Sure Things
If you’ve never heard of Sure PR it might be helpful to give you a quick rundown on who is behind the agency.
Stephen Rafferty, PR Consultant & Journalist
Sure PR is Stephen Rafferty, a PR consultant who used to be a journalist. In fact, I’m still a journalist and do the odd bit of writing when it takes my fancy but nowadays my core business is looking after clients’ PR needs. That can be anything from writing and distributing a press release, organising a press conference or managing a photo-shoot, to dealing with awkward inquiries from nasty tabloid hacks. There’s a lot more to it, but you get the gist I hope.
I spent 14 years at the sharp end of the Scottish newspaper industry as an investigative reporter working for the Edinburgh Evening News and Daily Record and was crime correspondent for The Scotsman. I specialised in exposing bad guys and digging up stories which highlighted the inadequacies of people in powerful positions. It was great fun.
I moved over to PR for a number of reasons. Put simply, most hacks get to the stage where they’ve had enough of staking out a house at 6am trying to get a 'snatch' picture of some major league drug dealer or errant politician/ cop/ judge. Oh, and door-stepping a grieving relative who has just returned from the morgue, asking if they would kindly give you a full sit-down chat about their dearly departed, (and don’t forget the family photograph album please) becomes less appealing.
It was time for a change and about five years ago I started poking my toe in to the mysterious (it’s not really, I’m just trying to make it sound, well, mysterious) world of PR. It turned out my journalist background could be put to good use in a more constructive manner. And I’ve been there ever since, working for an eclectic bunch of clients who operate in sectors as varied as oil and gas services, horseracing, radio, engineering, computer software design, chemicals and art.
Being a journalist by profession has certain advantages. Writing concise, relevant copy to tight deadlines is second nature. But I also know what other journalists need, both in terms of words and pictures, for a press release to make it in to their publication.
I split my time pretty evenly, working in Aberdeen and Edinburgh, but don’t let the geography put you off. Your business could be in Dundee, Dublin or Doha – with modern day technology it makes no difference to getting your message out.
Anyway, that’s enough about me. I’m more interested in you and what I can do to achieve positive PR results for your company. So get in touch
Now.
