The Celebrity Gifting Suite as a Marketing Tool

In the PR business, I look for opportunities in all different areas of media in order to build exposure for my clients. Recently I took a client of mine to Los Angeles for a Pre Oscars Celebrity Gifting Suite.

Celebrity Gifting Suites are the opportunity to get your product into the hands of celebrities in your target market in the hopes that they will be photographed with your product in mainstream media, or will give you an endorsement to be used on your website.

Because this was a new opportunity for me as well, here are a few things I have learned:

1. A hidden value is that many different media people will attend the event. Make sure you have media kits available with easily accessible contact information, photography, and information on your product or service. Don’t forget to ask for contact information and always follow up.

2. Use the event as an opportunity to develop your relationships with your followers on social media. People love a great celebrity story and are impressed when you have the opportunity to meet celebs and introduce them to your product. Make sure you tweet and Facebook your experience.

3. Expect C and D list celebrities. I hate to burst your bubble but Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt are not going to make an appearance. These events are for celebrities to get their faces in front of the media and to stay current, many travel with their own PR rep who has their bio sheet and head shot for media opportunities. Expect celebrities with TV shows that are just launching, movies or shows that are coming soon, or celebrities that haven’t worked in awhile but want to stay in the public eye by attending events.

4. Push to have a front and central location. These events can be chaotic during the set up. Be confident in pushing for a location that is seen by every person that comes into the room, never allow yourself to be pushed to the back of the bus.

5. Build an easily photographed area where you can place your celeb and product. This includes banners with logo placement and an area branded with your corporate colours.

6. Plan on ‘gifting’ over 100 different units of your product plus your staff and travel  expenses. This still ends up being a cost effective way to market but make sure you budget accordingly.

7. Build relationships with those exhibitors around you. These events are long and sometimes tedious, build relationships with the exhibitors around you. You will typically meet people from around North America who have the same target market you do. A perfect opportunity to learn and share with another growing business and to build your network.
8. Make sure you have enough staff to support the event. Their will be hours where not one celeb walks through the door and then you are bombarded with 15 in a matter of minutes. Make sure you have another set of eyes to watch for a media or celeb opportunity and someone to take a photo when an opportunity lasts only a split second.

At this point in my career I have done a handful of these events and everyone of them has been valuable but they can be expensive, stressful and time consuming. Be sure you follow up with the media and ask if they are interested in your story. If a celebrity follows up to thank you, don’t be afraid to ask for a recommendation (be sure it is a celeb you want to recommend you ie. Maybe wait on Charlie Sheen right now).

And if you are a Canadian as I am, always, always take the time to enjoy California as these events are typically held during our outrageous winters…two days away form the kids, sunny Los Angeles….sounding better and better isn’t it?

Let’s Talk about Venture Capital

Most entrepreneurs think of acquiring Venture Capital dollars to build their business as a be all and end all to its success – this is just not the case. Did you know that getting a VC deal is less likely for an entrepreneur than your chances of slipping and DIEING in the shower? Many successful businesses have been built by bootstrapping it from the get go and growing organically.Having received VC investment in a couple of different businesses I have owned has definitely been an experience. Here are some things I have learned:

1.      1.  Signing a VC deal gets you a big ol’ boss, and if you decided to be an entrepreneur to get rid of having a boss, this may not be the way you want to forge ahead. 

2. Over 90% of entrepreneurs who sign a VC deal are no longer the CEO within 2 years, many go down into the basement and work in R&D – now doesn’t that sound like fun?

3.       If you think you have pressure to perform when you are risking your own money, think of the pressure when it is your boss’s money.

OK, you may think I am being a bit negative towards attaining VC investment to grow your company, and if you think that, you are right. If Hewlitt Packard can build its business by bootstrapping than SO CAN YOU.

This weekend, revisit your growth plans and envision never giving away shares, play with the idea of bootstrapping growth, and enjoy being able to do whatever the hell you want to.

If you still want to consider taking on VC dollars, then buy my book The Entrepreneurial Mom’s Guide To Running Your Own Business where you can learn about finding VC’s, signing a Unanimous Shareholder’s Agreement and managing your investors once they are on board.

MWAH – (translation – wet, sloppy kiss.)

The Life and Times of A Serial Entrepreneur

Writing an introductory blog is not easy. How do you introduce yourself? Last week I stood up to speak for a group of women who were all interested in becoming entrepreneurial moms. The person introducing me referred to me as a “Serial Entrepreneur”. Ouch – the word “serial”, brings forth internal audio files from the news ie. serial killer, serial rapist, serial robber, hell, I don’t even like to eat cereal. (ok, that joke is better said than read)

But it is true. From the time I got my first whif of being an entrepreneur, I was hooked. It has become a total addiction, something no celebrity based, high class rehab spa could even beat out of me – although I would happily test this theory.

Growing up, I watched my father work for 24.5 years as a senior level human resources manager for a big oil company, only to be laid off a few months before his 25 year pension bous came through. After 25 years, they said they no longer needed him and could they throw him a party on the way out the door?

That was a pretty influential experience for me. Do I give my blood, sweat and tears to some guy in the corner office and worry about my job security? Do I work long hours and compete with my colleagues for our jobs when times get tough? Do I worry about taking time off for my kids when they are sick or when I need to take a parent to the doctor for her monthly check in?  It became a pretty easy choice for me to go out on my own – and I have never looked back.

That being said, I have had some really great successes – I started the first Canada wide magazine for women in business, I have met some great people, eaten some fabulous dinners and am happy to be able to look at a couple of really fancy shoes in my closet. I have also felt the taste of loss, my first real business with over a million dollars in revenue a year, ended with a huge, esteem demolishing, and confidence crushing failure that to this day leaves a rancid, vomit like taste in my mouth. Does this still trump working for someone else – absolutely.

So, I hope what I can offer you from this weekly blog is a little taste of the reality of being an entrepreneurial mom.  I will be interviewing women starting businesses, losing businesses, surviving in business and best of all, those who are thriving. I will be writing about my experiences in sales, in managing people (still can’t find that perfect assistant), getting outside investment, surviving cashflow crises and working with partners. I will even tread into the shark infested waters of dealing with the begrudged husband who just wants you to get a “real job”.

So, let’s talk – if you are an entrepreneurial mom out there looking to get involved, email me at kathryn@alchemycommunications.ca.