IDEAMENSCH: Meet Kris Ruby
Key learnings:
Key learnings:
- Adapt to the business challenges a client has and offer them PR/Marketing solutions around their pain points.
- Ego driven PR is not a business strategy. Data driven PR tied to metrics, goals and clear objectives is.
- Results trump location. If you are good at what you can do, you can do it from anywhere. Don’t get sucked into believing you need to start out in the most expensive market in order to make an impact. You don’t.
- The tactics you choose to deploy may change, but the fundamental business need to do it will not.
- Educate yourself on the value of things you need for your business instead of depending on vendors to do that for you. A publicist can execute a PR plan for you, but it is not their job to continually explain the value of PR and why it’s so important for you to have it. The more time they spend doing this, the less time they are spending pitching you to media outlets. Your words/emails/requests all have a price attached to them and all convert to billable hours. Choose wisely.
- If you hire a pro, let them do what they do best and for the most part, stay out of their way. People do great work for people who treat them well. Empower your consultants with trust and respect and you will be amazed at the level of work produced.
- Properly vet prospects up front and qualify the buyer. Ask critical questions. Has someone already gone through 6 PR agencies prior to working with you? What was the retention rate at each firm? Do they have a list of complaints on why every other firm didn’t meet their public relations needs? If so, do you really think you are likely to meet their expectations? Stop trying to be the hero and win every piece of business.
- Pay attention to sales red flags and spend more time qualifying up front before agreeing to terms that are not profitable for your business or mental health.