Rhea Freeman says - ‘So I

Rhea Says...

SO, I WROTE A BOOK!

Have you ever dreamed of writing a book? To be honest, it’s a secret dream I’ve been harbouring for as long as I can remember. So to have my first book out in the world now, and to have it a best seller (it knocked the PR and marketing God that is Seth Godin off the top spot for a while!), well, the whole thing feels more than a little surreal. This issue, I wanted to chat to you about the book, but also to help give you a push if you’re like me and have always wanted to do the same. It all starts with a plan… on paper. The first part of the book involved a lot of A3 coloured paper (not mine, ‘borrowed’ from my children) and I wrote down everything I thought the book should contain. Some ideas were broad, like ‘social media’, some went into a lot more detail like ‘how to work well with influencers’, but it all went down. From there, I grouped ideas together, crossed out duplicates and started to form a bit of order. Next came the chapters, which were simply distilled from these grouped together words, and boom, that was the plan. My book - Small & Supercharged - Small Steps To Supercharge Your Brand On A Budget - is about PR, marketing, social media, influencers, blogs, vlogs, SEO, basically it touches on what you need to promote any brand well, even if your budget is zero. It’s great for businesses and anyone trying to grow a personal brand, be an influencer, or just promote themselves and their cause better. Now I had my plan, I just needed to write 50,000 words. Which wasn’t the hardest part of the process (that was to come!). Because I knew what I needed to write about, I just got cracking and chipped away at the project over a few months. I inserted quotes from various people (all with their permission!) to help add extra depth and insight to specific topics, and it was done. Well, the first draft was. I knew it would need a little editing and polishing, but the next stage, for me, was the hardest. I am incredibly lucky to have a very good friend, Ruth Chappell, who you might know better as the lady behind Dressage Anywhere, who used to work in publishing and understood the process and helped me to do the things that were needed. Although I’d had the cover professionally designed, there were a few ‘issues’ (one being the spine not in the middle of the cover), but thank goodness I had friend, artist, Illustrator wizard and all round good egg Emily Cole (aka Emily Cole Illustrations) on hand to help fix this for me. And last but not least, Jane Badger from Jane Badger Books, was another superstar who helped me work out how to do the final bit. I did also have my mother-in-law and husband proofread it, and Ruth’s lovely mum gave it the once over too. It really was a team effort! So, why did I write it all down in a book? Because I wanted to provide a blueprint to people who wanted to grow their brand or business. It needed to be easy to understand, jargonfree, and provide easy-to-action advice. I wanted it to be helpful and conversational in tone, not judgey and formal, because I don’t learn well that way. I wanted to write the book I wanted when I was starting out, and that I could advise people at any stage of their journey to buy, read, highlight and make notes in. I wanted to provide a useful guide and companion to this world of PR, marketing, social media and more… and hopefully, if you bag yourself a copy, you’ll agree that that’s what Small & Supercharged Small Steps To Supercharge Your Brand On A Budget is! Debut book reaches #1 on Amazon.co.uk in less than 24 hours!

To get your copy, search ‘Rhea Freeman’ on Amazon. And if you buy before mid September, you can also attend the online launch event for FREE for even more inspiration. Follow @rheafreemanpr on Instagram for all the updates about that!

I’M RHEA FREEMAN. I’M A PR, MARKETING AND SOCIAL MEDIA CONSULTANT AND COACH WITH A SPECIALISM IN EQUESTRIAN AND RURAL BUSINESS. I WORK WITH A NUMBER OF THE BEST BRANDS IN THE INDUSTRY AND MANY THAT YOU’LL SEE IN THESE PAGES.

EQUINE PHOTOGRAPHY COMPETITION TO FIND COVER STAR

If you are a budding equine photographer, now’s your time to showcase your talent; the National Equine Forum is running a special competition to find a cover star for the NEF 2023 programme and all amateur photographers are eligible to enter, by submitting a picture of their own horse or one they have received permission to photograph, subject to terms and conditions.*

Said NEF honorary publicity officer Sarah Shephard, “We are looking for appealing, creative, and innovative photographs of members of your equine family to give the cover of our next programme a real wow factor.” The winning image will feature on the programme cover for the 31st National Equine Forum, which takes place on Thursday 2nd March 2023 (#NEF23).

www.nationalequine forum.com/cover-image

BLIND DRESSAGE RIDER JOINS TEAM EQUISAFETY

Blind international dressage rider Verity Smith has joined Team Equisafety as the latest brand ambassador.

Verity is well known in the sport of para dressage, but is also highly regarded as a campaigner, singer, songwriter and author. Over the years, Verity has also been selected to compete internationally as part of the French Para Dressage Squad. Verity believes in advocating the ability in disability and relishes the challenge of defying convention and breaking down boundaries. Equisafety has provided a host of high visibility clothing for not only Verity to wear but also her labradoodle Guide Dog ‘ITV This Morning’ star Luna. www.equisafety.com

NEW SADDLE CLUB GIVES RIDERS ACCESS TO SUPPORT FROM INTERNATIONAL RIDERS

Anew online saddle club is giving amateur riders access to the expertise and guidance of riding coaches, personal trainers, sports psychologists and professional riders to help them learn and improve. It also provides a support network of like-minded people, all dedicated to improving their riding.

The Saddle Club, which costs £11.99 a month, includes a monthly online masterclass from leading riders and guest experts; admin feefree access to the core Wise Owl Equitation offering of virtual training with top class international trainers; access to rider confidence coaching; unlimited access to online rider-specific workouts; entry to an online community; exclusive discounts and savings from both equestrian and non-equestrian brands.

www.wiseowlequitation.com/saddle-club

New product launch... PRODUCT NEWS...

Hawkins Organic have announced the launch of the Lemon Aid Range. The range includes a newly formulated Lemon Aid No-Rinse Wash, a grooming spray and a shampoo.

Lemon Aid Grooming Spray is ideal for daily use on the coat, mane and tail and great for plaiting. Lemon Aid Shampoo is a refreshing shampoo which is mild enough for daily use and can help to soothe irritated skin. Lemon Aid No-Rinse Wash is newly formulated to contain three organic essential oils. The perfect wash when you don’t have much time or after exercise to refresh. Great for shows and competitions! All Hawkins Organic products are not tested on animals and use vegan, cruelty free oils. They are hand blended in a natural base and perfectly pH balanced so suitable for horses with sensitive skin and mild enough for regular use.

www.hawkinsorganic.com

Cavalor Bianco Spray contains white powder that's activated when sprayed on stains as well as high-quality silicones. These keep dirt from attaching to the coat, allowing for easy removal with a cloth, and create a protective layer without coating the skin. Cavalor Bianco Spray’s formula is pH neutral and won't damage the skin's natural sebum. RRP: £13.50/200ml. www.zebraproducts.co.uk

Cavalor Star Shine gives your horse’s coat a lustrous shine to help catch the Judge’s eye. A fantastic coat conditioner, Cavalor Star Shine helps promote a brilliant gloss and adds volume to the hair. It can also be used on manes and tails, helping to keep them tangle-free for up to a week. RRP: £48.50/2000ml pouch, £17/500ml bottle and £7/250ml bottle. www.zebraproducts.co.uk

Cavalor Ice Clay consists primarily of kaolinite. This clay is naturally rich in minerals with a high absorption capacity; it purifies and removes excessive synovial fluid from the ankle joints and the other joints and tendons. The magnesium sulphate in Cavalor Ice Clay stimulates blood circulation and allows muscles to relax. This effect is enhanced by essential oils including arnica and rosemary. RRP: £39/4kg. www.zebraproducts.co.uk

ESSENTIAL: Skintact Wound Dressings

Wound dressings are an essential item for any first aid kit. They encourage a wound to heal more rapidly and help prevent the risk of infection and scarring.

All dressings should be non-toxic, non-allergenic and suitable for the wound type - no single dressing is appropriate for all wounds and all stages of healing. A low-adherent wound dressing such as Skintact from Robinson Animal Healthcare is ideal for minor cuts and grazes and is available in three different sizes. Before applying any dressing to a wound it should be thoroughly cleaned using a saline solution or a level teaspoon of salt per pint of previously boiled water. The frequency of dressing change depends on the type of wound, the dressing used and healing rate. Being low-adherent means it can be removed from the wound without causing any further trauma and using it over a sterile hydrogel such as Vetalintex will create a moist wound environment and reduce the risk of scarring.

www.robinsonhealthcare.com

FREE LIVE-SAVING LOCATION APP SAVES TWO EQUESTRIANS

What3words, the free and innovative location app, has been critical to saving lives of two equestrians - Rachel and Dot - as they got into difficulty whilst out riding their horses.

Dot (34) who was abruptly thrown from her horse Cookie after he was spooked by passing traffic and Rachel (41) who was thrown off a friend’s horse, Ben, after she attempted to mount him from the ground, both used what3words so that emergency responders could find them accurately and quickly. While Dot and Rachel were incredibly lucky on this occasion, the British Horse Society reports that over 60% of UK horse riders have experienced a road-related near-miss or accident, so horserelated incidents aren’t rare and often happen in areas that aren’t easy to describe to the emergency services. To tackle this problem, Emergency services across the UK are urging the public to ‘help us to help you’ by downloading what3words. Used by over 85% of UK emergency services, new research by what3words found that almost 1 in 3 people wouldn’t feel confident in describing their surroundings accurately if they were in an unfamiliar location and needed to contact emergency services. Providing a what3words address enables dispatchers to direct teams and resources to exactly where help is needed, aiding callers in everything from rescuing injured equestrians to responding to fires, to locating stranded animals. what3words has been proven to save up to 10 minutes of potentially life-saving response time. Gill Pleming, Service Manager (EMS Coordination), at the Welsh Ambulance Service recently described the technology as ‘an invaluable addition to our emergency response toolkit.’ what3words has divided the globe into 57 trillion 3m x 3m squares and given each square a unique combination of three words: a what3words address. For example, the check point on the PYG Track in Snowdonia National Park can be found at ///february.secondly.plod.

Be prepared and download the what3words app. The app is free to download on both iOS and Android

Dot & Cookie...

Passer by Nigel was running through Ruislip Woods on his regular route, near a horse-crossing, when he heard a loud scream and saw a horse rearing. Moving towards the noise, he found Dot laying on the ground in excruciating pain next to her very frightened horse.

After calling the London Ambulance emergency services and sharing their what3words address, the ambulance arrived within just three minutes. Dot recalls her experience: “People rushed to the scene, even a nurse and two military medics who happened to be there helped me. A kind runner, Nigel, dialled 999 and gave the ambulance our what3words (///cheat.indeed.dome). The emergency services arrived quickly after, and didn’t have any troubles finding me due to the precise location. “I ended up tearing two ligaments in my ankle, dislocating a toe, and fracturing the side of my foot, all on the left side. I got off lightly given the circumstances as I could have died that day. Luckily, Cookie only sustained a scrape on his thigh. “Thanks to everyone, especially Nigel and his knowledge of what3words, I made it to the hospital quickly and received treatment. The day after the accident, I downloaded what3words straight away. Although I’d heard of it before I never thought that it was something I would need, but I was wrong. “I now raise awareness about the app in pet groups on Facebook, as you never know when it might come in handy. I have also used the app to help my manager locate myself and my colleagues during a work trip to Milan - I wasn’t expecting to use it in such a positive way so soon after my accident.”