Introducing Steel City Strategy
The last time I wrote a newsletter on Substack, my life was a little bit different...
My last Substack newsletter was sent on 22 August 2021; I was living with my parents and writing about how hard it felt to make a living as a journalist if, like me, you were unwilling to relocate to London.
I’m incredibly grateful for the love the newsletter received (highlight was Terri White from Empire telling me she enjoyed it), and I was sad to close it down after starting a full-time editorial job with my local paper.
But life has changed a bit since then. I moved out, went through a breakup and got into a new relationship, and also I’ve since left journalism.
Why, you might ask? In part I was frustrated by the constant fear of redundancy or newsroom restructures but mostly, I’ll admit, it was about the money. I found out a colleague who did an equivalent role to me was getting paid about £10K more, despite not having a qualification I had worked extremely hard for. I had conversation after conversation with my manager at the time about being more fairly compensated, and after a promised payrise never materialised, I decided enough was enough.
I decided to leave journalism and return to marketing, which was my first job when I left university. I had previously worked as a marketing & communications officer for a university, while studying in London part-time with News Associates for my NCTJ journalism diploma.
I don’t regret my brief foray into local media; I think learning what you don’t want to do for a living is just as valuable as knowing what you do want to do. Besides, I haven’t really left journalism – I continue to run The Indiependent around a full-time marketing and communications role, managing the site that gives aspiring journalists experience, and editing the music section.
What’s more, storytelling is still an integral part of my day-to-day work with a healthcare charity. Having been on the receiving end of press releases from PRs while working as a journalist, I conveniently know exactly how to pitch stories to newsrooms.
My current role is super varied and I really enjoy it, but I’m still super motivated to continue sharing my knowledge and expertise with others who may be earlier on in their careers or journeys as a small business owner.
That’s where Steel City Strategy comes in. I’ve set this marketing and consultancy service up as a way of offering help to people who need it. That might be local nail technician who doesn’t have the foggiest how to set up a paid ad campaign; or it might be a small business looking for help setting up a website (from design to copywriting). If you’ve got a project that you think I could help with, shoot me a line on beth.kirkbride@steelcitystrategy.com.
Why subscribe to Steel City Strategy?
If you’re not currently looking to work with someone on all things marcomms, hopefully there’s still reason enough for you to subscribe to this newsletter, where I’ll be sharing free marketing and communications advice based on my experience working in the charity sector, as a published journalist, and a small business owner.
Sometimes there will be a focus on Sheffield or South Yorkshire (your gal has SEO considerations to think of), but for the most part, the stuff I’m saying will resonate wherever you’re based.
Here are some recent articles I’ve written to get you started:
If you’ve got a specific question you’d like me to cover in an upcoming issue, let me know!