Blog Archives
Day 19. Using PR.
With just three days to go how is your Money Making Plan shaping up?
Today we’re going to consider how you can use Public Relations to raise awareness of your money making venture. In essence what we want is for other people to do the promotion for you without being paid!
Referrals and recommendations
One of the best ways to generate interest in your money making venture is to get existing customers and people in your network to recommend you. Some will do so without being asked, others may be willing but need prompting. Think of ways that you can encourage referrals and recommendations:
- Ask for them, include a note on receipts (e.g. if you are happy with your purchase tell your friends, if you’re not tell us)
- Thank people when they pass on a recommendation, send a card, write a letter, call them, thank them publically at a networking event. If the lead turns into significant business go a bit further by sending flowers or taking your recommender out for a meal
- Set up a recommend a friend scheme perhaps with a money off voucher for both the new customer’s first purchase and for the introducer, or formalise it into an affiliate scheme
- Use your networking events to make it clear what kind of referrals you are looking for
- Produce some marketing material that those willing to recommend you can have to pass on to their associates
Media coverage
Advertising can be very expensive and is rarely as effective as an article in a publication read by your target audience. If you have a big budget then you can appoint a PR consultant to get you into the media but this can be expensive and results are not guaranteed. You can improve your chances by choosing your consultant carefully. Make sure that they specialise in your area of interest and that they have contacts in the relevant media; ask to see examples of the coverage that they have got for other people.
There is a lot you can do yourself with a bit of time and effort. Remember that journalists are not there to do your advertising for you but to produce stories of interest to their audience. This means that, to get news coverage, you need to have a story not a sales pitch. Surveys are often popular, can you turn your market research into a story without disclosing confidential information or giving away your competitive advantage? Can you celebrate your launch? Are you breaking new ground with your idea? Are you doing something unusual? Can you create a story? Take a lesson from Richard Branson who makes stories when he needs press coverage e.g. by dressing up as a Maharaja and riding an elephant or by abseiling down a building when Virgin Atlantic is opening a new route.

Daiva, Ursula and Yemi from our Hounslow Enterprise Club had their new businesses featured in the local press this week.
Turn your story into a news release and send it to named journalists who write on your topic in publications that target your market. Do your homework, Don’t be tempted to blanket mail all journalists, they will bin your release. Think carefully about possible media, you may have success on smaller publications produced on a shoestring than in the mainstream. Think about your local media, small special interest magazines, company newsletters, customer magazines, student media, local radio, smaller TV channels etc. Click on this link for more about how to put a news release together.
Remember to keep an eye on your target journalists in your Twitter stream. Are they requesting help with stories? If you can’t help do you know someone who could? Reply to the tweet with an introduction. Re-tweet the message, Compliment them on interesting articles. Share some knowledge or information that will add to the article. Build a relationship.
A word or warning. Unlike paid for advertising or advertorials you will have no control over what a journalist publishes so be especially careful about what you disclose in an interview. Off the record conversations don’t always stay that way. Don’t tell a journalist anything you wouldn’t want to read about! Remember a journalist’s primary interest is a good story.
ACTION: How are you going to incorporate PR into your promotional plan? Devise a system for getting recommendations and referrals and/or develop your story into a news release and send it to at least one journalist.
Should you be running an event?
This one isn’t low budget! However running a launch party, an open evening, a party or some other event to which you can invite customers, prospects, journalists, local dignitaries and perhaps celebrities can go a great way to creating a buzz about what you are doing and get you some press coverage. This 21 Day Make Money Challenge has been a PR activity for me and whilst I’d love to see more of you commenting, tweeting or joining us on Facebook it has got people following across the world which was one of my objectives.
If you are going to do an event make sure you are clear about what you want to get out of it, set a SMART objective. Set a budget and think what you can do for that money. Get the word out early and often to make sure that people come; there’s nothing worse than having the press and a local dignitary as your only attendees! Ask your friends and family for support if need be. Consider bringing in a professional events planner if your budget will allow.
Think what message you want people to take away. Will you deliver a speech? What do you want the press to write about? If you want a celebrity or local dignitary to say a few words brief them about what you want them to say. Do you need business cards, fliers, brochures or a promotional gift for people to take away with them?
Don’t just do an event for the sake of it. If you are raising money for charity have lots of ways in which people can donate. If you are doing it to win new customers or raise your profile tell your guests how they can help you. Then go and have some fun!
Next steps, should you choose to take them…
- Share any insights or recommendations in the comments section here.
- Join the conversation on Facebook to gain support from the 21 Day Challenge community (we’ll be looking at some of the benefits of social media later in the challenge but for now being active on this page and on Facebook can help boost the way people can find you on the Internet.)
- Tweet this ‘I’m working on my PR on @Glenda_S 21 Day Make Money Challenge #21DMMC‘
- Join us tomorrow to when we’ll be taking action.
Day 13. Financing your plan.
How did you get on setting your budget yesterday? Did it show you what level of investment will be needed to get your idea off the ground? For example are you going to have to invest in raw materials or marketing before you sell anything? Are you able to finance that amount yourself preferably without getting in to interest payments on your credit card? If not then today’s challenge is designed to get you thinking of different ways in which you could raise the investment needed?
Financing equipment
I’m starting with equipment because it is a capital expense and, as such, tends to be viewed differently by lenders and the tax authorities. By now you should know what equipment you need and how much it will cost but do you need to buy it? Have you checked out recycling sites for example www.freecycle.org.uk or http://www.londonreuse.org/for-business/ there are probably similar sites in your locality? How about posting what you are looking for on Twitter, Facebook or Gumtree? You may not be lucky but if someone is wanting to get rid of what you want it would be a win-win. Look out for charities in your area that take other people’s cast offs, restore them and sell them to others who need them and in doing so provide employment opportunities for those in need.
Do you need to buy the equipment or could you lease it? Would leasing save you money? The sums may well depend upon how long you need the equipment for and what length of agreement you can negotiate but it is worth exploring.
If you do decide you have to buy do you really need new? It’s often possible to make considerable savings on items which have hardly been used. Ebay would be a good place to start looking.
If you are buying it can be worth talking to your bank to see if you can arrange a loan. A loan is usually a lot cheaper than an overdraft. However if you are buying for a business you may need to produce a business plan before the bank will consider you. Lenders are often more comfortable lending to finance equipment purchases because there is something to secure a loan against. For more ideas see the section on ‘Raising Finance’.
Using other people’s money
This is not as underhand as it sounds! Could you set up an account with your supplier which would enable you to pay in 30 days or more? This would allow you to convert your raw materials into product which you could hopefully sell before you have to pay the invoice. If you can settle the account with a credit card you may get up to 30 more days before you have to start paying interest on the money. Just make sure that you remember that this bill will need paying before you spend the money on other things and be aware that a supplier is unlikely to deliver further items if you haven’t settled their last bill.
Should you be taking payments, or at least deposits, from your customers before you buy in raw materials? If you are providing a bespoke service then this is almost certainly the case. Make sure that you have a clear contract or terms of business to protect both you and your customer.
Could sponsorship be an option? Your sponsor will probably want to know that what you are doing is consistent with their values and typically that it will reach their target audience. They should want to use their sponsorship to generate positive PR, such as media coverage, for their organisation and will probably want their name and logo to be highly visible in whatever you do. Typically sponsorship is an option for charities, events and not for profits but it could be an option worth exploring.
Raising finance
If you can finance your money making venture yourself then this is the quickest and easiest way to get going. If not, do you have friends and family who would be willing to back you? You really shouldn’t expect them to do this for nothing! Offer them a share in your profits, a decent rate of interest or a free service in return for their support.
Could you bring partners into your venture? Of course if you do they will expect a say and a return on their investment, are you prepared to share your decision making and your profits?
If you are planning to start a business in order to make your money making target then there are other options for raising finance but they have both advantages and disadvantages. You will need to produce a business plan which shows that your business is viable and you will probably need to prove that you have made a decent investment in your business yourself. Why should they risk their money if you won’t risk yours?
Here are some of your options for raising finance for a business:
- a bank loan: in the UK there is some government backing to help banks take risks, if the bank turn you down ask if they would consider you under this scheme
- crowd source funding: a relatively new way of raising finance usually from smaller investors in return for shares in the business. You set your goal and don’t get any of the money until you get the backing for all of it. One example is http://www.crowdcube.com/
- venture capital: this is where a person or organisation with money backs businesses that need it in order to make more money. Venture capitalists will be looking for scalable businesses from which they can make a decent profit. They typically want to own a significant proportion of the business and to sell their share in around 5 years.
- business angels: rather like venture capitalists but perhaps a bit less aggressive! Whilst a business angel will want to make money out of your venture they will typically share their skills and experience with you and may take a longer term view about making a profit.
ACTION: If you need to raise finance decide which three methods you are going to go for in order of preference and prepare your case. Set a deadline by which you will ask for the backing, add it to your project management plan unless it is already there.
Next steps, should you choose to take them…
- Share any insights or recommendations in the comments section here.
- Join the conversation on Facebook to gain support from the 21 Day Challenge community (we’ll be looking at some of the benefits of social media later in the challenge but for now being active on this page and on Facebook can help boost the way people can find you on the Internet.)
- Tweet this ‘I’m working out how to finance my money making venture #21DMMC‘
- Join us tomorrow to when we’ll be putting together our cashflow forecasts.