We've spoken about how influencer marketing is becoming a really big deal. Here are all the stats to prove that. But that only gets us so far - to make us understand that we really should be doing influencer marketing. Knowing that you need to do something is different than actually doing it.

In our fast-moving, overcommunicated world, implementation is key. 

That got me thinking about the essence of influencer marketing and what it is about - basically, it's about engaging well-known influencers in your space of business to talk positively about you, your products or your services. 

Now, this is where we can start a debate because isn't this exactly what PR people do? They influence the influencers? They engage and build relationships with the media and with bloggers, YouTubers, Instagrammers and everyday peeps who have a serious online following so that they spread positive words about our business. This type of activity is far more effective than paid and push messages because, according to McKinsey, 20 to 50% of purchase decisions are influenced by word-of-mouth, influencer opinions are twice as effective as ads and customers acquired through such initiatives are 37% more likely to stick around. 

And that totally makes sense.

After a little over a year of having my email open to anyone and offering PR students to reach out to me for advice and help with their PR dissertations, I'm now done with this free service and free will to help. I'm shutting the PR mentoring down. I've kinda had enough. 

I don't  usually start or seek a rant, but I need to say all of this hoping that someone will be able to explain it to me. 

I can't even count the number of thoughtless, pointless emails I've received over the past year:

• My advisor says I need to narrow down my topic – can you give me a narrowed one please? 
• I like PR and social media – can you tell me what a good topic is that I should go for? 
• I want to conduct research around PR and have this brand's Facebook page – can you suggest a topic for it and what the hypothesis should be? 

Continuing with my blog series "Why Work in PR?", we have Sarah Hall today sharing with us her PR career story and some valuable advice for students and young professionals looking into joining the industry. 

I met Sarah on email a few months. Yep, we've never met in person but email and Twitter were enough to discover that we have many things in common, especially a passion for reviving the PR industry and particularly the agency world. 

With years of experience in PR, running her own agency now and seeing the pains of the industry, Sarah was the one who started the #FuturePRoof book project and reached out to me to see if I would be interested in contributing a chapter on Inbound PR too. Of course I was. I was so grateful to her for the opportunity. And so I invited her to share with us her story. 

Before you move onto the interview, don't forget to follow her on Twitter @Hallmeister and to follow @WeArePRoofed too. 

(If you've missed any of the previous interviews, you can take a look as well: Richard Bailey, Pippa Hanson, Jessica Hodkinson, Chryssa Skodra, Farzana Baduel and Scott Guthrie.) 

Why Work in Public Relations: Interview with Sarah Hall

We are entering a new era of globalisation – a digital one – McKinsey says. Practically non-existent 15 years ago, digital flow of information and content now exerts a larger part on GDP growth than the centuries-old trade in goods. 

What we once called normal is no longer normal, it's traditional and old-school. Digital is disrupting the way we lead our lives and the way we do business. 

The outbound methods of pushing messages via TV, radio or direct mail no longer work. People ignore all that. We've become a lot more sophisticated because technology and online have offered us a lot of choice to design our ego ecosystems where we decide what to consume and what to ignore. 

The problem for business is that right now there's way too much noise everywhere which creates a huge challenge when trying to reach your audience. Hence the need for a partner in solving this challenge – an agency that's an expert in communicating your messages to the right audience at the right time with the right tools. 

But this presents yet another challenge: the list of agencies out there is huge too. Not all of them, though, are experts in the new world of digital, and among them, fall some PR agencies too. 

PR agencies still have this weird aura around them, being seen primarily as media relations experts and not getting respect. 

I've worked in the industry myself and now being on the other side consulting agencies on how to grow their business, I see the pains again and again every day. And they all revolve around one thing – the inability to measure and track results. 

I've made two big realisations over the past 12 months observing all this: 

I was on holidays last week and I actually managed to not open my email, read any blogs or articles or even write. I completely switched off. And I'm proud of myself for doing so for the very first time in my life.

Now I'm refreshed and ready to get back to it with full energy. And so I spent a few hours on Sunday afternoon catching up on all my reading from the past two weeks. Almost 500 articles were waiting for me in my feedly but yet again, sitting on my sofa with my coffee and reading helped me learn quite a few new things that I thought I need to share with you too.

Below you'll find 17 must-read pieces about digital, inbound marketing, public relations, agency world and management and leadership I recommend for you to go over this week.

17 Articles and Blog Post to Read Now:

Digital

#1: 26 Disruptive Tech Trends for 2016 – 2018

Brian Solis again gives us a sneak peek into the future. Brands, brace yourself and start adjusting and adapting again and never stop if you want to stay relevant!