Owen: Hi! My name is Owen Mcgab Enaohwo. And welcome to www.HireYourVirtualAssistant.com where we specialize in providing small business owners with exceptional virtual assistants. And on my blog, I have interviews with experts from various fields. They come on my show and share their insights so that you can now take the information you’ll learn from them and apply in your business. Today I have a guest who is an expert in Public Relations, P.R. And I’ll show you wondering public relations? What does that have to do with a small business owner? Well, I’ll tell you this; my guest is Sarah Evans from Sevans Strategy. And she’s here to share with you why public relations is not only important for your business, it’s necessary, especially today where public relations has changed from traditional way of doing things to where we now incorporate social media. And she’s gonna share with some tips and strategies on how you can use public relations for your small business as it relates to you today. So, I look forward to hearing from you after the interview. So, I’ll see you around the corner.
Owen: Hi everyone! Today on the interview, I have Sarah Evans from www.SevanStrategy.com. And, why I got her on the call? Was because as a small business owner, regardless of how small or big you are, we all need public relations for our business. And I felt, I needed to get someone, an expert on the field to come on the show and explain to you guys, how public relations is today and why you should be using it for your business. So, Sarah, go ahead introduce yourself, your company. And we’ll get started from there.
Sarah: Well, I started Seventh Strategy about 8 months ago. And, it’s really been an amazing experience. I’ve learned everyday something new that I’m not good at and what I need to learn about. But, one thing I do know is that there is a need in what we’re doing. Well, our background is pure public relations. We’re really right now working with organizations and brands. We’re looking into how they can incorporate social media to their current marketing and communication, their advertising, their customer service outreach. And, we’re not a firm that comes in and says, “Let’s open up your twitter account and show you how to do it.” We figure out where people need to be, we examine what workflow needs to change, and what the structure and organization needs to look like in order to make things work. Definitely, P.R. has changed completely. I’m doing, I’d say, I’m doing the work I was doing six years ago, it’s almost a completely different workday now because of the rise of social media and online communication. It’s really, it’s really crazy.
Owen: Yes. And one thing you said is that P.R. has changed. I want us to walk through how P.R. used to be, as in Public Relations, how it used to be back in the day and how it is now.
Sarah: Sure! Well, P.R. is a kind of a broad, a broad category. I think people sometimes think it’s only about Media Relations. But, Public Relations incorporates, for some people, internal communications, external communications, community relations, government relations. So it runs the gamut. But, most people usually, especially business owners that I worked with tend to focus on Media Relations. So, let me just explain as easily or as simply as possible how that has changed. When I was in college, the way I was trained was; you identify a good story, you pitch a reporter, you hope that they pick it up, you hope that they incorporate your key messages or your spokes person, you hope that the consumer picks up or reads or listens to the publication, that they hear your message, and that they take action based out of that, and that the article’s favorable. And now with the integration of social media, we have these new opportunities to go where the consumers are. It doesn’t devalue what some people call mainstream or traditional media. That’s still very important. But, there are certain opportunities now that we can just go direct to the consumer where they’re at. And to do that, we could do so without interrupting them or annoying them, and interacting with them, in the way they want to be interacted since we’re joining them on their turf.
Owen: So, walk me through that? If a company comes to you with the old idea or if someone else provided services to them in the old way of doing things and they come to you now, walk me through how you would take them from the old ways of doing things to getting their mind ready to working in the new environment of P.R.?
Sarah: Well, one of the cool things is that we don’t have to change everything. Many of the clients, what we do is an integrated approach. Where we’re still doing; because traditional media is still valued, for example, we develop a media list that has traditional bloggers and online influencers, those people who have influence on some larger network. And we reach out to them each in a different way. Much like in with traditional journalist what’s their deal, what do they write about. So, we’ll pitch a story that works for them. With a blogger, we’ll look to see whether they are writing a business blog, a passion based blog, whether are they writing about a hobby. So, how do we reach out to them? And then still will use different tactics or other ways to build community or reach out to online influencers to see if they’ll consider talking about or writing about something. And that’s just one tactic. That’s just pitching us somebody to write about something. We might build a social media movement around something. We might work with a brand or a not-for-profit to make something bigger, to make some noise online.
Owen: Oh, yes. So, basically, the first step is to get them to pitch to the blogger to have the blogger write about something that they are already doing. And, go ahead.
Sarah: Well it can be if that’s the start. but even in taking a few steps back. Do we have stories we need to tell? And if we do, where do we need to tell them. And then it’s developing a lot of time in developing a media list because you wanna make sure that you are reaching out to and pitching to the right people. That you are not spamming 50 people. I was giving you an example earlier this evening. You could do a research on all bloggers who writes about fishing. But, without doing research, if you pitch them all, you might miss that there are some bloggers who only write about leers or specific kind of bobbers. Or some, they do have a niche topic that they write about. So, you really need to do your homework. And figure out what they write about so that you’re pitching about something they can’t wait to write about.
Owen: okay. So, now we have gotten into the steps on how to pitch them. How do you create a buzz around something? Because that was the second angle you want to go in the P.R. to create a buzz. What will you encourage a small business to do in order to create a buzz?
Sarah: Well, there’s, there’s a few thing. One, it’s the hardest thing to understand that not everything is news worthy. Even though you’re so excited about it, it may not be buzz worthy or news worthy. And really identifying what’s news worthy is looking in what is timely, what is relevant What is something happening in the national scale or international scale that you can hone down into a local angle and pitch to local people. But, if you’re looking to create buzz online, it’s usually by doing what’s best for or what your community has asked for. Things that think about the question what’s in it for me? And by what’s in it for me, your consumer or your audience. And if you could do something that has a great answer to the end user, that’s something that may work. And many times it may have nothing to do with your product. I was speaking to a chiropractor two days ago and she said, “I noticed when I started blogging about what I was passionate about my children and being a mom, it secondarily was leading to more business, to my, to my chirographic business.” She wasn’t blatantly promoting her chirographic business but people start built a relationship with her and felt comfortable with her and then saw that she was a local chiropractor. So, there’s a totally different way of doing things but she’s creating buzz, but not, not blatant, not blatant buzz. (Laugh)
Owen: Not really marketing specifically about what she’s doing but kinda making content around what she’s doing. Is that it
Sarah: Yeah! Yeah! And it’s a really great point that she’s developing a really great content. She’s providing a really good content. It doesn’t just have to be written content, there’s audio, there’s video, there’s photos. People can tell amazing stories through photos. But, she’s providing really good content and that’s why people are connecting with her. A woman who reached her blog said, “I’m not even a mom, I made so much fun reading your blog. You don’t make me feel that I shouldn’t be reading it.” So, she’s inviting people in, she’s providing content, she’s writing from her heart. And as bloggers, many of them are just passionate writers writing about there hobby.
Owen: So, when does that, having that buzz around what they’re doin’ How can that small business take that buzz and get people to interact in regards to what they’re doing? I see a lot of people they write good blog post or whatever, but they do not have that interaction. I also have experienced it myself too, as a new blogger, I ask them something but you don’t have the response. So, what steps can a small business owner take to carry that interaction around with the buzz they have created?
Sarah: Sure. Well, one of the things again, the first thing I did before getting in the community, Is there a need for this, and then do people want to react with me in this way. Because in again in such a time you put all this work into something but people doesn’t really want to comment or interact. And the other thing I’ve seen, blogs is kinda the Grandfather of Social Media. That is the place where we could have our first interaction and have comments and talk back-&-fort. But now I’ve seen over the past two years this evolution of somebody might comment on your blog or actually on the blog, but somebody else might twit about it and that counts or consist of their comments or they might post it to Facebook. And that’s what they want to do, they want to share it. That’s much interaction they want. There are many blogs who just have lurkers, people who read but don’t feel comfortable commenting. I think it depends on what type of goals. If your goal is, I wanna set this much interaction but really, really, your goal is I’m trying to build more business for my business, you ought a think about what your trying to focus in time and attention and what you’re trying to feed and do.
Owen: And the thing now is you have P.R., what is this, a client you had or your client being business-to-business, right? Or you have business in a way to Business-to-Consumers? So, what is the difference in the way you handled P.R. in both cases
Sarah: Yes, it will, it definitely changes in my P.R. strategy. I didn’t specialize in B-to-B. I can speak to it briefly. My clients are all B-to-C, Business-to-Consumer. But, when you’re going to Business-to-Business especially in B-to-B, I read a stat today, something a very low statistic like 14% of B-to-B’s are currently someone dedicated to social media. How does this work to us if we want to go to other businesses in our clientele. But, one of the good things about with B-to-B, you know who your target is. You know pretty well. So, there’s a way you can go to them very specifically. You don’t have to search in social media just to say, “Where are my consumers? Where are they talking? Who am I trying to reach?” You know your audience. So, without getting to a practical level, that’s a huge advantage. As that, you automatically know where your audience is
Owen: Okay. And then, with the Business-to-Consumer, you don’t really know where your audience where they are, so, you have to do that extra step to do that research to find where they are. What are the things you are looking coz’ right now you have B.P. having a crisis. It’s a thing where all small business owners always go through a situation where something bad happens. So, how can you encourage when that happens? How does a small business owner approach the P.R.?
Sarah: That’s a great question. One of the first things I get even with like let’s just say with social media, every single business, I don’t get small or large, they always start asking questions that are negative about social media. What do I do if I get out there and I get all these negative comments? And, I usually always ask, do you get a lot of negative comments now? Then they always say, “Well, a few.” Then I say, “It’s probably gonna be the same ratio.” You know. It just makes sense if you’re very fearful. If you’re planning for something bad to happen, that’s a good mentally health during that planning stage. But, I always recommend, and I know it’s a small business and resources are tight. But having some type of strategy in place for crisis communication, literally, it’s, “Who? When can we respond? When do we not respond?” Many businesses are measured by how fast they respond to something. (Owen: Yes.) And it’s simple as and obviously when you consult your legal expert before you say you’ve made a mistake. But, let’s say if something happens, the first you’re gonna do is get the message out like, “where this has happened,” “we’re looking into it,” “we will update you shortly” That’s the most important thing just to acknowledge that something has happened. And then, behind the scene if you have a P.R. person or if you have Legal Consult, getting those people around the table, but, know that that’s, that’s, just know that those are the steps you have to take before you sit in front your computer or on your phone or you know like, “what do I do now?” So, know that the person is getting that initial message out that, you know, that makes you human, that acknowledges something, and then get the right people around the table and get timely messages out. Stay ahead of the story. I had a mentor in a while. It’s kind of funny but kind of true. He used to say, a few years ago, he used to say, “If they’re running you in town, jump out in front and call it a parade.” (Laughs)
Owen: (Laughs) I like that. I like that. Yes, I guess whatever the situation is, you have to grab the bull by the horn and just try and be out there and have your own side of the story going at your own side of the story.
Sarah: Yeah! It doesn’t mean spinning. It just means, you know, if something happens just be a part of it. And take the good with the bad. Because in the long run, being there and owning it, is gonna pay out better than if you ignore and avoid.
Owen: Yeah! I like that. One thing too is, you know, when people think about P.R., think about it being very expensive, you know, something that they might have to , you know, small business owner think about how can they make a budget that don’t spend too much. But in the end of the day, P.R., in one sense or the other is very important. How can a small business owner, knowing that they have to do P.R., how can they do P.R. in a more affordable way?
Owen: Sure! One of the first things I think of at the top of my head is looking to see if there’s a local P.R.S.S. shop out there at a college located near you. That’s the student association of the Public Relations Society in America. Many of those organizations are running student-run firms and they’re looking for clients to practice with. And it doesn’t mean you’re going to get a lesser quality. I mean, I’ve talked to many of these students who are more than capable of being P.R. pros and they’re look, they’re chopping a the bits to get this experience. So that’s one way if you’re looking for a more cost affordable. The other is to look for a solo P.R. consultancies and agencies where they are taking on a few clients at a time, they have very set rates. And they can do a specific amount of things for you. But, you should note, I don’t wanna say you get what you pay for. But if you’re gonna work with student-run agency versus a solo P.R. partners, solo P.R. pro, there’s so much they can do versus hiring a big agency which is where the cost comes in. But then, you get access to very expensive media databases, extreme talents, multiple people, you know, who can work with you on something. So it gets on what works best for you on your business.
Owen: Okay. Yeah! And that’s a good way on looking at it. And also, when a client knows, try not put for P.R. You have to interview a bunch of different P.R. companies until they finally find the right fit. So, what views, what points you have for that small business that is now facing, interviewing a bunch of P.R. companies? What should they be looking for in the right P.R. Company?
Sarah: Well, number one, if they specialize in your industry, I would ask you “what’s your experience in my industry?” And find someone who already has experience in part of the business because they’ve probably built a lot of media relationships that you need. And that takes so much time. It’s hard to put value on that. But the relationships in the media are extremely important, mostly not because they know the place is but because they know who to go to, to try to pitch the story. Also to see, you know, if you’re forward thinking, even if you’re not ready to get social media but you think at some point you’d like to get to that, is that firm your agency, your consultancy, are they there yet? Are they using social media on integrated campaign? Just to know it’s there so that you don’t have to say at some point, you don’t want them learning along beside you, the practicing fee. (Both laughing) (Owen: I know, I know) See, are they already doing this? How is this integrated to the pay structure? Are they charging me per twits? Which, I don’t recommend. Or, is it, is it integrated part of the campaign? I’d also ask, who’s gonna be doing the work? You know, there’s one person come in garner your business and let someone do your work. And I don’t wanna discredits interns or account executives in anyway at an agency. I just wanna know who’s doing the work. In fact, there are extremely competent people. But people think, well, if it’s not the President, the V.P. doing the work, I don’t want them. They’re so; they are more remote from what’s going on. I just wanna know who’s doing the work. Coz’ I could give lots of tip. But also trust your gut. What you feel comfortable with. Do your research on them. See what they’ve, see what they’ve done. P.R. companies are always the first to tell you the words they want. I’m sure you’ll find that out. I don’t necessarily think that is, these me’s to be all. But, just do your homework. Come up with specific questions that you ask to all the agencies. In fact, call a friend or someone else who works in the P.R. industry to help you develop some questions as well.
Owen: That, that’s a very good suggestion out there. Give us some fun stories of how small business owners have used P.R. for there business so that my audience can see the benefit of actually using P.R.
Sarah: Sure. Can I use a selfish example? (Owen: Yes. Sure. ) Coz’ I can speak from my personal capability. One of the things and this is gonna be an integrated social media approach because that’s what I do. But the case that I’ve been giving lately is a personal one. Was back in February, in Chicago, there was a very minor earthquake. It woke me up in the middle. Well, it was like four in the morning. And my husband didn’t wake up. And I wanted to know. I never felt an earthquake before. So, I wanted to know what it was, so, I grabbed my cell phone, I tweeted, “Is this an earthquake?” And within a few minutes, people started to twit back-&-fort with me. And if you used Twitter, you’ll have this. But I added hashtags to what I was saying so people can track it. I pitched to CNN I Report that there was an earthquake, if you needed a source, let me know. And within an hour I had a call from New York Times saying, from the social media editor who saw the news that the earthquake break through my Twitter feed, interviewed me, had me on the front page of www.NewYorkTimes.com with a call out to my business. I was then interviewed by CNN I Report where I ended up to www.CNN.com with a call out to my business. At the end of the day, I have five, four or five viable business reachable who contacted me from what I’ve read from those sites. So, as a way, I’m not saying, I’m great at what I do but I model a behavior, I identify the opportunity, and someone said you get it, so maybe you can do it for my business. So, that was a way of using media, social media, identify an opportunity and moving on it.
Owen: Yeah. I like that. You always said, you know, at the beginning, you said you have to find something current, I guess, and you have to find your moment of that story. I totally enjoyed the interview. As a matter of fact, I think my audience will have need of your services. So, how can they contact you?
Sarah: You’re so good Owen! They can, they can email me at sarah@sevansstrategy.com, or at Twitter, it is @prsarahevans.
Owen: Thank you so much! I enjoyed the interview.
Sarah: Thank you Owen! Good luck to you!
Owen: Thank You!
I hope you enjoyed the interview with Sarah Evans. And I wanna know how exactly are you using P.R. or the public relations for your business or how do you plan to use public relations to your business. And I hope you learned something new about how you can make use of public relations and social media and merge them and get the buzz out there for your business and get the message out there and build the community around your products, your ideas, and your strategies. So, if you learned something new or you wanna suggest something, go ahead and leave your comments on http://www.HireYourVirtualAssistant.com/Sarah-Evans. I would definitely appreciate it. Also, I want you to sign up my newsletter and also download my free e-book titled “The entrepreneurs guide to running the business in the cloud.” You can do that by going to my blog and clicking on the picture of the e-book. And when you do that, it takes you to a page where you can definitely enter in your name and your email. Again, I thank you for watching the show.
### The End ###
Need at transcript? The Transcribing HYVeneans™ will help you get it done affordably, accurately & fast
