Pattrick Smellie is co-founder of BusinessDesk and in this 180 degree interview reversal, Ryan gets to interview a journalist on how BusinessDesk got started, getting your business into the news, why post election every business will need a trusted source on news for policy impacts and how to get into becoming a news journalist.
BONUS: Pattrick shares one historic moment in his career that truly stood out as momentous.
TIMESTAMPS
3 mins 47 secs What Pattrick Smellie learnt from Roger Douglas as his boss in the 1980's.
6 mins 5 secs Working in institutions of scale in public relations and corporate communications, and the difference of thinking to short and long horizons.
9 mins 10 secs Setting out as a communications adviser, finding a business partner, writing business news and the importance of consistency in creating credibility.
10 mins 55 secs How the GFC impacted the news business, how Pattrick and Jonathan responded and the unintended silver lining.
12 mins 31 secs The belief that traditional news publishers doing news for free wasn't a path for BusinessDesk.
14 mins 37 secs The important moments from getting the first customer, realising that crises can be good for news, understanding margins and getting news profitable.
16 mins 15 secs How businesses can get in to the news (or stay out of the news!) and why it can be better to tell your story than keep it under wraps.
18 mins 11 secs Being willing to take risks and say things that are real when talking with journalists.
18 mins 56 secs Investing in building relationships with journalists.
20 mins 55 secs Getting 200-300 emails a day from PR firms and why they don't get cut through and what does.
22 mins 43 secs The BusinessDesk team of 12 journalists of experienced people across Auckland and Wellington including Brent Melville, Bex Stevenson, Victoria Young, Jenny Ruth, Paul McBeth, Gavin Evans, Dan Brunskill and more.
24 mins 40 secs The shift to trusted news sources through Covid-19, the transition from a wire service to a subscription service in 2018.
26 mins 31 secs The launch of BusinessDesk... and the disruption Covid-19 brought.
29 mins 47 secs What BusinessDesk subscribers get and why businesses are going to need a trusted source of news on policy after the election.
33 mins 35 secs How Pattrick copes with the deluge of daily news and why his KPI in the early days was 'just stay married.'
35 mins 43 secs What Pattrick wants people to know about BusinessDesk.
38 mins 37 secs Advice for budding journalists and the importance of getting into the numbers.
41 mins 1 secs Pattrick on living through a moment in history with the inauguration of Nelson Mandela and being on the plane with Prime Minister Jim Bolger.
43 mins 33 secs The future for New Zealand, the digital technology opportunities, the cleverness and creativity and harnessing it into better commercial opportunity.
LINKS MENTIONED
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A Kiwi Original - Pattrick Smellie | BusinessDesk 045