BeInkandescent

From “PR Rules: The Playbook—The Entrepreneur’s Guide to Supersizing Your Small Business.”

By Hope Katz Gibbs, with Kathleen McCarthy

Illustrations and design by Michael Glenwood Gibbs

As a small-business owner, you want to be featured in the news, right? So you hire a PR person to pitch your story to the media, or you do it yourself.

Here’s why it’s a challenge: Many journalists are wary of PR specialists, who sometimes act like pushy salespeople. Reporters believe their job is to provide readers with legitimate news—not copy for an ad. And they know that publicists are being paid to pitch a story, and that doesn’t sit well with people who make a living sniffing out the truth.

The key is to think like a reporter. Know their publications, their audience, and the stories they like to tell.

At The Inkandescent Group, everyone on our team has worked as a journalist. The reason we got into the PR business is the same reason we wrote PR Rules: The Playbook — to help small-business owners figure out how to best spread the word about what they are doing so their companies glow—and grow.

So what does it take to Supersize Your Small Business?

For a preview, check out the comments of a few of the industry experts whom we interviewed for the book, who share their advice in this issue:

• PR guru Lee Woodruff, author and broadcast journalist
• Marketing genius Guy Kawasaki, author of “Enchantment”
• Social media specialist Ronnie Bincer, Google+ Hangout guide
• Master of the soft sell Buddy Teaster, president of Soles4Souls
• Advertising expert Erin Hood, a TV producer at WJLA-TV

Before you try to generate any PR or news interest in your business, answer these three essential questions about you and your business:

1. What do you do? Tell us in under 30 words (the fewer the better). If you can’t, people will assume that you don’t know what you do. So think it through.

Example: The Inkandescent Group is a PR and publishing company that helps entrepreneurs get more visibility using 8 Steps to PR Success. (21 words.)

Your turn: What do you do?

2. Why do you do it? Is your business your passion? Does it get you out of bed in the morning? If you didn’t do this business, would it crush you? If you didn’t answer yes to those questions—stop reading. You aren’t doing what you’re supposed to be doing.

But if you answered yes, you are on the path to success. Passion is the key to every entrepreneur’s success. It takes a whole lot more than that to be successful, of course—time, patience, capital, and human resources—and an amazing product or service. But if your business is not in your guts, like a child or a lover, then you’ll never take it to the level you dream of.

Your turn: Why do you do what you do?

3. How do you do it? Now dive into the nitty-gritty. The devil is in the details, especially when a reporter is quoting you, or, even better, writing a story about your company. So be sure your message about your business is clear, concise, and as specific as possible.

Example: At The Inkandescent Group, our mission is to promote, educate, and inspire entrepreneurs about best practices in small business. To walk that talk, our team provides a series of services that help businesses get more visibility, and accomplish their business goals, including: building websites, crafting newsletters and magazine columns, to hosting radio shows, networking, writing books, and getting out on the speakers circuit.

Your turn: How do you do what you do?

We’d love to hear what you come up with! Click here to email us with your ideas, and to order your copy of PR Rules.

Click here to find out if you are suffering from the Trifecta of Small-Business Failure.

From “PR Rules: The Playbook—The Entrepreneur’s Guide to Supersizing Your Small Business.”

Available in April 2014

By Hope Katz Gibbs, with Kathleen McCarthy

Illustrations and design by Michael Gibbs

Why do so many small businesses fail?

Because the very characteristics that make an entrepreneur want to start a business are the ones that cause them to stumble.

Sitting on our publicist’s perch at Inkandescent PR, we have been privileged to work inside more than 100 companies—from solopreneurs and start-ups to multimillion-dollar corporations. We have helped them create fireworks, and we have witnessed their trials and tribulations.

From these observations, we culled the philosophy of the “Trifecta of Small-Business Failure.” These three traits can trip up even the most experienced entrepreneur. If your business is struggling, odds are good you are suffering from one or more aspects of the Trifecta. Not sure?

Then see if any of these monikers describe you:

1. The Control Freak

• The Problem: When it comes to your business, have you ever thought this, or said aloud: “I want to do it all by myself,” “You’re not the boss of me,” or, “Everything is horrible; the sky is falling!” If so, you aren’t alone. Many entrepreneurs have a tendency to want to hold on tight to every single facet of their business. After all, being in control is why many people start their own companies. But beware: No one is good at everything. Even if you are, there aren’t enough hours in the day to think of, perfect, and execute all the necessary tasks required to ensure a business succeeds.

• The Solution: So let go—delegate, share, outsource! Collaboration is the key to success. Find partners you trust, and build your business.

2. The Small-Picture Person

• The Problem: Do you understand the icing-and-cake metaphor? If not, you may not be making the most of your core competencies—your “cake”—by leveraging them to make more money.

• The Solution: Start by identifying your core competency, then step back and look at the big picture. Find all the additional revenue streams available—your “icing”—and incorporate them into your business. For example, if you are a chef and you are cooking only for your restaurant, then you are leaving money on the table. Consider catering or selling some of your products online. Don’t try just to break even. Aim to supersize.

3. The Win-Meister

• The Problem: In this scenario, the “win” comes only when you beat someone else—at the game of business, and probably in other aspects of life. In fact, for years this philosophy was a popular way to succeed in business. But that has changed. Today, if your competition or colleagues have to lose for you to win, you are operating with an outmoded, inefficient model.

• The Solution: To be more effective, embrace the 21st-century concept of winning—the win-win-win—in which you win, and your customers and colleagues win, too. And best of all, the world at large wins, too. Many Millennials work under this belief. If you don’t, you are not only behind the times—you are missing out on the next generation of sales.

The good news is that a strategic PR and marketing campaign can help.

But only if you as an entrepreneur start asking for help and accept guidance from the professionals who have a different sort of experience. Having a sophisticated strategy is the key. So is being patient about the timeline for your business success.

You’ll know you are on the right path when:

• Your sales exceed your expectations.
• Reporters consider you an expert, and are eager to hear what you have to say.
• Feedback from customers is glowing, and they want more of what you are selling—in ways that you may have never thought of. Open up to their ideas for innovation. It could take your company to a new place.

And that’s the goal of our 2014 book, PR Rules: The Playbook. In its nearly 200 pages, we encourage you to play with the ideas and exercises, and dive into the expert interviews. We hope the information will inspire you to think about your business, and yourself as an entrepreneur, in new and exciting ways.

Go ahead—laugh out loud at yourself. We’ve all made the same rookie mistakes. After all, growth is an inside job. So be bold about discovering what holds you back, and find ways to leapfrog over the hurdles in your way.

Here’s to turning the Trifecta on its head!

Are you ready to supersize your small business? Then check out “PR Rules: The Playbook,” where you’ll have the opportunity to play with dozens of ideas and exercises, dive into expert interviews, and be inspired to think about your business—and yourself as an entrepreneur—in new and exciting ways. If you are willing to be bold about discovering what holds you back, and finding ways to leapfrog over the hurdles in your way, then use this book to help you create some fireworks! Order your book today by clicking here.