Unpacking PR, Branding, and Advertising: Tips for Small Business Owners | Marcy Clark

Discover the secrets of effective public relations with Marcy Clark, a global PR expert who has made waves from Manchester to Manhattan. Marcy takes us through her exhilarating career journey, offering valuable insights for small business owners on how to find the right PR firm. Learn the key indicators of a competent agency and the red flags to watch out for, while also distinguishing between PR, branding, and advertising to enhance your brand's positioning and strategy.

Marcy's story is one of relentless determination and creativity. From knocking on doors in Manchester to founding the Women's Mafia in New York, she demonstrates how passion and innovation can build powerful networks and successful ventures. Gain an understanding of how PR professionals shape and maintain a company's public image, and hear about Marcy's diverse role as a fractional Chief Marketing Officer for an app aiding people with disabilities.

Equip your business with actionable strategies for PR success, inspired by Marcy's expertise. She shares how to maximize the impact of your PR campaigns, manage potential scandals, and elevate your public image with proactive measures. Additionally, Marcy dispels common myths about PR, emphasizing the importance of integrity and relationship-building in the industry. Tune in for a comprehensive guide on navigating the PR world, ensuring you choose the right partners and approach for long-term success.


Marcy Clark: CEO / Marcy Clark PR & Events

Website: https://www.marcyclarkpr.com/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marcyclarkpr/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MarcyClarkPR/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/womensmafia/



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Chapters

• 0:00 Global PR Expert Shares Insights
• 6:12 Career Journey in PR and Entrepreneurship
• 13:08 Maximizing PR Campaign Success
• 21:46 Strategies for Scandal-Proofing Your Business
• 35:27 Navigating the PR Industry

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

Welcome to another Small Business Pivots. Today we have another special guest from around the world and I know, as I always say week to week, there's no one better than the business owner that can introduce themselves and their business.

Speaker 2: 0:12

Hi, michael, so my name is Marci Clark of Marci Clark PR and Events. I am in the San Francisco Bay Area. I have lived and worked, though, in England. I was in Manchester, england, had a lot of client events in London. I worked in New York for almost 18 years and did you know huge events there fashion week, art gallery events, lots of product launches, lots of media tours, desk side tours, you know with the big editors there. And then I've worked with clients, you know, no matter where I've lived in the country, I have worked with clients and traveled, and you know everywhere, from, you know, austin and Miami to South Africa, dubai, you know. You know all over the country.

Speaker 1: 1:09

So that's amazing.

Speaker 2: 1:11

And the world. You know if, if I pitch in English and Spanish, I'm part Puerto Rican and so I've gotten clients on, you know, not just you know New York Times and NBC, abc, cbs, but also Telemundo. Yeah, so I I am a really seasoned publicist. My specialty is on. I love consumer PR, but I have done some business to business I represented. One of my clients was the largest lingerie trade show in the United States. That was really fun.

Speaker 2: 1:46

So I was working with trade clients as well as you know, getting Vogue editors and Elle and Harper's Bazaar. Getting them there too.

Speaker 1: 1:55

Well, I can tell our listeners are going to learn a lot, because you've been around the world, literally.

Speaker 2: 2:00

Yes, yes.

Speaker 1: 2:02

Well, what do you think, before we introduce the show, what do you think we're going to help them with the most? Our listeners.

Speaker 2: 2:08

So today I would love if listeners walk away with you know what they should look for if they do want to hire a PR firm, right, so they know that kind of like what is a green flag, what is a red flag? Don't work with these people. I would love if people really got a clear understanding of what is PR and what is you know other aspects of marketing that is not necessarily PR. I do a big mixture of brand positioning and public relations and strategy, right, like strategy for what events you want to do. Which direction do you want to go in branding wise? How do you want to spend your time For one of my clients and app for people with disabilities? I am the chief marketing officer, right? So I started just as the publicist but, it expanded.

Speaker 2: 3:04

I'm a fractional CMO, so I do a lot, but for this I'd love to focus on PR and give people a really clear understanding of what it is and how it looks when it's working and some things you know. If it's not working, what do you want to do then things?

Speaker 1: 3:25

you know, if it's not working, what do you want to do then? Yeah, well, that that's. That's awesome. So most of our listeners know I have an educational background in marketing owned a marketing firm, so this will uh, we're going to have a good conversation. I don't want to spill any beans yet, so let's introduce the show and we will be right back. Welcome to small business pivots, a podcast designed for small business owners. I'm your host, michael Morrison, a small business coach and founder of BOSS, where we make business ownership simplified for success, so that you can own a business that runs without you. To learn more, go to businessownershipsimplifiedcom. All right, welcome back to Small Business Pivots. Here we are with a special guest from San Francisco. Before we get started on PR, what's a little bit about your background so that we can relate to the mindset of a successful entrepreneur?

Speaker 2: 4:21

So I grew up in the Bay Area. I was really quite an extrovert as a child, so I have a lot of affinity for this career. Um, like, like most of the good publicists that I know, I have a theater background, literally most yeah, all the best you know PR entrepreneurs that I know. Um, you know were, you know I was more. You know like three, four or five. I knew I was loud and I think I just had the most understanding parents in the world and I would grab a friend I'd be like or my aunt or something, and I would be like I can be really loud. You want to see who can be the loudest? And they're just like let's have a screaming contest.

Speaker 1: 5:23

Oh, wow.

Speaker 2: 5:26

I've toned it down a lot, but it was good. I found theater to channel that. But I'm also someone who is really as extroverted as I was. I, you know, like anybody, you know, I had. I had challenges in school. You know kids were mean, things like that. So I had, you know, quiet periods. I had, um, that instinct inside like, you know, this should be better. You know this should be more fair. We should be nicer to each other, right? So? So the little activist in me, the, the cheerleader for others, you know, not wanting people, you know, the person who cared about others, that is still definitely a through line to my business today.

Speaker 2: 6:12

I went to college in San Diego and loved that. And then I studied abroad, my junior year, in England and in Lancaster, and then I decided that I wanted to go back after school and live in England. So I thought, okay, what's a career that I could do, that I could get really good in a short period of time, that they might want to sponsor my work permit? You know I had. I had a six month work permit but I was like I need to be here longer so I can stay with my friends. My boyfriend work permit, but I was like I need to be here longer so I can stay with my friends, my boyfriend, everybody I've met in England. Right, these decisions we make when we're when we're 23.

Speaker 2: 6:51

So I character in a book I'd read did PR and I had seen it, you know, on television and I said I think I could do that. I just had an inner knowing right and I printed out my resume. I worked on my resume. I looked up every PR firm in Manchester, england, and I went around and I knocked on doors, had put, you know, I had some things that were kind of relevant. You know I helped with some outreach for the theater company I was in. I did, you know I had done, you know, some public outreach to supermarkets for, you know, a county project, you know, one summer.

Speaker 2: 7:32

So I spun everything in my resume, knocked on doors and I got a job in a week doing that and at a PR firm. And that's where, you know, I learned the ropes. We had everything in that client in that firm in England. We had everything in that. In that client in that firm in England. We had everything from the first gluten-free food company to, you know, plastic surgery firm to fueling solutions to the British army. So it was yeah, it was a huge, like you know, giant learning curve. I had great mentors, people that I still see when I go back to visit friends and I have a goddaughter in England. When I go back I still see some of these people. I'm still friends with them.

Speaker 1: 8:15

That's really cool. So did you see yourself being an entrepreneur with that? Because I know a lot of business owners have this mindset of I'm not qualified to be a business owner imposter syndrome, and so you just kind of stepped right into the PR world and owned it.

Speaker 2: 8:33

Yeah, I stepped right in and then I did my. My thought was that I wanted to get really good at this and so that I could do it independently within a few years. And, you know, my first thought was, oh then I can, you know, do this part time and then, you know, act on the side. But what's interesting is what took over over time. I started, you know, I went to New York and I started a social club in New York. You know, in addition to you know, I got my first, you know, my second PR job in New York. You know, in addition to you know, I got, I got my first, you know, my second PR job in in New York. I saw, like, even as extroverted as I was, it was, it took some effort right To make friends and I I you know it ran into so many people that they were women that were in the same boat. So I started a social club called the women's mafia women that were in the same boat. So I started a social club called the women's mafia and that grew. I had that for 15 years. I still have the site. Um, I'm actually rebranding it now as the visionary mafia. You know, it'll feature men and women, um, you know, all across the country.

Speaker 2: 9:37

But you know the in New York. It was. It was really neat because I brought you know my passions for events, for creating spectacle, for bringing people together, right, so I was doing everything from you know it might be, you know, a nightclub, heels and cocktails, you know to. Eventually we were doing you know huge giant fashion week events, 500 people events Um, I would be doing two or three events during you know one week that were that size, wow, or fashion week and magazine launches, and you know you name it. You know international, working with international clients. So it was, it was a joy and so many people that I, that you know, also met each other through the women's mafia. So I'm still getting referrals from that to this day.

Speaker 1: 10:27

So you started your business in what year? Your actual business?

Speaker 2: 10:32

Well, this is the independent iteration of my business I have had now for 10 years.

Speaker 1: 10:38

Okay, All right, so a while. So let's talk about what PR is and what it's not, and then also maybe some acronyms or maybe some you know, like is it branding? Is it the same as marketing, Is it? You know kind of what the difference is.

Speaker 2: 10:54

So if you think about marketing as a, as a big umbrella, right, I would look at underneath that. You know there's a lot of categories, but one might be advertising and under that right, you have digital advertising, print, et cetera, advertorial I'll share that later. Under, you know, you have brand branding, which is, you know we're thinking about a name, a website. You know what does the aesthetic look like, the graphic design. Also brand positioning you know what's the language you're using to differentiate it. All of that. So I do do some of that. And then public relations, which is that is a person like myself, right, or an agency reaching out to the media on a company's behalf or an individual's behalf and convincing a journalist that they should write about feature interview on their podcast or television show, or you know otherwise. Or feature a guest article from my client.

Speaker 1: 12:10

So you're like a personal rep of the company, kind of like a movie star, yeah.

Speaker 2: 12:16

So some people say like, um, you know the term, like press agent, right, you know that's the, that's the Hollywood term. You were just kind of referencing, yeah, the way, you know I do a lot of. You know, strategic marketing and PR. You know, before we get to where we're pitching somebody I might be first thinking about. You know, I was talking to a food company the other day, for example. Example, this woman makes this amazing dessert and it sounds, you know, it's most people haven't had it. It's sweet, savory, it's all these things. And she's done a feast, celebrity events, and had, you know, people invite her to cater their. Dua Lipa invited her to cater a, you know, holiday party, for example, or an awards show, an awards show party last year. So for that example. Or an awards show party last year.

Speaker 2: 13:08

So for that right, and before I dive into you know, reaching out to the media, I might first say so which things that you've already done led to the most sales for you. What's worked so far? You know what's already working. Who's your customer right now? So in the strategy, I'm looking at what's already working. Who's your customer right now?

Speaker 2: 13:23

So that's so in the strategy, I'm looking at what's already working, what's really strong, who's responding to them, so that helps me find their target market. And then I design the PR campaign around that. In this case, I might, you know, for example, say okay, you'd want to start pretty soon, because our goal is going to be let's get you you know, I have in this PR network that now let's also, you know, do some partnerships, which is also under the marketing umbrella. Let's do some partnerships and get you featured at these different awards shows, at this, you know, at these celebrity events, let's get more people talking about you. And then I can take that, and those, you know, those messaging the celebrity names, and include that in my PR outreach.

Speaker 1: 14:10

So what is for those that don't know what is the end purpose of hiring a firm, a PR firm, for the actual business?

Speaker 2: 14:19

Great question. So the main, you know there's I'd say there's kind of two, three main benefits. So the first one is that when the story comes, you know, when I secure a, you know, a podcast interview or a television interview or a magazine article, the first initial hit that gets out there there's that brand awareness that you know that, that kind of excitement that comes from that, that people can say, oh, I haven't heard of this, oh, that sounds delicious, and a certain percentage of people are, you know you're going to benefit from that first by. You know a certain percentage of people are going to maybe want to buy or hire you from. You know, directly from that.

Speaker 2: 15:04

That first you know hit of it going out right. Then the next layer, the next benefit you have is that when you take that piece of media and you share that, so you share it on your newsletter, you share it on your website, you share it on your social media and you know you give it new life every time you share it Like, oh, you know it's a, you know celebrating one year after we got, you know this. Or oh, you know, I, I, you know a friend just told me they loved this episode of my podcast, you know, and got a lot out of it, you know.

Speaker 2: 15:41

They suggested I I share it again today, you know happy listening, right, so so there's, there's the you're, you're sharing it as part of your, your bona fides, right, you're patting yourself on the back, but it's, it's somebody, it's a third party endorsement, right, so the an outlet, a professional media outlet, another person, a trusted you know source, is saying you got to talk to this person, this person is an expert, this product is delicious, this you know store has, you know the best, you know widgets.

Speaker 2: 16:20

So that's that's kind of the second one. And then the third one I would say is kind of in line with that is that when it's on your website. So if you're doing your let's say, you're doing your digital marketing, right, so you're doing, you know, you're buying ads on, you know, or you're using, you know, you have, you hire somebody to do a bunch of strategic TikToks or something, right, if you have somebody doing that creating, putting out all that content, and it works and it gets people to your website and then they're hovering over, they're thinking do I buy, do I not? Right, is this good? Do I really want it? It's that third-party endorsement that turns the interest into a sale. So maybe they saw some influencer say, oh, my God, this is the best thing I've ever had. Look at this beautiful dress. They go to your site and they see, oh, food and wine also touted this, or oh, wow, they were featured in Harper's Bazaar. Okay, this is legit, I will send my money.

Speaker 1: 17:29

So it's like a Google review on steroids.

Speaker 2: 17:33

That's right. Yes, you know it can have a similar effect, right? Just like having a podcast, you know, could have a similar boost to your brand and your authority in the world as writing a book, right?

Speaker 1: 17:48

Yeah, yeah, very cool. So what are some myths about PR? We had talked about that a little earlier.

Speaker 2: 17:55

One that I think is really funny, and when I say this, people go oh yeah, I did think that's how it was. Ok, this is like my biggest pet peeve is that you watch a movie and you see some celebrity publicist Right, I'm thinking I think Debbie Deborah Mazur, whatever from Entourage, Do you remember? Yeah, she'd be on the phone, you know you remember you? I mean, this favor, should be cursing out some journalists.

Speaker 1: 18:29

Yes, oh, yes, now. Yes, I do remember that.

Speaker 2: 18:33

Yeah, and you're like oh boy, you know like, oh wow, people think like publicists have like this tremendous amount of power and they can control the media, and that they do it through these kind of underhanded wheeling and dealing kind of ways. Right, so that's one myth. I would not be in business if I acted that way.

Speaker 1: 18:57

I am. I can't see you being that way.

Speaker 2: 19:00

No, that is not my personality, but I am. I am unerringly polite. You know, somebody could tell me, you know, a journalist might give me bad news and I'm like, oh, thank you so much for telling me. What do you think might be able to be done? You know it's like you have to. You know, you know, you, you have the best you know platform ever. I really think we could still save this opportunity.

Speaker 1: 19:27

So you have to be friendly.

Speaker 2: 19:29

You have to be really friendly, you have to be extremely polite, extremely professional. It's PR, is not sales. So there are similar skills, right, like being, you know, being personable, you know charm, offensive type personality. I guess the other similarity is really making the case that there's something in it for them. But in this case, I'm my. My audience is journalists. So it's you know, I have people come and they're like well, do you think you could also do this? You know sales. Or, since you're also talking, you know, or do you think you can also be my agent for social media? You know, and I'm like that is, you know, that's reaching out to companies and asking companies to pay you to advertise on your you know, you know, you know, for you know Instagram ads, like you know, it's not. I can help you come up with some packages, like you know, maybe it's for work together, but my audience is is the media.

Speaker 1: 20:30

Wow, that's interesting that your audience is the media, but then the business you're representing, their audience is the media's audience, right? Yes, interesting how it's not even related, but it is.

Speaker 2: 20:43

Yeah, and I mean it works in some good ways though, because I am. You know, part of PR is you're talking to your clients. I'm talking to my clients. I don't just have one monthly meeting, I'm talking to them usually every week or two, when I and I'm sending out a lot of pitches regularly with different headlines. I might be A B testing the headlines Right when I'm doing that and certain things work, like they capture the attention. You know, if I'm writing to a hundred journalists with different you know, trying out three different. You know types of pitches, you know one way outperforms the rest. That's something I can I communicate to the client like hey, you know this messaging, hey, this messaging, this phrasing. I think that really worked, so I'm going to keep going with that direction. But let's also see, maybe that's something you want to include in your digital marketing firm, for example. Yeah, Okay.

Speaker 2: 21:38

Yeah, or maybe we should incorporate that onto the website, because people seem to really love that. This thing seems to be the thing.

Speaker 1: 21:46

You're listening to Small Business Pivots. This episode is proudly brought to you by BOSS, where business ownership is simplified for success. At BOSS, we help business owners create their businesses to run smoothly without them being there 24-7. Our seasoned business coaches, who have walked the path themselves, provide invaluable guidance and support and with additional services like fast business loans, some approved within 24 to 48 hours, comprehensive online courses, detailed workbooks and engaging classes, boss offers a wealth of resources to help you succeed. Discover how small business success begins with boss at businessownershipsimplifiedcom.

Speaker 1: 22:30

If you're enjoying the podcast, make sure to stay connected by hitting that subscribe button, giving us a thumbs up or leaving a positive review. Your support keeps us going. Now let's get back to our incredible guest, would it be fair to say, because I know a lot of people will see something like an Oprah Winfrey, like maybe she holds up a purse or a widget or something and all of a sudden it takes off. So you're basically trying to get businesses publicity like that. I know that's a different scenario, but you're trying to get them the publicity. So everybody just like jumps on board, right? Because I think a lot of people think of PR like damage control.

Speaker 2: 23:10

Yeah, so that's another big myth. I'm so glad you you brought that up. You know some scandal happens, right, and they go, ooh, they're getting a lot of bad PR. And I'm like, well, they're getting a lot of bad media, right, they're getting media about. That is often it's the truth, right, and I think the way I look at it, you know, damage control is a little part of PR. It's not my focus, but my.

Speaker 2: 23:38

My thinking, though, is that people should there should be more people that are that have PR backgrounds, that are in the C-suite of companies, right, you often have people that have marketing, right, they think about things of what I can buy, all that. But you really want to protect your company in advance. You want to be making decisions in your company's background. You know from the beginning in your policies and how you treat your clients and how you treat your, you know your employees, because usually, if there is, you know, bad PR, it's either that people mistreated their employees, right, didn't, didn't protect them, allowed sexual harassment, you know, didn't listen, right, somebody you know along the way, people thought they could sweep things under the rug. So when I talk about if you want to scandal proof your company, you have that PR person go and talk to every department and say, hey, are there any potential red flags we should know about so we could talk about? How do we, how do we avoid this? How do we, how do we have a statement ready in case? You know? You know how do we get ahead of something. But you know it's really going to be. If you have somebody who's like a serial, you know sexual harasser or something, it's just saving that that person. Maybe you like them, but saving that person. Is it going to be worth it when, you know, two years later, something comes out?

Speaker 2: 25:06

You know, I know, you know a good friend worked for a hedge fund and it was about to come out in the Washington Post. You know, at one point that you know big hedge fund guy, he harassed this person, that person, and you know the company had chosen to keep, you know, their CFO on. But it was. You know, I think they were somehow able to squash it. Unfortunately, I think they they bullied the poor girl. But you know, if that had come out, they would have probably lost, they might've had to go out of business. It was really that bad and they might've, or they might've had to cut. You know they might've lost some clients. They might've had to cut, you know, a third of their workforce. So don't, you know, think about all your employees. You know from the go and take care of people.

Speaker 2: 25:54

The other thing I think for scandal proofing your company in advance, instead of damage control, would be with your customers. If there's a something that happens, that's like a red flag, like you want. You know, hertz is a good example Hertz rental car. They had a big scandal that came out and people there was a site Hertz, hertz. You know.

Speaker 2: 26:14

Yeah, I remember that you remember and they were they had it automated that if somebody, if your car, wasn't returned within 24 hours, they sent a police report and so your car was reported as missing, as stolen. But sometimes it was that the person at the office hadn't filed it, they just hadn't. They hadn't filed the paperwork that said it was returned. You know, sometimes it was that somebody had called hey, I'm going to keep the car for another day. They didn't note it Right. So it was something like. It happened to something like 500, at least three or 500 people, I can't remember and people were. One woman was in jail for two months.

Speaker 2: 26:55

Oh my gosh Small kids.

Speaker 1: 26:57

Wow, for small business owners that aren't familiar with PR, what are some tips that you can give them that they can start with now, before they hire a firm? And then kind of, what is that process working with a firm, how, how would that look?

Speaker 2: 27:11

So, before you work with a firm, some things you can do to kind of get yourself in that, in that mindset, get yourself prepared, ready for PR. You know if you can apply for awards right this is something you know cheap, free or inexpensive thing to do. If you have a PR, you know if you can apply for awards right this is something you know cheap, free or inexpensive thing to do. If you have a book, anything, anything like that, if there's any, you know kind of if you can have customer success stories. If you have a, if you have a health and wellness product, can you do, can you do a survey? Can you do have some custom data right About the people that use it or about the benefit that it has for people? So these are things you could do that are that are low cost, that give you some, some ammo.

Speaker 2: 27:55

You want to have good photos. Ideally, you want to have good photos on white backgrounds. If you have a product, you want to you know product, or yourself, if you are the expert you want yourself on you know nice, nice, attire white background. It's not that you can't also take some great, you know portrait shots on you know dark, dark, black or gray or something you know, something more moody, but you at least need some that are, you know, clean, bright, product shots that could be, you know, or person shots that can be placed in different sections of the media. You want to start thinking in advance, or you want to work with a PR firm that's asking you questions you know about kind of.

Speaker 2: 28:42

What is your differentiator? So what is unique about your product or service or your level of expertise? Right, that is different from what else is out there. It could be it's organic, it could be it's made in America, you know it could be that you are, you know you're offering health advice and you're a doctor. So those things make a. You know those are. Those are huge. Things can start with those kinds of elements. You can start getting yourself in the in the frame, and then I love to invite people when I'm working with them or, you know, when I'm we're starting a process is to ask for their wishlist. So start noticing and looking and and finding out what media is already out there. Where would you love to see your client? You?

Speaker 2: 29:33

know your your business or yourself, because I've had clients that you know they. You know an interior designer who knew about, you know a magazine in England that I didn't know of, for example, and she just really had. It was totally her aesthetic, she knew, you know, she thought it would be a good fit and it's like I could, I could go, I went and I pitched, you know, and she was right, right. So sometimes as the client, you have good instinct. Sometimes, you know, know, I remember I had one client, for example, that I um, it was a food product. Um, I do a huge mixture. I do you know tech apps, you know fashion, you know health care, but this was, this was a cooking tool and we, I, they had a.

Speaker 2: 30:22

She'd spoken at the un, she'd been featured and won all these awards because it was saving lives in Africa and helping, you know, families. You know cause. It was a non-electric slow cooker, basically, so people didn't have to spend all this time tending the fire. It's called wonder bag, really cool. So so, and I was like I want to get an article in the New York Times. I want an article in the New York Times, like I was, you know, zero focused. I was focused on that. But I also in doing all the work to get you know that pitch just right. I was also in pitching Wall Street Journal. I was pitching Washington Post. You know you tweak it a little. Magazine I pitched USA Today. Well, I think for that client at the time I didn't get her New York Times but I did get her USA Today and I got her in Time Magazine's 50 Genius Companies.

Speaker 1: 31:13

Wow.

Speaker 2: 31:14

So it was her bag next to, you know, this non-electric cell cooker next to SpaceX, on the page.

Speaker 1: 31:19

Wow.

Speaker 2: 31:20

Yeah, so this is you know where it's like. You want to be focused right as an entrepreneur and focus me on the types of stories, but it might lead, you know it might lead to something you know even better. You know that's adjacent to it right or some people are like I want this podcast and maybe they get on. You know 12 others and you know some are just as big right.

Speaker 1: 31:48

Yeah Well, I encourage small business owners that are listening Don't think that this isn't for you. A lot of times, this is exactly how small business gets to be a big business.

Speaker 2: 32:01

So it's one of those. If you're plateauing, like you said, right, if you're, if you are reaching a place where you're plateauing, you'll feel like there's or there's a new, there's a competitor out there that's new, it's products not as good, and you know they're coming for you. Well, how can you differ? Pr is one way that you can differentiate yourself, right? Even if you've got, let's say, a product that you, you must half sell on Amazon, if yours is the one, as seen in O Magazine or whatnot, that can go on your Amazon page, right, yeah, so these are, these are all you know. These are the elements that that make a difference and can kind of ward off a competitor.

Speaker 1: 32:42

OK, so what is one red flag that people should watch out for? As a small business owner in the PR world, yes.

Speaker 2: 32:50

So you really want to watch out. If you, um, if you get pitched by a company or you see ads, maybe on on social media I see it a lot on Facebook or you know Instagram, for example, where it's like you know, guaranteed PR, you know, work with us, we will get you in. You know these publications, you know a good publicist will get you that. But if somebody is saying guaranteed PR, they're doing one of a few things either it's just advertorial right, which is they have to note if you're paying for that specific opportunity, then they need to note that that is what they're doing right Legally. You don't want the FTC to come after you, yeah, or FTC.

Speaker 2: 33:42

So that's one thing you want to watch out, or FTC, so that's one thing you want to watch out for. You know, there's also. It could be advertorial or it could be that they are doing something kind of sneaky underhanded. And you know, I've had clients be approached by. It was one production company but they produced some television show for Lifetime, I think it was. It was on at probably 2am and they're saying, oh, we'd love to feature you in Lifestyle Today. And my client's like, oh, what is this? Should we do it? And I'm like, oh, you know, and I took the call, talked to them. They don't want to talk to the publicist, by the way, they want to talk directly to the client. They want to sell you really hard and they want to sell you like a $20,000 segment for one segment. That's on it.

Speaker 2: 34:26

You know that amount of time. And I think if you're going to spend 20 grand on work with me, we can work with you, you know, for four to six months for that rate and get you and get you several articles. But I'll never guarantee a specific outlet or something like that, because I don't control the media. I don't control the flow of, you know of news. You know life happens Right, but I know how to get people press and I have my. You know my results speak for themselves and you know I would say you know as much as you know I can have somebody sign the six month contract. If I'm not getting them results, we're probably not going to keep working together after you know month two or three. So I don't mind working hard for a living and being creative and you know we're in partnership.

Speaker 1: 35:17

So, um, so that's. It's fair to say, probably, that read the fine print and don't sign anything until you know what you're signing.

Speaker 2: 35:27

Yeah, just make sure they're a real legit firm. Is this PR or is this advertorial? There's nothing wrong with doing advertorial or doing an influencer campaign.

Speaker 1: 35:39

But just make sure you know that a $20,000 bill is possibly coming or not.

Speaker 2: 35:43

Yeah, yes, yes, yes, exactly All right, okay, very good.

Speaker 1: 35:47

Well, thank you, that's great information. How would someone work with you?

Speaker 2: 35:52

Yes, so they can contact me and they can go on my website, marcy Clark PR, and you can see I've worked because I have a 20-year career in this. I've worked in a lot of different industries. So if you're like I don't know if I'm the right fit, like just just give me, you know, reach out, email me my website and my emails on there, marcy, at Marcy Clark PR, and I can set up a call with you. And if I'm not the right person, I can refer you. I have a big network but I think as well the right person I can refer you.

Speaker 2: 36:27

I have a big network but I think as well a lot of people maybe they've talked to a PR firm before, a huge firm, a big corporate firm, and they might think I can't afford PR. That's 10, that's 12, 15 grand a month and it can, right, but I don't think you should be paying more than 10 grand unless you have like a hundred, 200 employees, right, I think of. You are a small business. You know I have, I have um, you know I think there should be reasonable rates. So I have reasonable rates. I have rates that are also just for sole entrepreneurs, where maybe I'm supporting them, I'm doing. You know, if we're doing brand positioning, I'm pitching them as an expert and I'm focused, you know, on it's. You know 15 to 20 hours a month of my time and, and, and it's a lot more affordable than people realize.

Speaker 1: 37:20

Yeah, no. I'm glad you brought that up because some people that do know what PR is. They think of 10, 20, 30,000 a month recurring retainer.

Speaker 2: 37:31

Right, and some people have had their hand bitten before from working with those big firms. Or, you know, before they were an entrepreneur. They worked at a, you know, at a company that hired one of these big firms and they, they saw it just kind of the firm didn't do that much. You really, whether you're working with me or somebody else, I have a lot of colleagues that are we're extremely creative, we're go-getters, we are going to get you stories. We are, you know, we're going to work as hard as we can to you know, make sure you get great stories. We are, you know, we're going to work as hard as we can to you know, make sure you get great stories.

Speaker 2: 38:09

Some big firms you know they're like so they send out leaning back, sitting back. So what's new? What news do you have? You know, no, it's a myth that PR is just seasonal or if it's, only when you have, you know, a big news announcement. You know somebody invented Christmas in July and year round Christmas shops. You, you know, pr is a year round endeavor and and it takes time to create, just like a sales funnel, right, it takes time to really get it going. A lot of times the, you know, a member of the media will write about my client after I have pitched them for two, three, four, six months, right Even had people that I pitched them never heard anything and then, a year later, I'm still working with the client, maybe I've gotten them a bunch of other stuff, but a journalist, you know, responds, you know, after a year, after I just gave up on that.

Speaker 1: 39:08

So you, you just um but you got to get the ball rolling somewhere.

Speaker 2: 39:14

Yeah, you get the ball rolling. I do. You know a green flag you want to look out for with an agency is that they're really you know they're really creative. They're asking great questions. That they're really you know they're really creative. They're asking great questions. They're asking about who your, you know your, your target audience is what, what stories do you have? You know they're asking questions about you.

Speaker 2: 39:34

They want to position you as an expert, because that's something you know. Even, maybe somebody is a an expert on. You know, maybe they're what they're selling, right. You know, maybe you're selling small business, you know, maybe there's what they're selling, right. You know, maybe you're selling small business. You know coaching, but you may also be an expert, I'm guessing, michael, on work-life balance. You know, maybe you could also speak to how to be a good boss, right? So you really want to look for people that are asking deeper questions, broader. You're not pitching everything all at once, but I create for my clients like and you know myself with them like an editorial calendar. So you know if there's big events in their industry, whatnot, maybe we're pitching that first. Or a big story a celebrity just used their product, we leave with that. But then's perennial topics you can pitch year round.

Speaker 1: 40:29

Well, you have been a wealth of information for our listeners today, explaining sharing tips about the PR industry and how it works and how it can be beneficial, and so I encourage all of our listeners to go check you out. I got two last questions. One is where can they follow you to learn more about you? I know you have your contact information, but do you post things YouTube, linkedin? I mean, where's a place that you share information?

Speaker 2: 40:56

Yeah, so on LinkedIn I'm Marcy Clark. Pr is my just under my name. You can connect with me there. Pr is my just under my name. You can connect with me there. I have an Instagram for my social club, women's mafia, and then it's a little personal too. It's just fun.

Speaker 2: 41:13

But my, you know the majority. You know the best way to contact me is I am person to person, so I love to. I want to talk to you on the phone. Hop on a zoom. I want to get to know you and, um, you know, usually I find I jump right in with people and we're we're thinking creatively, we're we're brainstorming where could we position them with the media?

Speaker 2: 41:35

Where could I imagine my media contacts wanting you know who, who would want to write about them? So so we jump right in and then, and I make the process really fun. That's something people should know. So I created, you know, I bring in my, my background and theater, improv, all that, and I, we do a lot of, and I'm a yoga teacher, so a meditation teacher, so I do a lot of visualization. We do, you know a little bit of, you know, a guided meditation, if people are open to it and they actually get from that all these ideas? You know they get where they should be. You know what are their dream publications. You know, sometimes we come up with the wish list in real time and we start, you know, writing the headlines that we want to pitch.

Speaker 1: 42:21

Very cool. Well, again, I encourage our listeners to reach out to you. I always end with one last question, because we always kind of like to know where business owners come from. If you were in front of a audience of seasoned business owners, different stages of business, what is one piece of advice you could give them that's applicable to all of them?

Speaker 2: 42:42

It's. You're more of an expert than you know.

Speaker 1: 42:45

That's good.

Speaker 2: 42:47

Yeah.

Speaker 1: 42:47

Very good, very good. Well, marcy, thank you again, wish you continued success and we'll see you around.

Speaker 2: 42:55

Such a pleasure. Thank you, Michael.

Speaker 1: 42:57

Thank you for listening to Small Business Pivots. Please don't forget to subscribe and share this podcast. If your business is stuck, you need help creating a business that can run without you, or you need a fast business loan or line of credit, go to our website businessownershipsimplifiedcom and schedule a free consultation to learn why small business success starts with Boss. If you want to talk anything small business related, email me at michael at michaeldmorrisoncom. We'll see you next time on Small Business Pivots.