Rembrandt's PR and Writing Blog for Startup Success – Shakespeare Squared Shares PR Success Tips Part 2

On Monday, we heard from Kim Kleeman, president of Shakespeare Squared, Inc. about her PR success. Here is the remainder of that interview and more valuable tips from Kim:

Other than PR firms, what kind of organizations and professional groups have you worked with to enhance your publicity efforts and why?

Through my involvement as a member of the Women Presidents’ Organization (WPO), I have met many great people that support my efforts as a businesswoman. My staff and I are also involved with education, publishing, and educational publishing organizations to help generate business and to attract talent, including Vistage, Association of Educational Publishers, and others. I would tell other entrepreneurs to make each interview or article unique. Interviewers will remember you if you are different and interesting.

What publicity activities did not work for you?

The first PR firm we retained rolled out a strategy that mainly focused on generating attention within the education and publishing media. I knew that, to achieve my aggressive business goals for all three of my companies, I needed to expand that strategy to include national and business media. We are now implementing that strategy and are happy with the results so far.

What inexpensive tips can you offer other entrepreneurs for generating press?

I’m not sure this is an “inexpensive” tip, but here’s an indispensable tip: First, you have to offer an award-winning service or product that is worthy of generating press, or have revolutionary business practices. I believe that our cutting-edge employee-benefits package and innovative products are at the root of our success in generating press.

That being said, once your company has received an award, distinction, or any press, you should leverage it to your best advantage. I believe the most inexpensive PR tip I can give is to speak passionately about your business; people will be on board and excited if you are!

What are your favorite websites for learning the latest news and trends?

Association of Educational Publishers, weekly newsletters from the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, Education Week Magazine, and Publishers Weekly Magazine.

If you have questions or comments about your public relations efforts, feel free to contact me below or sign-up for my newsletter chock full of valuable tips and information at www.rembrandtwrites.com. Thanks!

Comments

[Dan]

Hmm - as a small business owner, the first thing that I noticed in this post that was ironic is that it's an interview on cost-effective PR, but talked about a retained PR firm. Clearly, Kim ultimately figured out how to succeed, but not sure that she gave such a clear path.

For example, PublicityGuaranteed.com only charges based on article placements - a very cost-effective option that's much better than retaining a PR firm with no guarantee of results.