How real personal brands are built: PR strategy, thought leadership, earned media
Cision shut down Connectively, the platform formerly known as Help a Reporter Out, and the query market splintered. What survived, what replaced it, and how to use the new generation of source platforms without drowning.
Sloppy pitching is not just ineffective — it burns trust you will need for years. The non-negotiables: honesty about exclusives, no fake urgency, real disclosure, and treating no as a complete answer.
Retainers start where DIY starts free. Both paths can be rational — but only after you price your hours honestly and define what a placement is actually worth to you.
Generalists compete on price and disappear in search results. A working framework for choosing a niche narrow enough to own — without boxing yourself into work you will hate.
A following on someone else's platform is a liability you can lose overnight. Here is the honest asset map — what you own, what you rent, and how to migrate attention to property.
No hacks, no folklore: the observable mechanics of LinkedIn's ranking system, what changed as video and AI content flooded the feed, and a posting system built around them.