Interviewer?s Note: It?s fascinates me how social media has opened up the threshold to all sorts of new communication-based industries, including today?s topic: Public Relations.? My interview with Erika Taylor Montgomery, founder of Three Girls Media & Marketing, talks about why she created her company and how it is uniquely positioned to help smaller companies get their message across.
Hello Erika!? Welcome to the Pluggio Blog!? How do you describe your business?
Three Girls Media & Marketing, Inc., is a award-winning boutique Public Relations Agency in the heart of California?s Silicon Valley. We work with clients?nationwide and specialize in Media Relations using both traditional and social media.
What kinds of companies do you specialize in?
We work with small and emerging companies ? often those who need public relations the most, but can least afford it.?Our unique, cost-effective methods have been successful for clients in all industries from food, fashion and finance to businesses, beauty and baby items, and from hotels and theaters to medicine and eco-friendly products and more.
How did you get started?
In the summer of 2005. I said to my friend Kristen, ?I?ve been doing a lot of soul searching about my career and I have a crazy idea.? She turned to me with that ?Uh-oh! What have you decided to do now?? look in her eyes and hesitantly said, ?I?m listening.?
?I think I?m going to start my own business,? I said lacking 100% conviction. My friend obviously wasn?t convinced either because she responded, ?Don?t you know that 80% new businesses fail in their first two years?? Actually, I didn?t know that statistic until then, but at that moment, it made me determined to be one of the other 20%!?????
And how did it go?
Talk about starting from nowhere! I had never run a business before and had no idea even where to begin, but I thought I could put together a better PR business model than those that were traditional in the industry. So, armed with a notepad and pen, I sat down by the pool in Kristen?s backyard and began to take note of how I thought a business should be run.?
I recently read some books by entrepreneurs who, when they were starting out, outlined their criteria/principles for their business, so I think you were in good company!? What did your list consist of?
I included working only 40-50 hour work weeks so I could spend more time with my family, focusing on small businesses as my clients because I believed they often need the PR the most but could least afford it, and creating the company so it could be run virtually from anywhere, making a commute unnecessary.
Very smart!
I took my list back into Kristen who was playing with her baby and said, ?Here?s my concept for my own PR agency, what do you think?? She read my list, looked at me with a smile and said, ?Wow! If you can pull this off it would be amazing! That was the encouragement I need to go for it. But there was one problem?I was afraid.
That?s really cool you bring that up- I haven?t heard a lot of entrepreneurs admit to the fears and stresses and doubts that come with creating a business, but everybody surely goes through it.? I?m glad you are talking about it.
I had all these negative thoughts?.?I can?t let my family down!? I said to myself, ?I have a HUGE learning curve ahead. I know virtually nothing about HR. From business banking to liability insurance and everything in between, I know virtually nothing about owning a business.? But despite my fear and the statistics of likely failure, I wasn?t going to let fear hold me back.
What role does Twitter play in your business?
Three Girls Media believes that Twitter is an important social media platform to communicate with potential clients, thought leaders, customers and more. We post daily, offering tips and tricks about public relations, marketing and social media.
What impact or change have you seen due to Twitter/social marketing?
We?ve seen very positive changes thanks to social media. We have greater fan engagement, more followers and more requests for consultations from potential clients.
Are there any of your accomplishments with?social marketing?that you are particularly proud of?
Yes! Three Girls Media has always grown by word of mouth and referrals. However, for Q1 of 2012, I wanted to kick things up a notch and invest in some Facebook and Google advertising. Our first campaign is just days away from ending and we?ve gained 700 new fans on Facebook and have had requests for consultations from at least 6 companies that are considering working with Three Girls. We?ve also seen a dramatic increase in traffic tour website.
Can you compare the results of using Facebook and Google+?? What were your experiences?
I don?t feel that the Google campaign was very successful compared to the Facebook campaign which ran at the same time. We had fewer click throughs and asks for consultations.
How did you build your following?? What kinds of people/businesses are they?
Most of our following on Twitter and Facebook has been organic. We talk about our social media channels at speaking engagements and events and encourage people to find us online. We have links to our social media in our email signatures and on our business cards as well, so it?s easy for people to find us and connect socially.
On Facebook, most of our followers are small business owners in a wide spectrum of industries. On Twitter, we also have other PR, marketing and social media pros following us.
How will you choose who you will follow??
We look to follow other similar industry professionals who are sharing good content our followers may be interested in. We also follow industry thought leaders.
What do you look for in a follower?
Ideally our followers are:
- Small or emerging business owners who are looking for PR, marketing or social media advice and insight
Other similar industry experts who want to share good content with their followers.
If you could go back to when you first began using social media, what is one thing you would have done differently?
I think I would have advertised much sooner. We did it for the first time in Q1 of 2012 and after seeing how successful it was, it would have been nice to do this a couple of years ago.
What does Twitter do for you that nothing else can do?
It?s been a great resource for us to connect with others in similar professions and share information back and forth on a regular basis. The use of hashtags is something completely unique to Twitter and that?s a great way for us to highlight certain information for people to find easily as well.
What lessons have you learned about Twitter and online marketing?
Twitter has an entire language of it?s own that takes a while to figure out and master, but we?re pros at it now. We also subscribe to the 80/20 rule of social media meaning that 80% of the content should be helpful info, tips, tricks, interesting articles etc. The other 20% can be more self promotional. We?ve also learned the power of Facebook advertising and how effective it can be.
Follow Three Girls Media on Twitter here.
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Do you use social media in a unique way for your work, career, or industry?? If so, would you like to be featured in one of our interviews???Email us?and tell us what do you.
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