Ep111 How to scale your business using PR and get the visibility it deserves with Lauren Salaun 

Show Notes:

Connect with Lauren here: laurensalaun.com

Follow on instagram: @laurensalaun

Follow on facebook: facebook.com/laurensalaunward

Resources:

The PR Accelerator Course: Click here

 

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Show Transcription: 

Tina

Hello, and welcome to Episode 111 of her Empire Builder. Today, all the way from LA we have learned salon and Lauren is amazing and has given us so many insights today into PR and influencer marketing, she has shared some incredible tips that you can take and put right into your business straightaway to be able to get more PR and get the visibility that you need and that you deserve in your business. So today is a little bit of a combo conversation. I want to I was really intrigued by Lauren's story. And so I went into first how she went from being corporate and doing crisis payoff for a big corporate company into her own PR agency and now running online programs through Kajabi as well. So we kind of go through that whole story. And then we get some PR gold that you can use in your own businesses. So a little bit about Lauren, she's got a background in luxury advertising and crisis communications.

She has quite a very colourful background in doing PR, but then became an entrepreneur in 2014, and did a lot of fitness things and all sorts of different roads that you're going to hear about in today's podcast. But she's now the CEO and founder of influence plus impact, a public relations and influencer marketing agency that specialises in helping entrepreneurs elevate their visibility, and make a global impact doing what sets this soul on fire. And don't we all need to do that. She's the creator of the PR Accelerator, which is a hybrid coaching agency program that teaches growing entrepreneurs how to scale their business through public relations. So what I'm going to, I won't read read Lauren's whole bio, because she's going to give us a lot of the background. But she's got a huge amount of experience in PR. She's worked for some absolute superstars in the industry and is a superstar self herself, and you're going to get so much out of today's conversation. So please welcome Lauren salon.

Lauren, welcome to her Empire Builder. I'm so excited to have you here. So you're coming to us from LA this morning. But can you give us a little bit of background in how you got to be to where you are today?

 

Lauren

Absolutely. So I have been an entrepreneur since 2014. So left my last PR agency I was at you know, at this point was that six over six years ago. And it's been incredible ever since like, entrepreneurial journey is a wild ride for sure. But left that last PR agency and I was working in crisis PR in the healthcare industry. So if we all think about how like the last year has been, like, I am sure my past PR agency that I used to work at has been incredibly busy and like making a crap tonne of money over the last year because we used to get pulled in when like, excuse my language like shit the fan and hospitals, healthcare systems, positions organisations, they didn't know what to do and needed like urgent help. And we would come in with communication strategies, grassroots PR stuff, media strategies to help them navigate really sensitive times. And so that has been like that past experience has been such a blessing in the last year even though I don't do anything in the healthcare sector anymore, but just being able to, like navigate crisis, you know, and know how to communicate and show up and get more visibility and, and be a leader when things feel really crazy and really uncertain. So that's where I got, you know, spent. That's the end of my kind of corporate experience, most of my career has been in the world of communication. So, advertising, marketing, PR, I also spent a few years as a graphic designer as well. So communications and like visual stuff too in there. But yeah, when I left, I left for a couple of key reasons, I was working about 60 to 80 hours per week. And as the name crisis communication suggests, very high stress levels, very intense workload, like all of the clients I was working on are in emergency type situations, like everything is like all hands on deck. They're stressed everything like that. So not only was the volume of work a lot, but the work itself was high intensity. And yeah, and I was at that agency for about four years, did really well there. I think we were doing important work. And like on the side of the good guys, quote, unquote, even though the whole health care system in the United States could stand to get Right.

And, and yeah, and at the end of the day, you know, I working in the hospital industry, it was not like what lights me up, the type of work I was doing was not the most exciting type of PR work to me either. And I also am somebody who is so motivated by freedom and choice and flexibility. And I at this point, like in my life, I don't think I could ever have a boss again. And so I wanted to be able to do to work when I wanted where I wanted with who I wanted, pick and choose the projects that I got to work on, and really wanted to be able to prioritise myself and my well being because like, in my last year at this last agency, you know, I was insanely burnt out. So so stressed I was having anxiety attacks, like in the bathroom at work, like once a week, like needing to be like get up from my desk, go in the back and like cry it out and then go back to work sort of thing. And I felt like I had zero control over how like my work life balance, like work absolutely had to come first. And then if there was extra time energy leftover, I could maybe do my own laundry or go grocery shopping or find time to get to the gym. And I come from a big fitness background as well. And so like for me making sure I break a sweat regularly is super, super important. And I was just sacrificing so much. And so I left not really with like a plan.

But went right into some consulting. So PR branding, social media marketing, consulting.

 

Tina

I love that you left not really with a plan. Did you just get to the point where you were just like, you know what, I'm out. Anything’s better than this?

 

Lauren

So I'm somebody who, I don't think this is the case anymore. However, I used to not trust myself not be able to listen to my gut and and trust my gut and my intuition very well. I didn't trust myself. And so like, I stayed a year longer than I probably should have. I was miserable, you know. And so I looking back would have been like, gosh, why did I How did I not realise I needed to get the f out of there. You know what I mean?

 

Tina

You would have been very young though, too, right?

 

Lauren

I was like, 26 or something? 27.

 

Tina

 

A lot of then at that age are trying to hone our intuition.

 

Lauren

Yeah, right. And I also like, it's so funny, because I'm 34 years old now. And I, back then I'm like, I can't leave. I've been doing communications and marketing stuff for X number of years. I've been in this job for four years. Like, I can't pivot and like start a new job or a new career path. Now. I'm too old for that. Oh, my gosh, right. And, and so I yeah, so I left, I got to the point where, and this this has been like a recurring lesson in my life, whether it's about work or other things where I just get to like, literally hit a wall. And then I go, Oh, those whispers and little nudges that I was hearing all along the way. I should have listened to that more and now I'm at breaking like breaking point meltdown city. And we need to take action and like go, you know, and so, yes, I did not have a clear plan. However, I had had a few people reaching out to me for help with marketing projects, and was like, oh, I'll just do them in my free time as well.

And I did that for a little while. And then I was like, What the hell am I doing one, I don't have free time right now two, I need to be charging for this. So let's get a couple clients a couple projects under our belt and then get the f out of here. And so once I, you know, was able to have a couple, a couple clients, like out of the gate, I took action and got out. So once I made the internal decision that things absolutely need to change. And I think I was I was again, not trusting my gut, I was being stubborn. I'm like, No, this has to work, I'm going to force it to work, right? I'm not going to give up. This is a good job on paper, this is really impressive and make a lot of money, like all that kind of stuff. And so sometimes it takes me like, just being stubborn and frustrated for a while to realise like, Oh, no, it's time to it's time to move on from this. And now I would say absolutely. Like, when I tuned into my gut, like I take action so fast, and it is effective, accurate trust my gut my intuition, so so much. But yeah, I left without a real plan I had, like I said a few clients under my belt and just trusted that I was gonna figure it that heck out. And those few clients, were able to, you know, is able to still pay my bills and cover all my expenses. But I had so much time back on my plate to then explore what I wanted the next thing to be because the first order of business for me was to like, come down from all that overwhelm and all that stress and like reprioritize myself, my health, I get my like, adrenal system back on track, because I was absolutely burnt out. And so I didn't have room to be like, okay, what's the next thing? I was like? No, no, we have to like, just like, simmer down for a little bit, and then explore what sounded exciting to me because I was at the point where I'm like, Okay, if I am like, quote, unquote, starting over or wanting to do something that is more exciting to me and more fulfilling to me and gives me more flexibility and choice, then let's like, throw all the things out there and see what sticks. So I had my consulting going on. I started to do on camera hosting, like red carpet hosting, live stream podcast hosting for the entertainment industry, which was super, super fun.

it's so funny that, you know, prior to recording, we were talking about how I'm starting a podcast. And so like I was doing on air podcasting, live stream podcasting, like, years ago, before everyone in their mom had a podcast, right. And so I'm very excited to get back into it.

But, but yeah, so it gave me the flexibility to kind of see what was exciting to me and try out all the things.

 

Tina

How long did it take you to go, because I know a lot of people have so much fear in going from the comfort and safety of a regular job, which can often be hell into going to working for yourself, but still having that anxiety that was with you. How long did it take you to kind of heal from that and be like, okay, now I'm not in survival mode, I can actually breathe and grow.

 

Lauren

This is such a great question. I think it took me about six months to feel like I was on like the right track, if you will, or felt more confident in my decision because, yeah, the first six months, I think once a week, I'd be like, what am I doing? This is ridiculous. get a real job with benefits, like all this stuff, like, like this is what are we doing? Yeah, terrible idea. And then it kept working. And it kept like, you know, happening? I'm like, Okay, this is less less scary, less scary, like, okay, okay. And then the big thing that showed me that I was like it was happening and I had kind of crossed through that fear was I saw a job like a job opportunity for something that months ago, I would have absolutely jumped all over applied to and would have wanted really bad. And I saw it and I was like, Oh, that looks really cool. Six months ago, me would have loved that. Yeah. Today me does not in any way want to even apply to this. So so we have crossed that line, and we're gonna keep going. So yes, it was like about six months, but it was terrifying. For sure. It was super stressful. And there have been plenty of moments since then, where I'm like, What am I doing? This is not working. And I'm like, wait, it is working.

 

Tina

The entrepreneurial rollercoaster.

 

Lauren

Exactly. Exactly. Yeah. So so to kind of wrap that all put a bow on it. I you know, over the last six years I've had a Social Media Marketing Agency, which I do some of that stuff still with PR clients but not doing the social media management stuff anymore. I accidentally started a fitness business as well because one of my big priorities was getting back into fitness once I I left…

 

Tina

You accidentally started a fitness business? You're gonna have to elaborate on that.

 

Lauren

Exactly. So I'm a big social sharer, like this stuff that I'm into. And I love like, I will share it, whether it's work related or not. And fitness is one of those things that's super important to me. I was a competitive soccer player my whole life. And that's one of the things I felt like I was really sacrificing was like consistent exercise with my last agency that I worked at. So that was one of the things that when I was on my own like, like, non negotiable prioritising fitness, and so I'm like sharing my gym stuff and what I'm doing and started having a lot of people asking like, Oh, hey, what are you doing? Or like, what, what kind of shake is that? Or what? What kind of workouts? Are you doing all that kind of stuff. And I had, I had been using products from a network marketing company, actually, and just for myself, for the like, my own benefits, not really intending to start a business with it. Though, being a social marketer, I'm absolutely like, if I'm into something, there's an opportunity for affiliate commission or partnership or money, duh, like, why not? And so after about six months of using this, these products, decided to go in and and work the business and so built a successful network marketing business in the healthcare space also became an online health coach. So with that, and separate from that, was a fitness model for a few years did fitness competing, like was had been a personal trainer, like all that kind of stuff. So. So yeah, so it kind of happened organically and accidentally, just because people were like, wait, what are you doing? Tell me more, tell me more sort of thing. I'm like, Well, why don't I monetize this? Okay, let's go. And in 2020, I actually moved away completely from doing any fitness type stuff as a income stream as a business now, it's just for me.

But yeah, so fitness was a major, major, you know, part of my business as well. And I had my social media and PR, business running and the fitness business at the same time to which was fun. And you may agree with me on this, if you don't like jump all in on the main thing, like, you're not going to get those big results that you want.

 

Tina

So this was going to be my next question. Splitting yourself in many different directions. And from a personal brand point of view, representing a lot of different things as well. Did you find it hard to be like known for your thing when you were doing all the different stuff?

 

Lauren

Yes. So I wasn't sure it was tricky for me to position myself and there was some time where it was all just mainly fitness oriented, and like, I was doing business coaching for fitness people and, and so what my business looks like now is PR agency. And then I have my group PR programme, and we work mainly with entrepreneurs in health and wellness, in personal development in lifestyle. So, so that's all become much more cohesive. But yeah, for several years with running, like business coaching, social media type stuff, PR type stuff, and the fitness stuff, it was confusing for my audience. And and I actually had a big aha moment, like, honestly, I think at this point, it was only like two years ago, where and so part of this, I'll back up a little bit, because my last experience in PR, on like, the corporate side was so stressful, I had so much like, PTSD connected to that. And so for me, I was still doing marketing and PR stuff, but only on a project basis, you know, and only by referrals. And so and, and it was working really well. Like I literally was having dream clients, like people who I wrote in my notebook, like, Oh my gosh, one day I would love to work with so and so coming to me and being like, Oh, hey, I hear that you're good at this stuff. Can we hire you for this launch? Can we hire you for this? And I'm like, sure. And then I you know, pulling it pulling a contractor or something we jam on that project, knock it out of the park? Great. If have another referral comes in, we'll step in and do it. But I was not prioritising that business as the main thing or trying to grow it because I still had so much like, crap connected to my last experience in the PR world. And so to me, I was like, No, I'm not doing this full time. This is not going to be the main thing because PR is stressful. Working in PR means I'm going to be working 12 hours a day, I'm gonna wake up at 5am and check my email first thing and then start my day strategy. So I'm like, I'll do this on a project basis because I can do 90 days of being all gung ho on this project and then get back to my own stuff, you know, but I was like, but we're not doing this as a main business. I don't care how good we are at it, you know, like we're not and then I was at an event that I helped my team and I helped to sell out through influencer marketing, social sharing that kind of stuff and, and like the year prior, the event sold

With 500 spots, the year my team and I came in sold out at 1500 spots. So like we crushed it. And this was like, third or fourth projects like that, that I had been doing in the last like year, you know, year or two span. And I had somebody, a friend of mine actually, who knows me in real life, come up to me at this event that like I helped to do, and be like, so I know that you were helping so and so with their book launch, I know that you were helping so and so with this event and that thing, and I know you're involved in that, too. And you're here and I know you're helping out as well. But I don't know exactly what you do. Yes. And I was like, Oh, shit, I'm like, this is someone who knows me as a human, not just on social media. And she doesn't know what it is that I do. That means everyone else who follows me, especially people who don't know me in real life, they have no idea either. So like I am blocking by not choosing one or the other and not being clear in what I was doing. I'm blocking so much business, right. And like, so that, to me was a big, big wake up call to. and funny thing at that event had another literally dream client be like, hey, so I want to hire you for this launch coming up. And I'm like, Are you freaking serious? I'm like, Oh, great. Another great opportunity to work on like, Oh, you know, and, and so I was, so that weekend, at this event, I'm like, okay, I either need to say no to that opportunity and be done with this kind of work. Or I need to, like, reframe my experience with doing this kind of work and decide to actually jump in and frickin Go for it. And do it for real. And so I was able to go back and like, re write my relationship with working in PR and, and really like work on the stories that I had, and kind of the blocks that I had around it. And I was like, Oh, we can do this. And it can be fun. And it can be great. And we can scale it and it doesn't mean I have to work insane amount of time and all this stuff. Yeah. And so yeah, so that like, really, and that was at this point about two years ago. And I still, you know, it's still I think took me about a year to fully jump in with both feet.

 

Tina

A problem a lot of people come up against as well is they're really good at this service based business, like really good at done for you stuff. But you've managed to get all that and package it and then scale it and use kajabi, which I love for your online courses. How did you go about? Like, at what point did you go, you know what, I'm gonna end up working my ass off again, all day, every day, if I don't figure out a way to scale this.

 

Lauren

Yeah, beautiful question. I probably spend more like one of the beautiful things that happened in 20 was my business grew very, very fast. And in a very short period of time. And so I went from having a contractor and a virtual assistant to a team of about seven contractors, like in the span of a couple months. And so that like I am always like, I would much rather have more help. And like less profit for me to keep my time and energy balance in a, in a way that feels good. Then just like do it all myself to take more of the money like so like, one scaling with support and with team has been huge, huge, huge to keep my workload and energy in a place that feels good for me. Um, and then also, it's like, I mean, so much of it, too, is like the mindset side of things and the visualisation and just the like, you know, being like, no, I be like, this is going to look and feel this way. Because I say so. And even if that's not, like, normal or whatever, like I don't care, I'm the boss. And I get to create this to look exactly how I want like, this is my business. Like, I get to make it look and feel how I want it to and so really being committed to the vision you have for how you want it to look and feel that's been amazingly helpful for me and like real talk. And again, this is what I was saying before where sometimes I need to like actually hit the wall like very hard before I hear the lesson.

In 2019, I dealt with depression. And I also in 2019 was not feeling excited about my business. And that was kind of after that, that aha moment with my friend. I was like okay, so we're gonna pivot back into PR as the main thing is, it wasn't a crossroads. Yeah. So but I wasn't excited about it yet. I was like, I had kind of decided that's where we were going, but I was feeling really unmotivated. I had a lot of personal life stuff I was needing to prioritise as well. So I in 2019, I was like, You know what, we're not going to go go

Whoa on my business right now and I did a lot of fitness stuff. So I popped back into fitness being the main thing, I was doing a lot of personal training if I needed something that felt easy and more like more just routine, and I wanted to be out of my house and plug into a new network. And so I did a year of just like, Okay, I'm focusing on me and my health and my life and the, you know, personal stuff I needed to deal with. And when I start, like, when that is healed, and that stuff is, like, nurtured the way that it needs to, then we're gonna jump back in but, but yeah, so for me, 2019 was like, it was a big

a big lesson in listening to myself, listen to my gut, taking care of myself, and I historically have been a workaholic, do way too many things at one time, work non stop, never take a break, never feel like I'm doing enough like all that. And for me, my thankfully, like, I'm, I've dealt with anxiety for a long time, but never had dealt with depression. And thankfully, I could still function quite highly with my depression. And I also had a very limited amount of, of energy each day. So I was like, some days, I was like, Okay, I can work on my business, after I'm done training clients and stuff like that, I got three hours in me. So all the extra crap, the unnecessary stuff, the stuff that doesn't actually move the needle, the stuff that's busy, but not actually productive, like, you're just doing shit to do shit like that all had to get cut out, because I had such a finite amount of energy and inspiration each day, like, I'm used to working like 12 hours a day easily. And I was like, I got three. So make sure make sure I'm doing what is really important. And one of the great things about that, like, you know, and it's it ebbs and flows, sometimes we're working crazy hours and, and just knowing that that's not how it's going to be all the time, like I can put in I like, killer week, month, whatever. But one of the things that I really took from that was and why I'm so grateful for having gone through depression, as shitty as it was, is one, I don't need to work eight hours a day, nine hours a day, 10 hours a day, I can get everything done in five, right. And so it really, really showed me the importance of like maximising my time cutting away all the extra stuff, and really focusing on what the biggest priorities are. And and then, even though now, I am not dealing with depression anymore, and barely deal with anxiety at all, which is like I can't believe I got rid of I got rid of anxiety and depression in 2020. But one of the things that I've maintained is okay, like, I get to keep that extra space and time to nurture myself take care of myself just to be I just because I feel better and more inspired does not mean I go back to 10 hour days.

 

Tina

And so what things do you have in place practically to stop yourself from because I know once a workaholic, we're always a reformed workaholic. And we can go back to that habitually really easily. How do you actually put those barriers? I know, you know what I'm talking about that you're like, Yes, I do. How do you drive away from the work?

 

Lauren

Yes, so I don't take any calls before 11am. So I'm in the United States, but you know, whatever, I don't take calls before 11am my morning, I get up at like 7am still and my morning is for me. And so and and so that's I'm looking over here at my calendar. So I in the mornings like I do my morning practice like journaling meditation moved my body a little bit. I like to try and create a piece of content for the day I don't batch create I create in the moment I like to create my content in the morning doesn't always happen in the morning. But I like to create my content and put it out into the world before consuming a bunch of other stuff.

And then I like to work out and then I'll check my emails and then plug in and I usually have a work block from like 11am to four or 5pm with my calendar and time blocking. Yes, all that stuff can get moved around but I put how I want my day to look and feel is plugged into my calendar so that I stick with it and don't always listen to like my own rules and stuff. So we're breaking those those parameters often but it helps me to be like oh no, if I say that I want a five hour workday and I want to run a multiple six figure business with five hours a day. And and really I only want to work Monday through Thursday, if we're being honest like then I get to be super ninja with my time and really stick with my boundaries. And I know too, like another thing also, and why, like I've followed through on that and how it's, like become easier for me is trusting the process too. And it, it feels. So not anymore. It felt so wrong in the past, to start my day with me to not go right into answering emails and notifications and stuff, it felt wrong to be like, well, I'm going to wake up without an alarm clock and like, do my meditation stuff and work out and like have a slow morning, like that felt wrong. And it often feels wrong when, when the work doesn't feel hard. That still inside to me feels wrong. So and that's years of working on this, I'm like, and so it's a constant reminder, to me, and I even texted one of my coaches about this a couple weeks ago, I said, this launch, I didn't feel like I was launching, I didn't, I did not have the energy to show up in gung ho launch mode all the time. And it was pretty chill. And we made more of this launch than any of the launches. And so I'm like, and that feels wrong. But I'm going to tell my body that this is how it gets to feel all the time, it gets to be easy. Yeah. And so that's one of the things for me is like being super specific with my time. And really intentional about that really getting clear on what I want my work and life to feel like each day and how I want that to look each day and then doing it following through on that. asking for support like, and with support to it's like going through all my tasks, and deciding, okay, what must be done by me. And then anything that shouldn't be done by me or doesn't have to be done by me or I don't enjoy doing that gets delegated. And so and like, and so that's been really, really effective is having support, getting really clear on how I want it to look and feel and then doing the things like just because I'm like, oh, in a year, I want my business to do like this XYZ and I want it to feel like this. And I

am like, Okay, and then what can I do today, that will make that happen sooner? And if I say I want to have a five hour work day, then what what do I do now to make a five hour workday and get everything done? Right? Like and trust that I can maintain that and that discipline and structure, even when way more money is coming in?

 

Tina

Go you. That is so good. Okay, so I want to talk about the online course, because that's what so many of our listeners are doing, packaging their expertise in to online courses. And so you did that a year ago was when you really went I'm going to go headfirst online course world.

 

Lauren

So I in the past, I've done coaching programmes and stuff in the fitness space. But I yeah, I launched my first online programme last May, actually. So even less than a year, you know, really the second half of 2020 launched the PR Accelerator, which is my four month PR programme, which is essentially a hybrid programme. It's a mastermind coaching programme course, and PR agency experience, like all wrapped into one so and we as we talked about, we use kajabi for it. And so everyone who it's a course for or programme for entrepreneurs who are scaling   entrepreneurs who know what they do, they know who they help, they're doing a great job already at what they do. And they want more visibility to scale with more ease to really like anchor in their authority be seen as the go to expert at what they do get more like I said, more visibility more eyes more leads, and more and scale more with more ease. And so. So yeah, so we've got the course, and all the trainings and stuff running through kajabi. We've got the private Facebook group, we have our weekly zoom calls. And at that one of the really cool things about this programme is at the midpoint. So at the the second, the last two months of it, everyone gets to have me and my team as their in house PR agency. So we actually do a bunch of the work for everyone. So it's been really beautiful to be able to

teach entrepreneurs how to do their own PR and how to get their own visibility, but then a lot of entrepreneurs who are scaling as well, they don't want to do all the pitching and all the PR stuff themselves. So it's been really great to be able to help out by doing some of the work alongside them. And even in this round. We have a lot of people I think half of the group is has like their VA or their assistant or their marketing person doing it with them to learn how to do it in house for them so that when they're done. Now they're doing it all on their own. Yeah, right. That's what I was saying that that's what I was thinking because I'm going my assistant does my PR and I'm going yeah, this could be great for her. Yeah, exactly. And so and I love that because

I'm like, I don't so. So what I did is, and I will say to like, I am not a natural, as as much coaching as I do, and coaching that I have done. Coaching is not the place that I feel most, like alive in, like, I love to be more in the CEO role. So like entrepreneur role doing, I like a lot of different things, I like things to change quickly, like every six months I want to be doing, I've never caught up from you learn.

You know, I don't like to like, I'm not wanting to be like, oh, let's like have a year long coaching, like arrangement. And we're gonna like, you know, that's a lot of effort as much as I love it. Like, even back when I was doing Personal Training, like, if I had three clients in one day, and again, I love all my clients, but three clients, one on one face to face felt the same as seven clients one on one face to face because of that energetic exchange, that's just not like how I'm wired, you know, even if I did love them, and I love them, like present time with them. And so similarly, like, I had a lot of resistance to creating a course or creating a coaching programme. And at some point like, the accelerator will become an evergreen only option, not, not this year, anything like that. But I had a lot of resistance around creating coaching programmes, because I didn't. That's not like my first choice, right? So I don't know if you're familiar with my friend, Amanda Buchi, has the entrepreneurial archetype quiz. And it kind of breaks down like how our it's like a personality test for entrepreneurs. And so like, I'm an entrepreneur, creator, teacher, so teacher is more like, I'm going to create the thing, put it out into the world for you to go learn and goodbye, you know, like, I'm not entering into a relationship with a coach is like where it's like, No, we are entering into a relationship that is ongoing. And so that's my lowest right. And so once I realised that I'm like, Oh, that's why all this coaching that I'm doing feels so draining, yeah. Right. And so with the PR accelerator, yes, there's coaching with it. But we still, it's still very much like, there's a lot of done for you with it, right. And like, at this point, all the trainings and stuff, it's all created. And so it's something that is in with the done for you element, and I have to be very mindful of how many people are in it. My team, yeah, my team gets pulled in. So we cap it at no more than 15 people at this point, like 10 to 15 is our sweet spot so that everyone gets the hands on attention that they that that they need and deserve. But it's been really beautiful to be able to scale something an offer like this, because Yeah, because like, I can teach everyone like, Hey, here's what we do in my agency and how I'm training my team on how to do all this like, cared, you can have it like I'm not hoarding the knowledge, you know, and so it's been really fun to

Yeah, it's been so fun to create and to do and I'm loving it, you know, and and I like shoes, because you've just you've just come off a live launch, haven't you? Yes, we've just, we've just closed doors for the first 2021 group. So we're starting week, three of 16 weeks? Yeah, and just close it. I usually do like a soft 30 days, really like a five week, five weeks out, I start getting into launch mode. But then it's like the last two weeks, you know, are like gung ho, and all that. But yeah, just closed out. Our most recent launch about two weeks ago, and it went super super well. And it was, again, like, I'm still in a place where I don't, I worked my booty off like a tonne of time spent in the first half of 2020. And that momentum has continued to where my workload now is much lighter.

And so yeah, so I wasn't feeling like working 10 hour days, 12 hour days, non stop conversations all the time in the DMS like I wasn't there and I'm like, you know what, my energy is not there. So I need to acknowledge that. So if I'm not going to be doing XYZ, which I normally would do during a launch, what are the other things that we can do to make sure we still hit our goals and so this last launch was so much easier than the other ones I spent way less time like, I was not I didn't feel like I was grinding and hustling and just like non stop, go go go mode. And we brought in more revenue with this launch than any of the others.

 

Tina

What things did you do in place of that connection sort of thing?

 

Lauren

So some of the things that I do with every launch is I'll do like a webinar or masterclass series like offer like

two to five maybe live webinars, like kind of the in the month prior to when

We start, so maybe anywhere from six weeks out. And so I'll do live webinars and live trainings. I am like all over the Instagram stories, my hard feed Instagram posts are very launch oriented. I do a lot of Instagram Live collaborations with, like strategic partners affiliates

to talk, you know, so I do lives those are really effective.

And then I have an affiliate and referral programme for my team and past like alumni of the programme. Right. And so, last launch. So not this most recent one.

I was dealing with some really big like life stuff, and was just like, not in the place to work like crazy. And so that launch, like we hit our goals with a tonne of affiliates. And so and because I was like, you know what I'm going to, because like my energies here, we're going to push lean more into affiliates, which at the end of the day, I made bring home less money, but we still hit our overall revenue goal, and I'm fine if people are helping me sell spots, I'm happy to pay out. Right. And so for this launch, similarly, webinars, you know, conversations in the DMS, of course, a couple referrals, but not a tonne, this round,

solid like email, nurture sequence, from opt in to like sale.

And, yeah, and like it lives and getting into my IG stories and all that.

 

Tina

Well done. Well done. Alright, so I want to ask you a couple of PR questions. Yeah. So for people that are kind of in the early days and going I really want to build my presence online from scratch. Where do you start when you've got nothing to build on?

 

Lauren

So this is so many entrepreneurs think that well, one don't really know what PR is. And it's like this, like, mysterious kind of abstract thing that like, once you've arrived at a certain level, you're allowed to do PR, and you'll just like, know, when it's time or somebody will slide into your DMS or your inbox, and you're like, oh, now I'm ready for PR because this person reached out to me, and here we go, you know. And with that, like there is no like line that you need to cross, you don't have to have a certain number of followers, you don't need to have been in business for X number of years, or hit X number of revenue or sales. Like there's no like, no rules for when you can get started on this. And so, PR and visibility, it needs to be part of your plan from day one, right? Because if you're not talking about what you do, and like, showing up and getting visible, people aren't going to know how to do business with you, they're not gonna know how to hire you, or what the hell you can even help them with. Right? So it's like winking in the dark. You're not if you're doing nothing. So we want to like be visible from day one. And that also doesn't mean that you have to do every single thing. Right. So visibility, that's super easy. If you're just getting started. And you're like, well, I don't My business is barely doing anything is client testimonials, right? That's social proof. One of the beautiful things about PR is that it relies on third party credibility. Right. So that's one of the great things about PR is like, when you're doing advertising and marketing, it's usually you telling people how amazing you are right? When with PR it's other people or other outlets, telling people how amazing you are. So if we're just talking right now, let's we'll pull back the curtain right now on this podcast interview. Because you're having me on as a guest, and your audience trust you. Some of that trust gets applied to me, even if your audience has never met me before, but they're like, you know what? We trust Tina. So we like let's hear what this chick Lauren has to say. Because yes, here like and so that is just like one example of how amazing PR is. And so if you think about, okay, getting featured in an online publication, being a guest coach in somebody else's programme, being on a podcast interview, having an influencer, tag you and shout out about you, like whatever that third party source, whether it's a podcast host influencer publication like that gives you automatic social proof and credibility. And so even when you have clients share about who you are, so if you're just getting started, maybe you're doing a beta group and you don't even have paid clients yet. You're working with a few clients like for free like getting testimonials from them. That's amazing to strengthen your credibility and authority, doing Instagram Live collabs that's something that you can do so easily just with your friends, right? So there's so many things that you can do on a regular basis when you're just getting started to get more visibility and to do more public relations and the things that I would say people need to have like locked in and have clarity around before putting themselves out there more. And and these are things you guys spoiler alert, these are things you should have, like locked in when you're starting your own business anyway, right is

like knowing, like, what is your niche? Like? What is your special space in your industry? What's the solution that you, you provide to people? What problems? are you solving? Who are you helping? Who's your ideal client? Right? So those things are super, super important, like, what is your superpower? And how are you helping people? And who are you helping? And so when you have those things clear, also, you should also have like one a way to do business with people. Because if you're putting yourself out there, and like someone slides into your DMs, it's like, oh, my gosh, I heard you on so and so's podcast, I would love to work with you. You want to be able to be like, great, here's the link or give me your credit card info, right? So you need to be able to take people's money and do business with them, or have your products set up or have a waitlist, at least. And then I would say having an email list or a text list some form of some way to capture people's information that you own. So not just relying on like, oh, come follow me on social media, right, like, owned internet real estate. So So yeah, your niche, ideal client, whatever your superpower is your offers, and like the ability to do business with people and like, take their money, and then an email list. Like you've got those things like locked in, start putting yourself out there and get more visible.

 

Tina

I love it. And what do you think of like consistent good practices in terms of how often should course creatives be sending out? I want to be on your podcast and like pictures for different things. Do you think just like fire hydrant it every month? Or how would you recommend people do that to get the best results?

 

Lauren

So in my programme, I recommend and obviously, people in my programme, they're very committed to more visibility. So I recommend weekly, you know, sending out new pitches and weekly following up. And if that sounds really overwhelming, because one of the things about PR is yes, like, it's often a lot of details to manage, which can feel really overwhelming. And you can do this in one hour a week, you guys so like, at the start of the week, identify five podcasts you want to be on, craft a pitch you craft like one core pitch, and then customise it slightly for each person based on who they are, what their podcast is about what their audience would find valuable. The key with pitches is adding massive value for the other person and their audience and not making it all about you making it about how you can give so much value to them. So yeah, get one core pitch.

 

Tina

That's how you're on my podcast, I got the beautiful email from you going, here's what I can do for your audience. I was like she’s in PR.

 

Lauren

Yeah, so like, identify five places you want to pitch to three even right like and and once you have that main pitch ready, it takes 10 minutes to customise for each place. So you can send those pitches out in one hour or less. And then once a week, go in and and follow up, right like have one day or a couple hours dedicated to following up. There you go. Like it can be done so easily and so efficiently. And you can have like a VA doing it or somebody on your team. Like it doesn't have to be all on your play either. And I would also recommend people have a regular, like weekly time to just engage, like proactively engage with people that you want to collaborate with, whether it's an editor, journalist, podcast host influencer and and like with that, all you need to do is like maybe if it's a podcast, you really want to be on listen to one of their episodes. Like whatever new episode comes out that week, listen to it, head into your Instagram stories. Throw it into stories with a little insight like, Hey, guys, just listen to this episode. Here's what I loved about it pop up, pop up, tag the person. Hopefully they reshare it, which one that gives you a lot more visibility cost is doing exactly that. putting it on and then thanks for sharing. And then I say Oh, and if you're ever looking guests, how about me? Exactly, exactly. So you get it. So that's so easy, right? Like, yeah, throw it out there because podcast hosts they want you want to, like work with people who enjoy your show, right? And if someone's gone through the effort to share why they loved an episode of yours and put it out there, like that feels good. Right? Like, and so people pay attention to that.

 

Tina

We get pitched all the time for the podcast, from people that I really don't even know who we serve.

 

Lauren

Especially if it's like a big, like, long shot type of podcasts, like, you know, one that you're like, I'm probably like, this one's probably not, I'm not ready for that. But one day, do that once a week, something like that, or just sliding into their DMS comment on their posts, that sort of thing. So that

When you do go in for the pitch, they're like, oh, there's that person. There's Lauren who's like such a fan of the show and is consistently engaging with our stuff. Yeah, I'm going to open this email now. Yeah. So, so yeah, like a regular sending out pitches, whether it is five or 50, like whatever you have time and energy for, it can be 30 minutes, you know, and then engaging and building those relationships.

 

Tina

Yeah, I love that. And do you think there's a difference with? I mean, I know you're from a PR background doing PR for people, but do you think there's a difference when someone like a PR agency is pitching on your behalf? Or you as the course create the entrepreneurial self? Like, do you think it should come from you personally? Or from someone else?

 

Lauren

This is such a good question. And it kind of depends. So it's not always realistic, well, both, you know, to have a team doing it for you, or to do it all yourself. So you need to determine like, what is what you're able to be consistent with and what's actually going to get the job done, whether it's you doing it or someone else doing it, that should be the priority, of course, whatever you can be consistent with. And whatever is like maybe in your budget time, or energetically or financially, but then a lot of on the one hand, having somebody else do it for you comes off as more established, more credible, more authority, all of that. So if you don't have somebody doing it for you yet, you can create an extra email address pretty easily and be like, Oh, so and so on my like, Hi, I'm representing Lauren. And it can be me just with like, my marketing person is reaching out and be like, oh, Lauren here, right? Like, you can play as if someone else is doing it.

But there's not like, you know, there's, you can totally reach out on your own as well as if someone else is doing it for you. A lot of podcast hosts also really enjoy

having like having the host or whoever wants to be on the show, like, send a personalised note. So if it is your team doing it for you, amazing. But then it also is a really great touch to then like, slide into that person's DMS and be like, hey, so like, my team just reached out to you about being on your show. Really excited to connect with you and looking forward to getting to know you better. There you go. And so adds that personal touch if it's not you sending the email, like, drop a little message or something to like, make that more intentional and intimate. Yes. PR gold right there, guys. Yeah, gold. All right. So what is what is on the horizon for you in 2021?

 

Lauren

 

Yes, yes. So we are running the PR accelerator three times. This year. We've already got one underway just got started, as I mentioned about three weeks ago. And I'm going to be launching my own podcast, finally, which we talked about, like goodness, I yeah, it's been a long time coming. So launching my own podcast at the end ofFebruary, early March.

 

 

Tina

I am so excited for you. Do you have a name for it yet?

 

Lauren

Thank you! Well, that's still gonna be a secret because of that. 99% decided but so I'm not going to give it away just yet. But we most likely have a name. And, and obviously, like you, I'm going to be reaching out to you to be a guest on my show. This is so fun. And yes, I'm very excited for that we're going to cover is not just going to be about PR not just going to be about business covering like, all the things to really like help you amplify your life and like have a next level life and alignment. Like all the ways not just business but like life fulfilment as well.

And, yeah, and so that I'm super excited about that and probably be some like, coaching programmes, masterminds courses or something kind of along the lines of the podcast. Um, so yeah, PR accelerator, the next round will be starting in May. So the next round will start in the very beginning of May. And you know, we we max it out at 15 people so we sell out every single time so people can snag their spots early to make sure they secure a spot in the next group. But yeah, that's what that's what's coming up.

 

Tina

Amazing. So everything that we’ve spoken about today is straight underneath our conversation in the show notes. .So yes, yeah. What’s your Instagram handle?

 

Lauren

It is just my name Lauren Salaun.

 

Tina

I love it. Thank you so much. Lauren you’re a champion.

 

Lauren

Thanks. Thank you so much. This was absolutely fantastic.