How to Use Guerrilla Publicity to Increase Visibility, Leads and Profits with Jill Lublin

Kathi: Hi everyone, thanks for joining us. I am here with Jill Lublin, the media magnet, and we're going to talk about media, marketing, presence, all the good stuff that you need to do to succeed in your business. So, welcome to the show, Jill.

Jill: Thank you so much, Kathi. Great to be here with you.

Kathi: Absolutely. Hey, I love PR. I love publicity. Give the listeners out here a little bit of the background about how you got into PR and promotions and media and all that good stuff. What's your journey like?

Jill: Oh, thank you. So, my journey, like most of us, was a little circuitous, so to speak.

Kathi: Yes.

Jill: Going round and round. But I ended up in the music business, and frankly, I was the director of promotion and publicity for four independent record labels, and that's where I discovered my true talent. And the frankly part was that music is all about perception, the music business, right? So I really got my training wheels on learning about how to do publicity for and through the music business, and it translates now to small business owners and the people I work with.

Kathi: That's so interesting. I had forgotten. We'd known each other for years, and I was in the recording industry back in the 80s as an audio engineer. We have a parallel life on that. I'd forgotten about that part.

Jill: Yes.

Kathi: Very cool. So you were in the industry, and then what happened? Did you decide it's too much, you're going to branch out on your own, or what? How did the journey happen for you?

Jill: So in the music business, it was great for a while, and then I got burnt out, because it's a lot, between your business day and going to concerts at night. I know it sounds awful, but no, it actually was magnificent until it became too much. So at that point, I started my own publicity agency, and I've been helping small business owners ever since. Now, as a media strategist and consultant, get her done. And through my Media Mastery Intensives, I'm now serving people even easier in get-it-done programs and having a blast doing that. And of course, all the books came out, which helped. My first one in particular, Guerrilla Publicity, and my most recent one is The Profit of Kindness. To that end, I'll just say I run Kindness Circles on top of everything else, having a great time serving people in multiple ways.

Kathi: I absolutely love the Kindness Circle. So tell me the concept of that, because I'd love for everybody to join in on the Kindness Circle, and you have really good guests. You've had many guests over the years, but talk to me about your concept of the Kindness Circle.

Jill: Absolutely. So what we do is we come together in basically a short hour that goes really fast, because we have two highly interactive circles, literally two breakouts, where you get to really talk to people and make a request, which is a great way to spend time, actually making a request. And of course, you're surrounded by people in kindness who want to give to you, who are, shall we say, heart-centered entrepreneurs, and we definitely attract that. And then on top of that, we have a 10-minute speaker, and in fact, one of the upcoming circles is featuring Leon, who does the Kindness Diaries and now has two movies on Netflix, and I'm super excited about that. And actually, all the circles are always free and highly interactive. So I definitely invite you to join us, and it's jilllublin.com/kindnesscircles, and I know you'll have that in the show notes too.

Kathi: Yeah, I'll absolutely have that in the show notes. So for people out there listening who have never had a touch of publicity, where would you suggest that they start? Because this is your wheelhouse, and they've never done anything. Maybe they don't even have a book, but they just launched their business. Where should they start?

Jill: Well, I think starting, number one, very important, is your message. What do I mean by that? You've got to stand on top of the focus of what you are putting out there to the press. What is your message? Who are you, in the sense of why should people care, right? Because I know we're all excited about what we do, and as you should be. However, the media needs to understand a reason that they get excited. And I remember in Guerrilla Publicity, my first book, I actually asked media, "What do you love?" And the editor of Entrepreneur magazine, and picture this, all of you, in Entrepreneur magazine, she said to me, "What I care about is what gives value and benefit to my readers." And so I've always kept that in mind, because it's not just Entrepreneur magazine. It's every local affiliate radio, TV, it's every podcast you're on. The question is, what's giving value and benefit to the readers, the listeners and the viewers? And that's what to pay attention to. That makes a big difference.

The question is, what's giving value and benefit to the readers, the listeners and the viewers?

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Kathi: Yeah. And by coming around to that, you're also pinpointing your mission, which is the value that you give and why you want to give it, and so on and so forth. So you've written several books. When did you write your first book, after you started on this journey and you jumped from music over to helping individuals and small businesses?

Jill: So I don't even remember the year, because the truth is, every few years we actually update it. So we're in our third edition now. We sold over 80,000 copies. We're making a big difference for a lot of people. And Guerrilla Publicity in a certain way never changes, but of course we shift it and uplevel it to include publicity such as podcasts, blogs and all the other high-tech fun stuff that is happening now. So it's in its third edition, which is just a wonderful, wonderful way to keep serving people newly.

Kathi: Absolutely. And I think that everybody should have a book. So do you agree with that?

Jill: Mostly. So here's the truth. I just got off the phone this morning, funny enough, on a publicity consulting session, and I told her not to do a book, because we discovered that there were much better ways that she can create revenue. Do I think a book is a great excuse, so to speak, for a publicity campaign? Absolutely. I had a real estate agent create a manual, not exactly a book, for how to invest in real estate, that she sold for $197, except for her clients. So what a wonderful gift that was to give them, for how to invest in real estate, which was really how she distinguished herself. Now you see how publicity can tie that in, because then we did a whole wonderful campaign about how to invest in real estate, and that drove people to her. So for her, the book made sense, even though she never had it in her mind to do that. And for some of you, it will make sense. And for others, I would think we might look at other ways to center people's attention. It doesn't always have to be a book. Just saying. Does it help? Yes. Is it necessary all the time? Not necessarily. And does it make you money? No. You don't write a book to get rich. I like to say, Kathi, thank you for lunch, when people buy my $20 book.

You don't write a book to get rich.

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Kathi: Yeah. Exactly. This is great, and I agree with that. So tell me a story about one of your clients and the journey that they took when they first met you, and what happened with their business.

Jill: Well, let me tell you about a client who came to me. He saw me speak and present, and he said, "I really want to work with you." And he has a consulting company doing instructional design. And when he told me what it was and explained it to me, Kathi, I went, I love you, but that's just not interesting enough. And one thing I am very skilled at is listening to people's messages, going underneath them, pulling them up, and creating sometimes a new message, and certainly spiffing up whatever it is that you're putting out there, so that the media says yes to you. I made him into what I call a virtual office warrior, because really he was working virtually. That's what he was really doing. And guess what? Restructuring his story actually got him picked up and put on the front page of the San Francisco Business Times. Wow, that was amazing. On top of that, he got into Entrepreneur magazine talking about being an entrepreneur. And actually, we got a huge uptick, because he's Asian-American. I told him, "Listen, let's translate the articles, the focus message, into Chinese." And he got put into the Chinese Times. How amazing is that? That one article in the Chinese Times got him $7,000 in consulting business. That piece of recreating his message upgraded his business by literally 45%. And on top of that, his web visits went up by 38%. Why do I know this? We measured. And let me just tell you that we had a publicity campaign that went on and on and on, probably longer than most, because it was so successful, and it literally made his business now a thriving business. I'm going to tell you, when he first came to me, he didn't even have a client. Shh, don't tell everybody. But he knew that the power of publicity would literally put him on the map and generate the leads and referrals. That is actually what publicity does to make you money, plus it elevates your status, your credibility, gets you seen and heard, and has people trust you, which in today's market is quite important.

Kathi: Yeah, the know, like and trust. They have to know you, but they have to trust you too. And if you have the credibility of Entrepreneur magazine or the Wall Street Journal saying, hey, listen to this person, then you have that credibility. Over the years, I've had so much PR, just blessed to have such good media. Do you think there's ever a point where it doesn't matter anymore? How much is too much?

Jill: Well, first of all, Kathi, congratulations. That's magnificent. And you always want to publicize your publicity. You want to use it ongoingly. It's a bragability factor that stays with you forever. And there is never too much, because, well, let's think for a moment. How about celebrities? How about music industry people? How about the fact that actors, let's just call them that for a minute, are doing, let's call it, three months, six months of a movie shoot, and then, you know what, written into their contract is their requirements for publicity. Isn't that interesting? As much as I'd love to say to all of you, one and done, publicity is an ongoing process where you are consistent and persistent. You don't always have to be full bore, and it doesn't have to take hours a week. In fact, in my systems and processes, really 30 minutes a week of visibility-building activities are going to generate publicity for you. It's going to generate recognition for you and create what I like to refer to as the "I've heard of you somewhere" syndrome.

Publicity is an ongoing process where you are consistent and persistent.

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Kathi: Absolutely. I love that. That is 30 minutes a week. So those listening out here, okay, listeners, you can give 30 minutes a week to get better visibility and better publicity. And when you do that, you will have the like and trust factor. So absolutely, it's worth it. So where do people start?

Jill: Where do you start? You start with a great message, right? And I think the important piece is, start with what's important to you. If you're in a certain industry, the question is, the people who hire you, what are they reading? What are they watching? What are they listening to? Start there. I like podcasts. I think it's simpler, it's easier, it's quicker to get real fast results, and there's a lot of them. But there's an interesting statistic about radio, and that is that there are 10,000 radio shows every single week looking for 4,000 guests. That's a lot. And you all can be one of them. So please realize, and I think this is really important to know, to hear and to understand, that you're an expert, and media needs experts. Period. And so we find that expertise, we pinpoint it, and find the right message that works, that matters, that other people want to hear, and they are always looking for people. Always, always, always. So you're actually doing them a service by saying, "Hey, here I am. This is what I do. This is what I'm good at. This is why it matters."

You're an expert, and media needs experts. Period.

Kathi: Exactly. That's awesome advice. So if you had to look back at your career and your life journey, what would you tell your 18-year-old self, now that you know what you know?

Jill: Oh boy. Well, first of all, get financially literate. I think that's really important, because I was hanging my shingle, running a business, and didn't really understand all the money pieces. And I think that's important. And I would also say fail faster, and just get back up, and that's okay. It's okay. Listen, we've all launched programs that didn't work, or could have been better, could have been simpler, whatever. And I think simple, particularly now in today's market, simple, easy yeses are wonderful.

Kathi: I love the fail faster and get back up idea, because a lot of us just trudge through our failures and keep holding on, hoping that something's going to change, and it's like, no, it failed. Get up, do it again.

Jill: Exactly. Wash it off, dry it up, maybe stamp it, and move forward. Exactly. Just let it go. Shake it off. Whatever. If you look at anyone who's highly successful, there have been failures. It's okay.

Kathi: Yeah. You know what's interesting? As we talk, I just keep thinking about Southwest, and I absolutely love Southwest. I am a loyal, loyal, loyal Southwest flyer. And they're in the news every single day. They've taken this, oh, we're going to assign seats and all this stuff, but they're always in the news. Every time I go into anything, they're in the news again. And God love them. Whatever is happening to them that appears to be bad, they're so capitalizing on it and so captivating our attention to know, what are they going to do next? What's going to change? Why are they changing it? Don't you think that's a great, outstanding idea of how to use publicity?

Jill: I think it's absolutely brilliant. And what they're doing is using their changing business model and strategy to basically create more news. Although I am a loyal Southwest flyer too, let me tell you, their changes I'm upset about, because…

Kathi: Yeah, thank you.

Jill: Because guess what? Now they're like every other airline. See, before, the power of Southwest, just between us, was the fact that they were so distinct, that they didn't have baggage fees, that they didn't have assigned seats, all that super fun stuff, that they were fun and funny and a little bit more casual. Guess what? But they're smart enough to know that now that they look like every other airline, they'd better be getting themselves in the news. And notice that they're using publicity, that they're spending a lot of money, let's be honest, to get their word out in a new way. And publicity, they've invested in heavily. What we've been talking about today has been ways for you to get yourself out there without spending a ton of money, but really getting great results. It's the guerrilla publicity way.

Kathi: I love that guerrilla marketing thing. I started my business on $49. I am a big fan of let's just get down to the basics and make things happen, and you don't have to spend a lot of money doing it.

Jill: For sure.

Kathi: Yeah. So what have I missed asking you? What do you want to talk about that perhaps we haven't covered yet?

Jill: Oh, well, we've covered some great stuff. Thank you. And I think I just really want to be a voice for all of you to understand the power of publicity to bring you leads, to get you credibility, to have you stand out in a crowded marketplace, and to understand, frankly, the power of publicity for the long-lasting effect. Not the social media one, not the ads that are going to cost you a fortune, and by the way, they will, but really creating an ongoing presence where people go, I've seen you. I've heard of you. The trust factor that we talked about is there. You have a baseline where somebody says, I read about you. I heard about you. I heard the interview. They've got that familiarity factor that gets you seen, heard and paid. And that's exciting.

Kathi: Yes. That's totally exciting. That's what we all want. We're in business to make money. Hey, and it doesn't hurt to say I was in the Boston Globe or I was in the New York Times or whatever, right? And I love what you said about that, Jill. You have it forever.

Jill: You do have it forever. And let me just tell you the impact of having those logos: Boston Globe, Forbes, Fortune, your ABC, NBC, CBS TV, Fox affiliate, whatever. Having that, the podcast, right? Every single piece matters. It's important, and it absolutely elevates you, and that's what we're looking to do, is elevate your status so that people say, yes, I want to work with you.

Kathi: Yes. And I do believe that a lot of the listeners out there are going to work with you. So talk to me about how they can connect, what you have to offer them, and let's go into some details.

Jill: Absolutely. Thank you. Well, I've created an action guide, which is super excellent. Let me just say, high value, more impact, great things that you can learn about publicity, more than we've had time to cover here today. And great news, because I like lots of gifts. Just saying. And so I created a challenge for you. It's live. It's interactive with me. You get your questions answered. It's great content. Interactive and live. Did I say that? Yes, I'll say it again: with me. And so if you go to jilllublin.com/guide, it will give you all of this, and I'm super excited to be with you and have the opportunity to serve you in the next way.

Kathi: I love that. Everybody likes lives. Go ahead and grab your guide and interact with Jill, because you're going to learn a lot, and I bet you're going to get one or two little publicity hits right there just from that exercise, if not more. And then you can hang your sign up saying, "Yes, I was in this. I was in this. They thought I was an expert. Maybe I'm an expert."

Jill: Right? You are an expert. I just grant you all. You are an expert.

Kathi: I love it. I wish I had my magic wand, which I use all the time. I need to keep it on my videos, actually. Yes, you are all experts, and you all deserve publicity, so tap into Jill's resources and her knowledge, and you will not go wrong. So thank you guys for listening. I really appreciate you being here on the podcast. If you like it, please give me a thumbs up. Please leave a comment. Please download something from Jill. Let us know that you're there, that you're listening. And I would very much appreciate your support by giving me a thumbs up on YouTube or wherever you're listening, Apple Podcasts, whatever you do. Check out the downloads, and until next week, we will see you then. And thanks, Jill.