Meet PR Blogger Livi Wilkes

Hello and welcome to my sixth interview of my ‘meet the PR blogger’ series. I’m slowly but surely working my way through the masses of wonderful PR bloggers that i’ve interviewed – so keep your eyes out every week for new additions.

This time round, my ‘PR blogger’ in the limelight is the lovely Livi Wilkes.

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 sixth addition of my ‘meet the PR blogger’ series with Livi Wilkes.

Meet the PR blogger – Livi Wilkes

Introducing Livi

I love Livi’s blog because I can really resonate with it.

I feel as though we’re quite similar in the sense that we both like to talk about current ‘goings on’ if you like and things that are generally happening within the PR world. Livi’s often quick on the mark to comment on current affairs such as the ‘Kim K lollipop scandal‘. Also, like me, she likes to tweet about notably good and bad PR campaigns – which I always find really interesting.

Livi’s blog: Live Laugh Love PR was launched in the summer of 2014 as a “blog for creating and sharing content for PR students” in her words. I love that. Livi presents a prime example of how the PR blogging community is ever supportive – especially of its #PRStudents!

Livi now works as a digital PR consultant (we have a lot of similarities and I really love that) but still finds the time to blog over on Live Laugh Love PR. If you enjoy losing yourself in a good relatable PR blog, then i’d definitely recommend heading over to her website.

The ‘meet the PR blogger’ interview with Livi

Jessica: How long have you been blogging for?

Livi: I set up Live Love Laugh PR back in 2013, whilst I was in my first year of university at Southampton Solent studying PR & Communications. Since graduating in 2016, I’m disappointed that my blog has taken a back seat whilst I kick off my career – but I have a list of blog posts to write up saved in my phone, it’s just a matter of time! 🙂

J: What are the main things you blog about?

L: When I was at university and a PR student myself, I loved writing about the things I’d learned as a PR student and giving tips and advice to newer students or those wondering whether a PR degree was for them. When I was deciding what I wanted to study at uni (and the UCAS deadline was swiftly approaching) I wished there was more UK PR bloggers out there who I could find out more from about studying PR and whether it was a career I wanted to get into – my goal was, basically to fill that hole and be a resource for people in the same position that I was in.

Other than that, there’s nothing more I like writing about – and talking about in general – than good/bad/downright ugly PR campaigns, why I love them and what we as PR people can learn from them. In my early days of uni, I felt like there was a number of academic/more serious PR blogs out there so I tried to add a light hearted style and tone to my blog posts, and make my personality shine through just like lifestyle/fashion bloggers do. Just because PR bloggers write about their jobs, why can’t we make them personal and fun? My personality shining through on my blog was also something that was mentioned in my feedback for winning Britain’s Best PR Student Blogger back in 2015 (shameless name-drop 😉) so that’s something I’ll always try and keep up.

J: Have you always been a PR blog, or was you once something else?

L: Wow – what a throwback…! Yep, I started my blog in 2012 on my gap year just because I wanted to write – but didn’t really know what to write about. Hence some posts about possible tattoos I might get in the ‘near’ future (still not got one) a charity shop Christmas jumper (why?!?) and a blog name of ‘Confessions of a Village Girl’ (seriously – why).

As soon as I started my first year of university, it just clicked that my blogging niche should be PR.

J: Have you found that having a PR blog has been beneficial to you in the industry? 

Yes, yes and 10x yes! PR Place’s ‘This Week in PR’ series seriously helped my get my name out there, helping me win the aforementioned ‘Britain’s Best PR Student Blogger 2015’ award and contributing to Stephen Waddington’s My PRStack 2 book. Beyond that, it gave me a platform to demonstrate my passion for PR and my interest in the industry which certainly helped in interviews. It also helped me secure some freelancing gigs whilst at uni, doing workshops around the benefits of blogging and building up a personal portfolio online as well as helping people get their blogs started.

I think it also helped me increase my knowledge and understanding of the industry itself, from the people I met through my blog but also the research I did to help find inspiration for blog posts. I genuinely think the best way to learn about a topic is to write about it, and that continues to help me with my job now.

J: Do you have any PR blogging inspirations? These could be people, or simple reasons that you blog.

L: I used to love reading the NYC PR Girls blog (sadly they don’t run it anymore) but that gave me major inspo when I was in my gap year preparing to study PR at uni. I also love reading PR Examples just to give me my fix of what PR campaigns (hot or not) are doing the rounds at the moment!

J: What was your reason for setting up your PR blog?

L: I think I virtually covered this above (sorry – jumped ahead!) but I basically wanted to fill the hole that I found when I was trying to research in what a PR degree was and the career prospects it would lead to in the future – UCAS and university sites do give an idea, but I wanted to get a real-life idea rather than just a theoretical one. When students started to get in touch with me to ask questions about studying PR or leaving comments to say a recent post had inspired them to look into pursuing PR, I felt like my goal had been accomplished.

J: Do you have any advice to prospective PR people who may be looking to set up a blog?

L: Yes – do it! I always say that a blog is the best way to showcase your skills and your experience, as well as your passion, interest and knowledge of the industry. Most importantly though, it’s a great way to let your personality shine through in a way that a CV or job application can’t. If a potential employer comes across your blog and is able to learn from you, then you have a much bigger head start then another applicant who is just able to talk the talk on CV.

I’d also say to not limit yourself to just having a blog, but extending your personal portfolio to Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn. How often do you come across a social media account of someone who inspires you, and then try and find them on other platforms to find more content from them? Quite often, I bet – and people will want to do this with you too, if you create and share engaging content.

J: Why did you chose to study/work within PR?

L: I love talking and I love writing. That’s pretty much it! My dad always told me I’d be good at PR & Comms, but I didn’t listen (because who listens to their parents at 17…?) but when I actually did my research, something clicked. I work in digital PR now, at a digital marketing agency called Aira, and I wish I’d been introduced to the digital PR world more at university – I love it even more than traditional PR (although my traditional PR roots will never leave me!)

J: And finally, what do you enjoy most about PR blogging?

L: Talking about my highlights of the industry, being able to give PR students inspiration and offer advice to people looking to get into the industry.

Connect with Livi

You can find Livi on Twitter here and you can find her blog here.