of technology and speed of communication has. This has resulted in an ‘always-on’ mentality which is having a detrimental effect on the mental health and wellbeing of many comms professionals.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Are traditional media outlets losing their importance to the industry?<\/b><\/span>
\nNo, I think there will always be a place for traditional media outlets. Importance is relative to status,\u00a0as long as\u00a0people value something they will continue to choose it. We have such a rich variety of media to choose from, I think it\u2019s healthy to have a mix of traditional and modern.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

What\u2019s the best campaign of 2019 so far?<\/b><\/span>
\nThe Greggs vegan sausage roll launch. I thought the white boxes sent to Journalists, Apple style, and hype around it was fascinating to observe. I read yesterday that their sales climbed 10% in seven weeks, so they\u2019re clearly on the right tracks.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

What advice would you give students looking to join the PR industry?<\/b><\/span>
\nGo for it! Build your network and work on being known and communicating your personal brand (who you are and what you\u2019re known for\/want to be known for). Start writing using your own blog, create articles on LinkedIn and offer to guest blog on established blogs to build your presence.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

What\u2019s your best pitch tips for PRs?<\/b><\/span>
\nMake sure you\u2019ve read\/heard\/watched whatever you are pitching to. It stands out a mile if you haven\u2019t done your homework. Tailor each pitch and demonstrate why you\u2019re a good fit.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Do you receive pitches from other PRs looking to work with you in your capacity as a blogger?<\/b><\/span>
\nYes, daily. The best ones have done some research, they\u2019ve looked at the content I\u2019ve published, spotted a gap and sent me a relevant message. I have guest article guidelines and it\u2019s obvious when they haven\u2019t read them. I prioritise publishing internal communicators sharing their stories, I\u2019ve published around 300 of these articles and that\u2019s what my readers are interested in. I say no to pitches 90% of the time because they are from agencies wanting to use my blog for their own gains, rather than thinking about how they could add value to my readers.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

What other blogs do you read?<\/b><\/span>
\nSo many! I enjoy the weekly round-up<\/a> from PR Place, edited by Richard Bailey, as it helps me uncover new voices in the PR world. I like to support those who are just starting out by reading and sharing their posts to encourage them.
\n\u00a0<\/span>
\n\"Reach-the-right-influencers-with-the-Vuelio-media-database\"<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We caught up with Rachel Miller, creator of All Things IC to discuss changes to the industry, the importance of research when pitching to bloggers, and why the Greggs vegan sausage roll campaign worked so well.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":312,"featured_media":120931,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7365,7272,6980],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/120903"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/312"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=120903"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/120903\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":121239,"href":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/120903\/revisions\/121239"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/120931"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=120903"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=120903"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=120903"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}