2nd Business Anniversary for Black Leopard Public Relations
I'm so excited to celebrate 2 years in business! Black Leopard Public Relations was established November 13, 2013 and I really feel like today, Friday November 13th, is my lucky day.
I am truly blessed to meet and work with amazing entrepreneurs daily.
I feel elated to have brought real value to my clients.
I see the tremendous present and future development of this business.
To celebrate I am sharing a lovely interview I did last week for the Entrepreneur Spotlight series with Stephanie Heywood from Elevate Networking.
If you are an entrepreneur building you business, then you need to know the powerhouse that is Nicole Nurse! Nicole is a marketing and public relations professional with a degree in English literature from the University of Toronto and a post-graduate certificate in corporate communications and public relations from Centennial College’s Centre for Creative Communications.
Nicole enjoys promoting entrepreneurs and teaching them how to use available tools to get their businesses noticed. In 2013, Nicole decided to put the skills and knowledge she has accumulated into her own public relations business, Black Leopard Public Relations. Black Leopard PR specialize in assisting entrepreneurs to get out there and establish their personal brand and promote their business both online and offline. #Roar!
What is your passion and how does it transcend into your work?
I like teaching people what I know. I ice skated throughout my childhood. When I quit taking lessons as a teenager I immediately began teaching skating and through that job, over the next 10 years, I discovered my passion for teaching others what I know.
Now I love teaching others about marketing their business. Marketing is all about communication and I have been a communications professional for years and within the last couple of years I am also an entrepreneur. I love working with entrepreneurs to educate them about the art of communicating with their customers. I get excited about helping entrepreneurs like myself to develop the presence, contacts and branding they need to succeed in business.
What are the three biggest benefits that you offer to your target audience?
DIY marketing support: I teach entrepreneurs how to raise the public’s awareness of their business and to increase their sales on their own. I experienced starting a business from scratch with few contacts, money or support. I had to learn to do my own marketing without the benefit of an advertising budget or expensive marketing or business coach. Many entrepreneurs are in the same position, with little knowledge and few resources for marketing. I give practical knowledge of how to get your marketing done on a shoestring budget. I show and tell my audience “I did it and so can you.”
Collaboration: my target audience is made up of my co-workers. I learn from the clients I work with and they learn from me. My area of expertise may be marketing but it takes many different skills and knowledge areas to operate a successful business. My intention is to create a community of entrepreneurs who help each other’s businesses thrive. So far I have done wonderful work for my collaborators and they have done wonderful work for me!
Time: the tips, tricks and services I offer to my target customers save them time and headaches. Some of the knowledge I’ve acquired has been through working in the field of communications for years. Some of the knowledge comes from trial and error, working for my own business. I am saving my audience the years, months and daily hours I spend listening to podcasts, watching videos, reading articles, being corrected by my boss, writing and rewriting, tracking analytics, talking to other experts in the marketing field and practicing over and over to determine what works. I try to recommend only the techniques, websites, platforms and services I’ve tried myself and because marketing is my business I have the time to spend on this one subject. By offering my expertise I save entrepreneurs time they can invest in the other important parts of their business.
Looking out 3 to 5 years, what do you think will be the next big change in your industry trends?
The marketing and public relations business will become more customized and personalized in the next 3 to 5 years. Sending out broad press releases will become a practice of the past and personal relationships between marketers and bloggers, journalists, business owners and consumers will become more important. Everyone wants to be treated as a unique individual with unique needs so all of our communications will have to become personalized and customized. Look out for Coca-Cola in your DMs people.
If you had to share some of your ‘best-kept secrets’ [e.g. websites, books, coaches] what would you include and why?
Pexels.com for stock images. If you are doing your own marketing you will constantly need high resolution images for your flyers, posters, website, social media, blog etc. The photos on pexels.com are high resolution, updated daily and perfect for helping your customer to visualize the story you are trying to tell in your marketing materials.
What three tips can you recommend to anyone looking to elevate their success that you would only share with a close friend (and everyone reading this blog)?
- Show up (strategically). Being present matters now more than ever: develop relationships in person, be reliable, participate in things and offer value.
- Have an “off” time and “off” day. Being an entrepreneur can demand all of your time and resources. Make sure you let people know that you are no longer available after a certain time (10pm for example). Work hard but ensure that you make room to rest too so you don’t burn out.
- Seize the opportunity. Say ‘yes’ to opportunities and worry about how you’re going to make it happen afterward. 90% of the things we think we can’t do we can find a way to do. The time you have to build your business and the opportunities you have to do it are not infinite. Take advantage of opportunities when you see them and just apply your best. My motto for the EntrepreneurStore.or is “Creativity. Uncertainty. Opportunity.” These are the three essential elements of entrepreneur life.
Connect with Black Leopard PR:
Google+ / Tumblr : @blackleopardpr
Email: info@blackleopard-pr.com
Aundra Williams discovered her power to serve her customers. Now she teaches her clients; when you realize there IS an audience out there for you, you don’t have to pretend anymore, you can be confident in your voice your business will reach new heights even in the middle of a global pandemic.