PR Guru’s business advice

Finance |

Many new parents sick of the rat-race have decided to work from home or set up their own business.

So called kitchen industries are booming. However, working alone can have it’s problems and it’s not a decision to be taken lightly. Good public relations could turn your business around as Antonia Chitty founder of ACPR explained when she talked to us.

In this interview Antonia discusses setting up her own business and writing a book entitled “A Guide To Promoting Your Business”. 

Why did you write the book?

I’ve been running ACPR for a number of years now. I work with a lot of Mums and Dads and working one to one with a PR company is costly…..there are people who want to spend a few pounds but want to get some really good tips on how to promote their business themselves.

I started off with some factsheets. Over the years the amount of material grew. Last summer somebody suggested I had enough to make a book.

Was it difficult to put it together?

No I love writing, I used to work on Which magazine. I had so much of the material there already…it didn’t take too long at all.

Who is the book aimed at?

Anybody who is running their own business and doing their own promotion and wants to get some promotion done but only has a few minutes to spare. You can use the book as a workbook. There are lots of ideas to check off and lists to complete.

The book is easy to follow.

That’s good. We’ve tried to make it clear and straight forward. You don’t need prior knowledge of marketing. There are examples of a business and how the business owner Jane has used some of the techniques in the book.

You talk about the layout of a business card and the internet too.

No business can afford to ignore the internet. Getting your business card right can make all the difference. Just make sure you’ve got a few key phrases to hand to sum up what your business has to offer.

One piece of advice is to get help from a friend.

You can talk away and it can be hard doing it by yourself. If you sit down and get a friend to make notes….that will help.

It can be very lonely setting up your own business and you can feel you’re doing it by yourself. There are lots of forums online where other parents are setting up their own business.

You’re a Mum. Can you empathise with parents who want to become their own boss?

I went back to an employed position for nine months after I had my daughter. I wasn’t happy, it wasn’t the solution I thought it would be. Even working four days a week I thought I should fit in five days and was failing.

You’ve got to be prepared to work in the evenings if you need to. Your relationship may suffer a bit and it’s going to be like that at some point.

We’ve managed to move house and launch my book in the same week but I can be there for school events. My little boy only goes to nursery two or three mornings a week. He gets to spend much more time with me than my daughter who was in nursery and I was trying to get into an office.

Equally there are people who go into it and find it a struggle.

What would your top tip be for someone wanting PR?

Buy the book. On the website PR basics there’s a template for a press release. Pick your newsworthy idea. What about your business is new.

Write in the style of the magazine you’re approaching. Maybe give them a call and ask them what interests them. You’ve made a contact and they’ll think you’re helpful.

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