When it comes to promoting your business, one of the most important tools at your disposal is your biography.

You can talk until you are blue in the face about the amazing range and quality of whizzy products and services that you offer, but it’s always worth remembering that in most cases, when it comes to business, people buy people. Customers want to know that they are working with someone they can trust and who has the experience and skills to help them.

The reputation of any business is only as good as the people that work in it, but to be honest, in my opinion, the majority of biographies I see are dry and dull and certainly don’t make me think I want to work with the people in that business.

The biggest mistake that people make is to see their biographies as another kind of CV and then they proceed to recount in minute detail, exactly where they’ve worked and what they’ve done, year by year, and by the second sentence the reader has already lost the will to live! Of course you will need to include information that is in your CV, but think about the biography as a CV in a story format.

Your biography is a very versatile document. It can be sent directly to prospective customers or published on your website or in marketing materials to show that you have the depth of experience that clients are looking for. In addition, your biography can also be issued to the media  to demonstrate that you are an expert in your field, so that when journalists are looking for someone to comment on an issue related to your work, they will hopefully contact you for your opinion.

I have six steps I like to remind myself of whenever I’m writing a biography for client or colleague:

1. Put yourself in the reader’s position

The starting point is to consider who you are writing for. Put yourself in the position of the person who is likely to be reading your biography. What is it that he or she would like to know about you?

The reader needs to clearly understand what it is that makes you different and why they should be dealing with you rather than someone else. You need to make sure that the start of the biography is interesting and gets their attention so that they will want to read right to the end.

2. Quality not quantity

The most effective biographies are generally those that are relatively short and succinct. You should condense your experience and skills into a few paragraphs. However, you may also want to produce a slightly longer version that goes into a little more detail in case someone such as a journalist for instance, wants a bit more information about you at some point.

3. Set the right tone

It is important to remember that the biography is effectively a story about you. As such, it is best to keep it informal, not only including details about your career, but also your life outside of work. Readers want to know what kind of a person you are and what other interests you have. They also like to know that the person they are reading about is human and has a sense of humour.

Most  biographies are written in the third person rather than the first person, however it really comes down to your own personal preference as to which style you would prefer to use. If you are unsure, I would recommend that you write it in the third person as it tends to give the impression that someone else wrote it for you!

4. Don’t forget the interesting stuff

If you were writing a book about your career, what would be the momentous achievements and key moments that you would want to include? You need to make sure that you get these across in your biography and explain to the reader how these things helped to make you the person you are today and why this has helped to make you different to your competitors.

5. Third party endorsements

If you want to tell people how good you are, the best way is to get someone else to do it for you! If you are putting your biography onto your website, it is always useful to ask customers or other people that you have worked with  to give you a recommendation, a short comment that you can use besides your biography.

It also really helps to include a photo of yourself (preferably looking happy!) that you can use to accompany the biography.

6. Review regularly

Over time there will be new achievements, qualifications or even hobbies that you might like to include in your biography. I would recommend that you review it every few months and have a think about whether there is additional information that you want to include in it to bring it up to date.

If you would like to have a chat to us about how we can help you put your biography together, give us a call on 0115 922 0540 or email hello@nelliepr.co.uk

Hello, my name is Nick King and I have just been appointed as the new account manager here at Nellie PR.

I have more years experience than I care to remember in PR and marketing, particularly in the business to business side of communications. Prior to this role, I worked as the PR and Media Manager at the East Midlands Development Agency, focusing particularly on the promotion of their support services for business.

In other positions I have held, I have managed clients, including Christian Salvesen, Scottish Courage, BASF and Courtaulds, as well as local businesses including RH Freight, Fraser Brown Solicitors, Coldseal and also several businesses in the healthcare sector. In addition to PR, I also specialise in writing search engine optimised copy for websites, so if this is a service you may also require I am happy to help.

After a couple of discussions with Ellen Carroll just before Christmas, it became clear that my skills matched the profile of the kind of person she was looking for to help develop the business, and I was itching to get back into the cut and thrust of a PR agency, so here I am and I’m really looking forward to working with the clients, suppliers and all of the other people who work with Nellie.

Outside of work, I am very keen on sport, particularly racquet sports like badminton and squash, I also play touch rugby (quite badly) and also try my hand at fencing, so if you are ever up for a game of anything, let me know. I also used to work as a party DJ, and if you upset me I will be forced to put an annoying cheesy old song into your head for the rest of the day!

Please feel free to drop me a line if there’s anything that you want me to help you with or just want some advice about. Also, if you want a game of badminton or squash to work off some of the excesses from the festive period, I’m happy to oblige, because I need to do that too!

Posted by Nick King, PR manager at Nellie PR

Bloody brilliant PR account manager wanted

Full-time and part-time opportunities available

Nellie PR is looking for an exceptional PR account manager to join its small but very talented team in Nottingham.

Always engaging and attentive, Nellie PR is a communications agency that specialises in public relations, digital and social media, and content creation for outstanding thought leadership campaigns.  Our clients include insurance, lighting, marketing, and even fashion brands.

To join our growing team and play a key role in our future growth and success, you will need extensive PR experience, a strong academic track record, outstanding writing skills, great media contacts and the ability to hit the ground running.

Key PR account manager responsibilities:

• Strategy development and campaign delivery, including social media campaigns
• Media relations to build relationships with the media and influencers, pitching in news and features to generate high profile media coverage
• Writing press releases, in-depth opinion pieces and feature articles, blog posts, email marketing newsletters and white papers
• Growing new business and taking an active role in Nellie PR’s marketing activities, including website development
• Management and mentoring of junior and virtual team members
• Commissioning research, briefing and managing a network of suppliers, including designers.

Key requirements:

• Minimum of five years experience
• Wide-ranging PR skills both traditional and digital with good, solid social media experience
• Great people and client handling skills
• Passion for B2B with great experience in B2B and corporate PR
• Results-driven with a proven track record of developing and implementing successful PR campaigns, and generating high profile coverage
• Exceptional writing and verbal communication skills
• Hardworking and enthusiastic
• Great contacts and relationships with the media and other core influencers
• Highly organised
• Attention to detail
• A visual eye with design and presentation skills.

Due to our growth, Nellie PR is happy to hear from exceptional PR people looking for full or part-time roles.  To apply, please send your CV, salary expectations and a covering letter explaining why you are so right for this role to Ellen Carroll at Nellie PR.  Email: ellen@nelliepr.co.uk

The closing date for applications: 28 October 2011.

After a period of hibernation, we’re keen to get out and about so are hitting the town.  Here’s our round-up on the events that are taking our fancy. 

PechaKucha in Derby

Now we’ve heard good things about this one.  The next event takes place at QUAD in Derby.  No details are yet online, but it’s in our diary.

PechaKucha Night was devised in Tokyo in February 2003 as an event for young designers to meet, network, and show their work in public.

It has turned into a massive celebration, with events happening in hundreds of cities around the world, inspiring creatives worldwide. Drawing its name from the Japanese term for the sound of “chit chat”, it rests on a presentation format that is based on a simple idea: 20 images x 20 seconds. It’s a format that makes presentations concise, and keeps things moving at a rapid pace. 

Events in Nottingham

We won’t have to travel far for these as many are taking place in our Antenna home.  Coming up, we’ll be attending:

Refresh Fridays at Antenna is an informal business networking event in Nottingham  

These events take place every Friday from 8.00-10.00a.m.  Completely informal, we’re hoping to network with other Nottingham-based peeps, Antenna members and guests alike.   

Raise Your Game is a programme of events designed to drive business success.  Coming up, we’ll be joining all those that have gone before to give an hour of our time after work on a Monday to pass on some of our public relations wisdom.  Details to follow regarding topic and date. 

For more details of other events at Antenna, visit: http://www.antenna.uk.com/news/

Invest in Nottingham

As a Nottingham-based business, we’ll be heading to the Invest in Nottingham event on the 19 September.  We’ve signed-up for the regeneration tour led by David Bishop Nottingham City Council’s Corporate Director of Development where he’ll be showcasing the city’s emerging key development and investment opportunities.  After a networking lunch, we’ll then be heading over to Nottingham Playhouse for a presentation by Stephanie Sirr – focusing on the factors that distinguish Nottingham’s great quality of life.

A centre piece of the presentation will be Nottingham’s current and emerging retail offer – the Retail Pod will be there with retail specialists – Stephen Wood of Westfield will give a short presentation on the new Broadmarsh Shopping Centre.  Lots of other sessions are also planned, and we’re also hoping to get more information on Nottingham’s Enterprise Zone and support for creative industries as well as finding out all about Invest in Nottingham and the Invest in Nottingham Club.
For more information see Invest in Nottingham Day and Invest in Nottingham, and the Invest in Nottingham Club.