Meet PR Blogger Yana Miladinova

Hello and welcome to my third (time flies!) instalment of my ‘meet the PR blogger’ series, this time including Yana Miladinova. But, before I start, lets get down to the basics.

What is the ‘meet the PR blogger’ series?

This series has been put together by yours truly to delve in to the inner workings of the PR blogging industry. PR blogging is a niche area, but an incredibly interesting one. Therefore, I am committed to finding as much out about it as I possibly can. I want to leave no stone unturned. Having blogged within the industry for over a year myself, i’m all too familiar with the quality content circulated, the brilliant connections made and the overall fun of it all. PR blogging is certainly a niche worth getting involved in and I hope this series will encourage some to do so.

I’ll be (hopefully) posting a new addition to the series once a week, with a new PR blogger in the pipeline every single time.

If you’re a PR blogger, or simply work in PR/business yourself then I couldn’t recommend connecting with every participant in this series more. Each interviewee has been chosen due to their outstanding skills and expertise in the areas of Business & PR. Alongside, of course, the quality of their blog.

So, without further ado, here’s my third addition of my ‘meet the PR blogger’ series with Yana Miladinova.

Meet the PR blogger – Yana Milandinova

Introducing Yana

I’ve known Yana about a year-ish (would you agree Yana?) indirectly. We know each other only through being mutual connections on LinkedIn and more recently, through Twitter and blogging.

Yana’s one of the biggest supporters of my blog and I can always count on her to read and engage with everything I write on here, and i’m so grateful for it. I’m sure she wont mind me sharing that she also messaged me on LinkedIn a while ago now, stating that i’d inspired her to get back to blogging. That for me is so warming and in turn rewarded me some encouragement in a period where I was thinking about dismissing blogging for good – so thanks Yana, you kept this blog alive.

I’m so glad Yana came back to blog on her little space of the internet because her posts are always interesting and different from most that I read. Her blog is lighthearted and fun, I love the way shes designed it and has used her homepage to give some info about herself, before letting you ‘pick’ what you’d like to read about.

I’m so humbled and grateful to have Yana as part of my series as she’s generally just a great person to know in this industry.

The ‘meet the PR blogger’ interview with Yana

Jessica: How long have you been blogging for?  
Yana: I started blogging regularly when I began my job at Red Setter a year ago. I often attend industry events and then I cover them in a blog post. However, I decided to create my own blog in April this year, so I can have my own platform to express my own views. Eventually, HashtagYana was launched in May.

J: What are the main things you blog about?  
Y: PR, PR and PR. As mentioned in Q1, I often go to events, so I usually blog about them as well. I really like the PRCA and Glug events as you can always learn something new and meet wonderful people. Another topic that really interests me, but haven’t covered yet, is social media. I’m planning a feature on two really cool social media campaigns. Stay tuned.

J: Have you always been a PR blog, or was you once something else?  
Y: Yes. I’ve always planned to have a PR Blog.

J: Have you found that having a PR blog has been beneficial to you in the industry? (In interviews, etc.) 
Y: As I am quite new at blogging, I haven’t benefited a lot from it yet. I’ve been featured on the weekly picks of PR Blogs in PR Place, so I definitely get noticed. I believe that having a blog in general is a huge advantage to my future career and it will help me to land a graduate job way easier. And it’s one step closer to personal branding.

J: If you are a student PR blogger, do you think you’ll continue with the blog after graduation?  
Y: Yes, that’s the plan. In September, I’m back at University for my final year, so I will keep the blog running and try to fully capture my struggles with writing a dissertation (smiley face). But, I really want to continue blogging after that as the industry is evolving everyday and there will be so many new things I can write about.

J: Do you have any PR blogging inspirations? These could be people, or simple reasons that you blog. 
Y: You Jess, you! You were one of the reasons I started blogging. I also admire Marcel Klebba and Orlagh Shanks (I really like her new #PlacementProfile series). Some of my friends at University also have or had blogs and I knew it’s not an impossible task.
And in general, I started my blog, so I can express my opinions and connect with people, who are interested in the same topics.

J: What was your reason for setting up your PR blog?  
Y: Personal branding. When I started my placement at Red Setter, I realised how important is branding. All our clients are trying to get into the media and further establish their positions as experts. And as I work in PR, I can easily work on my personal brand.

J: Do you have any advice to prospective PR people who may be looking to set up a blog?  
Y: Don’t be afraid. I was postponing my blog for years and I missed so many opportunities. If you find a topic that really interests you, just start the blog. Don’t wait until you have hundreds of posts scheduled as things change constantly.

J: Why did you choose to study/work within PR?  
Y: When I was in high school, I knew I want to study something related to Journalism and Communications. I found PR by coincidence when I was researching different universities and I found it fascinating. It included everything I wanted to do in the future. I chose Bournemouth University because of the placement year being part of the degree. Having an experience on your CV before graduating it’s really valuable. And now, that I’ve worked one year in the industry (yay!), I am sure that this is the career I want.

J: And finally, what do you enjoy most about PR blogging? 
Y: Networking – there are so many people interested in PR, Marketing and Comms in general. And PR blogging helps you to start a conversation with them.

Connect with Yana

Yana is honestly so supportive and always conversational, she’s a fab person to know within this industry and even more so if you have your own PR blog. Not to mention, her own blog is fab too! You can find Yana on Twitter here, Instagram here, LinkedIn here or read her blog here.