1/ DIY PR for SWers (Thread:)

In this mega-thread, we’re going to talk about public relations and how it applies to our business.

2/ This is a little dicier and more advanced than what we’ve talked about before, but done well (and you can, yes YOU!) it can drastically increase your influence, brand equity, and income. And that’s what we’re all about on this account.

3/ Increasing your income and, well, dick jokes.

A public relations strategy is going to look drastically different from person to person, depending on what type(s) of sex work you do. The legality of it in your geographical area.

4/ Your comfort level of being “out” in your personal life.

There’s not going to be any judgment from me EVER about any of the above. I was a FSSW in a country where it is, uh, frowned upon, to say the least. I get it.

5/ I was almost fully in the SWer closet for most of my career. No judgment here.

But please understand that self-promotion can catapult you into the public eye.

6/ If you want or need to remain as anonymous as possible, then take note of how you can adapt these principles to your specific situation. One important lesson I learned early on is that there’s always one or two things you can find useful in any resource.

7/ So don’t be disappointed if not all of this is applicable to you. You may find something you can adapt.

Also, this thread works best on the shoulders of my previous threads about Twitter, Branding, Content Strategy.

8/ If you haven’t read those, you can still hopefully find value here. If you have read through them, you’ll find much more value in this thread.

So what even is PR and why should we do it?

9/ Public relations is the art of crafting and delivering messages that inform and persuade the public, and get people to change opinions or take action.

Well, isn’t that just marketing and advertising? Well, no. It goes like this.

Marketing is “I’m awesome.”

10/ Advertising is “I’m awesome. Click the link to pay me.”

Public relations is another person saying “This person (you) is awesome.”

So how do you get other people talking about how awesome you are? I’ll get to that shortly.

Marketing includes public relations.

11/ Public relations can be a part of your marketing plan. Public relations falls under “promotion”, one of the 5 P’s of marketing.

I’ll list the 5 P’s below for clarity’s sake:

Product (differentiation, appearance)
Price (price, discounts)

12/ Promotion (advertising, PR, sponsorships)
Place (distribution channels, platforms, markets)
People (customer service, interpersonal skills)
So it’s more like advertising, then? Well, no, again.
There are three types of media in business. Owned, Earned, and Paid media.

13/ Owned media is all the content you create.
Earned media is when other’s share your messages voluntarily. (this is PR and what we will be focusing on here)
Paid media is advertising.
Why is earned media so valuable?

14/ Well, for one thing, it goes back to the social proof that we talked about in the Twitter thread. Having others extol your virtues is much more valuable and reliable in the eyes of the public than watching you extol them yourself.

15/ Second, an article, quote, or interview about you will last longer than an ad. It will stay in search engines for a longer time, and that longevity is key. And third, it’s completely free - and that’s a great price!

16/ Social media marketing, content marketing, email marketing all important. But none of these are public relations, either, although they can certainly feed your PR machine. Think of the PR piece as a gear in an engine, along with all these other gears.

17/ If you can get them all running smoothly together, you’ll be an unstoppable force.
When should you do it? This is not a first month, or even first-year project, friends.

18/ Much like nailing your branding down, it’s going to take a little time to get your feet under you, become profitable, and figure out how you can add value to the greater community and where you’ll slot in.

19/ If you’re just starting, read through this article, save it and come back to it when it’s time.

20/ If you’ve been in the industry for a while and things seem to be going well, and you’re ready to step further into the public eye and get that free promotion there are two specific things we’re going to tackle a bit later:
Ongoing public relations.

21/ A public relations campaign to promote something exciting.
Bur first, let’s talk about.
Self-promoting like a celebrity. Christ, this may ruffle some feathers, but here we go.

22/ I want you from this point on (for the purposes of this thread) as your own personal star of your tiny media empire. You are the star of the show here. In order to effectively do this, we are going to need to balance humility with a tiny bit of hubris.

23/ I personally don’t care for the Kardashians, but let’s face facts, these people are MASTERS at self-promotion. You are now the Kylie Jenner of your sex business, and we are going to learn how to get people talking. Is this slightly toxic? Probably. Can it be done ethically?

24/ Absolutely. And that’s what we’re going to do.
Just like every other thread, this is advice is only as good as much as it makes you happy and/or money. So let’s focus on that.

25/ Increasing your confidence is beyond the scope of what I’m qualified to teach here (or probably at all) but know this. 95% of this business is faking it until you make it.

26/ And 100% of successful people in this industry once didn’t know what they were doing (and a lot of us are still figuring it out on a daily basis, myself included).

Determining your end goal. It’s going to determine how you proceed. So, let’s determine the end goal.

27/ If everything went perfectly, and you could have your sex career how you wanted it, where would you see yourself in a year or two.

28/ There’s no wrong answer, but there is a vast difference in the plan for someone who wants to pose for Playboy or be a porn actor as opposed to someone who wants to create MP3s and then quietly retire after a few years.

29/ Again, no answer is wrong, but knowing this is key to deciding how to move forward.

This brings me to: Start as you mean to go on. From this moment on, as the STAR of your media empire, you are going to PR your little ass of as if you are already the thing you want to be.

30/ This doesn’t mean lying about your accomplishments or getting a swollen ego. It does mean if you are a high-end escort who dreams of being in Penthouse, you promote as that.

31/ If you are an expert on your favorite kink and you one day hope to be the Monarch of Shibari, you promote as moving toward that. You can never get people, and or the media talking by blending in.

32/ A golden rule I always want you to remember is never try to blend in, always aim to stand out.

This starts with owning your expertise. We don’t often think of this, because we’re all under constant stress and stigma, but we are skilled professionals.

33/ Our skill sets range from sex, to kink, to business, to videography, to marketing, to blogging, to being a small business owner, to content creator. And let’s not forget the many experts on law as it relates to sex work in our ranks.

34/ Whatever your area of expertise is, own it and hone it. You have much more to offer than you think.

Become a thought leader. What is a thought leader?

35/ Sounds like another corporate buzzword, but what it really means is being someone who offers guidance and insight to those around them. If you have been in business for some time, you have enough experience and insight to become a thought leader.

36/ So how do you pull this off?

Discover what niches you have expertise in and stick to them. Look at the list above. I know that I am good at marketing and writing. I’m totally unskilled in areas of tech. By sticking to my niche I keep a consistent voice in my work.

37/ Once I start to understand tech though, it’s over for you sluts. ;)

When you are wearing your thought leader hat, put business and profitability on the back burner. Adopting a value-added, team player mindset will get you much further than a tit for tat mentality.

38/ For example, backing an outreach organization is an excellent PR move, however if you do it for the express and obvious reasoning of getting more clients, you’re not only acting sketchy as all hell and may damage your reputation, but your PR move will backfire.

39/ And whores won’t forget stuff like that.

You must always keep learning about the industry. You must be teachable and listen to others. You must be a team player. This shit can’t and shouldn’t be faked.

40/ Attend industry events, stay current with changes in the industry, and get published as much as possible, even if it’s posting to your own blog at first. Offer to guest post on other blogs. Make yourself available for collaboration.

Respond to timely topics in the news.

41/ So, the news cycle moves fast and I hate it. Especially in this business. If anything goes down, and you want to establish yourself as a person worth listening to, you’re going to have to address any news that comes up.

42/ After a while, social media followers will begin to look to you for your take on things. This is a good thing. This doesn’t apply to community drama or discourse, however. I’ll address that later.

Create a Press Information page for your site.

43/ A great way to signal that you are “available for comment”, in other words, press, is to create a press page for your website. Here’s what that means. It’s a simple page that makes it easy for journalists and others to see you as a reliable source.

44/ Here’s what it should contain.

A tasteful photo. No nudity here. You are going for professional/expert. Be sure to let your brand identity show, however.

An about me.

45/ Different from the about me for your clients because you are changing copy from “I’m hot buy my shit” to “I’m an expert on xyz”

Noteworthy statistics. Top .000001% of Only Fans with 85 billion subscribers. Creating online fetish content since 2014.

Contact information.

46/ Email goes here.

Media mentions. Have you been quote in XYZ magazine? This goes on this page too. Magazine logos are better here than words.

What if you have no noteworthy statistics? What if you have no quotes? Then you be honest and work with what you have.

47/ Understand the difference between a PR campaign and everyday PR. So there’s ongoing PR, and there’s a PR campaign, and the difference is what it sounds like. Ongoing PR is putting yourself into the public eye to build your credibility in a more general sense.

48/ A campaign is a dedicated, timed PR campaign around the launch of something exciting.

First. How to do a PR campaign.

49/ Do you ever notice how when a new Marvel movie comes out, those actors fly all over the world doing interviews, press junkets, and late-night talk show appearances? We are going to apply the same principle to our small businesses.

50/ Let’s say you have been blogging for a while and you’ve written a short book. A scaled-down “Marvel tour de force” is a great way to harness the power of PR to promote your book.

51/ You’d used this in tandem with social media marketing as well as other marketing and advertising efforts.

What if you’ve been a dominatrix for years and you’re finally starting up an only fans? Same principles can apply to a lesser degree.

Make news (in a positive way).

52/ The point is, whenever we make news in a positive way, and we really want to be doing that as much as possible by adding value to our community because it makes us all stronger, and also creating amazing content, we have an opportunity, not just to get free press, but…

53/ …also to add more value to the ongoing conversation.

So we’ve figured a few things out so far and set up our press page. Now let’s get ourselves featured in an article. Or invited on a podcast. The steps are simple. All it takes is a little research and consistency.

54/ And the willingness to fail A LOT.

So, yeah, STEPS.

Research the publications and podcasts. Grab your handy dandy notebook or open a spreadsheet and start writing out every print magazine, blog, podcast and other that produces content about your niche.

55/ Try to identify the reporters, writers, and podcasters that are making this content.

Follow those reporters, writers, and podcasters on Twitter. Begin to engage politely with their tweets. Do not approach them yet.

56/ Just be an interested observer and contribute to their comments every now and then.

Google articles similar to the story you want to tell.

57/ Take an hour of so and google articles and podcast episodes that are similar to the stories you have to share and your area of expertise. Add these platforms and names to the above list.

Discover your story and become very good at telling it.

58/ In the meantime, hone your story. What can you contribute to either the current hot conversation or to the ongoing conversation?

Create a pitch. I’ll let you in on a little secret. Journalists and the like want and need interesting story ideas.

59/ Your pitch may very well get ignored. And hey, that’s fine. Sometimes we ignore emails in this industry, too. If you’re ignored, wait a few weeks and try again.

60/ Repeat every once in a while (a few weeks pass in between emails) unless you are told to not email any more in which case, DON’T.
Questions to ask yourself about your pitch: Is it timely? Is it relevant? And is it interesting?

61/ Why would someone like you be interested in reading this?

If you can’t answer these questions affirmatively and definitively, then come up with a new idea.

Reach out to journalists directly and personally. Time to craft a pitch email.

62/ Emails should be addressed personally. No “To whom it may concern”. Use the person’s name. Subject line should be something attention grabbing. Perhaps a proposed headline for the article.

63/ For the body of the email, you have about 15 seconds to impress them, and if you don’t your email is getting deleted. I found a great template for the body of the email online. I’ll post it below:

64/ I have a story pitch but before you hit delete, just give me 37 seconds, or else you’ll regret this for life! So here it goes:
You recently wrote a great article on Teslas, I really enjoyed your analysis on its affordability.

65/ We just completed a study and discovered that the average price of a used Tesla is $30k more than a new Tesla. Thought this would pique your curiosity.
We are publishing the findings from the study on [insert date], and I wanted to see if you would cover it beforehand.

66/ Here are two reasons your readers would love your coverage of this:
Insert benefit #1
Insert benefit #2
I could keep on going with reasons you should blog about us but I won’t overwhelm you with details.

67/ If you’re interested, let me know and we can set up a time to chat when you’re free.
Cheers,
[insert your name]
P.S. I think I have 7 seconds to spare still, so if you could just hit the reply button and let me know what you thought of my pitch, that would be great.

68/ Even if it is “F-off”‘ any feedback would be great.

Cheeky. But much more attention grabbing than “If you ever need a quote about FOSTA/SESTA, let me know.”

Alter these words to fit your own style.

Be a good source.

69/ Once you’ve gotten the quote, or interview, or article, be a good source and collaborator. I’ll repeat another of my golden rules. Your reputation is everything, protect it. Respond to all correspondence promptly. Don’t make them wait on you. Fulfill your promises.

70/ Send them a thank you email after.

Leverage your media presence. Once your article/interview/quote has posted, do the right thing for everyone involved and promote it on your social media pages. Thank the host or journalist. “@” any other contributors.

71/ Be a good sport and a team player.

Don’t wait! Write for yourself! So what if you don’t have journalists banging down your email inbox and nobody is replying to your emails? You write about your expertise and experiences yourself. You create content and promote it.

72/ Maybe you set up a little twitter on New Years and then it turns into something, idk. The point is that if you are consistent and build it, they will come. Contribute to other’s blogs, offer to write posts for them (guest blogging). Attend industry events and network.

73/ It will all come together.

“Shit I fucked up and need to do damage control.”

So how do we handle drama and discourse? And worse what if we’re the one who fucked up big time?

A gentle, loving reminder from your whore mom. This is a business. This is not high school.

74/ I love you all very much but when we’re at each other's throats, we are not making money. And we all want that money. This is not to say that we can’t talk about controversial topics or that we need to allow ourselves to be bullied.

75/ It does mean that remember your social media and public business persona is just that, a business persona. And never ever forget that when we are divided, we are easier to stamp out.

So what if some bitch starts some shit with us? Some powerful words to say:

76/ “I can see where you’re coming from. Here’s what I think.”

“Yeah I hear what you’re saying, but consider…”

“I’ve definitely heard this from others too. Can you explain to me a little more about…”

Now, this may not diffuse a situation.

77/ And that block button is always there if you need it. But, it’s always better to build community with other sex workers that dissent.

But what if you’re the one who fucked up big time?

What to do:
Take a breath. We all fuck up.

78/ Take some time to think about how you want to respond and fix this.

Craft a short statement about what you said or did and take full responsibility without using the word “but”.

Explain what you learned in the process.

Explain how you’re going to be better.

79/ Reach out to all personally affected parties one on one to apologize.

Remain humble and don’t do it again.

What not to do:
Lash out, defend or shift blame.

Say “no comment”

Respond too quickly or too slowly.

80/ The next day or two for something fairly major is likely best.

Dwell on it. Our news cycle is short and there’s always new drama. Allow yourself to let it go and move on. Next week there will be some other main character on Twitter everyone will be mad at.

81/ So that’s that, kids. An incomplete guide to DIY PR for Sexworkers. I’m proud of you for reading through this. If anyone has any resources, tips or anything else to add, please let me know and I’ll be sure it’s added to the end of the thread.

To all our success,

Ms. CEO