Become an overnight success in just four years
A few years ago I worked as a marketing consultant. I was terrible at it. My ideas were good but I just couldn’t seem to convince my clients to go for them. The vast majority of my work was website copy, a service my clients begrudgingly came to me for after their web developer had become exasperated at them not having anything to put on their site. When I had the idea for Gloucester Studio, my tiny restaurant with only eight covers, I had years of pent up PR enthusiasm ready to be unleashed. The press release came before the business plan and within two days of sending it to my local paper, local BBC radio station and Cotswold Life I was filming an interview for the online version of The Daily Mail. The radio interview and magazine spread followed soon after and I had a new business.
How did you manage that? I was asked endlessly. I was a little perplexed, was that not my current day job? As politely as possible I began explaining that as my own client I no longer had someone editing the story out of my releases. I hadn’t failed to get coverage previously because I wasn’t good, I had failed because nobody wanted me to pitch the stories that I said the media would run.
How did you manage that? I was asked endlessly. I was a little perplexed, was that not my current day job? As politely as possible I began explaining that as my own client I no longer had someone editing the story out of my releases. I hadn’t failed to get coverage previously because I wasn’t good, I had failed because nobody wanted me to pitch the stories that I said the media would run.
Flambe is always popular
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As I said yesterday, you need to be critical about what is of interest to people. Nobody cares that your business is twenty years old. You would need to do something interesting to celebrate that anniversary to get people interested. The sad fact is that many people are simply too close to their business and because it matters to them, think it matters to others. That isn’t to say there won’t be overlap. This week my son and I are making a picture of a fire with leaves we’ve gathered and I’ll be sharing that on social media but only because fire is at the heart of my brand.
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What interests people often takes me by surprise and it is only through trial and error that I have found things which work (and they change all the time). I have had journalists love an idea only to get shot down by their editor. I have pitched stories and had them changed beyond all recognition. The key is to be flexible and to keep going. I have achieved over 60 news stories, magazine articles, TV and radio appearances over the last four years plus numerous appearances in blogs and online articles. I am in the fortunate position that the press now come to me and a selection of my photos are currently going to print for Lonely Planet Magazine following a journalist reaching out for help with a Nordic lifestyle piece.
Just four years of endless pitching and promoting and I am an established expert who has the media calling them. I can’t begin to imagine how many hours of work have gone into reaching this point nor how many of my pitches were ignored or rejected. It is a numbers game and the stories that ran are but a fraction of those that I worked on. One of the best pieces of advice I ever received was from a caravan salesman. He told me he made a sale one in every ten appointments. I had asked him how his day had gone and he told me he had sold two tenths of a caravan. His faith in the numbers was such that he knew the sales would come and each non-sale was both a learning opportunity and a step towards a sale. Yesterday I made a pitch that was close but not quite right for the journalist. But I’m on her radar and I’m confident that one day down the line I’ll have a position that fits her story needs. So familiar are my failed pitches that I hadn’t really thought about it as a fail until I was writing this. As long as I am pitching, I know that coverage will come. These days I am truly neutral about each rejection as they are simply steps towards the next success.
Just four years of endless pitching and promoting and I am an established expert who has the media calling them. I can’t begin to imagine how many hours of work have gone into reaching this point nor how many of my pitches were ignored or rejected. It is a numbers game and the stories that ran are but a fraction of those that I worked on. One of the best pieces of advice I ever received was from a caravan salesman. He told me he made a sale one in every ten appointments. I had asked him how his day had gone and he told me he had sold two tenths of a caravan. His faith in the numbers was such that he knew the sales would come and each non-sale was both a learning opportunity and a step towards a sale. Yesterday I made a pitch that was close but not quite right for the journalist. But I’m on her radar and I’m confident that one day down the line I’ll have a position that fits her story needs. So familiar are my failed pitches that I hadn’t really thought about it as a fail until I was writing this. As long as I am pitching, I know that coverage will come. These days I am truly neutral about each rejection as they are simply steps towards the next success.

One of my favourite photo shoot images
The most common excuse I hear when I tell people that while hard work, small business PR is pretty straightforward is that it is easy for me because I have such a lovely business. But break it down and it is a restaurant (one of 293 in Gloucester according to TripAdvisor), it is a home business and it is photogenic. All of the loveliness of the business that has been reported in the media has been generated by the stories. I paid for a professional photo shoot early on which meant I had high quality images to send out with pitches (many publications don’t have a photography budget). Because I was commissioning the photo shoot I was able to direct the type of images I wanted.
Over the years I have commissioned many more images which have enabled me to present Gloucester Studio as I wished. Last year I invited the media to a launch menu and the next morning a media pack of images and details from the night landed in their inboxes. The coverage was fantastic as I had anticipated everything that would be needed. And of course, it presented Pyromaniac Chef in just the way I wanted. The only reason the Lonely Planet Magazine piece is featuring me is because when I received the request I was able to respond with a selection of high res images within their tight deadline.
Over the years I have commissioned many more images which have enabled me to present Gloucester Studio as I wished. Last year I invited the media to a launch menu and the next morning a media pack of images and details from the night landed in their inboxes. The coverage was fantastic as I had anticipated everything that would be needed. And of course, it presented Pyromaniac Chef in just the way I wanted. The only reason the Lonely Planet Magazine piece is featuring me is because when I received the request I was able to respond with a selection of high res images within their tight deadline.