Meet PR Blogger Helen Deverell

Hello and welcome to my eleventh interview of my ‘meet the PR blogger’ series.

I’m almost finished with this series, so if there’s any PR bloggers reading this that would be interested in getting involved – please drop me a message! Keep your eyes out for new additions for the next few weeks though.

This time round, my ‘PR blogger’ is the lovely Helen Deverell

What is the ‘meet the PR blogger’ series?

This series has been put together, in short, to delve in to 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 ‘PR blogged’ 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 posting a new addition to the series once a week, with a new PR blogger in the pipeline every single time. Look out for some big names as I’ve got some fantastic PR-famous people on board.

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.

Here’s my eleventh addition of my ‘meet the PR blogger’ series with Helen Deverell.

Meet the PR blogger – Helen Deverell

Introducing Helen

Helen’s blogs can be found over on her website, helendeverellcommunications.com.

Helen is an independent internal communications practitioner with 10 years of experience in both in-house and agency roles and is literally one of my biggest inspirations. She set up her consultancy in 2016 and has worked with clients across all industries and sectors including TMF Group, The Guardian, Sodexo, Sainsbury’s and Carnival UK.

Helen specialises in strategy, content creation, internal communication audits, writing skills masterclasses, and coaching. I think the question to be asked is “is there anything she cant do?!”

Helen sits on the CIPR Inside committee, regularly judges awards and has spoken at events and on webinars on the topic of internal communication. She also blogs on her website, sharing her insights on topical issues in the profession and her work has featured in publications and websites including Ragan.com, CIPR Inside, Creativity in internal communications report, alivewithideas.com and allthingsic.com.

In 2017, Helen contributed to the CIPR Inside research Making it Count which investigated the strategic value and effectiveness of internal communication.

So, I think it’s time to find out more about Helen and her impressive career now? Read on below.

The ‘meet the PR blogger’ interview with Helen

Jessica: How long have you been blogging for?

Helen: I’ve been blogging for five years.

J: What are the main things you blog about? 

H: I mainly blog about internal communication which is the field I specialise in. I occasionally blog about personal things, but I always try to make a link back to internal communication in some way so it’s still relevant for my regular readers.

J: Have you always been a PR blogger?

H: I’ve only ever blogged about internal communication.

J: How have you found your blog to be beneficial to you in the PR and comms industry?

H: Having a blog has been hugely beneficial to me. I set up as an independent internal communications practitioner in 2016 and I felt able to do that in part due to my blog as it raised my profile in the industry, positioned me as knowledgeable and helped me to interact with other IC professionals.

J: Do you have any blogging inspirations?

H: I was inspired by Rachel Miller’s All Things IC blog (and still am!). It made me realise that blogging can be quite altruistic in that you’re giving away knowledge for free because you believe it will help people do their jobs better. I think that speaks volumes about the industry we work in, and how supportive it is.

J: Why did you set up your PR blog in the first place? 

H: I enjoy writing and I also wanted to have a voice in the industry and to raise my profile. I always knew I’d want to work for myself at some point, so I started laying the foundations early.

J: Being such an influential figure, you’re certainly someone to look up to Helen. Do you have any advice for someone who may want to set up a PR blog? 

H: If you want people to give up their time to read your blogs, you need to commit to making sure it’s valuable to them. To do that you need to understand who your potential readers are, be clear in your own mind what the purpose of your blog is and be able to articulate your thoughts in a coherent way.

You also need to find your own distinct voice. Don’t try to emulate other people, be yourself and write about things you care about, and your passion will shine through.

J: Why did you choose a career in PR? 

H: Like a lot of people, I stumbled across internal communication but immediately loved it. Since then I’ve studied with various professional bodies and worked in roles both agency and in-house. I love the variety of what we do, and I think we can make a real difference to organisations and the people that work in them, and it’s that sense of purpose that really drives me.

I enjoy having an outlet for my musings on internal communication, the interaction I have with people off the back of my blogs and the opportunities it has given me.

J: What do you enjoy the most about PR blogging?

I enjoy having an outlet for my musings on internal communication, the interaction I have with people off the back of my blogs and the opportunities it has given me.

Thanks Helen – you’re a true inspiration and an actual Girl Boss.

Connect with Helen

You can read Helen’s PR blog here. Or, how about keeping in touch on Twitter or LinkedIn?

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