4 simple ways to start your PR year strong in 2025

30 Dec

As one year draws to a close and another begins, it’s the ideal time to set yourself up with some strong foundations for profile-raising in the year ahead.

If you’re taking some time over the summer to reflect and reset, here are four simple things you can do to set yourself up for PR success in 2025 (and beyond). Promise they’re super-achievable (and perhaps even, dare I say it, fun!).

1. Polish up your bio.

Your professional bio is often the first impression others have of you. Whether it's on LinkedIn, a media profile, or a podcast introduction, an up-to-date bio ensures you’re presenting yourself authentically and aligning with your current goals.

Take some time to review your current bio. Does it still accurately describe you and what you do? Aim for a clear and concise 100-200 word version that captures your expertise and outlines your ideal audience. Having this ready will save you time when opportunities arise - trust me, you don’t want to be scrambling to write something succinct and compelling about yourself when that podcast host says yes to your interview pitch.

2. Do a photography audit.

We’ve all heard it before - a picture is worth a thousand words. So are your photos doing your personal brand justice?

Take an hour to do a review of your existing photos. Do they still represent you and your brand? Are they appropriate for the audience you aim to connect with in the new year?

You may not need a new photoshoot; sometimes just reorganising and renaming your existing images can do the trick and save you time when you need to send someone a headshot photo at speed.

Or if you’re looking at your photo library and feeling uninspired, it might be time to invest in some new photography.

3. Listen to podcasts.

Podcasts are an excellent way to amplify your voice and share your message. But with millions of them out there, finding the right ones for you to share your story and connect with listeners can be tricky.

So dedicate some time to exploring the kinds of podcasts where you’d love to be a guest in 2025. Create a playlist of episodes from shows that resonate with your expertise, and listen for recurring themes or common questions. Understanding a podcast’s format and style will make pitching yourself as a guest much more effective - for example, there’s no point pitching yourself as a potential guest if it’s a solo podcast where the host never does interviews.

Also, check for active podcasts that are consistently releasing episodes to avoid targeting inactive programs.

4. Create space for creativity.

The most innovative ideas often reveal themselves when you have time to think and reflect.

Could you set aside some unstructured time over the summer to brainstorm and clarify your goals for 2025? Whether it’s a few hours with a blank piece of paper or a quiet moment over coffee, creating space for creative thinking can lead to breakthroughs that sharpen your focus and messaging for the year ahead.

This could include the kind of topics you want to be known for in the year ahead, ideas for media articles or presentations, or even brainstorming the kind of people you’d like to collaborate with. There’s no such thing as a bad idea, so tease out what comes through and then work out what you’d like to pursue.

So there you go. Four simple but strategic steps that can make a big difference in your profile-raising efforts for the year ahead.

What will you try?

Prefer to listen? Here’s the PR with Purpose episode where I discuss these four strategies in more detail: https://prwithpurpose.podbean.com/e/4-simple-ways-to-get-ready-for-pr-in-2025/