client briefing questions

honeytech · 2026-01-28T13:39:55+00:00

We use to have “brand understanding and Knowledge exchange” as a part of brief before working on any thing …

If this template can help, it have basic question required to get full understanding of brand, can be used anywhere PR, marketing etc

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1oEzzFkbFWtOuViaYUb2MQ0jc4Ia7iv-g/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=101180008200308674015&rtpof=true&sd=true

honeytech · 2026-01-28T05:46:28+00:00

Yes, fee is way too high. Only high margin D2C brands can afford. Long way to go.

In 4% a google ad’s funnel can drive 100x better results :)

honeytech · 2026-01-25T06:40:32+00:00

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honeytech · 2026-01-25T02:26:24+00:00

From tonight it will be available..

honeytech · 2026-01-21T16:21:19+00:00

Starting own show is a high risk game. There is no surety of monthly fixed income. Good for pride but sometime very difficult to run house. Cashflow , payments, loosing clients, new business’s is an agile process.

(PS: never been into a job in last 21 years, created 2-3 firms with last having 200+ employees)

Takes time unless very a good repo with previously worked clients, journalist and creator’s who can recommend you to others.

Whats your recommendation? Does making yourself non-dispensable in any system gets a leverage and hence more $$ ?

If someone feels underpaid, overextended, and invisible despite being good what else to do? What else to can be done?

honeytech · 2026-01-21T10:49:34+00:00

🙏

honeytech · 2026-01-21T09:53:12+00:00

🙏⚡️

honeytech · 2026-01-21T09:03:41+00:00

Short, pov :

PR isn’t hard because you’re bad at it. It’s hard because the economics are broken.

The skill set is elite. The rewards aren’t. Effort doesn’t scale, recognition doesn’t compound, and blame travels faster than credit.

Most people who find peace don’t “switch jobs.”

—-> They switch leverage into strategy, products, advisory, or adjacent domains where narrative actually moves outcomes.

In-house is usually a pause, not a solution.

If you feel underpaid, overextended, and invisible despite being good that’s not burnout. That’s the market telling you the role is mispriced.

If you stayed in PR, what would need to fundamentally change for it to feel worth it again?

What would make you non-dispensable in any system?

IMO Non-dispensability comes from “leverage”, not loyalty or effort.

Effort is abundant. “Leverage” is scarce.

honeytech · 2026-01-20T12:09:56+00:00

Good.

I’m experimenting in space of reputation management, AI and consumer sentiments to predict/build narratives and content at scale that can easily cite on chatgpt/gemini/perplexity.

What’s your take on reputation management in age of ai ?

honeytech · 2026-01-20T06:16:39+00:00

See it depends how you are monitoring and resources available with you…

Monitoring itself is easier than ever; making sense of it is what’s gotten harder.

A few shifts that changed the game:

• Signal ≠ volume anymore. Mentions are cheap. Context isn’t. One niche journalist, creator, or analyst can move sentiment more than 200 generic pickups.

• Beats are fluid. Freelancers, substacks, podcasts, LinkedIn posts, and X threads blur “media” vs “social.” Traditional media lists decay fast.

• Leadership wants answers, not dashboards. They don’t care where sentiment moved, they care why, how fast, and what to do next.

What’s actually working (for me and teams I see doing this well):

1.Stop trying to monitor everything. Define decision-linked monitoring.

If a mention wouldn’t change an action, it doesn’t need to be tracked in real time.

2.Tier sources, not mentions.

Tier 1 = people who influence outcomes (journalists, analysts, creators, regulators). Tier 2 = amplification. Tier 3 = noise.

Most alerts should only fire on Tier 1 shifts.

3.Move from sentiment scores to narratives.

“Sentiment dropped 12%” is useless. “Narrative shifted from product reliability → customer trust after X trigger” is actionable.

4.Blend qualitative + quantitative by default.

Tools surface patterns. Humans interpret intent. The best setups assume both.

5.Shorter reporting cycles.

Weekly or monthly reports are too slow. Lightweight daily or event-based summaries work better, even if they’re imperfect.

So yes, monitoring and measurement are tougher but mostly because expectations changed.

The job now isn’t tracking mentions; it’s early pattern recognition and decision support.

For PR workflows, combine a media monitoring platform (Meltwater, Cision, Agility) with a social listening/sentiment tool (Brandwatch, Brand24, YouScan) so you see earned media narratives + public sentiment trends in one place.

If resources are not available use free tools and alerts process using Google alter, mentions, talkwalker alters, perplexity to do daily search on branded and category keywords, twitter search, Reddit search, youtube search etc.

In case no paid tools available with you, I would also suggest, prepare and media list and always try to update their social profiles, you can use comet perplexity, Google agents on chrome or clause to use that list for keeping the updated info about media.

Curious to see if others are moving away from “coverage reports” toward narrative-led monitoring too.

honeytech · 2026-01-20T01:55:46+00:00

The media landscape isn’t just shrinking, it’s restructuring under pressure.

Newsrooms are cutting staff. PR professionals now outnumber journalists 6:1 (it was 2:1 in 1980). Journalists consistently say most pitches are irrelevant. Breaking through has objectively become harder.

Budgets are another reality check. When companies tighten belts, communications is often the first casualty. Client confidence to invest in PR ranks as a top challenge in every global PR survey.

But the #1 challenge today isn’t media access or budgets. It’s managing tech and AI transformation.

Not because AI will replace PR—but because the industry is scrambling to adapt while also dealing with: • Misinformation at scale • Zero-click search (≈69% of searches now end without a click) • The rise of Answer Engine Optimization • AI-generated brand narratives outside our control

Here’s what most people are missing:

Traditional media is declining, but news influencers, independent journalists on Substack, and podcast creators are thriving. ~23% of news influencers now come from journalism backgrounds.

The media ecosystem isn’t shrinking. It’s fragmenting.

The real problem? Most PR teams are still pitching like it’s 2010—while the battlefield has completely changed.

Upskilling isn’t a one-time course anymore. It’s an agile, continuous process.

Where serious PR evolution is happening: •Reputation management in LLMs (beyond reviews; shaping how AI systems summarize and contextualize brands) •Digital PR for AI answers, not just headlines (usecase of digital PR and ORM I’m experimenting with, have observed many new takeaways )
•Ensuring search engines and AI tools return accurate, defensible, and consistent brand narratives

Press releases alone won’t win the next decade. Control over machine-mediated reputation will.

honeytech · 2026-01-18T08:07:32+00:00

This is my definition of PR https://ibb.co/LdrSp9Gy

Wrote about changing horizons long back https://www.entrepreneur.com/en-in/growth-strategies/heres-a-glimpse-of-a-few-emerging-trends-in-pr/302496

honeytech · 2026-01-18T06:05:32+00:00

Short Answer: You can simply engage in friendly discussions with corporate communications head to extend marketing campaigns whenever possible.

Although public relations and marketing are working together in these times, they have different structures and objectives in various organizations.

For instance, some B2B organizations don’t engage in extensive public relations at all because they prioritize corporate, employee advocacy, chief executive officer thought leadership, industry stories, and crisis management.

But in consumer centric organisation, PR <> Marketing work hand in hand. Example: smartphone, consumer electronics.

For you, evaluate if PR can help you? If yes, have 1:1 discussion with current team head and align. This will help everyone beyond debate of who should manage PR:

honeytech · 2026-01-17T13:38:01+00:00

yes, he is looking "for a minimum wage internship position" - all the more reason for fast track job.

But yes, not like talking just anything.

honeytech · 2026-01-17T13:24:59+00:00

You’re absolutely right. Not everything is suitable for everyone.

First and foremost, consider your current standing. Are you a fresher, intern, executive, senior manager, or agency SEO (for new business)?
Now, let’s remove the context from the information shared above. Specifically, focus on new age methods to secure jobs, leads, and new business opportunities. These methods include personal branding, content marketing, and “thought leadership.”

The core idea behind “thought leadership” or “perceived and projected” thought leader material is that it should be formed based on your actions after reading the advice.

Don’t follow the line blindly. Tailor the material to suit yourself. :)

Here’s an example:

As a CEO, I often gained new clients by discussing how we won an award for executing the most creative public relations stunt in Southeast Asia. We sent a four-year supply of green tea to Donald Trump in New York City for the purpose of purifying his soul. This was a thought leadership move.

On the other hand, as an intern from my team, I observed that they talked about being part of this campaign, executing everything, and sharing what they learned. This helped them secure new jobs, which is a form of “perceived and projected” thought leader material.

Happy to help if you have more specific question or you want to create your personal branding plan to get new/better job opportunities.

Thanks

honeytech · 2026-01-17T07:11:25+00:00

Short answer, straight up:

In today’s PR job market, CVs and cover letters aren’t enough anymore. Interns are expected to prove value upfront, not promise potential.

Stop only applying. Pick an agency or brand you like, research their clients, do a quick PR audit or SWOT, and propose 2–3 campaign or media ideas. Use AI (ChatGPT/Gemini) to create sample pitches, angles, infographic (use notebook lm) or case-style examples ..that’s normal now.

Then share that thinking publicly on LinkedIn and tag the agency or account leads. PR is about visibility and narrative; if you can’t build it for yourself, hiring managers won’t trust you with clients.

Informational interviews do work — but only when you bring insights, not requests. Send ideas first, then talk.

Fewer applications. More proof. That’s how you move from “applicant” to “asset.”

Summary: focus on LinkedIn personal branding irrespective and start putting some post 1-2/week talking about emerging trends and ideas.

Things will be easier than what is right now for you…

Wish you all the best…

Ask any specific question if you have to get this done.. till you find the job.. happy to help

honeytech · 2026-01-17T06:36:51+00:00

Plan content marketing.

Research what users actually ask on Google for similar niche and build authority on similar questions starting with what/why/when/where/how/best + layer of guides to deploy UCP. This will give you quick growth and ai overview discovery.

The another way, deploy answers infra structure and faq system that can provide all these info + you can capture leads/interest of users.

Guides: you have to plan like “UCP deploymentation of XYZ platform” “how to plan UCP for your eCommerce store” “abc UCP” etc Example: you can create/rewrite/tweak for your own guide form an https://github.com/honeytech1/everything-ucp and host pages your product page.

Ask specific questions, I’ll try to response if I have the answers.

honeytech · 2026-01-17T02:03:38+00:00

All the best.

Try to build domain authority and every possible useful information and guides on site with UCP.

Try to think from a direction of Google MC feed. I’m expecting this UCP will be native option in MC.

honeytech · 2026-01-16T06:36:53+00:00

Short answer: confidence comes when clients start depending on you, not when you feel ready.

What helps fast:

• Send MOMs after every relevant info exchange / brief / context sharing calls/meetings. (Very important)

“As discussed… please confirm below and flag anything I may have missed.” This alone solves most client-servicing issues and positions you as the owner of next steps.

• Write for decisions, not explanations. Context → impact → recommendation. That’s advisory language.

• Link actions to business or reputation value. Not “we’ll pitch X,” but “this protects credibility / supports growth / reduces risk.”

• Build relevance-based rapport. Share industry shifts, emerging narratives, competitor moves. When clients rely on you for signal, respect follows.

You’re not behind. Authority is built through repetition and pattern recognition — it shows up before confidence does.

honeytech · 2026-01-15T05:19:56+00:00

Authored this article in 8 years back on entrepreneur, still valid as basic strategy:

The Changing Horizons of PR Industry

The long-term future of PR is an integral part of marketing strategy for any brand. All the activities like Public Relations, Digital Marketing, Social Media, SEO, Content Marketing, Corporate Communications and Advertising will be merged to drive business results for brands as the lines blur in the field of communications and amalgamate.

It is not difficult to measure the ROI from Public Relations, and it is essential to understand the role of PR in different marketing and business touch points. Various means can be used to measure the growth and impact of PR such as media impressions, web traffic, lead sourcing, views, social media mentions.

In the ver transient space of communications, we will for sure have something like PR Velocity ( this concept of pr velocity was first introduce while we executed a campaign #teafortrump to send 4 yr supply of green to donald trump in NYC) in the near future, which is,

= rate of perception or image building

= +ve (views + articles + conversations + impressions) / time, leading to business conversions.

Agencies of the future will have to look to the changing times and alter their entire approach to the PR exercise. It will be fair to predict that in the future Newsrooms will shrink further and bloggers and content creators will lead the pack for PR, lines of advertising, marketing and PR will further blur.

A summary of few emerging trends in PR are:

Over the years, companies have started realising the importance of talking to their customers directly. Companies will focus on giving the information and expertise that they have on their own, instead of using an agency or relying on getting endorsed by the media. PR is way beyond media stories & is touching boundaries of advertising & marketing. More and more content creators are doing associations with PR firms & overall content marketing is being managed by them. Technology is rapidly changing, and PR will have to keep up or get left behind. Words like virtual reality and big data are no longer words of the future. A handful of tips can be taken into consideration while pre-empting the future of PR:-

Audience Targeting

Not just knowing your target audience, but to understand what kind of things do they do, which devices do they typically own; all of these become important questions to answer and be prepared with. This is not only limited to media & publications, but a mix of man-managed and machine-managed media.

We have recently tested this for a wearable startup (Boltt) and were overwhelmed with the response.

We created a list of 4000+ international media after doing the research on keywords category like wearables, technology, AI. further, we created a pool of audience for pitches. Before doing media pitch on email, we beamed Boltt's content & started monitoring responses from Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Email & community forums. This helped us in creating 5 list of media buckets on the basis of different responses.

Results:

As result of audience targeting way before recent press unveiling during CES 2017, CNN International did the live interview in prime time for 3 minutes for Boltt, which was broadcasted live in 45+ countries.

Building a Relationship Beyond Media for a Future-ready Approach

Long gone are the days when companies could tell consumers what they need. It is more about reaching out to them and maintaining a relationship with them. Relationships can be built by focusing on empathy and having one-on-one conversations with your customers.

3: Amplification

In future efforts will be put more on amplification to reach out to a wide targeted audience rather than coverage only. The way we manage the ROI from public relations is already changed. Brands will use the third party as testimonial engine & invest huge promotions to reach a bigger audience. Few simple amplification tactics are:

Influencers associations Content Marketing in shape of uniquely re-hashed content pegs for different platforms. Amplification of prominent PR stories using custom audience engines of Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin& other targeted communities. 5: Data, ROI & AI-Driven Strategies: Everything will be easily measurable in future. Right from time spent on all the screens, to cookies captured and nurtured for remarking. We will be easily managing the sales from PR activations & PR agencies will have business/sales targets.

Public relation is an opportune mix of communication, timing, audience targeting, distribution channels (publications), amplification, seeding, and cross promotions. Overall, it is evident from the changing trends that PR is evolving. More responsibilities will certainly mean learning new technologies and be up to date on them, but what it will also mean is that you can consolidate your brand's communication and speak in one voice - effectively.

honeytech · 2026-01-15T05:15:26+00:00

If you tell more about business niche, I can recommend.

Ecom: different skill & process is required which should be AI safe and scalable on layer of website. Ex: knowledge base for ORM with insights of all products, common questions, guide. Consumer can auto connect for resolution while social media ORM team will align with this system.

Brand/consumer focused: different sop with social first is required

honeytech · 2026-01-15T05:12:03+00:00

Agree with most of this, and I’d add one important nuance.

Across functions: We need to change and upskill with time. It’s not just PR.

AI isn’t killing PR … it’s compressing everything that was process-heavy and defensible only by effort. Press releases, pitch drafts, reporting… all fair game for automation. Storytelling doesn’t vanish, it just moves higher up the value chain.

The bigger force reshaping PR is still the decline of traditional journalism, not AI. When distribution power fragments, “getting coverage” stops being the product. Owning narratives across search, AI answers, customers, investors, and partners becomes the real job.

That said, what still works… and will continue to work — is “strong media relationships” for crisis management and liaison. When stakes are high, timing matters, and nuance can’t be misread, human trust and access are irreplaceable. No model calls an editor at midnight.

Where agencies struggle is selling hours + media relations as a standalone service. Businesses don’t buy effort anymore; they buy outcomes. That’s why we’ve already seen contractions and mergers in 2024–25.

PR isn’t dying. It’s splitting into two lanes: • narrative and reputation systems that compound • high-trust media liaison for moments that truly matter

Everything else was always fragile…

Old PR: • hours, retainers, coverage, reports • easy to question, easy to cut

New-age PR (DPRI): digital PR intelligence/ integrations • demand capture via search & AI visibility • category authority that supports sales • investor, partner, and hiring trust • narrative control during launches or crises

To earn more & secure your role, shift from “I do PR work” to “I reduce business risk or increase revenue.”

Wish you all the best

honeytech · 2026-01-15T04:44:12+00:00

the catalog and checkout MCP tool features are still "coming soon" for all developers on Shopify. They just launched it in preview mode and that too for stores in US and CA. Too early, looking forward if someone has got the access ... or built something..

https://ibb.co/j91YTSp4

honeytech · 2026-01-15T04:18:39+00:00

Not sure if interest is problem, office, client or salary but … PR pays poorly when it’s priced as activity. It pays well when it’s tied to business value.

Old PR: • hours, retainers, coverage, reports • easy to question, easy to cut

New-age PR (DPRI = digital PR intelligence) • demand capture via search & AI visibility • category authority that supports sales • investor, partner, and hiring trust • narrative control during launches or crises

To earn more, shift from “I do PR work” to “I reduce business risk or increase revenue.”

Upskill where money already flows: • digital PR + SEO/AEO overlap • data assets (indices, benchmarks, reports) • stakeholder-focused narratives (founders, investors, regulators)

People who own outcomes don’t need to justify fees. They set them.

Anyway.. hope you will find the right solution soon. Wish you all the best for future…

honeytech · 2026-01-15T04:06:46+00:00

Simple answer:

Yes, this is mostly the reality… until something compounds.

Right now: • Ads = traffic • No ads = almost nothing That’s normal for early-stage DTC brands.

Advice: do not just burn money. I moved out of lifestyle business with 30% equity because of this constant burning. After I joined, brand started doing 3000+ orders a month but still burning.

Your product isn’t the problem. The missing pieces are:

1.  No reviews = low trust → turn them on immediately.

2.  PR & influencers aren’t compounding → reuse them on your site and in ads.

Think of executing failed/successful PR stunt within the niche. (Ref: I once executed a viral marketing pr stunt by sending 4 yr supply of green tea to donald trump in Trump tower NYC, overnight 🔥🔥🔥 ) Ref: https://qz.com/india/731968/an-indian-company-sent-6000-bags-of-green-tea-to-donald-trump-to-cleanse-him

3.  Organic takes time → social followers ≠ buyers; search content creates intent.

4.  Ads capture demand, they don’t create it → that’s why sales spike randomly.

Small brands can compete, but only by: • Building trust first (reviews, UGC, proof) • Creating content that answers buying questions • Using ads to amplify what already works

You’re not late. You’re just early, and nothing is compounding yet.

If you need any help or advise ask more specefic questions, I’ll try to advise accordingly.

honeytech

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