Public Relations
What Keeping Up With Kardashian Crisis Communication Can Teach Your Brand
You might say that wherever there’s a Kardashian, drama is sure to follow. But regardless of whether that’s bad luck or careful planning, no one knows how to capitalize on a crisis like this family. Their PR prowess in general is impressive, but their ability to weather scandals and missteps and come out the other side with an even stronger brand is a master class in crisis communication. Here’s what the Kardashians can teach your brand.
Lesson One: Stick to The Crisis Communication Plan
Yes, you should have one in place BEFORE any type of crisis hits. And the word is that when you know what hits the fan, the Kardashians have a meeting−all of them−no matter where they are the family is on the phone, on FaceTime, etc. Kris Kardashian is said to lead these meetings where the family discusses how to handle the situation and do damage control; no doubt their PR firm plays a big part in this as well. The key is, everyone already knows what to do. This is important because with roles and steps already set, you can respond quicker and focus on the crisis itself, not a last-minute scramble.
Lesson Two: Do Your Best to Control the Narrative
There really are any number of crises or scandals you could pick from Kardashian-wise from Kendall’s Pepsi ad to Kim’s crypto controversy to Kylie’s billionaire status to the Tristan Thompson cheating scandals to the never-ending saga that is Kanye. But through them all, if you’re watching closely, you can tell the family stays on the same page in their responses. Or, they don’t respond at all. You won’t catch one Kardashian making a statement and another disputing it or saying the opposite.
That’s the key here; present a united front. Know the narrative you want to get across and make sure everyone sticks with it. What’s more, the Kardashians haven’t been front page news all these years without making media connections and they use them to get their narrative out there. Most brands don’t have those connections, but PR firms do, which is another way they can help in a crisis.
Lesson Three: Humanize the Situation
One advantage the Kardashians have already is their personal brand. Yes, everyone in the family has a business brand (or two, or three), and to some degree their own personal brand (depending on the family member), but it all collectively rolls up into the Kardashian family brand. And the operative word here is family. So, it’s easier here to humanize, when regardless of the crisis, you hear from Khloe, Kourtney, Kim, Kris, or other family members directly. You know them, to a degree, on a personal level already which helps as they tell their side of the story. But brands can do this too.
A proactive approach is to humanize your brand, in general, by connecting with your audience as much as possible before any crisis takes place through brand ambassadors in the company, influencers, and/or even social media stories about employees, customers, community involvement, social causes, etc. Then, when a crisis happens, and you follow a similar approach specific to that situation, your audience is likely already more receptive. But however you engage with your audience, it must be sincere and relevant or it will backfire. A good PR firm can help you craft the right approach here as well.
Lesson Four: Make the Most of Any Situation
The Kardashians never let a crisis or scandal slow them down. And not just that but they are definitely in the camp that there’s no such thing as bad publicity because they have made the most of it on the regular. Case in point: Kylie’s lip injections. She came under fire when just a teenager for getting lip injections and soon after launched her own makeup line, Kylie Cosmetics. Initially, the line sold lip kits but has now turned into a cosmetics giant. Certainly, not all crises turn out this way, but the point is that brands can look for opportunities during any situation to come out the other side better and stronger. And your PR firm can help make that happen.
To learn how R team can help your brand with crisis communications, schedule your FREE discovery call today!
Does Pay-for-Placement PR Work? Expectations Versus Reality
One of the more frustrating aspects of public relations (PR) is that it can be harder to measure ROI than traditional advertising or digital marketing, for example. What’s more, good PR can often take a little bit of time to make an impact and in today’s world of instant gratification, that can make those approving PR budgets antsy. Enter pay-for-placement PR. But does it really work? Let’s find out.
Pay-for-Placement PR Defined
PR firms offer different types of payment models such as an hourly rate or a monthly retainer for their services. Another lesser-known model is called pay-for-placement PR which means the firm only gets paid after a story about you appears in the media. It’s an option that often appeals to startups or small-business owners who have limited budgets.
Expectations versus Reality with Pay-for-Placement PR
While this model can be effective, it’s not without controversy. Here’s our take on the realities of pay-for-placement PR.
Pros:
- You get what you pay for – Instead of wondering what exactly your PR firm is doing to earn that PR retainer or if they should be charging more or fewer hours to get the results you want, with pay-for-placement PR, you eliminate that uncertainty.
- Focuses on the short-term goal – This often works for startups or small businesses who need to create some quick brand awareness or publicity for a new product release and/or an event. But don’t yet need some of the more long-term PR services like reputation management or media training.
Cons:
- Not every media placement is the same – Is a media placement in an obscure local publication the same as one in the lead publication in your industry? No, but you might be paying the same if you’re not careful upfront with this model. It’s about quality versus quantity. And that goes for how prominently your brand, product, or service is featured, too. It doesn’t do you much good if you only garner a small mention.
- It can limit the relationship with your PR firm – Pay-for-placement PR is transactional, no doubt, and while that’s not necessarily a bad thing, part of the key to success with public relations is the strength of your partnership with the firm you use. When your PR firm is immersed in your brand they can tell your story more effectively, and retainer clients typically get more value-added services by the nature of their investment.
- The model can invite abuse – If there’s a system to game, someone will find a way regardless of the industry and PR is no different. Yes, there are some unscrupulous firms out there who may cut corners and/or try to offer kickbacks to journalists to gain placements. This is completely unethical, but don’t let it overshadow a model that can work when done correctly especially when there are ways you can protect yourself and your brand.
Meeting Expectations with Pay-for-Placement PR
To meet (or exceed) expectations you have to set them clearly, of course. That’s one of the ways to ensure you get the best results with pay-for-placement PR (or any type of public relations, advertising, or marketing). Yet, you’d be surprised how many brands do so. But that’s a post for another time. Other ways to ensure your expectations are met with pay-for-placement PR include:
- Do your homework on the best type of PR firm to represent you, and not just for pay-for-placement, but also for your brand and industry in general. Then vet them thoroughly.
- Again, define what you want to achieve. What types of media publications, placements, and mentions equal success to you?
- Develop as close a working relationship with your PR firm as possible with this model; the better they know your brand and the better you work together, the better your media placements will be.
- Track the work your PR firm is doing and make sure you can make adjustments if you don’t think you’re getting your money’s worth.
To learn more about how R public relations services can help your business, click HERE to schedule a FREE Discovery Call today!
Top 5 Scariest PR Mistakes
As Halloween approaches, it’s the season of scary movies, haunted houses, and spooky costumes. But if there’s a scare you want to avoid now (or any time of year really) it’s the dreaded PR mistake. Truly, this is the stuff of nightmares for your business and some mistakes are unfortunately all too common. Here are the top five scariest PR mistakes and how to avoid them.
1. Not understanding your audience
By this, we mean not only your customers and potential customers but also the publications and journalists to which you are pitching. Just because your “news” is important to you doesn’t mean it’s important to these groups. So, before sending anything make sure it’s something your customers need/should know about and that you’re reaching the right journalists and publications to get that message across.
2. Ignoring media relations
If your business only gets in touch with journalists when you want them to cover something for you, then your chance of success is slim. Don’t have the time to cultivate and nurture these relationships? This is where a PR firm can be particularly helpful and is actually a specialty area for us. We’ve spent years on media relations in lifestyle industries such as restaurants, hospitality, retail, health and wellness, and non-profits, which is why we get such great coverage for our clients.
3. Going only for the big names
Who wouldn’t want coverage in the Wall Street Journal or the New York Times, they’re the ultimate in credibility right? But that doesn’t mean they’re the best fit for the message you want to share with your audience. And, unless your news is BIG, they likely won’t give you the time of day. Instead, consider industry publications and/or even local publications. They’re much more targeted meaning you know your audience is reading them, and you’re much more likely to stand out.
4. Creating a promotional pitch
Yes, the idea is to promote your business. BUT, when you’re pitching to news publications, your pitch has to be newsworthy! Huh? This type of PR is called earned media which essentially means you are earning free coverage instead of paying for promotion. You can’t just submit a sales brochure on your latest product and call it a pitch. You have to put together a story that showcases your business. Think case studies, unique applications, timely events, etc. Again, this is where a PR firm can help you shine. We know what journalists are looking for and the types of pitches that work (or don’t).
5. Winging a media interview
Finally, it’s happened, you’ve pitched and a journalist wants to interview you for a story. Great news! But that’s just the beginning. Although you may know your business inside and out, interviewing skills don’t come naturally to most. Not to mention, you likely won’t know the angle the journalist is going to take which may throw you on the spot. As such media prep is a must so you know exactly what messages you want to get across and can do so effortlessly. A PR firm can also help you immensely here by conducting mock interviews, creating talking points, and more so the coverage presents your business in the best light.
To learn more about how R public relations services can help your business, click HERE to schedule a FREE Discovery Call today!
4 Tips For Starting a PR Consulting Business
Have you ever thought about starting your own PR consulting business someday? It’s scary, right? And I say this from experience, “Hell, yes.” But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t go for it. Good PR is needed now more than ever, but how do you get from dreaming to reality? Having done this myself, I’m passionate about helping others become successful entrepreneurs. Check out my tips on starting a PR consulting business.
1. Make Sure You Have the Skills
Having a background in PR, journalism, or even corporate communications is a must. Not necessarily a degree. In fact, I have degrees in Psychology and Philosophy and a Master’s in Social Work, and while the people skills certainly translate it’s my experience that gave me my chops so to speak. Specifically, the years spent running my award-winning website Defining Delicious in addition to working for the Jason Dady Restaurant Group in San Antonio, Bread & Butter Public Relations in Austin, and Bay Bird Inc in San Diego. Many people think PR is just spin and slick talk, but it’s so much more. Lack of expertise is a surefire way to crash and burn.
2. Have Media Relationships at The Ready
Whether you have these media contacts yourself or you hire or partner with someone who does, the success of starting a PR consulting business hinges on these relationships. Sure, you can work the paid media (online ads, paid influencers) and owned media (your website, social media) angles, but that’s more costly. And even if you can get clients to pay an unproven PR consulting business for this, your profits will feel the hit as opposed to the free coverage you gain from news mentions. Not to mention, this earned media (free coverage) is what true PR is really about; you can’t be full-service without it. This means you have to build and nurture media relationships like there’s no tomorrow!
3. Find Your Niche
Sure, the big PR agencies have the bandwidth and the staff to handle clients from almost any industry. But, realistically when starting a PR consulting business that’s just not feasible. Nor is it beneficial for a small business in my opinion. In trying to be everything to everyone you lose some of your value, whereas if you have a niche you can promote your business more intentionally and focus your time on the media relationships offering content in that area. For example, we R a lifestyle public relations agency which means we specialize in brands within industries that include restaurant, hospitality, and retail as well as health and wellness. Our clients come to us because we know their industry backward and forwards and there’s a certain comfort that their PR will be better and more successful because of it.
4. Determine How You Will Work
By this I mean your office. The days of needing a physical location are long gone. Sure, there may be some need to have a conference space now and then but there are certainly options for booking shared meeting space when you need it. It certainly costs less when starting a PR consulting business, but there are other benefits as well. At RPR Firm, we are fully remote which allows us to bring on talent from anywhere. We’re not limited by geography, nor are we boxed in by time constraints of commuting. Plus, in a creative business, the right mindset is everything. I find much more inspiration in the view from my home office than I ever would from a stuffy cubicle!
For more information on R PR consulting business, visit rprfirm.com today!
Advantages of Earned Media in Your Public Relations Mix
As the saying goes, “the best things in life are free,” and that’s certainly true when it comes to public relations. But what many people don’t realize is that public relations (PR) isn’t a one-size-fits-all communications strategy. Public Relations Mix is actually made of different media components. Earned media is one of those and while it’s the most coveted, it can also be the hardest to attain. But the benefits are so worth it for your brand. Here are the advantages of earned media in PR.
Overview of the Public Relations Media Mix
The Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) defines PR as, “a strategic communication process that builds mutually beneficial relationships between organizations and their publics.” The goal of PR is to influence, engage and build a positive relationship and/or image with your audience. Your success in PR hinges on the right Public Relations Mix which can include:
- Owned media – This is media your brand owns like your website, blog, or social media presence.
- Shared media – You benefit from this type of media when someone shares content of yours across social media such as an (unpaid) influencer.
- Paid media – Much like it sounds, this is media coverage that you pay for such as online ads and pay-per-click (PPC) campaigns or advertising and direct mail offline. Paid influencer marketing would also fall under this.
- Earned media – This type of media coverage is organically generated, meaning that you didn’t create it or pay for it. This could include mentions in the news, product or service features, as well as reviews and positive comments on social media.
Advantages of Earned Media Above the Others
Perhaps the most significant advantage of earned media is that it’s free which means your ROI will always be higher than anything else in your PR mix. However, there are also other advantages as well such as:
- It’s more credible – You literally earn this type of media coverage so it’s not biased which means your audience is more likely to trust it.
- Raises awareness – Not only can earned media boost your brand awareness beyond your paid campaigns, but it can also help you to reach audiences that may be outside your traditional base and/or your budget.
- It can improve your image – Again, earned media is more credible so positive mentions about your brand can go a long way towards boosting your image with your audience.
- Can help with search engine rankings – We’re talking about organic rankings in search results here. One of the often-overlooked advantages of earned media is improved rankings for your keywords; and as an extension, improved search engine traffic can be attributed to this coverage.
Earning Earned Media
Now that the advantages of earned media are clear, you likely can also see why it can be hard to attain. As the name says, you have to earn it through hard work on your end by creating exceptional customer experiences, creating quality content, and developing and nurturing relationships with media contacts.
The caveat is that in earned media you can’t control the narrative so you have to have carefully crafted messaging and everyone representing your brand must know it by heart to make sure you always present a positive image for your brand. Make no mistake, this takes time, effort, and expertise.
It just so happens R team has the expertise, the media relationships, and the process efficiencies in place to help you make the most of earned media in your PR mix. And with R experience in the restaurant, hospitality, retail, health and wellness, business, and non-profit industries, we’d love to help your brand!
Click HERE to schedule a FREE Discovery Call Today!
R Mid-Year PR Regroup Tips
We've passed the half-year point and if your business hasn't gained the awareness and interest you want, it’s time to regroup. Many small businesses initially try to tackle PR themselves and quickly find out it’s not as easy as it seemed initially. But that doesn’t mean you have to shell out the big bucks to a large PR agency to find success. Here are some quick PR regroup tips to get your business going in the right direction as we start the last half of the year.
1. Start by asking questions
Look at the goals you made at the start of the year. Specifically, PR goals, but it’s worth looking at other business goals as well in case there are ways for PR to help you achieve them going forward that you didn’t consider before. Measure how far off-track you may be and why. For example, was it that your PR attempts just didn’t work, or did you get too busy and let them fall off? In the case of the former, consider what might have gone wrong and how you might improve. For the latter, you might consider whether a lack of PR will end up costing you more than what it might take to get some help in this area.
2. Keep your social media on point
Yes, this takes a lot of time, but small businesses should consider social media the low-hanging fruit so to speak. It’s a PR tool that’s more easily in reach to you and it’s a way you can go directly to your audience to build interest and awareness. Consider your audience and make sure you’re active on the platforms which they frequent. The caveat: you have to be interesting and relevant to get their attention. Give them a reason to share, and do it often!
3. Stalk your competition
Not really, well maybe. If PR is not in your wheelhouse, one way to spark ideas is to look at what your competition has done that’s been successful in this area, and where they’ve failed. Note where they pop up, what they promote, who’s talking about them, and what they are saying. Then figure out how those tactics might be of use for your small business. And, don’t just stop at competitors, consider other small businesses that are in your local area, or even better that complement you. Reach out to them, maybe you can partner on some collective PR or at the very least get some ideas on what’s worked for them. Entrepreneurs love to help other entrepreneurs succeed; they know firsthand how hard it can be out there!
Go from PR Regroup to Launch
We started out as a small business too and very much understand the need to build awareness and interest, but have a lack of time and money to put towards it. That’s why we created our Launch program for lifestyle brands such as restaurants, hospitality, retail, health and wellness, and non-profits. This 6-month program includes developing a brand identity, PR plan, and campaign for small businesses that qualify.
To learn more about how R Launch program can help your small business, click HERE to schedule a FREE Discovery Call today!
Best Practices for Podcast Interviews
You’ve been invited to be a guest on a podcast, how exciting! Being interviewed on podcasts is a great way to highlight you and your brand in a fun, personal, and interactive way. Podcasts also have engaged and active listeners who may differ from your regular market, so it’s a great way to broaden your reach too! But if you’ve never done podcast interviews before, the experience can be intimidating. So we’ve created a checklist to help ease the process and make you better prepared!
Best Practices for Podcast Interviews
1. The Prep Work:
- Listen to a few episodes of the podcast
- Do your research!
- Listening to the podcast is a great way to learn about the host(s), the show’s format, and the overall tone of the podcast.
- Prepare your pitch
- What makes you unique and interesting to listen to?
- Preparing a pitch allows you to brainstorm your angle and be ready for an insightful conversation.
2. The Day Of:
- Get camera-ready
- Podcasts are often recorded. Make sure you look your best so you feel your best!
- Check your technology
- Make sure all your gear is working properly and allow time to troubleshoot and resolve any issues beforehand. (See the gear checklist below.)
- Minimize distractions
- Silence all notifications (phone, watch, computer, etc).
- Minimize all background noise such as TVs or music.
- Move into a room away from pets, children, significant others, friends, etc.
- Drink water
- Keep a glass of water nearby so you can hydrate throughout the interview.
- Tip: be sure to sip, not chug, so that the noise doesn’t pick up on the microphone.
3. The Gear:
- Microphone/AirPods
- Using AirPods or a microphone can help isolate background noise and ensure sound quality.
- Proper lighting
- Many podcasts are recorded for promotional purposes!
- Bright and clear lighting increases professionalism and makes for a more visually appealing interview. Ring lights or natural lighting work great!
- Your background
- Backgrounds should be simple, clean, and professional. You can show your personality through shelf decor, plants, and artwork.
- Tip: avoid windows in your background as they create a glare. Instead, try sitting toward (looking out) the window for bright, natural light!
6 Ways to Prep Your Business for PR Success
You want to take your business to the next level and think that public relations (PR) can help you get there. First, you’re right! But before you hire a PR firm there’s some prep work you need to do to make sure you get the most out of the relationship and both of your time. Here’s what to do for your business's PR success.
1. Get your story straight
Not your story for the press but rather your brand story. It’s hard for a PR firm to promote your business if your message and brand identity aren’t clear. To do so create a mission and vision statement if you haven’t already. And craft your brand message which is the value proposition that you convey to your target audience. This will help firms like R’s to know how to pitch you to the media.
2. Know your audience
Speaking of your target audience, for your PR to be its most effective, you’ll need to clearly identify them, their characteristics, their pain points, and how they engage with brands. Without this knowledge, you’re shooting blind so to speak in how best to reach and connect with them.
3. Prepare your background materials
Yes, your PR firm could help with these things, but you’ll have to give them the information anyway so put your budget where it will count most - in your PR campaigns – and do this yourself. You’ll need to create a company overview, fact sheet, and executive bios to start.
4. Update your website
This is the most comprehensive reflection of your business, but it’s often the most overlooked aspect of brand identity. Firms like R’s can also help you in this area, but if you’re looking to hire someone that’s exclusively focused on PR, then your website may need to be tackled separately. But it should be updated to reflect your look and message before the PR firm starts sending media and new prospects to it. It can be helpful to add a newsroom to the site as well to make it easy to access your company overview and fact sheet, etc.
5. Get active on social media
You don’t necessarily have to be active on every platform available. Really it depends on the nature of your business whether it makes sense to be active on traditional platforms like Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, or LinkedIn, a combination of these, or a different combination altogether. Ideally, you want to have a least some presence before beginning your PR efforts to make you more credible, but if that’s not the case what’s most important, as your new PR firm will tell you, is that you consistently post and engage on your accounts.
6. Define your goals
Quite simply, you need to give your PR firm some direction. We can do wonders, but we aren’t mind-readers so goals need to be defined upfront. The old adage of throwing ideas against the wall to see what sticks is not going to give you the results you want and deserve. Consider whether you’re interested in boosting awareness, increasing credibility, increasing brand engagement, and/or creating a more positive brand reputation. Firms like R’s can then take that direction to create measurable goals.
R team would love to help your business achieve PR success. Learn more about our public relations services and schedule your FREE Discovery Call today!
5 Ways PR Will Increase Your ROI
Increasing marketing ROI is paramount for any organization. Yes, it’s true you have to spend money to make money as the old saying goes, but the reality is you have to quantify the impact of those dollars or risk not just losing your marketing budget, but negatively impacting your organization overall. While in some areas of marketing, like advertising, it’s relatively easy to measure ROI, others, like PR, have always been harder to measure. As such the impact of PR often goes overlooked and underfunded. But make no mistake, PR will increase your ROI. Here’s how.
Measuring ROI
In general, ROI or return on investment in marketing is measured by determining how many sales, attendees, donations, etc. happened because of your campaign(s). Using advertising as an example, you could calculate ROI by determining the revenue you gained from a particular ad minus the cost of the ad divided by the expenses and multiplying by 100. It’s a relatively clear-cut formula.
On the other hand, PR has many roles such as boosting awareness, credibility, and engagement with your brand as well as cultivating a positive brand reputation, all of which are more intangible. What’s more, they are what you would typically consider top-of-the-funnel activities in the sales cycle rather than the bottom where the sale is closed. However, you can leverage them in bottom-of-the-funnel activities as well to prove their value in increasing ROI.
How PR Will Increase Your ROI
It’s still important to measure media placements as well as social, website, and search engine metrics, however here are five ways to leverage PR in more easily measured marketing and sales activities as well:
- Use media placements in campaigns – Don’t leave it up to your prospects to come across your media placements, make sure they know about it by including them in your marketing campaigns and/or using them as another reason to reach out. Typically, it takes five to seven touchpoints to ‘hook’ a prospect so to speak.
- Add to sales and marketing materials – Adding award wins, industry accolades, and other media mentions in these materials, especially where they highlight how your brand can help overcome key customer pain points adds tremendous credibility.
- Share on social media – Encourage employees to share media placements on appropriate social media channels to increase not just brand awareness but also sales. For example, Hubspot states that sales professionals with a strong social selling index on LinkedIn have 45% more sales opportunities than those who don’t and are 51% more likely to reach their quota. Make sure you’ve created and trained them on social media guidelines for your brand first though!
- Add accolades to signature lines – Adding clickable links to thought leadership, awards, and other media placements is a subtle way to increase credibility, awareness, and engagement for your brand. And not just in terms of sales, but it can help with recruiting and investor relations as well.
- Create testimonials – The fact that your sales team is closest to your customers and PR is closest to media is actually a beautiful thing. You can work together to create testimonials that benefit your brand overall as well as your individual goals. The ability to share happy customer experiences is priceless!
R team would love to help your organization increase ROI with PR. Learn more about our public relations services and schedule your FREE Discovery Call today!
3 Business Mistakes for PR Entrepreneurs to Avoid
Whether you’re starting a public relations business or are a PR entrepreneur already, you likely already know this type of work is not for the faint of heart. Both the PR industry and being an entrepreneur! When success feels like it’s riding on your shoulders alone, getting advice from someone who’s been there, done that can be invaluable. Here are three mistakes to avoid, courtesy of R founder and PR expert, Emily Reynolds Bergh.
- Not thinking of media as a client - PR without the media is like advertising without a headline. It won’t work. The media is essential to your success as a PR entrepreneur, but often we think of them more as a means to an end when we should be thinking of them as another type of client. With your PR clients, the relationship is everything right? The same is true for the media as it’s those relationships that determine whether your pitches are taken into consideration or tossed. Or worse, if you get off on the wrong foot, your press might not be as positive as it could be.
- Leaving leadership to chance - You may start out as a one-person shop, but as you build your business there will come a point where you have to hire. As a PR entrepreneur, you know you’ve got leadership in you, but in this business, it’s not just about delegating. It’s about finding the right people with the right skills and passion and then teaching them the art of our profession. Yes, you can learn PR skills in school but the art comes from experience, right? To start, be clear about your expectations and your vision, not just to potential candidates but to yourself as well. You can’t lead effectively if you don’t truly know what you want and/or don’t believe what you’re selling so to speak with your whole heart. Then focus on the goal, not the process. Too many entrepreneurs, in general, are so used to being ‘in the weeds” every day because they had to be when they started that they don’t know how to let go when they have support. Hire people you can trust to do their job and then stay out of their way so they can do it. You’ll have more time to be strategic and creative, to mentor them in the art of PR. Ultimately you’ll all be better for those things than whether or not they format their media list the same as you would.
- Not honing your contract skills - Can we all just collectively say “Ugh” here? Contracts are the least fun part of the business but they can cost your business the most if they aren’t given the attention they deserve. Never do business without a contract; it will burn you at some point. They are an essential safeguard for your business. But even having one won’t help if you leave out important details like your legal recourse if they don’t pay, for example. You’ll also want to clearly outline your scope of work. Otherwise, you’ll eventually have a client who will add on until the cows come home and you won’t be paid accordingly. It’s worth it to invest in a contract lawyer to advise you on verbiage and make sure you’re covered.
As what I call an “accidental” entrepreneur I have definitely made my fair share of mistakes. I probably could spill some tea about mistakes that I have witnessed too (we can save that for next time). But at the end of the day, they, aka those pesky mistakes, have helped me learn and given me some humility along the way, in addition to giving me the strength to stand up again and keep going. I would hope that if you are reading this and making some busines-owning mistakes of your own, that you will do the same. Keep the momentum going, learn, laugh a little, and move your ego aside so you can get real about the fact that we all make mistakes and we have to in order to really succeed. A woman I heard once at a conference called it “failing forward.” Think of your failures as moving you forward, and before you know it, they will!