Heroes of Reddit,
PR can be used to increase your business sales and web traffic, but what happens when its TOO good?
In these three scenarios, I’ll reverse engineer the campaigns I did that COMPLETELY overwhelmed my client with sales. For many of you that want a PR plan but either cant afford it or aren’t sure where to start, there are some great lessons here.
Case 1 - The Woodworker.
Kurt is a former Army woodworker in NC that makes amazing hand crafted cutting boards, furniture, etc. I did a short interview with him to craft his narrative. After combat overseas, he returned home and turned to woodworking to help with his mental health and happiness.
I got him featured in the biggest newspaper of his area, this brought in a flood of orders. When he got big enough to expand and open a new facility, I tipped off CBS who sent a camera crew. Then we got him in Cigar Snob magazine, an online newsletter with thousands of readers. Kurt finally had to ask me to stop because I broke his systems. He got SIX MONTHS of orders in a short time.
Case 2 - The Chiropractor.
Tony was a Chiropractor in Conroe Texas. Just opened up his practice and needed some help with visibility. Upon interviewing him, he let out a detail of his Army service:
He was on the Ranger Team that went in to rescue Marcus Luttrell. You know, LONE SURVIVOR Marcus Luttrell.
Once I found this out, I wrote an article about his business that went viral. Then I tapped into my network and got him 9 media interviews in five days.
I talked to Tony yesterday, he said he is so busy he is opening up a 2nd location. He laughed and said I had outgrew him and that my services were TOO much for his needs because he has so much work now.
Case 3 - The Spirits Owner
Eric owned a vodka company that filters their product 22 times. Its won 5 awards. He brought me in to get more eyes on it. I created a database of spirits media platforms and got him featured in a few. Then we got him on the news and issued press releases about how he takes the profits and gets service dogs to veterans. Eric recently released a fig vanilla bourbon. After my campaign was done, he SOLD OUT of both products and is backfilling orders now.
There are a few lessons here:
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Everyone’s results are going to be different. Its PR. It’s a fluid industry.
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Have systems in place JUST IN CASE you hit it big. With the right PR expert, you might be getting a HUGE surge of traffic overnight.
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Prepare NOW for the nightmare scenario of being overwhelmed with orders. Have extra workers, additional product, etc.
Hope this helps you guys, I’m off to break MORE businesses for my clients! - Rob