President ANZ & Reputation Counsel, Australian PR Leader of the Year, Australian PR Agency of the Year - Sefiani
Establishing your own #pragency is a topic I enjoy discussing. It takes me back 24 years when I left Edelman to establish Sefiani. Here are some of the tips I shared with #communications and #socialmedia students at Macquarie University: - Find a business #mentor to share their wisdom as you get started and to be an ongoing sounding board; - Focus on areas of work in which are #expert; - Survey the competitive landscape and find the #niche you can ‘own’; - Develop your #brand, #mission, #vision, #purpose and #businessplan. A side-note here: my mentor (who was an advisor to Kerry Packer at the time) told me that the day you launch your business is the day you should develop your exit plan - and to never name your company after yourself as it can limit the eventual sale potential. I ignored both as I planned to dedicate the rest of my career to building Sefiani into a world-class #corporate and #reputation communications agency with no immediate thoughts to sell; - Secure a foundation #client and treat them like gold so they stay with you; this will pay your bills as you get started and help to attract other clients; - Build and nurture a strong business #network - and don’t be afraid to ask people to recommend you to their network; - Never be embarrassed to ask your clients to pay you on time for the good work you have delivered. A healthy #cashflow is king; - Don’t be afraid to hire people who are #smarter than you. This has been a key factor in the enduring success of Sefiani where the smarts and expertise of our #people sets us apart; - Never be complacent, continue to #learn and #innovate; - Choose to work with clients you like and #respect and who respect you; - And finally, work hard and have fun 😊 #controlyourowndestiny
💯 With the final marks wrapped up, I wish to extend a huge thanks to our amazing industry guests, clients, and over 300 undergraduate and postgraduate public relations and social media students for being part of #MQAgency in 2023! 💡 Being able to bring together inspiring experts with emerging professionals, while guiding student agencies to support real organisations with their PR and social media strategies, is a real highlight of my role. 👩🏫 Supporting students this year was a wonderful new teaching team of Nicole Lenoir-Jourdan, Dennis Bruining, Amanda Burgess, and Dani Redmond. 🎡 A special shout-out also to our amazing Professional and Community Engagement (PACE) support team, Marianne Garupa - Manila, Tammy Loh and Kate Maitland for being the wheels behind this operation. ⭐ Even after teaching for 10 years, I love that every day I am still learning something new in a constantly changing and diverse industry. It has been a real privilege learning from and working with each and every one of you! 🥂 Wishing everyone a happy and rejuvenating summer season and looking forward to staying connected in 2024 and beyond 😊 If anyone reading this is interesting in being involved in our program as a guest or client in 2024, please don't hesitate to reach out. Prospective students and careers advisors are also most welcome to touch base if they'd like to learn more about studying PR and social media at Macquarie University. Robyn Sefiani, Amanda Burgess, Pamela Klioufis, Taylor Blackburn, Karina Durham, Harry Orme, Jessie Gogan, Julia Hoy, Kate Skokan, Jesusa Helaratne, Rosy Lone, Haidee Allan, Jada Bennett, Maxim Thomas, Maya Ivanovic, Tom Morgan, Kate (Young) Pascoe, Rachel Golding (Mayes), Dinner on the Table, Cara Zelas, Robyn Zwar, Mimi Westhorpe, The LBW Trust, Emma Bromley, Women's Justice Network, Kate Gleeson, Sophie Musumeci, Susan Mills, Sharon Grocott, Vivian Luu, Bushfire Survivors for Climate Action
Thanks again Robyn Sefiani for your generosity in helping students establish great agencies so early in their careers!
Very gracious in sharing your experience, Robyn Sefiani. Thank you for the insight
Very gracious in sharing your experience, Robyn Sefiani. Thank you for the insight
Great tips Robyn Sefiani - some very actionable insights, which I will be sure to leverage 😊
Fabulous tips, I can learn from these as I establish myself as a freelancer; not quite the same thing as starting up an agency, but great advice nonetheless! Thanks Robyn
Managing Director at Renaissance Tours
11moThese are all the valuable lessons I learned first-hand from working with Robyn Sefiani over almost 10 years. And Robyn remains a valued mentor to me to this day. I consider myself very privileged for this.