PR Warrior Blog

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Welcome to PR Warrior - here's a quick primer

Hi there, and thanks for stopping by! The origins of PR Warrior stretch back to July, 2007 when I published my first post on Typepad, at the time a leading blogging platform. Fast forward a few years, I made the switch to WordPress. I couldn't bring over my

Authority brand

Authority branding: What it is, who it's for, and how to do it right

There's a lot of noise in the marketplace. Influencers shouting on LinkedIn. Growth-hackers promising overnight visibility. Shiny-object tactics that flare up and fade just as quickly. In the middle of all this, there's you. A seasoned professional who knows their craft. A founder, consultant, coach, or

Authority brand

Visibility is easy. Credibility is rare.

The fundamentals of building credibility for one’s brand have not changed. Relationships. Trust. Genuine expertise shared generously. All as relevant today as they were a decade or more ago. What has changed, however, is where and how that credibility gets communicated and amplified - the channels, the tools, the

Authority brand

Why personal branding has a reputation problem

Why is it that some people manage to build large online followings but can't sustain the hype and buzz over time? It’s because they got things arse-about: They invested heavily in their personal brand before building the reputation to support it, and eventually, the gap between the

Authority brand

The Friday Night Lights guide to building a presence the market can't deny

“Clear Eyes. Full Hearts. Can’t Lose.” These six words play an integral role before games played by the Dillon Panthers in Friday Night Lights, the television series set in a small Texas town where high school football isn’t a pastime, it’s everything. Every Friday night, the entire

LinkedIn

The PR tactic hiding in plain sight that most people dismiss as frivolous

In a previous article I unpacked a concept I call Micro-Acts of PR, or MAPRs, explaining how small moves can build big reputations over time. In this issue, I want to show what that looks like in action and in doing so, reinforce a tactic we all know about but

Public relations

Micro-Acts of PR: Small moves that build big reputations

“The podcast appearance this month might lead to your dream client… next year.” I love that line from Ellen Donnelly, publisher of The Ask newsletter - it’s bang on! Why? Because it perfectly sums up how visibility, trust, and reputation actually work today. To be fair, it’s the

Authority brand

Why failing to evolve your voice is the quickest path to professional irrelevance

In this article, I take a look at the importance of evolving our voice in the marketplace. But first, what constitutes one’s ‘voice’? I’m talking in terms of reputation and personal brand - credible founders, professional experts and solo practice owners who are active in the marketplace writing

Thought leadership

Unpacking ARC - the professional transformation that moves leaders and experts from the margins into the frame

You have the expertise. The track record. The ideas that capture people’s attention. The insights that could shift conversations and open doors. But none of it matters if you’re standing in the margins, hidden largely from public view. You’re a credible professional, a solo practice owner or

Thought leadership

You're more visible than ever. So why aren't there more opportunities coming your way?

You’ve been putting in the work - showing up consistently, posting regularly, sharing insights - in an attempt to raise your professional profile and build your presence online. But the opportunities you expected - the inbound inquiries, the quality clients, the meaningful partnerships, the podcast interviews - aren’t

Authority brand

The content curator's path to building an authority brand

When it comes to building personal brand authority, it’s common to assume you need to always be publishing original ideas - crafting bold opinions, staking contrarian positions, and ‘owning’ a distinctive point of view in the marketplace. And it’s a fair assumption. That pathway works. But it’s

Authority brand

Your quick-start guide to building a credible authority brand

In this quick no-fluff guide, I briefly address these questions: * What is an authority brand? * What is authority branding? * Who should take authority branding seriously? * Why does authority branding matter today? * What happens if you don’t build personal brand authority? Plus I outline a bare-bones strategic framework for building

Thought leadership

Two timely reminders and a thought provocation

Here are a couple of timely reminders regarding how we communicate our business and personal brand, plus a shift in vibe for LinkedIn: Can we fall back in love with the platform? And for added spice, are we seeing a shakeout of email newsletters? Let’s get into it! 1.

Authority brand

All the tactics in the world won’t save you without these two things

Should I be on YouTube? Start a podcast? Publish a Substack newsletter? Or write articles on LinkedIn (or is it better to post videos 🧐 )? And what about TikTok? I hear it’s better than Instagram for business. Maybe I should get out there and do more networking? Hmmm … Or set

Authority brand

START TODAY → The 30-day challenge that builds genuine authority (not fake influence)

In today’s online environment, if we look deep enough, so much of what we see and experience comes across as fake, or manufactured. Authority. Influence. Even expertise. This is the reason I’ve anchored so much of my work around three simple words: Earn the right. It’s not

Uncategorized

The 4 Authority Content Lenses: a model for publishing with clarity and confidence

Back in 2014, I introduced a simple content model to help founders, professionals, and marketers make sense of the stories they were sharing. I’ve taught it, refined it, and riffed on it periodically ever since. Here’s the kicker: while the platforms and algorithms have changed, the model has

Thought leadership

Taking your personal brand Off Broadway: The 'hidden stages' where authority is built and reputations are made

Philip Seymour Hoffman never abandoned the small stage. Even after winning an Academy Award and becoming one of the most respected actors of his generation, he kept showing up in Off Broadway and even Off, Off Broadway productions. He became a key member and director at the LAByrinth Theater Company,

Thought leadership

Crossing the ‘perception bridge’ from expert to authority

You can be brilliant at what you do and still remain invisible. Every industry has its unsung heroes - the battle-hardened consultants who quietly deliver exceptional results, the entrepreneurs whose ideas and insights have the potential to reshape an entire sector, the advisors whose depth of knowledge runs circles around

Thought leadership

The 3 dimensions of consistency every expert or thought leader needs to master

Everyone talks about consistency when building a professional presence. "Post regularly," they say. "Stick to a schedule." "Show up every day." But here's the problem: most people think consistency means publishing frequency. They're measuring the wrong thing. Publishing regularly does

Thought leadership

MICRO-CASE STUDY: Real-time example of the earned media 'ripple effect' in action

I recently published an article unpacking earned media, explaining why isn’t just PR buzz anymore, and how it has become one of the most powerful trust signals you can have. But what does earned media look like in action? Glad you asked :) Something happened to me this week that

Thought leadership

The algorithmic erosion of identity

When your communication strategy becomes "whatever generates engagement," several things begin to deteriorate: ➡️ Consistency of values > You start bending your message to fit trending topics, even when they contradict your actual beliefs or experience. ➡️ Clarity of voice > Your writing becomes optimised for algorithmic amplification rather than

Authority brand

Why authority creates a multiplier effect: How trusted experts turn reputation into sustained competitive advantage

Most professionals think building authority means more followers or better engagement. But they're missing the real prize: a business advantage that doesn't just add up - it multiplies. When your reputation shifts from 'qualified' to 'credible authority,' each benefit triggers the next

Thought leadership

What credible authority builders can learn from cult-hit authors. Here are 7 lessons to guide you!

Somewhere along the way, building authority got confused with popularity. Be loud. Be everywhere. Be famous. Be the “top voice” on LinkedIn. That’s what it takes to win, right? That’s what we’re told by the hucksters, bro’ marketers and ‘gurus’. But what if it’s wrong? What

Thought leadership

Why I’m returning to Substack (and what it says about the future of authority building)

After a year and a half of publishingmy newsletter Reputation OnRamp on the Beehiiv platform, I’ve made the decision to return to Substack - and rebrand the newsletter as Earn the Right. This isn’t just a platform switch. It’s a strategic recalibration. Over the past six months,

AI

Earned media has got its sexy back (and it’s time to get on board)

Once upon a time, earned media meant one thing: getting a story in the newspaper or being interviewed on the nightly news. That was the goalpost for visibility and credibility. And it still matters. But here’s the kicker: Earned media today is so much more, and it's