We are looking for both a new Account Manager and Account Executive to join us ASAP

Both roles offer the opportunity to get involved with many clients, help deliver PR campaigns and come up with creative ideas.

Ridgemount PR has been established for over twenty years and has a dynamic and loyal client base.  We have a good reputation in our sector (and work hard to maintain it) but are keen to kick-start a new business initiative to widen our client base.

We offer a competitive salary depending on experience, four weeks’ holiday (plus around a week between Christmas and New Year), private health insurance, a profit-related bonus scheme, commission on new business won and an annual training budget.  All staff also have a company iPhone and laptop and (should they wish) participate in our regular social outings. Experience of the construction sector would be an advantage but is not essential.

Professional skills for both roles:

• Excellent writing skills
• Strong verbal communications technique
• Good planning and organisational skills

​Personal skills for both roles required:

• Clear thinker, ability to focus on range of projects
• Ability to motivate and nurture junior team members
• Good team player
• Friendly with ability to deal at all levels of seniority

The Company

Ridgemount PR is an independent, fresh thinking and results-driven, creative communications consultancy.  We care about what we do and we work hard to get under the skin of our clients’ business to deliver outstanding campaigns with genuine benefits.

We have a strong portfolio of clients and we work with product manufacturers, trade bodies, service providers and charitable organisations, amongst others.

To apply for either role please email your CV and cover letter – making plain which role you are applying for – to:

Deborah Findlay – deborah.findlay@ridgemountpr.co.uk

The post We’re Hiring! appeared first on Ridgemount PR.

SEO is all about where your company and / or your brand appear in the search results when someone searches online. The basic idea behind SEO is that the higher up the search rankings you are; the better it is, as more people will click through to visit your website.

It appears now that PR SEO will finally get the airtime it deserves because the ever powerful and innovative people at Google have developed and launched Penguin.

What does this cute black and white animal have to do with how my customers see my website I hear you ask, well, allow me to explain in the briefest possible way!

Penguin is Google’s algorithm that first launched in April 2012. It is the set of procedures and calculations Google utilises to determine where a website appears in search rankings.

The aim of Penguin is to decrease the search rankings of websites which use techniques that aim to manipulate search engines: techniques such as keyword stuffing; deliberate duplication of content and paying people for backlinks, thus meaning that a lot of the traditional methods of SEO are now obsolete.

What Penguin does recognise and reward however are ‘earned’ backlinks – the sort of links you get from online PR coverage to your website. This means that the quality of the content that is produced for your press releases, features and profile pieces and other PR material is more important now than it ever has been. Your content must be engaging and interesting enough, not just for the journalists to give you coverage in their publications but also for them to want to put your story on their websites with a link directing people back to your site ‘for further information’.

Another growing influence on search rankings is online conversation; how it interlinks with your website and the quality of the conversation surrounding your company. So just like the more traditional methods of PR it is vital that the content, and consequently conversations, generated on your social media pages and blogs is of high quality.

The whole idea behind this is that higher quality websites with good content are rewarded with higher search rankings. Google wants to reward companies who actually have something interesting to say not those who simply use SEO spamming techniques. Check out what happened to Interflora when they broke the rules – http://martinmacdonald.net/interflora-seo-penalty/.

In the past there has been a clear distinction between PR and SEO within organisations, quite often controlled by separate teams but this can no longer be the case if brands want to remain visible online.

So people, companies, agencies – anyone involved with the marketing of a brand – need to learn and learn quite quickly or they will simply be left behind.

If you want to find out more about how PR can help your brand’s online presence or to speak to someone about improving your PR content, get in touch with us!

The post Content Reigns As King Once Again appeared first on Ridgemount PR.

Deborah joins us from a global office supplies and services company where she managed the PR for the UK and Ireland region. Prior to this she was working within the leisure and sports sectors for a variety of brands.

Deborah was recently named as one of PR Week’s ‘top 29 under 29′ and is a CIPR (Chartered Institute of Public Relations) Accredited Practitioner. She brings a wealth of experience in working in the B2B and B2C PR worlds and is well-versed in managing national, regional and trade specific PR campaigns.

Deborah, a proud Glaswegian, is part of a large family firmly imbedded in the construction sector meaning she already has a solid grounding in our area of expertise and will be hitting the ground running with her clients over the coming weeks and months.

Deborah follows recent new recruit Jessica Howe in joining the Ridgemount PR team.

The post New Account Manager appeared first on Ridgemount PR.

Here at Ridgemount PR we see PR as an investment that companies should make. More often than not the companies who choose to cut back or eradicate PR budgets altogether end up losing their voice in the markets and communities where they want to be heard. When you stop talking inevitably people stop listening and consequently stop responding. Even when market consumption decreases, it’s so important to maintain a presence so that when things start to look up, you’re the go to company consumers choose as you’ve not faltered when times got tough.

The fact that some companies are choosing to cut PR makes it even more profitable to those that choose not to as their voice becomes louder when others fall silent, not to mention PR companies are working harder than ever to deliver results for their clients.

PR is quite often less expensive than mass advertising campaigns and is increasingly over lapping into advertising territory as the media landscape continues to expand. Unlike conventional advertising which can get lost, PR is easily measureable in regards to coverage, so you can see how well your money is working for you.

Traditional PR channels will always have a place but as the digital media landscape goes from strength to strength it’s important to recruit expertise when tackling the world of online head on, because if you don’t know what you’re doing it shows.  Content needs to be findable, shareable and durable in order to come up in search results, so investing in the expertise is essential.

As the fable goes, a scientist and a philosopher are being chased by a lion. The philosopher stops to tighten his shoes. The scientist stops and tells him ‘you still won’t outrun a lion’ to which the philosopher replies ‘I don’t need to outrun the lion, I just need to outrun you’.

When trying to survive difficult times understand your competitors and focus on staying ahead of the game and coming out strong.

To discuss your PR needs with us contact us here. 

The post To Cut, Or Not To Cut? appeared first on Ridgemount PR.

After graduating with an English Literature degree Jessica has gone on to complete two PR internships at Bristol-based communications agencies, a PR/Marketing internship at a bespoke street art company in East London and has also worked as an advertising intern for a leading tattoo trade magazine.

Jessica has a keen interest in environmental issues and a love of all things digital. A varied background gives her a broad understanding of the PR sector whilst her previous roles within the arts industry will no doubt help with generating creative ideas for campaigns for our clients.

The post New Team Member Joins appeared first on Ridgemount PR.

It was fascinating to spend half a day there and a real boost to see that people are still interested in investing in their homes despite the economic gloom!

Exhibitions are a fantastic way of getting out there and meeting your customers. They bring together trade and consumers allowing for face to face B2B and B2C interaction.

And the customer numbers are huge: in 2012, 260,000 people visited the Ideal Home Show spending over £225million. And it didn’t just stop at the show with average spend with exhibitors in the next 12 months as a result of the show at £7,630 per head.

The Ideal Home Show is big-fry though and if you haven’t exhibited before take a look at some regional level shows for a good place to start. You don’t need to have to have the biggest stand and starting small means that you can work on your pitch, your customer approach and the literature which you are going to hand out.

The literature is perhaps one of the most important bits. Customers leave exhibitions weighed down with all the leaflets and brochures they have been handed and when they go home to sort out which is going in the recycle bin you need yours to stand out.

Finally, if you have a product which can be demonstrated showing those walking past how it works then do so! Don’t tell the boss but I actually brought a steam mop when I was at the Ideal Home Show such was the brilliance of the demonstration!

If you are thinking of exhibiting you may want some help with getting started. At Ridgemount PR we have helped many companies display at exhibitions so give us a call and we’ll see what we can do!

The post Exhibiting Your Wares appeared first on Ridgemount PR.

Whilst many people believe PR only involves duties such as attending parties, there are skills other than drinking that need to be mastered to secure a job.

Communications Skills

Writing- It is essential that you have good writing skills as you’ll be required to write press releases, case studies, brochures, e-zines and social media posts. Don’t worry if you haven’t had any journalistic experience you’ll be able to pick up a formula to write in but a basic grasp of writing and grammar is crucial in PR.

Reading- Consuming the media and being aware of what goes on around you is also important. If you are aware of current affairs it means you could potentially pick up on something your client could comment on, thus highlighting their publicity and earning you extra brownie points.

You’ll also need to be able to think like a journalist as you’ll need to sell in your clients’ stories to the media. Ask yourself: what do they want and in what format do they want it? The easier you make their job the more likely they’ll take on your story.

Speaking- Interpersonal skills are crucial in PR. If you don’t enjoy talking to people PR probably isn’t for you! You’ll need to be able to speak to clients, journalists and peers as building a rapport will position you in a positive light.

Time Management Skills

At some point in your career you’ll find yourself juggling clients as the workload builds. You’ll need to be able to prioritise whose needs are greater and how much time you need to allocate to each project. You’ll also need to be able to work under pressure accurately.

Be creative

Creativity can be a really fun part of working in PR, you may be given the freedom to play around with ideas and having the ability to deliver messages to your audience in a different way can often prove you a popular person.

The desire to learn

Never underestimate how appealing you are if you seem enthusiastic and willing to learn. This really counts for a lot and any skills that you may lack can often be rectified by being passionate about the industry and the opportunity on the table.

These skills will make you very appealing in the world of PR and the more you have the more likely you are to get a job. It’s a tough job market but if you believe PR is right for you a little determination and hard work will always pay off.

If you think you’ve got what it takes, get in touch, we’re hiring for a new Account Executive!

The post Essential PR Skills appeared first on Ridgemount PR.

We all know that crises happen. Whether through human error or natural disaster at some point your company will be challenged. For the unfortunate amongst us those challenges will be played out across the pages of the trade, local or national media.

Expertise in crisis management is an essential part of the PR professionals armour. It’s the reason that companies employ PR agencies – at a moments notice that expertise will be available to them.

Here’s my top three steps to crisis management:

1, Act fast

The media moves faster nowadays than it ever has before – and it’s not just the professional journalists you have to contend with. Everyone on Twitter is a would-be news journalist and bad news can spread like wildfire. The main thing about crisis management is to move quickly. The story is not going to stop, or even be slightly slowed, unless you as a company come out and add your voice. If you don’t it’s just everyone else saying you’ve done something wrong.

Time can be a killer in a crisis and if you leave it too long, you’ll have lost your audience and it won’t matter what you’re saying. However, speed must be matched with accuracy, you’ll be adding to the damage if you get the facts wrong.

2, Talk it through

The worst thing that you can do in a crisis is pretend it’s not happening. You need to mobilise your troops and even if the ultimate decision you make is to simply weather the storm you need to have drawn that conclusion from discussions and research.

In a crisis everyone has an opinion about how you should handle it and in certain circumstances you may find it’s your lawyers who are shouting loudest. It’s why having a developed crisis management plan is so important. A starting point is to identify the key people you’ll get to help you in a crisis. With a clear head you’ll have decided that those are the people you trust and so those are the people you should listen to.

3, Stay ahead of the pack

Not only is it important to get all your facts right it’s important to get ALL the facts. The media and the public don’t really like just one hit at a story – they like to see it run and develop and that means they’ll be looking into every aspect of what has happened. As a company you need to do the same – but faster than they do.

Knowing your company inside out puts you at an advantage here but you’ll still need to move swiftly. The faster that you find anything else which can be used against you the faster you can start to plan your media responses.

A crisis is just that, a crisis. No-one enjoys it but what will help you to get through it is to try and view it as an opportunity. Keep focussed upon the future because if you are able to view the storm as just that, you’ll be in a much better position when the clouds clear.

As a company you’ll be lucky to get through without a crisis or two – and over the years we’ve helped out many companies who have found themselves on the end of some negative publicity. The key is to plan ahead so give us a call today.

The post What To Do In A Crisis appeared first on Ridgemount PR.

The post Company Blogging (Infographic) appeared first on Ridgemount PR.

An article posted on Brainmass.com, an academic help website, claims that some see grammar as a hindrance that stops individuals expressing themselves, whilst another blogger states that grammar is there purely to support your efforts and help you succeed.

One of my favourite descriptions of the use of grammar comes from a blogger called Faceless39.

They state grammar helps the writer produce a beautiful picture as opposed to a pixelated image. Bad grammar, they say, is akin to putting speed bumps in the road. I.e. the writing becomes hard to read and the reader questions whether they should read on.

The desire to read on is of course fundamental to PR.  If we make our copy hard to read we run the risk of it being rejected by journalists or publishers which could result in a lack coverage and damage to your credibility.

Andrew Hindes, Managing Director of PR and Copywriting firm, The In-House Writer says: “Punctuation rules are still observed by many publications and PR pros flout them at their own peril.”

Good grammar not only makes our copy easy to read but it also provides clarity. Without good grammar, sentences can become ambiguous and the meaning of what we’re trying to say becomes lost.

“For sale: antique desk suitable for lady with thick legs and large drawers”
It perhaps would be better (but less funny) to have written:
“For sale: antique desk with thick legs and large drawers. Suitable for lady”

As much as ambiguity can sometimes be an excellent source of comedy, in PR we need to make ourselves crystal clear so our media coverage will fulfil its potential by delivering the correct message.

Lastly good grammar shows a respect for your clients giving journalists an indication that you take pride in your work. After all, your work gives an indication of the type of person you are, so if your grammar is sloppy it may imply that you are careless or that the information you have provided is inaccurate.

So, does good grammar still matter? Absolutely! If you want to get ahead in the work place then learning the correct rules of grammar is certainly a good way to start!

The post The Importance of Good Grammar appeared first on Ridgemount PR.