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Girl Gone Travel

Public Relations & Branding
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August 24, 2012

The Importance of Purpose: A Message for Brands, Agencies & Bloggers

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The following is what I hope is helpful information for not only bloggers, but also for agencies and brands who pitch us.

Brands/Agencies – We cannot, as bloggers, promote what you do simply because you have informed us that you are doing it – regardless of how great it is.

We have to find and feel the reasons WHY you do it. As a travel blogger, my readers don’t care why I went to Vail (to cover their culinary scene) or to Scotland (to highlight the “Brave” film) or to the Dominican Rep (to highlight Puerto Plata or Las Terrenas), they want to know HOW I FELT IT, how I experienced it, how it affected me. Because this much more personal experience, the emotions evoked from it all is what will impact their decision to invest the time, the money on you, the brand  – and how they spend their money and time matters to most of us bloggers, because it is how we spend our money and time as well, and because we understand what it takes to get to the point where we are happy in making that investment.

Bloggers – The relationship between bloggers and brands is a delicate one: the best of us are committed to the integrity of our brand and blog. We are committed to providing our readers information that they can trust and use in their decision-making processes. And, as freelancers and entrepreneurs, we are committed to establishing relationships with the brands and agencies, and hopefully solidify them into income channels for our business.

But because our story has to truly be personal for us to evoke the message in a way that would translate beyond the standard marketing and public relations tools, we need to sacrifice and cut off those messages that don’t provide us to the WHY in our stories – regardless of the potential for profit promised from the brand. This is because though we may be able to acquire short term financial gain through business transactions with brands and agencies, our long term success and growth is dependent on our audience. Without their trust, continued following, and demand, we loose any reason to matter in this space.

The social in Social Media is the one most important factor, and it is incumbent upon the brands and agencies to follow and learn, not only so that they can work with us, but so that we can work with them as well.

Providing us with a reason to care, or at least giving us the professional consideration and merit to show them how, is what not only makes for a better story, but also a better reason for us to help share it.

I first saw this video The Culterist, a great site to visit for travel as well as small biz news and advice.

Simon Sinek (“The Golden Circle”) was speaking to the ambitiously talented crowd at TedTALKS. But I think it applies to so many of us looking to grow our blogs and brands through our connection with people via storytelling. It also helps to send the message to brands and agencies who tend to blindly mass email press releases and updates on their products, understand why this mass marketing approach tend to die in the email boxes of the bloggers they want to reach the most.

It is because they are failing to understand how to best connect with us (bloggers). As Mr. Sinek so eloquently states, “The goal isn’t to do business with the people that need what you have, the goal is to do business with the people who believe what you believe.”  Find those bloggers. Invest your time in searching them out. Read their stories, hear their voice: does it say what you want people to hear about you? Does it represent you in the way you want to be represented? Does it fit?

As a blogger, you should do the same and not just take whatever comes along to pay the bill. For this purpose, get a job, at an office, where a paycheck is guaranteed and a genuine voice doesn’t really matter. But if your purpose is to inspire and foster dreams, than you have to be willing to hold out for the partnerships that will help you do that in the most transparent and real way possible. Not always easy to come by on either side.

I want to convince people that where I go, what I see, where I stay, what I do and what I learn via my travels matters, not only to me, but to them. And I thought Mr. Sinek explained beautifully on why this approach is not only important, but also why it works.

Watch Simon Sinek’s How Great Leaders Inspire Action for more:

 

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Carol Cain

Brooklyn native Carol is happiest when on an adventure, whether close to home or farther away. She is a small business owner and travel writer. In addition to creating Girl Gone Travel, she is the Founder and Principal of Brave World Media, a social media marketing, communications, and branding agency. She's mom to three wonderful sons and wife to a handsome Irish/Scot. She lives, works, and plays in the beautiful Finger Lakes region of NY.

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6 Comments
  • Bicultural Mama
    August 27, 2012

    Great advice for both bloggers and brands…thanks!

    Reply
  • Carol Cain
    August 29, 2012

    @ Bicultural Mama:

    My pleasure!

    Reply
  • Eva
    September 4, 2012

    So true! If I feel something (good or bad) about the place or product that I am writing about, it comes so easily. I decided early on, that I wanted to do what I loved, and work hard at it, but it shouldn't BE hard for me to do. It would be great if brands could understand that we want tell the story of our experience with their brand, not just copy and paste their press releases. It would be a win-win for all of us, right?

    Very well written, and thank you for the Simon Sinek video.

    Reply
  • Carol Cain
    September 4, 2012

    @ Eva:

    Thank you Eva, and I completely agree! Happy to have shared, I think his advice was so perfect.

    Reply
  • Charu
    September 5, 2012

    I completely agree! Well said, Carol.

    Reply
  • Carol Cain
    September 6, 2012

    @ Charu:

    Thanks Charu!

    Reply

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About me

Hi! I'm Carol! I am an award-winning travel blogger, a keynote speaker, and the Principal and owner of Brave World Media, a social media marketing, communications, and branding agency. I a wife to a handsome Irish/Scot and a mom to 3 sons and 2 puppies. Welcome to my blog where I share stories of my travels and professional public relations insights and advice. Thank you for reading and for your support!

Carol Cain

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Photo dump from our first day out and about in Ber Photo dump from our first day out and about in Berlin.

Last time I stared up at these gates I was left with tears in my eyes. It was my last day in the city, a beautiful spring day and the sunset was perfect. In fact, the whole city was and I was left with this overwhelming sadness to not be sharing it with my family. And for the first time in my years as a travel blogger, often times alone, I felt an aching pang of loneliness. This moment would be the motivating factor to figure out another way. To travel in a way that made ME happiest and truly fulfilled me.

For a lot of people solo travel is their thing. And I think the courage and lessons gained from doing so are powerful and life changing. I am glad to have learned from all the years I did so.

But I really most enjoy traveling with my kids or husband. Not necessarily because it’s easier or even cheaper, but because I love watching them navigate these new experiences. I love the easy willingness with which they will practice a local language they’ve never studied on an unsuspecting local just trying to ask them if they are paying cash or card…or the confidence in learning how the local transportation works…or the willingness to try new foods…or the ease with which they roll with mishaps or getting lost or plans not working out, but most of all, I look forward to watching them fall in love with places that I’ve falling in love with, like Berlin, or when we fall in love with a new place together.

All this to say, how you travel, how often you travel, where you go, what you spend - these are things that should matter to only you. No one is better or worse, or luckier or less fortunate for doing it differently.

I have been to Berlin 3 times. But this moment, with these people, was a dream in the making for years because as great as this city is, they were really the missing link to making it absolutely amazing to be here for me.

Can’t wait to share more photos from our shenanigans here!

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