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Product Placement & Pitching with PR Pro Brandi Sims of Brandinc PR – Podcast Transcript
Episode 46 – Pitchin’ and Sippin’ – Product Placement & Pitching with PR Pro Brandi Sims of Brandinc PR
Speakers:
Lexie Smith, Brandi Sims
Lexie Smith
if anyone listening is interested in hearing from a PR Pro with an impressive academic pedigree, look, or rather listen no further, because as you just heard brandy Sims is as esteemed as they get, which is just one of many reasons why I’m so excited to host her here on the show today. So brandy, welcome to pitching and sipping. We’re going to talk about all things PR soon. But first, where is home base? And what do you enjoy doing outside of work for fun?
Brandi Sims
Of course, and thank you guys so much for having me. I’m so excited to be here. But yes, my name is Brandy Sims and home base for me is here in southwest Oklahoma, in a city called Lawton, Fort Sill. We’re really close to an RV base, one of which I actually grew up on. So I’m very, very familiar with this area. And what I like to do outside of PR oh my gosh, that’s such a good question because I feel like PR is like my life in so many ways. So, so much is integrated into that. So if I wasn’t doing PR stuff or work stuff, if you will, I probably say that I’d be out somewhere doing photography, I love snapping fun nature shots. If you’re familiar with Oklahoma, there are so many nature walks, preservation or reservations I should say that you can see and experience some of the amazing artwork from the Native American tribes here and just really soak all of that in it’s such an experience that I love to capture photos of that as well as painting it’s something that has always been kind of my creative bug in my outlet whether it was writing, painting anything that allowed me to just kind of create I’ve always just fell into that so definitely would say painting and getting into some drawing are my outlets outside of PR work a true artists and creative
Lexie Smith
I have to say I’ll be honest and embarrassed to admit I really don’t know much of anything. In fact when you say Oklahoma I think of the Oklahoma the show which is a terrible reference. So tell me a little bit more what is the landscape like around you?
Brandi Sims
Of course of course. So I definitely say it’s a lot of mountains. Surprisingly A lot of people think that Oklahoma is just kind of a replay of Kansas right it’s just complete plains not necessarily so we have different sections in the regions here where you get a little bit more of the wildlife you get more mountains in some spaces, some areas if you had more West are going to be where there’s more planes even getting into some desert but for the most part the area that we’re in we kind of get a little bit of everything we’ve got some solid mountains here are some great hills you can go hiking there you can do some great trails photography you know like what I do from time to time and yeah, and as far as I would say fishing that’s also a big one. Got a lot of lakes, got a lot of ponds out here so you’ll see quite a few folks that have their fish fishing gear on deck and ready to go but overall it’s definitely an outdoors type of person living in this area.
Lexie Smith
I had no idea I’m kind of Mind blown right now I my mother’s from the Midwest and so I just I always associate that area of the map as just flat she’s from Illinois specifically and it’s just wow so that is amazing to hear it actually sounds a lot like the Pacific Northwest which is where I’m from and Ceili, and everyone on the show you might not know her she’s my assistant and podcast editor. She lives in the Pacific Northwest up near Bend Oregon. And it sounds a lot like hiking lakes and mountains, so that’s amazing.
Brandi Sims
Oh for sure for sure. And I’ve heard that before that it’s very similar to the Pacific Northwest where you’ve got all these outdoorsy types of things that you can do. Because you’re just really enveloped in being involved in nature. It’s all around you. So all you can do is really just take a dive what I tell people all the time but yeah, it’s definitely a beautiful sight. I think we in Texas are very lucky in that we just get such a beautiful view of the sky and it’s just something that you know, you don’t know until you experience it. But when you’re out there and you just see it’s almost like you’re just seeing the entire solar system. Just from your backyard. You see all the stars, The Big Dipper, you. And it’s just out there and just ready for you. And you just have a front row view of that. It’s it’s stunning, really and truly,
Lexie Smith
Well, Oklahoma should hire you as their publicist because you are selling it. For sure. Wow, no, I already learned something new today, and we are barely even just getting started. So to transition from that, we’re going to talk about your career. But first, I want to point out that you have a BA and MBA and you’re now pursuing your doctoral degree. So in summary, you have chosen to become highly educated in the field of media and communications. I’m curious, what inspired you? Or what motivated you to pursue this field so deeply in higher education?
Brandi Sims
Of course, of course. So that’s an awesome question. Well, the reason why, for me, education was so important, I’ll say, partly because my parents, they instilled in me very, very early on, if you’re passionate about something, you have to invest in the training and the education for it.
Brandi Sims
So that’s kind of where my start was, it was always something that was emphasized that it’s important to have these things and, and continue learning, continue learning at any age. So once I kind of decided that PR was, you know, for me, it was my fit, this is what I want to be when I grow up, I invested in it, I paid my way to go to college, I did internships, both paid non paid just because I was so passionate about the field. And I just wanted to learn, I just wanted to learn anything that I could, so that I could be a better PR professional. And then I continued that in 2018, I graduated with my MBA, decided to get that emphasis on business because I wanted to make the connection between knowing PR and understanding PR as a practice, but then also understanding the business side of PR, because very much as a business too. So I had that awesome cushion to be able to confidently go and provide guidance to other startup businesses that were interested in getting into the field or just in business in general, and practicing using that MBA.
Lexie Smith
Wow, wow. Wow. Wow, wow, wow, wow. Wow. Okay, so incredible a question I have for you. And we’re going to talk about outside of the classroom. But differences or similarities. Since you do have such a robust educational background? Have you experienced differences when tackling or learning about PR in a classroom versus the real world?
Brandi Sims
And then after a few years, and it’s I really say I emphasize for you because I just graduated with that and, and just kind of decided during the pandemic that you know, I started my agency and I’m getting abundance of clients. I’m doing what I love, but I still kind of have this. This inkling here that I want to go from my doctor, it’s it’s the top of the top it says this is as far as you go. And I’m already kind of that way anyway in a meeting that route anyway, with my academic experience. So I decided to go ahead and enroll so yes, 2023 crossing fingers, I will be able to deliver and execute my dissertation for my PhD and PR.
Brandi Sims
Oh, absolutely. Absolutely. So many instances while I was earning degrees, certifications training, what have you, I was actively working in PR. So of course, I got my start interning with a local Philharmonic Orchestra. And I also interned concurrently with a bank. So I was able to get the best of both. I got to see from the arts and humanities side, how they prepare for their strategic communications, and how they run their PR. And then from the other end, I got more of the professional finance side and got to see what it was like developing PR campaigns from that perspective. So as I continued on and doing that, I continued working with nonprofit organizations just to get again that experience so I stayed abreast of what was happening in the field in the industry. But at the same time, I was also learning from the books, what was happening there, and what were some important foundational elements that I needed to know and it was kind of a neat thing because as I was learning them in the classroom, I was actually applying them in the real world. So as I was going on with my different experiences with nonprofit organizations, about I’d say about four years ago, is when I kind of took it up a notch going from local PR To more state level and national PR, and from here is where I got hired on for a celebrity PR agency. So we gotta represent NFL players, sports figures, government agencies, on a much larger scale. So that’s where it kind of kicked it into high gear for me to be able to see not only just like the local, you know, types of coverage, the state type of coverage to Okay, I’m getting pitches and calls from ESPN and Fox News. And now I’ve got to go and pitch for Cosmo for my client and all of these different areas. And at that same time, I was getting my MBA and finished completing my MBA. So I would definitely say the experiences are completely different. And it’s one that I love to talk about and educate a little bit more on. Because I often get from both ends of the spectrum. Well, it’s more important to have the experience, forget the education or the training, the whatever, you don’t need that you just need to experience. And then on the other end, it’s the academic saying, Oh, well, you know, you learn what you need to learn. And you know, you can get that experience. But what’s more important is education. So I get both of those sides. And for somebody being in the middle, where not only did I have the 13 years of experience, but also have the education to back it up as well, I can definitely say that there is value in both, I think it’s important that if you aren’t invested in this field, that you do get educated in. And there’s so many forms and ways that you can get educated, it’s mentorships, it’s training tools, webinars, there’s so many now that you can choose from much more than when I started that, honestly, you don’t necessarily have to have a degree to be able to excel in the field, it’s very important that you have that because you need to know the foundational elements of what PR is, and what is about so you can better understand and and guide your clients as you move along. And then of course, your experience, you got to know what you’re talking about. And you don’t know until you’ve been vetted, right. So you have to go through that experience of I am running a campaign, I am pitching for a client, I am creating innovative ways to put a brand out, that’s what our job is. And that’s what we’re supposed to do. Now, industry wise, you have to kind of decide what’s the fit for you. For me, it was entertainment and lifestyle. For others. It’s more nonprofits, it’s more government sectors where you get into public affairs, you know, there’s so many, you know, niche areas that you can get into, and still be as, as part of PR, it just depends on what your niche is and what you enjoy doing and what you will do and you’re passionate about. But we have a lot of options, comms people have a lot of options, and it’s just finding your best fit.
Lexie Smith
So many good little nuggets out of that. And thank you for touching on both perspectives. You know, I hear those perspectives. I’ve had quite a few interns actually in their master’s programs. And so I’ve asked them on these topics, while they’re pursuing their education and working with me and I it is there’s the two sides of it, right? The people that are Pro, get your experience, and then there’s the pro education and highlighting that they both matter. And you also pointed out which I really appreciate as a PR coach over here is there are non-traditional routes to go about becoming educated if for whatever reason or your circumstance doesn’t lead you towards pursuing additional higher education. There’s so many free resources and tools available to us and you know, the 21st century and we’re very lucky from webinars to you know, my whole goal of this podcast right is to serve as another form of education. So I’m very pro education.
Lexie Smith
Now I want to briefly mention your agency. So what is your agency? What do you offer and who do you serve?
Brandi Sims
Of course, of course. So my agency is branding PR. We are an entertainment and lifestyle focus agency. We also assist in social media marketing as well and who we serve as really honestly falls under the entertainment and lifestyle brands. So we’ve helped a rep represent beauty and skincare. We’ve helped to represent arts and humanities in that type of spectrum, and but we’ve also, you know, helped to represent those that are simply public figures within their space. Just in this past year we’ve represented three politicians on the local and state level for political campaigns and running their communications which each of them ended up successful. We got the win, yay. But you know, I say that because why, we have our niche area, you know, I’d never say no to a challenge, I love getting to learn a little bit more about industries that I’m not too familiar with. So diving into some of those spaces, especially with politics and government, it’s always kind of fun to see just how they operate and do and, and how I can tie in my experience and apply it to their Industry Focus. But yeah, so that’s ultimately kind of how we service our people. We develop PR campaigns, we do design, we assist, of course, with social media, building the communications plans there as well as the content strategies.
Brandi Sims
And then, of course, pitching is a huge, huge one, getting valuable placements, and developing valuable brand partnerships that are worthwhile, and really positioning our brands to help them grow and be in a space where they’re getting the attention and the awareness that their brain needs.
Lexie Smith
And I’ll link to your agency website, of course in the show notes, and I encourage everyone to go to her website and check out their full service suite because there are so many amazing things in different services that you offer. When I was doing that, prior to the show, one area that stood out to me that I realized we haven’t talked about much on pitching and sippin is product placement. And that’s the topic I really want to discuss with you today. So first and foremost, can you tell everyone what product placement is in relation to PR?
Brandi Sims
Absolutely. So product placement is essentially kind of what I was mentioning about partnerships, right? So it’s putting the client’s product in a position where it builds awareness for them. So it could be anywhere from it being seen and immediate placement and an article, it could be aligning with an influencer and having them strategically place the products kind of behind the scenes in front of them as they’re doing what they do. But there’s a variety of different ways you can go about it. But ultimately, the goal is to generate awareness by utilizing that product placement there.
Lexie Smith
Now, does your firm deal with organic non paid product placement paid placements? Or both?
Brandi Sims
You know, that is such a good question. For us, I lean more towards the Earned product placement, I have not been I’ll be very honest, I’ve not been a fan of the paid product placements. And p2p is like, for me, it takes away from what it is that we’re here to do. And that is to generate valuable real genuine connections and build those on behalf of our clients. So whenever we have to pay for those things, it almost for me, it looks like it, it turns it back to an advertisement, with no advertisement it has its space and has its purpose and everything like that. But the goal, I think, is always to get some kind of earned placement on behalf of your client. Because ultimately that’s what we’re here for. That’s what we’re all about.
Lexie Smith
Yeah, and you know, we’re recording this in October. So we’re knee deep and gift guide season, which is obviously a very busy time for anyone with a product and something that my clients and I have seen more and more and more when pitching products for earned placements is a requirement for an affiliate link. So to everyone listening real quick, what that basically means is that product businesses are being asked to produce a unique URL that allows the outlet or affiliate to receive a profit share from any sales generated from that specific feature. So my first question is I’m curious about Brandi and your work since this is a category you’re in? Are you seeing that a lot? Or is that just something that my clients and I are just not lucky with and keep getting ticketing sent to us?
Brandi Sims
For sure. You know, I have heard of this. I think I’ve gotten maybe one journalist that shares that type of opportunity where we would get linked with you know, a percentage of the sales on it. But I don’t think it actually ended up generating much. I mean, we got a ton of hits on the article placement itself, but as far as any type of revenue, it wasn’t really much you know, to track and, and measure. If I’m not mistaken, it was some time ago. But yeah, I’m noticing more and more of these types of things being talked about amongst like different PR networks and groups of how they handle it and what percentage is the best percentage but I always go back to you know, I feel like we’re almost getting into the weeds of things. Because that’s not what we were in this for, you know, of course, it’s great, you have some paid opportunities where it turns into some kind of revenue, but I almost look at it more from the sponsorship and advertising side, as opposed to this is PR.
Brandi Sims
So yeah, it’s just such a weird time and place but I definitely have seen this more. And I’m just kind of like, I don’t understand what we’re doing here. Because this is not us. This is not what we do. But yet, we’re now building contracts out that have to specify these things because of how PR professionals are being contacted about these.
Lexie Smith
Yeah, and I couldn’t agree more, in the sense of it’s becoming something else, right, if there’s an exchange of monetary value or profit share, we’re crossing over from an earned PR placement to the site of paid advertising. But it is something for everyone listening, I think to be aware of, and maybe start just doing some research, I am myself to be honest, in research mode in this category, because it is not something that I’ve ever was really familiar with before this gift guide season is just seeing it come up more and more.
Lexie Smith
Anyways, I was just curious. So it does sound like you’re still finding earned opportunities, which is really great to hear. On that note, how do you go about identifying the places you want to target to get your clients products placed?
Brandi Sims
Okay, that’s a great question, too. So I’m very research based. So I love data analytics. I love tapping into those software’s and networks to be able to find valuable information that I can use to develop strategic plans for my clients. So for me, um, I definitely go through a research process. One, I always have like a client profile that kind of outlines the, I guess, bullets, if you will, of what it is that they’re about, what are some niche areas that they are in? What are some similar areas that we could be marketing products or, or targeting products to, as well as kind of a client? What is their Client Profile and what does their customer look like? What are the people that usually purchase this product? What is it that they’re doing? What do they like to do? What are their interests and kind of building a profile from there, so I have two separate profiles, one of the clients themselves and one of their clients. And then from that point, that’s where I get into research mode. And I try to identify media outlets that are consistent with what it is that they talk about, what they share, what they discuss, what product service they offer, and how it aligns with them. I think this is an important part of the process in any type of strategic planning if you want to make sure that you have all of your ducks in a row, you have all the information necessary that you need. So you’re properly targeting the media. I know you’ve experienced this, I’m sure many of our listeners have experienced this. And it’s kind of like a slap on the hand when you reach out to a media outlet and pitch them but you haven’t done your research. And then they come back with a Yeah, so I don’t cover this, this is my beat. And no, but thanks, thanks for reaching out. And it may not have been that it may have just been simply, I’m no longer there. Here’s a contact for somebody else. But at any rate, it’s kind of a missed mark or misstep, right. So it’s important to do your research in advance so you know, who you’re reaching out to, what style that they write in, what are the things that they’re covering and how it aligns with your client. And double bonus if you can find out specific journalist and recent article that articles that they’ve done and kind of take a clean sweep of that get some information from there and include that in your pitch, you know, you can build a commonality there that may land you a placement, just because you did the research. I feel like it makes such a difference in the approach in the response.
Lexie Smith
Yeah, you know, research in this building is absolutely one of the most important parts of the process. It’s also one of the most time consuming and you know, I think one of the challenges is to just build that list like coming up with what outlets to begin with, you know, there are tools and tools on the market. Do you have any tools that you utilize in that discovery process from you know, do you use Cision Are you just going to good old Google any kind of hacks there?
Brandi Sims
Oh, for sure. For sure. So I definitely have Cision and I love it. But I do understand that it gets pricey, right? It’s an awesome tool, but it’s definitely one that it’s top dollar, she does get everything that you could possibly need as a PR Pro. Some other really good tools. I love Google Alerts. I use that frequently when I just want to capture just things that are being said about clients.
Brandi Sims
Criticism is awesome for that, too. Gentle Google Analytics is such an amazing, amazing free tool that you can get so much valuable information from between insights to what people are searching for online, there’s such a great amount of data in there that you can use to your benefit, and it’s pretty. So it’s one of my go twos anytime I’m looking for, let’s say trends and insights. So what people are looking for as far as PR agencies or PR in general, I actually found out the other day, just doing kind of like clean sweep and search, that there’s like a new term referred to as digital PR. And maybe I mean, it may not be new to me, but I was just like, okay, so people are referring to PR now as digital PR and that’s supposed to be something different. And really, it’s the same PR, it’s just online. But mind you we’ve been in the digital age for almost 20 years now. So it was really interesting to find that this is what people are searching for when they’re looking for agencies. So what I did was I started to incorporate different keywords. And this is where it gets into more SEO, tagging these things that are trending and insights so that people would be able to easily search my page or search clients on key topics that they are discussing, or that are related to what they do. So those I would say are my top tools, both paid. And then of course, wink wink non paid, that is super, super helpful as a PR Pro.
Lexie Smith
Perfect. Thank you so much. I’ll throw one in there as well. For listeners’ free tools, if you go to alexa.com and you go to their free resources,you click on up there’s one of their tools that is like find a similar website. So let’s say you know you like Forbes, you can put Forbes in there and it’ll propagate a list of similar sites with similar demographics. So that’s a fun little tool as well, that doesn’t cost much money. We’ll put these all in the show notes for you guys as usual. Last question before we begin to wrap things up. Really just would love to hear high level some of your best pitching do’s and don’ts when pitching products for placement?
Brandi Sims
Of course, of course. So pitching do’s definitely say personalization is key if you want to come across as a friend, but not too friendly. If you know their name, username, hey, I’m Judas, I don’t know why that just popped up in my head, but we’re gonna shoot it. But you know, just kind of tying in that personal element to you. And just think of pitching as a conversation more so than just this intimidating thing. Just how would you like to be reached out to would you want the dry? Good evening, I have this going on? Will you cover it? No, you want the fun, Hey, I got this cool thing I saw that you’re looking for, you know, items, including your guide, you know, I can get you a sample or let you get an opportunity to demo it, whatever the case may be, but you want to come as personable and as as engaging as possible. And as you guys know, you know, media people in general, they get anywhere from hundreds to 1000s of email pitches every day. And I can’t imagine how many calls they get about different things. And so you want to make yourself stand out. And that’s also a good nugget to keep in mind if you are a small agency that you know, it can be intimidating. When you’re working almost against I don’t wanna say against but that’s the first thing that came to mind. But these bigger agencies that have access to way bigger resources than you do, and bigger clientele, oftentimes you get I hear that people get intimidated by but you shouldn’t remember that y’all are all on the same playing field because they still got a pitch to they may have somebody on the inside that close.
Brandi Sims
And there’s a part of their communication, everything like that, but they still have to pitch in so don’t psych yourself out and think “ oh, well, they’re probably going to go with the bigger ones. No, not necessarily. They’re going to go with the ones that are more engaging and more interesting to look at. So always keep that in mind to personalize and make it engaging, make it fun. And then, of course I mean as I said before, do your research. You definitely want don’t want to be snarky or snarky If I can say it, or quirky with, you know, a tech agency or a tech outlet that’s very much known for very professional tone, like you don’t want to necessarily do that, because that’s not really their style. But you want to kind of mirror and match the way that they communicate alongside your pitch. So those are just kind of a couple Do’s, I would definitely suggest don’t mass pitch, it’s like the, I feel like a cardinal rule at this point, you just do not mass pitch, you do not, you know, get the list of emails and dump them in a cc or a BCC, just don’t do it. You don’t want to individually pitch people. And just again, think of it like, would you want, you know, 150 different people in the same email as you talking about something that they want, or they’re pitching to you? Well, it’s no longer pitching to me, you’re pitching to this group of 150 people, and now I’m no longer interested. So think of it in that way, why you should not do that. And then again, goes back to personalization. You don’t want to reach out to someone, even if you don’t really know them, but you, you don’t want to reach out to them and make it uncomfortable or make it to where it’s not interesting or engaging enough to where it makes you stand out.
Brandi Sims
So that personalization is definitely a part of that. Another don’t, I, I’m kind of conflicted with this one. But many people say that, oh, you shouldn’t add attachments in your initial pitch.
Brandi Sims
Because something with the database, sometimes it doesn’t pick it up or automatically checks your spam. I mean, it just kind of depends, that’s again, I guess, goes back to the research of the brand or media outlet, I should say that you’re pitching to but I’ve never had an issue with that. But I could definitely see that if you have like dozens or a bunch of different things and an attachment it is kind of, it’s kind of much, you want to give them just enough to where they want more, right. So it goes back to how you’re pitching them. Keep it short, keep it sweet. Uh, don’t, don’t make an essay goes back to again, like when you get those emails, you just kind of look at it, do the, like silent stare, and then look away, I’m gonna go deal with that later, think of it the same way that they are, and then multiply that by like 1000. So of course, if they see these essays, long pitches, they’re probably going to go, you know, I’ll take a look at that later, which later never comes. We all know that. So keep it short, keep it sweet, keep it very focused as to what it is that you want, and just go from there. But those have been kind of the successful ways that I’ve been able to lock down really awesome placements for clients. It’s never been the ones where I’ve had these long drawn out emails. I’ve had a datasheet report and pictures and videos and piled all of this in one email. I’m just kind of irking myself at how it’s too much. It was way too much. I never got those ones. And now having that experience and going through it, you know, I see why. Yeah, I wasn’t thinking in the sense of how would you like to get dozens of paperwork that you’re now having to go through and read a giant essay like no, you’re I’m busy. I don’t have time. And I’ll probably won’t look at it, might look at it, but it’s a 5050 shot more likely not. I want something short, sweet bite size that I can immediately get what I need out of it, know what they want, and then respond from there. And it’s done. But those are the ways that have been so successful for me and really, really helpful.
Lexie Smith
Yeah, brevity is key. I mean, time and time again, looking at all the industry reports, journalists report that keeping it concise is what they want, right? Nobody had time for that. So quick, like a quick question on this. And then we’re going to wrap things up. Are you using press kits or media kits when pitching products these days?
Brandi Sims
Yes, that’s actually a really good question. lately. I haven’t. It’s really interesting. I have them all prepared. Um, I get mine design as soon as we sign on clients, especially if they don’t currently have one or an updated one. But yeah, lately I have not used any press kits. And it’s really interesting because it’s only started to occur over the last, I’d say Eight Nine months where journalists weren’t asking for it I’ve had maybe I would say two to three that asked for a press kit for a placement and like it was like a holiday guide is what it was but other than that, a lot of them are not asking for it anymore. And I think that’s really interesting but yeah no it’s one of those that hasn’t been a real big ask I haven’t I haven’t ready but no, I haven’t really gotten many that have been like, consistently wanting the press kits or the EP K’s with it.
Lexie Smith
Yeah, I’ve been I think we’ve been finding that too. I do think it’s, you know, quote unquote best practice to have one ready and on deck just but for anyone who spends all this time do you know don’t get too emotionally attached to the fact that you might not actually end up using it for every pitch so just just know that that’s that’s a thing and you’re playing on the a team you have it you’re ready, it’s there if you need it, but you might, might not need it. So I have probably the most important question of the entire show to ask you right so we’ve talked a lot about pitching now. What can I find you sippin so what is your favorite beverage non alcoholic or alcoholic?
Ooh, I like this. Um, so my favorite drink today. And actually it’s been growing on me but chai tea lattes have been amazing, amazing. I am not a converted coffee drinker because I still have mine every now and then. But I definitely was excessive with the coffee drinking, which I feel like most PR pros can usually attest to. But I wanted to take a step back and maybe try some teas and I feel like the chai tea latte route was the best for me. still delicious. Um, get me up and going. It’s the warmness in my cute little Spice Girls mug that gets me started on my day. But yeah, chai tea latte has been my go to and I absolutely love it.
Lexie Smith
This is a completely random tangent but for anyone listening if you’re super bored, type in Spice Girls lip sync video Stoller middle school and on a page like 100 of YouTube you will find Lexi. My last name used to be Olson in seventh grade doing a Spice Girls lip sync that for some reason has 1000s of views. And still, to this day, I don’t know who posted it was a random kid at my middle school. Um, but Spice Girls have a special place in my heart and there’s blackmail out on the interweb of me.
Brandi Sims
Oh my gosh, that’s so cool. I mean, yeah, it’s blackmail. But Flipside now you can monetize that so you’re gonna be Oh to Texas. I really should. God that’s that’s funny. I hadn’t thought of that in a while. So you just said that reminded me. And I’m going to crack up if anyone actually spends the time to find that definitely message me on instagram guys if you do, but also Don’t, don’t do it.
Lexie Smith
Okay, so last question for you. Brandy is where people can go to connect with you and learn more about you and your firm, of course.
Brandi Sims
So you can always connect with me on all of the major social media platforms Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, at brandy Sims, PR. You can also check out the page brands Inc, PR. So b ra n di ncp er, and also our website, same name, branding PR. com, I’d love to connect with you. I love connecting with other PR pros, students that are interested in getting in the field, I do have an internship program, completely remote and gives the opportunity for students across the country. And now we’ve gone International. I just graduated as a student from Nigeria, which was really, really cool. And I’ve got another one coming in from the UK. But you know, it’s an awesome opportunity to really kind of learn the ins and outs of PR. We work on a lot of PR focus tasks, including pitching, writing, and just getting more confident and comfortable with joining the PR field in the workforce. So important, you know, education is important to me. So we make it a point to do that within our internship. But aside from that, you know, just simply talking I love networking groups like this. And opportunities like this where we can connect because sometimes you can feel like you’re on a lonely island, have stacks of pitches, and product placement. And so many other things where you know, you do feel alone in many ways, especially if you’re an agency owner.
Brandi Sims
But there are awesome groups like this where you can really get connected. And I love getting connected with others that are doing similar work or different industries and just talking, you know what’s going on and what’s happening. So I would love to connect with you.
Lexie Smith
And what an amazing opportunity for students to be able to learn under you. So thank you for sharing that. And for everyone listening my ask is after listening to the show, reach out to brandy and say thanks, thanks for all the amazing knowledge she just dropped and brandy here is my thank you I actually kept you longer today than usual because I just wanted to keep pulling out all that knowledge and I appreciate you and your time and thank you again for coming on the show.
Brandi Sims
Of course. Thank you so much for having me. I had so much fun.
