PREM PR & Social
I had the opportunity to sit down and have a virtual chat with the dream team running things over at PREM PR & Social. The strategic social media and PR firm is based out in Fresno, California on the West Coast, but best believe their reach is global. This team went from working out of a co-working space two to three times per week to working remotely 100%, which is a similar predicament to lots of employees across the globe. And for some, visiting family in-person is now a luxury. Find out how these ladies are navigating the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, from both a personal and business perspective.
Meet The #DreamTeam
Marilyn Cowley
CEO & Creative Director
Annalee Fanucchi
Marketing Director
Haley Walker
PR & Creative Director
Jacqueline Blanco
PR & Social Media Coordinator
ICYMI
Here are the recordings from both parts of the two-day webinar series, featuring an #OSFLconvo with myself (Bianca Reyes) and the PREM team. Day 1 discusses their team’s experience working remotely and advice on how to effectively communicate with your team. While Day 2 highlights the use of technology to connect with your loved ones, but also setting a schedule for yourself to unplug.
Day 1
Key Takeaways
If there’s anything you should take away from Day 1 of the #OSFLconvo with the PREM ladies, it’s that doing whatever works for you is the most important aspect of working from home. Establish your work space, even if you don’t have an at-home office. I find it helpful to have structure, so I set my office up at the kitchen table, so that I can get into a daily routine because I associate that spot at the kitchen table with work. You might recall Marilyn mention that she switches things up, by moving her “office” around to different rooms of the house. Play nice with your new office mates. You may be sharing an office with your family, friends, or roommates now that going into the office isn’t an option. Have an open line of communication and help establish a schedule to coordinate use of the “conference room.” For example, every morning let your office mate know what times you have calls throughout the day or text them your schedule and vice versa. If your work schedule isn’t that jam packed with calls and conferences, then let your office mate know your weekly schedule, whether you write it down on a sticky note to leave on the fridge or send them a calendar invite to “book the conference room.”
I always take a page out of everyone’s book, so the most important page that I took from Marilyn’s book is to always hire interns and promote them into paid positions when you feel they are ready. This is valuable insight for me because I run a small group of interns, but have also hired third party vendors for ongoing services that don’t always work out because they don’t understand my brand or my business. Marilyn says… “With interns you can mold them and train them how you want them to be. You will also see how badly they want to be there and how eager they are to learn. It also gives you the opportunity to really see if they are a good fit for you before bringing them fully onboard to your team.” For example, how can I hire an editor for my entire site that doesn't know my voice or my writing style?
Day 2
PREM PR & Social talks connecting digitally during the quarantine…
Connecting with family
Book Sunday Dinner and make sure everyone knows how to use Zoom, Skype, or whatever your preferred method of video conference is.
If you are comfortable with suggesting an IRL family gathering, take a poll of how comfortable everyone else is with in-person and/or outdoor meetups. Then, once you have a date on the calendar, establish health and safety guidelines so that everyone feels safe.
Connecting with friends
Limit virtual happy hours to bi-weekly occurrences at the least. Many are feeling inundated by Zoom calls, webinars, and virtual events. And it will probably get to you eventually, no matter how much of a social butterfly you are.
Connecting with colleagues
Try having Skype calls with your video turned on, so that the video conference can feel like the closest thing to an IRL meeting in a conference room. Sometimes I bring coffee over to my desk to make it feel like old times because I always used to grab coffee or tea before heading into a meeting.
Connecting with clients
Pivot your business model and have a long-term mindset, when it comes to your new digital marketing strategy.
As Marilyn mentioned, there is no such thing as cookie cutter, when it comes to marketing strategies because every buiness is different.
