How Much Is A Pint Of Milk?

Earlier this week, I went on a short, small and perfectly formed press trip that felt all the more special because I rarely have time to go on them. Any freelancer will tell you that press trips hit differently when you’re self-employed. On staff: you enjoy the press trip and also get paid while you’re there. Freelance: you enjoy the press trip but take the financial hit of being unable to earn money for its duration. This isn’t a complaint. It’s an observation, albeit one that I’d hope PRs are sensitive to, by which I mean: please believe that most freelancers only turn down trips because they can’t afford to go on them, not because they don’t want to.

But I digress. What was extra lovely about this trip was that the host didn’t want any coverage in return, a stipulation as rare as a hen’s tooth, or a balanced Ye post, depending on your view. No journalist would balk at covering a trip: it’s the point of the exercise, after all – but what a classy move not to demand it. Many guests posted about the trip on their socials regardless, and I wonder whether they were more disposed to do so precisely because they hadn’t been asked to. At a time when so many brands are demanding “10 Stories, 5 main feed posts and 500 words to run in print and online” (or variations on this theme), it was a bold, counterintuitive move that you could argue sacrificed a short term gain for a deeper, long term relationship. 

more. You have been told!