Why the ‘Employ Daney’ campaign is not a joke.

Why the ‘Employ Daney’ campaign is not a joke.

Hello and welcome to blog number 4 in the Daney blogs series. Can’t believe it’s been a week already since I last posted! The past couple days have saw me very busy working on the Employ Daney press release, website, building a Twitter and Linkedin following, putting bits and pieces on Facebook, all with the aim of raising my profile to future social enterprise employers with PR/Marketing/Communications roles and/or dynamic, client-focussed PR agencies in Edinburgh area or thereabouts.

 

Oh! And I’ve also been busy sampling tasty burritos and margaritas at the fabulous El Toro Loco- a great wee Mexican place on the Edinburgh Grassmarket! Absolutely recommend you go!  Their wee restaurant is top notch!

So, tasty burritos aside, I’m writing this blog as I feel I need to clarify a couple things regarding the Employ Daney campaign.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Personally on the back of the Employ Daney campaign, I’ve had an overwhelming positive response from my close pals, my PR and Marketing acquaintances (or in Fife terms, folk I ken!) my mum (of course, everyone wants their mum to love what work they do!), and I’ve had a couple of members of the press email back with the thumbs up.

Professionally, on the back of Employ Daney (bearing in mind I’ve only been running the campaign just over a week!), I’ve secured an interview with a reputable social enterprise supporting organisation, where I was told “you have to be the most positive person I’ve ever met”, I’ve been asked for my CV by 2 different PR agencies, my campaign has been shared on the QMU PR Programme Facebook and Twitter, the East Lothian press seem very keen to share my campaign in their business section next month (which is brilliant!), my numbers of retweets are increasing, the likes on Linkedin are increasing and overall, my morale to keep going on the job search is good, and I’m thoroughly enjoying working on the campaign.

However, I want to write this blog because I want to clarify a couple things which have been raised to me (in a constructive and friendly way of course- I’m very grateful and respectful of my PR peers) regarding my campaign and I would like to address them moving forward. The last thing I want is a miscommunication to hinder the overall goal of the campaign- being employed in a PR/Marketing position in a social enterprise, or in a dynamic, fun, client focussed PR agency.

Let me start by saying my campaign is not a joke…

The whole point of me starting this campaign and these blogs is so that I could free myself, show my skills, my personality to employers without feeling like there’s red tape. What I’ve came to realise is that my campaign won’t be for everyone (which I’m absolutely fine with), people will want to give me advice on how to improve it. I’m all for this. I welcome it. However, I feel I need to reiterate, I, Dane Thomson, am a PR Professional. I’m not making a parody of myself, or punting myself out for the sake of a RT. I’m taking a fun, creative, unconventional approach to grabbing the attention of employers, and showing that I can write, write, write and write to different target audiences, using different software with a creative flair they’ve not seen before. That’s what’s going to make me stand out, right? Yes!

So, I’m going to refer to some feedback I’ve received in the form of a Q+A and clear up any misunderstandings on the Employ Daney campaign:

Feedback I’ve received Q+A

Why Employ Daney and not Employ Dane?

The campaign is called Employ Daney because this title is more eye catching (I’ve generated more likes on Linkedin with this than any other content I’ve posted in the past), it’s fun and it reflects my client (my) personality.

Dane Thomson, the PR professional (that’s me!) is doing all the hard work behind the scenes for ‘Employ Daney’. I’m the one sitting for hours researching companies, applying for jobs, writing blogs, press releases, website updates, social media posts and looking for networking events to attend to chat to people in my industry. I’ve also been working on getting my #ComeDaneWithMe event happening. The positive reaction I’ve had to this so far has been fantastic. People seem to love this idea! Have you received your invite? If not, email me at daneybash88@gmail.com if you’d like to come!

Why does your website have the ‘strikingly’ on it?

Due to financial restraints I’m under whilst job searching, I genuinely can’t afford payments for domains for my blog, website etc. so I have to do things strictly for free or for even less! Once I get together some money I will get the domains purchased to bolster my personal brand’s credibility.

Also on that note, personal brand: another valid piece of great advice I received this week…

Be careful with your personal brand…..

This is excellent advice I received this week. Having looked at my Daney brand (if you like), it represents what I want it represent. I’m communicating my brand to represent a fun, hard-working, warm, approachable, original and not afraid to take a chance and try new things out PR/Marketing graduate genuinely looking for employers interest and buy in. I’m building and shaping my brand as I go along and I would love to share with you the 3 key messages/takeaways of my campaign.

3 key messages of the Employ Daney Campaign/ 3 things I want you to take-away from it:

·         I’m a self-starting PR/Marketing graduate who pro-actively makes things happen. I don’t sit around and wait for people to come to me, or for good things to happen. I go out and make them happen! I’ll go to networking events, I’ll approach senior people of an organisation, respect their position, treat them like a valued friend, thank them for their time, and take heed of any advice they offer

·         I’m learning by doing. ‘You don’t learn by doing everything right, you learn by doing and falling over’ I’m not just giving rhetoric on my CV telling you how fabulous I am. My CV is detailed with examples of HOW I’m using my skills, and through this campaign you, employers, can visibly see me using my skills and see how I overcome challenges I face pre, during, and after and turn them into opportunities.

·         I’m employable. I’ve got a strong communications background, a warm personality with a down to earth attitude, and the skills in digital, writing and networking that you need for your social enterprise/ or PR agency organisation.

For more information on the Employ Daney campaign- please see the website- http://employdaney.strikingly.com/ or alternatively, drop me an email – daneybash88@gmail.com I’d love to hear from you!

 

Daney over and out for now!