Public Address | Cafe | Speaker: Surviving Small III: Creating a Profile

Ben Kepes

Thu, 19 Mar 2009 14:15:50 +1300

Firstly I've got to thank Rod for using me as an example of someone bulding a personal brand – coming from someone with the personal cachet of him, it's a real compliment.

Both Rod and Don have alluded to the difficulties in being a public face. Rod due to his…

Miki Szikszai

Tue, 10 Mar 2009 23:03:22 +1300

So in these challenging times, what is the value of profile? Does it matter to have a profile when no-one is able to pay ?

I think it's just as important as ever to build and maintain it.

Some thoughts on what it can and can't do

It can

1.…

Don Christie

Mon, 09 Mar 2009 13:59:14 +1300

Rich says:

I guess one option if (like me) you dislike networking with a passion is to find somebody who enjoys schmoozing to front. That's what I did last time.

Rod has already described his stutter and how that was a barrier. I find networking and speaking in public difficult…

Paul Campbell

Mon, 09 Mar 2009 05:51:20 +1300

I guess it does matter what business you're in – my new client is building consumer electronics – but isn't big enough to buy in the traditional market (or rather wasn't).

You do have to know your customer and how to reach them – Xero isn't going to be buying…

RodDrury

Sun, 08 Mar 2009 21:44:52 +1300

Hi Shelia,

Yes I'd agree, it is worth spending money on external people for PR. Not just for ideas but access to their networks.

It's also great fun. Chris from Sputnik is always coming up with great ideas for us.

We like the retainer model rather than one off projects…

Sheila Herrick

Sun, 08 Mar 2009 20:51:25 +1300

Rod's advice for small businesses to raise their profile through PR is very sound, although as an international PR practitioner for many years, I’d advise against businesses taking a DIY approach to PR. In most cases, business owners don’t have great instincts for what the media wants, or how to…

Alastair Thompson

Sun, 08 Mar 2009 15:33:15 +1300

I will second Russell's two suggestions and add two more:

8. Go through the exercise of formally working out what your branding positioning is and reinforce that in your formal communications. After a bunch of work Scoop has settled on "Home of the National Argument" & "No. 1 Independent Online News…

Russell Brown

Sun, 08 Mar 2009 13:46:17 +1300

Rod, I'd add:

6. Do a little sponsorship of something that fits your brand and will help bring it to others.

It need not even cost cash money.

Eden Coffee, for example, supplies the PA bloggers with coffee, and I know I can call them for pourage at an event…

RodDrury

Sun, 08 Mar 2009 08:03:26 +1300

Hi Paul, I can't think of any any examples of small companies being able to afford to buy brand through traditional advertising spend. We've done newspapers, some radio and have very, very low measurable response.

We also hear lots of advice that in these times every dollar has to work…

Paul Campbell

Sat, 07 Mar 2009 11:35:14 +1300

I'm traveling in the US at the moment on a biz trip, someone made the great point today that (here at least) media buys are cheap compared with a year ago – 40% in some cases – this is a good time to be building a brand (assuming you can…

RodDrury

Fri, 06 Mar 2009 12:53:38 +1300

People who know me know that I've always had a stutter. So getting out in public was absolutely terrifying for me. (Still is).

So you actually can learn to get out there. It's baby steps and getting more and more comfortable. If I can do it, anyone can do it.…

christopher brown

Fri, 06 Mar 2009 12:48:32 +1300

As a PR professional who has worked with Rod and seen him in action at close quarters, I can say this is advice as good as it gets. It's a template for building a leadership profile in your industry that every CEO of businesses large and small should attempt to…

Russell Brown

Fri, 06 Mar 2009 10:57:34 +1300

Rod has the considerable advantage of being gregarious and having interesting things to say. For less gifted individuals, I don't think there's anything wrong with purchasing a little media training.

There are some basic dos and don'ts with getting media coverage. Sure, email your press release to everyone — but…

Rich of Observationz

Fri, 06 Mar 2009 10:50:52 +1300

I guess one option if (like me) you dislike networking with a passion is to find somebody who enjoys schmoozing to front. That's what I did last time.

Stephen Knightly

Fri, 06 Mar 2009 10:50:32 +1300

What many CEOs, especially founders, find hard to do is NOT talk about themselves, their product, their company.

What Rod did well was find a topic ('thought leadership platform' in PR jargon) that was relevant to the wider public (and therefore business, not just technology, journalists) but also had some…

Richard Cotman

Fri, 06 Mar 2009 10:09:07 +1300

Really like the 3 step 'conversation' approach. It's a good way to summarise it. But it is easier said than done.

Regardless of how canny your PR strategy is, your success with the media depends on the personality of the spokesperson (normally with SMEs it'll be the founder). I worked…

Alastair Thompson

Fri, 06 Mar 2009 10:07:34 +1300

Hello,

For reference the earlier parts of this Surviving Small conversation are:

Surviving Small II: Changing Process (Feb 26) – GUEST: Xero CEO Rod Drury on small business strategies
&
Surviving Small (Feb 23) GUEST: Alastair Thompson of Scoop

In response to Rod's post I would…

Paul Campbell

Fri, 06 Mar 2009 10:02:42 +1300

I've done a lot of (US) startups over the years and while I've largely been on the engineering side I've watched others do this stuff – getting others – especially your potential customers talking about you, even if they don't know what you're doing yet is so useful

In my…

Russell Brown

Fri, 06 Mar 2009 09:13:33 +1300

Righto ...

Public Address

Fri, 06 Mar 2009 09:13:33 +1300

Discussion from blog post.