Amelie Arras Freelance PR Consultant - An interview | Interviews

Here is the story of Amelie Arras, freelance PR consultant specialised in the Fintech and Payments industry. She accepted to answer our questions to share her experience as a freelance PR in the ever-changing Finance industry, to help others who'd like to follow the same path. What made her go freelance? What's her approach? Read the interview to find out.

1. Tell us about you and your professional background

My name is Amelie Arras, I am PR and communication professional focused on Fintech and Payments. My mission is to bring a new fresh wave of communication into traditional finance. I have been travelling the world vlogging and paying my way only in cryptocurrency, this amazing experience gave some real hand experience the new technology in payments and what they mean for the average consumer.

2. How did you get into PR and ultimately become a freelancer?

I first started my career in journalism, working for a high-end magazine called Lifestyle. I then joined a marketing agency where I got involved in many levels including strategy and planning, branding and messaging, and campaign execution. I really enjoyed the PR discipline working both with media and clients, most of which were in Financial Technology. In October 2018, I made the scary decision to go freelance and set up my own PR agency.

3. What services do you generally provide your clients?

Mainly communication strategy, positioning, planning and all implementation services of communication including media relations, content management and distribution, eg press release distribution and social media.

When working with a client, I tend to become part of their team, I believe that it is crucial for successful communication. Part of this means that we work together on aligning messages across channels as well as satisfy the business objective effectively.

4. How do you find new clients?

I am a very big networker, so I usually meet my prospect client in industry events and meetups.

5. What’s the piece of work you’re proudest of?

I will have to say it is a recent project for Money20/20 Europe. My client needed an integrated plan for their participation at Money20/20 Europe. They had very minimal presence on social media or in the UK market and our campaign “what can you do in 30 seconds” has a huge success both on social media and in the press.

6. What has been the biggest challenge in your freelance career so far?

My biggest challenge so far has been to manage growth. I was lucky that as a freelance I got busy very quickly, and needed to put a team together to take on new projects.

7. What makes you keep doing it? What do you love about what you do?

I love the relationship side and the buzz I get when I deliver on PR activities, I do not have to wake up thinking oh god… I am going to work.

It is extremely rewarding to start from a challenge to be solved or an opportunity to be grabbed, think what could be done, planning it, putting the plan in motion and executing it and then look back on what we have achieved.

8. What are your top tips for aspiring PR consultants?

My tip to them is to always challenge their thinking and their clients. It is very easy to settle and say “yes dear” to a client’s idea when they believe they know better and insist. But if you think you would bring better value in doing something else you should tell them.

9. What average rate do you charge your clients?

It averages at £500 per day and they have to pay expenses.

Amelie Arras Freelance PR Consultant - An interview