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Hello and welcome back to this week's episode of PR Made Simple where today I'm going to be talking all about how I've used PR to grow my own business over the past nearly four years. I've spent very little in terms of paid for, I think I did it for about a week and I didn't do it very well, so I really have used organic free PR to build my business and I thought it might be really useful for you.

for me to kind of deep dive into how I've done that and the impact that the different things that I've done have had on my business.

The beauty of PR is that it's free. So especially when you're first starting out, you're not paying for any of the PR you're getting. And when it's done strategically to work for your business objectives, it's a brilliant way of helping you launch and then grow your business. Now I'm obviously a B2B service business, that's business to business, service business.

but there will be lots of ideas in here that work for you, whatever type of business you have. So I hope you find this really useful. First off, and this is the one that I really recommend if you're starting out, is that I use my network and collaborated with the right people and the right businesses, especially right at the beginning. So first off, and this is one that I really recommend when you're starting out,

is that I use my network and I collaborated with the right people who had the right audiences and the right types of businesses to really align myself with. And especially at the beginning, it's something that is brilliant to do, but it's something that I still do regularly now because I love collaborations. I love working with other people. I think as small business owners, collaborations can be so effective for us to build our businesses. And I've also found that the small business community is so supportive.

When I first started the PR set, I reached out to a number of people in my network, people either I'd known, I was friends with, I'd worked with previously about how we could potentially work together. So for example, I co-hosted a webinar with my friend Caroline Britton, who has also been on this podcast, who's a coach, and we did a webinar about building your personal brand.

and that was great because it allowed me to tap into her audience and show them that I really knew what I was talking about, but it also created value for Caroline as well because she could show from her perspective as a coach about the things that hold us back and Caroline and I have gone on and done lots of different things together from a work perspective. I also worked with my lovely friend Kat Sims who is not so smug now on Instagram. At the time when I launched the PR set she was working with more small businesses.

and we did a number of webinars, paid for sessions together that were so brilliant for me to use her audience to help me to launch my business, but also gave her great content to keep her audience engaged. We've done some brilliant collaborations over the past four years. We've got a course, which is all about working with influencers. And I still have people in my DIYPR membership who joined up from that very first webinar we did together literally four years ago.

So the power of collaboration cannot be underestimated. Now of course there were people who I reached out to, who I sent ideas over to, who maybe didn't reply to me or they might have come back to me saying no thanks this isn't right for us now or you know it's not really right for us but it really doesn't matter.

I think the key thing here is that we often stop ourselves from pitching to people because we're worried that they're going to laugh at us or think we're silly for pitching. But I promise nobody has that much time to think about you and your business. It's all in our heads. We make it up. It doesn't happen like that. If it's not right for them, it really doesn't matter. That's not the end of the world. But if it is right and it can happen, then it can be magical when it does.

One of the push backs I have had on this from people and you might be thinking the same thing is, well people know what I do, if they wanted to work with me they'd reach out to me. Nope, it doesn't work like that. They might not be thinking about it in the same way. You have to be proactive in putting yourself out there. You have to put on those big girl pants, those big boy pants and just start pitching yourself. Think of ideas, think of how you could work with different people.

So my tip, if you're starting out with this, is to write down five people in your network that you could collaborate with. And okay, maybe they might not be in your network yet, maybe you've just got them on your radar, but think about each individual one and what you could do with them. And it doesn't have to be a big launch or launching a course together. You know, that came much later for me and Kat. It was just about.

doing a bit of work together. So it could be an Insta Live or you writing some blog content for them, for example, but you have to make it happen by reaching out to them in the first place. Another area I've strategically focused on is building my reputation in relevant networks and building my existing network. And I've really spent a lot of time over the past four years doing this. And I know that word network,

puts lots of people off but I promise you if you look for them there are some amazing communities out there that I've been part of where it's really helped me to establish my authority and my expertise and hopefully show that I know what I'm talking about. I think as female founders we are especially lucky because there are some brilliant female founder communities out there. I've got a community in the PR set, my members are often working together and collaborating on different things but there's also

lots of communities for all sorts of different types of business owners. A few that spring to mind that I've really benefited from are Found and Flourish, The Wilder Collective, The Southwood Hub. mean, share any with me, I love a new community that you find useful. But I think the key to being in these networks and groups is that you get out what you put in. So it's about being present, it's about being useful. And I do really enjoy that anyway. It's kind of my...

my go-to thing that I love doing. So I think that's the key, isn't it? When we're looking at building our business, it's doing it in a way that feels really authentic to you and what you enjoy doing and start there because you'll be more likely to actually to do it, to take action. Another thing I've really done strategically is generate press coverage in relevant publications. So for me, it's B2B titles aimed at kind of the startup businesses.

as well as vertical trade titles. So that will be kind of industry titles that are aimed in specific industries. As a B2B service business, there are generally less PR opportunities for me in the media than if I were a B2B, sorry.

Another thing I've really done strategically is to generate press coverage in relevant publications. So for me, it's usually B2B business to business titles that are kind of aimed at the startup business communities, as well as vertical trade or industry publications. As a B2B service business, there are less PR opportunities for me than if I were a B2C business, but there are definitely ones

out there that are worth doing. From a strategic perspective you might be interested in this in the fact that they don't actually, I find, put bums on seats in terms of sales. So I know that if I do a piece of press coverage I'm not generally expecting a big flurry of you know people signing up to the membership or accelerator clients but they really do have an impact in terms of my positioning and showing that I'm an expert in what I do.

They help to build my authority. They give me that as seen in for my kind of marketing content. They're great marketing tools across my socials, my email marketing and my blog to cement that authority. So think about it. Whenever you see someone post about their press coverage on LinkedIn or on Insta, they get a shower of celebration for that. Those as seen ins really do help with your credibility for getting known for what you do and for creating talkability too around your business.

Another area that links to this is guest blog posts and I've worked with quite a few businesses where I've written articles for them or PR tips for example or I've done a Q &A about my business and they've then hosted them on their websites, they've linked to them on their own socials, they've used them in their email marketing. Again, aligning yourself with the right brands, businesses, people can be really great for that third-party endorsement and someone else saying you know I think this person is really good at what they do, listen to them, I trust them.

A key area that's really helped me to build my business and ongoing, this has been from the beginning to now, is doing workshops and speaking opportunities. And I have this as part of my ongoing strategy as I really find it makes a difference for my business. I can deep dive into my subject and provide valuable insight for people who want to learn more or dip their toes in, or who are maybe feeling a bit unconfident with it and they want to kind of find out more without having to ask lots of questions.

So I do lots of talks within other communities, within other people's programmes, within courses. I do Insta Lives with other business owners. I've sat on panels. I've done in-person talks too and fingers crossed, I'm just about to confirm a mega speaking opportunity that I've had my eye on for a very long time.

As I've become more established and got known for what I do, I have been approached by community owners and event organizers to speak. And that's something that I talk about with the snowball effect. So you have your snowball at the top of the hill and you need to start building the momentum. And as the more and more you get known for what you do, the more likely you are to then be approached by people and that momentum, you can really feel it building. And I have been paid for speaking opportunities now too.

But I want you to know that I am still regularly pitching myself to people and places. If I think there's a good synergy between us and the audience is right for me, I will say no to things that aren't worth me investing my time in. But generally, kind of, you know, we'll just try things out and see what works. I've had one where I was in a community and I think two people turned up to the talk. One of them...

ended up being a paid for client who I worked with for several months. So, you you just never quite know when those opportunities are gonna present themselves. Another thing that I've done strategically is to use my socials and now my podcast, here we are, as PR tools. So rather than me just using them to kind of disseminate information and tell my audience what I want them to know,

I really think strategically about how I can use them to tap into other people's audiences. So for example, doing Insta lives with people, inviting the right guests on the podcast, someone who has valuable things to say so that, you know, you as my audience learn or get value from that, but who can also help me from a PR perspective to reach new audiences and from a credibility perspective too.

So I would start thinking about your marketing tools and how you can use them for PR gains. And from a speaking perspective, I find podcast interviews are really great, again, for deep diving into my subject. Being invited onto someone's podcast is a great endorsement that you know what you're talking about. They provide great marketing opportunities, can be a really key thing for including in your marketing funnel. So...

For example, in your email nurture sequence, including some of the places that you've been interviewed or featured in the press, that can be really great from a credibility perspective. I often get asked about the best way to find podcasts to pitch yourself to, and there aren't really lists out there. There are a few kind of podcast interview matchmaking services, but I've never found that they're that productive in terms of being helpful for finding opportunities.

In my experience, it's really putting your detective hat on and finding the right places to pitch yourself to. One tip is to think about somebody who works in a similar industry to you and does great kind of podcast interviews, is regularly getting featured. Maybe not a direct competitor, so they're not talking about exactly the same things as you.

but search for their name in the podcast search tool. So for me, for example, it might be someone who works in Facebook ads or SEO. And if I search for their names, I can see the podcast that they come up in. And it's likely that if they've interviewed someone about Facebook ads, that they might be interested in talking to me about PR. And that's a way that I can find.

different opportunities from a podcast perspective and don't be afraid of small niche podcasts. Obviously there's big massive ones out there that everyone would love to be part of but those niche small podcasts can have really engaged active listeners so I would really recommend just having a go seeing what happens you know you won't know until you try them.

And one of the things I think when it comes to doing this work is to think about your zones of genius. So for me, like I've said, I really enjoy the talking side of things, the presenting. I love being able to deep dive into PR and really kind of explain what it is and how it works and how it can work for different businesses and different brands. And I also know that it works really well to bring people into my world. So that's kind of the activity that I really prioritize.

You do have to throw a bit of mud at the wall and see what sticks, but the more you do it, the more you get an understanding of what works for you. And my last tip here is to just go for it. We overthink, we hold ourselves back, we talk ourselves out of it. I know because I do that too, but you just don't know until you send that email what they're gonna say. So like I've mentioned, there's a really big PR opportunity. I've wanted to do it for years.

I finally put on my big girl pants a few weeks ago and I pitched them and I now have a call with them to discuss ways we can work together. You know, I'm making it happen. It might not happen, but at least I've made those first steps. At least we're having the conversations. I've taken the right steps to move the dial forward and to make these things happen in real life rather than just thinking over and over and over and over about it in my head. And also it's not taking up that real estate in my brain anymore. can...

focus on things that are actually, you know, real tangible things. And guess what? They didn't laugh at my pitch. They didn't think that I was too big for my boots. They didn't think that I was ridiculous for pitching myself. They have seen that I can potentially add value to what they do and we're exploring ways we can work together moving forward. That will be the same for you. No one is going to laugh at you. No one is going to think that you are silly for pitching.

This happened to one of my DIY PR members. So we have in the membership a get it done accountability session. It's like a working session where you do your PR work on a Zoom with me and other members. It's amazing for productivity and actually getting your PR ticked off your to-do list. Anyway, she pitched to a journalist she'd wanted to reach out to. She said she'd been thinking about it for months and she pitched on this call that we were doing and the journalist replied to her email.

whilst she was still on that call. She made it happen because she took that action. So if there's one thing I want you to do after listening to this, it's to send that email because you just don't know what's gonna happen. So hopefully, you you've been inspired to move forward with your PR and to make it happen.

I promise you it is very doable. I have used PR to grow my business over the past four years and if you do want to take that step forward please connect with me I'm Pippa Goulden on LinkedIn or I'm if you search Pippa the PR set on Insta please slide into my DMs let's have a chat and you can find out about more about working with me at the prset.com don't forget the code

pod 50 gets you 50 % off your first month in my DIY PR membership. and please don't forget to rate, review and subscribe to the podcast. It really does help me get it found by other amazing entrepreneurs just like you. And I will see you again very soon for another episode of PR Made Simple.