Sharing wisdom at The Star Entrepreneur Conference

So... Our colleague Louise - who oversees all the work for the consumer clients at Mantra PR - attended a Star Entrepreneur event today, speaking on the subject of 'PR at Business Start up Stage'. The event, organised by Can Do Events, attracted a group of entrepreneurs and financiers looking to learn more about the benefits of PR and how new/emerging companies should deal with the media.

They spent the morning hearing about the press from a media point of view - hearing about national newspapers from Jaimie Oliver (no, not that one... this one is the Small Business columnist at the Daily Telegraph) and David Sumner Smith (formerly Sunday Times Business Enterprise correspondent), followed by some explanation of TV from the editor of Dragon's Den, Helen Bullough, and how to deal with magazines from Saska Granville, deputy editor of Red magazine.

Following lunch and an excellent live interview with Christine Domecq of Spinvox fame (who is fascinating to listen to on the subject of starting up a business, should you ever get the opportunity), they moved onto the subject of PR and how to work with an agency at different stages of a companies life. This is where Lou came in. She started by giving them some background - introducing Spider, of course (!) - before giving them her Top 5 Golden Rules for newcomers to PR:

• Be prepared: don't assume working with an agency will free up your time. You need to make time to keep an open dialogue

• Information exchanged: give your PRs as much info as possible - it helps them do their job better

• Step away: consider you brand from an outsider's point of view (customer? journalist?)

• Realistic expectations and budgets - spend money to make money... investment in PR is a simple equation

• Allow your agency to work to a plan where possible – but keep flexible and be willing to adapt with their recomendations
  

She followed this up with some basic guidelines on briefing an agency and what the agency will do for this kind of client in the initial stages. She then went through some of the different tactics that could be factored into a PR programme, including an explanation of how traditional media relations can be integrated into online pr via the blogosphere and social networking sites.

Finally she went through a case study - the launch mySupermarket.co.uk, the supermarket comparison site - and blew her own trumpet a bit. She was given a selection of business cards - and was apparently headhunted right there and then, much to her amusement - so she must have said something right...