The Famous Business

In today’s show entrepreneur Sean Ramsden shares his story of how he built a global export business taking brand Britain around the world.

Ramsden International exports some of the UK’s most loved food and grocery brands to all four corners of the planet.

But Sean has only been able to do this by building a trusted reputation and always living by strong company values.

In this interview, Sean shares his tips on how to build a strong company culture, what Brexit will mean for export businesses such as his and why there is so much power in Brand Britain.

Enjoy today’s show!

On today's show brand supremo Andy Snuggs from Future Kings explains why it is vital that you as a startup have a clear idea of your brand.

Your brand is so much more than a logo - it is a strategic tool for your business growth.

Andy explains how we as founders and startup owners can start to identify our 'Minimum Viable Brand' (MVB).

Knowing your MVB is the key to unlocking the growth potential in your business, attracting investment, winning an army of customers, attracting the right staff and ultimately being a success.

A brand is not simply stating the function of your product or service - it is articulating the impact you are having, the problem you are solving.

Identifying your brand will allow you to get your message across clearly, quickly and with passion and conviction.

In this interview, Andy helps us to understand why we need to take brand seriously and why if we do it will give us a massive competitive advantage.

And brand doesn't stop with our external audiences it also affects everything we do inside our businesses.

Marrying our internal brand with our external brand is when the magic happens.

You can no longer think of your brand as merely a visual element of your business, it touches everything, from how you behave, communicate to sell and hire.

Andy explains how the team at Future Kings work with startup and scale-up businesses to help them identify what it is that really makes them unique and how they are going to take that information and use it to engage their audiences.

This is strategic communications at the highest level and if you are serious about growing your business you really need to know this stuff.

So for this week take a step back from focusing on the media headlines and have a look at the bigger picture of your brand.

Taking the time to get this right will mean that when you're ready your PR efforts will be so much more effective.

Over to Andy, the King of Brand.

We got so much love for episode TFB 058 that I wanted to revisit one of the core issues that came up.

The fact that Guardian journalist Emma Sheppard (like most journalists) gets around 200 pitch emails a day!

This seemed to shock a few of you, and I got a few messages saying 'what's the point in even trying to get media coverage if the odds of getting my story printed are 200/1?!'

Don't despair - instead ask 'why is this journalist ignoring me?'

It's actually easier than you think to stand out in a crowded inbox if you know the rules of the game.

On today's show, I go through the 6 essential rules that you need to apply to every email pitch so that a journalist clicks on your message, opens it, reads it, loves your story and then runs it!

Knowing how each of these hurdles works is key to cracking the code and winning major media coverage.

Oh, and don't forget even the best pitches in the world sometimes miss their mark so don't worry if not every story you pitch about your business gets picked up - that's never going to happen.

Media coverage is so impactful because it's hard-won, not impossible, but hard-won.

In today's show, you're going to learn how to be one of the 20 emails that a journalist will read - not the 180 that they won't.

Subject line: listen to this podcast and get media coverage today!

Al

Entrepreneur Stephen Sacks has a plan to help you 'reboot your business'.

In his new book, of the same name, Stephen explains the need for us all to wake up to the rapid speed of change in today's workplace, why being small means you can be nimble to opportunities and how you can release cash from your business.

But this is The Famous Business Podcast where we talk about all things PR and comms so why the business advice?

Well firstly, you can't be a 'Famous Business' without being a brilliant business - the two are inextricably linked - and secondly, I wanted to ask Stephen what it was actually like to write this book and how it has helped him in his own marketing efforts.

What you're going to learn is that to have a brilliant business in 2018 you need to think about all elements of your sales funnel and how your communications build trust through all stages of that process.

Stephen shares how writing a book (from a rainy beach in the Maldives) has built so much more trust in him as a thought leader and has increased his own bottom line.

If you're considering opening up the laptop and writing about your own expertise then this is the episode for you.

Right, that's the introduction...now to Chapter 1...

On today's show, I have the brilliant journalist Emma Sheppard.

Emma has written for a wide range of media throughout her career and has spent the last few years covering the small business and startup world for The Guardian Business to Business section.

If anyone has the inside track on what it takes to get your business in the national media it's Emma!

From a company using tech to revolutionise funeral services to the home coworking movement, Emma has covered more startup stories than most.

Emma tells me why she loves businesses who do their own PR and why it is possible to get coverage without a PR agency.

There's her '3 email rule' for pitching - which you don't want to fall foul of - and her advice on how to stand out from the 200 emails she receives a day.

If you're a small business wondering how to write a press release that will get noticed by a journalist this is the show for you!

And her top tip? Help her do her job by providing case studies that the media love.

If you follow Emma's advice your PR success is guaranteed! Enjoy this chat with Emma.

Al.