It’s time for me to be brave and share a few things. Things… I’m afraid to tell you.
As much as I’ve shared here about my journey toward specializing, it’s almost becoming harder now that I’ve chosen my specialty and have pursued it for nearly a year.
Things are going really well. And that feels weirder for me to talk about than when I was struggling.
Struggle feels authentic. It feels real. It feels acceptable and prized in today’s world as a business owner.
But what if things are… good? Fun? Flowing? I don’t like sounding boastful or unrelatable, but this is my new version of “real” right now.
If I don’t share these things that I’ve been doing and thinking, I don’t think I’m giving you the full picture.
So here we go…
Thing I’m Afraid to Tell You #1: I Hired a PR Firm
I made a big leap two months ago and hired a public relations firm for my SEO business.
As far as the bootstrapping entrepreneur world goes, this feels like some sort of shortcut that’s dirty and wrong… like selling out. Everyone wants to hear how I’m hustling for seven hours a day to get my publicity for free, right?? Not that I’m just throwing money at someone else to do it for me? Ugh.
I did do a good bit of hustling for podcast interviews to test the impact, which I shared in past videos. What I found from doing that was that it was a really valuable opportunity to get myself out there on other platforms related to my niche.
Then, an opportunity came up a few months ago where I got to meet a PR expert who specializes in the wedding industry (the same industry I’m focusing on).
As I was talking to the owner of this PR agency, I realized: She already has all the connections that I really want to have.
After a lot of thinking about it and trying to decide what to do, I decided to hire her for a six-month engagement for PR.
In July, we started working together on a media plan and developing a speaking platform. For the last two months, her team has been working to get my guest posts published on wedding related blogs and magazines. Next up, they will be pitching me for speaking opportunities, guest webinars, and podcast interviews.
So far, it’s going really well. Through her work, my articles have been published in Wed Altered, Wedding Planner Magazine, Special Events Magazine’s blog, WeddingIQ, and AllSeated. I am watching my website gain SEO authority from these great backlinks, and I know I’m getting my business name out there.
At times, it has felt scary because this is one of the first big investments that I’ve made in my niche business. Until this point, most of my promotion and marketing has just been effort, content, and hustle by me without wanting to spend much money on what was still a new business concept. It’s going well enough, though, that I felt it was time to pour some fuel on this fire.
So I guess that’s it… It feels good to have that out in the world! If you have any questions at all about how working with a PR firm works, I’d love to share. Please feel free to email me or reply.
And… I’ll be back soon with a couple more things I’m afraid to tell you 😉
Kyle Maurer says
October 5, 2018 at 2:46 pmI think this is pretty awesome. Not many of us have tried this. And you are the one who shares everything that happens so it’s exciting. We’re all going to get to hear about the results and I can’t wait!
Sara Dunn says
October 7, 2018 at 7:36 pmThanks Kyle! I’ll definitely be following up with the results of the PR work in January 🙂
Dave Warfel says
October 12, 2018 at 12:45 pm???????????? Love the new segment! And this is a wonderful idea.
It’s something that could help all of us, but especially those of us who are a little more shy or like to keep somewhat of a lower profile. Hiring someone to help put us out there, so all we have to do is show up and sell our product/service. I’ve always been good at the latter. But I struggle with getting to that point.
This could be the answer. Thanks, as always, for sharing ????.
Sara Dunn says
October 12, 2018 at 3:44 pmYes, good point. Pitching yourself is hard and can feel uncomfortable. I’m not sure how PR would translate into the general WordPress space—I feel lucky to have found someone with deep connections in my target market, and that’s working really well. I think that may be the key.
Fiona Purdy says
October 14, 2018 at 3:50 pmSara – I think you are a very smart business woman to hire a PR firm! Why would you be embarrassed to say that you are advancing your business in any legitimate way possible? Why spend time doing work that is easily outsourced and has a better chance of getting your desired results because it is done by experts? Why re-invent the wheel? Good for you girl!
Fiona Purdy says
October 14, 2018 at 3:53 pmSorry – I shouldn’t have said embarrassed in my comment above – I should have said afraid to tell you!