August Talk with Fiona Scott

August is upon us and the weather is heating up! It’s the month of holidays, summer fun and time off for many people. So how are small business owners coping with the month often known as ‘silly season’?

Today we're talking to Fiona Scott, MD of Scott Media offering business owners a full range of PR services from training to full retained services. Fiona and her team also offer social media management for organic growth, blogging strategy and delivery including SEO, animation services and a full range of video production services. Fiona is a journalist of over 35 years’ experience and has run her own media consultancy for 14 years. She has extensive contacts in local, regional and national media and is officially the UK’s Top PR Adviser for SMEs.

How is August looking in your business?
It’s looking busy! Although I do take time off in August to spend time with my family as I still have one child at school, Scott Media keeps on working on behalf of its clients. I have a wonderful team of freelancers who support me and my clients so that the stories keep being told.

What are your personal plans for this month?
Various things will happen this month. We’ll be taking our caravan to Italy for a holiday travelling through France. We last did this in 2020 yet Covid19 made it impractical to do this last year. Our daughter is appearing in the Edinburgh Fringe Festival so we’ll be heading off to see her on stage. Also we’ll be attending the Fulltone Music Festival in Devizes and we’re particularly looking forward to a performance by opera singer Jonathan Antoine on the Sunday.

August 20 is World Photo Day – can you share a photo which means something to you?
Photographs are a big part of my life – I take them all of the time. This one comes from a recent video day I did with some ambitious and committed business owners and I love it. Many thanks to Helen Richmond of Helen Richmond Photography for coming along to take pictures for me.

August 21 is World Entrepreneurs Day - what does this word mean to you and do you apply it to yourself?
For me, it means anyone who has the get-up-and-go to start their own business – large or small – and to be responsible for their own career, financial future and who is willing to take a risk to be their own cheerleader. I don’t hold to the suggestion that a ‘true’ business is one that can be scaled up to many millions in turnover. I don’t believe in so-called ‘life style’ businesses as that’s often a term used to suggest those businesses are somehow ‘less’. In my view all businesses which earn someone a living and pays tax into the economy is valid. A large business can have a high turnover and no profit at all. I do think I’m an entrepreneur and never, ever thought I would be or wanted to be…

Can you name one business you’d like to give a summer shout out too?
Just one – that’s absolutely impossible for me as I rely on so many others and I spend time with so many others. Thank you to them all. You are all amazing.

I’d like to shout out to the team at Pizza&Co who found me and have worked with me and are opening their first pizza parlour in Old Town this month. They are here - https://www.facebook.com/pizzacoswindon

We are in a cost of living crisis at the moment? Is this impacting you at work and at home?
Yes it is – unless you are a multi-millionaire, it will affect all of us at some point. I have found suppliers have put prices up so I’m paying more for the same product/service. And this is true at home and at work. Food shops are costing on average £20 to £30 a week more and then there are utility bills which, in our house, have doubled. Thank goodness I now have an electric car which has saved me from paying extortionate fuel costs, though has pushed up the energy bills at home.

Have you got any events planned for the autumn you’d like to shout about – either that you are running?
Yes I’m running a two-day retreat in September for ambitious business owners who want to understand how the media works, get in front of the media and get familiar with the process. Also I’ll be working with business coach Taz Thornton about all of the other work on social media and through intelligent blogging which needs to go on to support and market a business. It’s a full-on event in a luxury setting in Peterborough. It’s for 12 people only and there are nine places left (at time of writing). Find out more here - https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/maximise-your-media-mojo-tickets-374340641937

And finally:
I’ve got a ‘thing’ about notebooks in this digital world. My favourite one has a saying on it and it makes me chuckle daily. I hope it speaks to someone reading this article:

‘List of people who underestimated me and how that worked out for them…’!!!

For more information about her visit https://scottmedia.uk