Why I’m selling – or retiring – the UK’s #1 PR blog

By Rich Leigh on Thursday, August 31, 2017

On the 5th of January 2012, I sent this tweet:

Student of/work in PR/social? I’m launching something you may like. Be the first to hear about it: http://t.co/Ab8mLxYV

— Rich Leigh (@RichLeighPR) 5 January 2012

That ‘something’ I was launching turned out to be this here site, PRexamples.com. The first ever post was actually this Angry Birds one, in December 2011, as I prepped the site with a few examples pre-launch.

This though, was the first ‘explainer’ post, laying out not only a few of my previous failed ideas and projects (including a story about a disabled boy that still makes me cringe), but the idea behind PRexamples itself.

As a fan of creative marketing, and also somebody often on the look-out for ways to contribute to an industry I love, I wanted to create a light-hearted site dedicated to celebrating the best examples of an intersecting group of industries, united underneath the marketing umbrella. Equal parts fun and useful.

In the nearly-six years since, PRexamples.com has since gone on to become the UK’s #1 PR blog, read by tens of thousands of people every single month. It’s been known to reach more than 60,000 people a month a good few times – something I’m incredibly proud of given there are around 80,000 PR professionals in the UK. On an average month where we’re putting enough time into it, that unique visitor figure sits steadily at around 30,000, with the majority of readers based in the UK as one might expect, but a good percentage come from the US, Australia and Canada, among dozens of other countries.

PRexamples started out as, and has remained, a labour of love. I’ve pumped my own money and thousands of hours into it, to build what now stands as one hell of a resource for the PR and wider marketing industries. Hundreds of contributors – students and professionals alike – have written for the site, giving it depth I could never have given it alone.

There are thousands of examples of PR and marketing stunts and campaigns to read through, and while other sites like Adverblog – my go-to for inspiration when I started working in PR ten years ago – have come and gone, PRexamples has stuck it out.

I’ve never monetised it as well as I possibly should (and definitely could) have, but it’s been there, free and available for those that might find it useful and/or enjoy it, both throughout my time at other PR agencies and now, as I enter the third year of running my own; Radioactive PR.

We’ve provided the unofficial barometer for the best stunts and campaigns each year in our annual round-ups, having put together a top 20 list, based on the most popular posts, in 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016.

Well, with a feeling of accomplishment, having started PRexamples when I was 24, and having managed it for the majority of my career in PR so far, I’ve decided that the next round-up, for 2017 (out in mid-late December) will be my last running the site.

It will be business as usual until then, but I think I’ve taken it as far as I can take it with the time I have to give. I’ve struggled to give it the time it deserves and feel like there are other projects I want to get to, as well as the running of my agency.

There are two things that will happen thereafter:

1. I will continue to pay hosting to preserve the site, as is, for as long as there is traffic, to ensure people are still able to search for and read through posts – though no new posts will be added, OR

2. Somebody makes me a sensible offer for the site and it is given a new lease of life

With a longstanding and loyal industry-specific audience, incredible search visibility and a large and engaged newsletter database of many thousands, I think it’s a great acquisition for the right buyer. I would love to see it continue, but it’d have to be the right offer and the right fit.

I could see industry service suppliers, agencies (both within and around PR) and publishers being interested, but I guess it’s not for me to say. If you are interested, please contact me by emailing [email protected], or giving me a call using the number on my agency’s contact page. Let’s talk.

At any rate, and whatever happens, I want to thank you all.

Thank you for reading, for contributing (both in terms of writing for the site and in sending us ideas for posts), for sharing our posts and, well, for just being generally supportive.

We’ve had some great events, and there’ve been a surprising number of you that have been in touch to say you’ve got jobs, won clients and had campaign ideas bought as a result of either writing for the site or swotting up on recent examples thanks to it – so, thank you for that, too. It’s made it all very worthwhile.

PRexamples is proof that the industry is full of fun, smart and creative people, and it’s been an absolute pleasure to be part of something so many of you have enjoyed.