SBB13 Annette Densham Shows Small Business How to do PR the Right Way Step by Step Annette: [00:00:00] That the industry's fashion and it was a jewelry line. So the owner of this business had been around for a couple of years and just doing really well just organically using Facebook. But she really wanted to ramp up her public profile. Not just to sell her product, but she wanted to start getting some speaking gigs in line of writing a book eventually about her experiences in business. So the first thing that we did was noted out her target audience and she had a few. So that we could create a couple of different angles for promoting her product. But because she was in small business we wanted to inspire other small businesses, that line of PR was let's look at what small business publications and mainstream we can get her personal story in. So I'll start with that one. Matt: [00:00:55] Sorry, can I just ask you one more question. So how did you go through, how did you go through and work out who her target audience was? Did she already have that? Or what steps did you take to work that out? Annette: [00:01:07] She kind of knew who, because she was very successful at what she was doing. So we just talked about who wants your product. So okay, so it's predominately women, they can be anywhere from teenagers up to grandmothers and they are interested in how they look. I said well let's just nail it down to one target area to start with. Who do you really want to start buying your product? Where is your gap? She went well I really want to start looking at women aged 30 45. Alright okay so women aged 30 45, are they mothers? Yeah they're mothers, they've got kids. They're pretty down to earth, they're like reading Woman's Weekly and New Idea and Take Five but they do like to keep their finger on the pulse. So we kind of just built this image of who this target, and we gave them names. Matt: [00:02:01] That's great, so you re really going through and creating a persona or an avatar there for her perfect client aren't you? Annette: [00:02:08] Perfect client and her name is Lexy. Matt: [00:02:10] Lexy, great. Lexy, she's got a name! Lexy! Annette: [00:02:14] She's got a name, I think that was because it came from my bold and beautiful days and I went now Lexy sounds like sounds like a great name. Matt: [00:02:21] That's awesome. Alright, so we've gone through, we've had a look at her current customer base, where the gaps are, and where she'd like to be and you came up with Lexy. Annette: [00:02:31] We came up with Lexy. So we went you know what does Lexy read? Lexy's reading Profile magazine up on the Sunshine coast, and Lexy likes going on to Mom and Me, she reads that on Facebook, and she really likes looking at Mouths of Mom and Family Capers on those websites because she's got kids who are like 8 and 9, maybe the oldest 11 and 12. So she's still interested in those types of finding activities for them to do. So it's like well we can do product placement with those. So we can have these little competitions, where we can get Lexy to share with 25 words or less why she would really like to
win this piece of jewelry. So we went alright, so we've got two piles here. We've got that product promotion, and we've got the person promotion. Matt: [00:03:23] Perfect, okay. So what did you do next? Annette: [00:03:25] So we went we'll stick with the profile raising. So I sat down, so the next thing I did was I interviewed my client. Tell me your story. So it was like sitting with a journalist, because I am a journalist. Sitting with a journalist digging out her story and here's the thing that I find when you're getting people go oh I don't really have anything to say and it's like you sorry, yeah you do. Let's sit and talk around the 45 minute where people start relaxing. They start sharing gold. You're sitting there going oh my god your story's amazing. Why would you want to keep that to yourself? So I interviewed my client, tell me your story, how did you get started? What were the things you stumbled over? What is it that you've learned? Who did you work with? Did you have a mentor? And we just pulled all of this stuff out and I went, and then I take it away, I like to ponder for a day or two, reading over my notes, thinking about okay, what would be something really compelling here. So the story that we came out with her was how she got started in business. She was 19 years old and created this product that just went crazy but because she was 19 years old and didn't come from a background of business people, she flopped in the most dramatic way. I went that is an awesome story, not that you flopped, but that you flopped but you picked yourself up and then you went and created another product that just went absolutely crazy. And then flopped. But you didn't give up, but you went back and you did it again. Matt: [00:05:10] So she's persistent. Annette: [00:05:11] She's persistent, and I went there's a lesson in that for anybody in small business. It may not work the first time, it may not even work the second time, but it may get to the third time. So we wrote a story about how she started and where she'd ended up and we sent that to a range of publications, we got runs in the Courier Mail, The Sydney Morning Herold, it appeared in The Financial Review, in appeared in Australian Content magazine, it appeared in Why magazine, it appeared in Get It magazine... Matt: [00:05:43] Right, so hang on, so I've got two questions then based on that. So you've obviously formulated or you've taken the essence from that interview and you've worked through a story that's going to be relatable for the audience that she's chasing. Is that right? Annette: [00:05:57] That's right. Matt: [00:05:57] The client, her perfect client. So for Lexy, you've chosen pieces from that interview, and you've found the most interesting or compelling aspects that Lexy can relate to, is that right? Annette: [00:06:08] Absolutely. So Lexy might be looking at buying the product, or she may be looking at getting in small business. We thought we'd go the double whammy because what my client said well how's this going to get me more clients? It's like well let's go back to people do business with people if people are seeing these, and then we re purposed those stories, we shared them across all her social media. So we've shared it on her Facebook page and people are going wow, this chick's amazing.
Matt: [00:06:37] That's amazing. I'll just take it back one step there, so we've got the story, so we know that that's going to suit Lexy and then you're targeting publications or platforms that you know that Lexy is going to be reading or looking at because you've already thought of that previously. Is that right? Annette: [00:06:52] Yes that's right and even, but she might not be reading the Financial Review we sent that because my client went I'd really like to be in the Financial Review. Matt: [00:06:59] Well that's a positive isn't it, because it's a bonus. Annette: [00:07:01] Yeah well that's third party credibility. So if you're in the Australian Financial Review, you're a pretty serious businessperson, that's the perception. But we used that link to put on her Facebook page, because we're going Lexy is going to be impressed by that and she's going to read it and go wow, what a great businessperson. Hang on, I've been thinking about something that I wanted to do. So it's not just about getting that business in. This is where that authentic PR comes in. It's also about inspiring other people to step up, to maybe do something they've been thinking of or even share their store. Matt: [00:07:39] Got it. So then are you tailoring that story for each different platform, putting a slightly different flavor behind it or a slightly different theme behind it to suit the type of content that's on that platform? So you're obviously not going to send the same thing to the Financial Review are you that you're going to put on Facebook? Or did you? Annette: [00:07:57] Yeah, yeah I did. I just changed the headline a little bit so for the Courier Mail it was a little more relaxed. For the Australian Financial Review it was Queensland Businesswoman takes her business to three million dollars a year in three years. But to the Courier Mail it was like Brisbane Mum starts business in her dining room. Matt: [00:08:25] Right, so it is definitely tailored to the sorts of readers I suppose for each of those publications. Annette: [00:08:30] That's right. So what's going to interest them? It was the same story, I didn't change the story at all, I just changed the headline. So that's a really quick and easy way to adapt that story because the story is the same regardless. But then the media release or the pitch that you send is really just bait because you want them to pick up the phone or email and say I want to talk to this person and then they create their own story. Matt: [00:08:56] Right, got it. Annette: [00:08:57] And they write it in the tone and style of their publication. Matt: [00:09:00] Now I understand, got it. That's the bit that I missing. Now I understand clearly. Got it. So you're setting up the initial release there and that really is the teaser, you want to bring the journalist in so they can write it in their own language and they're own style for that publication and that makes sense. Annette: [00:09:15] Yeah, but I've given them enough to go I understand who your audience is and this is why I think they'll find it interesting. Matt: [00:09:21] And were you... So the process then. You sent those out, you may have got a few little nibbles back, is that right?
Annette: [00:09:27] Yes. Matt: [00:09:28] Then when you're talking about re purposing that content for social, were you already doing that before you got publications in say the Fin Review or Courier Mail? Or was there a process there that you followed? Annette: [00:09:41] Not so much with that story because if the story runs, I don't re purpose it. I use the link that they send me to the story, to share that around and then you put on the website as seen in The Courier Mail, Lifestyle Channel, blah, blah, blah. So you have those, the badge is there for that extra social proof. If the media don't pick up the story, that's when I'll re purpose it. Matt: [00:10:07] How do we make the most from the coverage once we've got it. So if we get into the Fin Review and the Courier Mailer, you mentioned putting the links back on your website and the little images I suppose. But how do we then make the most of all that via social or other means? Annette: [00:10:21] Share the links. I mean there's, and get your friends to share them, private message them and go hey look can you please share these links for me, and you've always, we've always got two or three of our biggest champions who are egging us on and patting us on the back. So you get them to share them through their networks. You can then take that link and write a blog about it, about here's the process that I used to get PR, or here's what this has given to me. So the article that appeared in The Sydney Morning Herald is that we wrote a story about here's the outcome of what happened from this story, so she didn't necessarily get lots of new customers coming into the store, but she got forty phone calls from potential distributors. Matt: [00:11:08] So you've really got to be prepared for that in some regards as well don't you? You need to have a plan for what you're going to do once the coverage comes? Annette: [00:11:15] That's right, you can't always anticipate, like we didn't anticipate that those phone calls. That's where, I don't know if I've mentioned it, having your foundations in place before you go to the media is really important. So do you have your profile ready, do you have your logo, your key massages, your product overview, your target market? Do you have a plan? Do you know what you're doing from month to month in terms of getting this story out there? What about your collateral? Do you, you're all over website content, you've got it, you've got room to grow your data base. Your hosting on your website is sound, it's not going to fall over if you get hit by 3,000 inquiries. Do you have your story ready to go? So you've got to have your profile, your plan, your collateral and your stories ready before you hit the media. Matt: [00:12:06] That's really useful. So making, I can see clearly how that would make a massive difference to the end result. You've really got to be prepared, and then put those steps into play. Then make sure that you can cope, potentially if it does get picked up, that you can cope with the incoming inquiries. Annette: [00:12:22] Yeah, absolutely. So there's a lady I know who wrote a media release, well she wasn't a client, she's a friend, and she wrote a media release about a survey that she did and
she sent it A Current Affair, she got on A Current Affair and it was really compelling story and her website just got smashed and couldn't handle it. So... Matt: [00:12:48] And you lose credibility again, don't you? You lose opportunity. Annette: [00:12:51] Yeah, yeah. So you have to think okay if I am going to go mainstream then can I cope with it, do I have enough stuff in place? Have I got some systems and process of how I am going to manage these? Can my production line handle extra influx of interest? Matt: [00:13:11] That's a great tip, yeah to make sure you prepare there for potential inquiry. And so then what was the end result for the jewelry client then? You said that she got forty inquiries from that particular piece for distributors, but what changed after all of that PR for her? Annette: [00:13:28] Her profile was elevated, so she started to get requests to do speaking gigs. She opened up a retail outlet, so previously she'd been working from a home based office. So she was able to open up her retail outlet so she could, she'd had a couple around the place, but it was mostly people distributing, so she was able to have that physical presences. Her income escalated, like her business turn over escalated from like a million dollars up to almost three. Matt: [00:14:00] Wow. Annette: [00:14:00] Which was like, yeah that's pretty cool. She put herself up, well her PR person put herself up for a number of awards, international business awards and she won them. Matt: [00:14:13] Wow that's awesome. Annette: [00:14:14] So like when you marry that all together, over time the profile's being elevated, her third party credibility is growing because people are seeing her all over the place and they're going wow I've heard of that. Oh look at that. Now I need to get one of those. Her website's getting hit with more and more orders. So and that was, I worked it out, there was about a $170,000 in advertising space that we'd secured that she hadn't had to pay for. Matt: [00:14:47] That's great isn't it? And that drives sales and drives growth from them. Annette: [00:14:51] Absolutely and if you keep doing that over and over again, like we haven't even talked about on the other hand, the product placements, of sending images of her product to certain magazines, or running competitions where people have the opportunity to win a product that drives interest as well. So not everybody's going to win, but they will go to the website and go bugger I missed out on that, but you know what, look I can go here and order it myself. Matt: [00:15:20] Yeah, right. So you're really driving, you're capitalizing on that and driving awareness of the product and driving sales still. Where can we go to learn more then, from you? Annette: [00:15:29] You can go to my website. There's always content on there where I'll go here's the problem that I want to solve this week and you'll see how to get, stop no shows coming to your events, or what's the formula for writing a media release, or if people want to subscribe, there's a contact form, I can add them to my newsletter, where once I a month, I try not to slam people with too much content. They can follow me on Facebook, because I'm always putting, not just my stuff up but the people that I admire and respect, that are a little bit ahead of me in terms of PR delivery, some of the things that they're doing.
As part of my newsletter, I run workshops in Brisbane, in particular on a regular basis where they can come and I've got a workshop on the fifth of may called primp your profile. So how do we get some of those foundations in place, how do we get your, let's write your bio, let's work on what your key messages are. Who's your target audience? Let's pull out a few of those stories and then work out what platforms you really need to be present on to share all of this. I always say to people, start small. Don't try and shoot for the stars straight away. You'll get there eventually but there's nothing worse than going big and then getting a rejection and going that sucks this didn't work. Start with your local paper, they're always looking for great local stories. And once you get that win in and you go look I'm in the paper. It's like I still do it, I hit my local paper all the time, I think I've been in my local paper five times in the last twelve months. Matt: [00:17:16] That's a great tip, start local because you're right they are always looking for that local story or the hero made good from the local community. Annette: [00:17:24] Yeah, well I've won a couple of awards, so I send them my photo and because I know how to write a story, I write the story and they run it. So here's little old Annette from Forest Lake and I go up to my local shops and people will go, I know you. You were in the paper. And I go yes. I was. Matt: [00:17:44] You're Forest Lake famous. Annette: [00:17:45] I'm Forest Lake famous if I read.