Antonia Mariconda’s workshop – How to be your own PR

I always leave Antonia Mariconda’s events with renewed enthusiasm for writing and the exciting world of aesthetics and beauty. There’s something so powerful about listening to a person who communicates with passion and conviction. I found Antonia’s latest workshop How to be your own PR particularly useful as it focused on brand building and the importance of expanding digital avenues for modern business.

This workshop was so exciting to attend because as well getting to listen to inspirational speakers, I also received a goodie bag of beauty products worth £500 and a professionally designed website created by Web Marketing Clinic, which you are seeing right now! The amazing prize was for an blog review that I had written of a workshop run by Antonia in October 2014 entitled, How to build a beauty blog. Antonia’s generosity and the opportunity to further my own profile has been fantastic. Her events are also a great opportunity to connect with other bloggers and industry professionals. I can’t thank her enough.

Shine bright…

One of my favourite elements of the day was the storytelling theme that ran through the three hour workshop that focused on the evolution of a diamond.  I didn’t realise this but, ‘a diamond is a chunk of coal that is made good under pressure’, as the famous quote by Herman A. Kissinger tells us. We were urged to think of the analogy of a rough piece of coal and how it can be shaped into something beautiful, coveted and rare over time. Unlock these elements in how you package, approach and deliver your own branding and core messages, and you can see your brand and profile shine.

Build those followers

Antonia stressed how important is has been to her brand to build a loyal base of followers. “It’s not just about selling yourself or a product. If people don’t buy into your faith in what you do, they won’t buy into your products”, said Antonia.

The 24/7 worker

Antonia shared how she devoted time to attending the right events in the early days of building her own brand awareness. “The world is full of potential followers so you need to be out there and be visible”, she encouraged.

The inside track

We heard from Charmaine Harris, the award-winning beauty director of Now Magazine, which was fascinating. We were told how to deliver a successful pitch and to get to know our own industries. “Look for case studies and simplify stories. Make people want to come back for more when you pitch”, shared Charmaine.

Perfect packaging

Antonia spent time coaching us on the importance of being able to sell ourselves in one sentence with absolute conviction. “Believe in yourself. If you allow people to see your passion, it breeds confidence”, she said.

A story of inspiration

One of the most inspirational moments of the day was hearing Melissa Foreman speak about how she has gone through a remarkable 12 stone weight loss and numerous cosmetic procedures to remove excess skin. Antonia met Melissa at a previous event and she spotted a diamond.  Since October 2014, Melissa has gone on to build a successful blog So fat, so thin and has seen her story covered by numerous media outlets, including the Daily Mail and television networks. “It’s about finding the opportunities and making them work. That one opportunity could be the one to propel you to success”, said Melissa. She was an inspirational example of following Antonia’s advice and steps to build her own PR profile.

The future

The workshop ended on a positive note with Antonia sharing a quotation from Bhava Ram, an author she greatly admires.

“You can do it. No exceptions. You can turn your whole world upside down and inside out. Yes you can. You can heal and grow and create and manifest miracles”.

…so what’s stopping you?