Monday, April 16  

Why 1 Story Has Done So Much For Joshua (& Meg Cabot Helps Too)

I went out for Mexican food on Friday night with my family (best little Mexican restaurant called Mex on the Move at Currumbin on the Gold Coast).

I was telling my wife and kids about the world-class violinist playing in the Subway station I mentioned below. Except I couldn't remember the violinist's name.

"It's Joshua something....."

My 16 yo daughter, who only listens to classical music should my wife or I put it on, came out with "Wasn't Joshua Bell, was it?"

Ummmm, yes.

Turns out Laura had heard of Joshua Bell from, get this, the Princess Diaries book series (chick lit) by Meg Cabot.

Apparently one of the characters (Boris, she said) idolised Joshua Bell.

Off To The Music Store

A great thing the article below does is shows Joshua in action. And you get a sense of him from the writing - he seems like a good guy.

Which all impacts very positively on his brand.

So Laura and I thought we'd buy one of his CDs and have a listen. Off to the music store and ordered one (they didn't have any in stock).

The Power Of PR

I would have no doubt whatsoever that this one story of Joshua Bell has done more to:

• lift his profile,
• aid his branding, and
• boost his CD sales

than almost any one other strategy he (or his publicist) has ever done......even more than the mentions in Meg Cabot's fabulous books!

For any business, a public relations strategy can be a huge, huge boost for a whole range of reasons. If you have a business, large or small, then PR helps.

You can do it yourself, of course (the only thing you really need is a newsworthy story), or you can employ a PR agency to helps (they're generally great at thinking up newsworthy angles).

I employed a great friend of ours for a few months on a $1,200 retainer. The work we received from the added exposure was enormous.

I can't really think of a business that wouldn't benefit from a regular PR strategy.

Simple Example - My Newspaper Article This Week

Today a local newspaper is doing an interview with my family and I. You see, in 10 weeks I'm running the Gold Coast Marathon. My 12 and 14 yo sons (that's Jack doing a 10 km run last year) are running the 10 km on the day.

My wife Mel and my 16 yo daughter Laura are part of the wonderful group of hundreds of volunteers on the day.

The event wants that story run because it shows how a typical family can get involved, whether it's running the marathon or the 10 km or volunteering.

I'm quite keen for the story to run because it lifts my profile a bit.

The kids are keen because they get their photo in the paper!

And who knows - maybe, just maybe, someone will read the article and think "Yep, I could do that run. I've been meaning to enter. I'll do it."

Anyhoo, better go as we have the photo on at midday and I need to make myself look beautiful :o)

Cheers

Brendon

Labels: branding, public relations